Du pont de Brie au Grand Mesnil

Alexandre de Gallery, a former French Empire cavalry officer, retired to his castle in Trois-Monts from where his favourite leisure pursuit was to modify the church. The carved pulpit, surmounted with wooden statues, is of Renaissance style, as is the new choir, in which 24 helical column stalls are installed. The carved wood portal under the tower probably dates from the 12th century. The church is isolated in the midst of the woods, 500 metres to the west of the village. It was once part of the seigniorial estate of Trois Monts, the monumental castle and outbuildings of which were demolished after World War II, failing sufficient maintenance. Only a few vestiges of the enclosure wall remain.

The layout of a new railway line required the construction of the Val-de-Maizet viaduct in 1861. This railway line has since been disused. Today's calm cannot prefigure that the place had a very particular industrial activity, the manufacture of wagons and locomotives. "Les constructions mécaniques du Val de Maizet" created in August 1924 employed up to 120 people. The renowned Drouville locotractors were manufactured on this site. After the war, the factory was taken over for an activity oriented towards locksmithing without regaining the prestige of its past. It closed its doors definitively in September 1975. Le Val de Maizet also had a quarry activity. Site dedicated today to the practice of nature sports and family activities (greenway, canoeing ...).

In the forest, Trivia, the three-faced mother goddess, was honored, as was later Diana and then Saint Anne, to protect the hunters to whom she guaranteed the abundance of game or to implore rain, the source of a fertile harvest. At the end of a nightly sacrifice, the goddess used to wash the blood-stained linen in the water of a fountain. Sainte Anne, honored by the Christian devotion of the pilgrims, always has her chapel in the forest of Grimbosq, in the shelter of a rocky cliff which borders the Orne, vis-a-vis the Val de Viard. Numerous processions coming from the neighboring churches went there on July 23, accompanied by the sound of the tinterelles. Once the wishes were granted, the return to the houses was precipitated by the arrival of a sudden heavy rain (excerpt from "Journey in medieval Norman Switzerland" by M. Thiesse)

The Auberge du Pont de Brie welcomes you in a green setting. Located in the heart of the Suisse Normande on the banks of the Orne, along the greenway linking Caen to Clécy and near the forest of Grimbosq. Traditional Normandy cuisine made with fresh and local products. We offer you a choice of menus from 25€ onwards, but also a lunchtime formula during the week from 11.90€. We welcome your family or group meals (70 people maximum) and we will prepare your menus according to your expectations and your budget. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.