Honfleur and the Route de Cidre

Monday, April 24, 2017
Secqueville-en-Bessin, Normandie, France
We just got back to the BnB after a full day of exploring. We decided not to take any of the major toll roads so ended up on secondary heya, local roads and lanes. It's very pretty country with rolling hills, bright yellow canola fields, black and white cows, red cows and white cows all munching in the fields. Sheep too... lots of large horse farms also.....they breed race horses and we have seen a to of Harneess Racing Hosre carriers on the roads.
We drove to Honfleur first through a small village called Beaumont- en- Auge... the village has lovely half timbered Tudor like houses and a very old church; we stopped for an Expresso at a small bar...food looked great and the place was full of local workman. There seems to be a lot of restoration work being done everywhere. We then drove to Pont- l'Eveque which is a larger market town with a small river running through it. There was a mommy duck with a bunch of little baby ducklings. Very cute.
Honfleur is an old harbor, with a little harbor lined with outside. Ages. Very pretty but also touristy. Supposedly Monet painted the view several times... we took advantage of the sun to sit on a terrace and sample their Cider. Thought that Kara would love the cider. Then we went along the coast through 2 old resort towns; first Trouville and then Deauville... sort of Santa Monica of the 1860s. It's still a popular summer beach area and has horse racing and lots of fancy casinos. Huge ocean view Victorian Houses all along the seaside road from Honfleur to Benerville Sur Mer. We walked along the beach front promenade at the end of town which was really quiet. There as an abandoned huge Mansion with turrets and gables right across from the promenade on Rue Mors.... And Rue de Mer.....would love to know the story behind it..
In the afternoon we explored the Cider Route which is the big Apple growing area for making Cider and Calvados which is an apple brandy. Very nice area. Small lanes and rolling hills with tons of Apple trees. We started in Beauvron-en-Auge which is a picturesque timbered town with a small river running through t and a pretty village square. Then we drove towards Cabremer which is the cider capital with many cider and Calvados farms. Such a pretty area...the lane roads are beautiful as the trees all hang like a canopy over the road.
Tonight Valérie the BnB owner is preparing an assiette or cold plate of salads, local cheeses, Pate, breads and of course her own Cider.What a great meal....we had 4 cheeses: a Camembert from Camembert, a Port- l'Eveque which is a soft creamy and more pungent cheese, a French hard cheese somewhat like a mild Gouda, and. Young Goats cheese.....all very yummy. Valerie also served us her Mom's homemade white pork chunky pate with yummy little pickles on the side, a huge garden salad and lots of great baguette. We had her home made cider, also very yummy and apple crisp made with her own apples. For tea a glass of Kuzmi in front of the open fire...all in all a very nice day!
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2025-02-12

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