First published August 2018, 2024 renovation update link at the end of this article. CHATEAU RUINS FOR SALE IN NORMANDY. If there a more magical phrase we do not know it. Six words that send us on a dream of possessing our own fortress in the beautiful Eure countryside. For less
Château, manoir & other architectural gems
Disappearing silver at the Devil’s Table, near Passais
Before tidy roads cut their way across this land, the Passais was a wild, remote place. Named from the old French passer, to pass, this was a place of passage between the Duchy of Normandy and France. These dangerous, enchanted borderlands were thick with forest and superstition. Lost in the mists of
The vanity bell of the Tour de Beurre, at Rouen Cathedral
Match! Sculptures of Adam and Eve on the Tour de Beurre, Rouen cathedral The history of Rouen cathedral is one of stubbornness in the face of Vikings, fire, lightning strikes, falling spires and destructive wars. First an unremarkable riverside church in the 4th century, a determined clergy and Rouennaise people have
Hypnotising the birds, at Gatteville lighthouse
First published 21 April 2018 There is a forlorn French poem by Jaques Prévert about a lighthouse keeper who loved birds. It is based on a terrible fact; birds flying on cloudy nights can become hypnotised by a bright light, and if that light turns endlessly, the birds will follow it. Endlessly. Lighthouse
Gothic architecture in Normandy – photos from 1865
Bayeux Cathedral Travellers have been writing about this region since the saints trudged Christianity through it's pagan highways and byways more than a thousand years ago. By the time Frederic George Stephens arrived for a tour in the 1860's, Normandy had been so well described he was hard pressed to be original