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Lisieux
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LISIEUX
, 35 minutes by train from Caen, is the main town of the Pays d'Auge, and a good place to get to know its cheeses and ciders is at the large street
market
on Wednesday and Saturday. Most people, however, come to Lisieux as a place of pilgrimage based around the cult of St Therese, the most popular French spiritual figure of the last hundred years. Passivity, self-effacement and masochism were her trademarks, and she is honoured by the gaudy and gigantic
Basilique de Ste-Therese
, completed in 1954 on a slope to the southwest of the town centre. The huge modern mosaics that decorate the nave are undeniably impressive, but the overall impression is of a quasi-medieval hagiography. The faithful can ride on a white, flag-bedecked fairground train around the holiest sites, which include the infinitely restrained and sober
Cathedrale St-Pierre
.
Lisieux's
tourist office
, 11 rue d'Alencon, is the best place to gather information on the rural areas further inland (June-Sept Mon-Sat 8.30am-6.30pm, Sun 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 8.30am-noon & 1.30-6pm; tel 02.31.48.18.10,
www.ville-lisieux.fr
). The quantity of pilgrims means the town is full of good-value
hotels
, such as
de la Terrasse
, near the basilica at 25 av Ste-Therese (tel 02.31.62.17.65; 160-220F/€24-34; closed Jan & Mon in winter), and the exceptionally cheap
des Arts
, backing onto the bishop's gardens at 26 rue Condorcet (tel 02.31.62.00.02; under 160F/€24). There is also a large two-star
campsite
,
de la Vallee
(tel 02.31.62.00.40; closed Oct-March), but campers would probably be better off somewhere more rural, such as Livarot or Orbec. If Therese isn't your prime motivation, Saturday is the best day to visit, for the large street market - stacked with Pays d'Auge cheeses. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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