La Mère Poulard

La Mère Poulard traces to Annette Poulard, born Anne Boutiaut in Nevers in 1851, who came to Mont-Saint-Michel as a servant to architect Édouard Corroyer during his 1870s restoration of the abbey. There she met Victor Poulard, son of a local baker who leased one of the small inns on the Grand Rue; they married in 1873. To keep guests occupied while their meal cooked, Annette began serving a rustic omelette cooked over an open wood fire, whisked and cooked quickly so it emerged puffed and creamy. In 1888 the couple bought the Hôtel du Lion d'Or, had it rebuilt, and renamed the new establishment after the omelette's growing reputation. The dish and the address became inseparable, drawing later visitors including Hemingway, Mitterrand, and Picasso. The original recipe is still kept as a closely guarded house secret. What began as a single inn has grown into several adjoining guest houses ('Maisons d'Annette') at the base of Mont-Saint-Michel, and the shop now also sells the house's butter sablé biscuits in tins, extending the Poulard name from the dining room to a packaged souvenir.