Being just across the channel from England makes Normandy a superb base for holidays.

Compared to our English counties all the Departments in France are huge, and that includes Normandy in northern France. Normany has a northern coastline stretching roughly from Fecamp in the N East, down and round the bay and up to Cherbourg in the N West. In between those two places are the ports of Le Havre and Caen.

So having all those ports on the doorstep means that Normandy is an ideal venue for holidays either by car, coach, rail or by plane, but as with more or less anywhere in France, you need some form of transport so many people take their own cars across by ferry, and the ones who don't have to rent one. Even if you want to take the short crossing between Dover and Calais, or the Tunnel it is only a hop, skip and a jump to Normandy on some of the best roads in Europe.

Normany suffered hugely during WW11 and was virtually rebuilt afterwards, but there is still a vast amount of history in the region, far more than one can take in on a short holiday - the most famous single historical venue being probably Bayeux where the Bayeux tapestry which tells the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is housed. Not a lot of people know this, but it was actually made in England as the seamstresses there at that time were far better at their craft than their French counterparts. Nice we could do something well then!

Normandy is an excellent venue for families taking holidays, especially if there are young children in the party because of it's location - it is so near to Calais, Le Havre, Caen and St Malo that nobody need drive far and there won't be so many cries of, "Dad, are we nearly there yet?" which we used to get on a regular basis when ours were youngsters.

Even the Normandy weather is a tad better than back in the UK, though it can be damp and windy it is far milder than most of England and just a little better than the south of our country, and something to remember is that the pace of life in this region of France is slower than at home, just another little thing which makes Normandy ideal for holidays.