Les Campagnes de Normandie

This past weekend, I was invited to go with my host family to their house in the southern parts of the Normandy region. I have seen pictures of their house, and it looked absolutely beautiful. Of course, I decided to say “yes” because it was such an amazing opportunity. Not all of my host brothers and sisters joined the family on the trip. Clotilde (16) and Paul (15) joined their parents and I for the two and a half hour drive. Filled with windy roads, many round-a-abouts, and lots of manual shifting, the drive passed pretty quickly. I shared headphones with my ten year old host brother. I am super-cool! When we got to the house, the drive along the gravel entrance was absolutely amazing. The house and the land are owned by my host mother’s family. The land has been passed down through the generations, and the house was built in the 13th century. Her father lived there while he was growing up, and she spent summers at the house. Her parents then gave the house to her, so she and her family could enjoy. Her parents live in another (smaller) house on the property. The house is huge, and of course, heatless. We arrived late on Friday night, so the house was super cold. I got to stay in the guest room, complete with a four-poster bed (never slept in one of those before). The house is very old (obviously), and it takes quite a bit of upkeep. That was the reason for my family’s visit over the weekend—to do some upkeep. I spent Saturday walking the grounds with my family. We chopped wood (which I had never done before), and lots of wood to be precise. My host father can really chop wood with many different types of tools. It was pretty cool to watch! They have a trampoline at the house, so Paul and I jumped for a while. He also showed me all of the views on the property, which are absolutely breathtaking. The French countryside is gorgeous, although very desolate. Later on Saturday, I went with my host mother to La Trappe. La Trappe is an abbey where monks live and work. They have their own land and their own animals, and they also have a store where they sell the items they have made. We went to the store just before it was closing, and I was able to look around a bit. My host mother had the goal of finding and buying “la jellie royale” which is a secret remedy the monks make to help boost your immune system. She did succeed in finding it. On Sunday, we did not do much of anything. I played cards with Paul and also a game called “Rumnikub” which was hard to learn but fun to play. We left in the mid-afternoon to get back to Nantes for dinner. On the way there, I had my first experience with “la gendarmerie” which is the French police. My host father got stopped on our way back for speeding—not just speeding, but going 40 kilometers over the speed limit. Slow down Monsieur de Champs! Staying in 13th century family-owned houses can now be checked off of my bucket-list!