Beautiful details in Rouen....

 

The charme of Rouen is hidden in the little and beautiful details: the artistic sign of the next boulanger (shop for artisanal bread), the wall decoarted with shells, the old&magic art-deco decorations.... One feels and sees that Rouen was an important and rich city in the past! In the 16th century the city was important harbour town for products exchange with Brazil.  Victor Hugo was calling the city: city of tausend church towers. A lot of architecture was destroyed during the Second World War bombing. However over 2000 colombage houses are still well preserved.

 

Rouen, the charming and cozy capital of Upper Normandy

 

I am soooo falling for the French province Normandy...and this love is more than something new, I am in love with this part of France since I first passed there:-) Its the unique cocktail of cozy towns, cute villages with lovely restored colombage houses, breathaking coast line rocks and view, yummy seafood and tons of apples, preferably in bottle of cider!

So this year I was very happy to visit the capital of Upper Normandy, the city of Rouen. And was I pleasantly suprised that the big city has still managed to keep a cozy center with fantastic selection of restaurants, bars and local boutiques. The architecture is breathtaking (churches, the cathedrale) and there is an amazing chocolatier at almost every second corner....And last but not least: here you are in cheese&wine paradise:-)

Les falaises d`Etretat, Normandy...

The cliffs around the village Etretat in Normandy offer a magnificent place of interest. Between rocks and sea one can admire from high this beauty... The most famous part of the cliffs are the three natural made arches.

The cliffs and the associated resort beach around it have attracted plenty of artists in the years such as Claude Monet.

La Route du cidre and Beuvron-en-Auge: fairy-tale in Calvados....

One of my really, really favourite places in France is a part of Normandy. The so called Pays-d`Auge is a magnificent gem of this northwestern area of France, where one can enjoy plenty of local specialties.

This local lady posed very friendly for me in her traditional clothing from Normandy in front of the shop where she is selling local specialties...

My favourite ones are the buchwheat pancakes ("galletes") and cider and peer wine ("cidre" and "poire"). Of course the best place to enjoy both of them is "la Creperie", the house for pancakes:-) As the poster below says, with "galettes" one should drink cider from the area of Pays-dÀuge...I confirm it tastes excellent!

The cute and cozy village Beuvron-en-Auge is where the famous "Route de cidre" starts. Over 40 km one can visit and stop by at local producers for tasting and shopping. The village itself is amazing an d really worth visiting, the half-timbered houses and the flowers everywhere turns it in a very beautiful place. It is one of the 100"plus beaux villages de France" too....

Caen and the museums of Normandy!

The chateau of Caen casts 4 different museums between its majestic walls. The latest exposition was showing the history of its region, Normandy, and tourism:"Destination Normandie Deux siècles de tourisme en Normandie, XIXe – XXe siècles".

Plenty of colourful and joyful old posters, yellow-paged-brochures and black and white postcards were on display. One could have a good laugh when seeing the bathsuit fashion from some 100 years ago:-) And still realise why people love(d) toursim. Because its a great way to escape the city, the every-day-life and the known.

The Normandy-coast /La "côte normande" was just 2,5 hours away from Paris, now, 200 years after, only 1,5 hours by train.