It is said to be soft and flowery.
Maritime and seaside.
Windy and wild.
Normandy is a bit like that: miles of sand, casinos, bunkers on the beach.
We come here to flame, bask or revise its history.
But not only.
Normandy is also home to half-timbered cottages, sunken lanes, bocage... In short, its villages.
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Some are famous for their port, their cliff or their abbey.
Others hide granite houses, twisting alleys, gaunt coasts or flowering apple trees.
All are different but essential.
To travel is also to understand.
These ten villages, classified according to their distance from Paris (from the closest to the farthest), will allow you to better understand this land of tourists and silent people.
Giverny, idyllic village of Monet
Arrived in Giverny in 1883, Claude Monet remained there until his death.
It is to him that we owe the international fame of his gardens today.
Normandy Tourism / Lucinda Recouvrot
He got up before daybreak and went quickly to study the light.
Monet lived for more than 40 years in Giverny and designed his gardens like works: everywhere, explosions of color.
Today, we come to admire them.
At Clos Normand, cherry blossoms, roses, nasturtiums, poppies and irises.
In the Water Garden, weeping willows at the edge of the pond and water lilies at the bottom of the pond.
Giverny is more than 600,000 visitors each year for 500 inhabitants on the banks of the Seine, in the Eure.
But everything has kept its original appearance, including the reflections in the water.
Where is Monet?
It is expected to arise.
It is not so far, behind the church, set back from the communal cemetery.
His grave is covered with flowers.
How to get there ?
Count one hour by train from Paris Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny then 15 minutes by shuttle.
Read alsoOur 10 weekend ideas less than three hours from Paris
Lyons-la-Forêt
, a know-beech
The old brick or half-timbered houses make Lyons-la-Forêt particularly authentic.
Lyons Andelle Tourism / Marie-Laure Vittori
There used to be a castle here.
It was a long time ago, in the twelfth century.
It was dismantled by the English.
The war here?
Hard to imagine.
Lyons-la-Forêt is a quaint and flowery Eure village, although with character.
The inhabitants compare themselves to the irreducible Gauls: the half-timbered houses plunge you centuries back.
It feels like an Asterix and Obelix album.
Especially on a market day, when you find yourself under the old half-timbered hall.
Lyons-la-Forêt is the authentic two hours from Paris.
And one of the most beautiful beech forests in Europe.
The hundred-year-old trunks let the sun's rays pass through.
Here, I promise, the weather is nice several times a day.
How to get there ?
Allow 1 hour 20 minutes by train from Paris to Rouen then 45 minutes by car via the N31 then the D6 or one hour by coach (line 500).
Honfleur, no port elsewhere
With its boats, its packed houses, its sky and its lights, Honfleur is one of the most beautiful French ports and also one of the most visited.
Calvados attractiveness / Fabien Mahaut
Honfleur, how to say, everyone knows: colorful houses, fishing boats, reflections in the water and salt lofts.
The most beautiful port of Calvados and perhaps of Normandy.
A masterpiece.
The playground of the Impressionists, Boudin, Courbet, Jongkind.
All painted his sky and the beats of his heart.
During the week, the fishermen open the sole nets on the quays.
On weekends, visitors take over the Vieux Bassin, the art galleries, the Lieutenance, the Quai Sainte-Catherine and the twisted alleys.
If you have time, climb to the heights, towards the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce chapel, where you can see the Pont de Normandie and the Seine estuary.
How to say ?
Stunning.
How to get there ?
Allow 2h10 by train from Paris to Trouville-Deauville then 25 minutes by car on the D62 or 40 minutes by coach (Bus Verts du Calvados, line 20).
Read alsoTen charming hotels for a breath of fresh air in Normandy
Veules-les-Roses, the sea in the countryside
In Veules-les-Roses, tourists usually say that they are awakened by silence.
Normandy Tourism / Daniel Decamps
Veules-les-Roses is the Veule, the smallest river in France, 1149 meters long and 11 mills, which sometimes still turn.
To see them, you have to follow the circuit along the watercourse, sheltered by the weeping willows.
We see flowered cottages, watercress beds, little agitation.
Tourists usually say that they are awakened by silence.
Victor Hugo came here to draw inspiration.
His office overlooked the sea, what a sight!
People also come here for the beach, it's a seaside resort and one of the most beautiful villages in France.
We understand it at the top, on the white cliffs of the Alabaster Coast, accessible from the town by a sunken path.
How to get there ?
Allow 2 hours by train from Paris Saint-Lazare to Dieppe then 30 minutes by car on the D925.
Read alsoWhat are the closest beaches to Paris?
Beuvron-en-Auge, flowery and authentic
Located on the cider route, Beuvron-en-Auge is a Normandy must-see with its half-timbered houses and local gastronomy.
Calvados Attractiveness / Loïc Durand
Beuvron-en-Auge is a grotesque village.
Not ridiculous, but grotesque, from the name of these whimsical ornaments on the facades of certain mansions.
They haven't aged a bit since the 16th century.
And to tell the truth, everything seems frozen in this village of Calvados.
The half-timbered houses are close to each other.
It looks like a movie set, especially in front of the Vieux-Manoir, the proudest of all.
Beuvron is a condensed version of Normandy, 200 inhabitants, a café owner who works as a hairdresser and apple trees along the stud farms.
Even the name of the village breathes the terroir: "en-Auge", the land of cider and Camembert.
When you come here, there are obligations, like tasting Teurgoule, a dessert made with rice, milk and cinnamon - nothing to do with rice pudding.
To digest, walk to the chapel of Clermont-en-Auge,
How to get there ?
Allow 1 hour 50 minutes by train from Paris to Lisieux then 30 minutes by car on the D50.
Read alsoOn the Norman lands of the Pays d'Auge, a walk in the land of Camembert
Étretat, mysterious and romantic
Famous for its needles and its chalk arches plunging into the sea, Étretat is a very popular seaside resort, where people also come to stroll on the cliffs.
Le Havre-Étretat tourism / Vincent Rustuel
Étretat is first of all a dilemma: one wonders where to start, the cliff of Upstream or Downstream?
They are there, both of them, white and luminous, like crowns placed on the sea. To the north, the cliff of Amont and its arch like an elephant's trunk.
On the south side, the Aval cliff, its needle, its arch and its cave.
In the 18th century, Étretat was only a fishing village.
Then Parisians landed and the small port of Seine-Maritime became a place of vacation, an inspiration for artists, necessarily with these colors, these lights.
Today, Étretat is no longer really a village.
It's a legend.
How to get there ?
Allow 2 hours by train from Paris to Bréauté-Beuzeville then 25 minutes by car via the D72 then the D940 or 30 minutes by coach (line 17).
Read alsoFrom Mont-Saint-Michel to the cliffs of Étretat, our advice for exploring Normandy by bike
Saint-Cénéri-le-Gérei, up there on the hill
Out of time, Saint-Cénéri-le-Gérei lives peacefully along the Sarthe.
Its Roman bridge, its stone houses and its greenery have attracted many artists.
Alençon Tourist Office / Vincent Lucas
A Roman bridge.
Blue shutters.
Open portals.
Silence.
This is Saint Cénéri-le-Gérei, 120 inhabitants in the heart of the Alpes Mancelles, in the Orne.
Here, we walk between the stone houses, we lie down in the grass, we walk along the Sarthe.
It's green, hilly, romantic.
In the 19th century, painters gathered here, at the Moisy sisters' inn.
One evening, one of them draws his profile on the dining room wall.
Others imitate him.
A custom was started.
Since then, 60 more have been painted.
We come to Saint-Cénéri-le-Gérei for that, the history and the legends.
Below the church, there is a chapel placed on a meadow.
Young girls come to stick a needle in the dress of Saint-Cénéri to find a soul mate.
Out of time, is that what we say?
How to get there ?
Count 2 h 30 by train from Paris to Alençon (correspondence at Le Mans) then 20 minutes by car by the D112 then the D101.
Barfleur, the pearl of the tides
With its very active fishing port, Barfleur lives to the rhythm of the tides.
Today ranked among the "Most Beautiful Villages of France", it has been the playground of many painters.
Departmental Council of Manche / David Daguier
In Barfleur, you breathe fresh air - so say the locals - near the port.
They inhale facing the sea, turn around and exhale towards the rest of the territory.
Barfleur is on a point, at the northeast end of Cotentin, in the English Channel.
It is from here that the French knights left to put a rouste to the English.
It was at the time of William the Conqueror.
Since then, fishing vessels have replaced warships, but the port remains the stronghold of the village.
At high tide, you have to see the sea bring the sailors back to the quays.
At low tide, the boats stranded on the sand.
A soft or serious spectacle, we no longer know, the fault of the austerity of the granite houses, rue Saint-Nicolas or Saint-Thomas-Beckett.
Nearby, don't miss the view from the Gatteville lighthouse, 74.85 meters,
second highest in France.
At the top, we inhale, we turn around, we exhale.
How to get there ?
Allow 3 hours by train from Paris to Valognes then 25 minutes by car on the D902.
Read alsoThe Cotentin, the possibility of a peninsula
Mont-Saint-Michel
, a Norman marvel
Known for its tides, its shifting sands, its bay, its steep streets, its abbey and its marvel, Mont-Saint-Michel is the pride of the Normans.
Latitude Manche / Nicolas Rottiers
You can see it from afar, from the meadows, the beaches, from the Pointe du Grouin.
Mont-Saint-Michel is an island, a mirage, a madness.
We don't visit it, we go on the attack, by its main artery or its alleys, its hidden gardens, its stalls.
At the top is the abbey, perched 80 meters away, an architectural and military marvel.
The Mont is a tourist site in La Manche and above all spiritual: people come here to ask for eternity with the Archangel Saint-Michel.
According to legend, it was he, who appeared, who ordered the Bishop of Avranches to build a sanctuary.
It was in 708 and the site has since become one of the most visited in France: 2.5 million tourists each year.
How to get there ?
Allow 1 hour 50 minutes by train from Paris to Rennes then 1 hour 10 minutes by car via the D175 or by coach (Keolis Armor).
On site, park in the large car parks 2.7 km from the Mont then take a free shuttle.
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Goury, the real end of the world
The port of Goury is known for its lifeboat station, its dangerous currents and its Irish meadows.
Brutal and beautiful.
Thibault Petit
Here, there is no town hall, no post office, no telephone network, no half-timbered house.
Just people in anorak.
And the sea. The rough and raging sea.
The swells crash here, at the northwest end of the Cotentin, in the English Channel.
Goury is not a village, it is a port, a lighthouse, a rescue station, the currents of the Raz Blanchard are considered to be the most powerful in Europe.
They raise barriers of foam, make navigation difficult or even impossible.
Goury is the harshness of the Cotentin, the Cap de la Hague, a barren land, the end of the world, but also the gentleness of the Channel, a small piece of Ireland.
The meadows plunge into the ocean.
Dry stone walls separate the pastures.
Goury has nothing to do with humans.
Goury is the work of the sea.
How to get there ?
Allow 3 hours 20 minutes by train from Paris to Cherbourg then 30 minutes by car on the D901.
Read alsoDo you know Normandy well?
Published May 2021, this article is being updated
