Louviers

Louviers, a former cloth town, has kept some Norman features - especially around the Cathedral - with its half-timbered houses, its majestic buildings, its former factories and its cloister Cloître des Pénitents, the only one in Europe to be built on water. Louviers is criss-crossed by some 20 distributaries (natural or man-made). Walk along them to explore the local heritage: the public garden, the Bigard garden, the Villa Caldéron, the watermill, the museum, etc. Really charming.