Cheap Holidays: The Legacy Of Norman Wisdom

Secure in their Norman wisdom, William the Usurper and his fighting men saw the English as insular barbarians. The whole bloody spectacle of Caldbec Hill was sewn up shortly after the event on la tapisserie de la reine Mahilde, or, as we would know it, the Bayeux Tapestry. And this amazing mural is just one draw for visitors here in this accessible region of France.

The French have always treated the tapestry with disdain, probably because it tells a story that it is not really about them. It is scarcely mentioned in their histories and was briefly used as a tarpaulin to cover a wagon during the civil war before being hastily retrieved and stowed away. At least now it forms the centrepiece of a dedicated museum in the town. Visitors can hear an audio commentary on the piece, but this is flippant in tone. It is hard to imagine Monet and his smudgy daubings being treated this way but then they are properly French and therefore serious.

Bayeux is a pretty town and would form a good focal point for holidays where historical sightseeing was the order of the day. The tapestry could be taken in together with some of the D-Day landing grounds and memorials in a single day. People with an interest in impressionism can go to Giverny for the chance to traipse round Monet’s old house. The gardens are celebrated and it is possible to see this place in conjunction with the actual paintings in Paris on one ticket.

One good thing that all holidays in France can offer up is the promise of some champion nosh. Normandy is famous for seafood. At Honfleur, on the Seine estuary, fishwives still sell the day’s catch at the harbour. Veal is another speciality and the apples are prized throughout the country.

Of course the culinary centre of the region is Rouen. Innumerable restaurants are a draw for the gourmet but the cathedral (literally) overshadows any of the town’s other attractions. This gothic masterpiece holds another English connection: the heart of Richard the Lionheart is interred here (incidentally his bowels are to found far away at the Chateau of Châlus-Chabrol and his nose, so they say, now lies buried beneath a hypermarket in Calais). Budget accommodation is plentiful in Rouen as it is elsewhere in Normandy making the area an ideal choice for cheap holidays.