CULTURE VULTURE; Racing, eating, drinking . . . what more could you want? Well, Normandy has a lot more to offer, as Desmond Stoneham has been finding out.

Byline: Desmond Stoneham

RACING and the gastronomic delights of the town tempt most people to Deauville and the surrounding area, but Normandy is also steeped in a culture just as rich as some of its local specialities.

Stretching from the south of Picardy to the east of Britanny, the region takes in the 'Cote Fleurie' (floral coast), which attracted many famous writers and artists, including Marcel Proust (below) and Eugene Boudin.

Normandy has five departements, of which the upper two are Seine-Maritime and the Eure. One of the most interesting towns in Seine-Maritime is the port of Dieppe, which is surrounded by restaurants specialising in seafood, while another attraction is the Saturday market, one of the most picturesque in the area. The 'Cafe des Tribunaux' has also been a draw for many famous artists who have captured it's likeness in their paintings.

Moving further down the Cote d'Albatre (alabaster coast), one comes across the coastal town of Fecamp. A must-see in the town is the 'Palais Benedictines', where a large number of works of art collected by its founder, Alexander the Great, can be viewed.

The Palais is also where monks produce the famous liquor which bears the name of their order. Benedictine is perfumed by 27 spices and plants and the nectar can be tasted at the end of a visit to the distillery.

Etretat is not far way and is worth a visit to see the cliffs and the view from them.

Most people know Le Havre as a cross-Channel port, but the town earned a significant place in art history when Claude Monet depicted 'Soleil Levant' (Impression, Sunrise), leading to the 'Impressionism' movement.

The movement lives on in Le Havre via the Musee Des Beaux-Arts Andre Malraux, an exceptional site housing an important collection of Impressionist and Fauvist art. The port was bombed 146 times during the Second World War and Le Havre was one of the last cities in France to be liberated.

Rouen, just over 50 miles inland from Le Havre and the capital of upper Normandy, is a cultural wonderland and at least a day is needed to soak up all its treasures.

The town earned notoriety as the site where the English, with a little collaboration from Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais, burned Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) at the stake in 1431.

The Notre Dame cathedral in the centre of the town was built in 1876 and boasts the tallest spire in France at 490ft. Richard the Lionheart (Coeur de Lion) has a tomb, said to contain his heart, in the cathedral, which has also been immortalised by Monet, who painted the facade at different times of the day. OVER the Seine and into Calvados is Honfleur. Without doubt one of the most picturesque ports in the world, it is found on the south bank at the mouth of France's most famous river.

Boudin was born at Honfleur in 1824 and 92 of his paintings and sketches are in the museum bearing his name. The English painter Richard Bonington was another to appreciate the beauty of the town. The Eglise de Sainte-Catherine and its belfry, constructed of wood from fishing boats to celebrate the departure of the English, are more than worth a visit.

The development of the resort of Trouville really started when the English imported their penchant for bathing in the sea. It was also a popular town with Impressionist painters like Boudin, Monet and Camille Pissarro, who was a mentor to the famous artists Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin.

The town is now a port with a population of around 5,000, and it thrives all year round, not just during the summer months as is rather the case with Deauville.

Trouville, with its host of mainly seafood restaurants and quarter-mile-long market, is more relaxed than its smart neighbour just the other side of the river Touques. It also has its own wooden walkway along the beach, which is up to the highest European standards.

Deauville has just 4,500 residents, but this increases to around 70,000 when the resort is invaded during the summer months - mainly by Parisians. Indeed, the town is proudly called Paris Plage, or the 21st 'arrondissement' of the French capital.

DEAUVILLE really became established in the mid-19th century. The racecourse was built in 1862 by Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, who, as well as becoming the first Duc (Duke) to carry the name, had the famous Group 1 race for two-year-olds named after him.

When the Trouville gambling monopoly was broken in 1911, Eugene Cornuche built the casino which was soon surrounded by the Normandy and Royale hotels. The famous 'Les Planches' (wooden walkway) was constructed in 1923 and the rich and famous have been strolling down it ever since.

One of Boudin's most famous paintings was 'Le Bassin, Deauville', and he died in the resort in 1898. Gustave Flaubert was also a regular at Deauville, which also plays host to the American Film Festival soon after the racing fraternity abandons the town at the end of August.

Any Deauville visitors who might want to set off on a pilgrimage do not have to go far, as Lisieux is just half an hour down the road. This shrine, which now attracts more than two million worshippers a year, was made famous by St Therese. A Carmelite nun who died of tuberculosis in 1897 at the age of 24, she was canonised in 1925, and the basilica which bears her name was consecrated in 1954.

A visit to the Cathedrale St-Pierre is also worthwhile, as the notorious Cauchon became Bishop of Lisieux after the trial of Jeanne d'Arc, and his tomb is set into the altar.

On now to Dives-sur-Mer, from where William the Conqueror set sail to defeat King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William, who ruled England for 21 years, retained his title of the Duc de Normandie, a title still retained by British monarchs. In memory of the last person to defeat the English on home soil, Dives-sur-Mer has an art village, and the Notre Dame church is also worth a visit.

Both Proust and Alexandre Dumas made Cabourg their home. One of the main monuments in this resort is the Grand Hotel, where Proust used to stay every year from 1907 to 1914. Born at Auteuil, in Paris, in 1871, Proust suffered from asthma and found the bracing air at Cabourg beneficial.

Cabourg provided Proust with the inspiration for the town called Balbec in his famous work 'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu' In search of lost time. Running to seven volumes, the work spanned some 3,200 pages. The restaurant in the Grand Hotel is named 'Balbec' and there is a walkway named after Proust.

Proust is also immortalised in Cabourg by a garden where some of the flowers have plaques with the great man's quotes, including: "Everything great in the world comes from neurotics. They alone have founded our religions and composed our masterpieces".

NEXT on the agenda is Bayeux, site of the famous 70-metre long tapestry. More than 500,000 annual visitors marvel at the work, woven to tell the story of William the Conqueror's successful exploits into Sussex in the 11th century. Also at Bayeux is the Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum and British Cemetery.

Close to Bayeux are the landing beaches of the Second World War's Operation Overlord. Started on June 6, 1944 - D-day - Allied soldiers landed on Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword and Juno beaches.

Almost 100,000 soldiers never returned home and there are nearly 30 cemeteries in this region, where the dead of British, American, Canadian, French, German and Polish troops are commemorated. It is a very moving experience to spend a few hours in this part of Normandy.

Finally, it is on to the Mont-St-Michel to end the Normandy tour with an omelette at the famous 'La Mere Poulard' restaurant.

CAPTION(S):

An artist captures a typical scene at Honfleur, one of the prettiest ports in the world