Orne: Lace, Horse Studs, and the Norman Bocage
Orne is a quiet, sparsely populated department in inland Normandy. Alencon, the prefecture, was historically renowned for its needle lace (point d'Alencon), which has UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. The Haras du Pin, a national stud farm built under Louis XIV, is known as the Versailles of the horse world. The department has about 276,000 residents and has been losing population for decades.
Argentan, Flers, and La Ferte-Mace are the main secondary towns. The bocage normand landscape of hedgerows and pastures dominates. Camembert, the village that gave its name to the cheese, is in the Pays d'Auge portion of Orne, though most commercial Camembert is now made elsewhere. The Perche, in the southern part of the department, has become popular with Parisian weekenders buying up farmhouses.
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Orne is a quiet, sparsely populated department in inland Normandy. Alencon, the prefecture, was historically renowned for its needle lace (point d'Alencon), which has UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. The Haras du Pin, a national stud farm built under Louis XIV, is known as the Versailles of the horse world. The department has about 276,000 residents and has been losing population for decades.
Argentan, Flers, and La Ferte-Mace are the main secondary towns. The bocage normand landscape of hedgerows and pastures dominates. Camembert, the village that gave its name to the cheese, is in the Pays d'Auge portion of Orne, though most commercial Camembert is now made elsewhere. The Perche, in the southern part of the department, has become popular with Parisian weekenders buying up farmhouses.
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