Michelin starred restaurant with amazing food.
Construction commenced on this piece of rock in the 8th Century
Dinner in front of the fire after preparing the cassoulet with house made confit duck
Michelin starred restaurant with amazing food.
THE EXPERIENCE
Come and experience the lifestyle of northern France through the eyes of an Australian who has fallen in love with the people, the countryside, the history and most of all the food and the way of life.
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Nola has spent various and significant periods of time in France and has a new venture with hosted B&B and boutique touring of the gourmet food and historical highlights of Normandy, particularly with Australians in mind.
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La Fromentale is available for hosted foodie tours and bed and breakfast stays from March - May and September - November each year.
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THE FARMHOUSE
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The base for these adventures is the farmhouse La Fromentale, located in the Calvados department of the Normandy region. The house was originally a 1770's milking barn in a farming area that was established by a break-away group of monks who no longer fitted the religious ideals of the 14th-Century Benedictine abbey in Saint Sever. These days La Fromentale has been converted to a five-bedroom, four-bathroom comfortable home.
Each guest will have exclusive access to a bathroom or en-suite located within a zone of the house. The house is located 5 minutes from the village of Saint Sever Calvados and 10 minutes from the larger town of Villedieu les Poeles.
YOUR HOST
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Nola’s background includes manufacturing in the dairy industry, administration in the South Australian school system, hospitality experience as a chef and small restaurant owner, project management at CQUniversity and time as a business manager and economic development officer at Queensland’s Department of State Development. Nola has been a member of the Alliance Francaise de Central Queensland for the past 12 years and has been taking French lessons all of that time. She has been involved in the organisation of the local French Film Festival held in Rockhampton annually.
Nola fell in love with France on her first visit in 1996 and made sure each time she was near Europe she visited France for at least a few days. In 2013 Nola and her husband Peter spent 6 months living in Normandy near the town of Pont D’Ouilly in some friends’ house. This explains Nola’s intimate knowledge of the towns and villages in the region and the local foods and cuisine. This stay led to Nola visiting Normandy multiple times over a period of 2 years checking out the real estate situation in order to find the perfect property to follow her dream of having her own bed and breakfast in the region. The bed and breakfast opened to the public for the first time in March of 2018.
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THE COUNTRYSIDE
Landmarks close by are Mont St Michel (40-minute drive), the landing beaches of the Normandy Coast (50 minutes), the town of Granville (40 minutes) with ferries to the Guernsey and Jersey Islands, the city of Caen and the town of Falaise (60 minutes) both historical locations for William the Conqueror and the historic areas of Domfront and Fougeres.
Interesting places within 40 minutes drive include Christian Dior’s family home and museum, Le Haras Nationale de Saint Lo (one of the national horse studs of France and museum), Chateau de Balleroy and it’s ballooning museum and the Zoo de Champrepus highly recommended and containing many exotic species from Africa, the Americas and Asia kept in lovely settings.