Although travel restrictions were gradually lifted this summer, in common with many people, we chose to stay in our own country. The British have coined a word for this, the “staycation”.
As it happened, we didn’t stray all that far from our home in Le Havre. We ventured just as far as the southern part of La Manche, not far from Mont Saint Michel. Unlike the north of Normandy where the coast consists mainly of white cliffs or rocky coast, these southern parts feature long and flat sandy beaches and sand dunes covered with Marram grass. Swimming is almost impossible at low tide because of the seafood farms which cover a great part of this coastal region.
Oyster farming
Oysters have been appreciated by the kings of France and the gentry since the 17th century. When wild oysters became rare by the end of the 19th century the first oyster farms were created on the shores of Normandy. When the tide is high you can’t imagine what is underwater unless you have a drone. But low tides allow oyster farmers to work on their oyster beds.
The baby oysters mature in a hatchery and are then put into large bags which are set on long iron tables. When the tables are empty they must be regularly lifted to prevent them from sinking too far in the sand and to allow a regular flow of water.
Oysters are then put into bags attached by small rubber bindings and iron hooks fixed to the table. The bags will be turned about a hundred times before the molluscs are totally mature and ready to be eaten.
Mussels
Mussels are also bred in the same area, either on poles or long strings. They are then “harvested” and placed in large tidal reservoirs before being sold.
Tractor warning
When tides are out there’s a ballet of tractors on the beach to reach the seafood farms. They are also good indicators as to when one can venture into the oyster or mussel farms. The foreshore being quite flat, the tide comes in rapidly and you can soon be surrounded by water. As soon as you spot the tractors leaving the farms, it’s time to turn back and reach the upper parts of the shore.
Fishing on foot
The area is quite popular for recreational “fishing on foot” along the shore. The activity is well regulated but you’re bound to stumble on people looking for clams or cockles when the coast is clear. I can’t help thinking of Molly Malone when seeing people looking for clams, although we’re a long way from being “in Dublin’s fair city”. People also look for shrimps of flatfish, such as sole, with huge nets they push out a short way from the shore.
Landscapes
The area is known as the region of “havres et mielles”. This is difficult to translate, but the shore consists mainly of sand dunes with an estuary behind it. The estuaries are used as natural harbours. Erosion and global warming take their toll as vast areas of the region will be underwater in 50 years time despite wooden or stone walls to prevent the gradual encroachment of sea on the land.
All the images were taken with the Leica X2
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A fascinating article – thank you very much for sharing.
Thanks Richard for your kind comment
Jean
Thanks Dave for your kind comment. I’m on my way to Exeter to visit my daughter and will spend the weekend in Cornwall. Hope you are enjoying the Lake District
Jean
Enjoy Exeter – thankfully Liz and I decide to stay in Whinfell Centre Parcs, based purely on weather forecast and what we were experiencing.
Good for me, pants for photography, all of my cameras lay unused for the whole week. But I can certainly Kayak the entire lake for nearly an hour.
Hopefully when I return next year the weather will be in my favour. Perhaps snow to add difference.
Misspelt my own name 🤦♂️
Shows too many wines at the end of a poor photographic week. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
That sounds a decent occupation if the wine is good. Going to Cornwall for the weekend
Obviously too much good spirits, Save.
Jean, what a wonderful article and use of your epic X2. Those images and tidal description really sell more than just a scene for those of us who grew up around coastal areas. I always pay attention to tide times in the UK, purely as knowing where the tide is helps rule out those difficulties of being caught out, or the risks that can bring.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I’m chilling out many miles from home, and having fun to boot.
I really do need to trek across to France and see this for myself. Hopefully once things improve I’ll get the van across the channel for a little exploration.
The oyster farmers will be happy to see your photos Jean, if you’ve shown it to them. Looks like a lot of hard work goes into holding onto the AOP certificate. How do they get those mussels off those long poles I wonder.
Thanks Farhiz for your kind comment. It’s hard work especially in the winter time when the water is around 8 degrees Celsius. The mussels are taken with the strings when they are ready and then taken off the strings. The AOP imposes a lot on farmers but they’re usually delicious.
Thanks Wayne for the kind comment. The X2 EVF is better than the rear screen for composition.
Some compositions that I enjoyed in the Landscapes section especially. Well “seen” Jean. Thank you for showing.
Thanks for the kind comment. when travelling local cuisine and markets are wonderful ways to discover a region or a country.
Jean
Wonderful mouthwatering stuff! This is another example of harvesting what’s available and using it as signatures for regional/local cuisine. Combine that with the ruggedness of the scenery and you have something magical.
America is getting there, but it’s still too easy to default to TGI Fridays or Dead Lobster rather than choosing real local cuisine.
I might pick on the word “staycation” and claim it as an American invention however…
I first met the word staycation in The Times or The Guardian a few years ago. At the time the journalist refered to people who spent their holidays at their own home. I no longer have a copy of the article since I deleted all my school texts and courses since retirement.
Thank you Jean for this illuminating piece on the culture in that area. I visited the area and Mont Saint Michel years ago so it is nice to learn more about it. The photos tell the story well. There’s little ‘wrong’ with the X2 or X1.
Thanks William for the kind comment. The area is beautiful and my wife and I particularly enjoyed walking for miles on long stretch of sand at low tide under everchaging lights. The X2 or any camera of the X series are magic.
Jean
Sorry Kevin. Got mixed up with William Fagan when I answered your comment
So, nice guy, couldn’t send us any oysters, SACRE BLEU! In your title is the word vintage, since you and I use the X2 does that make us VINTAGETTES like SUFFRAGETTES, because we believe we are right that it is a great camera! Really enjoyed the photos and how hard was it not to over indulge in seafood?
Any camera older than five years is vintage in digital camera circles…
Thanks John for your kind comment. The X2 is a gem of a camera. I’ve no need to upgrade and paired with the GXR and its 50mm macro lens the 2 cameras cover my needs. I’m definitely a vintagette as the X2 is probably my most recent camera.
The mussels and oysters were absolutely delicious and you could buy them at any seafood farms all along that stretch of coast.
Jean
Thanks David for your kind comment. These oyster and mussel farms are a real business and from what I saw are doing pretty well. Oysters are also grown in the bay of the river Seine near Saint Vaast-La-Hougue. The first royal oysters were bred not far from home in Etretat.
The X2 is indeed a wonderful camera, great colours, microcontrast and the 24 elmarit asph lens is a gem.
Jean
Thank you Jean for this nice story and very good photos. For us mediterranean people the huge seasides and moored boats of the Atlantic coasts look deliciously exotic and picturesque!
Thanks Andrea for your kind comment. I admit that Normandy is quite popular with Italians although the climate is much cooler.
Jean
Nice article, Jean which brings back memories apart altogether from Molly Malone and her ‘Cockles and Mussels, Alive, Alive-O’.
When I was the head of consumer protection in Ireland I got a complaint from my opposite numbers in your wonderfully named DGCCRF. I won’t explain the full title, but the RF bit stands for ‘Repression des Fraudes’. The complaint related to Irish farmed ‘moules au bouchot’ (meaning literally mussels on a branch) being imported into France. The local pecheurs des moules got so annoyed with this that they attacked the offices of the local importer and threw his filing cabinets into the street. What was worse in their eyes was the suspicion that these were not true ‘moules au bouchot’ i.e. grown on a rope or a pole.
This Franco-Irish fracas then became a war of dinners. They took me to dinner in Lille and I took one of their guys to dinner in a French restaurant called Freres Jacques in Dame Street in Dublin. The food was better in Dublin than in Lille. At one of the dinners they asked me if I could not get my inspectors to inspect the ‘moules’ to see if they were truly ‘au bouchot’. I replied along the lines that we were extremely short of frogman suits in my office.
I cannot really remember how this ended, but some kind of ‘entente cordiale’ set in as I was subsequently invited to lunch at the ‘Cercle Des Directeurs’ at their HQ in the Ministry of Finance at Bercy in Paris where the food and wines were truly spectacular. The office was one where you could arrive at the front door by car or at the back door by a boat on the Seine.
I have several other memories about being in Bercy and Lille, but I have come a long way from your mussel farm pictures. The main oyster festival in Ireland is in Clarinbridge near Galway where you are more or less required to wash them down with a pint of Guinness. I presume that in France a glass of wine is recommended, although in Brussels they generally have beer with their ‘moules et frites’.
William
Thanks William for the kind comment. It is true that French farmers on land and sea are pretty pernickety on the naming of their products. To obtain a certificate like “AOP” (protected designation of origin) imposes on farmers requirements specifications concerning breeding or producing.
I actually thought of the irish flag when I saw the orange colour of the hooks with the green of the seaweeds on the oysterbags.
In Normandy we have our mussels with cream and traditionnaly drink cider. White wine is a must with oysters.
Jean
Jean, I enjoyed your short documentary on fish-farming. It is interesting to see such activities surviving. Many years ago, we holidayed in the area you describe. Or maybe nearby, because it was possible to buy fresh oysters on the shore and receive guidance on the best way to eat them. It was off-peak, so we had the vendor’s undivided attention. Glad to see you using that excellent X2.