Lille/Normandy for us is MUNCH less interesting than either Brittany, or the Dordogne (we've spent 10 weeks in the Dordogne). Flyers can gain access to Normandy via Caen, Deauville, Rennes and Dinard airports. This is as it should be. Some (Brest, Lorient) have been put back together uncertainly – but not St Malo. The village grew in fame after an American painter Alfred Klotz bought and renovated the town’s medieval château in 1907. of paradise or get nifty advice for your French home. It’s easy to see the attraction of coming to live in Brittany. Live now: Darley Newman Brittany FB Live Watch party. This winter we had one day with a light dusting of snow. History-wise, you will want to know about William the C. The best bet is his castle at Falaise – from where you might also take in the Montormel Museum, with its tough coverage of the August 1944 Falaise Pocket slaughter. At Pont-Aven, Gauguin turned Breton women into Tahitian look-a-likes (and then got mauled in a fight with seamen). It is impossible to recapture the terror as the good guys came ashore in 1944, but try: the effort is not redundant. You will pay a premium for popular spots on the Finistere peninsular such as Huelgoat, Quimper and Morlaix but once you hit the surrounding countryside you'll be able to pick up a beautiful three bed longere for around 150,000 euros or a maison de maitre if your budget will stretch to 300,000 euros. It is a child's drink in adult clothes. My suggestions, going west-east, would be the Memorial at Caen, the best Second World War museum anywhere; the Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles where the Canadians came ashore; the Bayeux Commonwealth cemetery (with an offshoot visit to the tapestry); the United States cemetery at Colleville; and, finally, the Musée-du-Débarquement at Ste Marie-du-Mont, fronting Utah beach. Bretons and Normans share much. I'm not much impressed, either, by the Bretons' crêpes, though I'm alone in that. Or the kig-ha-farz, a sort of Breton pot-au-feu. The Normandy littoral has been fashioned for the fashionable since the 19th-century. Ditto the walled centre in Concarneau – the only town I know whose summer festival commemorates an absence of sardines. ... Normandy or Brittany – which is better? The gates of hell are, apparently, nearby. In between, south of the Seine estuary, the almost over-cuddly Honfleur kicks off a coast of hills, coves and long beaches until, beyond Merville, you get to the yet longer beaches of the longest day. They pedalled Britain peddling Breton onions, thus establishing an unlikely paradigm of Frenchness in British minds. Four Days in Normandy and Brittany. Beef and lamb are excellent, though you might like to hesitate before ordering Caen tripe or andouillette (intestines sausage). If you are disappointed by this result go to B(rittany)! They both live in places with long and often crinkle-cut coastlines, by turns beguiling and savage. Nor is Normandy any slouch in the seafood stakes. These days, around the museums and memorials, the coast wears a jaunty seaside air. Another popular destination is the Pink Granitecoast or cotes d'armor - this is a far cry from the more urban hustle and bustle around a big town like Rennes as, inland, it is one of the most sparsely populated areas of Bri… All along the coast, though, other well-tailored spots have the charm of the resolute, overlooking sea, bays and inlets with which they came to terms long ago. Meanwhile, the Norman invasion of England permitted "William the Bastard" to become "the Conqueror". 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