Day 4 - Saturday (8.6) Cheese, glorious cheese...

This post dedicated to Susan Schandl, an unabashed cheese-lover.



Today's big adventure was to Camembert, the home of Camembert cheese. It took about 1.5 hours to get there, but it was well worth it. The town is very small with one small road which runs through it. In fact, as famous as the cheese is, the town is surprisingly small. Since there were only 3 buildings, we didn't get lost. We headed to the museum first which had several videos about the history of Camembert and cheese making. One of the more fascinating sections was the labels put on the Camembert containers. During World War II, cheese makers would use pro-French labels (i.e. artwork of soldiers, tanks) on their containers. Thousands of Camembert cheese packs were sent to the frontline troops, many of whom had never tasted Camembert. Nonetheless, this was their taste of home and Camembert grew to become a heartfelt symbol of France. Kinda like Hersheys and Coca-Cola (and Spam - don't judge) for the US.

Here is the entrance to the Museum:



They also had the famous labels near the entrance:





Did you notice the green umbrella? I picked that up at the umbrella factory in Creully (see post below).

Below is a plate of our cheese tasting. We had 3 different types of Camembert, and some cider to wash it all down. Unfortunately the cider was quite...earthy, in a barnyard sort of way. The cheese, though, was fabulous.



This is the view when you leave the gift shop and past city hall:



After our delightful tour of Camembert and its museum, we headed back to Mortain via Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conqueror. It's quite a big town, and I never did find the statue of William on his horse. :( Not to worry as we'll be heading to Bayeaux (home of the Bayeaux Tapestry and all things William) on Monday.

Oh, one other note. We have a wasp problem in the house. Bev and I have seen 3 wasps since Ryan left and we're trying to find out where they're entering the house. I'll keep you posted on this mystery.