Norman Switzerland is a part of Normandy, France, in the border region of the departments Calvados and Orne. Its name comes from its rugged and verdant relief resembling the Swiss Alps, with gorges carved by the river Orne and its tributaries, and by erosion in the Armorican Massif between Putanges-Pont-Écrepin and Thury-Harcourt. The river has created a rugged landscape. Churches, houses and farm buildings have a style closer to what is found across the English Channel in the United Kingdom (i.e., stone buildings with slate roofs), rather than the timber structures of the Pays d'Auge. There are many outdoor tourist activities: canoeing, horse riding, rock climbing, hang gliding, kayaking, paragliding and mountain biking.

Geography

Suisse Normande is located at the end of the Armorican Massif. In the hills, small, steep fields are often bordered by thick hedges or granite dry stone walls and have dense vegetation. Mont Pinçon, is the highest point in Norman Switzerland, at 362 m in elevation. The main water course ways through the area are the river Orne and three of its tributaries, Noireau, Rouvre and the Baize. In addition, two more rivers run through the area and merge with the Noireau, the Vere and the Druance. From Putanges-Pont-Écrepin part of the Orne has been made into an artificial 6 km long lake covering 240 acres called Rabodanges Lake.

Towns and Communes

The main towns are Athis-de-l'Orne, Clécy, Condé-sur-Noireau, Pont-d'Ouilly, Putanges-Pont-Écrepin and Thury-Harcourt. A total of 75 communes from six different Communauté de communes make up Suisse Normand as shown below; Communauté de communes Cingal-Suisse Normande Communauté de communes Intercom de la Vire au Noireau Communauté d'agglomération Flers Agglo Communauté de communes du Pays de Falaise Communauté de communes du Val d'Orne Terres d'Argentan Interco

Conservation areas

Suisse Normande has several protected areas that exist within it that are a Natura 2000 conservation areas;

History

The area was first described in 1828 as being like Switzerland in appearance when local historian, Jean-Frédéric Galeron (1794-1838), describes the area of Saint-Clair, Clécy and Athis and Pont-d'Ouilly as 'It's a little Switzerland for the inhabitants of Falaise'. The term “Norman Switzerland” was popularized in particular by the railway companies which made the sites of the area accessible to a greater number and use it for promotional purposes. A State Railways poster, from the 1900s, promotes "travel at reduced prices" and shows, under the title "La Suisse normande", a view of the Orne valley in Clecy. In these same years, postcards began to fix the name, and hoteliers also took advantage of thiese flattering images, for example in the 1900s, Clécy had a “hotel of little Switzerland” and a “hotel of the Norman Alps”. After the First World War, the mayor of Clécy wanted to cement the town as a major tourist resort notably by creating safe drinking water and the proper treatment of efluents, a rarity for the time. In 1932, the mayor, then invited the Under-Secretary of State for Tourism, who visited Thury-Harcourt, LaRoche d'Oëtre, Falaise, and solemnly declared Clécy capital of Swiss Normandy. In 1933, Father Joseph Delacotte wrote a tourist guide entitled "La Suisse normande", explaining the area was larger than what was originally defined and in 1935, the tourist office of the Suisse Normande had 74 signposts produced, with its header, which showed tourists the sites to visit. 4 In 1960 Rabodanges Lake was formed by EDF when they created a hydroelectric dam on the Orne River In 2007 Thury-Harcourt hosted the European Canoe Polo Championship.

Places

Monuments