Apartment in Residence Normandy Garden, Branville

When strolling down the main street of Houlgate, you will pass this spruce, slate-roofed villa. In a contemporary, cheerful interior depicted by wood and stone, local lad Maxime Lehoucq has grown into a talented chef. He works with seasonal Normandy ingredients (veal, free-range eggs and cream) together with fish supplied by his fisherman brother from Trouville. Maxime’s bistronomic signature and the occasional exotic note do the rest: flame grilled mackerel, beetroot and seaweed mayonnaise; Prieuré leg of poultry, gnocchi, creamy mushrooms, Comté cheese and hazelnuts. The menu, which changes

Situated between Caen and Lisieux in the heart of the Pays d’Auge, Beuvron-en-Auge is picture postcard perfect with its 17-18C half-timbered houses, its manors and its gardens decked in flowers come summertime. The restaurant, which occupies the village’s former covered market, is fully in keeping with this olde worlde character. Chef Adrien Haye champions local producers in a bid to work with the best seasonal produce. The enticing culinary lineup allows diners to choose from oysters from Saint-Vaast, lobster from Carteret or John Dory, as well as foie gras, veal sweetbread, tripe and andouil