The headlines being what they are in this summer of 1950, it is obvious that there are many things in this world more important than the misfortunes of Channel swimmers, the affairs of Li'l Abner, and the theme of this article, which is concerned with the gastronomic state of affairs in Normandy. This much being readily admitted, the fact remains that this courageous and stricken province now offers inspiration and good cheer to travelers from all over the world, a mere half dozen years after it served as the liberation beachhead of Europe.
The recovery of Normandy is a prodigious accomplishment which must console the native Normand as much as it impresses the visitor. Nature has led the way. The incorrigible fertility of Norman soil needed only the industry of the farmer to remake this into a land of plenty almost overnight. Fields, orchards, and pastures now yield their rich bounty with only slight persuasion. Normandy's cows continue to be staked out daily, and each contented bovine consumes her semicircle of rich clover with becoming serenity. Thick cream, golden butter, and fragrant cheese are the result, providing the keystone of Normandy cooking. Each autumn the orchards are weighted down with apples, which arc forthwith converted into cider and Calvados, two other notable keystones of Norman economy.
Nature, however, could do little about restoring the shattered cities of Normandy. Today it is a sobering experience to visit St. Lô, perhaps the most desolate reminder of the fury which descended upon Normandy in the summer of 1944. Caen, Rotten, Le Havre, Falaise, and many another city or town are partly devastated. Lisieux, once so celebrated for its ancient timbered houses, is now almost devoid of them. The center of Lisieux, illustrated here by a prewar drypoint, contained only the church, once the wreckage was cleared away. Seashore resorts, from one end of the Normandy coast to the other, suffered heavily from bombardment. This summer many a camper has pitched his tent on the choice but weedy site of a former de luxe beach hotel. The colossal scale of the invasion may be visualized at Arromanches or Omaha Beach, where rusty hulks still dot the shore. Numerous were the villages, particularly in the region of Caen, which became entirely effaced from the earth's surface.
Against this saddening background, however, arc many heartening signs. The French people have gone about the immense problem of reconstruction with vigor, imagination, and good taste. Well-coordinated housing projects arc rising from the ruins, while bombedout merchants carry on in temporary wooden shacks. The main problem at present seems to be financial. Many projects are temporarily stalled for want of funds, and the lot of the sinistrés is still a sad one.
The Normandy countryside, however. presents a far different picture from that of its battered cities. It comes as a pleasant surprise to find that the scars of war have largely disappeared and that any number of towns have come through untouched. Most of Normandy's celebrated chateaux and manors and many of its noblest churches arc still miraculously intact. The picturesqueness of Norman villages is unchanged. There arc the same timbered cottages with thatched roofs and roses 'round the door. Most of the bridges are back in place. Roads have been resurfaced and lined with new rows of saplings to replace the trees cut for firewood during the bitter years. Most of Normandy has been preserved. It is as beguiling as ever and much more interesting to the average traveler.
For its courageous comeback alone, this fair province deserves a high priority from the visitor. To judge by the foreign automobiles on its roads. it has more than regained its erstwhile popularity, but not for sentimental reasons alone. Normandy's hotels and restaurants have fought their way back, not without a great deal of effort, to their prewar standards and even above them. This was abundantly clear to your roving correspondent after a studied epicurean tour last summer. Some of the best of Normandy's gastronomic glories are listed below, but no foolish claim is made that all are included. Normandy has five départements, and it is a large order-more than my waistline can take. You will note conspicuous omissions-Deauville, for example, where we just didn't seem to fit with the King of Egypt, the Aga Khan, and those new rose-colored chips, now current in the casino, worth a million francs each. But a lot of red-and-white checkered tablecloths were covered in arriving at the following list. Citing the five départements and their towns alphabetically, here are several of Normandy's noteworthy restaurants:
Bayeux (Calvados)
This lovely town, famed for its unique tapestry and its cathedral, was occupied by the British troops very shortly after the initial landings and escaped virtually undamaged. You will find a comfortable, unpretentious, and pleasant hotel almost across from the west facade of the cathedral called the HôTEL NOTRE-DAME. The cooking is very good. indeed, with a strong emphasis on sea food. Monsieur Catelain's method of preparing mussels with a cream sauce deserves particular acclaim. The prices are very fair, the rooms clean and bright, and one has the added privilege of hearing the cathedral chimes sound softly throughout the night. A garage and a cafe arc a part of this commendable country hotel.
Dives-sur-Mer (Calvados)
Architecturally as famed as any hotel in France, the HOSTELLERIE GUILLAUME-LE-CONQUéRANT is lodged in an ancient and vastly picturesque building dating back to the eleventh century. William the Conqueror's Inn has been Celebrated for decades, and its guest book contains countless notable signatures-so notable, in fact, that some ungracious guest recently walked off with it! Its garden is a bower of flowers, and its venerable dining halls are nothing less than museum pieces. The food is more than adequate to keep pace with such unprecedented surroundings, and a little expensive. But the atmosphere is worth it. In case you can't find Dives-sur-Mer on the map. it is on the southern outskirts of the seaside resort of Cabourg.
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