Camembert

Camembert is a village of a few hundred people, and the cheese is traditionally credited to Marie Harel, a farmer here who is said to have been given the method by a priest sheltering from the Revolution in 1791; the story is partly legend but the village is where the name attaches. The distinction that matters now is legal: Camembert de Normandie carries a protected designation requiring raw milk from Norman cows and hand-ladling into moulds in five separate passes, while camembert made anywhere by any method can use the plain name. Farms around the village make the protected version and take visitors, and a small museum covers the history.

What you actually see

• The hand-ladling - the five-pass moulding required by the protected designation.
• The farm dairies - producers around the village taking visitors.
• The Marie Harel story - the founding legend and its monument.
• The Pays d'Auge landscape - orchards and pasture around the village.

When to go

April to October; farm visits usually need booking and follow the making schedule, so mornings are best. The village itself is tiny and quiet.

Honest expectations

Most camembert sold worldwide has no connection to this village or its method. The village is very small with little beyond the dairies and museum. A car is essential.

Nearby

Vimoutiers lies north; Beuvron-en-Auge is northwest.