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35 more of Peregrine's brilliant articles on France
You’ve been dithering about this year’s holiday. Understandably, what with the
financial world in meltdown and terrible uncertainty hanging over Cristiano
Ronaldo’s future. Now, though, it’s decision time. Do you stay in Britain or
not?
Let me do two things: (a) give you the long-range weather forecast. “We’re
certainly not expecting a particularly dry summer,” said a jolly Met Office
chap last week. “It is expected to be wetter than average.” And (b) suggest
France.
For a start, it’s not far. It involves no long-haul flights, jabs against
disgusting diseases or being treated as terrorists by fat-bottomed customs
officers. It has everything in one country: beaches, sun, mountains,
forests, lakes, culture, wine, proper villages and the world’s best-looking
presidential wife.
And, despite the plunging pound, it remains affordable. Not cheap – some of
the prices below are a little eyewatering – but reasonable value for the
standards involved.
Recently, I stayed in a decent three-star double room for £55 a night and had
a very acceptable five-course lunch, with ample wine, for £30. The taxi back
wasn’t overpriced, either. If I could remember exactly how much after all
the wine, I’d tell you.
Here’s our guide to what we reckon to be the key French regions for summer
2008. All prices are for high season.
NORMANDY
Every time I contemplate a trip to Normandy – especially southern Normandy –
I’m overcome with smiles. It’s a return to a world of proper seaside and
country holidays. Hatched with hedges and woodland. The landscape undulates
with distant memories of Englishness.
Here is a world plump with cows, apples, horses – and unexpected little
mountains. From Thury-Harcourt, the area known as the Suisse Normande has
all you need in the matter of crags, rivers and relentless outdoor activity.
Elsewhere, half-timbered farmsteads and villages stand substantial, settled
and stress-free. Were he French, Postman Pat would be delivering the mail,
then, off duty, paddling along the vast beaches where the good guys landed
in June 1944.
A battery of decent museums recall the efforts necessary to make the world
free for, well, paddling, among other things. To the east of southern
Normandy (Honfleur, Trouville) and to the west (Barfleur, St
Vaast-la-Hougue) stone fishing villages have not yet ceded all to seasidery.
To the northwest of the Cotentin peninsula, the land rises rocky and
muscular to the Cap de la Hague before flattening out for families – and the
sublime Mont-Saint-Michel.
Brittany is round the corner – beautiful, of course, but perhaps more
turbulent and certainly less fattening. What with the Norman taste for
cream, beef, cheese and calvados, I’d put off the cholesterol test for a
fortnight or so after your return.
To stay: the best bet is a bucolic base of your own. The independent
Normandy specialist Normandie Vacances (0845 230 5130, www.normandy-holidays.co.uk)
has a cracking cottage selection, including a three-bedroom, half-timbered
hill-topper at Fierville-les-Parcs, near Pont-l’Evêque – handy for the D-day
beaches and rolling cider country. A high-season week for four costs £825,
including Dover-Calais crossing. Or try VFB (01452 716840, www.vfbholidays.co.uk).
Okay, so self-catering’s not your idea of a good time. The Hôtel Le Grand Hard
(Ste-Marie-du-Mont; 00 33-2 33 71 25 74, www.legrandhard.fr;
doubles from £63, duplexes for four from £105) is a splendidly restored
fortified farm just back from Utah beach. Stylishly rustic, it has its mind
on riding, cycling and that sort of thing.
Further east, and much posher, Château la Chenevière (Port-en-Bessin; 02 31 51
25 25, www.lacheneviere.fr; doubles
from £234, B&B) will flatter you with luxury, space and an
excellent restaurant. It’s near the beaches and Bayeux, which explodes into
a medieval festival on July 5 and 6. Or there’s the Manoir du Lys
(Bagnoles-de-l’Orne; 02 33 37 80 69, www.manoir-du-lys.com;
doubles from £80), a lovely hideaway on the edge of the Andaine forest, to
the south, with Michelin-starred food.
To eat: look out for the freshest fish and, especially, shellfish
(oysters, mussels, clams). Normans like their meat in cream, butter and
calvados. Tripe is the Caen speciality, and you’ll be wading through cheese
everywhere: Camembert, of course, but also Livarot and Pont-l’Evêque.
Cider’s the drink, with calvados for mellower moments.
Traditional fare is splendidly handled at Le Moulin de Jean (Cuves; 02 33 48
39 29, www.lemoulindejean.com;
from £26), an isolated former watermill between Villedieu-les-Poêles and
Mortain, east of Mont-Saint-Michel.
Up the coast at Barneville-Carteret, the Hôtel de la Marine (11 Rue Paris; 02
33 53 83 31, www.hotelmarine.com;
from £30) is a seaside classic. Picture windows put you pretty much in the
middle of the harbour and seascape.
Over in Honfleur, Normandy goes unusually contemporary at the Sa.Qua.Na (22
Place Hamelin; 02 31 89 40 80, www.alexandre-bourdas.com;
from £29). “Sakana” apparently means fish in Japanese, which tells you about
the influences here. A bracing change after all that cream and butter.
Getting there: the ports to aim for are Cherbourg and Caen, which also
has a little airport served from Brighton (Shoreham). As does Deauville
(from Brighton City). Dinard airport is handy for the south and west of the
region – it’s less than an hour from Mont-Saint-Michel.
FRANCE
How to get there
Train: it’s fast, comfortable and not as pricey as you might think.
Returns from London St Pancras to Paris (2hr 15min) cost from £59; to
Strasbourg (5hr 11min) from £89; and to Avignon (5hr 30min) from £109. You
can book through tickets from the UK with Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com)
orRail Europe (0844 848 4070, www.raileurope.co.uk),
the UK arm of the French rail company SNCF.
Tunnel and ferry: the quickest way across the Channel is with
Eurotunnel (0870 535 3535, www.eurotunnel.com),
which speeds from Folkestone to Calais in 35 minutes; prices start at £98
return for a car and passengers.
The short ferry crossing from Dover to Calais, Boulogne or Dunkirk can take as
little as 50 minutes by catamaran or up to two hours by regular ferry.
Choose less social hours and, even in summer, returns start at just £50 for
a car and up to five passengers (on busy weekends, expect to pay at least
£100). Operators include P&O (0871 664 5645, www.poferries.com),
SeaFrance (0871 423 7119, www.seafrance.com),
Norfolkline (0870 870 1020, www.norfolkline.com)
and SpeedFerries (0871 222 7456, www.speedferries.com).
Or consider a crossing to Normandy. They don’t take as long as you might think
– 2hr 15min from Poole to Cherbourg, for instance. Returns in peak season
start at £292 for a car and four passengers with Brittany Ferries (0871 244
0744, www.brittany-ferries.co.uk).
For the best deals, try Direct Ferries (0871 222 3312, directferries.com).
Driving: distances and tolls are the things to watch – both can be
bigger than you bargained for. Go to www.viamichelin.co.uk or www.theaa.com,
which will tot them up for you.
If that’s too much of a slog, but you want the car, you could consider
Motorail, which runs from Calais to six destinations in southern France.
Journey times start at about 11 hours (overnight), with one-way fares from
about £360, including the car and up to six passengers in a private
couchette. Book with Rail Europe (as above).
Plane: there are plenty of options, with flights from more than 25 UK
airports to a similar number of French airports. Carriers that are
particularly strong on regional routes include Ryanair (www.ryanair.com),
Flybe (www.flybe.com), Air France (0870
142 4343, www.airfrance.co.uk),
Jet2 (www.jet2.com) and EasyJet (www.easyjet.com).
To find out who flies where, and to track down cheap fares, visit www.skyscanner.net,
www.airlinedestinations.co.uk
and www.jumblefly.com.
Try this link to the Normandy Tourist Board: www.normandie-tourisme.org
Alison Southern, Normandy, France