Over the course of a week+, you get to feel the moods of the sea, as it changes with the tides and weather.
By late September, rain is becoming more and more of a factor. The weather app on your phone—and the tides tables--- conspire to narrow the window for your several hours’ hikes each day. On most days, this writer/photographer team opted for pre-dawn departures. This itinerary has you hiking East to West, a photogenic plus because you aren’t looking into the sun in the early morning. What you DO see are dramatic skies, and especially near the beach. In these early hours you also cross paths with hunters, or stop in a relatively remote hamlet with only a central Tabac, where you see neighbors joining each other for a start-of-the-day café and pickup of fresh baguettes.
Most of the time, both your phone Maps APP and the GR 223 course-- the main Normandy Coast Grande Randonnée-- will guide you along the beach and scenic coastline, though in spots it is unpassable due to either impossibly high cliffs, or private property, or both.
Detouring from beach paths not only lets you avoid full sun, but also take in the charm of hamlets and houses with a distinct Normandy feel. For this writer, many roofs seem inspired by the shape of Napolean’s hat, or perhaps vice versa. Later in your tour – after your immersion in WWII history—you come to realize that many of the buildings that you might have thought were very old are actually mid-Century re-builds.
As your path crosses farms, wetlands and thickets, you seem to feel the flora readying for winter at this time of year, as the fields begin their post-harvest rest. Then--often with no warning--another small town pops up before you. Sometimes you are on a shared bike /pedestrian path. Often, you are walking past campgrounds, equestrian sport centers, golf courses, miniature golf courses, posh beach resorts or crowded restaurants during the lunch hours.
When the tides are low, you get to hike on the harder wet sand, or be treated to the feel of walking on a bouncy trampoline created by the layers of kelp atop rocks.
Though there are a few hills in the small towns along the coastline, this is almost entirely an easy hike that allows you to make good time with 10 – 15 pound or so packs on your back. There are buses, and there are offers of rides, even if you aren’t actively hitchhiking.
