Fécamp and Étretat

Another excursion by the school – this time to two villages along the Normandy coast: Fécamp and Étretat. They are in the same “Pays de Caux” region as Dieppe.

Étretat is primarily a tourist attraction. The cliffs that flank both sides of the village are quite spectacular.

The “arch and needle” formation was created over the centuries due to an underwater river and the erosion of the cliffs. The needle is 55 meters high. In the other direction another series of cliffs.

I found a set of stairs going down to the beach. I noticed all the initials carved in the rock. The rock is very soft.  

 

I made my own mark.

 

Coming down to the beach, I practiced taking “wave shots.” Tricky things

The beaches are made of small pebbles.

There were some people taking advantage of the good weather, but I can imagine that the same beach would be full in the summer.

I found a photo display on one of the buildings.

It was interesting to see that the same boats they build way back then, they are still building.

It was a great day for playing on the water…

Sail boats

Kayak

And these young women taking out the sailboards.

After a little coaching from the trainer...

They start to get the hang of it.

While tourism is the a major employer, there are a lot of small farms as well. 

This pasture is on top of the cliff. The church in the background is the same one in my photograph of the cliff. I was surprised at how much pasture and farm land there was in this area, but it really isn't surprising. This is the region where camembert comes from. The cheeses in this part of the world are incredible.

On our way back to the bus, I passed by a small garden and saw a couple of things I've never seen before: 

 This particular type of butterfly and a flying hummingbird moth

 Our other stop was the “Palais Bénédictine" factory in Fécamp. 

 Although the primary function of the building is to produce the famous liqueur, Bénédictine," it is also a museum of religious artifacts. 

 It was first constructed in 1888 but burned to the ground soon after. A second, larger, building was constructed in 1900 following the same neo-gothic – Renaissance style .

The liqueur was originally created by a Benedictine Monk in the 1500’s. As the history is told, Don Bernardo Vincelli was sent from Italy to Fécamp in 1509 and he brought with him an interest in alchemy – creating elixirs from the plants of the regions as well as the spices that were imported from other parts of the world. It is said that the monks used his recipe as an  elixir for close to 300 years, until the French Revolution. At that time religious communities were often disbanded and their property turned over to the French Republic. The recipe was lost until, it is said, Alexander the Grand discovered it in1863 tucked away in a book from the monks' library. The library had been bequeath to the family from a monk fleeing the Revolution. He revived the recipe and, in honour of it’s origins, named it “Bénédictine” – a name approved by the Benedictine community.  He formed a limited company in 1876 and built the factory. This facility is the only place in the world Bénédictine is produced.

There are 27 different spices used in the recipe. 

Some are local plants, others exotic spices. It takes over a year to make a batch. Certain spices are combined together into four different infusions that begin the process. The copper stills are the same as used by Alexander the Grand. 

After the infusion process, the contents are aged for 3 months and then blended together and allowed to age for another 8 months in oak casks. In the final blending honey and saffron are are added and the liquid heated twice. The liquid is aged for another 4 months in oak casks.

There are three different liqueurs produced – Bénédictine, “B and B” (Bénédictine and Brandy) and Single Cask Bénédictine (similar to a single malt whiskey – aged in small batches – it is only available for sale at the Palais). As part of the tour we were able to sample one of the liqueurs. I tried the Single Cask. Mmmm – so good I bought a bottle. I think I’m going to need another suitcase coming home again.