Domfront

Henry and Belém went back a long way, as we know.

Henry took Domfront from him back in the early 1090s.

Henry hunted him down across England in 1102 and exiled him and his little brothers, stripping them of all land and titles within the kingdom.

Henry forced Belém to retreat at Tinsprey back in 1106.

Well, with the death of Robert II of Flanders, King Louis and William Clito lost a serious, and I mean that, serious battlefield commander in their fight against Henry.

This was a major blow to the movement behind Clito, and it was a major boon to Henry.

The instability of everything allowed Henry to snatch up the castle at Alençon from Folk of Anjou as well, which, along with Domfront, Henry controlled a large portion of the marchlands between Maine and Normandy.

With that reprieve, Henry was able to return home to England, only to find some pretty rough goings for his own kingdom.

Um, and doesn't have too much of an intention of staying there.

So the, the, the year after this, 1092, William and Robert are both in England and W- and Henry just wanders back into the Cotentin, takes the town of Domfront and begins just re- rebuilding, retaking all of this land.

And I'm pretty sure he's there with the receipt saying, "You know, I paid for this."

[laughs]

And then I went over to see Antoine Mareau to get some cider and Poire and ice cider.

And while I'm thinking about it right now, I remember I also stopped at a little hidey, hidey spot and tucked away a bottle of s- uh, what was it? Poire from Domfrontais.

That was the maker Pacory, which you may have heard of before.

Uh, they have also been on the podcast Exquisite Poire.

And this time, that included having dinner with two makers who have quickly become favorites of mine, Johanna and Louis of Domaine Johanna Siclion in Brittany.

We sat down to this wonderful seafood dinner overlooking the water, drinking their cider, poire, and getting to spend time together around the table.

Then, in Domfrontais, I caught up with my friends Philippe and Marie-Claire, the poire farmers I visited before.

And somehow, I managed to come away with a bottle of 2009 Calvados.