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Les Bruyères |
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Local AttractionsLes Bruyères is ideally placed for many of the attractions in Normandy. The Côte Fleurie offers miles of sandy beaches from Deauville / Trouville to Cabourg, a little over an hour away. To the west of the Côte Fleurie is the Côte de Nacre where the D Day landings took place in June 1944. There is a D Day museum in Arromanches-Les-Bains.
Castles Canon, Crevecoeur-en-Auge, Coupesarte, Chateau d’O, St Germain-de-Livet, Vendeuvre. Falaise – Castle where William the Conqueror was born in 1027. Bayeux – Home of the Bayeux Tapestry. Argentan – A delightful market town. It was once an English possession and it was from there that the assassins of Archbishop Thomas Becket set out to Canterbury in 1170.
MarketsSt Pierre-sur-Dives – Small market town with 11th/12th century market hall which opens every Monday. Vimoutiers – Monday afternoons. Livarot – Thursday mornings. Lisieux – Saturday mornings.
GolfThere are courses near Lisieux and on the coast.
Tennis There are tennis courts in Livarot and Vimoutiers. FoodTradition has it that you should eat duck in Rouen, tripe in Caen and in La Ferté-Macé, leg of lamb from the salt meadows of Mont-St-Michel Bay and an omelette in Mont-St-Michel. Try also Dieppe sole, chicken from the Auge Valley, Vire chitterlings, black pudding from Montagne-au-Perche and white pudding from Avranches. CamembertNormandy is Camembert country. Camembert was invented in 1785 by the farmer Marie Harel with the help of a non-juring priest whom she was hiding. It was put into boxes as of 1890 by Georges Leroy. He worked for a sawmill and had the idea of solving the problem of transporting the cheese by attaching two thin circular pieces of poplar with a long shaving of this same wood and fixing them with small clips. Camembert was now set to conquer the world. Its reputation is such that at the council of Rome in 1961, the Bishop of Sées, who was having some difficulty explaining where his diocese was to his colleagues, told them that he was also the Bishop of Camembert; at which he received warm greetings from all the prelates.
Pont-l'Évêque and Livarot Today the reputation of Normandy relies on more than one cheese. Pont-l'Évêque and Livarot reign alongside the king, Camembert, at last crowned with the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) label to protect it from poor imitations. These other two Pays d'Auge products require more milk and take longer to mature than Camembert. Pont l'Évêque is older than Livarot, being a direct descendant of the "cherub". However, during the 19th century Livarot was such a great popular success that it was nicknamed the "worker's meat" before becoming the famous "colonel" thanks to the five stripes of reed which came to be wrapped around it.
The Pays d'Auge Cider RouteThis signposted tourist circuit, off the main road network, links the villages of Cambremer, Beuvron-en-Auge, Bonnebosq and Beaufour-Druval. For those who wish to familiarise themselves with the gastronomic heritage of the region, follow the Route du Cidre signposts bearing a picture of an apple. It is accessible from the N13 and N175 roads. The farms indicated by a white, blue-edged signpost showing an apple, open their doors to visitors wishing an in-depth visit to their cellars and a tasting of their vintages. A Pays d'Auge Route du Cidre leaflet is available from Cambremer Tourist Information Office. Tel: (+33) 231 63 08 87.
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