Tuesday 21 January 2014

Traditional Normandy half-timbered houses


Normandy and its beautiful half-timbered houses have always been an obsession of many Francophiles.  You just can't find the same allure, the same rustic beauty, the same backdrop anywhere.  The city of Rouen is a good starting point, but there are several small villages deep inside Normandy that will reward you with that perfect house. 

Midway between Rouen and Caen, off the highway A13, is a small village called Beuvron-en-Auge.  Beuvron-en-Auge was once a stronghold of the Harcourt family and they moved to England after the Norman Conquest in 1066.  This is the area where the highest concentration of authentic half-timbered houses and apple orchards lie (more in upcoming blog posts).  The village now boasts a population of over 200 inhabitants, with a "centre" that you can navigate on foot in less than 10 minutes, and each house has centuries of stories to tell.  I ended up spending over an hour here admiring the architecture. 

For those who are into calvadors (an apple brandy of Normandy), Domaine Dupont is not far from here.  Continue south along D49, follow the signs, turn left on D16 and you won't miss it.

Distance from Caen: 36km
Distance from Rouen: 110km



如果你喜歡法國,你一定亦會喜歡迷人的諾曼第 (Normandy) 以及那裏的半木製小屋,因為你不會在其他地方找到同樣的漂亮鄉郊風景。遊諾曼第,你可以以 Rouen 為起點,再深入到細小的鄉村去尋找你夢想的小屋。

由 Rouen 到 Caen 方向的途中,在A13 公路上,有一個小村莊叫 Beuvron-en-Auge。在 Beuvron-en-Auge,到處都是那種半木製的小屋及蘋果園。Beuvron-en-Auge 從前屬於Harcourt 家族,在1066年諾曼第征服了英格蘭之後,他們便離開諾曼第返回英國。現在大概有二百人個居民住在這裏。Beuvron-en-Auge 其實是一個很小的村莊,由村莊一端走到另一端只需十數分鐘;Beuvron-en-Auge 雖然細小,但是村裏每一間小屋都有著幾百年的歷史。最後我在這裏花了一個多小時單單就是為了欣賞這些精巧的建築物。

如果你還是卡巴度斯蘋果酒 (calvadors) 的愛好者,你必定不會想錯過就在附近的 Domaine Dupont。從 Beuvron-en-Auge 沿著 D49 向南走,跟著路牌指示, 左轉到 D16 你就會見到 Domaine Dupont。











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