French getaways battling Covid-19
Normandy (28/5-28.57). Fed up with the Covid restriction, government restrictions, and just want to get away from it all? Or suffering a writer’s block and just need a break from everything? Or want to bring the family out of the city for a city to get a break with friends and family? I might have an answer for you.
Consider staying at a French 200-year-old countryside farmhouse. One of them are owned by Jean and Robin, long term French residents hailing originally from Yorkshire, the couple run a successful family-owned home for the past 20 years. With about 20 rooms for families, groups and families with children of special needs or you just travel alone and with your partner then Le Clos Jean is a perfect family getaway.
The location is not for wild parties but a chilled, relaxed environment. Going for a swim in the pool, long walks in the national forests, or just hanging out having a cookout, is a little kept local secret for travelers.
Nestled in between the famed monastery Mount St. Michel and the beaches of Normandy, nearby Domfront, the medieval town of Elenore of Aquitaine, mother to the famed King Richard I. of England the region is full of history, good food and relaxation for travelers who trod outside the well-worn paths.
The charm of Robin’s and Jean’s place is the silence and peaceful tranquility it transmits. The peace you will find when the warmth of the place sooths souls over troubled waters. It provides the rare places when strolling through meadows is a spiritual experience.
Besides Mount St. Michel, the abbey of Notre-Dame-sur-l’Eau on the foot of Domfront is a remarkable, seemingly unassuming little abbey staying in contrast to the grandeurs of Mount Saint Michel or other French architecture, the little abbey goes as far back as the 1066 invasion at Hastings that signaled the Norman rule in England.
In the Middle Ages, it was the only parish of Domfront and was frequented by the Dukes of Normandy. Henri II Plantagenet baptized there in 1162 one of his daughters Aliénor.
Another waypoint is a little chapel on the top of a near hill that was the way station for the pilgrims travelling to join the Crusades. The spot was used in a decisive battle that defeated the German army in 1944.
Le Clos Jean is worth a visit if you need a break from the madness of the past year. Refer to Marc du Bois when you talk to Jean or Robin and I am sure they will find a way to accommodate your request.