What to see in France

Normandy holidays: discover the Eure by camping

Les Andelys (Eure)
Les Andelys (Eure)

About sixty kilometres west of Paris and the Ile-de-France region, the most wooded department in Normandy also has vast rural plateaux. Enjoy the charm of the valleys where peaceful rivers flow, with thatched cottages, numerous castles and a few abbeys. Ideal for camping holidays.

Start in Evreux, the main town of the Eure. Around the former abbey-church and the flamboyant Gothic cathedral you will find wash houses, a few wooden sections and beautifully decorated houses. And for walks, a vast forest massif, punctuated by megaliths, occupies the southern part.

The banks of the Iton river lead you to Verneuil-sur-Avre, strategically placed on the Norman border during the Hundred Years War. As the towers, the fortifications and the church of the Madeleine bear witness. Checkerboards, turrets, half-timbering decorate the most picturesque houses.

Places of romantic character

Crossing the forests of Breteuil and Conches-en-Ouche, you reach the distinguished château de Beaumesnil (17th) surrounded by a large park. Further west, no less than twelve thousand plants embellish the Broglie water garden. Following the undulations of the Charentonne valley, marked by the memory of the forges, you reach the monumental and luminous abbey church of Bernay.

Passing through the charming villages of Menneval and Serquigny, observe the imposing ramparts of the medieval priory of Beaumont-le-Roger.

On the immense countryside plateau of the Neubourg, sumptuous gardens adorn the elegant château of the Champ de Bataille (17th). A little further on, 400 varieties of trees decorate the château d'Harcourt (12th-14th).

Brionne, a fortified town under William the Conqueror, preserves the ruins of a perched keep.

A feast for the eyes still in the laughing valley of Bec-Hellouin, with its beautiful white Benedictine abbey, founded in the 11th century.

Campsites in the Eure

For your next camping holiday in the Eure, in Normandy, choose for example the Domaine de la Catinière campsite **** in Fiquefleur-Equainville, the Château de Bouafles campsite ****, Les Fontaines in Ivry-la-Bataille *** or the Fosses Rouges campsite ** in Saint-Marcel.

The charm of the Normandy countryside

Typical manor houses, thatched cottages and dovecotes accompany you along the authentic Risle which frolics in the middle of the ponds. With its venerable fragrant pines, the forest of Montfort, with its rugged character, has a mountainous appearance.

From the canals of Pont-Audemer, the little Venice of Normandy, head towards the magnificent Marais Vernier, with its belvedere over the Seine and the Pont de Normandie.

The old drapery city of Louviers has kept some architectural traces of its development, not far from one of the loops of the Seine. Discover also the Renaissance castle of Acquigny, the historic cities of Gaillon and Vernon.

On the other side of the Seine, at Les Andelys, stand the impressive remains of Château-Gaillard, built by Richard the Lionheart more than 800 years ago. With an unforgettable panorama of the loops of the river.

As you go deeper into the Vexin, admire the dungeon and the collegiate church of Gisors. You will also be delighted by the rolling hills of the Lyons national forest, which covers almost 15,000 hectares. The beech wood is one of the most beautiful in Europe, criss-crossed by paths.

Finally, marvel in Giverny in the alleys of the fabulous multicoloured garden of the impressionist painter Claude Monet.

 

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