Camembert de Normandie Fermier

One of only two remaining, farm produced Camembert de Normandie is made by La Fromagerie Durand. It is worth the extra €2!

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Le Trèfle du Perche

Walk into any fromagerie in France during goat cheese season (April to November) and you will be faced with a tempting array of wrinkly rectangles, fresh drums, blue mold covered cylinders, two-toned cones, grey pyramids, white diamonds, discs wrapped in leaves, and a distinctive four-leaf clover, le Trèfle du Perche.

In the French cheese world, this one is fairly recent creation.
Back in 1999 a group of 7 artisan cheesemakers in the northern part of the Loire Valley and the southern part of Normandy established l’Association des Fromagers Caprins Perche et Loir (after numerous meetings involving copious amounts of local cheese and wine I like to think) and created a new goat cheese. Their goal was to come up with a fromage de chèvre that would be instantly recognizable and that would become associated with their region. During its inception, one of the members spotted an unusual, four-leaf clover shaped clay cheese mold in a local rural museum and the rest is history.

Beneath its thin rind of blue-gray ash and mold, the snowy white interior is rich, creamy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Depending on its age, the flavors can range from fresh milk and hazelnuts, to peppery with a long finish.

Le Trèfle, which means "clover" in French, has been in production since 2005 and is currently made by a dozen farmers in 4 French departments; the Eure-et-Loir, the Loir-et-Cher, the Sarthe and the Orne. This little goat cheese is unpasteurized, with a minimum affinage* of 10 days and a maximum of about 1 month. In 2012 the l’Association des Fromagers Caprins Perche et Loir (AFCPL) applied for an AOC for their cheese. I'm wishing them the best of luck!

A few wine suggestions to pair with le Trèfle; a Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley if you prefer white, or a Gamay from the Loire Valley if you prefer red.





*ageing





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Holiday Rentals In France

Our old house in Normandy, which is now a charming rental cottage. We highly recommend this place!


For the first 10 years that we lived here, whenever I was visiting the U.S. and met someone new, they would inevitably ask me where I lived. When I would reply that I lived in France, their response, every single time, would be, "so how long have you lived in Paris?"
I always found that pretty funny. It's like telling someone that you live in the U.S. and they respond by asking how long you've lived in New York City.

But I get it. Paris represents "France" to most foreigners.

However there is much, much more to l'Hexagone than Paris! And over the years we've been fortunate enough to live in a few regions and have enjoyed exploring a good chunk of this beautiful country on many of our vacations.

I know that once you've chosen where to go, picking where to stay can be daunting. The sheer number of holiday rentals out there is crazy, so I thought I would share a handful of places that we know and would recommend around France. We stayed in some as paying guests (and would happily return), a few are owned by friends and one house we lived in for 4 wonderful years.

If you have any more places to recommend, please share them in the comments!


This gorgeous home, with a large pool, is located close to the Mediterranean sea in Occitanie. The owners, who are close friends of ours, are renting it out this summer.



A perfect spot for a summer apéro is the terrace of Maison de la Fontaine, a vacation house located in the center of the market town of Nérac, in the south west. It is owned by my good friend, Mardi, of Eat. Live. Travel. Write.



Gîte de la Roche à Vent in the Loire Valley, located between Saumur and Angers. We spent a week in this spacious, comfortable house, which was a fantastic location for exploring the region. 


Another lovely rental, complete with a big swimming pool and a large garden, is located in a medieval town in the south of France.


Can you imagine sitting here with a glass of wine, enjoying this view? Gorgeous! And the owners are winemakers, so a visit to their vineyard and wine tasting is included in the price.



Another picturesque spot in Gascony is Kate Hill's home, Camont, where I learned to make cassoulet many years ago. It is exceptionally being rented out for the summer of 2017.



Logis la Cabane, located about 20 minutes from Cognac, is a beautiful property with 2 acres of gardens and a heated swimming pool. 



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Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a funny thing.

Over the weekend I was looking over my Flickr stream and came across all these lovely photos of springtime in the Languedoc.
Wow!
I had forgotten how beautiful it is this time of year down there, with the coquelicots and wisteria in bloom and the vines sprouting bright green leaves.

So if you don't mind, I'm going to share some of my nostalgia with you.









I can't believe how inexpensive this asparagus is!









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Au Revoir, Normandy

As my husband said the other day, "here we go again, off on another adventure."
It's a big one this time. We're moving to Paris.

Enfin bref, we're moving on and leaving Normandy. Which is incredibly bittersweet.

As much as we're excited to head to the city, our hearts are still heavy. Normandy is such a gorgeous, friendly place, and we love our little house here, so we are truly sad to be leaving.

But after commuting to Paris for the last year and a half, relying on the kindness of friends who let me crash on their couches or in a spare room for a night or two, then staying at a friend's place for several months last autumn and finally renting a room in a shared apartment last winter, I am over it.
Actually, we're both over it.

Being away from home - away from my husband, our dog and our cat - has proven to be more difficult than I ever imagined.
And let me tell you, having roommates at my age is kind of weird.

I am so happy that it's finally over!

Lists are being made and our belongings are being sorted. The chaos of moving will wind up in mid October, when we settle into our new place in the 15ème arrondissement.



Until then, we'll enjoy the beach and all the Camembert, Calvados, teurgoule and cream that we possibly can.
Damn, I'm going to miss the cows!



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Port-en-Bessin And Le Marché Aux Poissons

Clams and sea snails and delicious, tender salicornes.




Sign for the locally made fish soup. I love his face!



Low tide.




It's étrille season, a tiny local crab that tastes like lobster. They were busy filling bag after bag with the live crabs for customers.




Port-en-Bessin is famous for its scallops, and there is evidence of that everywhere.




Local oysters from Asnelles-sur-Mer.




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5 Things

1) That rind!




2) Paris in bloom

3) At the café




4) Remembering - at the American cemetery

5) Bouquet assembly




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5 (Bayeux) Things

1) Sublime cheese on offer at the Saturday morning market




2) Le déjeuner sur l'herbe




3) Chez Paulette, our favorite new hangout




4) Medieval faces




5) Le cochon de Bayeux




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P'tit Vache Affiné Au Pommeau

Every time I discover a new cheese my heart skips a beat.

After tasting over 221 French cheeses, my Fête du Fromage project reached a bit of a dead end. I rarely came across a cheese that I hadn't already tasted and in general my passion for writing about cheese waned.
So, I kind of gave up.

Then this morning I spotted a locally produced fromage de vache at the Bayeux market and my desire to share a new (to me) French cheese was rekindled.



Le P'tit Vache Affiné au Pommeau is a young, unpasteurized cow's milk cheese produced on a small farm near Villers-Bocage. It has been aged for a mere two weeks, during which its rind is washed daily in Pommeau, a fruity mixture of AOC Calvados and apple juice that is enjoyed locally as an apéritif.

The pâte has a very fine, crumbly texture and the flavor is sweet, lactic and mild, with stronger aromas and flavors on the rind. I expected it to pack more of a punch, so was pleasantly surprised by its softness.

I think it will make a delicious breakfast cheese, spread on a slice of toasted baguette. (Normandy salt butter optional)

 

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5 Things

1) The last of the summer radishes




2) That light. That sky




3) La carte

4) Old maps of  France - I love these!




5) Saucisson 


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Dividing My Time And Biding My Time

The train between Bayeux and Paris has become my second third home.
I've become so familiar with the route that I know about what time I will lose 3G connection on my phone after leaving the station in Caen, how long it takes to get from the station at Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris and at precisely what time I will see the top of the Eiffel Tower if I glance out the window on the right side of the train.

At home I start the day with a big café au lait, cook with a lot of vegetables, avoid weeding the lawn as long as I can, cuddle with my husband and our chihuahua (and try to cuddle with our cat) and probably watch too much TV.
In Paris I start my day with a cup of tea or une noisette, eat Thai, Vietnamese and Indian food, snack on cheese and charcuterie, miss my husband, dog and cat and when I'm not trying to be a good house guest, probably spend too much time playing Words With Friends.





Eventually, when we find our apartment in Paris, these two worlds will meld together and I will avoid stepping a foot inside of la Gare Saint Lazare as long as I can.
I will savor the fact that I can go home at the end of the day with some take away Thai or Indian food or a bag of fresh veggies and cheese from the market and be with my little family. My husband and the dog will be happy to see me and the cat will pretend that he doesn't give a hoot. (Of course I know better)
We'll have friends over for drinks and/or dinner, get to know our local commerçants and I'll become as bored with commuting on the Métro as I currently am with commuting on the train.
I can't wait.








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