Help with Normandy, please.
 

I'm researching a children's book, and looking for a small Normandy town or village that has a nice hotel for no more than €120ish a night. Ideally, it has to be quite a sleepy, little place, nothing as exciting as Deauville or Trouville, but not entirely an un cheval town either. I don't suppose anyone has any experience of anything along those lines? Thank you.

I would imagine you could throw a dart at a map of Normandy and find what you want. And the price of the hotel could be a lot less than that.

Oh smashing! That's exactly what I want to hear. It sounds as though I can't go too far wrong, then. Many thanks.

We stayed at a B&B that was a working wheat farm between Liseaux and Pont L'eveque. Very charming and absolutely within your budget. It is a Karen Brown recommended stay.

How about La Chaine d'Or in Le Petit Andely?

www.lachainedor.com

The website I gave is still not working, evidently; I thought someone said it had been straightened out. If you're interested, someone here will give you the correct one, or a way to get in touch.

A l'attention d'Underhill!

The northern coast of Normandy is quite attractive with great white cliffs and beaches that are pebbles high up and sand lower downwhen the tide goes out.

I stayed at Veulettes-sur-Mer - it must have been very grand around 100 years ago but is now rather shabby. Further up the coast towards Dieppe was a really nice small town, St Valery en Caux, which has a harbour full of yachts. Along this stretch of coast are many pretty little villages - Pourville-sur-Mer has some wonderful restaurants.

I too would heartily recommend La Chaîne d'Or, in Petit Andelys--petit because there's also just Andelys; together they are called Les Andelys. Petit is a nice village on the banks of the Seine, and the hotel has rooms looking out over the river (specify!). The restaurant is excellent, and the area is quite quiet.

No doubt Andeley is pretty but there is a WHOLE bunch more Normandy west of the Seine.

Of course...but the village is a scenic, sleepy little place with a reasonably priced hotel--and that's what MacNeil asked about.

Thank you all so much! I've been going through the SNCF web site and realise I have to get a little guide book if I'm going to continue, and will almost certainly have to hire a car. (Being a Londoner I don't have one). So Andelys is definitely my goal, and I'm so grateful for all your help.

I hope you enjoy your stay in Petit Andelys. There's much to see in the region, including the charming village of Lyons-la-Forêt, and assorted abbeys.

Ah, I tried so hard with Andelys, but just couldn't manage to book a hotel, despite sending lots of emails in broken French and calling a couple. All booked up - but of course they're tiny. So, if everything goes according to Plan B, I should have booked a B&B in Giverny, although haven't had confirmation yet. But I should be close enough and have enough time to explore Andelys and Lyon Le Foret and come up with a feel for the area. Once again, thank you for your help. Having some idea of a general direction to aim for has saved me lots of time and made me feel much more confident than I would have otherwise.