The Cider Route in Normandy
 

We're staying a few nights around Bayeux in September and it seems a shame not to visit the Cider Route in Pays d'Auge when the apples are being harvested. I've looked up the information and know it's about a 40 km route going through Cambremer and Beuvron-en-Auge among others, but what I haven't found out is whether any tours are in English. My french is so rusty that I wouldn't be able to follow!

Has anyone driven this area and have any tips?

Look for signs that say "calvados." It's hard stuff that will knock your socks off.

I'm not sure you'd need an English-language tour, if they even exist, to enjoy a dégustation of cider. It's not as though they do much of anything but pick apples, squeeze out the juice, and let it ferment. Just look for dégustation signs and enjoy!

Calvados! My brother-in-law had this to say about it: "the apple juice is best sampled as calvados - but beware, one glass and you will be out for the night." :?

By all means do it. As USNR said, look for the Calvados signs. Don't pass up the small orchards with their home made signs. One word of caution, if the bottles are only corked, use duct tape over the corks to keep them from popping out
while you are driving through the country side.

That happened to us a few years ago and we had one mellow smelling car for a few days.

If you go to any tourist information office, you will find a leaflet on the cider route in English. Following the route on the leaflet is a good way of seeing this area.

We did it and just called in to various farms and chateux, quite interesting and very tasty.

muck

The calvados is indeed strong - for a lighter taste, try the pommeau: a mixture of calvados and unfermented cider, if I recall correctly.

My dad was stationed in France during WWII (near Reims) and for entertainment and great laughs at night, they would get mouthfuls of Calvados and hold a lit match up near their faces and spew the liquid out---they got a huge kick out of seeing how far they could get the flames shooting.

Disclaimer: Do not try this at home (or on your Normandy trip!)!

I bet there's more than a few good calvados stories out there...thanks everyone for the tips and quips!

The cider route "like the route des douves" or the "route de granite" is an itinerary going round the countryside of the pays d'Auge. There aren't guided tours as such. You can get a leaflet from the tourist office in Bayeux in english.
Beuvron en auge is one of the most pictoreque villages in Normandy. It is like that because in 1972 the mayor took the initiative of inciting the inhabitants to renovate the houses. It's like an encyclopeadia of half timbered houses. Each one is different.
In the pays d'auge you must visit Honfleur which is a XVIc fishing port. It is like that because America was "discovered" in 1492. The french king, Francois I, wanted a port to trade with the new world. Le Havre was built in 1517 and Honfleur went to sleep for a few hundrd years.
In the same area is Lisieux with it's basilica lined with mosaic.
Also Deauville, Trouville,Pont l'evecque.
At Bayeux you'll visit the tapestry and Cathedral no doubt and the d-day beaches. For the normandy invasion you need a guide. Mini bus tour, private guide or audio guide.

Just outside of Lisieux is the Domaine St. Hippolyte - a cooperative that you can visit. During the walk through the domaine you can see the the dovecote, the apple storage house, the cider press, see a film on the making of cheese, watch a demonstration of cheese being made and (at the right time of day) see the twice daily milking of the herd of dairy cows. In their little boutique you can purchase exceptional Crème de Calvados, Pommeau and Calvados along with other products made on location.

If you are going to Mont St. Michel there is a lovely little little stone house on the route from Avranches with the MSM in the background that sells great products as well-Simply marked Calvados-Pommeau and has an alambic still in the yard.

Merci boucoup! I am looking forward to being in apple picking territory. I grew up in a New England town with five commerical orchards so it will be particularly interesting to see the French counterparts. And yes, we are going to Mont-St-Michel!

Today most apple trees are small ones that grow quickly (5 years to mayure) as oposed to the traditional high apple trees that took 18 years.
They are planted in rows so the harvesting can be done mechanically.
Cider is made with apples that fall off the tree. If they are still on the branch they are not ripe enough. Commercial cider makers go along the rows with a tractor which has anarm which shakes the trees.this makes the apples fall off. Another tractor follows to sccop up the apples.

You guys bring back some wonderful memories...my husband had me bring back Calvadosd which at the time I had no knowledge of...but after Normandy I was pretty well versed. You need to go to one of the distilleries and take a tour..,.it was great...

Oh by the way...did you know they also make a Pear Calvados ? Well they do and supposedly it is monitored very closely by the French government...I brought one home for hubby and he loved it. Even he was unaware of a Pear version...

Ya...learn something new everyday...

Are you referring to Poire William? The French make eau de vie out of every conceivable fruit (and nut). But a "pear calvados" would seem like a contradiction, unless it's a mixture of apple and pear.

St Circ, Areala is correct. I came across a mention of pear Calvados while googling cider & Calvados info. Apparently the pears grow in the southern part of the departement, while the apples grow better in the north. Here's a website with pics: http://www.charlesnealselections.com.../lemorton.html

Last fall when we were in Devon, England, I "discovered" their pear cider, called perry. I had no idea that such a thing even existed. It tastes very good but I have to admit my preference is for the traditional apple cider.

Thanks for the link, mermaid.

Very interesting. I actually think I'd like the pear-apple better, but then, I prefer pears to apples.

We quickly learned to love a Norman
apple-y dessert called "The Colonel"
- a scoop or two of green apple sorbet/ice cream swimming in a jigger of Calvados. Lovely after
a cream-rich Norman meal....or any
meal for that matter!