Normandy –Apples, Apples, and More Apples

Normandy apples

It wasn’t until we started exploring Normandy that we realized that we were in an apple-growing region. Maybe it was the fact that we saw so much apple cider and apple brandy, called Calvados, wherever we went that gave us a clue.

I had my first Normandy cider on our first day when we began looking around the town centre. It was crisp and cold – and far less sweet than most of the ciders we get in South Africa.

Then, when we went to the local produce market, we bought two bottles of cider and a bottle of pommeau, an aperitif made by blending unfermented apple juice with Calvados. Chatting to the farmer at the produce market in a combination of broken French and equally broken English, we learned a little more about how pommeau is made, but it was only when we visited a Calvados producer in the town of Bayeux that we really learned more about the brandy.

Heavy rain started pouring as we made our way through the town centre towards the Calvados shop. And, when we got there – drenched and breathless after a dash to try and avoid the rain –we saw a closed sign on the door. We stood there in dismay, contemplating and equally wet walk back to the town where we could find cover. Then, as if by magic, the door opened, and a smiling gentleman invited us to enter.

We passed an enjoyable half hour in the shop, testing the cider and various barrel-aged Calvados samples they had on offer. We chatted to the owner about the process he uses to make the apple brandy – it’s made much the same way as cognac – and were able to compare the 4, 6 and 12-year-old Calvados. The number of years is the length of time the brandy has spent being aged in oak barrels. They were all delicious, although I preferred the 4-year old, which still had a strong taste of apple, which the older ones had lost.

We ended up walking home after the rain shower had passed, with a bottle of 4-year old Calvados, a bottle of their cider and some apple jam, which were tasty additions to our food stores at the apartment we were renting.

It sounds strange to say, with hundreds of different apple varieties being grown in the area, that we didn’t notice any apples on trees. But perhaps the harvest had already taken place.

Apple harvest is usually in early October, which was when we were there. It would explain why we saw so many trucks and tractors on the roads as we drove across Normandy. They became part of the landscape for us, although they did mean our hire car was covered in gravel and mud by the time our stay in Normandy was over.

If we were to return to Normandy, I’d definitely like to discover more about the apple farms and try to see how these distinctive Norman beverages are made. I think it would be fascinating.

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