Upper Normandy Attractions Haute-Normandie

Tancarville (pop. 1,140), at the mouth of the Seine, has a ruined 11th C. castle and a road suspension bridge which was opened for traffic in 1959, and which spans the Seine at a height of 51m/167ft above the water.

In the center of the Place de Verdun stands a statue erected in honor of the scientist Pierre Simon Laplace.

A plaque across from the marketplace commemorates the birthplace of Auguste Fresnel, who is famed for his additions to the theory of light waves over the particulate light theory.

Opened in 1971 as the Louis Philippe Museum, this chateau is spectacularly decorated with marquetry floors and Brazilian and Portuguese furnishings.

The brothers Maurice and Louis Broglie were born in this château. Louis is best known for his development of the theory of the duality of matter, a creation that won him the Nobel prize in 1929.

Giverny, west of Paris, was the home of the painter Claude Monet from 1883 until his death in 1926. Monet's house and his garden, which appears in so many of his pictures, are open to the public.

North of Brionne, on the river Risle, is Le Bec-Hellouin, with an abbey of the 15th-18th centuries. There is a Musée Automobile, with 50 cars ranging in date from 1920 to the present day.

The original Abbaye du Bec-Hellouin was built in 1034 by Knight Herluin. The current abbey was rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. This abbey is currently home to Benedictine monks who conduct tours of the abbey.

White valerian roses and other ghostly plants maintain the primary theme in the Norman garden at Le Bois des Moutiers.

The little port Le Tréport (pop. 6,300), which is also a popular holiday resort, lies on the Channel coast at the mouth of the river Bresle, at the foot of the highest cliffs in France. Above the harbor is the church of St-Jacques, with a fine Renaissance doorway. There is a cableway up to the Calvaire des Terrasses, from which there are fine views.

Famed for its stables and large park, this Louis XIII style house stands on a rectangular island in a rectangular moat.

The museum, a former hunting lodge, includes 100 masterpieces by Claude Monet and other impressionist painters. Other displays include Napoleonic paintings, furnishings and bronzes collected by Jules and Paul Marmottan.

The Normandie Maine Nature Park in Lower Normandy, extending into the Loire valley, has an area of 234,000 hectares/578,000 acres. Of this area 45,000 hectares/111,000 acres are under forest, but there are also many rivers and lakes which offer plenty of opportunities for canoeing, kayaking and sailing.

Brotonne Nature Park, with an area of 50,000 hectares/124,000 acres, lies in the départements of Seine-Maritime and Eure, centered on the Brotonne Forest. There are many footpaths and trails in both parks.

Villequier (pop. 769) is prettily situated on the banks of the Seine under an old castle. Here in 1843 Victor Hugo's daughter and son-in-law were drowned - an event which inspired some of Hugo's finest poems. There is a small museum devoted to the poet and his family.