Rouen and Honfleur, France

We started our Country Walkers tour in Rouen, along the Siene river, and worked our way to Honfleur, a picturesque seaside town. We hiked, and they moved our bags from hotel to hotel. Nice!

: Rouen’s famous Roman Catholic cathedral, which contains the actual heart of Richard the Lionheart, 12th century King of France.

: Monet painted this cathedral multiple times, at the exact same angle, but in different light.

: Rouen cathedral’s “butter tower” was built by donations. Butter was banned during Lent. Those who didn’t want to forgo this luxury donated money for the permission to eat it.

: Tasty offerings from Manoir d’Apreval, a family owned apple orchard and cider house.

: Agathe, the mistress of cider, explaining the process to us.

: Bottling the bubbly.

: These are NOT eating apples. They’re quite bitter, but wonderful for cider. Cider is only made from apples on the ground, never picked from a tree.

: Hydrometers measure the density, and therefore the sugar and potential alcohol of a cider.

: Calvados is an apple brandy only from Normandy. Not too sweet, but with a kick.

: Our first Country Walkers trail, a lovely wooded path.

: Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Grâce was built by sailors in 1615. They still pray here before sailing trips.

: The Duke of Normandy, who promised God he would build a church if he survived the storm.

: Aside the church, there is a carillon of bells that chime every quarter hour.

: Translation: A farmer loved Calvados so much, he asked to be buried in a waterproof coffin filled with it. He could not imagine a better way to float into the afterlife.