| Calvados | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Coat of Arms of Calvados | |
| Location | |
 |
|
| Administration | |
| Department number: | 14 |
| Region: | Basse-Normandie |
| Prefecture: | Caen |
| Subprefectures: | Bayeux Lisieux Vire |
| Arrondissements: | 4 |
| Cantons: | 49 |
| Communes: | 706 |
| President of the General Council: | Anne
d'Ornano Miscellaneous Right-wing |
| Statistics | |
| Population | Ranked 31st |
| -1999 | 648,385 |
| Population density: | 117/km2 |
| Land area¹: | 5548 km2 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2. | |
The French department of
Calvados is part of the region of
Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of
rocks off the coast.
Contents |
Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from a part of the former province of Normandy. The name "Orne inférieure" was originally proposed for the department, but it was ultimately decided to call the area Calvados.
Its etymology is most likely derived from the Salvador, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank by the rocks near Arromanches-les-bains in 1588. However, others insist that the name Calvados was derived from calva dorsa, meaning bare backs, in reference to two sparsely vegetated rocks off its shore.[1]
On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces landed on the beaches of the Bay of the Seine in what became known as the Battle of Normandy.
Calvados belongs to the region of Basse-Normandie and is surrounded by the departments of Seine-Maritime, Eure, Orne and Manche. On the north is la Baie de Seine, part of the English Channel. On the east, the Seine River forms the boundary with Seine-Maritime. Calvados includes the Bessin area, the Pays d'Auge and the area known as the "Suisse normande" ("Norman Switzerland").
Calvados' most notable places include Deauville and the formerly elegant 19th-century casino resorts of the coast.
Agriculture dominates the economy of Calvados. The area is known for producing butter, cheese, cider and the apple-based spirit that shares its name (see Calvados (spirit)).
The President of the General Council is the centrist Anne d'Ornano. She is the wife of Michel d'Ornano, the former dominant figure of the right and centre in the department. The Conseil General of Calvados and Devon County Council signed a Twinning Charter in 1971 to develop links with the English county of Devon.[2]
| Party | seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Socialist Party | 18 | |
| • | Miscellaneous Right | 18 |
| • | Union for a Popular Movement | 6 |
| Left Radical Party | 3 | |
| • | New Centre | 3 |
| • | MoDem | 1 |
The inhabitants of Calvados are called "Calvadosiens" (male) and "Calvadosiennes" (female). In 1999, Calvados counted 648,299 inhabitants, making it the 30th most populated French department.
Age distribution in Calvados:
The Bayeux Tapestry is on display in Bayeux and makes the city one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Normandy. Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer, Calvados, commemorates the D-Day landing of the Canadian liberation forces at Juno Beach during World War II in 1944. The cult of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux brings large numbers of people on pilgrimage to Lisieux, where she lived in a Carmelite convent. Every September, Deauville hosts the Festival of the American Movie and the beach resort of Cabourg hosts the Festival of the Romantic Movie Annually, the city of Caen celebrates the festival of the electronical cultures called "Nordik Impakt".
The local dialect of the Norman language is known as Augeron. It is spoken by a minority of the population.
Calvados, via the port of Ouistreham, is an entrance to the continent from Britain. There are two airports: Caen-Carpiquet and Deauville-Saint Gatien. The department of Calvados has several popular tourist areas: the Bessin, the Plaine of Caen, the Bocage Virois, the Côte de Nacre, the Côte Fleurie and the Pays d'Auge. Several beaches of Calvados are popular for water sports, including Cabourg and Merville-Franceville-Plage.
Tourist capacity (2001):
The beaches of Calvados were received during the second half of the nineteenth century near Paris, development of railway network and fashion of sea bathing Duke of Morny created the seaside resort of Deauville in 1860, the train from Paris' s yarrête in 1863. The Coast Coast and pearl flowers (Houlgate, Deauville, Cabourg, Honfleur) are lined with villas secondary-like small mansions, the wealthy Parisian and English, built during the Belle Epoque.
Calvados hosts many tourists on the beaches of the landing of 1944. Several monuments of the history of landings on the Normandy coast:
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* The Memorial de Caen, Caen;
* The museum D-Day Omaha Vierville-sur-Mer;
* The Museum of the Battle of the Falaise pocket at Falaise;
* The Museum of the battery at Merville Merville-Franceville-Plage;
* The museum of the landing at Arromanches-les-Bains;
* The memorial of General de Gaulle to Bayeux;
* The Museum of the Atlantic Wall in Ouistreham;
* The museum Juno beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer;
* The Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy in Bayeux;
* The Pegasus Memorial Museum in Ranville;
Architectural Tourism
* The Castle of Pommeraye, Switzerland Norman;
* The Chateau Ganne, The Pommeraye;
Gastronomic tourism
Increasingly, Norman gastronomy attracts tourists in search of "local products" such as Camembert, Livarot, l'évêque deck, calvados, pommel, cider, St. Jacques shells of Port en Bessin ... Rural tourism is growing much.
Ecological Tourism
* The regional park of Marais du Cotentin and Bessin, near Isigny-sur-Mer;
* The natural reserve of the hill from Mesnil-Soleil Damblainville;
* The cliffs of black cows in Houlgate.
* La Suisse Normande
According to the general census of the population of March 8, 1999, 19.2% of homes available in the department were second homes.
Aquatic sports are often played on the coasts and beaches, for example, kite surfing and beach volleyball. For the season 2007/2008, the soccer team of Caen will play in the Ligue 1 French championship (Elite).
Coordinates: 49°02′N 0°15′W / 49.033°N 0.25°W
Calvados is a region of Basse-Normandie famous for its apple liqueur.
French is the official language, and all the locals will speak
it. Some may use some non-standard expression, but most will make
the effort to not use these if you are foreign.
Local expressions you might encounter are 'Tantôt' meaning either
this morning, this afternoon, tomorrow morning/afternoon or
yesterday morning/afternnon, depending of the speaker.
As Normandy is a premium tourist destinations, many of the younger
people will speak English, and will be willing to speak it.
Spanish, Italian, and German are also quite widely studied at
school.
Although there are Norman languages, they are mostly dying out, and
the speakers will also speak French. You may also meet the
occasional speaker of neighbouring regions' local languages, such
as Breton or Picard, but in any case, a stranger would only address
you to establish contact in French (or English if you were in a
tourist place).
There is an airport in Caen (Caen-Carpiquet) with flights to Shoreham in the UK with Skysouth, Lyon and seasonally Nice with Air France/Britair, Paris-Orly with Airlinair and Chalair. Note that these are usually not daily apart from the Lyon connection. The other international airport is in Deauville, with flights to Shoreham with Skysouth. Both will also have charter flights. Other local airports are the two in Paris, which are well connected to the Train service and have many international connections; and Dinard which has flights to the UK with Ryanair and to Guernsey with Aurigny Air Services (the airport is not connected to public transport in any useful sense, but has hire car offices).
There is a ferry-port in Ouistréham, with ferries to Portsmouth with Brittany
Ferries. Another popular option with the locals is the crossings
run by LD Lines to Le
Havre and Dieppe from Newhaven and Portsmouth, which are
sometimes substantially cheaper. Cherbourg, Calais and Saint-Malo are also within driving
distance.
Brittany Ferries
LD Lines
A Ferry To: Price Comparison
site
Rail is the most commonly used public transport in France for
inter-regional travel. It is cheap, fast and reliable. Check out
reductions for under-26, over-25 and group travellers. Tickets can
usually be bought abroad, on the internet, at stations; in advance
or on the day.
Caen is the main station, alongside Lisieux, Bayeux,
Trouville-Deauville and Cabourg-Dives. There are also stations in
Lison, Le Molay Littry, Audrieu, Bretteville Norrey, Frénouville
Cagny, Mézidon, Moult Argences, St Pierre sur Dives, Coulibœuf, Le
Grand Jardin, Pont L'Évêque, Blonville Bennerville, Villers/Mer,
Houlgate and Dives Port-Guillaume.
Trains go towards Saint-Lô (Cherbourg and Rennes), Paris (2 hours away), Alençon (Le Mans), and Rouen.
SNCF website
Roads in France are good.
The main motorway is the A13 to Caen from Paris (225km / 139
miles). It then continues to Cherbourg (although it is not always a
motorway). Some of it is toll, but quite cheap. The A84 goes from
Caen to Rennes. You can also take the RN13 from Paris, which is
free.
To cross the Seine, you can use the Pont de Normandie between Le Havre and Honfleur. Toll is 5€ for a
car. A popular site in itself, the bridge, which opened in 1995, at
the time was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and had
the record for the longest distance between piers; these records
were lost in 1999 and 2004 respectively.
There is a free bridge further south at Tancarville, and more
bridges as you go further south (where the Seine isn't as
wide).
D-Day circuits are signposted, and take you around Normandy retracing the history of the 1944 events in the Region. Details can be obtained through the Official Site
France is a pretty safe country, and Normandy doesn't have any
big cities with no-go areas, although as in any place, you should
stick to a few obvious rules (don't walk down dark alleyways at 4
in the morning, etc...).
If in trouble, speak to a policeman (Policier or
Gendarme) or go to a police station (Comissariat)
where you will be given help.
For health issues, go see a doctor (médecin, around 20€).
For ER/A&E, ask for Urgences. You can call SOS Médecin
(Tél: 36 24), who can send out a doctor (very useful in rural
areas). Chemist are Pharmacies, and most major towns will
have a Pharmacien de garde who will stay open all night
for emergencies (they take turns, check in the local paper to get
the name and phone number).
Emergency phone numbers are:
The European Emergency number 112 will also
work.
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Singular |
Plural |
Calvados
Calvados can be:
   | Conseil Général website - Le Calvados en tête d'affiche, plus de 150 affiches de 1547 à nos jours - château de Bénouville |
| | Prefecture website - Portail internet des services de l'Etat |
| | Encylopædia Britannica's guide to D-Day - Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944 |
| | Calvados Tourism Guide - Calvados - Travel Guide, photos, tourism, hotels |
| | Calvados Charles de Granville - Charles de Granville - The Best Calvados |
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