After several days in Paris, I and 3 or 4 youngsters will be heading (by car) towards Calais to get the ferry back to England, but we have 3 days to spare and would like to stay somewhere on the north Normandy coast, between Etretat and Dieppe. Can anyone suggest anywhere? Small towns like Fecamp, Veulettes-sur-mer and Quiberville look appealing.

Also, while the brats (sorry, I mean delightful young people!) are somewhat ambivalent, I would like them to see Bayeux and some of the D-day landing sites - can we do that in one day? And which would be the most interesting to visit? If so, we would need a B&B or hotel around that area for one night. Again, any recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any advice....

Stay in Bayeux.

Are you committed to taking the ferry from Calais? If you want to spend the time in Bayeux, you could then take the ferry from Caen/Ouistreham to Portsmouth. It's less than an hour's drive from Bayeux, and you can then spend more time in that area.

Alternatively, if you want to stay in Haute Normandie, Varangeville, just outside Dieppe, is quite nice, and you can then take a ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven. However, I think that Bayeux and the D-Day landing sites might be more interesting for your delightful young people. As a prelude to the beaches, take the time to visit the Mémorial de Caen, to put things in perspective.

Yes, the ferry is booked from Calais - I took advantage of a really cheap offer some months ago....

I have now reserved a hotel for one night in Bayeux, which should give us about one and a half days in that area. Then we will plan to drive north towards Calais - I will look at Varangeville. Thank you.

It's possible that I'm wrong... but I think that <i><b>Haute</b>&lt;/N&gt; Normandie <u>has no</u> &quot;coast&quot; - unless you meanthe banks of the Seine. &quot;Haute&quot; and &quot;Basse&quot; are defined with regard to sea level - - i.e, the river (Seine) flows from upper to lower to get to the English Channel. So Basses Normandie includes all the coastal areas. Haute Normandie includes Vernon, Giverny, Gisors and the Vexin.

Search Etretat here on this forum for my posts on Villa Bligny (two nights minimum, I think - - workable for 2 to 6 people, using multiple &quot;units&quot.

Best wishes,

Rex
</i>

Sorry, rex, I'm afraid you're wrong. The two regions of Normandy are not defined with regard to the sea.

Basse Normandie is composed of three d&eacute;partements, Calvados, Manche, and Orne, the latter completely landlocked. Haute Normandie, which indeed has a coast from Le Havre all the way past Dieppe to Tr&eacute;port, consists of two: Seine Maritime, to the north of the Seine and Eure to the south.

If you'd like more details check this:
http://www.normandy-tourism.org/fr/01bienv/index.html

or any map showing the departements.

Well... you learn something every day (and on the days you don't, if you're lucky, you unlearn and get corrected on something you learned wrong!)

I spent three weeks with a family in Haute Normandie - - and thought that the names were confusing. They told me that the Normandy beaches are in Basse Normandie (a true statement)... and that they were in Haute Normandie, living along (a stretch of) the Seine &quot;closest to Paris&quot;... (also true; they live near Vernon). I think this was supposed to a way for me to keep from getting them backwards - - I was thinking that the more beaches (of the Normandy invasion) were more &quot;northern&quot; parts of Normandy and thus &quot;Upper&quot; - - exactly backwards!

And so, I made the inference that this was the basis for the two. It seems likely that they never actually said that there was a dividing line based on watersheds or elevations.

We stayed in a B&amp;B above Varengeville that had an indoor pool. I think that I gave the name and phone number in my report:

Normandy Photos:
http://www.photoworks.com/share/shar...BBAB&amp;cb=PW


Trip report: Ghent, Bruges, Normandy, Brittany:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34444403

Actually it was above Pourville /s Mer, about 5 km. from Varengeville.