2 Best Sights in St-Lo, Normandy

St-Lô, the capital of the Manche département (province), also considers itself France's horse capital. Hundreds of breeders are based in its environs, and this stud farm was established here in 1886. It's open for unguided visits year-round, with horseback riding lessons available as well.

St-Lô has the perfect French provincial art museum. Its halls are airy, seldom busy, and not too big, yet full of varied exhibits—including an unexpected masterpiece: Gombault et Macée, a set of nine silk-and-wool tapestries woven in Bruges around 1600 relating a tale about a shepherd couple, exquisitely showcased in a special circular room. Other highlights include brash modern tapestries by Jean Lurçat; paintings by Corot, Boudin, and Géricault; and court miniatures by Daniel Saint. Photographs, models, and documents evoke St-Lô's wartime devastation, as does a Fernand Léger watercolor, given to the museum by his wife in memory of his work on the town's postwar reconstruction.