Our Blog - Normandy 2023 - Le Bec-Hellouin, France

We did a very quick stop at the village of Le Bec-Hellouin, which is best known for its Abbey and has recently been voted one of the "most beautiful villages of France". The little village is quite nice, with several rows of extremely-well-kept half-timbered houses.

The Abbey was founded in 1034 by Saint Herluin, a Norman knight who in about 1031 left the court of Gilbert, Count of Brionne, to devote himself to a life of religion. The Abbey was damaged during the Wars of Religion and left a ruin in the French Revolution with the exception of the 15th-century St. Nicholas Tower, which is the only remaining part of the medieval monastery still standing. And no, it isn't tilted like it looks in the 2nd picture :-) I also grabbed a few pictures of the abbey buildings.

We didn't get a chance to look at anything else in more detail, including skipping the village church, dedicated to Saint-André.