In the heart of the Cotentin and Bessin Marshes Regional Natural Park, discover a territory with a remarkable heritage. Stroll and appreciate the diversity of landscapes and relive the highlights which have marked this land steeped in history through the essential sites of the Battle of Normandy.
Towns
All the information you need to organize your stay in the Cotentin Bay.
Here is the list of destinations to explore!
01
The Normandy landings
02
Maison du Parc naturel régional des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin
CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS
03
Airborne Museum
SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE
04
Réserve Naturelle du Domaine de Beauguillot
SAINTE-MARIE-DU-MONT
05
Ferme-musée du Cotentin
SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE
The Cotentin marshes
a Regional Natural Park, an ornithological reserve
Between marshes, bocage, coastline and moors, the fauna and flora develop and diversify, to the delight of nature lovers.
Vast meadows crisscrossed with ditches where racing horses and cattle graze, crossed by three rivers which flow into the immense estuary of the Bay of Veys, where a colony of seals lives: you are in the land of the Cotentin Marshes .
Between landscapes of bocage, moors and the coast, the Cotentin and Bessin Marshes Regional Natural Park is of incredible natural wealth. It is part of the network of 58 regional natural parks in France, including 4 in Normandy!
Around the Bay of Veys
Its perspectives are endless and beautiful, always changing. Four rivers, the Douve, the Taute, the Vire and the Aure join there. The billions of sediments deposited every day offer, in this unique environment, an incomparable nourishing shelter for fauna and flora. A landmark for birds and sea calves, the Bay of Veys is also a delight for oyster farmers and cockle fishermen.
Oyster cultivation basin of Isigny and Utah Beach, this immense protected natural space, punctuated by the coming and going of the tides, allows up to 10 tonnes of oysters to be harvested per year. A popular place for fishing on foot and hunting waterfowl, the Bay of Veys and the polders that surround it constitute a wetland of prime importance for fauna and flora. Thousands of waders and ducks spend the winter in the bay. The terrestrial part of the Beauguillot National Nature Reserve is home to many rare or protected plant species: the marsh epipactis, the loose-flowered orchis and the common ophioglossus.
Let's enjoy it, but let's leave them alone
It's a lovely sight to admire the colonies of sea calves, but they still need to be protected. To do this, nothing could be simpler, you just need to respect the tranquility of the places that these mammals have not chosen by chance. Summer corresponds to the period of births, breastfeeding or weaning. If the mothers are bothered, they flee, leaving their young behind, unable to follow and doomed to certain death. To avoid this, the golden rule is discretion: calm behavior (no gesticulations, shouting), sober clothing and an observation distance of at least 300 meters!
To observe without disturbing, with binoculars, the Pointe de Brévands is the ideal spot!
6 white months, 6 green months
The appearance of the Cotentin marshes changes every six months. Covered by water in winter, they shimmer gray skies, blue dawns and white clouds. In summer, they let green nature express itself on all sides. The Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin regional natural park offers the promise all year round of being able to admire an impressionist and living painting!
#maraisblancs
In winter, the sky and the water merge, the marshes become covered with water. It is said that they “whiten” and the expression Cotentin peninsula then takes on its full meaning.
This spectacular natural phenomenon, linked to the abundance of precipitation, peaks in the heart of winter: the water rises so high that even barriers and fences are submerged, giving the countryside the appearance of a submerged city.
Space seems expanded, stretched by these infinite sheets of water rippled by the wind. Time itself, punctuated by these seasonal floods, like a gentle tide, takes on another dimension.
#maraisvert
Summer is the “green marsh” season, a time to enjoy the atmosphere of our Cotentin and Bessin marshes. The animals find their green pastures there. An experience that the Cotentin and Bessin Marshes Regional Natural Park offers you to live like a bird, gaining height.
Marshes are included in the international convention Ramsar as well as under Natura 2000. The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty adopted on February 2, 1971 for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, aiming to halt their degradation or disappearance by recognizing their ecological functions, their economic value , cultural, scientific and recreational. The Natura 2000 network brings together natural or semi-natural sites in the European Union with great heritage value, due to the exceptional fauna and flora they contain.