Thursday, November 4, 2010

Normandy Week: Around Arromanches

Une Boteille is a nice place to pick up a bottle of wine, or snacks.
Arromanches is a sweet little town, on a very wide beach, heading east from Deauville. The beach is lovely for a walk, there's a nice carousel right at the parking lot for the town and the beach, and there are still 20 huge concrete pontoons that were used in World War 11 to create a port, some beached, depending on the tide, and some out in the sea. We found a nice hotel there which I would highly recommend, La Marine. It's a 2 star hotel, which means it isn't expensive (less than $200 a night for adjoining rooms for a family or the apartment that sleeps up to 5) --but it's right on the beach, well appointed, has a lovely restaurant and bar, and has a nice adjoining little food shop, which has great bottles of wine, cider, cheese, jams...plus, they have beach toys for kids, bottle warmers, and baby cots. Also, if you're a family coming to Normandy with kids who need to really run, this is a much better choice than staying in Honfleur, since it has the beach to run on, and a pedestrian zone in town.

After Arromanches, we drove to the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town, Asnelles, just because we wanted to see where the famous local biscuits come from, Sables d'Asnelles, where they've been making them since 1905. They are so delicious, and the tins they come in are lovely--perfect for gifts to bring home.
About 10 minutes drive from there we found a fantastic umbrella maker, H20Parapluies. It's a small little operation, where they make everything in one room, which is a part of a farm. While Matt shopped for umbrellas (and they are super special, and guaranteed for life), Clara and I visited with the goats and chickens.
I loved everything about this cafe window--especially the bird. This was just down the road from the umbrella shop.


1 comment:

  1. I applaud you for taking your little girl on international travel. These are things that she'll remember for the rest of her life and will help shape her perceptions of everything that comes after.

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