Cotentin Peninsula, France

For our final day in Normandy, we drove to the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula along the northwest coast of France. Directly north of us across the Channel was England with the islands of Guernsey and Jersey to our west.

The traditional Norman fishing port of Barfleur greeted us on the northeast coast of the peninsula. We wandered around its small harbor surrounded by sturdy granite houses. Everything in town seemed built to withstand the harsh seaside environment.

Model boats were suspended inside the squat church with a memorial to those lost at sea right outside. One of the stained glass windows commemorated the town’s liberation during World War II. We could look across the mussel beds surrounding the harbor toward the Gatteville lighthouse.

Driving on west toward the large French port of Cherbourg, we stopped to explore the sprawling well-tended grounds of Château des Ravalet. Now this was a place I could get used to!

The Renaissance style castle was surrounded by a lush park and pond including a lacy greenhouse from the late 1800s. The castle glimmered in the sunlight with a subtle blue glow due to the abundance of blueschist rock incorporated into the exterior.

After sampling a sunny afternoon of château life, we continued driving west until the road ended. Literally. We stopped at Cap de la Hague, the very tip of the Cotentin Peninsula.

Mom took in the view of the sea while I explored the inevitable German coastal bunker. Long abandoned, it was decorated with an artistic interpretation of seagulls in flight on the outside. The inside was dark and covered with less, uh, shall we say, artistic interpretations.

We located a small cafe perched high over the cliffs of Jobourg, ordered Grimbergen beers and enjoyed the sunshine.

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