La Manche, du Nord Cotentin au Mont Saint-Michel – Les 100 lieux qu’il faut voir

La Manche, du Nord Cotentin au Mont Saint-Michel – Les 100 lieux qu’il faut voir

Do you like France? Do you like to explore it,
discover it, and meet it? Sometimes you even
feel like you know her well. We all have a small beach,
a small cove, a clearing, a hamlet or a path that belongs
only to us, far from the beaten track and that we only want to share with
those we love. This is the France we want
you to discover through 100 places that you absolutely must see in your lifetime. Today we invite you
to discover the Channel and its heritage. This lush region of
natural beauty offers visitors a multitude of amazing qualities. We will first explore
the Centre-Manche region and discover its Viking stories,
treat ourselves to a typical Norman dessert, or embark
on an original fishing trip. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, ray, he’s beautiful. In the North Cotentin,
a fishing port with authentic charm awaits us,
as well as a unique place of remembrance of the Second World War. Or even a biscuit maker who cultivates
an enticing know-how. It was my great-great-grandfather
who founded the company in 1903. We’ve been making cupcakes for five generations
. The South Channel will also whet our
appetite. Before revealing the jewel
of the region, on Mont-Saint-Michel or in the surrounding area. Now that’s impressive. In fact, you can see it from the
top of Mont Saint-Michel. The great thing
is seeing it when you’re here. She’s cute. Let’s set off straight away to discover
the Channel with those who cultivate and share a true passion
for this welcoming region. Our journey begins
in the Centre-Manche region. A land where land and sea merge. This is where Stéphanie
decided to settle down about ten years ago. Originally from Paris,
she instantly fell under the spell of Normandy’s nature. Come on, girls. Today, she breeds
pre-salted lambs, a specialty of the Manche region. His herd grazes in the vast
expanses of coastal grasses that grow in the salty environment. Their flesh, thus nourished, has
an inimitable and highly sought-after flavor. It is quite naturally to the coastline
that she cherishes that she first takes us,
to Hauteville-sur-Mer, to meet Jean-Claude, one of the
many guardians of the regional heritage. From the city. Hi.
Good morning. How are you ?
How are you. Glad to see you? Well yes, well me too, the same.
Well, shall we go? Yes.
Come on. I’m going up behind.
If we don’t want to be late. Is this going to be okay?
Yeah, yeah, if I hold on, will it be okay? Should I hang on? Come on. Jean-Claude practices
a very particular type of fishing. He uses a wooden fishing net that his
family has maintained for four generations. The Maillard fishery,
as it is called here, with its V-shape, is a gigantic
fish trap when the sea retreats. So that’s the hedge. Is that called a hedge?
It’s called a hedge. Like in a field? Like in a field.
Is this funny? The same.
So it goes from one hedge to another. And then he gets stuck. And then there, it’s like a mousetrap. Once it’s in,
it can’t come out. Yeah, yeah. So if there is a miraculous catch,
it is in there. Yes.
Okay, come on. A happy lady. So there, suspense, anything is possible. There may be plenty of fish,
or there may be no fish. Ah, that’s really deep. Yes, there is a hole in the fish.
There I am… Oh yeah, I’m in the hole, okay. It doesn’t seem to suit me. Today, Jean-Claude will let
Stéphanie operate to harvest the fruits of the previous tide. Is that a fish? Okay, okay, okay.
There is one, yes, indeed. A task not as
easy as it looks. That’s it, that’s it, right?
No. No ?
Well no. There, then, facing the handcuff. Here, get up.
There ? No, there. No. I’m not the one feeding us tonight. Well, do you see it?
Yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Ah, she’s good, she’s good. Yeah, he’s very Yes,
that’s pretty much it. Now, this isn’t the time
to drop it, is it? Come on, my darling. It’s just a beautiful battle
between the woman and the fish. In the end, Stephanie will take two
good-sized bars from the benâtre. This circular trap
is three meters in diameter. Jean-Claude’s fishery
has seen better days. When did your fishing start? It dates from 1540. Your fishery, this fishery?
This fishery, yes. And it’s registered.
She has always been there. At that time, they were farmers. And that made them… Who had cultures
inside the earth? Yes, inside,
who were doing market gardening. And that gave them a complement, you know. Okay, it wasn’t just for
fishermen as you might imagine. No, no, no, no. Recent excavations have discovered
nearby fisheries dating back to the Neolithic period, a heritage specific
to the Channel coastline, now threatened with extinction. There are only three fisheries like this left
in France, all located around
other seaside towns. Jean-Claude, so, after you, is there
someone to take over the fishery? What’s going on?
No, there’s no one there. You have to be a little crazy to do that. Yes, that’s what I see.
You have to be very brave. You have to be a little crazy for that. You have to love the sea, you
have to love the wind. You have to get up at night. I don’t know what might come
after me, but I have to stick with it. Does that mean that after you, she,
potentially, if no one maintains her, will disappear?
Yes. Attention fans. Let us now leave the coastline to look at more terrestrial riches. Stephanie now takes us to
enjoy a local specialty at Gérard’s Farm, a
farmer and cow breeder. Good morning.
Hello Hello Stephanie. Are you doing well ? Thank you for having us. I know you, I know your products,
but I did n’t know about exploitation yet. Yes, here, mainly,
it’s dairy cows. As you’ve probably guessed,
Stéphanie and Gérard are now going to introduce us to
a milk-based recipe. A delicious dessert, typical of the
Normandy region and very simple to make. So, for the recipe, there, the teurgoule,
all the ingredients are there. There is no need for anything else. Well, it’s extremely simple. So, we need sugar, round rice,
so dessert rice, and then milk, milk from the cows we
picked earlier. Be careful, the explanation of this
recipe will go very quickly. We pour the sugar and rice in bulk. And now all that’s left is to
put the milk in the bowl. So there you have it, the 4 liters of milk. Very hot cows because we
boiled them, of course. And there you go, you see? You feel the heat, right away. And there it is ready
to put in the bread oven. And there, you don’t stir,
you leave it like that? It’s not useful. The rice should stay at the bottom
and the sugar will rise with the heat, and this will caramelize the milk. And that’s what will give
the teurgoule its particular taste. This is the simplest recipe in the world. It’s good for active women. On the other hand, afterwards, it is the
cooking time which is very long. It’s between 6 and 7 hours. In a conventional oven,
allow 5 hours of cooking time. Gérard, for his part, uses a
bread oven to cook his teurgoule. He will gladly let you taste it if
you come to visit his educational farm. And the teurghoul, where does the name come from?
One can ask the question. And actually, when we
ate it too hot, it burned. So, the ghoul is the mouth. And when we keep quiet,
it means to twist our mouths. And then there we are, we shut up. That’s Norman, too.
Yeah, a little bit… But it’s continued to this day. Yeah, the name stuck. The name stuck. The origin of this dessert
dates back to the 18th century. In the midst of the Franco-British conflict,
several English ships were captured by Norman sailors. On board were goods from
the American colonies, including Carolina fries and Virginia sugar. It’s delicious. The caramel is very, very present.
It’s melting. Above all, you can taste the real milk. Real milk? The taste of real, real milk. There are recipes where you can add
a touch of butter, but like me, with my cows, they give
rich milk with pasture. So the milk is rich enough. We don’t add butter,
we add whole milk, real milk. No doubt,
we are in Normandy. About twenty kilometers further
west, we will now focus on a more
historical heritage, with the Château de Pirou. Virginie,
the fortress’s cultural manager, will show us around one of the
oldest castles in La Manche, still standing.
Hello Virginia. Hello Stephanie. How are you ?
It’s good and you ? Yes, thank you for taking the time to
welcome us and show us around the castle.
Oh well, it’s with pleasure. These original foundations
date back to the 9th century. At the time, it was a wooden fort
intended to protect the premises from Viking invasions. It was only 300 years later that
a stone castle was built here. Extensively remodeled over time,
it benefited from a major restoration between 1968 and 1994. Watch out for the head. How many meters are we from here?
Twelve. There you are at the highest point of Pirou. This is the highest point. This is where you have a
great view of the restoration. Which was initiated by Abbot Marcel
de Légar, who is originally from Perrier. And he used to come and play here when
he was a child with his sisters. And so, in 1966, it was he who
bought the castle with his family. It was really, really ruined. And he pulled together the whole
castle shirt, precisely, with associations, volunteers, at the beginning. Tell me, what is the shirt? So, the castle shirt
is the rampart, in fact. Thanks to Abbot Lelégar,
visitors can now walk the ramparts of Pirou. They can also admire an
original work in one of the castle’s outbuildings. A curiosity that has made the
building’s reputation for almost 25 years. Terrible, it looks like
the Bayeux Tapestry. Oh no, that’s right,
it’s Pirou’s tapestry. But that is the point of Bayeux,
indeed. It’s another
idea from Father Leléa. He wanted to tell the epic story of the Normans. But if you look closely,
it is not the story of William’s conquest of England,
but the epic of the Normans from the Cotentin to southern Italy and Sicily. Because we all know William
the Conqueror and we are unaware of this extremely rich history. We are in the 11th and 12th centuries. The small Norman lords had too
little land to bequeath to their descendants. They then put their weapons to the service
of Lombard and Byzantine princes looking for mercenaries. Over time, the Norman conquerors
would acquire territories for their own account in Italy. But this work is therefore a work
of passion, since it is Thérèse Ozen, who is a nurse in life,
who worked for 16 years at a rate of three centimeters per day. Three centimeters of wallpaper? So.
To embroider Pierrot’s tapestry. We are inspired by the Bayeux point. That’s why it looks exactly like the Bayeux Tapestry from
a narrative and graphic point of view, with the same
humor. The same expression of animals,
humans, embroidery, small details. The Pirou tapestry
stretches over 58 meters. A truly impressive work. 30 km further east,
in Remilly-sur-L’Ozon, there is a place where people also take
pride in working manually and just as meticulously. A workshop led by Olivier. Hello Olivier.
Hello Stephanie. I’m doing well ?
Yes. Thank you for welcoming me to this
poetic place, full of little secret wonders. There you go, it’s a basketwork. A basketwork, but not just any basketwork. In Rémylie-sur-Loson,
working with wicker is a tradition that dates back more than 150 years. The village is located in a
marshy area and at its peak, basket weaving employed 400
families from the surrounding area. This was what was called
the plastic of the time. And when we talk about plastic
of the time, he also made buckets for firefighters. Wicker water jumps?
Yes. To carry water.
To put water in, yes. A committed heir to the
family business, Olivier is keen to perpetuate the precious know-how of
the Basketmakers of Rémylie-sur-L’Ozon. So, we can make
lots of things. It can range from cradle
jumping to coffin. All right. Between the two, there are
possible alternatives. The horse behind, for example. Yes, yes, yes. Or the butter basket,
which was a very emblematic basket of the region, since
it’s a bit like a thermos, you know. It is made of double wall. You can feel it, it’s heavy.
It is heavy. It is heavier than wicker. There was a gap of air between the two
and the butter kept much better. The famous butter baskets from Rémy-Ly
sur Lauzon are easily recognizable. They are the only ones in all of Europe
to be traditionally braided in a clockwise direction. In the 16th century, we had bakers,
we had corbel makers, we had chair makers
and we had basket makers. The one who shot baskets,
it’s really… He He was supposed to do nothing else. The one who made baskets, that’s all
he did. And on the other hand, the basket maker,
he made vans above all. So, these are large baskets
that were used to winnow the grain. Then there was the winnower
who used the wind. So,
what is winnowing grain for? Is it to sow it? No, it is to shake the basket,
to separate the grain of wheat from its husk, which is called livery. Now it is replaced
by combine harvesters. But at the time, the people who did
that, the winnowers, it was hard work. At the end of the day,
these people were exhausted. The expression to be vané, to be exhausted,
because we have been vanéing grain all day with that. No time for us to be tired. Our journey continues more than 60
km away, in the North Cotentin. To accompany us,
a local boy who travels the region suspended from his paramotor. Jérôme knows every corner of his
territory since he is a photographer. And captures his shots from the sky. But also from the mainland. Originally from Barfleur,
it was only natural that he wanted to introduce us to his village. Our visit begins with his friend Pierre, a
hotelier and memory of Barfleur. Hi Pierre. Hello Jerome.
How are you ? I’m doing well. Gardening?
In the middle of gardening, yes, yes. You have a real little corner of paradise,
here, there, this garden. He is wonderful.
It’s true. One thing that is extraordinary in Barfleur,
which surprises people, is that here we have plants like tropical plants. We were lucky, in the 19th century,
to have plant collectors who brought back
plants like the Cordyline you see here from Australia and elsewhere. And there was even a small
acclimatization garden in Cherbourg, which allowed the collector
to acclimatize the plants. And that gives, yes, this very southern side. Yes, a little taste of the south in the Cotentin. A little taste of the south
in the Cotentin, that’s it. Another particularity of Barfleur,
also visible in Pierre’s garden and on most of the houses in the village, is
the ornamental festoons which adorn the roofs. So, it’s an old tradition. Because we have potters
in the Cotentin, when we wanted to decorate the roofs a little,
we asked the potters to move from the utilitarian, let’s say, to the decorative. And so they
put ceramic on all these ridge finials. But that’s still something
very characteristic of Barfleur. What is especially characteristic
of Barfleur is that, well, there are a lot of people who play the game. And so, when they have
a roof restored or even just for fun, we see some who install
a beautiful finial on a roof that already existed. These celebrations undoubtedly contribute
to the charm of the little houses that you can come across while
strolling around the port. Because Barfleur is, above all, the last
major dry dock in Normandy. A haven for sailors,
ever since a certain Rollo, one of the most famous Viking leaders,
set up camp in Barfleur with his troops. From the moment they had
effective possession of Normandy, since Rollo became Duke
of Normandy, they truly established themselves in this
territory which became theirs. They administered it perfectly. And quickly, it became
a little small for them. It was William the Conqueror,
one of Roland’s successors in the Duchy of Normandy,
who, a century later, would set out to conquer
England and become its king. Legend has it that he left
by boat from Barfleur to conquer this new territory. Barfleur took full advantage of this
situation because to reach England, successive duke-kings,
such as Henry I and Henry II, needed to have ports on the
continent and ports in England. And Barfleur took advantage of this
situation by being very well placed. And it has developed
significantly, since we are talking, under the reign of Henry II, of a port which
could have had 8 to 10,000 inhabitants. It’s a change from today,
where we have about 50 inhabitants here. Over the centuries, Barfleur has prospered. Signed by this good fortune,
the charming Saint-Nicolas church. A remarkable building that seems to watch
over the port and the sailors of Barfleur. It took no less than
223 years to build. It has
an astonishing stained glass window within it. This stained glass window has a fact,
which commemorates both the liberation of Barfleur, but also
reminds us of the memory of Julie Pautèle, or Saint Mary Magdalene. A famous Barfleurese
since she became a saint. Under the saint,
an inscription recalling the liberation of Barfleur by the Americans,
which took place without problems for the population and for the heritage. And obviously, the most
pious Barfleurais said to themselves, this can only happen thanks to a miracle and thanks
to the protection of Julie Pautèle. Hence the symbol expressed by this stained glass window,
with Julie hovering above Barfleur and protecting it.
Who protects him. A little further along the port,
at the northern tip of Barfleur, there is a building which symbolises
another form of protection. This time more concrete. This is the sea rescue station
, or more precisely, the Central Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People. You see there
, this is a place that resonates in my heart and which must resonate in all the
hearts of the people of Barfleur, this lifeboat station. And then this boat, the Créteil Soé, is
memories, it’s a whole lot of emotion, it’s history. I remember those moments
when we heard the siren in the village.
I’ve heard it a few times too, yes. People who were running to the end of the quay
to see this boat leave, waiting for the rescuers to return. These are really powerful moments. On the walls, the numerous rescues
carried out in nearly a century and a half of assisting sailors
off the coast of Barfleur. A tribute to the rescuers who
sometimes put their own lives in danger. But there is also a little pride,
that Barfleur Barfleur had one of the first stations. So, we usually say that we were
the first lifeboat station in France, which opened in 1865, when the national lifeboat company was created. It takes us back to a time, here
we are at the end of the 19th century, so with three months sailing
off the coast of Barfleur, passing through the Rat,
passing in front of the Gatville lighthouse. The Gatville lighthouse,
located at the gates of Barfleur, is the second tallest lighthouse in Europe. The first being that of the
Virgin Island, in Finistère. For the record, it has
365 steps, as many as there are days in the year. 52 windows as the number of weeks,
and 12 levels for months. Let’s leave the eastern coast of
the Cotentin and head towards the western lands. A moment eagerly awaited by Jérôme,
since he will now show us the Maison du Biscuit. An institution he knows well,
located in Sorto-Ville, in Beaumont, in a real movie set. It is Kevin, head biscuit maker, who is
pleased to welcome us. Hello Kevin.
Jerome? Yes, it’s me.
Delighted. Listen, nice to see you. I ‘ve been hearing about biscuterie for a long time
. And listen, I’m
glad to meet you. You’ll be able to tell me
a little bit about all of this. Do you know? Listen, yes, I know the place well
because I come regularly with my family, you know, to eat
little cakes and everything. How did it all start? Because it didn’t happen overnight. It’s quite a long story because
it was my great-great-grandfather who created the company in 1903. We’ve been
making cupcakes for five generations. So it’s always remained
a family business? Yeah, from father to son. My father took over the business
in the 60s and 70s. And then, as soon as I got my CAP
in pastry making, they asked me the question, they put me in there, they told me: You
will make biscuits like everyone else. It was Kevin’s grandfather, a pastry chef, as
you might have guessed, who had the idea of ​​making cookies. In 1945, it was very difficult to find
the raw materials to make cakes. Never mind,
we’ll make cookies since they require fewer ingredients. And so still with these recipes,
how does it go? Keeping grandfather’s recipes,
you have a little bit… It was really important that we
really keep traditional recipes. Ladyfingers, for example,
are little cakes that my grandfather created, Congolos, all that. It’s staying,
it will always remain cakes that will be leaders of the house. Because you have little kids
who ate them in the 60s, who today are 50, 60, or 70 years old,
and who still come to the biscuit shop to get their box of congolos
like they used to come to get them in the past. Like those of his ancestors,
Kevin’s biscuits are preservative-free, colouring-free,
and made with raw materials from the local region. Now let’s go into the kitchen to taste
one of his famous recipes: the Norman Palace. The Norman Palace is a small,
soft cake, a bit like the Breton Palace. Except that the
Breton Palace is dry. And ours is slightly soft. The secret to this softness
is the honey and milk that Kevin adds to his mixture
of sugar and butter. And then I add the eggs. These are the eggs of the Cotentin. There is interest, yes. Mix everything together without overdoing it. There, you see, that’s enough. You don’t have to go
looking either. You’re not going too far.
You don’t do that. You shouldn’t go too far because
afterwards, the butter will heat up and then start to melt. After that, it’s dead. Then comes the essential ingredient
in any good cookie recipe. So now we can add the flour. The only thing, when you make
cupcakes, and people don’t know this often enough, is that when you add the flour,
you always have to sift it. Oh okay, you’re going to sift. In all the cakes you make,
you always sift the flour. There, I’m going to need you. So be careful. So, I’m going to pour the flour for you,
and then you’re going to shake it lightly so that we put it
on the sheet of paper. Come on, let’s go.
A great team effort. There you go, shake it lightly. You see, we already have little
grains in our flour. An ancestral gesture that you passed on to me.
You’re practically a pastry chef. Okay, it’s over. And you see, it was worth
finishing it. Look at the number of grains we
have inside. I’m starting to get hungry.
Come on, go on, hurry up. Show me a sequel. The rest is very simple. All you have to do is make a dough
that you will roll out with a rolling pin. Then, create small discs
using a cookie cutter. Child’s play. Well, almost. Do you want to try?
Well, listen, look at this. So I take it and… Ah, well, that’s it, it’s a failure. All that remains is to put it in the oven for
15 minutes at 210 degrees. Show me that. Still warm.
We unmold. We take a good hard water. Yeah. And we taste it slightly warm. It’s even better. You see there? I can really feel the difference. Because you told me,
the side is a little bit hard on the outside, but very, very soft on the inside. There, we feel it well, it’s great.
Well done Kevin. Frankly. This gourmet break comes at just the right time,
because Jérôme will need some reserves to begin his next stage. It now takes us to the extreme
northwest of the English Channel, to the Nez de Jogour, on the natural peninsula of La Hague. A very wild place where he has a
meeting with Yves and Jacky. Hello gentlemen.
Good morning. Good morning.
How are you ? How are you, Jacky?
Yes. Yves, here you go.
Hello, nice to meet you. Delighted.
Thank you for having me. We’re going to see some beautiful things. Thank you for accompanying me
to discover this territory. I know the view from above very well,
because I often fly here to take pictures. But on the other hand, I never went
down into the caves on foot. So for me, this is really
the big discovery today. Yves and Jacky offer hikes
to discover the Jobourg caves, a place inaccessible without an experienced guide. First you have to go down a
steep path, taken from the outset from paths forbidden
to the general public, then climb rocks,
sometimes slippery, over a long distance, paying close attention to the tide
which can trap the most forgetful. After a short hour of brisk walking,
we see the first cracks in the rock. Our team finally arrives
at its destination, in one of the largest caves in the area. A cave with its own little story. Tell me, Yves, is this a real
den for smugglers? Yes, we are in the Lion’s Cave. It is a cave that is
not flooded with every tide. She stays dry. This allows our smugglers, in the past,
to go there to store their contraband goods and to check during this
time that the road is clear and not cluttered with customs officers on the
customs path where these brave customs officers circulate day and night. Under Louis XIV, it was mainly
fabrics, velvets, taftas. So, smuggling lasted a very long time,
when we know that the last
customs barracks were only closed in 1955. So, from Louis XIV,
until this time, we can see the number of generations who were
able to operate with smuggling. It’s a bit of a It has somewhat marked
the character of the country, because if you have the opportunity
to really meet people who are truly from La Hague,
you will find them to be very quiet, taciturn, as they say, an old
smuggler’s habit. That’s it. At the very bottom of this Lion’s Cave, there is
a breach that is difficult to access. Oh yeah, it’s still getting
smaller and smaller. Oh yeah, that’s a bit on your knees. Then we can stand up. There, it will be more comfortable. Okay. Yves and Jacky want to give
Jérôme a little surprise. I’m coming. But tell me, is your treasure there? Ah yes, a real treasure, there you have it. Actually, this isn’t
Ali Baba’s barracks, it looks like gold. In fact, it is yquenne,
pearled with sparkling water droplets. It’s just amazing. So, we now say that it is
a marker of non-pollution. Yes, nature has done its job well. Let’s return to the surface to continue
our visit in the footsteps of a page of history inevitably
associated with Normandy. Let’s now go to Saint-Marcouf,
to discover one of the highlights of the Second World War. A site little known to the general public,
but closely linked to the landing. Marie, Chris Beck’s drum guide,
will explain why. Hello Marie.
Hello Jerome. I’m doing well ?
Alright. Thank you for having me here. Well, welcome
to Chris Beck’s drums. Listen, this is great. I’m a little impressed
by this machine. What is this ?
Tell me a little bit about it. Yes, so we are in fact looking at
a 210m Skoda cannon, so very powerful. A very powerful cannon,
and not just any cannon. We are in a unique place,
as it was from here that the first cannon shot took place, at dawn on June 6, 1944. The Germans saw the Allied fleet
arrive, so right on the horizon here. And so, they gave the alert
in Cherbourg, and Cherbourg gave them the order to open fire on the
Allied fleet that was landing, so on the morning of June 6, 1944. Okay, so right there, there,
towards the sea, in that direction. There you go, that’s it. It is 5:52 a.m. on June 6, 1944, and Chris Beck’s battery is the first to react. The Allies were well aware that the site
constituted a serious danger for the landing. This is why it has been continuously
bombed since 1943. The day before the landing,
it was even the object of massive bombardment. Nearly 600 tons of bombs
fell here in a single night, facilitating the intervention
of Allied troops and the liberation. So, we have the landing. And then, for years,
this site remains forgotten. And what happens next? It was a site that was deliberately
left in oblivion because it was the dark side, it was the German side. So, deliberately, the French
left the site a little in the mud. And so, the vegetation
gradually took back its place. And so, it was only in 2004
that a team of enthusiasts redeveloped the site, thus removing
the blockhouses from the mud, etc. And therefore made it accessible
to visitors. Okay, so we dug on the site
to find the buildings. Yes, absolutely. There you go, all the blockhouses
have been cleared. And so, we traced the trenches
which connected these shelters to the anvils. The Normandy coast is teeming with two places
of memory such as the Crisbeck battery. But it has many other attractions. Let us now go down a few latitudes
to venture into the south of the Channel. A territory that Virginie
knows by heart. A local singing and theatre artist, and
host of an educational farm offering local recipes,
this adopted Norman is hyperactive. In her spare time,
she likes to recharge her batteries on the cliffs of her stronghold near
large cities. It is in this city
that we will continue our walk. Virginie has an appointment at the port with
Cyril, chef, who will introduce us to a
noble product, a local specialty that is truly worth the detour. Hi Cyril.
Hello, Virginia. How are you ?
Well, not too bad. Oh well, listen.
Have you seen Pascal yet? No, he’s not back yet.
He didn’t arrive? He won’t be long, but I think he
had a pretty rough night at sea anyway. We’re going to have blue gold.
There is no problem, there is. The blue gold that Pascal,
Cyril’s fishing buddy, delivers to them is lobster, and not just any lobster. That’s really beautiful. There is Canadian lobster,
Breton lobster, but there is also and above all Chauset lobster.
Here is the Chauset lobster. Which is of a super quality
which is recognized enormously. It has flesh that is really very
tasty, very, very firm, very flavorful, you know. To make sure,
Cyril invites us to his restaurant located on the port of Grandville. First step: in the kitchen,
check that your lobster is fresh. The lobster that Pascal brought us
earlier, so it’s a lobster that didn’t make it into a tank at all. This can be seen
from the length of the antennae. Lobsters, when they are in the tank,
eat each other’s antennae. Okay, yeah, I didn’t know that. Yes, since they are no longer fed,
well, they can no longer eat. So there you go, they have to
manage on their own. If you still have any doubts,
Cyril has another tip. And there is also this quality. I always pay attention to that. It’s at that level. Oh dear, yes, very vulgar. That’s pretty vulgar. It’s there, here, at the gill level,
there, I often press there. And there, we give an impulse there. Yeah, he’s invigorated. It will have very firm flesh,
there is a product quality there, which is optimal. Cyril’s lobster is very fresh. Here’s the chef’s recipe,
very simple to preserve the authentic shellfish taste. A good source of beurre blanc,
with a shallot, a little crushed pepper, white wine, thyme. Then we reduce everything and
add a little Norman touch. We’re going to incorporate this
double cream from the market. Okay, raw cream?
Raw, yes. From here, from our home. This is really the side that I’m looking for
too, something delicious, with this cream, this double cream,
which gives a smoothness to the sauce. Then comes the butter,
from Normandy, of course. It smells great. Honestly, it makes you want it. Yes, it smells good, there are smells. They don’t necessarily have them behind
the screen, but we do. The image is almost enough
to whet our appetite. All that remains is to cook the lobster cut in half. In the oven, for a maximum of 15 minutes. Then there is only one step left. Oh my, it’s beautiful, it makes you want it. Honestly, you did a good job. Topped with a
delicious beurre blanc sauce. I always start with that. Mmm. Eski. Delicious. How can I tell you? If that’s not happiness, it looks like it. We still have this salty side,
we have this delicious side of butter. Count 15 euros for a
Chausey lobster, in the fishmongers of Grandville. A little pleasure that’s not
so unaffordable. 30 km inland,
our visit to the English Channel gives us a taste of Louis. In Ville-Dieu-les-Pouëls,
Virginie has an appointment at the village bell foundry. An institution that Paul runs. Welcome to the
Corniavar bell foundry. How are you doing on this beautiful day? Well, let’s enjoy the sun.
Yes. And so, we are here
in Ville-Dieu-les-Pouëlles. Why a
bell foundry specifically here? So, the tradition of making
bells in Ville-Dieu dates back to the Middle Ages. That is to say, it was in the 11th century,
Henry I Boclair, who was King of England and
Duke of Normandy, who gave permission to the Knight of Saint John,
returning from the Crusades, to create a town exempt from royal taxes. This allowed the development
of crafts, dinnerware, sheet metal work,
but also foundries, and a little later, bell foundries. The bells of Ville-Dieu-les-Pouëlles
are very popular. In 2012, Notre-Dame de Paris
ordered nine from Paul’s foundry. Inside, in the workshops
, we have tried to recreate the atmosphere that could have existed
here in the 19th century. You can also observe the different
trades that worked on the many stages
of making a bell. Now, we are going to see a very
large bell that we are currently making for the Sainte-Anne church
in Turcaïme, in Haut-Rhin. Indeed,
that one is really big. And there, Elise is putting all
the inscriptions one by one by hand. They are made of wax. They will then be covered with clay
and melted so that they leave their mark and are
then replaced by bronze. This is called lost wax casting.
Okay. It’s a technique that dates back to the
Egyptians, which is widely used in art foundry. To appreciate the precision
of the craftsmen who work in these workshops, Paul suggests that Virginie take a
look at one of the bells that his teams have just finished. This bell is really beautiful.
THANKS. She is really beautiful.
And where is she going? So this bell
goes backwards and it sounds an F 4 at minus 47 hundredths at pitch 440. Oh yes, it’s super precise. It’s super precise, super technical. We adjusted the timing to the other bells
in the bell tower so that this bell would ring perfectly in tune with the others.
Well yes, of course. But then, how do you
determine the sound? Is it in design, in manufacturing? So it is first of all
the sound of a bell, it depends on the size. That is, the bigger the bell
, the lower it will sound. And it also depends on the ratio
of thickness to diameter. That is to say that at constant size,
the thicker the bell, the higher it will sound. I suggest you ring it and
see for yourself. And there, you’re going to ring it right
on the bump that’s here. We feel the vibrations.
Exactly. This bell, which resonates in the
Normandy sky, takes us straight to the most famous abbey in La Manche. One of the most
famous sites in France. A wonder known
throughout the world. Mont Saint-Michel. It is Amélie, a
tour guide on the mountain, who will accompany us to discover
the village of this national monument. Hello Amélie.
Hello Virginia. Welcome to Mont Saint-Michel.
THANKS. Here we go ?
Come on, let’s go, I’ll follow you. Originally,
there was the thousand-year-old sanctuary, perched at the very top of Mont-Saint-Michel. A collegiate church,
then a Benedictine abbey in the 10th century, which attracted crowds of pilgrims
from the beginning of its history. We then very quickly witness the birth
of a small village on the mountain. So, Virginie, we arrive here halfway
between the village church and the abbey which is at the very top. We are therefore in the tangle of the
medieval village, the very first settlement of a population at Mont-Saint-Michel. They come because there is a pilgrimage
and the pilgrims are customers. So, there is the possibility here of having
an economic activity and this is what will create a first installation
on the edge of the sanctuary. We have a community of merchants,
but also a community of fishermen. They are called red feet. From walking barefoot in the
cold, salty waters of the bay, their feet are almost burned. And it was a hard life. We are still on an island and that has
left a very strong mark on the village. Witness to history, the small
fishermen’s houses located at the foot of the mountain. Over time,
it was trade that took precedence over other activities,
making the people of Montois a prosperous population throughout the Middle Ages. So, there was a stop, however,
it was the French Revolution. In 1793, the abbey became a prison,
and it remained so until 1863. So, 70 years, 14,000 prisoners,
that changed the village. At the end of the 19th century,
the Mount began a new life. With the prison closed,
tourism began. Rather upmarket tourism at the start,
which corresponds to the aristocracy, the good bourgeoisie who come to
discover Mont Saint-Michel. These are the people who go to the coasts
of Normandy and Brittany to bathe in the sea.
It’s the seaside resort. But at the same time, people come to
visit Mont Saint-Michel. Today, this small Norman rock is
one of the most visited sites in France by tourists from
all over the world. A third of visitors will have the courage
to climb to the top of the island to admire the various
buildings that make up the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey. To visit this sanctuary,
Virginie had the privilege of being accompanied by Xavier Bayi,
administrator of the place. Hello Virginia.
Hello Xavier. Welcome to Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey.
THANKS. Mr. Administrator, is that it? Yes, that’s it. We are delighted to welcome you,
because that is our mission here at the Mont Saint-Michel Abbey,
in this magnificent belvedere overlooking the bay. Starting point of the visitor route,
on the edge of the abbey. This belvedere and its panorama immerse
visitors directly in a breathtaking setting. So I admit, my heart is
beating quite fast today. First of all, because there
is a lot of emotion here. And also because
I climbed the many steps four at a time to reach this terrace
which offers a truly incredible view. So, totally, who vests on the abbey
of Mont Saint-Michel, it is truly the pride of the teams who,
every day also, for the Centre des Monuments Nationaux,
go up and down the steps of a demanding monument.
Yes, I imagine. You must have strong legs. The abbey is divided into two parts. The Basciale, with its
majestic Gothic choir inside, is the building located at the very top of
the rock, surmounted by the statue of the Archangel Saint Michael. And on the north side of the mountain, the Merveille,
a building composed of several superimposed levels and dominated by a cloister. To understand the origins
of the founding of a sanctuary at Mont-Saint-Michel, we
must go back to the 8th century. We must also delve
into the depths of the abbey, which tells us the story of Auber, a
Norman prelate, through whom it all began. That’s it, we’re
at Notre-Dame-sous-Terre. We are here in the heart of the
Mont Saint-Michel Abbey, at the origins of this story,
a story that begins with a rock in the mists of time. It’s hard to imagine here, but
the rock is probably there behind. This famous rock that we
turn around without really seeing it. A rock located in the bay
and which is not yet called Mont Saint-Michel, it is called Montombe.
All right. One day it becomes Mont Saint-Michel
and it does so thanks to an event. It is the visit that Saint-Michel pays
to Auber, bishop of Avranche, a visit which goes through three
successive stages, leading to the revelation, and therefore to this realization by Auber of a sanctuary which is located here, sanctuary which will become the
starting point of everything of this Benedictine Abbey founded in 966 thereafter,
and which will become, 1,300 years later, the Mont Saint-Michel that we know. So we are really
at the heart of the story. To explore
Mont Saint-Michel is to immerse yourself in the history and legend of the place. It’s also about being interested in the surroundings. Because Mont-Saint-Michel is
not just an island, it is also a bay. A vast expanse of sand
where Julien is now taking us. A nature guide,
he travels his 500 square kilometers almost daily and knows every
corner, including the most dangerous areas. So there, you’re going to
show me an area where there is… There, we are in areas
that are funny, there. Can you feel it under your feet yet or not? Yeah, yeah. Hey, there’s something. There, if you stop in the corner Then,
you arrive on it and then it seems super stable. Are
you playing a game? Do you dance a little too?
Yes. Look at. We do a dance, but a dance
that is neither Breton nor Norman. It’s a bay dance.
No, the bay dance? If you stand still a little
too long, what will happen after a while? You pierce the layer a little And then,
what are you going to do? Well, you’re going to sink. Well, I like it, because
for once, you’re smaller than me. I’m smaller, but on the other hand,
I was talking to you about dancing, you see, I can look like Michael Jackson.
All right. I can do the moonwalk, you know?
That’s not bad. Forward it works well,
and backward too. If Julien laughs about it,
it’s because he knows exactly how to get out of this situation. So, what you have to do
is move in the quicksand first,
and then distribute your weight over the maximum surface area.
So you see, I don’t bother. I pretend I’m swimming on one leg.
I’m shaking slightly. I make small circles if necessary,
there, to get the ankle out a little. There, I am leaning on my left leg. And there, this leg, suddenly,
I put it in support like a racket. And so,
I’m going to go there slowly, but surely, you, this leg,
so, it’s a little bit caught, and I’m going to open a little angle,
so I put myself forward. And then I’ll tremble quietly. I lean on my thigh. Yeah, and it’s a
strut, too. That’s exactly it.
And then, you see, I’m going out. I take it twice,
there is a little weight. And there you have it. I am saved.
Your turn. Impressive demonstration. Even armed with this valuable information,
it is strongly recommended not to walk around the bay without a guide,
because the site, behind its natural beauty, hides many dangers. The best known and most fearsome
of these is certainly the tidal bore. This phenomenon of an
ultra-rapid rising tide has already trapped more than one person. Julien, for his part, knows exactly where to position himself to observe him as closely as possible and in complete tranquility. Now that’s impressive. In fact, you can see it from the
top of Mont Saint-Michel. The great thing
is seeing it when you’re here. She’s hot there.
At first, she is hot. Because it will recover
a little bit of heat. And we feel the power of the current there.
Well yeah, yeah, yeah. There, we feel, there is some. That’s why. In fact, what is dangerous is not
this foam bar that arrives, but rather what pushes it. What generates it
is the flow of the tide which comes to cover the area which was uncovered. And with a real funnel
and mini-funnel phenomenon within the funnel. There, we feel, I feel things
around my feet, what is it? It is a bit like the sea water that
brings back all the maritime life to us. So you’re going to have shrimp
coming up, so it’s a little tingling behind the heels. You can have small soles,
soles and you also have mules. It is time to cede the bay to the ocean
and let Mont Saint-Michel be enveloped by this
inexorable tide. Our journey in the Channel
thus ends, between sky and sea, at the gates of a Norman paradise which stretches out its arms to you.

La Manche est une région verdoyante à la beauté naturelle, qui régale les visiteurs de ses histoires de vikings et de sa gastronomie typique.

Pour découvrir les merveilles des plus belles régions de France, c’est ici – Abonnez-vous 👉 http://bit.ly/3zjR2Vj 🙏

Dans le Nord Cotentin, c’est un port de pêche au charme authentique qui attend les voyageurs, mais également un lieu de mémoire de la Seconde Guerre mondiale inédit, ou encore un biscuitier qui cultive un savoir-faire alléchant. Le Sud de la Manche met lui aussi en appétit avec les fameux homards de Chaussey, avant de dévoiler les beautés du Mont Saint-Michel et sa baie.

Réalisation: Florent QUET
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