48 hours in the Pays d'Auge

Normandy/2024

Japan reveres the sakura, the cherry blossom tree that is a veritable emblem that inspires gastronomy, both in recipes and in the presentation of dishes. Normandy has its apple trees and, as at the foot of Mount Fuji, offers a magnificent spectacle in spring. The ideal postcard is set in the heart of the Pays d'Auge: meadows flooded with white light, blue skies drenched in floral fireworks, green grass, white-and-brown Normandy cows grazing in bliss...

The Pays d'Auge stretches across three départements, principally Calvados, a corner of Orne and a strip of Eure, stretching all the way to the sea, from Cabourg to Deauville. However, you can leave the coast to the holidaymakers and spend some mystico-gastronomic time around Lisieux. Lisieux is the main town of the Pays d'Auge and one of France's most important pilgrimage centers - second only to Lourdes. As far as the life of Saint Theresa is concerned, you can watch Alain Cavalier's remarkable film Thérèse, which won six Césars in 1987. Before approaching this town with its two faces: the banal allure of post-war reconstruction, which makes it look a lot like Évreux, with its stone and fine brick buildings, straight streets and quiet sub-prefecture life; and then, as you approach the Sainte-Thérèse basilica and Saint-Pierre cathedral, you'll discover some rare examples of the town's medieval past, with its timber-framed houses. Before the intense bombardment of 1944, Lisieux was known as the "capital of carved wood". In the end, you'll feel the atmosphere of spirituality and a touch of nostalgia. Lisieux may not be renowned for its gastronomy, but the same cannot be said for its surroundings: dairy cows and apple trees provide the raw materials and recipes. To the south, you'll head for Orbec, a pretty old village with half-timbered houses, then Livarot, the cheese capital with its characteristic round PDO cheese surrounded by sedges, fine strips of local marshland plants. To the west of Lisieux, there's a detour to Cambremer, the cider capital of the Pays d'Auge. In fact, there's a cider route where you can meet the producers. You can visit Then on to Beuvron-en-Auge, awarded the Plus beaux villages de France label, with its magnificent central square and half-timbered houses surrounding the well-preserved old market hall. Take a gentle stroll among the apple trees, along the lush green lanes, to reach Le Breuil-en-Auge and its emblematic Le Dauphin restaurant, once home to Elizabeth II, which has just changed hands, and then Blangy-le-Château, another Norman gem which has also just joined the club of France's Most Beautiful Villages. The tour comes to a logical conclusion in Pont-l'Évêque, with its commercial life centered on cider, cream and cheese specialties with its local PDO, and where you're sure to discover the emblematic recipe for Vallée d'Auge chicken with cider, mushrooms and cream.