03/09/2026
💚 Sometimes the loveliest messages come from people who aren't even our guests.
This week I received an email from Karo in Germany, who found the Holidays-Normandy blog while planning her first trip to Normandy.
She and her partner aren't staying at Ursula Gîte. In fact, our 17th-century barn has been comprehensively beaten by a rooftop tent. 😂 They're setting off on their Normandy adventure and camping along the way.
But Karo took the time to write simply to say thank you.
She told me she'd found lots of useful information and tips in the blog, that it had helped reassure them about travelling here despite their worries about the language, and that reading it made her want to set off immediately.
And then she said:
💚 “Your blog is so detailed, helpful and lovingly written... You should write a travel guide.”
Considering how many evenings I've spent researching events, checking opening times, writing, translating, updating and generally disappearing down Normandy-shaped rabbit holes, that meant rather a lot.
I never wanted the blog to be just another collection of “10 things to do in Normandy” articles.
I wanted it to be genuinely useful. The sort of thing I'd have liked to find when we first started exploring this corner of France ourselves, with the places we love, the things we've discovered, the practical bits people actually need to know and the occasional bit of nonsense thrown in for good measure.
So receiving an email like this from someone I've never met, who isn't booking anything and simply wanted to say thank you, was rather special.
Thank you, Karo. 💚
Have a fantastic first trip to Normandy. And if that rooftop tent happens to bring you through Coutances, you know where we are. 🇫🇷
Pichou, meanwhile, appears extremely enthusiastic about the travel-guide idea. 🦙😂
