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AWOL in the Orne, in 1918

First published February 2016 In between quiet villages and charming towns in the Orne, Normandy, are vast swathes of forests and fields. Here quite a lot happens, but people generally keep it to themselves. We were therefore rather baffled when a postcard match took us to a very private house on a rarely

The mysterious fortune of the Goupil brothers, in Bagnoles de l’Orne

First published September 2016 In 1789 when the Goupil brothers from Tessé-la-Madeleine in the Orne were young men, the French revolution shattered its way across France. Their village was small, their family modest.  Everything important was happening in Paris, so they took themselves off to the city. Jean and Louis Goupil returned in

Abandoned Normandy; a cottage by La Varenne

First published August 2015 La Varenne river winds through the high cliffs and low fields in the Orne, Normandy. To find one little cottage that may no longer exist along it's 40km was a challenge that we accepted... And won. Uncared for, unkempt. Easily missed in the undergrowth, sturdy cottage steps took us up to

Murder of a monster; Mabel de Bellême

First posted April 2016 This quaint tower on the edge of Sées is all that is left of a mighty entrance gate. Here a levy would be charged to every person and cart passing into the town. The gates may have kept out the vast forests of Écouves that once stretched all

Domfront, city of misfortune!

vintage postcard Place Saint Julien Domfront Normandy

First published April 2018 Rummaging in Normandy markets we occasionally come across vintage postcards of Domfront showing a rather grisly image; a man dangling from the gallows. Difficult to match – for the artists’ tenuous knowledge of Domfront as much as the dangling man – these postcards often includes an awful

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