Discover the full story

Discover the full story at Maison du Camembert in the heart of the tiny village which includes a visit to the adjacent Clos de Beaumoncel cheese factory. Here you can look through glass to see how Normandy milk is transformed into traditional handmade Camembert – up to 6000 organic and AOP/ PDO cheeses per week. Marie Harel statue at Vimoutiers And of course the visit ends with a comparative tasting of artisan and industrially made Camembert in the onsite shop. I lingered too over the display of colourful pictorial labels commemorating various anniversaries of the D-Day Landings in 1944. Each one is a mini work of art which graphically illustrates the attraction of taking up tyrosemiophilia as a hobby. Cheese label collecting to you and me! maisonducamembert.com Camembert nestles in the Orne department and a handy sign at the entrance to the village points the way to Normandy’s other AOC cheeses. Just 15km to the north in the department of Calvados is Livarot-Pays-d- Auge, home town of Livarot with its orange rind and powerful flavour. Don’t be surprised if you hear someone ask for a wedge of ‘Colonel’ – Livarot’s nickname thanks to the five ‘military’ stripes of reed or paper around the circumference. Head north again and 54km from Camembert, Pont-L’Evèque nestles between Lisieux and Deauville, still within the Pays d’Auge area of Calvados. Square or rectangular in shape, its eponymous mild cheese is covered with a rind that ranges in colour from golden yellow to orange. For Normandy’s fourth AOP cheese, you need to cross the river Seine to Neufchâtelen-Bray in the department of Seine- Maritime, 171 km from Camembert. Covered in a thin white edible layer, Neufchâtel is a favourite for romantic dinners thanks to its traditional heart-shape that harks back to the Middle Ages when local girls would offer their cheeses to occupying English troops during the Hundred Years War. Few drinks go better with Normandy’s flavourful cheeses than a glass of local dry cider or – for the drivers – farm-produced apple juice. Normandy’s apple orchards stretch over a wide area, but the self-drive Route du Cidre winds its way through the heartland of the AOC Cidre du Pays d’Auge production area, linking the villages of Cambremer and Bonnebosq with the postcard-pretty community of Beuvronen Auge, classified amongst Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Created in 1974, the Cambremer Cider Route was the first trail in France to be launched by producers keen to promote the quality of their products and their warm hospitality. Today you will find almost 20 ‘Cru de Cambremer’ producers along the route, all open to visitors – find full details, including opening hours, on routeducidre.com Some farms only produce cider; others apple juice, cider jelly, and even cheese. Look out too for Pommeau AOC de Normandie, a delicious apple aperitif made from threeparts pressed apples – or must - to one part Calvados, the area’s famous apple spirit. And whilst Calvados improves with age – if you can resist opening it, of course – young Calvados works particularly well in cocktails. The Pays d’Auge is a delight for walkers with its gentle countryside, timber-framed manor houses, and pretty churches, as well as small stud farms producing the top quality horses for which Normandy is famous. There are surprises too. Bonnesbosq has named its sports ground after a famous Hollywood actor who owned a mansion in the neighbourhood – none other than Yul Brynner, star of 1956 movie The King and I and, three years later, The Magnificent Seven. And close to Cambremer stands the bijou medieval castle of Crèvecoeur-en-Auge, which hosts exhibitions and ‘living history’ re-enactments during the summer months. Then there’s Beuvron-en-Auge, less than 20 minutes’ drive from the seaside resort of Cabourg on the Côte Fleurie. Don’t miss it, but do try to visit outside of peak times, especially in summer, when its many restaurants and tempting antique shops are bustling with visitors. Expect crowds too during the cider festival in late October. But this elite Plus Beau Village is a gem with its broad square, covered market and craft workshops, all surrounded by tranquil countryside. Small wonder that it too has attracted a celebrity resident, world-famous British artist 48 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 49