The Chateau of Le Haras du Pin looks down as Eddy Sans of France tackles the cross country course during the Le Grand Complet in 2013
My family seems to be inextricably intertwined with Normandy, for various reasons and through different avenues. For me, most recently, it has been through horses.
For the past two years I have had the perfect excuse to escape the Australian winter and enjoy French sunshine in the middle of the Normandy countryside thanks to my job as an equestrian journalist. An eventing competition, Le Grand Complet, which takes place at the National Stud of Le Pin in Normandy, has not only has offered me the opportunity to spend time at a historic Chateau in a beautiful region of France but it has also been part of my preparation to write about the equestrian world’s major event in 2014 - the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games being held in Normandy from 23rd August to the 7th September.
The Chateau and National Stud of Le Pin, known as the ‘Versailles for Horses’ due to its grand design, dates back to Louis XIV’s desire to create a horse haven in Normandy. The King’s architect Robert de Cotte modelled the building on French 17th century Grand Siecle architecture, resulting in a majestic Chateau winged by still functioning but very splendid stables, perfectly proportioned porticoes and guarded by a gilded entrance. Le Pin will host the dressage and cross country phases of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games eventing competition, with its Chateau overlooking the new dressage arena and the cross country course which will wind its way through part of the 1,000 acre estate.
The National Stud of Le Pin celebrates the horse not only as a host site for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games but through its daily life as a breeding stud and an equine training and education centre. The long ties to the development of horse breeding in Normandy can be seen everywhere on the Stud; in one quiet avenue lie the remains of the famous stallion Furioso, a thoroughbred stallion that certainly didn’t make the grade as a racehorse but was to prove hugely influential as a sire of modern jumping horses.
Le Haras du Pin has worked to maintain the Percheron breed and they are a star attraction at the stud
Photo courtesy Xavier Boudon, Pixizone
Although there are 10 breeds of horses available to breeders through the services of the Stud, the thoroughbred is one of the four breeds which are particularly linked to Normandy and therefore featured at Le Pin, the others being the French Trotter, the French Saddle Horse (Selle Français) and the Percheron. On Thursdays a parade of stallions, mares and foals and the Stud’s horse drawn antique carriages fill the courtyard to the delight of the visitors watching
However my trips to Normandy have offered me experiences which encompass more than just horses. During recent visits I have re-acquainted myself with the idyllic Normandy countryside, its sleepy villages and the joy of fairy tale castles suddenly appearing unannounced around bends in winding country roads, cajoling you stop and admire them.
Le Chateau de Sarceaux
Some of these chateaux offer a place to stay with a difference. The Chateau de Sarceaux provided us with a gloriously restful few days whilst proffering a glimpse into the life of the Marquis and Marquise Gicquel des Touches. They now run the Chateau, a former 18th century hunting lodge which has been in their family for several generations, as an impressive and extremely elegant bed and breakfast. The Chateau de Sarceaux is part of L’Association Bienvenue au Chateau, a group of owners of private chateaux and manor houses throughout France who maintain their homes and heritage by offering accommodation with a very personal touch and typical French style. There are currently 25 of these historic and beautiful homes in Normandy alone where you will be welcomed, wined and dined by your hosts, enabling you to see a side of France not often experienced
A farm stay near Argentan provided home comforts and plenty of local sights
Another accommodation option, slightly less luxurious but still delightful, is to stay in self-catering accommodation. On one visit, a converted stable on a boutique farm provided a comfortable home away from home as well as chickens, peacocks, geese, a lazy cat and enquiring dog. While the hosts were very different to the chatelaines of the Chateau de Sarceaux they could not have been more accommodating or helpful, including the offer of a cup of tea as soon as we arrived (after all, we are English, therefore …). The farm was in a very peaceful and private location but only a few minutes’ drive from Argentan, a typical Norman town bursting with buildings dating back to the 7th century rubbing shoulders with the day to day cafes, shops and restaurants.
Take in the architecture in Caen - the Men's Abbey now houses the Caen City Hall (above) or take in some lunch in the many cafes along the streets of Caen (below)
But if the architecture in Argentan is impressive, the region’s capital of Caen takes it to another level. The city which will host the majority of events during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games is also the resting place of William the Conqueror who made Caen a strategic site and his main place of residence.
Prior to becoming the King of England, William married Matilda of Flanders, his distant cousin, going against the wishes of the Pope. To soothe the Church’s fury, at the same time as building the mighty Caen Castle he built two abbeys and now the husband and wife rest in the abbeys they founded, William at the Men’s Abbey and Matilda at the Ladies’ Abbey in simple but moving tombs.
The tomb of William the Conqueror in the Abbey Church of St Stephen
Memorials provide another, more personal, reason drawing me to Normandy this year via family ties. Not in a distant family tree sort of way as, being from the North of England, our roots are much more closely linked to rampaging blonde Vikings than these later invaders, the cultured Normans who brought forks, amongst other things, to England when William the Conqueror famously beat poor old Harold. Our connection started much more recently than 1066, with my father who spent some of his time during the Second World War there. The young son of a Yorkshire farmer who had never travelled before, fell in love with this region of France, its food and its charmingly easy way of life.
"Go travel" he would exhort his children when we were young and we did. We spent a lot of time overseas, some of it in France, but the lure of other, more exotic countries pulled us away from the region he had loved. That was, until 2003 when the next generation started to explore
The celebration of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy caught my nephew's interest. Didn't Grandad go there in the war? A project was started, my sister's family travelled to the areas of Normandy that my father had spoken of and slowly his personal, and fading, memories became a story to be followed
My nephew, fittingly also named William, won the Normandy Veterans Association award for a young person’s project commemorating the 60th anniversary of D-Day. My father succumbed to Alzheimer's and died in 2011 but in 2014 I will follow the trail started by him and recounted by my nephew. This will be a journey similar to that of thousands of others who, for whatever reason, will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings but my personal itinerary will also follow in my father's footsteps.
The first stop will be Gold Beach where he landed on 13th June 1944 (D-Day+7), the day that De Gaulle’s ship was seen returning the future President to France, followed by the village of Guéron where they stayed to prepare their tanks and then the warm and ‘boggy’ woods of Bois de Baugy where he contracted blood poisoning from mosquitos, probably infected from dead bodies left nearby.
He was a lucky man, as the blood poisoning saved his life. Shipped back to the UK for treatment, by July he was back in Normandy to discover that his regiment has been wiped out in the action during his absence. He joined his new regiment, the 23rd Hussars as the Allies broke out of Normandy and he celebrated his 21st birthday in the snow of the Ardennes Mountains as they fought to cross into Germany.
His dislike of the cold, from time spent in those mountains, never abated. Neither did his affection for Normandy, an affection which I now share and which draws me back to continue discovering its delights
In coming articles we'll look at the many other attractions that Normandy has to offer plus a closer look at Caen and the venues of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
