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The space explorer who never left earth, from Donville-les-Bains
Donneville-les-Bains and L’hôtel de l’Hermitage – match! Decades before the first spacewalk, a child looked out across the sea from the top of Donville-les-Bains’ cliffs, and imagined distant worlds...
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A morsel of perfection, for Julia Child in Rouen
Match! Ice rink in the old market square Rouen, Christmas 2017. La Couronne is the timber framed building on the left. Early on the morning of Wednesday 3 November 1948 a tall Californian woman looked...
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Domfront, city of misfortune!
Match! Place Saint Julien Domfront Normandy Rummaging in Normandy markets we occasionally come across vintage postcards of Domfront showing a rather grisly image; a man dangling from the gallows....
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‘No ship ever brought so much misery to England’, from Barfleur
‘No ship ever brought so much misery to England’ said William of Malmesbury writing just a few short years after the tragic events of 25 November 1120. Centuries of historians agree with him. Match!...
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Disappearing silver at the Devil’s Table, near Passais
Before tidy roads cut their way across this land, the Passais was a wild, remote place. Named from the old French passer, to pass, this was a place of passage between the Duchy of Normandy and France....
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Dr Dufour the babies’ hero, in Fécamp
Match! Bassin Bérigny Fecamp. Turn around from here and you will see our hero’s surgery When newly qualified doctor Léon Dufour arrived at Fécamp in 1881 he was 25, idealistic and infinitely kind. He...
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The legend and the loveliness of La Fosse Arthour
Matching at la Fosse Arthour Away from the bustling market towns, the countryside between Manche and Orne regions of Normandy is a land of legends. Here in thick forests and hidden meadows fairies...
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The man in the Roche d’Oëtre
Match! Can you see the (silhouette) man in the Roche d’Oëtre? (Well one of them) The stone man in the Roche d’Oëtre gazes out across an endless panorama of river, forest and meadows. Four hundred feet...
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Matilda’s gift, from Barfleur
Barfleur harbour, match! One of medieval France’s main ports for travel to England and the best ship building town in Normandy. This post was first published in October 2017 In 1066 Matilda, wife of...
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The torment of Baron Frefosse of Étretat – a Normandy legend
As well as a stiff breeze, the strongest sense of déjà vu will hit any fan of the Impressionists lucky enough to walk along Étretat’s grassy cliff tops. Supermatch! and what a view! Claude Monet’s...
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‘No ship ever brought so much misery to England’, from Barfleur
First published 7 July 2018 ‘No ship ever brought so much misery to England’ said William of Malmesbury writing just a few short years after the tragic events of 25 November 1120. Centuries of...
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Genêts and the man who saved a million lives in WW1
Match! Now what will we find down this road… This post was first published in April 2017. A walk through Genêts took us to an old church and a very unusual memorial. The memorial is for General Louis...
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The space explorer who never left earth, from Donville-les-Bains
Donneville-les-Bains and L’hôtel de l’Hermitage – match! First published March 2018 Decades before the first spacewalk, a child looked out across the sea from the top of Donville-les-Bains’ cliffs, and...
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An incognito King, in Deauville
This post was first published in December 2016 Sometime in the spring of 1922, the Marquis de Viana rented a beautiful manor house overlooking the sea at Le Grand Bec, not far from Deauville. Over the...
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Guest post! The death wedding of Honfleur…
This post was first published in July 2014 Frederic Shoberl Esq., when writing his ‘Excursions in Normandy’ in 1841, relayed the tragic story of the death-wedding of Honfleur. Frederic was aboard ‘Le...
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The Rockefeller from Honfleur and other lies
This post was first published in April 2015 How can Honfleur make you happy? Visitors know the answer to this question – just be there! But for some people life is not that simple. Some people decide...
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Jean de Carrouges and the last French duel
This post was first published in August 2016. Château Carrouges match! Not long into a visit to Château de Carrouges in the Orne, Normandy, the more designy among you will be planning a complete home...
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The questionable company of kings, for Jean d’Ango at Varengeville
Match! Manoir d’Ango, the colombier. Only the nobility could keep a pigeon house and this one, capable of holding 3200 birds, clearly states it’s owner’s importance. First published June 4, 2016 The...
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The disastrous Latham-47 Polar rescue, from Caudebec-en-Caux
March! Latham-47 memorial at Caudebec-en-Caux First published July 2017 When the radio message from Umberto Nobile and 9 of his crew was finally picked up by a soviet amateur radio operator Nikolai...
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The humiliation of perfidious Guimond, from Moulins-la-Marche
First published August 2017 This view is from the old castle, now just a hill, at Moulins-la-Marche in the Perche. Looking out through gently swaying trees across the Perche countryside or back into...
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