And I will update for you and me this wonderful trip to the confines around the Mont Saint Michel and beautiful Granville. A memorable visit with the family back in November 2017, one of our last trips together…………….
So on the run of a promise to my wife to visit a religous seer to see over her illness, we set out Saturday for a little village in the dept 50 La Manche in the region of Normandie. We went by car of course about 2h45 on the N24 by Rennes onwards on the A84 to N175 to Villedieu-les–Poêles and then the D924 to the D35 and Le Loreul…!!! A very small town but quant nice. We passed by pleasant little villages that are the true flavor of France, big cities are famous and concentrated ,but the little towns is what gives me in to France; the joie de vivre, la vie est belle!!!
Le Loreul is a country town just our hosts big horse lovers and famous in France, for privacy won’t mention name but he is a winner of the prix d’Amérique horse races and others. We went for a private visit with the family and it was nice. Finish early and only other things to see is the simple Church Notre Dame next door on road rue de la liberté or D35. We passed by Champrepus on the D924 and it has a nice Church St John the Baptist on the D924 road.
Then, we went on for Granville. I have not been here in many many years and as always visiting Mont Saint Michel, we decided for our time to visit Granville. We were glad we did, a nice town my family enjoyed even if very hilly. You need to concentrate in one area and then move on by car to the next one low town or high town (basse ville ou haut ville).
The city has a wonderful ville haute or high town area with gorgeous views over the city and the sea. The pointe du Roc is magnificent and plenty of old bunkers from WWII on the Atlantic wall construction by the Nazis. The walkpaths are wonderful and you need to be in good shape to walk all these. Passing by the fishing harbor and then the pleasure marina with all those restaurants/bars along the way is nice.
Nice museum of arts and history; but we had no time for it; the name is the musée d’art et d’histoire de Granville , as well as the musée d’art moderne Richard Anacréon. The best part for us was the walk on the streets low town and high town both times moving our car; to be closer. The ambiance is turn of the century and rather chic; worth the detour…
We did went inside the Church Notre Dame du Cap Lihou because it is in us to do so on all towns we visit. Here a Chapel exists since the 13C in granite stones. In this Church Christian Dior was baptized in 1908. The choir was done from 1628-1641 and the ambulatory; the big nave was done between 1643-1655, and the Chapels of Saint-Clément (patron of marines) , and Notre-Dame du Cap-Lihou ( the virgin found in fisherman netting first in 1113) were added in 1674-1676. A century later were added the western façade 1767, and the sacristy 1771. There is an organ built in 1660-1662 that is quite nice. Very nice Church and worth the detour.
As we needed to eat again before leaving so not to do dinner at home we stop by on a wonderful place, very friendly, fast service, nice folks and great food quality/price excellent. Crêperie La Bolée, 17 rue Lecampion, in city center but away from the harbor area. We had an assortments of galettes and other goodies, but I had the Terroir which is with slices of duck, camembert cheese, and cooked apples!! sublime; the had share a dish of cheeses four kinds including of course more camembert::) expresso coffee, along a bottle of Chateau Pique-Ségue Bergerac rose wine 2014…very good! All for 21.90€ per person! You have more of it in the Granville tourist office: https://www.tourisme-granville-terre-mer.com/a-voir-a-faire/restaurants/la-bolee-normande-1034047
A nice place as we like, a nice welcome, a quiet atmosphere and without a headache, here is for this place whose décor has recently been revised. On the card side, as the name suggests, here we like crêpes and the galettes , but not only! mussels and chips are good, served in quantity, and for an incomparable value for money! The terrace in summer is a superb spot of the city. Thanks for the memories!!! A pretty personal pic of yours truly and my dear late wife Martine! There fighting her cancer……
The Manche dept 50 tourist office on Granville: https://www.manche-tourism.com/granville-normandy
The Normandie region tourist board on Granville: https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/unmissable-sites/granville-chausey/
The city of Granville on Upper Town heritage: https://www.ville-granville.fr/a-voir-a-faire-a-granville/patrimoine/haute-ville/
And on the way back we took the other road D973 passing into Avranches to hook up with the A84 back home. Avranches we know too, had runs for lunch and dinner there many times ::) The day was entirely foggy heavy in some sections so it was a good idea not to go to MSM anyway. We will need to do another zig zag trip in our belle France and already some ideas for next weekend. For now enjoy Granville as we did!
You all enjoy your weekend wherever you are, and remember happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 