Cramenil

Craménil was our home for five days. We stayed with Claude and Denise Roussel in their beautiful house, enjoying their food and wine and meeting just a few of their many friends. This is our chance to say "Thank you, thank you, thank you" for our wonderful holiday.

We met M de Malglaive, President of the Communauté and Mme de Malglaive, President of the local history society, Les Amis du Houlme, when they came to dinner. They visited Bramber, England in 1999 and it was a pleasure to meet them again in Craménil. Denise produced a meal that we will never forget.

Rainer and Kerstin Janetzko from Germany, who are living and working in Normandy for a while, also came to dinner. We had only met by email until then and it was a lovely surprise to spend an evening together. The conversation in French, German and English was very entertaining.

This is Claude on his terrace in Summer.

The house stands on an ancient site which still has standing stones as evidence of its occupation from pre-history to the present day.

Claude keeps sheep in the garden, an attractive breed from Hampshire.

This is where the sheep spend the night. Lucky sheep!

This is the view from Claude and Denise's front drive. The terrible storm last year destroyed up to half the trees in the area and many buildings were badly damaged.

This is the view from our bedroom window. Sometimes you can look across a Norman landscape and imagine that little has changed since medieval times.