All things apple

The village of Beuvron-en-Auge, located on Normandy’s 40-mile cider route, is listed as one of the most beautiful villages in France and at first glance, it’s easy to see why. With its seventeenth-century half-timbered houses and pretty village square, Beuvron-en-Auge is charmingly picturesque and looks almost like a film set. One autumnal Saturday night last…

Why you should go to Toute la Mer sur un Plateau

1. The Toute la Mer sur un Plateau seafood festival takes place on 28-29 September right on the port of Granville, so you can pretty much eat seafood fresh off the boat! 2. Granville is France’s number one shellfish port, so if anyone can put on a cracking seafood festival, it’s certainly this town. 3….

Buying local in Bayeux

Over on this side of the Channel, think of Bayeux and I bet your boots that images of its world famous UNESCO listed tapestry come to mind.

Feeding the gourmets of tomorrow

‘Are we having armpit bread for tea?’ My friend was bewildered at first by her son’s request during a French camping holiday. Then the euro dropped! Every morning, they visited the village bakery for their bread and the children were allowed to carry baguettes carefully home. And where did they put them? Under their arms…

Livarot it up

On the eve of a journalist friend’s birthday, for which she will be holding a cheese and wine night,  I have decided to dedicate this week’s blog post to her favourite Normandy cheese, and one I hope will make an appearance tomorrow: lovely Liverot. Named after the village from which it originated, Livarot cheese is…

Nine foodie events for 2019

15-17 March: Foire au Boudin – Mortagne-au-Perche (Orne) Love it or loathe it, black pudding is the king of the party at Mortagne-au-Perche’s annual Foire au Boudin. Tucked away in the Perche Regional Natural Park, this quaint and picturesque town welcomes thousands of hungry visitors every spring for one of Normandy’s most famous food fests….

Give a Christmas cheer, Rouen Givré is here!

Rouen is a firm favourite with visitors to Normandy. There’s just something about those multicoloured half-timbered houses and gothic churches on every street corner – as French cities go, the ‘city of 100 bell towers’ (as Rouen was once called by French writer Victor Hugo) is certainly up there with the prettiest of them! For that…

Hip hip herring!

It’s autumn on the Normandy coast and the air is thick with the delicious smoky smell of fresh, grilled fish. Every year in November, visitors flock in their thousands to the Alabaster Coast, as this scenic part of Normandy is known to sample the hareng (herring), the poisson roi (king of fish) and Saint-Jacques scallops, two…

An autumn stay at the Château de la Puisaye

For foodies travelling to Normandy one of the best ways to sample local cuisine and learn about life in the region is by staying at a B&B and dining with your hosts at a table d’hôtes. For those who want to learn how to prepare local specialities for themselves, there are a number of B&Bs that offer cooking workshops.

A culinary journey through Caen

It’s morning at the market in Caen. Sun shines down on produce, lighting up berries and melons as traders wish me bonjour. The Friday market is one of the city’s culinary highlights, not least because it spans streets and traverses squares as it takes over the centre with its sights and scents. But there’s more…