Sometimes, particularly during busy periods, I get the feeling I do not get out much. The upside is that I get good reports from my guests of the local attractions I have not seen; and after 5 years there are still many. This was the case with the Abbaye de Jumièges: recent guests visited the ruined Abbey on a day out to Rouen from Basse Copette and returned saying what a great time they had had there. It is very definitely well worth a visit. The Abbey is widely said to be ‘the most beautiful ruin in France’, and occupation of the site dates back to the 7th Century, and in its heyday was the biggest Benedictine monastery in the West. The Abbey is on a large island formed by a loop in the Seine River, in the town of Jumièges. The Seine river has many of these loops (boucles) before it enters the sea, and this area has been designated the Boucles de la Seine Normande Regional Park.

Visiting the Abbey and the town of Jumièges really is like being on an island, but it is easy to get to by ferry or by car. Once there you can stay for an hour or two or enjoy a leisurely day. There is a very good restaurant, lots of old and interesting buildings and architectural features, such the 19th Century Norman bread and the traditional Norman farmhouse. The Abbey itself set in a wonderful wooded park, a great setting for a picnic and/or relaxing in the sun. An outdoor chess set provides something to do that is not too physically challenging.

The Abbey is one of many in Normandy, there are now over 30 that can be visited today – perhaps the most well-known being Mont Saint Michel. The Seine Valley itself has eight of them, providing a real opportunity to visit as many as you like, and learn as much a great deal about this medieval tradition, and the crucial part they played in the social and economic development of Normandy. If it is just a taste and a feel for these Middle Ages monasteries you are after, Abbaye de Jumièges is undoubtedly one to visit – and open all year round.

Originally founded in 654 by Saint Philbert, the history of this Benedictine monastery is one of alternating periods of crisis and rebirth. The earliest surviving remains date to the more recent Carolingian era, just prior the arrival of the Vikings in 840AD. On May 24 841 AD the Vikings destroyed the Abbey and the Abbey lay abandoned for about 50 years. At the beginning of the 11th Century an Abbott, Robert Champart – who also became Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London, started a significant period of reconstruction. On 1 July 1067 the abbey Notre-Dame de Jumièges was consecrated in the presence of William the Conqueror. Then, it was the tallest church in France. And it is these twin towers that still dominate the Seine Valley today, despite more recent damage wrought during the Revolution.