Normandy {Part II}: The 3 C's

In the weeks before we left for Normandy, people at work gave me feedback on what to do there, since so many have been there before.  One person told me to remember the 3 C's of Normandy...

{1} Camembert

As in camembert cheese, which is very similar to brie cheese both in taste and texture.  Soft, creamy, and delicious, camembert cheese was first made in Normandy in the late 18th century.  This is no surprise as most of the area we traveled through was rolling countryside ripe with dairy cattle.  I'd had brie cheese on many occasions before Normandy, but don't quite think I ever had camembert.  If I did, I didn't know the difference.  Either way, I was dead set on finding and eating some.  Conveniently, Keith & Penny served it to me for the first time at our first breakfast feast!

The cheese plate is smack-dab in the middle of the table.  But what the hey...let me tell you what else they served to us every morning.  In addition to cheese, they served croissants and baguettes, cereal, fresh fruit, deli meats, crepes with strawberries and nutella (my fave!), and even smoked salmon!  Not only that, Penny made the best coffee and English tea and all the jams/jellies were homemade.  We were in heaven!  Here's a group shot of all of us (well, minus one!) at our first breakfast.

From L to R: Reegan, her dad Mat (the Donofrios--minus Brooke, his wife), Me, Sina & Malu, and Eric, Maddie and Madisen (the Finches)

The second time I had camembert cheese was at a restaurant overlooking Omaha Beach, which many of you know was one of the landing sites for the Allied invasion of German-occupied France during World War II (D-Day).  I'll be talking more about that either tomorrow or the over the weekend.  In any case, the restaurant served a variety of pizzas. 

I ordered the La Normandie--it had andouille (French sausage), potatoes, and camembert with a cream sauce.

It was delicious.  Then again, anything tastes delicious to me.  Malu had that salad, also with andouille and camembert, and pears as well.

{2} Cider and {3} Calvados

These are lumped together because that's how we knocked them out--in one shot.  Okay, along with cows, the vast Normandy countryside consists of apple orchards, making it the country's major cider-producing region.  On our way to Omaha Beach from visiting Pointe du Hoc (which I'll also discuss later), we passed by a sign next to an old chateau that said "cidre and calvados", so we pulled in. 

 

Little did we know that this random place we nearly whizzed by was an absolute jewel.  The place is called Le Chateau d'Englesqueville and dates back to the late 16th century.  The place belonged to the family of its current owner, Bernard Lebrec, who produces his own cider (or cidre) and calvados, which is apple brandy.  We were able to sample both!
 
Cider for the kiddos...even Sina enjoyed it!
 

Cider (alcoholic, of course) and calvados (whoa, it was strong!) for the grown-ups!

And more than enough of both for us to buy and take home with us!

I even bought some vanilla apple jelly!  Yum-o!

Bernard was so kind to take us on a tour of the grounds.  The house, which he's still in the process of refurbishing, he says, was headquarters to the 147th Engineer Battalion following D-Day.  The battalion suffered many casualties on Omaha Beach that day.  Those that made it ashore helped clear beach obstacles and helped to get men and supplies off the beach.  Bernard told us that the monument that stands on the property was the first World War II memorial erected in Europe.  Apparently, this isn't common knowledge and we were happy to discover this.

Posing in front of the 147th Eng Bn Memorial with Bernard Lebrec

The memorial has the infamous Army Engineer insignia--the Castle 

Here are some other beautiful things we saw...

A beautiful gate...at least I thought it was

 I believe the soldiers used this to stand guard

Part of the chateau that is being refurbished.  It kind of gave me the feeling of being on the set of Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola's movie).

Who knew that some random stop along the French countryside would land us in such a fascinating and beautiful place? 

Coming up tomorrow.....beaches!

Thanks for following along you guys!

   

Normandy {Part I}: Lodging!

I'm going to a series of posts on our trip to Normandy for two main reasons...I have too many photos that I want to share and I'm way too tired to do one huge post on it right now.  I just don't have the energy.  Could it be because I spent the entire day at work and then, against my better judgment, decided to try out a Zumba class tonight?  Most definitely.

Anyway, I didn't do much of the planning for this trip.  Our friends, the Finch Family, did most of the leg-work.  Just so you know...the Finches followed us to Germany from El Paso, only they're stationed in Northern Germany, about four hours from us.  They, and some friends of theirs (the Donofrios), met up with us at the Charles de Gaulle airport in dirty Paris and we rode in our rental van about three hours to Normandy, where they had us all set up in this manor/bed & breakfast owned by a lovely couple, Keith & Penny.  The place is called the White Cross Manor.  Now, I had to borrow these pictures of the manor from the Vacation Rentals by Owner website.  But check out our digs!

This is the main house, built in 1875. It was refurbished a few years ago, but still maintains the charm of a typical French country home. It is situated in St. Jores, the area where the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed on D-Day in 1944 (so the place had historical and personal significance to me, Malu, and the other two paratroopers in the group). The main house has a lovely garden with a fish pond, a sunroom where we enjoyed breakfast every morning, as well as a bird house near the sunroom and two adorable little Yorkies that kept the kids entertained (both the Finches and the Donofrios have each have daughters--three girls total!). As if that wasn't enough...Keith & Penny have chickens that laid organic eggs while we were there. A wonderful learning experience for the little girls, even Sina, who can now say rooster! Don't you just love all of the ivy?

The house also has a separate Gite cottage (pronounced "jeet" with the "j" sounding like the "zs" as in Zsa Zsa Gabor) with a loft, where Sina, Malu and I slept. On the main floor of the cottage was a kitchenette, some couches, a dining area as well as a furnace (which came in handy since the weather was much colder than we'd anticipated).

A fabulous breakfast was provided by Keith & Penny every morning.  They called it continental breakfast, but feast was more like it.  I swear, we ate like kings and queens each morning!  I'll talk more about that tomorrow.  In the evenings, we'd grill out in front of the gite, have a few drinks and talk until we had to put the kiddos to sleep. 

Basically, we were out in farm country and seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  Just green pastures, cows, horses, sheep and goats everywhere--an utterly beautiful setting and a stark contrast to Paris.  Spread out around the area were other farm houses, manors and chateaus--things we'd only read about and/or seen in movies.  We were just so thrilled to be there!

I realize I'm all over the place with this post, so thanks for bearing with me.  But I'm tired and have to prepare for another early morning.

Stay tuned you guys!  I have much more to share with you!

Happy Memorial Day!

We returned a few hours ago from our trip to Normandy.  What a fantastic way to celebrate Memorial Day.  I'll save the details of this trip for posts throughout the week.  For now, I'll leave you with a breath-taking photo I took at the National American Cemetery in Normandy that honors those who fell in Europe during World War II.

We were truly honored to be there.  There aren't enough words to express the gratitude we felt for those whose graves we stood upon; those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our freedom.

Today, we honor them and all of our brothers and sisters in arms who also paid the ultimate price; as well as those who have served and continue to serve our great country on the homefront and abroad.



I took this picture at the Normandy American National Cemetery.  The cemetery overlooks both the English Channel and Omaha Beach, one of the landing beaches of the infamous D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.  A huge celebration to commemorate D-Day will be held next weekend.

And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave,
for glory lights the soldier's tomb,
and beauty weeps the brave.
~Joseph Drake~


Happy Memorial Day!



Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to All!  And while we enjoy our days off, let's remember....

...those who are currently serving our Armed Forces here and abroad. 

(My husband, Malu, in Iraq; 2008-2009)

...those who have served our Nation in uniform in the past.

(Veterans Day Parade in CO Springs; retirees of the Fil-Am Community; My dad is on the far left, SGM (Ret) Mati Ioapo)

...those who made the final sacrifice. You will never be forgotten. And those wounded warriors who are in recovery.  Your sacrifices are not in vain.

I honor you, our heroes of yesterday and today.  May God bless all of you and your families.