Punching out into the Channel like a clenched fist, the Cotentin peninsula marks the border of Normandy, but mirrors the robust, windswept beauty of Brittany along its western shoreline. Turn west from Cherbourg, on the coastal D45 via tiny Port Racine, to the wild, rocky promontary of La Hague, and the 120-m cliffs of Nez de Jobourg, and you will understand. Mountainous sand dunes sweep south in great arcs to Barneville-Carteret, a port and resort anchored in granite behind a jutting headland patrolled by the Sentier des Douaniers footpath. ‘Rock-solid’ is the first description that springs to mind of Granville with its sturdy old stone houses tucked behind ramparts on the cliff-top facing Mont-Saint-Michel bay. This is the place to catch ferries to the Channel Islands, and it is also a popular yachting and holiday centre.

East of Cherbourg, Barfleur was once the peninsula’s main port. Now its pretty harbour serves as a pleasant yachting and fishing centre. There are terrific views from the Gatteville lighthouse on Pointe de Barfleur, where the White Ship foundered in 1120 with 300 Anglo-Norman nobles on board including William, heir to the English throne. The young prince’s death caused his father, Henry I, never to smile again. South of Barfleur, the D1 passes a lovely 16thC manor, La Crasvillerie (picnic spot with a fine view on the left). Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, known for its oysters, has recently opened a maritime museum on the lie de Tatihou, an old quarantine station with a Vauban tower 1 km offshore.

Moving inland, the Val de Saire is a delight. (You can make an easy three-cornered circuit from the D902 N of Quetthou: take the D26 to le Vast, D25 NE to Valcanville, and return on the D125.) Valognes describes itself as the ‘Norman Versailles’ on account of its mansions, including the 18thC Hôtel de Beaumont (open Jul-Sep); Lessay has a beautifully-restored Romanesque abbey-church; and Coutances merits a visit for its magnificent cathedral. This perfectly proportioned Gothic tour de force has two highly ornamental towers which culminate in a flurry of turrets, from which graceful spires soar on upwards, and there is a fine octagonal lantern tower. In the peaceful, lush Sienne valley, the towering ruins of the 12thC Abbaye de Hambye nestle in one of the most serene settings in Cotentin. Due south, Villedieu-les-Poêles, a spick-and-span little town with grey stone and white-shuttered houses and a bustling Tuesday market is renowned for the copper and pewter fashioned in its workshops since the 17thC, and for its-bell foundry. Its name translates literally as ‘God’s town of the pots and frying pans’. You can eat well at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and at Hambye.