Apples and Honfleur and surrounds

On Sunday We had a very interesting day's tour with the very pleasant and knowledgable Karine, a gentle Amercan couple and an Australian lady.

We drove from here north, stopped in a delightful town , Beuvron-sur-Ange, then went to a cider tasting place in Cambremer, then Honfleur, drove through Trouville, walked along a bit of the beach in Deauville, then return back to Bayeux.

Along the way we learnt, or rather we were told :

Te carpet bombing of Caen in WW2  was  very bad. They are still defusing unexploded bombs. Just last week a bomb underneath a house was diffused. Defusing is done on a Sunday,  quiet day. People are told to leave their hoses leaving all windows open ( in case diffusing doesnot work)  . Lots of police are engaged to protect the properties from looters.

Rouen at the end of the 9thC was a Viking town under the command of Rollo. Richest city after Paris. In 911 the area became Normandy.

Area we went through very marshy. Hedgerows and ditches to help absorb water as well as wind protection.  Called baucage.   Problem for allied tanks.   Also areas of oak forests.

Normandy cows ( a breed) both milk and meat. Brown and white, various shades of brown but always a brown patch around eyes.  Many less dairies than in the past. Now a big dairy is 100 cows grazing outside. In Netherlands 5000 Holstein cows, all inside , 1 farm.  Normandy cows milk creamier. Cows graze in apple orchards except when apples are ripening. Fallen apples, slightly fermenting, eaten by cow, drunk cow, no milk.

Lots of horse studs in area. Mainly racing thoroughbreds. Some people have started to use donkeys again. Put a donkey in with highly strung horses = calmer race horses.

Beuvron-sur-Ange a pretty town. Lots of traditional half-timbered houses. Flowers everywhere. Lace curtains. On Sunday morning not too many tourists. Apparently it is half way from Paris to Mont Sant Michele therefore buses stop.  We tried some traditional rice pudding - teugoule - cooked in slow oven overnight, rice, milk and cinnamon.

Some builders still doing thatched roofs. From reeds. Clay along roof line. Irises often grown in clay. Their extensive root network keeps clay in place.

Area known for apple cider( all alcoholic)  About 10 different varieties of apples used in the one batch of cider. Often different types of trees growing next to each other. Not eating apples. Thus no problems with  birds.  At Cambremer we stopped at a cider making cellar door. Tried some apple cider with a baguette and 3 cheeses - a Camambert, Pont Eveque, and Livarot. The Camambert was the star. We also tried some Pommeau - a mixture of cider and Calvados and we tried some Calvados.

We drove onto Honfleur, a pretty town on the southern bank of the mouth of the Seine, opposite Le Havre.  Lots of artists used to come here. We went to a wooden church, St Catherine's, the largest wooden church in France, wandered around then went to a chapel on a hill which was built for seamen to give thanks for safe passages.  The statue of Mary is holding a model boat as well as Jesus. There was a good view of Honfleur and Le Havre from a nearby hill.

The bishops in the area used to be very rich. They owned a lot of bridges, given to them by sinning land owners in return for foregiveness. Owners of bridges could exact a toll. We have just seen in the Bayeux tapestry Bishop Odo, Will the conqueror's offsider wielding a huge club as he rode into battle. Bishops were not allowed to shed blood but they could knock a man lifeless.

Trouville and Deauville are Victorian seaside towns very popular with Parisians. Lots of huge old fancy houses, lots of sand. Apparently Coco Chanel sold clothes for the first time in Deauville. She had sold shoes previously in Paris.

It is illegal in France to ask on a form anyone's race or religion.

Viking place names :
...vec river
...fleur ( e.g.Honfleur) mouth of river