Gite nature between sand beach and pasture, Mont St Michel, Bayeux and D-Day

About

1) OVERVIEW, REMARKABLE SITES AND EVENTS The gite called 'la Hongrie' is situated in the centre of la Manche, a lovely and picturesque rural region of Normandy which is almost an island, crowded with old houses, little family farms and meadows with cows, manoirs and castles, wild beaches, high tides and plenty of rivers, traditionnal fares and festivals, brocantes and markets, and very good food such as 4 AOP cheeses : Camembert, Livarot, Pont l'Evèque and Neufchatel, as well as coming from our wonderful farms in Normandy : Cider, Pommeau and Calvados (all the little farms have their own orchards with many varieties of apples) crème fraiche (AOP from Isigny Ste Mère) (delicious milk and butter everywhere) and a AOP salmon (and free from pesticides or antibiotics) (Isigny Ste Mère) ; if you are fond of gastronomy we have several restaurants with great chefs, located in stunning places. The gite is located in a perfect central place to discover all the main sites of the region. Here is a (not so little) review of them : On the Northcoast rises the city of Cherbourg with its marine centre, the point of la Hague with Jacques Prevert's house and garden and stunning hikes along wild cliffs ; in the northeast Barfleur is classified as one of the loveliest village of France. Then comes Ste Mère Eglise and the D-Day beaches, at about 45 mn away from the gite... Then, also at 45 mn eastward is Bayeux with its famous tapestry and gothic cathedral ( each year stands the worlwide price of war photography around october and a medieval festival at the beginning of july). Middleward, the REGIONAL SWAMP Natural Park is rich with patrimonial hundred year-old puddled clay houses (throughout all the country la Manche is the area where you can see the most numerous houses built like this), bird watching and possibility to cruise on the canals. From the west coast -in the cities of Barneville-Carteret or Granville- you can go by boat to the islands of Chausey, Jersey, Guernsey, Sercq and Aurigny or discover the beautiful and picturesque village of Portbail. Or you can walk along the long wild beaches feeling as if you were in a desert at low tide or swimm in the ocean at high tide and have sunbaths. You can visit popular seaside little cities such as Barneville-Carteret and Agon-Coutainville, and the splendid city of Granville (with a huge and hundred year-old carnival in feb-march, a street theatre festival beg. of july, the very unique Night of the Welders in aug.), the mystical castle of Gratot and its Faerie Tower or the huge lime klins in the seaside picturesque village of Regnéville-sur-mer. A bit further down, at about one hour from the gite, rises the well known Unesco worlwide patrimonial site of le Mont St Michel, and 20 mn further in Brittany the romantic city of St Malo. To finish with this little survey of must-see places, southward stands the beautiful medieval village of Villedieu-les-Poêles and its traditionnal fabric, the most mystical ruins of Hambye Abbey, the impressive Lucerne d'Outremer Abbey, the village of Gavray and its numerous hundred year-old animal fares (this is the area in France where you can still find traditionnal rural animal fares). Old castles and manoirs are not located northward or southward but just everywhere. There are also plenty of events throughout the summer with fares and festivals of food (oysters, mussels and sausages), animal fares or all kind of music festivals, e.g in Lessay a spring fare and the Ste Croix fare in september which started thousand years ago, one of the oldest in France! In the local markets which occur in every village you can find the products from all the surrounding farms which are for many of them now organic. Last but not least, nature lovers can hike for hours or days in green secluded paths without crossing any car (we provide the maps), go to a botanical garden, private garden or a plant fare from spring till autumn (special events in the castle of Crosville occur in april and then october with the british-french plant days and in the castle of Gratot in august) or enjoy the mystery of the ocean with the most impressive tides of western europe and then go have a dinner in a most friendly 'boui-boui' right on the beach to look at the sunset. By the way, you can marvel at the sunrise on D-Day beaches in the morning and contemplate the sunset from a beautiful beach on the west coast in the evening, just during the same day... The gite is also situated right in the middle of the two cities of Coutances (and its beautiful cathedral) and St Lô (which has been nicknamed the capital of the ruins after WWII since the 6th june 1944 the city was destroyed at 98%, you can see pictures in one of the local museums ; St Lo has a national stud farm (horse centre)- don't miss the worlwide horseriding games in summer this year!), both of these cities are reachable by car within 20mn. The nearest market town is