Getting There from The Middle East: Fly to Paris then either drive or take a train (45 mins to 3 hours depending on destination) to various stations in Normandy.
Time Difference: 2 or 3 hours behind Dubai depending on British Summer Time
The Weather: Varies from a minimum of 1C in winter to 23C in summer. It rains a lot, so take some waterproof clothing and/or an umbrella.
Normandy Food Festivals
DESTINATION GUIDE
Normandy – Haute-cuisine heaven for food lovers
Located just a two-hour drive from central Paris is the province of Normandy. It’s an area rich in history and has 600 km of coastline with an abundance of fresh seafood. The lush green countryside makes it perfect grazing for dairy herds, and there are plenty of apple orchards. Normandy is a perfect holiday hideaway for food lovers.
There’s gorgeous fresh seafood, local duck, veal and salt marsh lamb as well as beautiful local cheeses, apples and of course apple products such as apple cider, Calvados etc. Most restaurants in Normandy use locally sourced products and is haute-cuisine heaven for food lovers and visitors seeking authentic culinary experiences.
Food Festivals
There are plenty of festivals spread across the year. They typically fall into 4 categories:
- Apple & Cider
- Seafood
- Cheese
- Local Produce & Traditions – everything from black pudding to snails!
Tastings
The tourism authority lists over seventy different type of experiences from snails, cheese, chocolate, seafood, cider and so much more. There are museum tours, trips to farms and tastings. There’s certainly plenty to keep a foodie busy on a trip. Details here : >>Food & Drink Experiences
Markets
Check out the various markets where there’s bound to be plenty of local produce. Note: ‘Rise and Shine’ – markets take place in the morning and are usually wrapped up by lunch time so don’t be late!
Foodie Circuits
Not sure where to go or what to see? The tourism authority has details of routes called Circuits which highlight areas to visit and activities based on your preferences. Of interest to food lovers are:
- The ivory and spice trail (La route de l’Ivoire et des épices)
- The fruit trail (La route des fruits)
- The Camembert trail (La Route du Camembert)
- The cider trail (La Route du Cidre)
- The mill trail (La Route des Moulins)
- The tradition trail (La Route des Traditions)
http://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/circuits-559-2.html
Normandy Farm experiences
We were privileged to visit a working farm which is not open to the public, however if you want to have a farm experience in Normandy there are some working dairy farms which offer accommodation.
An organic family owned organic dairy farm close to the beach and a national park where you can see the cows being milked
Stay in a typical Bessin house on a farm producing dairy, meat and cereals. In the immediate vicinity of the Normandy landing beaches.
Gite Ferme de la Vieille Horloge
Stay on this family owned working dairy farm in a former cheese house (now a family gite) surrounded by green Norman meadows.
Cows on a Paysan Breton Cooperative farm visit
DINING IN FRANCE
Restaurant Tips
- Menus in France are always displayed outside the restaurant, so you can decide in advance if the price, style and food available are what you want.
- There is no added tax on top of the food costs and no obligation to tip.
- Set menus, are very common and are often a great way to try some new dishes, although the selection may be limited. They typically involve a several courses. Not fancying the set menu? You can usually order A La Carte.
- Some restaurants also offer ‘Plat du jour’ – dish of the day.
- Dégustation Menus are quite common. This menu is chosen by the chef to show off his/her expertise. Usually this consists of many small plates, and there’s no choice of menu.
- Wine is a common part of the menu – usually with a good selection of house wine which you can order by the glass – (by the pichet which is 125ml) we had some amazing apple cider as well.
- Fine dining is quite often cheaper at lunch rather than dinner,
- Restaurants often close mid afternoon to prepare for the evening meal.
- Whilst we would thinking nothing of it in Dubai, It is not usual to ask for a “doggy bag” for leftovers.
- Most places were not overly helpful in making changes to menu selections, and vegetarian food choices tended not to be on the menu and the resulting dish was very unimaginative.
- Finally, if you don’t recognize an ingredient from the menu, ask for a translation to avoid you tucking into something unexpected – in hindsight that might just have been me! I accidentally ordered Intestines which entertained everyone at the table!
Dinner – Hotel Chateau de Sable – 1 Michelin Star restaurant
Cream in our dessert – Hotel Chateau de Sable – Porspoder
All information gathered and researched as part of a Cream of Europe Press Trip. More details on Cream, it’s uses along with recipes etc at www.creamofeurope.com. Images by Debbie Rogers with a few image free ones from Pixabay.]