Oh, a manor hunting we will go

While the adventures of last weekend revolved around significant historical sights in Normandy, this weekend we got up close and personal with the architectural and gastronomic grandeur of my corner of l'Hexagone. We were supposed to visit a Calvados distillery and a goat cheese farm, but unfortunately - unbeknownst to Sylviane - neither one of them are open for the season until April. So, our route changed a little bit, but now I know that I have another excursion awaiting me in April.

The first stop was Honfleur, a small town up on the coast that I visited way back in November. Although it was cloudy in Louviers, as we made our way up to Honfleur the skies cleared and we were treated to a beautiful day. We walked along the Vieux Bassin scoping out the overpriced restaurants and art galleries; we came at just the right time because once April and warmer weather rolls around, it'll be packed with tourists. Like in every other town in France, Saturday mornings means that there is an outdoor market. I've never seen such an array of fresh seafood - lobsters, flounder, scallops being cut from their shells and more types of fish and crabs than I could keep track of - all for cheap. I also learned how to distinguish between "authentic" merchandise grown by the vendors and produce bought in bulk to be sold at these outdoor markets.

From Honfleur, we continued up the coast to Deauville; famous for its film festival and its reputation as the summer getaway of Paris' elite. I'll have to go back on one of my days off since because of our tight schedule, we were only able to walk along the boardwalk and the beach. I've never seen so many razor clams in my life, they were everywhere.

View of Le Havre - France's biggest port.

The "boardwalk."

After all of our walking and the sea air, we were starving so we headed to a restaurant in Pont-l'Evêque for lunch. Since my arrival in France, Sylviane had been talking about this restaurant where I'd be eating in a giant barrel (Fr. tonneau), so when we pulled up to this normal building with no barrels in sight I was slightly disappointed. I found out though that I wasn't the only one who'd imagined us eating in a massive barrel-shaped restaurant because Qunxing asked where the barrel was. Once we were seated inside, I realized that Sylviane wasn't lying, we were eating in a barrel, just not one as big as I had imagined. Les Tonneaux serves Normand specialties highlighting ingredients that the region is famous for: apples and milk products. Jean-François told me that in France, they have so many different types of cheese that you could eat a different one every day of the year and still not have all of them. On the other hand, in the United States he said, "you only have two types of cheese: yellow and orange." I had to laugh at that because it's pretty accurate; our cheese selection in supermarkets is fairly limited since everything has to be pasteurized.While they weren't exactly sure why this was, they also told me that unpasteurized cheese is actually better for you because it leaves something in the milk that is destroyed during pasteurization.

For an apéritif we had pommeau - which those of you at Christmas will remember tasting - made from cidre, calvados and honey, with a plate of toasted bread and a sauce made from Pont-l'Evêque cheese, crème fraîche and chives. For the main course I had "la fondue aux trois fromages," the three cheeses being Livarot, Pont-l'Evêque and Camembert. For massive food envy, check out the picture below:

Dippings from L to R: some kind of tripe sausage, chicken, another kind of sausage, ham.

Once I'd finished and looked at this photo on my camera, I couldn't believe how much food I'd eaten. But it was so, so good. If you read the photo's caption you'll notice that I sampled some tripe sausage. For those of you who don't know what tripe is, I'll just tell you those tasty nibblets were made from stomach and intestine, smoked and then cased into deliciousness. Granted I didn't know what it was when I first ate it, I was only grossed out for five seconds after Sylviane told me what it was because it was too good stop eating once I'd already started. Lunch was relatively short by French standards - only two hours - and afterwords we continued on to find some Norman châteaux.

The first stop was Château de St Germain de Livet, now a private residence, but was built in the 16th century.

Our next stop was a "manoir" completely different in style "à colombages." Still used as a farm today, this manor had everything, even a moat and a drawbridge!

Our last stop in the Pays d'Auge was Lisieux and la basilique Sainte-Thérèse, the second largest pilgrimage site in France.

I'm not sure what I'll be getting up to this week since I'm still not 100%. My voice is slowly coming back, but the weather is supposed to be perfect, so I'll have to get out and do something. A+!