About Normandy (Normandie)
Normandy has long been popular with foreign buyers, particularly the British on account of the regions proximity and similar climate and countryside, as well as their historical and cultural kinship. Like Britain, Normandy was invaded by the Vikings - 200 years before the Normans themselves invaded Britain -and it was part of England in the early Middle Ages (the Queen is still 'Duke of Normandy'!). There are also more recent cultural ties between the two regions and the UK with twinnings (e.g. Honfleur with Sandwich in Kent, and the department of Calvados with Devon) and frequent cross-Channel exchanges.
Normandy contains the departments of Calvados (14), Eure (27), Manche (50), Orne (61) and Seine-Maritime (76) and is officially divided into two areas: Upper Normandy (Haute-Normandie) to the east (population 1.78 million), comprising the departments of Eure and Seine-Maritime; and Lower Normandy (Basse-Normandie) to the west (population 1.42 million). Upper Normandy, which covers an area of around 12,500km2 (5,000mi2), has a population of around 1.7 million, and Lower Normandy (17,600km2 /7,000mi2 ) a population of around 1.4 million. This relatively recent (1972) administrative division, however, has neither a historical nor a geographical basis. Historically, Upper and Lower Normandy were separated by the Seine, which now runs roughly along the dividing line between the departments of Eure and Seine-Maritime in Upper Normandy.
Geographically, Normandy can be said to be divided into three areas: the eastern 'plains' (roughly corresponding to Upper Normandy), interrupted by the Seine valley; the western bocage, a landscape of fields and hedges resulting from 19th century methods of dairy farming; and a central area divided vertically between plains to the west of the river Orne and bocage to the east. (Confusingly, the word bocage is used to describe both the area south-west of Caen and any similar landscape in Normandy or France as a whole.) Within the central area, south of Caen, is 'Swiss Normandy' (La Suisse normande), so called because of its similarity to the Swiss landscape, with deep gorges and rocky peaks, although the highest point, Mont Pinçon, is only 365m (120ft) above sea level.
Normandy was originally divided into 'lands' (pays) , many of which are still referred to and even marked on maps (although they often straddle departments and even the division between Upper and Lower Normandy), e.g. the Pays d'Argentan, Pays du Houlme and Pays du Perche in Orne, the Pays d'Auge (around Caen), the Pays de Bray (near the border with Picardy), the Pays de Caux (a largely rural and agricultural area between Rouen and Dieppe), the Pays d'Ouche (between Bernay and Verneuil-sur-Avre) and the Pays du Vexin normand in north-east Eure.
Demographically, Upper Normandy is more urbanised and Paris influenced (the department of Eure in particular is said to be in the shadow of the capital), Lower Normandy more rural and 'traditional'. The three largest towns in Normandy are Rouen (population around 400,000), the administrative capital of Upper Normandy, Caen (117,000), the administrative capital of Lower Normandy and Le Havre (193,000), other major towns including Dieppe, Evreux, Les Andelys, Lisieux, Pont-Audemer, Verneuil-sur-Avre and Yvetot.
Normandy is noted for its lovely countryside and wide variety of scenery, including lush meadows, orchards, rivers and brooks, quiet country lanes, and over 600km (370mi) of coastline (100km/60mi of which were the scene of the D-Day landings in June 1944). Some 30 per cent of Upper Normandy is grassland and 50 per cent of Lower Normandy (the highest percentage in France); the north-west of Calvados is known as the Bessin - land of grass, milk and marshes. A further 45 per cent of Upper Normandy and 30 per cent of Lower Normandy is arable land.
Normandy is a rich agricultural region, producing meat, milk, butter, cheese (most famously Camembert, but also numerous other cheeses, including Livarot, Neufchâtel and Pont l'Evêque), apples, cider and Calvados - a spirit distilled from apple juice (Upper Normandy is sometimes referred to as 'calvaland'). It's also renowned for its cuisine with local specialities including shellfish dishes (Calvados is a major shellfish producer) and apple tart. Normandy is an important maritime centre, with no fewer than 50 ports along its coast. including Cherbourg-Octeville, Dieppe. Fécamp, Granville, Le Havre, Honfleur, Port-en-Bessin and Tréport, as well as the major inland ports of Rouen and Caen.
Normandy has four regional parcs naturels - Boucles de la Seine Normande (between Rouen and Le Havre), Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin (north of Saint-Lô on the Cotentin peninsula), Perche (east of Alençon, in Orne, stretching into Eure-et-Loir), Normandie-Maine (west of Alençon) - and three areas of marshland: around the mouth of the Vire in Manche (where the Parc régional du Cotentin et du Bessin is Furope's largest 'wetland'), around the mouth of the Orne in Calvados and around the mouth of the Seine in Seine-Maritime.
Normandy has long been popular with the British for holidays and second homes, particularly in and around the Channel ports and resorts. Two-thirds of foreign buyers are British. With the exception of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy, it's the most accessible region from the UK via the ports of Caen. Cherbourg-Octeville, Dieppe and Le Havre. Coastal property is relatively expensive (homes with a sea view command a steep premium) and prices increase the closer you get to Paris (Parisians weekend on the Normandy coast). Honfleur has a surfeit of British residents and Deauville is packed with chic Parisians, and both are very expensive. On the other hand, there are still bargains to be found (particularly for British buyers) and relatively undiscovered parts, especially in the department of Orne. Prices generally are expected to increase annually by up to 20 per cent in the next few years.
©Text by David Hampshire, from Survival Books' Buying a Home in France