Nothing beats a festival that celebrates cheese, according to John Hillman , and the Livarot Cheese Festival is one of the very best.

The summer festivities continue unabated across Europe and what can be better, or more quintessentially French, than a trip to the Livarot Cheese Fair in the heart of Normandy’s Camembert country.

The picturesque village of Livarot lies approximately 30Km from the historic city of Caen, on the D579, and has found a modicum of fame for its own distinctive cheese named after the village itself. Livarot is a soft, fantastically smelly cheese made from cow’s milk that boasts its own Appellation d’Origine Controlée.

Livarot’s annual cheese fair takes place on 1 -2 August and for any of you driving through Normandy next week it is well worth popping in for a visit. The highlight of the festival, although not one I would recommend taking part in, is a competition to discover who can eat the most cheese in one sitting. Well worth it just for the spectacle of watching an entire village cheer on four fat blokes trying to achieve death by Camembert.

The village and surrounding countryside are truly beautiful, all ancient wooded-beamed farmhouses, medieval churches and hayfields stacked high in the summer haze. There really is no better way to see France and all it has to offer than by getting in your car and heading off to explore the deepest most secret places where you’ll find few tourists and even fewer cares.

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Image Credit: Spiterman

Tags: France, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries // 1 Comment »