Le weekend in:

Le weekend in: OUISTREHAM Ouistreham in the apple-growing department of Calvados in Normandy, is steeped in history and has a jolly seaside air to it. It’s a great place to stroll with a long promenade, a fabulous fish market and a charming town says Janine Marsh… Ouistreham’s Riva-Bella beach is a listed seaside resort known as the ‘Pearl of the Côte de Nacre’ (mother of pearl coast). It has an air of yesteryear with its endless stretch of sandy beaches along the English Channel, beautiful Belle Epoque and Art Deco villas, little wooden bathing cabins and gently sloping beach. Made popular by Parisians at the end of the 19th century, with the train journey taking just 6 hours, it took its name from the first beautiful villa built there. In 1866 a Monsieur Longpré built a house at no. 53 rue Pasteur, he called it Belle Rive. When his friend, a painter, came to stay, he found the sunsets on the coast were as beautiful as those he had seen on his travels in Italy and he nicknamed the villa ‘Riva Bella’. Many more architecturally stunning houses were built here (if you play Sims World, you might spot a Ouistreham villa on the vacation home list!) and it reminds me of its glamorous neighbour Deauville though Ouistreham is smaller, more tranquil and less celebrated. It does though, like Deauville, have a casino. It’s a great base for visiting this area of Normandy and makes for an ideal weekend getaway. Ouistreham is a great place to stroll and take in the fresh air. The seaside walkway from Lion-sur-Mer to Hermanville-sur-Mer, follows the route of the Via Turonensi, part of the Santiago de Compostela. The walk is lined with many lovely houses dating from the Second Empire – the regime of Napoleon III, whose legacy is also present in the canal he commissioned which connects Caen marina to Ouistreham. 40 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 41