The larger town of ORBEC, 19km southeast of Lisieux, also epitomizes the simple pleasures of the region. Along the rue Grande, you'll see several houses in which the gaps between the timbers are filled with intricate patterns of coloured tiles and bricks. Debussy composed Jardin sous la Pluie in one of these, and the oldest and prettiest of the Lot a tanner's house dating back to 1568, and once again called the Vieux Manoir holds a museum of local history. On the whole, though, it's more fun just to walk down behind the church to the river, and its watermill and paddocks.
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