Artistic and cultural normandy

While its WW2 history is well known in English speaking countries, Normandy is a beautiful rural region of France that has far more to offer than just war stories. In France it is known for its agricultural production, especially apples and dairy products like the famous Camembert cheese. Its long coastline has historic port towns nestled along it, and the area is beloved of artists, particularly Impressionists like Claude Monet.

Monet’s house and garden in the picture-postcard village of Giverny (pictures 1-2 below) is just an hour from Paris and can be visited in half a day. Further from Paris, the charming historic port of Honfleur (pictures 4, 5), and the soaring cliffs of the artists’ retreat of Etretat (6, 7) make a perfect overnight tour for art lovers. For those wishing to supplement their WW2 Normandy tour with something cultural, the town of Bayeux is host to a stunning gothic cathedral and the world-famous Bayeux tapestry (7, 8).

These places are between the D-Day beaches of Normandy and Paris, and it is possible to construct a 2 or 3 day Normandy itinerary combining both the WW2 history of Normandy with these other sites.