164 SIDELINES MARCH 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Travel Tips For Normandy:
By Kim MacMillan
It is not too late to plan a trip to Normandy to tour the area
and attend the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014. With
some research, you can plan anything from a basic, economy-
minded trip to a luxury outing. Start with deciding how many
days you would like to attend the Games and then plan your
sightseeing around that schedule. Paris or Great Britain are
logical side trips to accompany a trip to Normandy. Useful
websites for planning your trip are the Games’ website at www.
normandy2014.com or the Normandy Tourist Bureau’s site www.
normandy-tourism.org.
Getting There:
Flights from the U.S. to Paris are the most
accessible choice to get to the region from North America. From
Paris, you may take the train or a bus to Caen or rent a car. The
drive time from Paris to Caen is about two-and-a half hours.
Another option is to fly into London from the U.S., stay a day
or two there to tour, then take CityJet (
) from
London’s City Airport direct to Deauville and drive to Caen from
there in about 45 minutes (there are no direct flights to Caen
from the U.S). Trains and ferries also run from Great Britain to
Caen and Deauville. Many travel booking web sites offer the
chance to sign up for alerts when airfares drop in price as airfare
will be a major portion of the cost of your trip.
If you plan to rent a car while you are attending the Games
and touring Normandy, please note whether or not the place you
are staying has ample parking and whether parking is included
in your lodging price or costs extra. As driving to and parking at
the Games venues will be limited, it may be that you will have
to park in designated lots and ride a shuttle bus or train to get to
the actual venue. Information about this will be provided on the
Games website or with your tickets.
Housing:
There are a wide variety of hotels and chateaus
with rooms available in Normandy. Or, you can rent houses,
vacation apartments or private rooms. One site to look at when
searching for a vacation rental in France is
-
france.com/ (“gite” is a French word for a vacation rental house).
A simple Internet search for hotels or for rooms, houses or
vacation apartments to rent in Caen or Normandy will also yield
quite a few choices. For families on a budget, or if you enjoy
outdoor living, check out campsites (complete with camper,
cabin or tents) that can be reserved though Key Camp at www.
ukcaravanhire.org/keycamp/normandy.html. Another camping
website is for La Cõte de Nacre campground at
-
cote-de-nacre.com. Also check out links to housing options on
the Games and Normandy Tourism websites listed above.
Tickets for the Games:
Tickets for the Games may be
purchased either from Equestrian Tours LLC here in the U.S.
(in Vermont at 1-888-721-6421 or
) or
directly from the Games’ site – highlight the “Practical” tab and
you will see “Tickets” in the drop–down menu – click on that
to take you to the ticketing site. Equestrian Tours LLC offers
everything from complete tour packages to just tickets to the
events. Two types of admission tickets are available – tickets
for the actual sporting competition sessions or tickets that allow
you access only to the Games Village where a wide variety of
free entertainment, demonstrations, displays, shopping and
educational events will be offered. Games Village access does
come with the purchase of the sporting event tickets on the date
of your chosen event.
Other Fun Things to Do:
Normandy is also the birthplace of
Impressionist art and was home to, among other artists, Claude
Monet. Normandy is home to four regional nature parks. Cooking
classes and food and drink “trails” (driving routes marked with
stops to sample the local treats) are also fun pursuits. And, there
is a plethora of other museums, historical attractions and scenic
views throughout Normandy.
Survival Tips:
Although the weather is usually quite nice in
August and September in Normandy, because of the location
near the English Channel, it is good to have a light jacket and
rain gear on hand just in case. Average highs at that time of year
are in the high 60s to low 70s (Fahrenheit) with lows in the 50s.
On average, August has 7.25 rainy days and September has
around 9 rainy days.
You will encounter many English-speaking people in
Normandy, but it is a good idea to learn at least the basics in
French – even knowing please (s’il vous plait) and thank you
(merci) will go a long way to friendly communication. Most tourist
attractions will have English-speaking tours, but they will likely be
offered fewer times a day than tours in French, so ask ahead of
time when tours in English are available.
Remember to take with you the proper type of electrical plug
converter (voltage converter) for your electronic devices. Another
decision to make is whether or not your cellular phone service
will work in Europe and how much it will cost or if it is more cost
effective to purchase temporary European phone service once
you arrive. Most hotels have Internet service provided with your
room or you can go to Internet cafés or rent a portable Internet
device (these are now available at most car rental outlets in
Europe or for purchase online). Finally, France is a member
of the European Union, so you will need Euros – you can get
them ahead of time in North America at bigger banks, or through
AAA or CAA, or you can convert dollars to Euros at the airport
when you arrive or withdraw cash in Euros at an ATM. There are
places that will not take credit cards, so do plan to have some
cash on hand.
Map Courtesy of Studio UNIK.
