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~ A fairy-tale cottage by the Seine in Normandy

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Tag Archives: autumn

Autumn Colours on Two Continents

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by chaumierelesiris in France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

autumn, France, Halloween, New Jersey, pumpkins

I was lucky enough recently to spend a few days in New Jersey, before the hurricane hit.  The trees were magnificent in their autumn colours. I had forgotten how heartbreakingly beautiful an East Coast autumn can be, all flame red trees and bright blue skies.The town I stayed in (home to a lifetime friend and writer who blogs wonderfully at New Jersey Seoul) was dressed for the season, all orange pumpkins against white clapboard, as New England as you can get.

Large pumpkin

Autumn, New Jersey

Autumn day, PrincetonRed Tree, PrincetonHalloween, New Jersey

I then spent two days in the trendiest part of Brooklyn which was, in its own way, dressed for Halloween.

Halloween House, BrooklynHalloween Shop, Brooklyn

This delighted me, because I would spend the following week, including Halloween, in Normandy. What kind of Halloween could you expect in a rural village that’s about as far away as you can get from a Starbucks in the developed world?

Halloween in FranceHalloween in the village, Normandy

In fact: a very normal Halloween. The houses were dressed for Halloween. There were even pumpkins. I should have known. Which country, after all, did Cinderella come from.

There were few differences. First, it’s for the little children. There’s none of the adult-dressing-up stuff, and none of the wild tricking you get with teenagers in the US. (Although just after I left New Jersey it wasn’t the teenagers, it was Hurricane Sandy that played the worst possible trick, was the Grinch that stole Halloween for a million candy-laden, powerless towns across the midlantic states).

Halloween, NormandyTrick or Treating, Normandy, France

Second, it’s a village-managed event, coordinated and strictly regulated. It happens on a day that’s convenient for the village (it may not even be 31 October!). The children are invited to gather at the Mairie (town hall). They will then progress around the village to collect their candy, politely thanking the householders and closely monitored by a legion of parents who afterwards gather for a reconstituting glass of wine in the village hall.

I was sneaky, I confess. I had brought back from the US a bag of American candy: Taffy and Nerds and Sweet Tarts. What’s this? cried the children, seemingly disgusted. But the basket was nearly emptied, and my children told me that it was the American candy (below right), not the beautiful French candy (below left) that went first as the children gorged themselves afterwards.

Some things remain the same, wherever they happen.

French Halloween CandyAmerican Halloween Candy

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Cider Days

14 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Food, France, Les Iris, Normandy, Property in France

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

apple trees, apples, autumn, Buying a house in France, calvados, cider, Food, France, Normandy

Autumn is all about apples in Normandy and, by association, cider. Normandy is the only region in France that doesn’t produce wine, but it makes up for it with an amazing array of cider and its more potent cousin, calvados.

We’ve tried much cider and calvados in Normandy. Everyone with a couple of apple trees seems to have a go at brewing. When we were house hunting in the region, no visit was complete without the owner offering a sample of their very own tipple, and we’ve seen more than a few dinner parties off with a bang by introducing their DIY calvados.

Orchard with sheep, Normandy

The nearest cider maker to Les Iris, signposted on the main road to Sainte-Opportune-La-Mare, is excellent. Like champagne, his cider comes in doux, brut and semi-brut.

Cider, Normandy

He also maintains a vigorous vegetable garden, and sometimes sells extra produce alongside the cider. He takes the children into the garden, lets them choose their vegetables, and pulls the selected plants out of the ground, shaking off the rich dark earth. It’s the freshest lettuce and rhubarb in the world.

Vegetable garden, Normandy

In our garden there’s only one very old and gnarled apple tree standing guard by the gate. One of these days it will go: until then, it insists on producing an abundance of large green-red apples that turn brown within seconds of being cut open. Still, we’re delighted to have a token apple tree, and one of these days we might plant another, of the cooking apple variety.

Apple tree, Normandy

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An Autumn Walk

03 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris, Normandy, Things to do

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

autumn, Boucles de la Seine, Normandy, Pony, Walking

Our village sits on a gentle hill stretching up from the river. The newest houses (there are few of them, and these are the only ones which aren’t thatched) sit on higher ground, next to the forest. The hills are part of the Boucles de la Seine national park and  are densely forested. There are walking paths leading up from the village into the forest. We put the children in tall, strong Hunters before we explore the hills. There are many nettles, as well as wild mushrooms which the locals collect. There are views of the village and across the Seine.

Eure, Normandy

We last walked up the hill in October. It was a bright, crisp day – the best of autumn in Normandy. The path was covered in chestnuts which had dropped from the trees. This tree was resplendent with bright red berries.

Normandy, October

Not so long ago, the village was agricultural. As recently as the early 1980s, cows were kept at our cottage. Our “garage” is a cinder block cowshed, complete with stalls and mangers. The owners took the cows along the road to graze in fields. Today, the villagers are teachers and small business owners, or weekending Parisians. There are few homes with animals – a few chickens, and here, along one of the paths going up into the hills, these tiny shaggy ponies who peered at us from under their long hair.

Pony, Normandy

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Market Day in Pont-Audemer

30 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Food, France, Normandy, Travel

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

autumn, Food, France, Hermes, Market, Pont-Audemer, Travel, wild mushrooms

Is there any better shopping experience than a Norman market in October? The apples and pears are ripe; the wild mushrooms have been collected; the ducks are plump; la chasse is in full swing, and the seafood from the Atlantic coast is bountiful.

Our local market is in Pont-Audemer, a country commercial centre that, while charming, doesn’t have the tourist appeal of its neighbours Honfleur and Deauville. Some have called Pont-Audemer the Venice of Normandy, for its canal system that once served its famous tanning trade (the Hermès family hailed from here). I think the comparison’s a stretch. No palazzos in sight: but plenty of half-timbered Norman houses, narrow cobbled streets, a gothic church noted for its stained glass, and a bustling, bountiful market on Mondays and Fridays.

We love these unusually shaped squashes that you can find in Norman markets. They decorate our table from October until the Christmas decorations come out in December.

I wish I had taken a picture of the neatly stuffed ducks lined up and glistening in their rows. There were all shapes and sizes of box balls, smartly manicured in their pots. A hundred varieties of goats cheese – some brand new and dewily mild, others aged and pungent.

And, should you have a rush chair that needs to be fixed, there is man here who will do that for you. Wonderful.

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