Fame at last !!

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 What's been going on in Southern Orne? 

My brother sent me this article from an edition of The Daily Telegraph (24th September) 

The picture features the lake at Bagnoles-de l' Orne which is 10 minutes from us  and it is our go-to for meals, beers and trips to the cinema, The article highlights how much there is to do around here with its wealth of history and chateaux. The article not only describes what this region has to offer but also why autumn is a good time come here. It describes this part of Normandy (southern Orne) as the least populated and least visited part of the region so it is ideal for an autumn breather. 

The article refers to Camembert as the most famous hamlet in the world. I think Ben and Daniella would disagree with that as after we had visited (when they were much younger) they crowned it the most boring place in the world. 

More eating!

We had a lovely meal in Bagnole today with our friends who are visiting from Southwest France. The dishes were full of seasonal products and tasted delicious. Our friends have 2 dogs and no one batted an eye lid when we went in with them (the dogs that is, not our friends!), they even gave the dogs a bowl of water. It's easier here to have a dog as they are welcome everywhere and vets are very reasonable.

The food here (back to food!) is wonderful but it takes a long time to prepare, I made a Boeuf Bourguignon recently and it felt like it took a week to prepare and cook it. I recently saw a recipe for a chicken dish with 40 cloves of garlic!- at least they did not need peeling as I would lose the will to live.

One of the few things I could complain about here is fast food (I know you don't come to France for that), you should only go to McDonalds at lunchtimes, otherwise you can wait forever- I once waited 20 minutes for a coffee. A top tip is to go to supermarkets between 12.30 and 14.00, they are very quiet then as the French are enjoying their 90-minute lunches. 

It's never dull here - The other morning I looked out of the window to see over 20 sheep coming up the path and into our garden- it was a bit of a shock!. I went out and they ran back down the path again, too quickly for me to get a picture. I have no idea where they came from but they were walking very purposefully and they seemed to know where to return to- Lamb hotpot anyone??


Bagnoles de l'Orne (bagnolesdelorne.com)

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