96 Hours in Deauville

by Sue Finley

The Arqana August sales catalogue has just been published, and for those of you who have looked through it, decided it’s a can’t-miss, but haven’t made travel plans because France intimidates you, here’s everything you need to know–an itinerary for your 96 hours (give or take) in Deauville.

Friday, August 14
10 a.m.: Land at Charles de Gaulle and pick up your Hertz rental car, making sure to ask the desk agent to switch the NeverLost controls to English. Through a combination of trans-Atlantic sleep deprivation and complete lack of instructions on the device, you will never figure out how to do this on your own. (On the bright side, after years of trying and failing, I am now in possession of dozens of directional words in French. If you need to know what “bifurquez à droite,” or “prenez la deuxieme sortie” means, I’m your girl.)

Enter your hotel destination. It’s late, but check out Trip Advisor for affordable options in town or the nearby villages. Former Arqana employee Carole Cher runs a very popular concierge service (www.carole-cher-deauville.com) including babysitting services (in French: le babysitting) affiliated with a house-rental company, Agence du Saratoga and a new hotel has just opened in the nearby Trouville Casino. There are also rooms left in town at the Normandy Barriere (from $531), or the Royal Barriere (from $546). Each are located right in the center of town, offering walkability to restaurants, shops and the sale, as well as complimentary TDNs at the front desk each day. Parking in town or outside the sales grounds often requires a hunt. Get in touch with the very helpful Marie Houlbec (mhoulbec@arqana.com) who can aid with hotel reservations (as well as restaurants and taxis once you’re in town).

11 to 2 p.m.: Drive to Deauville, making sure to completely ignore your NeverLost’s pleas for you to leave the highway because of traffic. Not only are the traffic slowdowns almost always momentary, but you really don’t want to be driving in the Parisian banlieue. Trust me on this one. Upon arrival in Deauville, stow your car, either on the street near your hotel, where you can leave it for days, or in the hotel parking lot, if they have one. 

3 p.m.: Head to Barbara at 79 rue du general Leclerc in the center of town for a caramel ice cream and creme chantilly crepe. Sit outdoors, but choose your table carefully: with smoking now banned indoors in French restaurants, you’re likely to find yourself six inches from a woman with a burning unfiltered Gauloise. Stroll the town and get the lay of the land. Pick up a cashmere sweater at Eric Bompard (Rue Casino, just across from the Polo Ralph Lauren store). Normandy is colder than you think.

6:30 p.m.: No restaurants open until 19h (7 p.m.) in Deauville but you can start the long stroll from the center of town over to Pizza Santa Lucia, 15 Avenue de la Republique, knowing it will be a quick meal with a lot of faces from the sales. I’m always tempted by the $75 truffle pizza, but I stick with the margherita with my TDN expense account in mind. Odd to order Italian wine on your first day in France, but you’ll be too tired to care. Definitely the best pizza in Deauville. May be the best pizza in France. I might have to stay on a few days in Paris this year just to be sure I’m right about this.

Saturday, August 15:
8 a.m.: Head over to the sales grounds, picking up a TDN from the young lady at the entrance, and scope out your purchases. When consignors offer you a coffee, they mean an espresso. Ask for an “allongé” which is an espresso with some extra hot water, thus a little bit more like an American coffee. It’s still only about 2 ounces, but if you pick one up at each consignment you visit, you’ll have consumed the equivalent of a venti Starbucks by the end of the morning. 

10 a.m.: Hurry back to the hotel to meet your private tour guide to take you and your traveling companions on a tour of the D-Day landing beaches and related sites. Frederic de Coral of the Thomas Cook travel agency just around the corner from the sales complex offers private guided tours of the area at http://www.visit-normandy.com/. With Overload Tour, you can customize you own half-day tour, including Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc and the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, or drive to Bayeux to take the standard half- or full-day tour. The information you’ll absorb just listening to the driver talk as he drives you to each locale makes it well worth the 130 euros per person for the private tour.

5 p.m.: Sale time. Pick up a yearling or two and prepare for the fantastic French premiums that await you on the French racecourses. It’s been a long day, and you’ve not quite adjusted to the time, so have your dinner at Arqana’s very good Le Resto overlooking the auction ring. The Coquilles St. Jacques over pureed leeks is memorable. And not just because I eat it every day. (Note to Olivier Delloye: I know you’ve added a new restaurant and overhauled the catering this year, and I’m sure it will be fantastic as is everything at Arqana, but if you could just keep this one menu item and the thon crudite sandwich in the Zinc Bar, I’d consider it a personal favor.)

Sunday, August 16:
8 a.m.: Back at the sales to peruse the day 2 yearlings. Ask about getting an Arqana bicycle to ride back and forth to your hotel.

Noon: Tour some local stud farms. Haras de Colleville (home to Kendargent) and Haras du Thenney (Orpen) are both in nearby Saint-Pierre-Azif, a charming small town with winding roads bordered by `bocage’ or dense, virtually impenetrable hedgerows that illustrate why the Allies lost more men in the bocage than in the landings themselves. Before you leave the sales grounds, stop in at the FRBC offices on the ground floor of the main building, and the very personable Camille or Capucine will help you organize your foray to any breeding farm. Stop in a for a race or two at Deauville on the way back.

5 p.m. Head back to the sales complex. In between your purchases, grab a tapas plate and a cocktail at Le 360 on the second floor of the sales pavilion so you can hold out for a late dinner.

9:30 p.m. If you’re getting desperate to be among English-speakers, check in with Arqana’s very helpful American rep, Tony Lacy (tony@lacybloodstock.com), to see where the crowd is headed tonight. This is typically either Le Drakkar in the center of town, or Le 21 near the sales grounds. If you feel like karaoke, choose the latter, as it often wraps up the evening here.

Monday, August 17:
10 a.m.: Head out of town to the Viaduc de la Soulevre to bungee jump off an abandoned train bridge from World War II. While the landscape is dotted with bomb craters, they say the bridge was never hit by bombs. The fact that only half of the viaduct remains today will have you trying to suppress your fear that this is just the story they tell tourists. Jump 200 feet off the third pier into what appears to be a far-too-shallow pool of water. Buying million-euro untested one-year-old horses suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy.

1 p.m.: Feeling a new appreciation for the brevity of life, make your way back to the sale for Day 3, determined to get the yearling that has eluded all you week.

8 p.m.: The gastronomic experience of your week awaits you at Le Comptoir et La Table. They used to call this the best-kept secret in Deauville until the TDN started writing about it every year. Make a reservation (+33 2 31 88 92 51). You’ll need it. No attempt to speak English to you was made by former owner and chef Michael Saggioro, nor his wife Nadine and the wait staff. The restaurant has now been taken over by André Lemarrié and it’s hard to tell if this charming tradition continues. I am told the menu is the same, so just in case, memorize these words: “Le risotto à la truffe et Saint Jacques.” It’s the perfect way to end your 96 hours in Deauville.