See www.france-voyage.com. A popular base for exploring the Suisse Normande, this pretty stone-built village gets extremely busy during the summer season. Clécy’s man-made attractions are limited to a small museum of paintings by the Impressionist Hardy next to the tourist office, and a model railway museum on the road to Le Vey; but the main attraction is the wide range of holiday activities on offer from riding and walking to climbing, gliding or a lazy pedalo ride on the Orne from the Pont de Vey.

If you are staying for a couple of days, tourist office is full of pamphlets and information sheets on every possible activity in the region (see Activity Holidays, this section), plus maps to guide you round the picturesque (but again busy in season) Route Touristique de la Vallée de I’Orne. Spring is a glorious time to be here with primroses and and other wild flowers scattered on the steep banks and meadows; and there are clouds of bluebells in the woods by May.