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A
TASTE OF NORMANDY
Words and
pictures from our online reporter Ken Amery
A
TASTE OF NORMANDY
Early on the morning of Thursday 12th
October forty-three members of St Michael's congregation and their
friends boarded their Armchair Tours coach for their three-day
tour of Normandy. The early start meant a relatively trouble free
journey to Folkestone for the Shuttle to Calais. From Calais we
headed straight for the 'Pays d'Auge' region of Normandy, crossing
over the majestic Pont de Normandie Bridge, for our first visit.
This was to the Chateau du Breuil where we experienced our first
taste of Normandy – Calvados. The Chateau, built in the 15th
and 16th centuries is surrounded by 22,000 apple trees, which produce
the high quality apples that are used in the process. Every apple
is used as it takes 27 kg of apples to make a litre of Calvados.
They even have to buy apples from outside their own orchards, but
they must come from the Pays d'Auge region. The first part of our
visit was one not usually given to tour parties, this was a walk
to one of the orchards, where we witnessed the "tree shaking" to
harvest the apples. If anybody had a romantic image of workers
physically shaking each tree then they were soon disappointed.
A tractor fitted with two arms moves between the lines of trees,
the tree trunk is gripped between the arms and vibrated, bringing
down the apples like a fierce hail storm. Once on the ground they
are harvested, again by mechanical means. The tractor can "shake" three-hundred
trees in an hour. We then had our first tasting, this time of the
cider produced from the apples. The cider although extremely drinkable
is not sold but is used solely in the manufacture of the Calvados.
We then visited the distillery itself, first used as a mill, then
as a chocolate factory it now produces the world famous liqueur.
Our final stop was, of course to taste the finished product. This
was a very enjoyable and an interesting start to our Normandy tour.
Our base for the three days was the
nearby Mercure Deauville Pont L'Eveque, where we dined as a group
that night. Honour forbids that I name the two ladies who on their
tours of the grounds got locked inside the swimming pool compound
and had to climb over the fence to escape!
The following morning, with the sun
shining and with lovely views over the Normandy countryside it
was onto Caen via Lisieux, where we met our guide for the morning.
After a short tour of the town we made our way to Caen for our
second Normandy taste as well as smell! Here we visited a cheese
factory. One of many in France, as there are 365 varieties of cheese
produced in the country. The guide explained to us that the local
population say that they can identify the Normandy cows by their
sunglasses, because the cows have black rings around their eyes!
The cows do not produce the greatest quantities of milk but their
milk is very creamy, which is very important in making the local
cheeses. This was an interesting visit as we were able to view
much of the cheese making process as we walked around the factory.
Our visit culminated in what was not so much a cheese tasting but
a light lunch; varieties of cheese, French bread and cider! A number
of travellers took the opportunity to buy cheese and we all had
an opportunity to enjoy the flavour for the next two days as the
smell from the packages in the coach's luggage storage wafted into
the passenger compartment whenever we travelled!
After a short guided tour of Caen
we had the opportunity to visit William the Conqueror's castle,
the Caen Peace Memorial or just sit by the harbour. Those who went
to the castle found their visit interesting, while those who went
to the Memorial found it thought provoking. The memorial is the
only museum to present the history of World War II in its entirety
from its beginnings in 1918 to its global consequences post 1945.
Depressingly the exhibits are still growing; in the grounds of
the museum there are two twisted and burnt girders from the Twin
Towers. The entrance to the museum is marked by a "crack" between
the two sections of the building denoting the fragility of peace.
A message we all understand.
In the evening we went to Honfleur,
a harbour that has attracted artists for many years because of
the special quality of the light. As you looked across the harbour
as the sun was setting, you could understand the attraction. After
a stroll around the harbour we dined in one of the many quayside
restaurants.
Our final day and yet more tasting;
this time we travelled to Fecamp for a visit to the Benedictine
distillery. The recipe for Benedictine first produced by Benedictine
monks was rediscovered in the mid 1850's by Alexander Le Grand
who devised the idea of building a unique palace, museum and distillery
in honour of the product. The building is a fascinating mixture
of designs and houses a varied collection of religious artefacts,
furniture and miscellaneous items, including two unusual statues
of St. Denis, the first bishop of Paris. He was beheaded in the
6th century and is always depicted as carrying his head, still
wearing a mitre, in his hands. Legend has it that after beheading
he picked up his head and walked for a number of miles carrying
it, while preaching a sermon, until he eventually died. Our guided
tour took us through the palace and then into the distillery where
the process of making Benedictine was illustrated and explained.
(Leaving out some details as the recipe is still a closely guarded
secret!) Finally we were able to sample the product, either in
its true undiluted form or as B and B, a mixture of Benedictine
and Brandy, a very popular combination first mixed in the United
States in 1937.
From Fecamp we began the final stage
of a journey home, stopping at Dieppe for lunch and a brief view
of the sea. From Calais it was a trouble free journey back to Bray,
where our driver Barry made sure that every last piece of cheese
was removed from the coach, before we left for home.
We all agreed that this was a very
varied and different way of looking at a region by tasting our
way around the area!
Ken Amery
12th
October 2006
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