At Last!  A pleasant way to spend the Royal Wedding weekend, without getting caught up in the media frenzy!

Dear Fellow Briton,

Do you, like me, wish the Royal couple well, but feel you really don’t need to be caught up in all the fuss?   Would you like to find somewhere quiet and relaxing to pass the four-day weekend?  April 29th is a national holiday due to the Royal Wedding, and the 2nd May is the early spring bank holiday, a four-day weekend the week after Easter!  Where can we go?

Luckily, Walking for Happiness is organising a four-day gentle spring break, just across the channel in beautiful Normandy.

• Peace and Quiet
• Fresh air and Walking for Happiness (La Marche Nordique dans les pays Normande!)
• Good company
• Good food
• … and that news that is always good: No News!

We will be staying in Coeur de Combray: a former château and fromagerie built in the 18th century.  The property has been converted to provide five beautiful, well-equipped traditional French holiday homes. Situated in the peaceful countryside of Basse Normandy and surrounded by fields, the River Laizon winds through the property’s delightful gardens and grounds.

Coeur de Combray

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What better way to celebrate than taking a fabulous, relaxing, refreshing break in Northern France, which will include May 1st, which, in France is la fête du muguet (Festival of the Lillies of the Valley).

Le Marché de Deauville

We will take the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre, sailing at 23:00 Thursday night, leaving Eastleigh about 9pm at the latest.  We would arrive in Le Havre at 08:00, sleeping on the ferry overnight.  We will head straight to Deauville to the Friday market to stock up for the weekend.

We will walk in beautiful countryside, and eat fabulous food.

I have been to this part of France many times (I have twice managed a gite in the area), and I can tell you that La Normande is beautiful at any time of year.  At the end of April it will be exquisite!

Château de Vendeuvre

Nearby is the beautiful Chateau de Vendeuvre, for those with classical tastes, or, indeed, those with horticultural tastes, as the tulip festival is currently happening.

Beuvron-en-Auge

We can visit the pretty local towns and villages, such as St Pierre sur Dives, Beuvron en Auge, Cambremer, and Mont Joly.

There are lots of lovely walks in this area, from wide open farmland spaces, to steep rocky gorges, and everything in between.  I have been coming to this area for the last 16 years, and know many of the local walks.

And lastly, of course, there’s just sitting by the pool, or by the lake, and soaking up the peace.

So grab your place NOW. There are only five places left on this wonderful spring vacation.

Costs

We will be travelling overnight on Thursday 28th April, leaving Portsmouth at 23:00, arriving in Le Havre at 08:00 on LD Lines.  We will share transport to minimise costs.

The cost of the weekend will be £150 to cover accommodation, and ferry.  Additional costs will  be sharing fuel costs with the drivers (fuel is cheaper in France than the UK; around £1.18 per litre) … and we won’t be driving far!  And we’re self-catering, but we will stop at a traditional French market on Friday morning.  The food in French markets is wonderfully fresh, healthy, and good value, so that will probably cost less than if you stayed at home!

So, grab your place while we still have vacancies:

Download the printable brochure here (right-click and select save as). It needs Adobe Reader to read it; get that here.