Staying in a gîte has long been one of the most popular ways to take a holiday in France. A gite was traditionally a shelter. Now it is an independent, self-catering holiday home where the owner lives close by and is on hand to welcome visitors, ensure that all their needs are met and share inside knowledge of the local area.
Gites are on offer in most parts of France and there is a particularly plentiful choice of gites in Normandy, in North West France, especially at websites like French Connections.
Steeped in history, Normandy sits on the north coast of France alongside the waves of the English Channel.
Although notable for the other attractions that might draw a visitor to France, ie culture, food and sunny beaches, Normandy is probably most well known for its significant contributions to France’s history.
During World War II Normandy was part of the German occupied zone of France, and in 1944 a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was chosen by the Allies to stage Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe.
But this is recent history compared to Normandy’s other claim to fame. In Bayeux visitors can find the Bayeux Tapestry, a piece of embroidery that stretches almost 69 meters and tells the story of the Norman conquest of England with a series of intricately sewn pictures.
Both the Bayeux Tapestry and the D-Day invasions have museums in the area dedicated to them where any history buff can probably while away several happy hours: the Bayeux Tapestry is housed in the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux, and the Musee Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie displays well preserved relics like uniforms, weaponry, jeeps and tanks as well as photographs from the invasion.
As well as contributing to wartime history, Normandy influenced the art world substantially. Impressionism, made famous by artists like Monet, is said to have started in Paris from 1870 onwards, but this method of painting, where the brushstrokes are part of the piece rather than a simply creating the image, was already becoming popular in Normandy by the 1820s.
Other festivals in Normandy tend to focus on food – unsurprisingly for France. Themes of festivals include black pudding, wild plants and their uses, foie gras, mackerel, mushrooms, cider, cheese and shellfish. These take place throughout the year, and in addition to these most towns have regular markets showcasing local and traditional foods.
But if all of the history, the art and the vast array of food is just too much effort for the casual holiday maker, Normandy’s beaches uncover at low tide, are wide, sandy and sunny and offer relaxation much at odds with the violence seen there during the war. And then if lying on a beach tanning gets a bit too relaxing, there are many resorts that feature yacht marinas, sailing clubs and other water sports such as windsurfing and waterskiing.
All in all Normandy represents a great destination for an affordable and enjoyable gite holiday.
Written by Glynis Shaw of French Connections, one of the UK’s leading independent French holidays website, where you can find a selection of Normandy gites for your holiday. Find out more at French Connections.
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Bumping About Brittany is a guidebook with a difference, a series of excursions into the cultural, physical and emotional heartland of Brittany that can be followed up on the ground or simply consumed in the comfort of your own home as a good read. Taken together, the twenty-five essays of which the book is composed, amount to a portrait of the region, of its history, it's landscape, its people, and the way they relate to one another and France as a whole. It is an introduction for visitors and new residents to the Brittany most tourists never see, not simply a litany of classic tourist attractions, but a celebration of the happenstance of travel, the chance encounters and oddities that crop up when we're wandering around, not quite aimlessly, but ready to enjoy whatever we find, even if it wasn't precisely what we were looking for in the first place. If you want to know where the theme parks are, you'll probably be disappointed. But if you want to know what the Bretons think of France
