A Meander

 

Inland from the Normandy coastline, the Department of "Orne" is overwhelmingly rural.  This is where my image of rustic Normandy comes from, with its apple orchards, sunny half-timbered farmsteads (locally called colombage) and herds of dairy cattle.

 

Patch-eyed beauty

The Udder Ones
 

Here you will find a landscape of small fields bordered by banked-up hedgerows thickened with trees.  It is a countryside on which large-scale agriculture seems to have had little impact.

While there are parts of France which are more isolated than rural Normandy, this is nevertheless a region which in many respects is still part of the "arrière pays".

The green is rich and vibrant.  The pastures seem to be the Michelin equivalent for cow fodder!  Those apple trees are resplendent in their delicate white flowers in the Spring and produce the best apples in the Fall for varieties of cider and Calvados.

Meadows full of flowers, an abundance of butterflies, and narrow, winding lanes. 

The cattle are beautiful!  Mascara, long eyelashes, and perfect proportions.  They look like they've just been scrubbed clean and are keen to pause from cud-chewing duties to pose for a photo.

 

 

 



Not all farmstead homes are half timbered, but this is still a strong image I have of Normandy. 

The following house is also typical with more stone than wood.

 

After a lovely long meander on back roads from Domfront to Mayenne, we stopped for a refreshment in the 24 degree weather.  Yeah!  The blue skies and sunshine have arrived!