Château de la Maltournée

The Château de la Maltournée is in Lisieux, which lies in the Pays d'Auge, one of the most characteristic landscapes of Normandy, a country of green hills, orchards, hedged pastures and half-timbered farmhouses and manors. The Pays d'Auge is known for its cider and Calvados, the apple brandy made by distilling cider, and for three great cheeses that take their names from nearby villages: Camembert, Livarot and Pont-l'Évêque. Houses of the region, built in oak and plaster in a pattern of dark timbers and pale infill, are among the most picturesque in France.

The town of Lisieux itself was heavily damaged in 1944, when bombing destroyed much of the old centre, so the surviving historic buildings are all the more precious. The Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, begun in the twelfth century, is one of the earliest Gothic cathedrals in Normandy, and beside it the Jardin de l'Évêché, the garden of the old bishop's palace, offers a calm spot. The town is also the home of Saint Thérèse, the young Carmelite nun who died in 1897 and was later canonised, and the huge Basilica of Saint Thérèse, built in the twentieth century, attracts pilgrims from around the world. The Musée de la Vie Normande, the Parc de la Prairie and the Rue Saint-Pierre add to the sights. Thérèse spent her childhood at Les Buissonnets, the family house on the edge of the town, which is now a museum, and the Basilica, consecrated in 1954, is one of the largest pilgrimage churches built in France in the twentieth century.

Beyond the town, the Route du Cidre, a signposted trail through the Pays d'Auge, links farms and cellars where visitors can taste cider, perry, Calvados and the local apple juice, and the manors and villages of Beuvron-en-Auge, Cambremer and Pont-l'Évêque are small centres of local life. Cheese makers welcome visitors in some villages, and the market towns offer regional produce. The coast, with the resorts of Deauville, Trouville and Honfleur, is within half an hour's drive.

Spring, when the apple trees are in flower, and autumn, at harvest time, are the loveliest seasons for the Pays d'Auge. The area suits slow travellers, food lovers and anyone who enjoys old houses and countryside.