La Mare Chappy - Bed and Breakfast Holiday Cottages in Normandy near Cherbourg

" If there is such a thing, Nehou would be most people's idea of a typical Norman village". With a population of around two hundred if all the outlying farms and habitations are included, the village proper consists of an imposing church with an immaculately kept graveyard around which is clustered a handful of weathered stone cottages. Sociable rooks sit atop the old church tower, lazily discussing the goings-on below and swapping local gossip. Solid Norman houses with neatly kept gardens and window sills displaying the inevitable pots of red geraniums line the crossroads over which the elevated church has looked for almost a thousand years, and the odd tractor potters by en route to the patchwork of tiny fields quilting the thousands of acres of of gently undulating valley land ringing what was once said to be an island village . For most local people, the focal point at Nehou is the bar and grocery store, run by the indefatigable Madame Ghislaine. With its quiet streets and people who like to live their lives as they and generations before have always lived them, Nehou is like and yet unlike a thousand such rural French communities which have avoided the depredations of time and progress. For us, it is a heavenly place to be at any time of day or year.." This is how our friend, writer and former Nehou resident George East introduces readers to his favourite village in all France. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have enjoyed reading about Nehou and the surrounding area in this captivating area of Lower Normandy. George's 'Mill of the Flea' series tell of his and his wife Donella's small (and often bizarre!) adventures as innocents abroad from the time they arrived at La Puce, a derelict water 18th - century water mill near Nehou. Over the years, George has made a host of local characters, places and occasions familiar to readers everywhere, and visitors can enjoy the local markets and festivals of products of land and sea he writes about. The weekly market at nearby Bricquebec is said to the the largest and most popular in the Cotentin area, and a local saying has it that all roads lead to the town dominated by a magnificent castle where William the Conqueror, Queen Victoria and even Field Marshal Rommel have stayed. The nearby coast boasts the highest cliffs in Europe with spectacular views across to the Channel Islands, and many cafe bars and restaurants in the picturesque yet working fishing villages offer their harvest straight from the sea and on to a plate! Little more than half an hour northwards from Nehou is the bustling sea port of Cherbourg, and the stunning 18 th- century buildings of the university town of Valognes have earned it the title of the 'Versailles of the North'. To visit the North Cotentin, says George, is to escape into another world. Whether you wish to explore the countryside or coast, dine on fine foods and wines or a huge plate of mussels in cream with an ice-cold mug of local cider, this very special area of France really does offer the chance to escape the modern world and all its pressures.. More information about George's series of books about life in and around Nehou and the Cotentin peninsula can be found by visiting www.la-puce.co.uk