Published by Lyn on 1 May 2016
I stayed at Chambres d'hôtes les Clematites-en-Cotentin in Montebourg when I cycled in the Manche department of Normandy. Here's my review.
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Chambres d'hôtes les Clématites en Cotentin
1 rue Saint Clair, 50310 Saint-Floxel, Montebourg
Manche, Normandy
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Patricia has three rooms in her terraced house just down from the main road of Montebourg in the Manche department of Normandy.
There are two garden rooms plus one that fronts onto the main road – that’s where I stayed and I had no problems with noise in the night.
This is an old-style B&B: you are staying in someone’s home, there are no fancy soaps in the bathroom, but it is clean and you get a friendly smile when you arrive and a key to the front door.
You do need to arrive after 5pm unless otherwise arranged – you can do this when you book online – though it is possible to get a key from a neighbour if you arrive early.
5 things we liked
1 Patricia. What a lovey lady. Two minutes after arriving, I felt like I was staying with an old friend.
2. Location. This is important. Although the B&B’s address is Saint-Floxel, the house is for all intents and purposes actually in Montebourg (it's about one metre on the Saint-Floxel side of the commune border). Don’t do as I did and follow the signs to Saint-Floxel and look for the street name when you arrive. The Saint-Floxel village itself is around 2km (up a hill) from Montebourg. As the patient man in a house at the top of the hill explained (he obviously does this often), the Saint-Floxel commune loops around Montebourg and includes the village at the top of the hill as well as some streets at the bottom on the outskirts of Montebourg. It’s the sort of quirk of French town planning that only surprises you for the first three years of living here. So, long story short: Patricia’s house is perfectly located for local restaurants (I had takeaway pizza) in Montebourg.
3. Bike storage. Some people are a bit funny about you wheeling a bike off the steet and into their house. Not Patricia, who invited me to park up in the foyer inside the (locked) front door. There’s also a lockable shed out the back where she stores guests’ tandems and motorbikes.
4. My room was massive – more like an apartment than a room, with beautiful original floorboards and colourful wallpaper. The size and pleasant nature of the room meant there was plenty of space to chill out. There were also radiators in the bathroom and in the room itself to dry my clothes.
5. There was a microwave and a small fridge in my room, a selection of tea bags, and some basic crockery, so it would be possible to save some money by preparing some basic meals here for yourself.
The B&B is not an accueil velo accredited place to stay, so I can’t really complain that the breakfast was too basic for a day on the bike: it was the bog-standard French baguette, jams, pastry and juice/coffee (though I was impressed that there was a hot choc option). You will almost certainly need to top up on your way out of town – there is a boulangerie and a fresh fruit and veg place that also has cheese and hams just up the road. That said, I paid €57 for my B&B room – split between two people, that's pretty hard to beat.
Chambres d'hôtes les Clématites en Cotentin
1 rue Saint Clair, 50310 Saint-Floxel, Montebourg
Manche, Normandy
Click to book
