Cabourg (; ) is a commune in the Calvados department,

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Cabourg is on the coast of the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, at the mouth of the river Dives. The back country is a plain, favourable to the culture of cereal. The town sits on the Côte Fleurie (Flowery Coast) and its population increases by over 40,000 during the summer.

Geography

Cabourg is located on the north of France between

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

and

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

, part of the Côte Fleurie. The town is on the Dives river, across from Dives-sur-Mer. On 1 January 2017, the town was transferred from the Arrondissement of Caen to that of Lisieux.

Climate

Cabourg has an

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

with mild summers and cool winters. The proximity of the sea limits large variations in temperature and creates winters without much frost and summers without excessive heat. Wind is frequent especially on the beach.

History

It was from Cabourg that

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

drove the troops of

Henry I of France Henry I (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) was King of the Franks from 1031 to 1060. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. ...

back into the sea in 1058. According to

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

's biographer George D. Painter:

Population

Cabourg contains a large amount of secondary/vacation residences. In 2020, there were 10,867 homes with 79.7% of them being classified as "Secondary residences and occasional accommodations".

Culture

Each year in June, Cabourg hosts the ''International Festival of the Romantic Movie''.

Sport

SU Dives-Cabourg is the local football team, after the merger of AS Cabourg with Sport Union Divaise in May 2016, it is based in neighbouring Dives-sur-Mer.

Personalities

Cabourg is famous for being

's favorite vacation place at the beginning of the 20th century; it is the inspiration for Balbec, the seaside resort in Proust's ''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

''.Cabourg (Balbec)
/ref> * * (1884,

Avesnes-sur-Helpe Avesnes-sur-Helpe (; ), Picard language, Picard: ''Avinne-su-Helpe'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of ...

1954) * Sandrine Bonnaire * Bruno Coquatrix (1910, Ronchin1979) * Jean-François Dubos * * Adolphe d'Ennery (18111899) * Jean-Louis Ezine (1948, Cabourg) * Philippe Fourastié * * * * Corinne Lepage * Charles-Gaston Levadé (1869–1948), * Cecil Michaelis * René-Xavier Prinet (1861, Vitry-le-François1946) * (1851, Ajaccio1939) * Paul Giroud (French physician, summer residence)

International relations

Cabourg has relations with the following cities: *

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

, USA * Bad Homburg, Germany * Bromont, Canada *

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

, Switzerland *

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

, Latvia *

Mayrhofen Mayrhofen is a town in the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) in the Austrian state of Tirol, Austria, Tyrol. It is located approximately an hour from the Tyrolean capital city of Innsbruck. Population Tourism The town offers a variety of summer an ...

, Austria *

Mondorf-les-Bains Mondorf-les-Bains (; ; ) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune and town in south-eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the Remich (canton), canton of Remich. Mondorf-les-Bains is a spa town (hence its name), and has the only casino in Luxembourg. , ...

, Luxembourg * Oussouye, Senegal *

Salcombe Salcombe is a resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstand ...

, United Kingdom *

Spa, Belgium Spa (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for spa, mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is ...

* Terracina, Italy

Popular culture

* Cabourg is the model for Balbec, the fictional seaside town in Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu. * The Cabourg area, including the small hamlet of Varaville, is the setting for some of the events in the novel ''Villa Normandie'' (Endeavour Press, 2015) by Kevin Doherty.

References

External links

*
Cabourg website
Communes of Calvados (department) Seaside resorts in France {{Caen-geo-stub