Focus On: Deauville and Mount St Michel

About two hours north west of Paris and along the waters of the English Chanel, you find the first of the two cities of this article - Deauville. This picturesque city is regarded as the Parisian Riviera due to its magnetic pull of french high society families over the years as their summer spot and its close proximity to Paris. I mean, Coco Chanel had her second shop between the Casino and the Hotel Normandy, and along the streets of Deauville she tested her clothing designs. And if you doubt the high society lineage in the town, there’s the Deauville-La Touques Racecourse and hundreds of horse fields sprinkled along the periphery of the town. Plus, they have their own international film festival in the form of the Deauville American Film Festival.

In the eyes of an Central American (continent not “country”), the architecture of the houses in brown and cream tones and the occasional cold and dark blue roof tiles. And then there was the beach…another thing completely new experience. They plow the whole beach to flatten the sands…and the funny side effect is that all the sea shells that are plentiful in the area get turn into tiny shards that will stab your foot. So taking a nice thick blanket/sunbathing pad is a must.

The beaches of Deauville themselves are not entirely dog friendly. You can take your furry friend for a walk along the water only from 7 am to 10 am. After that, dogs are allowed only to the boardwalk. Alongside the boardwalk are the stalls with names of celebrities. Obviously, it is a very popular with non-locals and we had to get photos.

We booked a one night stay at the Manoir des Lions de Tourgéville - a gorgeous 18th century mansion that rents outs its 4 rooms. The property has a huge back garden and is only a short 5 minute drive out of Deauville. To add to the experience, the breakfasts are included and are comprised of a yummy selection of platters of cheese, pastries and meats, along fresh fruit, coffee and they will conjure up an omelette upon your request.

Since we had Dante and he is obsessed with swimming, we spent the whole morning at the beach. Funny story - remember how I mentioned above that dogs are not allowed? Well, we managed to keep our small dog with us the whole time inside of his travel bag. He behaved well and no one cared he was there.

Oh, before I forget. The restaurants along the beach are horrendous for the service. We tried to get some food because it was Dante’s eating time and we ended up walking away from two after ignoring us hard. Other than for drinks, just avoid the restaurants along the beach.

We then drove towards Mount St Michel.

Before we begin - Mount St Michel is off limits to cars and buses. There is the little village right outside that allows vehicles only if they have a pass or the code to get inside the gate at the entrance. So, if you book a hotel inside the limits of the little village and you don’t know what the hell the code is for, it’s for the gate to get inside. For those just visiting, you have public parking spaces and shuttles that take you inside Mount St Michel itself.

You can walk alright from the public parking all the way to the walled city itself, but if it’s the peak of summer and, like it happened to us, it is during a heatwave, you might prefer the shuttles. Special note for those travelling with dogs - they are allowed inside of Mount St Michel, but they have to be inside a transport bag in the bus. We ran into some issues on the way back towards our hotel when they were asking us to put Boo in a bag or walk back. Holding him in your arms wasn’t enough - it has to be inside a bag. Funnily, no one cared on the way there and there were no signs at all posted anywhere about this rule. Boo went into the bus inside our travel bag and went out into our arms the moment the bus departed. We could have walked back, but the weather was around 40C and we had our 2 year old.

Inside the walls of Mount St Michel is quite unique. Everything is going up steps which means it is not friendly to baby strollers/pushcarts/baby carts, etc. There is a map at the entrance with a suggested route to take and a water fountain which is a godsend to refill your bottle or canteen. Other than that, it is an unique experience to explore the streets of the city-fort, visit the shops and maybe get a drink with a good view of the coastline…and if you are extremely lucky, you get to see the rising tide streak up the bay. It is like watching a little tsunami and we got to witness it from atop the south western wall. You can safely walk around Mount St Michel as long as the tide is down, just be mindful that the northern side might have thick mud in the shade created by the city-fort.

Going back to the village, you have about 4 options for restaurants and all are pretty good. Our hotel - Mercure - had breakfast included at the restaurant next door, Le Pré Salé. We also had dinner there and it was quite good. The other restaurant we tried was right at the entrance by the gate of the village - La Ferme Saint Michel. We loved the food there. Just book in advance, specially for la Ferme.

Hope you enjoyed our little recount and experience visiting these lovely places along the northern coast of France. If you have any questions, just send us an email or DM us on our Instagram page.