Our Blog - Normandy 2023 - Part 3

Week 3

After checking out of our gîte, we went to Caudebec-en-Caux, which sits right on the Seine for a quick tour and lunch before a final stop at the Saint Georges de Boscherville Abbey for a stroll around the gardens and a visit to the church. After a week inland, our final week in Normandy this year was in the village of Petit-Caux, in a gîte that was a 5-minute walk to the beach.

I somewhat feel that we didn't do much this week although we visited quite a few places. After doing our morning market shopping, we headed to Veules-les-Roses for lunch, because it is famous for its oysters. We finished the day peeking at the seaside church near Varengeville-sur-Mer.

We continued visiting a few more places on the Alabaster coast of the English Channel, including the city of Dieppe and the town of Fécamp. We took advantage of the visit in Fécamp to try a couple local delicacies: Bénédictine liqueur (which is a digestif) and picking up a round of camembert cheese at "Camembert Les 5 Frères". This was a little interesting because when we got there, there was nobody around and no signs like we would normally see for a welcome or a shop. Instead, there is a little "self-service" hut with the cheese in a refrigerator and a sign that basically said "the cheese costs this much, please put the money in the box below and take your cheese from the refrigerator". Cheese by the honor system!

Our Wednesday morning shopping took us to the the town of Yvetot, which has a really nice market. We also took time to do a short walking tour of the town before heading to a Creperie for lunch.

The last couple days were somewhat uneventful. It was raining pretty hard on Thursday morning, so we just stayed inside and then ventured out to Le Tréport and Mers-les-Bains (mostly Mers-les-Bains). We had planned to go to another city on the coast but, due to being sick, we stayed in all day and just got ready to drive home.

After checking out of our gîte, we did a walk around a lake before heading towards Toulouse. During the puppy walk, we got a peek at The castle of Arques-la-Bataille, an old fortified castle from the first half of the 12th century. It has a pretty interesting history ... the original castle on this site was built in the 11th century when William the Duke of Normandy (later to be known as William the Conquerer) gave the land to his uncle to build a fortress. Shortly after the construction, William came back and laid siege to the castle after his uncle revolted against him. The siege lasted for a year but finally, they had to capitulate as they were out of food. The castle was rebuilt with a stone Romanesque keep that he wrapped in a large curtain wall flanked by a dozen towers. Joan of Arc stayed there in 1431 before being judged and condemned in Rouen. Once it was deemed no longer usable as a fortress, the locals used it as a stone quarry for a short period before being preserved. There are some walls and a couple rooms still remaining but due to its poor condition, it is no not open to the public.

After a quick lunch at a crêperie, we caught the highway just as far as the city of Le Mans, famous for the 24-hours of Le Mans. The endurance-focused car race is held every year, normally in June. The next day, we headed to our last stop on the way home, the city of Bourges and our last overnight before arriving back home.