can I have some baguette with that butter, please

We have decided to stop by the Normandy landing beaches on our way to go visit Micheline in Rennes (Bretagne) for the Easter weekend. It was raining as we hit the coast and nobody was in the mood to stroll on the beach so we've made a quick decision to stop by a movie theater to see "Shaun the sheep" and then dinner at McDonalds. The spirits have lifted instantly.

It was still windy and rainy the next day but we couldn't put off the visiting of the beaches any longer so after a breakfast at the hotel (Chocapic seems to be the French substitute for the North American Fruit Loops always found at the hotels' breakfasts) we headed out. First stop: the Canadian cemetery. In the middle of a field, surrounded by maple trees, white headstones looked peaceful and humbling. We walked in a misty rain reading names; Emilia reading ages of soldiers...

Next we stopped by the Canadian landing beach: Juno beach and the Juno Beach Centre. The guides at the museum were young Canadians and as they spoke I caught a smile on Emilia's face. I gave her a questioning look and she whispered "she speaks with a funny accent" :) Give it a few more months and you will be back to the same 'funny' accent yourself, I thought. The museum had a number of interactive exhibit rooms relating the story not only of the D-Day landings of the 14,000 Canadian troops and the military contributions to the war effort but also the story of civilian life in Canada before and during the war. There was even a 'treasure hunt' organized for children with a maple candy at the end. 

It finally stopped raining and we took a walk on a beach and in the fields where the German Gun Battery were still standing. It felt unreal that thousands have died right here not so long ago so our two little girls could run those fields laughing today. And as I watched them giggling and picking flowers oblivious to the history of this place I realized how much more meaning for me this one day visit had compared to all the learning about D-Day as a 16 year old during my history classes. 

After a day of reflection it was time for some chocolate. And thankfully there was plenty of it to be found in Micheline's garden. 

We spent Easter Sunday in St Malo. Girls picking out treasures from the sand of the enormous beach created by a low tide, Nicolas remembering his visits to the city as a child and all of us enjoying good food and good dose of sun (and wind). 

But I think the most important and life altering moment came with a visit to a local fromagerie and a discovery of THE butter! Any butter in France, even bought at a regular supermarket is significantly tastier than anything we can find in North America, but until this day I was not aware that there is something better; a butter that has a following! Seven months in France and only now thanks to Micheline we got introduced to le beurre Bordier.

The most delicious butter I have ever tasted. I think I would have just eaten it with a spoon (to make up for all the lost time in France without knowing of its existence) if it wasn't for the price and the looks that my husband was giving me. So I did end up putting some baguette under my thick slices of the heavenly goodness. I don't know what makes this butter so incredibly rich and creamy: is it the fact that it is still hand-churned, or is it the milk from all those happy cows that we saw everywhere in Bretagne and Normandy as we drove back to Paris, grazing on green pastures practically all year round. Whatever is it, I was hooked and this butter alone could make me consider moving to Bretagne.

We drove through small roads on our way back to Paris, stopping in St. Hilaire du Harcouet to find the childhood house of papy, and in St Céneri-le-Gérei which not by accident was listed in the book of 'Most beautiful villages of France' that Nicolas got as a gift before we left Montreal. 

We got home late, and all the bakeries were closed. I had THE butter but no baguette... oh well... spoons were just an arm's reach away ;)