Meet your English
speaking driver guide in the lobby of your hotel and departure for the Cider
Road: As we follow the Route du Cidre, we'll visit cider,
pommeau and calvados makers. Of course, we'll taste their products and learn
about the AOC Calvados du Pays d'Auge.
First stop at the Domaine Dupont for a Cider tasting & Calvados
The Duponts have been farmers in the area for centuries, but it was not until 1887 when Jules Dupont, great-grandfather of the current owner Jerome, started making cider and calvados. Since then, Jules’s son Louis, grandson Etienne, and great-grandson Jerome, have taken over the family business, now farming 27 hectares with over 6000 apple trees, and producing not only cider, but also calvados and a sort of hybrid of the two called pommeau.
You will stop for a lunch in a traditional Norman
restaurant, the Auberge de la Dive: This countrified inn,
whose terrace overlooks the River Dives, serves traditional cuisine with a
clear focus on Normandy produce
In the afternoon, you will visit A visit to the farm of an artisanal cheesemaker at the Domaine St. Hippolyte, is an occasion to learn about the making of livarot, pont l'eveque and fresh pave d'augecheeses, made exclusively from the milk of Race Normand "happy" cows. The Domaine St.Hipployte recently won a gold medal for it’s artisanal pont l’eveque cheese at the 2008 Paris Agricultural Fair.
The day will end with a visit of The Grain d’Orge Farm
In the 50's, his son, Bernard Graindorge, brought their cheeses to the Parisian tables where they encounter a huge success. From then on the company developed rapidly. In 1980, Thierry Graindorge had new cellars built and undertook a modernization program which entirely respected all the basic rules of the cheese making that were established at the outset by E. Graindorge. Today, E. GRAINDORGE is the market leader for the Pont-l'Évêque and Livarot. This success was built on the passion of Eugène Graindorge and is share by all today