Activities near the hotel

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint Michel is a marvel of Western civilization and a World Heritage treasure, founded over 1,300 years ago after the fiery Archangel St Michel appeared to a bishop in a vision.

It is one of the world’s best preserved examples of medieval architecture and a humbling place to visit, whatever your creed. Over 3 million people visit each year to see its Abbey and Ramparts and to celebrate Mass.

This UNESCO site is also where Mère Poulard, the famous chef, founded her inn in 1888 and created famed dishes such as the omelet that bears her name.

D-DAY beaches

Discover the famous beaches where thousands of young Allied soldiers gave their lives to turn the tide of World War 2 in a series of history’s most decisive and important battles.

The Normandy invasion is also the stuff of Hollywood legend: stride Omaha Beach for yourself, setting of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’, or visit the 82nd and 101st Airborne Drop Zones made famous recently by the series ‘Band of Brothers’.

D-Day Festival Normandy is also offering each year in May/June a program of festive events for the anniversary of the Allied Landings.

the Bayeux Tapestry

Listed as a “Memory of the World” by UNESCO, the Bayeux Tapestry is a hand-embroidered masterpiece over 70m long created in the 11th century to celebrate the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy.

It is thought to have been made by monks in the region, and records the events of the Battle of Hastings on October 14th, 1066 with a little bit of artistic license.

Fantastic animals, magnificent ships and dragoons of troops under Viking, Norman and Saxon standards battle, each stitch vivid with the feats of William, thereafter aptly called “the Conqueror” for his victory over Harold, another contender to the English Throne.

Christian Dior’s childhood home

The childhood home of fashion maven Christian Dior stands on a windswept cliff facing the Channel Islands in Granville, Normandy, not far from Mont St Michel.

Villa Les Rhumbs was built by a ship owner in the late nineteenth century and was named after the old marine term ‘Rhumb’, into which wind or compass roses where divided. One such rose appears as a mosaic floor ornament in one of the house’s entrances.

Dior’s parents bought this grand house with its winter garden located in a park in 1905 and the avatar of French fashion later wrote that ‘my life and my style owe everything to its site and architecture’.

renowned cheeses, Cider, Calvados…

Dairy & Calvados Farm Parts of Normandy consist of rolling countryside of patchwork, hedge-bounded farms known as ‘bocage’. These farms are usually pasture for dairy cattle or apple orchards.

A wide range of dairy products are produced and exported from Normandy, including renowned cheeses like Camembert, Livarot, Pont l’Évêque, Brillat-Savarin, Neufchâtel, Petit Suisse and Boursin.

The region is also a major cider producer, and its apple brandy, known as calvados, is famed far and wide.

The mealtime trou normand or ‘Norman hole’ involves a pause between courses to quaff a glass of calvados, thought to aid digestion, cleanse the palate and increase the appetite.

Haras du Pin

Normandy is justly famous for its horses and stud farms. Near the small town of Le Pin is the most famous and spectacular stud farm in all of France – the Haras du Pin, one of only two whose buildings are also listed on the French National Monuments register.

It was founded in 1665 and approved by Louis XIV in 1715. Besides horse breeding, Haras du Pin also features horse and carriage displays.

France’s royal stud farms date back to the 17th century, and were set up to ensure a reliable supply of quality horseflesh for the army.

September and October also sees horse races at one of the France’s oldest and most prestigious racetracks, the Bergerie, near Le Pin.