Granville: The Monaco of the North and Christian Dior's Villa
Normandy, France
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200
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+100 France
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1 day
Granville: The Monaco of the North and Christian Dior's Villa
200 + 100 XP
Granville's upper town sits behind its ramparts on the Pointe du Roc, a peninsula of schist cliffs, and its rock and its line of Grimaldi governors earned it the nickname of the Monaco of the North. Christian Dior was born here in January 1905 and grew up in Les Rhumbs, a Belle Époque villa on the cliff top named after the 32 points of the compass rose, with a winter garden designed by Madeleine Dior; it is now the Musée Christian Dior.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Work through the Dior collection in the villa Les Rhumbs, the only museum in France carrying the « musée de France » label for a single couturier, and find the winter garden Dior's mother Madeleine had imagined for the house
2
of 4
In the cliff-top garden, find the ornamental pool and the pergola Dior drew himself at the age of twenty, then turn back to the house to see the soft pink render mixed with grey gravel that he said stayed his two favourite shades in couture
3
of 4
Walk the ramparts of the Haute-Ville, raised and enlarged in 1720, and find the names of the townspeople killed in the English bombardment of 14 September 1803 inscribed at the entrance to the upper town
4
of 4
Walk out to the end of the pointe du Roc, the schist-cliff peninsula the upper town stands on, and from the harbour below pick out the boats of what is France's leading shellfish port
Work through the Dior collection in the villa Les Rhumbs, the only museum in France carrying the « musée de France » label for a single couturier, and find the winter garden Dior's mother Madeleine had imagined for the house
In the cliff-top garden, find the ornamental pool and the pergola Dior drew himself at the age of twenty, then turn back to the house to see the soft pink render mixed with grey gravel that he said stayed his two favourite shades in couture
Walk the ramparts of the Haute-Ville, raised and enlarged in 1720, and find the names of the townspeople killed in the English bombardment of 14 September 1803 inscribed at the entrance to the upper town
Walk out to the end of the pointe du Roc, the schist-cliff peninsula the upper town stands on, and from the harbour below pick out the boats of what is France's leading shellfish port
Before you go
The Carnaval de Granville, on UNESCO's list since 2016, takes over the town for five days around Mardi Gras, in February or early March.
The Musée Christian Dior opens for a season only, roughly early April to the start of November, closed on Tuesdays outside July and August, with last entry 45 minutes before closing. The cliff-top garden is free and open all year, so the walk still works out of season.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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