Le Bec-Hellouin
Member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
A knight named Herluin founded an abbey in this wooded Normandy valley around 1034, and the village took both its name and its reason for being from it. Half-timbered houses gather around the Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec, where Saint Anselm lived as a monk and Benedictines returned in 1948. Visitors can see the cloister and abbot's lodging, and the monks' library of nearly 100,000 books is open to the public.
Highlights
- Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec, with its cloister and abbot's lodging
- The monks' library of almost 100,000 books, open to visitors
- Church of Saint-André, which took in statues from the abbey after 1791
- Half-timbered houses grouped around the abbey
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Le Bec-Hellouin (FR), Le Bec-Hellouin (EN), Le Bec-Hellouin (IT)), Wikivoyage (Le Bec-Hellouin). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 366
Specialities of Normandy
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Camembert de Normandie (FR)Cheese
- LivarotCheese
- Pont-l'évêqueCheese
- NeufchâtelCheese
- Andouille de Vire (FR)Cured meat
_10.jpg/500px-Camembert_de_Normandie_(AOP)_10.jpg)
_02.jpg/500px-Livarot_(fromage)_02.jpg)
Adapted from Wikipedia (Cuisine normande). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
2 places to stay within 3 km
- Campsites 2
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Thermal baths nearby
- Hot spring: Source d'eau chaude d'Incarville · ~42 min by car
- Thermal spa: Ambiance Spa · ~49 min by car
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Blangy-le-Château · 32 km
- Beuvron-en-Auge · 56 km
- Lyons-la-Forêt · 58 km
- La Roche-Guyon · 68 km
- Veules-les-Roses · 72 km