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Guide visitant du Calvados et de la Normandie
(sorry in english only)
Calvados apple brandy is an old tradition and part of the farming year in Normandy, France. All over the countryside apples are grown and cider, pommeau and calvados is enjoyed and sold through cellar door sales.
Normandy is nice to visit all year around. All over Normandy calvados producers welcome you to their cellar door sales. If you like to experience the apple harvest and the cider making autumn is your choice. In spring the flowering of millions of apple trees take place and the summer is lush and refreshing. In Normandy you’ll find relaxation and authentic rural French charm combined with the glitz and glamour of places like Deauville and Trouville along the coast.
To stay
The countryside is full of charming ‘Gites de France’ or ‘chambres d’hôtes’ - the French answer to ‘bed and breakfast’. Popular among families and people from the city is to stay a longer period - often a week - on a farm. In October to November you can stay at a ‘gite’ and experience the harvest, called ‘Weekend au pressoir’. A good guide is the 1000 Charming Hotels and Guesthouses in France (Michelin Guides) Below some links to useful sites that offers the best accomodation in Deauville, Honfleur, Caen, Trouville, Dives, Bayeux, Cambremer and the rest of Normandy and Calvados, France:
Visits in the name of gastronomy
- The road of cider, ‘Route du Cidre’, could be called the road of calvados. Most producers of cider also make calvados and pommeau. Follow the signs through the rolling landscape of Pays d’Auge, around Cambremer. You can also seek out a producer nearby with the help of the map in this book. Most large calvados houses welcome visitors all year long and most producers during tourist season. Phone in advance in to be sure.
- The road of cheese, ‘Route du Fromages’. Visit the places of Pont l´Evêque, Livarot and Camembert.
- There are plenty of good restaurants in Normandy and Calvados especially in Deauville, Honfleur, Caen, Trouville, Dives and Bayeux. Consult the Michelin´s guide www.viamichelin.com or buy the Michelin Red Restaurant Guide for France .
A full large detailed map with all the calvados producers found in the producers index are included in the book.
Other things to visit:
- The traditional markets in Beuvron en Auge and Saint Pierres sur Dives.
- Bayeux: is a nice old town with small houses, canals, Norman stone architecture and a medieval market.
- Honfleur is an old picturesque fishing village (crowded in summer).
- D - Day Beaches and the landing zones.
- Trouville and Deauville with its casino, racetrack, beaches and restaurants; called ‘The Hampton’s of Paris’. Stud auctions and film festival (September).
- A stud farm, look for ‘Haras’.
- Consult The Rough Guide to Brittany and Normandy - all about travelling to Normandy. Normandy (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides) - beautifully illustrated. Brittany and Normandy -good value for money from Lonely Planet. Normandy Green Guide (Michelin Green Guides) is handy, comprehensive and small.
Getting there
The distance from central Paris to Lisieux in Pays d’Auge, Calvados, is only 180 km (110 miles). You can rent a car or take the train (leaves daily from the Saint Lazare-station). There are airports around Caen, south of Deauville, at Le Havre and of course around Paris. From England, one can cross with a ferry to Cherbourg.
Visit the cellars and know the tasting etiquette.
Most producers welcome you and have some sort of cellar door sales, often for a free taste or a small fee. Some producers offer limited releases of calvados only at their cellar door.
Some shops that sell calvados
Aux Trois Damoiselles
Anne and Philippe DAVID
Place Michel Vermughen, 14430 Beuvron-en-Auge
Tel: 02 31 39 61 38, Fax: 02 31 39 61 41
www.auxtroisdamoiselles.com
Nice shop with regional products in the beautiful village of Beuvron-en-Auge.
Cave Saint Etienne
6, place Monseigneur des Hameaux, 14000 CAEN
Tel: 02 31 38 26 80, Fax: 02 31 38 27 12
cavesaintetienne@wanadoo.fr
Wine and liqueur shop with very nice selection of great calvados and wines.
La Maison de l’Ambic
57, Rue de la Mer, COURSEULLES
Tel: 02 31 37 88 12
Shop north of Caen by the sea. Local produce, cider, calvados, pommeau and wines.
Au Reflet Normand
Place Albert Christophe
61700 DOMFRONT
Tel: 02 33 30 06 74
Shop in Domfront with calvados Domfrontais and local produce.
Cave Saint-Ouen
10, rue du Moulin, 61120 VIMOUTIERS
Tel: 02 33 35 39 39
57, rue de Lisieux, 14140 LIVAROT
Tel: 02 31 63 64 72
Epicerie La Mouee
14430 BEUVRON-EN-AUGE
Tel: 02 31 79 23 28
Nice shop with regional products in the beautiful village of Beuvron-en-Auge.
Les Caves Normandes
12, rue Chaussée, 14 500 VIRE
Tel: 02 31 68 12 62, Fax: 02 31 67 58 13
Shop with regional products.
Nicolas
10 rue Bellivet, 14000 CAEN
Tel: 02 31 85 24 19, www.nicolas.com
Excellent wineshop with some calvados.
Le Tresors du Bacchus
9, rue Gémare, 14000 CAEN
Tel: 02 31 86 20 82
Wineshop with some calvados.
Compagnie des Calvados
19 rue de la ville, 14600 HONFLEUR
Tel: 02 31 89 57 56
Large selection of calvados.
La Feuille de Vigne
24, rue du Dauphin, 14600 HONFLEUR
Tel: 02 31 98 78 96
35, rue de la République
Tel: 02 31 89 22 35
Wineshop with nice selection of calvados ‘fermier’.
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- Produit de Terroir
Region Normande
Apple brandy elsewhere
Charbay
La Mare
Celtic Spirit Company
The Koenig Vineyards
Some museums
Musée Baron Gerard
Rue Lambert Leforestier, 14400 BAYEUX
Tel: 02 31 65 12 75, Fax: 02 31 21 91 84, www.mairie-bayeux.fr
Also production of cider and calvados.
Museum of calvados and Old Trades
Hôtel de Thieuville
Rue Pelouze, 50 700 VALOGNES
Tel: 02 33 40 09 18 (contact Mr Leconte); www.mairie-valognes.fr
Open in July and August and by appointment. Cellar door sales of cider pommeau, calvados and local specialties.
Ecomusée de la pomme au calvados (Orne)
Rue du Grand-Jardin, 61140 Le Sap
Tel/Fax: (33) 02 33 35 25 89; www.le-grand-jardin.asso.fr
Restaurant, ‘gite’ in hostel-style and museum in an old cider estate.
Musée du cidre - see the producer Leroyer in calvados guidebook.
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