Norman CONQUEST

A week-long trip to northern France gives Peter Baber the chance to explore a unique island, quiet beaches and cultural highlights

The northern part of France can seem a bit over-familiar if you live in England. It's only a hop across the Channel to reach it, after all. Before last year, for example, I had been to the Normandy beaches more than once. I have been lucky enough to swim in Arromanches harbour and at Omaha beach.

I have also been more than once to see the Bayeux Tapestry, and explored Falaise castle, one of William the Conqueror's strongholds before he became William the Conqueror.

But last year, I realised there are plenty of places in the north of our nearest neighbour that I am yet to become acquainted with. So finding myself with a free week in July, I hopped aboard the DFDS ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, eager to discover more about the region.

I had seen St Michael's Mount - the English equivalent of Mont St-Michel - from a distance during a magazine cover shoot some years ago. All I can say is that things over the water are in rather a different league.

Fortunately for motor caravanners, there is also a great way to approach the place. You should try to arrive in the evening at the Aire de Camping Car de Mont St-Michel, in Beauvoir. This aire is larger than usual and has a sandy surface, so you might while away the evening watching your neighbours playing pétanque, as I did.

But make sure you get up early the following morning, because there is a footpath from right outside that takes you directly to the abbey.

It is only a mile or so, and if you are lucky, the morning mist will rise to reveal the abbey straight ahead of you, with the statue of St Michael on its top glinting in the sunlight. You feel almost like a medieval pilgrim – except that the famous statue is actually a 19th-century addition.

Strategic location