On Tuesday we went to the market in Sourdeval, a small neighbouring town. The market was all sorts, including live animals, clothes and bric a brac. For food it was smaller than the farmer's markets in Melbourne, but since we are excellently supplied with vegetables and fruit, not mention homemade jam, from our hosts' garden we only needed some sausages- as it was late morning the stall holder insisted on giving us free extras- and some rainbow trout. A baguette from the boulangerie set us up for return home to deposit the perishables.
We then set out again for another nearby town, Mortain, scene of one of the pitched battles in a major German counter attack in August 1944 focused on Avranches, (Operation Lüttich) when the town was almost completely destroyed after six days of air and artillery bombardment. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_L%C3%BCttich
A substantial hill overlooking the town dubbed Hill 314 was occupied by a single USA battalion that became isolated and lost two thirds of regiment. There is thus a major war memorial own the hill for the "lost battalion" which was eventually rescued without conceding its territory.
We had a picnic lunch on the hill, from which Le Mont St Michel can be seen on the horizon 43km away, and then explored the local "Grande Cascades".
A visit to another pretty market town, Villedieu les Poeles, renowned for its copper work, completed the day's touring. See
http://www.ot-villedieu.fr/visit-villedieu-les-poeles.htm
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