Today the Telegraph reports on Lower Normandy coast and islands - very close to England and well served by ferry ports
Driving west along the Alabaster Coast – named because the sea is milky with chalk – brings you to Etretat, an elegant resort famed for its magnificent wave- crashing setting.
On the Falaise d’Aval and d’Amont cliff walks you can marvel at sea-sculpted features such as the Manneporte arch and the Aiguille. Off the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula lies the “warrior island” of Tatihou. Accessible via a 10-minute boat crossing from St Vaast- la-Hougue, the wild beauty of this moorland, dune and shingle nature reserve is enhanced by the imposing Vauban Tower.
With perfect toytown machicolations, the tower dominates a 17th-century chateau designed by royal engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. Children relish a tour of gunpowder store, sleeping quarters, cannon-platform and fortified farm complete with barracks and chapel.
Further up the Cherbourg peninsula, the Gatteville lighthouse is another skyscraper well worth a visit and a climb to the top – ideally fuelled by a moules- frites lunch in nearby Barfleur, the Anglo-Norman kingdom’s leading port. Tradition has it that the boat that carried William the Conqueror to England was built here. What is the magic of Mont-St-Michel? The early eighth- century abbey – complete with causeway, ramparts, village and garden – perches on top of a rock, rising majestically out of the sea in a beautiful bay. Tides faster than a galloping horse can separate it from the mainland. The air resonates with ancient pilgrim tales of quicksand and fogs. Aim for low tide and cross the marshes barefoot, or try to catch the sunset over the bay from the steps of the abbey church.
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