Page 90 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - France

88 BACK ROADS FRANCE

Normandy’s Wild West

Western Normandy has far less of the luxuriant Orglandes
softness so prominent in the countryside east of
BARNEVILLE- St-Sauveur- Crosville Chef-du-
Caen. The Cotentin peninsula is a giant slab of Carteret CARTERET le-Vicomte Pont
granite, jutting out into the Atlantic, and this grey Cap de Pont-l'Abbé
Carteret Carquebut
stone is a prime characteristic of its villages and St-Georges-de-
la-Rivière
sturdy manor houses. Its west coast has an Portbail
invigorating wildness, with long stretches of St-Rémy-des-
underused beaches and windswept dunes St Peter Port Landes St-Jores
La Haye-
punctuated by small-scale resorts and fishing St Helier Surville Bretteville- du-Puits
harbours, leading down to vast sand flats and salt sur-Ay
marshes of the bay of Mont-St-Michel. Behind the St-Germain-
sur-Ay LESSAY
coast there are silent marshes and the dense land-
scape of the bocage. At either end of this drive are Pirou Périers
two of the most astonishing sights – the Bayeux CHÂTEAU
DE PIROU
Tapestry and the island-abbey of Mont-St-Michel.
St-Sauveur-
Lendelin
Ancteville
CHÂTEAU DE
Gouville-
sur-Mer GRATOT
Agon- COUTANCES
Coutainville Tourville-
sur-Sienne
Hyenville
Heuteville-
Plage Les Hauts-
Vents
St-Denis-
le-Gast
Sienne
La Baleine
Cérences
St-Martin- Gavray
de-Bréhal Bréhal
Ver
Le Mesnil-
GRANVILLE Le Meurdraquière Rogues
Above Calm waters of the bay of Mont-St-Michel, see p95 Équilly
St-Pair- St-Jean-
ACTIVITIES sur-Mer des-Champs
St Helier La Haye-
Jullouville Pesnel
Soak up the small-town atmosphere on a stroll around the LA LUCERNE
charming streets of old Bayeux Carolles D’OUTREMER
Spot grebes, cormorants and marsh harriers on a boat trip CHAMPEAUX
through the Cotentin Marais St-Jean-le- Marcey-
Thomas
les-Grèves
Surf or just splash in the waves on the beaches around
Baie du Mont Vains
Barneville-Carteret St-Michel Genêts
St-Léonard AVRANCHES
Scan the horizon from the walls of the Château de Pirou GROUIN DU SUD
MONT-ST-MICHEL
Dine on lobster fresh from the sea at Granville harbour, and Courtils Pontaubault
gutsy sausages and cheeses at a village auberge
Servon
Get to the roots of French fashion at Granville’s Musée
Christian Dior 0 kilometres 8
Listen to the silence and breathe the fantastically fresh air on 0 miles 8
a walk beside the bay of Mont-St-Michel