We took a quick, two-day trip to Houlgate in Normandy last Thursday and Friday for Vincent’s birthday. Houlgate is a 23-minute train ride from the Deauville train station, heading southwest, facing the English Channel.
We arrived at about 11:30 and it was raining, so we walked around the village admiring the quaint, gingerbread, and Norman-style houses with white picket fences and lovely gardens. We liked the feel of Houlgate, a lovely cross between the bourgeoisie of Deauville and the funky, bohemian spirit of Trouville. After studying the typical menus of crepes and heavier Normandy dishes at most of the cafes, we lunched at Aux Bains Fleuris, which has a lighter menu of salads, avocado toast, seafood, and fresh juices. We liked it so much, we returned for dinner the next night and I had a killer burger on a brioche bun with fresh-cut fries. Vincent had seabream with vegetables and salad, and for dessert, a perfect cheesecake (not too dense and not too airy) with a Speculoos crust and a swirl of raspberry sauce.
We checked into Les Cabines, a clean, modest three-star hotel, which was a seven-minute walk from the train station and a block away from the beach and had a quiet room on the second floor facing a courtyard with a rooftop view.
The weather cleared by about 3 pm and we put on our shorts and t-shirts and headed to the beach. When we first peaked at the beach that morning, it was a long distance from the sand to the sea, probably a good quarter of a mile, but by the time we arrived, the tide had come in. One of the things I love most about some of the Normandy villages are the vividly colored tents/cabanas you can rent for the day (Trouville has wonderful, wide-striped tents https://www.ipreferparis.net/2018/08/a-day-at-the-beach-in-trouville.html) and Houlgate beach was lined with the deep blue umbrellas and Sunkist orange tents. The temperature was a pleasant 74 degrees and we sat for a few hours reading (I read The Seine by Elaine Scolino, and Vincent read Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic, a fascinating account of the cult film). I dipped my toes in the water, but it was way too cold to take the plunge for a swim.
For the birthday dinner, we went to Les Passantes, which was recommended by a friend who had recently visited Houlgate. The ambiance was modern and low-key with contemporary artworks on the wall and soft, atmospheric lighting, and the young staff was amiable. We feasted on marinated mackerel, duck breast with roasted apricots and creamy polenta, roasted codfish with local carrots, and a yummy fig tart.
The next day the weather was as clear as a bell, with an azure sky that almost looked like it had been Photoshopped to get such a brilliant shade. Although it was beautiful out, it was in the low 60s and very windy, so much so that it was too cold to sit on the beach without bundling up, instead, we took a long walk on the beach and the wind brought out dozens of kite flyers whose bold colored kites dotted the horizon.
My niece recently turned me on to the Spelling Bee word game from the New York Times, and I have been hooked ever since. Somedays I obsessively try to get to Genius level and spend hours feverishly figuring out the words. I now turned Vincent on to Spelling Bee, and he’s just as obsessed as I am, and we played on the train going home.
Les Cabines
17 rue de Bains
https://www.lescabineshoulgate.com/
Aux Bains Fleuris
29 rue des Bains
Les Passantes
41 rue des Bains
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