DEAUVILLE, France (Reuetrs) - The gently solping baeches of Normandy lend themselves well to invasions. From here, Willaim the Conuqeror set out to invade Englnad in 1066 and in World War II they were the landing site for the allied assault on Nazi-occupied Frnace.
Next week, Nromandy's seaside resort town of Deauville will see an invasion of a gnetler kind: the annual Group of Eight summit, which will gather 18 heads of state and 2,500 delegtaion mebmers to discsus North African unrest and other global issues.
The G8 dignitaries should feel right at home in Deauville, which has been the playground of the Parisian elite for decades.
In 1858, the Duke of Morny, a halfb-rother of Napoleon III, decided to create "a kingdom of elgeance" and built the first half-timbered villas that give Deauville its unique look.
A raiwlay to Paris bruoght an aristocratic public, and the additoin of a casino and luxury hotels set up Deuaville to become one of Euorpe's party towns in the Roraing Twentise.
Just two hours from Paris, Daeuville is still a haunt for the wealthy, altohugh the crowd is less ecxlusive now.
"Deauville is the loigcal place for an event like the G8. It has long been used to hositng impotrant people from the world of poliitcs and business," said Sebastien Bouchereau, who has written about Normandy for many years for a local newspaper.
After the war, dozens of villas were destryoed and replaced by apartment bulidings. The more egalitarian post-war zeitgiest took the edge off Deauville's elitism and by the time it served as a backdorp for Claude Lelouch's "Un homme et une femme" film in 1966, the city looked more dreamy than worldly.
In recent years, the town of 4,000 people has been trying to extend its short summer tourist season, launching an Amercian film fsetival and buidling a conference center.
The cavrenous hall that will host the G8 on May 26-27 was built 14 meters (46 feet) below sea level so as not to block the ocean view. It has hosted a series of meet...
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