Cabourg, a once modest fishing village
Cabourg is one of the charming seaside resorts of the Côte Fleurie. Renowned for its for its 4km long fine sandy beach, but also for its greenery and lush private gardens, which owed it the award “Ville Fleurie” (Flowering Town) label with the prestigious “4 flowers” distinction.
It started as a fishing port and farming village, located at the mouth of the Dives River, opposite Houlgate. It was transformed into a seaside resort during the Second Empire thanks to the galloping trend for sea bathing among the French aristocracy and gentry.
The inauguration of the railway line and the opening of the Houlgate station in the mid-19th century greatly facilitated access to Normandy for wealthy Parisians.
A resort shaped like a Greco-Roman theatre
The Parisian investor and visionary businessman Henri Durand-Morimbau, along with the architect Paul Leroux, capitalised on this enthusiasm to build a new seaside resort.
They envisioned the resort as a vast Greco-Roman theatre, unfolding in a semicircle facing the sea, as Cabourg had to stand out from other Norman resorts!
Their task was relatively easy, though, as they were able to build it from scratch on a vast expanse of dunes overlooking the beach.
The various facilities catered to an affluent clientele: a casino, a racecourse, elegant residences, and luxury hotels, including the iconic Hôtel de la Plage.
Marcel Proust at Le Grand Hôtel
The elite began to abandon their grand villas, luxury hotels, and the casino at the end of the Second Empire in 1870.
However, they returned to Cabourg twenty years later during the Belle Epoque, leading to renewed real estate development along the seafront, including the Grand Hôtel, located between the casino and the thermal baths.
Renowned for its architecture and vast bay windows, it attracted famous guests, including Marcel Proust, who stayed there from 1907 to 1914. It was in Cabourg, in fact, that he found the inspiration to write his masterpiece, À la Recherche du Temps Perdu – In Search of Lost Time.
Numerous writers and intellectuals followed, making Cabourg the preferred seaside destination for the literary world.
A renowned family resort
The outbreak of the First World War brought about a period of economic recession, with leisure and entertainment, unsurprisingly, taking a back seat.
However, the interwar period saw a renaissance for the seaside resort, when promising young French artists, such as Charles Aznavour, Dalida, Gilbert Bécaud, Édith Piaf, and Yves Montand performed at the Cabourg casino, breathing new cultural life into the town.
Today, the resort retains the charm of the Belle Époque, with its late 19th- and early 20th-century architecture. Initially renowned as a haven for writers and theatre enthusiasts, Cabourg has become a popular family destination.
And if you enjoy reading or going to the movies, you absolutely must visit the Salon du Livre (Book Fair), held every August at the Casino, as ell as the Salon du Film Romantique (Romantic Film Festival), another annual event that has attracted international celebrities since 1983.
Department of Calvados
Coordinates: Lat 49.287981 – Long -0.116292
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Header by Ibex73 CC BY-SA 4.0 – Sandy beach by Viault CC BY-SA 3.0 – Casino by Sylenius CC BY-SA 3.0 – Grand Hotel by Daniel VILLAFRUELA CC BY-SA 3.0 – The Strand by Nikater Public Domain
