This is Saint Aubin sur Mer !!!

Posted in France

In my nostalgic saga of my family visits to wonderful places in my belle France, we found one off the beaten path we like,  We have come here by car in my road warrior trails and found me a gem worth the detour, I did found me a picture in my cd rom vault that prompted me to do this post for you and me, Therefore, here is my take on this is Saint Aubin sur Mer !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The village of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer is located in the Seine-Maritime department 76 in the Normandie region of my belle France, The Dun river, 13 km long, rises in the village of Autigny and flows into the English Channel in the Saint Aubin sur Mer, after crossing eight towns. It is 21 km from Dieppe, 44 km from Fécamp, 68 km from Rouen, 89 km from Le Havre, 189 km from Versailles, 475 km from my current home, I came here from Versailles along the D186 road (bd du Roi and Bd Saint Antoine) dir Saint Germain en Laye to connect with the A13 autoroute de Normandie at exit/sortie 6 , dir Rouen get off at exit/sortie 22 on the N138/N338 just past Rouen take the A150 autoroute bear right to connect with the A151 autoroute, past Eslettes continue to the N27 to Criquetot sur Longueville and here bear left to take the D149 road to Bacqueville en Caux here take the D152 past Brachy continue to Gourel and take the D2 road short while on the D70 ,and get back on the D2 road thru Avremesnil bear left on the same road to Flainville go thru center to take the D237 route de Saint Aubin sur Mer see castle on your left hand side.

The château Saint-Aubin is an old fortified house which commanded the Dun valley. From this period remain the cellars on two floors as well as the cylindrical dovecote. In pure Louis XIII style but with more slender lines than the constructions of the early 17C, the construction of the current residence is estimated before 1650. The center and the north wing are alternating sandstone and bricks, with a nice pink tint, while the south wing, mainly sandstone and flint from the old fortified house. The foundations and corner chains are made of sandstone blocks. In front of the entrance gate, there is an avenue of beeches. Its park adjoins the coastline and the Dun valley, a site protected by the coastal conservatory. The dovecote knew the old castle. It was originally designed as a defensive tower and converted into a dovecote in the 17C. This perfectly preserved dovecote with its 1.20-meter-thick walls, now houses an owl. Also explore the stables and the horse-drawn carriage house. The castle welcomes in July the Pete the Monkey festival, which has become iconic in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. It also hosts around 40 tours during the summer, as well as a plant fair every May.

A bit of history I like of the château of Saint Aubin tell us the first lord of Saint-Aubin dates back to 1205 to Henri de Ferrières, from a large Anglo-Norman feudal family. In 1604, in the confession made by Charlotte des Ursins, it is stated that only ruined walls remain of an old defensive castle ruined by wars. For four centuries, until 1653, the castle was a dependency of the barony of Ferrières. In 1653, Charles Le Conte, Marquis de Nonant, bought the property. Then in 1682, Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under Louis XIV, acquired Saint-Aubin. And others followed, and after In 1771, Adélaïde de Gouffier’s husband, Marie Gabriel Florent Auguste de Choiseul, associated this estate with the name of one of the most prominent families of the 18C, part of the entourage of Marie-Antoinette and the Princess of Lamballe. Saint-Aubin remained in the Choiseul Gouffier family for a century. The French revolution led to the fragmentation of the land of Saint-Aubin, which had formed a single estate for two centuries. After Adélaïde de Gouffier’s death in 1816, the 611 hectares of the estate were divided in 1818 between the six Choiseul Gouffier children and then sold. The castle returned to the Marquise de Belmont, herself the heiress of her husband who had bought the estate from Count Octave de Choiseul Gouffier, the eldest son of the family. In 1868, Eustache Dely Houdeville, from a Rouen family who had made their fortune in the linen industry, purchased the estate and its farms. During ,WWII, the castle was the headquarters of the Kommandantur and was occupied by the nazis, which caused significant damage. In 1987, the estate was in the possession of Robert Saint-Pierre, the great-grandson of the previous owner and whose family still there with Didier and Elisabeth Rouliot,(daughter of Robert) who became owners of the castle in 1998.

Other things to see here are the Church Saint-Aubin which nave and belltower dates from the 12C

A bit of history I like of Saint Aubin sur Mer, tell us that in 1207, Saint-Aubin belonged to the abbey of Saint-Wandrille. It was an independent fief from 1662, previously dependent on the barony of Ferrières. The village was formed in 1822 by the merger of the two former villages of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer and Épineville , mentioned respectively in the 13C and 12C.

The village of Saint Aubin sur Mer on its heritage : https://www.saintaubinsurmer76.fr/fr/incontournables.html

The local Côte d’Albâtre tourist office on Saint Aubin sur Mer : https://cote-albatre-tourisme.fr/ville/saint-aubin-sur-mer/

The official Festival Pete the Monkey : https://petethemonkeyfestival.org/

There you go folks, a wonderful find in off the beaten path trails of the Seine Maritime dept 76. The memories lingered of so many road warrior trails passed with the family and glad still have pictures to show it, Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Saint Aubin sur Mer !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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