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Gilles Pudlowski’s regional guides profile hundreds of the most charming hotels and restaurants, cafés, bars, and gourmet shops throughout the towns and villages of each area. Normandy, the site of the D-Day landing beaches, museum, and memorials, probably has more significance to American visitors than any other part of France. A milestone event of great France-American importance, the dedication on June 6, 2007, of the Normandy Cemetery Visitor Center on the sixty-third anniversary of the landings, ensures its continued popularity. Normandy is also home to legendary Mont St-Michel, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Giverny (the home of Claude Monet), and is the third most popular destination in France for Americans. Brittany, next door, offers 800 miles of grand rocky coastline, fishing villages, and prehistoric menhirs. In this “petit Pudlo,” M. Pudlowski profiles the restaurants and gourmet shops that offer the best of coast and countryside: the fish, shellfish, duck, and famous cheeses for which these regions are known, as well as typically Breton crêperies.


Gilles Pudlowski is France’s most respected culinary commentator; restaurant critic and writer for the French weekly magazine Le Point; historian of French regional culinary traditions; and the author of two cookbooks, France the Beautiful Cookbook and Great Women Chefs of Europe. The Pudlo guides have appeared yearly for almost 20 years.

“For the first time, Gilles Pudlowski’s smart, opinionated, and deliciously spot-on guide…is available in English.”—Departures

“Michelin has seen competitior some and go, but none have built the reputation of Gilles Pudlowski…” —Florence Fabricant, The New York Times

Paperback, 200 pp., map.
4-1/2 x 7-1/2 in.
ISBN 978-1892145-62-8 
Retail price: $14.95
Price: $11.21 (25% off)



NORMANDY

Hotels-Restaurants

La Terrasse (rating: comfortable, very peaceful))
Rte de Vasterival, 3 km nw via D75, Varengeville-sur-Mer
Tel. 02 35 85 12 54
Francois.delafontaine@wanadoo.fr
www.hotel-restaurant-la-terrasse.com
Closed mid-Oct.–mid=Mar.
22 rooms: 48-58€
Prix fixe: 22€, 28€, 35€, 9€ (child)
A la carte: 34€
On the side of the cliff and facing the sea, this 1900s inn offers rooms that are simple and peaceful, a shady garden and good dishes that take their inspiration from the ocean, such as saffron-seasoned mussel cassolette, the traditional stew called marmite Dieppoise and an apple and almond tart worthy of our grandmothers.

Restaurant

Les Nymphéas (rating: very good, very comfortable)
9, rue de la Pie, Rouen
Tel. 02 35 89 26 69
lesnympheas.rouen@wanadoo.fr
www.les-nympheas.fr
Closed Sun., Mon., 3 weeks Aug.
Prix fixe: 29,50€, 38€, 48€
A la carte: 76€
At the end of a small paved courtyard, this half-timbered house is a beautiful blend of rusticity and modern restraint. The half-shaded, half-sunny terrace is a blessing in summer. Patrick Kukurudz produces dishes of character in a menu built around the flagship products of the region. One enjoys the delectable pan-seared foie gras escalope with its jus heightened with cider vinegar, langoustine ravioli with slow-cooked new cabbage, slow-cooked lobster stew with Sauternes, sliced veal tenderloin, veal sweetbread and morel fricassee and hot apple soufflé with Calvados. The service is as warm as it is attentive and the menus balanced.

BRITTANY

Hotels-Restaurants

Miramar-Crouesty (rating: very luxurious, very peaceful)
In Port-du-Crouesty, 2 km sw. BP32, Arzon
Tel. 02 97 53 49 00
www.miramarcrouesty.com
Closed 3 weeks Dec.
108 rooms 220-370€. 12 suites: 270-500€.
Prix fixe: 49€
The architecture of this building suggests an ocean liner setting out on a cruise. Calm, luxury and sensual pleasure are all within reach. First, there is the Louison Bobet thalassotherapy institute and its many facilities (swimming pools, steam bath, Jacuzzi, fitness center). Then, when our thoughts turn to food, we can choose between the Ruban Bleu—preferred by those receiving therapy, since it serves quality health food—and the more gastronomic Salle a Manger, where Yves Toublanc freely expresses his skills. There, we feast on crab ravioli, cilantro-seasoned catfish, Atlantic sea bass pan tossed with herbs, roasted squab with artichoke and fennel or the pralined ricotta and chocolate dome for dessert. The rooms are luxurious. The blue-and-white interior mirrors the colors of the ocean. Friendly service and an elegant welcome.

Shops
Yvon Madec
Prat-au-Coum, Aber Wrac’h
Tel. 02 98 04 00 12
www.prat-ar-coum.fr
The oyster, in all its live, briny glory, is Yvon Madec’s stock in trade. Enjoy his boudeuses, Belons and creuses immoderately at the farm.

 

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