Swiss Normandy
Encyclopedia
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
that bestrides Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
and Orne
Orne
Orne is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.- History :Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.- Geography :Orne is in the region of...
.
Its name comes from its rugged and verdant relief resembling the Swiss Alps, with gorges carved by the Orne River
Orne River
The Orne is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées...
and its tributaries, and by erosion in the Armorican Massif
Armorican Massif
The Armorican Massif is a geologic massif that covers a large area in the northwest of France, including Brittany, the western part of Normandy and the Pays de la Loire. Its name comes from the old Armorica, a Gaul area between the Loire and the Seine rivers...
between Putanges-Pont-Écrepin and Thury-Harcourt
Thury-Harcourt
Thury-Harcourt is a French commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Situated in the Orne valley, its surroundings are much like Clécy, but the Rock of Oëtre contrasts with the plateau of Caen to the north....
. The river has created a rugged landscape.
In the hills, small steep fields are often bordered by thick hedges or granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
dry stone
Dry stone
Dry stone is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their unique construction method, which is characterized by the presence of a load-bearing facade of carefully selected interlocking...
walls and have dense vegetation. Mont Pinçon
Mont Pinçon
Mont Pinçon is the highest point of the département of Calvados, in Normandy, with an elevation of . It is in the west of Swiss Normandy about to the south-west of Caen, near the village of Plessis-Grimoult....
, at 345 metres (1,131.9 ft) in elevation, is the highest point in Swiss Normandy. Churches, houses and farm buildings have a style closer to what is found across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(i.e., stone buildings with slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roofs), rather than the timber structures of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
.
The main towns are Athis-de-l'Orne
Athis-de-l'Orne
Athis-de-l'Orne is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
, Clécy
Clécy
Clécy is a French Commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.In 1932 it was awarded the title The Capital of Swiss Normandy by the Tourism Minister Monsieur Gourdeau.-Geography:...
, Condé-sur-Noireau
Condé-sur-Noireau
Condé-sur-Noireau is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.It is situated on the Noireau River. In the fifteenth century, the town was occupied by the English, and belonged to Sir John Fastolf of Caister Castle in Norfolk...
, Flers-de-l'Orne
Flers, Orne
Flers is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.The inhabitants are called Flériens.-Geography:Flers is bordered to the north by the communes of Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers and Aubusson, to the north-east by Ronfeugerai, to the west by La Lande-Patry and Saint-Paul, to the...
, Pont-d'Ouilly
Pont-d'Ouilly
Pont-d'Ouilly is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Pont-d'Ouilly is home to the famous Haras d'Ouilly, a Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding business currently owned by the Aga Khan IV.-History:...
, Putanges-Pont-Écrepin and Thury-Harcourt
Thury-Harcourt
Thury-Harcourt is a French commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Situated in the Orne valley, its surroundings are much like Clécy, but the Rock of Oëtre contrasts with the plateau of Caen to the north....
. Some 34 communes
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
are grouped into the Communauté de Communes de la Suisse Normande.
There are many outdoor tourist activities: canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
, horse riding, rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
, hang gliding
Hang gliding
Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....
, kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
, paragliding
Paragliding
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...
and mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
.
Thury-Harcourt
Thury-Harcourt
Thury-Harcourt is a French commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Situated in the Orne valley, its surroundings are much like Clécy, but the Rock of Oëtre contrasts with the plateau of Caen to the north....
hosted the European Canoe Polo
Canoe polo
Canoe Polo is a competitive ball sport played on water, in a defined "field", between two teams of 5 players, each in a kayak...
Championship in 2007.
Places
- The Rock of OëtreRock of OëtreThe Rock of Oëtre is situated in the middle of Swiss Normandy, in the commune of Saint-Philbert-sur-Orne, not far from the border between the départements of Calvados and Orne, and almost equidistant from Thury-Harcourt and Écouché...
, a sheer cliff overlooking the RouvreRouvreThe Rouvre is a river in Lower Normandy, in the Orne département, a tributary of the Orne.The river's source is in the commune of Beauvain, a few kilometres to the east of La Ferté-Macé. After crossing the Pays d'Houlme, it turns in a north-westerly direction to re-enter the Swiss Normandy, and...
from 118 metres (387.1 ft) above, is a popular tourist site. It can resemble a human face seen in profile. - The RabodangesRabodangesRabodanges is a commune in the Orne department of the Basse-Normandie region of north-western France.-History:* The former name of the parish was "Culley-sur-Orne" ....
hydro-electric dam and its feed lake, which can be used for fishingFishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, powerboatingPowerboatingPower boating describes activities performed in a motorized boat. Generally, a power boat has a high power-to-weight ratio and a hull design that allows for easy planing, which allows for higher speed and improved handling. Also, the shape of the actual boat is usually very streamlined, which...
and water skiingWater skiingthumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
. - The 'Pits of Hell', a museum in Saint-RémySaint-Rémy, CalvadosSaint Rémy is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
based around the old iron mines. - The town of Pont-d'OuillyPont-d'OuillyPont-d'Ouilly is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Pont-d'Ouilly is home to the famous Haras d'Ouilly, a Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding business currently owned by the Aga Khan IV.-History:...
and its café by the Orne riverside, which every Sunday makes space on the river for the canoe polo team to practice. (The town's team is one of the best in France). - The town of ClécyClécyClécy is a French Commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.In 1932 it was awarded the title The Capital of Swiss Normandy by the Tourism Minister Monsieur Gourdeau.-Geography:...
and its cafés by the Orne riverside, for its pedaloPedaloA paddle boat or "pedalo" is a form of waterborne transport, primarily for recreational use, powered through the use of pedals....
s, and closeness to cliffs suited to climbing, hang-gliding and paragliding, in the communes of Saint-OmerSaint-Omer, CalvadosSaint-Omer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-History:St.Omer was founded in the 7th century by monks, one of whom was called Omer. It became part of France in 1677. Le Blockhaus d'Eperlecques was the original bunker for manufacture of V2...
and VeyLe Vey-References:*...
.
Monuments
- The Château de la Pommeraye, a sixteen-century châteauChâteauA château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
set in a verdant landscape. - The Château de La Tourelle or Château du Bas Martimbosq, feudal vestige of the XIVe century, adjoins the banks of the Orne, on the municipality of Curcy-sur-Orne. It is visible since the heights of D212 road and numerous paths in the middle of nowhere. The current residence was restored and fitted out in the last century, in particular by a famous French singer-composer then by Mrs and Mr Briout, after the long sleep of an agricultural usage. Property of the ancient french family Leusse, it presents, with towers, the vestiges of the chapel and remaining outer walls, a typical element of the stone medieval heritage of Swiss Normandy today.
External links
- Swiss Normandy Tourist Office (in French and English, requires JavaScript)
- Official site of the Château de la Pommeraye (in English)