Since World War II, France’s windswept northern coast has been a place of pilgrimage. But not far from the somber NOBLEbeauty of the D-Day beaches lie a series of little towns where old-fashioned Gallic charm lives on in communities rich with cheesemakers, fishermen, and apple farmers who still practice their centuries-old trades. Yolanda Edwards and her family take a road trip through Normandy . and end up experiencing history in a whole new way. 0414-TR-WENO01 THEPhotographs by MATT HRANEK SHORE 0414-TR-WENO02 82 own Notre-Dame Cathedral, the facade of which HISTORY LESSONS was prodigiously reproduced by Monet. It has Some of our favorites centuries of historical significance in the wars be- of the region’s sites tween the English and the French. But the thing and museums. that trumped all of that, as far as Clara was con- Bayeux Tapestry cerned, was that Rouen is the place where Joan of Museum 13 rue de Nesmond, Arc was burned at the stake. In fact, we parked our Bayeux; 33-2-31- car right at the site of her martyrdom on the Place 51-25-50; tapestry du Vieux Marché. This of course necessitated an -bayeux .com. explanation of who she was (which is why all of Château de Balleroy (Museum Rouen’s other attractions will, in my mind, forever of Balloons) be sound-tracked to an endless feedback loop of Balleroy Développe- ment S.A.S., my daughter asking, “But why did they kill her?”). Balleroy; 33-2-31-21- Then it was on to Honfleur, which I loved. Yes, 06-76; chateau it’s so charming that it can be overrun with tour- -balleroy .com. ists in summer, but even so, the people who live Cornille-Havard Bell Foundry there are genuinely welcoming, and along with 11 rue du Pont terrific restaurants, it has a great organic farmers’ Chignon, Villedieu- les-Poêles; 33- NE OF the very best trips my fam- market every Wednesday morning right next to 2-33-61-00-56; ily has taken was one in which I (a consummate St-Catherine’s Church. It is also simply beautiful, cornille-havard.fr. planner) had little time to plan at all. But before I a quiet port town that has inspired so many of the Ethnography and get to where we went, let me start with where we country’s most renowned artists. The composer Norman Popular Arts Museum Obegan: Paris. A set of unforeseen circumstances— and pianist Erik Satie was born there. Monet, the Rue de la Prison, my then six-year-old daughter, Clara, had come most famous of the Impressionists, painted there. Honfleur; 33-2- 31-89-14-12. down with a fierce cold, and Air France had staged That night we stayed on the outskirts of town Mémorial de a strike—left us stranded with at least four idle at a lovely hotel called La Chaumière. The rooms Caen Museum days. My husband, Matt, and I weighed our op- were huge and yet cozy, with wood-paneled walls; Esplanade Général tions: Stay in a town we were already familiar with, the views were vast, the breakfasts delicious and Eisenhower, Caen; 33-2-31-06-06-44; or strike out for someplace new and easy to get to. abundant; and the whole place was surrounded memorial-caen.fr. And so we packed up, nestled Clara in our warm by grassy lawns that ran all the way down to the Normandy rental car, and headed northwest, for Normandy. sea: heavenly. American Cemetery and It certainly wasn’t a region I knew well, and my Memorial only association with it was the D-Day beaches and WE COULD have remained longer in Honfleur—and Omaha Beach, Mont St-Michel. I knew a little about Bayeux and indeed, unless you want to go very far west, it’s the Colleville-sur-Mer; 33-2-31-51-62-00. Honfleur (me: art history minor) and about Deau- perfect place to stay when exploring much of Nor- ville and nearby Trouville (daughter: obsessed mandy—but we wanted to press on deeper into with Gigi). But beyond that bare sketch, all I had the region. Our next move was to base ourselves were some suggestions from friends and my smart- in Port-en-Bessin, at a place called Château La phone. Our rough plan had us spending a night Chenevière. It’s a grand old estate house, exactly or two in Honfleur before exploring the coastline what you want in this corner of the world, with farther west. a perfect blend of comfort and old-school style: Previous page: An enormous We left the city in the morning and pulled into cement caisson— Giverny—the famous home of Monet, which is only the remains of a Mulberry ten minutes off the highway—a little over an hour Harbour, one later. Not surprisingly, Monet’s much-painted gar- of two temporary ports built off den is heavily touristed; you might run into the PORT-EN-BESSIN Normandy during couple you chatted with while admiring his water ASNELLES HONFLEUR ROUEN World War II— lilies at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris two days marks the otherwise BAYEUX DEAUVILLE GIVERNY idyllic beach at before. But as pit stops go, it’s ideal: a beautiful set- Arromanches. PARIS ting and a hit of bona fide culture. VILLEDIEULESPOÊLES & Right: Tripping MONT STMICHEL down the We then stopped in Rouen, a small medieval cobblestoned city strung along the banks of the Seine, and the alleyway outside ein the sixteenth- capital of Upper Normandy, suggested to us by a HUSS century building cheesemonger friend in New York. It’s probably AM that houses S best known for the Gros Horloge, the great astro- Honfleur’s AI For more on the historic Ethnography and nomical clock that’s nearly 500 years old, with battle sites, see “Travel Intel,” Norman Popular H BY internal mechanisms that are far older. It has its page 116. Arts Museum. map 0414-TR-WENO03 0414-TR-WENO04 0414-TR-WENO05 Right: The seafood here is some of France’s best—like this plate of plucked- from-the-ocean oysters. Left: Its beaches may be the site of one of the most famous battles in modern history, but Normandy is really all about ease. Here, a local and his dog enjoy a spring day (beachside, of course) in Courseulles-sur-Mer. DOSSIER Information and inspiration. READ Calvados: The Spirit of Normandy, by Charles Neal (Wine Appreciation Guild; $95). D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, by Stephen E. towering French windows, strategic deployments After all, Camembert, Livarot, and Pont l’Évêque Ambrose (Simon of toile de Jouy, lots of heavy linens, brass candle- cheeses all come from Normandy, as do caramels and Schuster; $20). sticks on the fireplace mantles. The staff are well au beurre d’Isigny, those lovely caramels made with The Longest Day: The Classic Epic informed and gave us great suggestions for off- creamy Norman salted butter. of D-Day, June 6, the-beaten-path adventures. Just outside Asnelles, we came across an um- 1944, by Cornelius One recommendation we followed immediately brella maker called H2O Parapluies. It’s a small Ryan (Simon and Schuster; $17). was to visit Les Sablés d’Asnelles, a bakery in tiny family operation where all the components are Madame Bovary, Asnelles that is famous for its tinned shortbread hand-made and assembled in one room, and it by Gustave Flaubert cookies. Being there, meeting the floury-handed happens to be on a farm (Clara and I attempted (Penguin; $13). owner, epitomizes what’s really special about to wrangle chickens while Matt shopped the in- WATCH Normandy. Not far from the solemn significance credible selection of umbrellas, which come with The Big Red One, of the landing beaches are these living, working, a lifetime guarantee). Later the same day, at Les directed by Samuel small-industry villages that champion many of Vergers de Ducy, owner René Petrich took us on Fuller (1980). the things the French (and most of us) hold dear: a tour of his 200-year-old family-owned organic The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed good wholesome food and drink, strong local com- cider farm, holding our daughter’s hand as we by Carl Theodor munity, and beautiful handcrafted things that last. strolled up and down rows of trees bearing dif- Dreyer (1928). Throughout Normandy, artisans—cheesemak- ferent apple varietals. He also offered us a map of Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven ers, metalworkers, potters, lacemakers, bell forg- the cider route—indeed, you could come to Nor- Spielberg (1998). ers, and cidermakers—still run thriving trades. mandy for the cider alone. (And certainly don’t 0414-TR-WENO06 86 leave without picking up some of Petrich’s amaz- beaches, as well as the nearby American Cem- From left: A ing Calvados and Pommier.) etery. As we walked with Clara past the endless fisherman’s shop in Port-en-Bessin; rows of white crosses, we were silent—moved a pony ride in BAYEUX, TOO, harbored some unexpected de- beyond words. Just up the coast, we stopped in Deauville; a café in Beuvron-en-Auge’s lights, including its own impressive cathedral pretty Arromanches, its own study in contrasts. village square; and the exceptional Bayeux Tapestry Museum There, an old-fashioned carousel is painted in the fish market in (we sold Clara on a visit by pitching the tapestry sugary pinks and greens and blues, and scattered Port-en-Bessin. as the world’s longest comic strip).