France – Hauteville-sur-Mer (En)

Hauteville-sur-Mer enjoys a peaceful lifestyle that combines relaxation, sport, and tranquillity. Located about ten minutes from Coutances, enjoying an exceptional coastline and large beaches, the resort allows you to discover the charm of this part of the Coutançais.

Where to stay

We stayed at Camping du Sud (48.97029, -1.556557 lat, long), which is next to the beach and a 5-minute walk from shops, restaurants, and bars. We paid 18 euros in August, all included. The pitches are large, with plenty of room for tables and chairs. The facilities are very good, with hot water for washing dishes and a separate area for cleaning seafood. They hold a secondhand clothing market in the communal lounge, where on our first day, we were treated to a free drink and tried the local drink, white wine with grenadine. There’s also a van selling hamburgers, hot dogs, etc., for less than 5 euros! We stayed for 5 days and highly recommend it.

What to do

The beach is the most pleasant area, where you can swim or enjoy sports like sailing. You can also walk along the promenade to the centre. We enjoyed swimming and walking on the promenade.

There are two bars in the village with live music. On the first day, we went to one and met Armelle and Laurent, a lovely French couple!

The sea in this area disappears for miles, so to swim, you need to know when the tide is high. At low tide, you can collect clams, mussels, and razor clams. We went with Armelle and Laurent to gather clams and razor clams. We collected a lot of huge clams that were delicious, but razor clams are very hard to find. You have to put salt in tiny holes in the sand, and the razor clams come up. We didn’t find any. Armelle and Laurent told us they ate the clams raw like oysters, and Ben tried them!

One night we went to see another amazing band, and we danced from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.! On the last day, we went to see another group and met Armelle and Laurent’s daughters, one of whom spoke Spanish very well.

We hope to see Armelle and Laurent again when we return to France. We had a wonderful time with them. And after spending a few days visiting Ben’s family in England, you’ll see our next blog in September, where we’ll be back in France.