Discovering the World with D

Recently I spent a week in the Normandy in France. Known for the world famous Mont St Michel, the dramatic coast line and the rich history revolving around WW2, I was quite excited to see it all for myself. Sadly the house we rented was a little to far from the D-Day beaches, so I missed out on that part. However, all the rest did not disappoint.

As I’ve mentioned above, our house was a little far from the famous beaches. To be more precise, it was located near Jullouville, about 20 minutes from Granville and 40 from Mont St Michel. Below you will find a list of things that you can do in that area, as I quite struggled to find things when I did my own research.

Mont St Michel

As you can imagine, visiting the second most visited site in France – after Paris – in the middle of August can be quite overwhelming. The streets are very narrow and packed with people, so that didn’t seem very enjoyable to us. Instead we opted to go during the early evening, have dinner there and visit the abbey at sunset. We loved this, as most people had left and the abbey was lit up beautifully. We had dinner at the Auberge Saint-Pierre. It was reasonably priced, the food was good and you don’t need to reserve in advance.

Another fun way of seeing the Mont St Michel is by going mudflat hiking from the shore up to the island. It is necessary to do this with a guide as the tide changes very rapidly and there are big areas covered in quick sand that you don’t necessarily see. I can 100% recommend our guide Cédric. We were in a group of about 30 people and you learn a lot about the nature but also about all the legends revolving around the mystical island and it’s abbey. The highlight for me was trying out quick sand and learning how to get out safely. Keep in mind that, although flat, the walk can get quite strenuous as you will be walking barefoot for a total of about 15km with a 1 hour break in between when you reach Mont St Michel.

Granville and the Dior Museum

Granville was the closest bigger town to our house and it’s really pretty, especially the old town. You can easily spend an afternoon just wandering the streets and popping into the little shops that line the streets. A fun way to discover the old town is by playing a murder mystery game that leads you into all the little alleyways (sadly this only exists in French). In the old town you will also find one of the best Crêperies we came across. It’s called La Courtine and has a huge variety of different sweet and savoury crêpes. They were seriously delicious!

I recommend visiting the Christian Dior Museum if you are into fashion. I suggest booking tickets in advance though, we didn’t and ended up queuing for 1 1/2 hours. The house used to belong to the family and was used as holiday home during the designers early life. Inside you will learn a little about his life all whilst seeing some of his best pieces on display. The exhibition constantly changes, so you never know what you’ll come across. Downstairs there’s also a little boutique selling perfumes and small accessories.

St Malo and Sand Yachting

St Malo was about 1 1/2 hours away and isn’t actually in the Normandy but in the Bretagne, however it’s totally worth it! The old town is located entirely within the city walls, that are surrounded by beautiful beaches and there’s even a natural pool that fills up with each tide. Inside the walls, the town is very vibrant and alive. It actually feels like you travel back in time – if it weren’t for all the modern shops. My Top Tipp: If you are into gin, vodka or rhum, make sure to pass by La Distillerie de Saint Malo. You won’t regret it. It opened in October and they produce everything on site. You will get a free tasting session where they really take the time to explain their craft in great detail – even if other customers enter the shop! As far as dinner goes, you won’t go hungry. The most popular food being the crêpes, you will find lots of other options including seafood, Italian and even Raclette and Fondue. We chose the latter – La Bodega’ZH – and it was incredible. Similar to the distillery it was a very intimate experience, with the owner taking the time to explain the menu to each customer.

On the way to St Malo, we stopped for a really fun activity – we went sand yachting! I never thought about trying it out before and I have to admit, I was very sceptical in the beginning. The explanations were a little intense and it was hard to imagine being able to do everything the right way. However, it quickly turned out to be a learning by doing kind of activity. After about 10 minutes, I quickly got the hang of what I was supposed to be doing. And don’t worry – if you need help or get stuck, the staff is quick to attend.

Day Trip to the Chausey Islands

Initially, we wanted to visit either Jersey or Guernsey. However, being in the middle of August, we left it late and all the ferries were fully booked. We decided to still take a boat and visited the Chausey Islands. I had never heard of them before and I was quite disappointed about not going to Jersey. In hindsight, I have to admit that this was my absolute favourite day of the entire vacation. We opted for the boat that left at 9 a.m. (a second one left at 11 a.m., I think) and it took about 45 minutes to cross. We spent the most of our day lying on the beach and dipping in to the sea. The main island is only 1.5km long so it doesn’t take long to cross it from one end to the other. At 3 p.m. we had the option of getting on another boat that took us through the archipelago. It’s a great way of learning about the unique tidal changes (the sea level varies around 14 meters!) in the area and also about the history of the islands. We even saw sea lions, dolphins and lots of jelly fish. I definitely recommend booking the tour. The boat that took us back to the mainland left at 5 p.m.

That’s all for this week! Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss another post and contact me if you need any information about the region. Until then, don’t forget to “Explore. Dream. Discover.” (Mark Twain)

D.x