The Cider Route and a Walk on the Beach

First, I want to congratulate my good friend, JK, who was the first to identify the mysterious yellow flowers. They are, in fact, rapeseed or rape. What a horrible name for such a beautiful field of flowers. Another dear friend, PD, also knew what they were and even has a painting of them in her dining room. I have learned that these flowers are turned into canola oil, and I'll never look at a bottle of oil the same again. What I can't figure out is what happens to the scent. These fields have a strong, sweet smell, and to me, canola oil smells like nothing. So if anyone knows the answer to this part of the mystery, let me know.

Today we got a slower start. Greg and I found a coffee bar, and TZ and DG joined us when they were ready to go. We debated our options for the day. Should we go east or west. Should we buy something for dinner or make a reservation. These are the marvelous types of decisions that we have when we're on vacation.

We decided to start the day back at Pont L'Eveque where they were having their weekly market now that the Cheese Festival was put to rest. We were in search of dinner ingredients and we found what we needed. And looking at food made us hungry, so we stopped at a creperie and all had one with ham, cheese, mushrooms, and an egg. Delicious.

Just west of Pont L'Eveque is another charming French town, Beaumont-en-Auge. We were in search of photo opps and a bathroom. The photo opps were easy to find but alas, no bathroom.

Beaumont-en-Auge is a small town with a fabulous overlook in the main square. If you go, be sure to take the time to find it. There's also a path that leads down into the valley if you feel like a hike.

Our next plan was to find the Cider Trail, a circular trail that will take you past farms and orchards where cider and calvados is produced. Calvados is the name of this area of Normandy, and it's also the name of the apple brandy that is made here. We joined the trail in Bonnebosq and followed the signs with the apple on them through several towns along very narrow roads. The scenery was beautiful and we were busy watching for signs where we could either buy cheese or try some cider. We finally found a place where we thought that we could try the calvados - and perhaps talk them into letting us use their bathroom. I was the first to try the calvados, and it was incredibly strong and burned all the way down. So after searching for calvados, I realized I didn't like it. (Kind of like when NW and HT went with us to a gumbo festival and we realized none of us liked gumbo.) TZ and Greg agreed, so there was no way we were going to buy any. We bought jam instead, and we had no luck with the bathroom.

Our final town on the Cider Trail was Beuvron-en-Auge - our final adorable Normandy town for the day. We had luck with the bathroom issue (hint - find the Tourist Information Center) and Greg took a few more photos. There seemed to be a door theme going on today.

It was a long day in the car, but we saw a lot of the Normandy countryside and we declare that it is incredibly beautiful.

We had to search for a grocery store that was open so we could buy wine and a few supplies, and then we gathered on our deck for more wine, cheese and bread. Dinner was roast chicken, new potatoes, and sliced tomatoes from the market in Pont L'Eveque. Good food, good wine, good friends.

The beach is just a few doors down from our house, so every night we've been walking the beach. Another beautiful day here and a fabulous evening on the beach.