Bricks and whitewash are both pretty rare in Normandy. Typically they built their houses from local, buff-coloured limestone and then rendered them with a plaster that matched the limestone (or left them the natural stone). Consequently, virtually everything is a pretty drab beige colour.
Brick and darker grey/brown stone are used in the southern Normandy battle areas (Vire, Trun, Vimoutiers, etc)
Woodwork (shutters, dooes, etc) is often then painted in contrasting colours.
Older, timber-framed houses typically have cream-coloured plaster, with woodwork traditionally painted black, brown, grey blue or brick-red – often contrasting with neighbours houses, which looks very pretty when you see a row of them.
While we're on the subject – most buildings near the coast are roofed with imported Welsh slate in dark blue-grey or purple-grey (presumably because it was relatively cheap to obtain close to the ports). Red tiles and thatch tend to take over the further you go inland, though slate is almost always used on high status buildings such as chateaux, mairies, churches, town-houses, shops, etc.