Dreaming Of France: On The Trail Of 4 Normandy Churches

A detour into the countryside reveals some of the region's lesser-known religious sites.

Amid a bookend of massive rainstorms that left thousands of locals in the upper half of France without power, we somehow managed to sneak out for a quick getaway on the one day when the sun paid a visit.

Though we have lived in the North of France for almost 3 years, we are still learning our way around. From our perch west of Paris, the most convenient place to escape for a country hike is Normandy. It’s a vast region that encompasses the famed cliffs and the D-Day beaches along the coast.

But it is still intensely rural, mostly flat. I joked elsewhere that much of Normandy looks like my home state of Kansas where one can gaze to either side and see the curve of the horizon in the distance. Except that there are more Gothic cathedrals.

We took a 2.5-hour hike that started in the village of Crestot, and then looped around through Hectomare, passing near the village of Amfreville-Saint-Amand before turning back to Crestot. Over the day, our travel did indeed take us past 4 cathedrals that were certainly not among the most famous in France, but noteworthy nonetheless.