A first!

We went over to Avoine this morning. It's a very smart town about 8K from Chinon. Nuclear power station territory. So a big employer from which Avoine has undoubtedly benefited. It's a noticeably wealthy place, both in its appearance and its cultural programming. Their annual four day festival is on shortly, which attracts some fab artists. Up until now we've managed to get to one or two gigs because time was limited. This time we've been able to sign up for a pass that gets us into everything over the four days. Can't wait. 

Tickets are booked through the Avoine Mairie (Town Hall). I'd reserved two passes and we drove over to collect them. All very efficient. We were chatting away in French to the two girls who look after tickets for everything that's going on in Avoine. They wanted to know if we'd been before, what we'd seen. Then they took our details down again for their database and future mailings.  As always there's never a problem with pronouncing 'Mike'. But that 'H' in Hilary trips people up here every time. It's not easy to say. Comes out as 'eelarreee'. The girl turned to me and apologised for her French pronunciation of my name. Never had that said to me before. As we said to her, things are usually pronounced with a French accent in France which amused them both. And in any case, it sounds great!

The most expensive potato in the world!

Continuing in yummy food mode, we've just been eating something particularly delicious. And it's a potato. If the first of the Jersey Royal potatoes hit the spot, then Noir Moutier will have you clammering for more. Fortunately we do have some more. At the moment they're more affordable.

Noir Moutier are very expensive. They've been in the market for a few weeks but at eye-watering prices, they haven't made it to our shopping list. This last week the prices started to drop to a less of a 'good-grief' price range, so we got a kilo. They are fantastic!

Not sure exactly where Noir Moutier sit within the top ten of the world's most expensive food items. There is after all Civet coffee to compete with, saffron, beluga cavier, white truffles and macademia nuts. Probably there's a fish to be added to the list, may be some wildly rare fruit, but no matter. If I was a Noir Moutier potato I'd be happy with my status as the world's most expensive potato. There are different figures quoted as to price per kilo, but they can sell up to €550 - apparently. It's all to do with being picked by hand because they are delicate potato. Thank goodness the handpicking wine producers round here aren't charging such acutely high prices. Stories abound that it was only due to the support of a 'handful' (sorry about that) of devotees that they avoided extinction during WW1.

I don't know how they become affordable in  our local market. Some have made their way into supermarkets as well.  Currently the price is down into single figures. But I guess there are ways and means within the market fraternity. Either way the Noir Moutier potato is just fabulous. However appearance is not startling, so to maintain their allure, I'm not posting any photos. Just remember that if anyone comes to stay and they get served Noir Moutier potatoes, we must like you. A LOT!!

Remains of the day

There is something special about eating fruit and vegetables that are grown and ripened locally. The flavour is different. Right now we're re-discovering the taste of artichokes. Something we've not eaten for ages, and then it was in the UK, with the result that neither of us could work out what was so good about them. It's Artichoke season here, so we bought some from our local market and have just eaten this evening for dinner. Had to remind myself how to prepare and cook them. First step - trim leaves and stem. Then put some water in a deep pan and add some slices of lemon, bay leaves. Also garlic, but this was fresh garlic from the market at the same time we bought the artichokes. So this 'bouillon' mix goes to the water. Then put the empty steamer basket into the water and bring it to steaming point. Then add the artichokes, cover with lid and steam for about 40 mins or until the leaves can be pulled off.  They were lovely and certainly had the additional but flavour from the bouillon steam.

Artichokes are still fiddly to eat, but they are very good. As the leaves are removed, the outer dark green colour becomes a gorgeous purple, and the leaves become particularly sweet and tender. The heart of the artichoke is just delicious. But one of those flavours that is very hard to describe. Definitely worth the effort.

A gorgeous May day

Late afternoon in Cravant

We've had a beautiful day today, in every conceivable way. Sunday 26th had to be a good day. It was the 70 birthday of a friend of ours and she'd organised a Garden Party. Talk about lucky. We got up this morning to brilliant sunshine and warmth. Yesterday we were walking around in almost winter gear. Anyway today was at it should be. The party was lovely, about thirty of us, half French and half English. Some people we knew, some we didn't, but everyone was on good form, the food was lovely,  so it all went really well and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Got home mid-afternoon and had literally just pulled into our driveway,  when some good friends of ours, Françoise and Jim, from Tavant, turned up. They're about twenty minutes from us by car. It was lovely surprise to see them. We really enjoy their company. They are great fun and we always have interesting conversations. We had a quick drink and then we all went to the cinema, this time to    Le Cube, which is over towards Ile de Bouchard and about equal distance from us, as is Chinon. First time we'd been there. It's a newish community centre with a lovely multipurpose auditorium and a retractable film screen. We'd meant to go before but never got round to it. The film we saw was a comedy called Les Profs which has some fabulous actors in it including Isabelle Nanty and Dominique Pinon, who we'd first seen in Amelie. It's about a school which after the bac results is regarded as the worst in France. All the usual ways of trying to improve standards have been exhausted, so the inspector of schools tries to find a solution to the problem. He embarks on a radical decision - to employ the worst teachers for the worst students. It is absolutely hilarious. Pitch perfect by all the actors. Needless to say it all works out well in the end. We were all rolling around. It was very funny. After that we went back to our friends for an apèro or two. We sat outside in their garden, basking in the sun and having a really good chat.  Eventually we set off for home.

Vines at Cravant

The drive back was gorgeous. A fabulous quality of light, so we dropped back home so I could pick up my camera and then drove out to some local vines to get a few shots in. Luckily there's still some water in the fields. The reflection gives the image here a lift. This is the sort of view we enjoy in pretty much all directions. It's a lovely spot to be.

Mad French and Englishmen go out in the midday rain

It's Battle of the Bands today in Chinon. Totally mad the lot of them. Happens every year. Bands playing all over town throughout the day, in daft costumes and singing crazy songs. That is until the evening, then it all gets serious as they compete for the Best Band slot. We got in early to Chinon, when the bands had only just started warming up. There were about four of them  playing at the time, on street corners and in the town squares. But as the day rolled on, more were expected. It's a popular event.

Not sure what the theme was this year.
The white trousered lot (above), were on one side of Chinon's main square,
encouraging people to waltz round, while trying not to get run over. The green band, were on the other side of the square and spotted me waiting to take a photo. Most obliging they were, and then they commandeered this additional green accessory, just so I could take a photo of them with their newly acquired green mascot. The driver must have been thrilled. They were good fun though, with some decent voices amongst them.

Then we came across the yellow band, who look like a group of performing bees. They are all singing, marching, dancing band, and are all really quite good. Certainly gave everyone a bit of a laugh on another really cold and gloomy day. The French like their bands and this lot in Chinon certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. All the clowning aside they had to know what they were doing. Incredibly difficult to play, sing and dance at the same time.  They made it look easy.

Une sortie au département de Loir et Cher: Day 3 - Chaumont-sur-Loire

If you want exhilarating and inspiring with a dash of whacky thrown in, then Chaumont is the place to go, any time April to October, for the annual International Festival of Gardens, which began back in 1992. The Chateau de Chaumont hosts the event. Contemporary garden designers from all over the world design to a specific theme, which changes annually. There are twenty-four gardens all of which are more or less the same size and shape. We usually go twice a year - early on and mid-way - to see how the gardens are developing and the impact that change has on the theme.  As well as the gardens, there are a series of out buildings which host different exhibitions, quite often photography and film. There is also a hot house, a misty walk way, a very good shop, and three different eateries. Everyone's taste's are pretty much catered for.

There were some new developments this year. From a practical point of view, the decision to put all the eateries under cover was a good one, and they remained garden focussed, with seating now inside very elegant glass greenhouses. The more interesting surprise was the opening up of eight new gardens in a completely different section of the Chaumont site. 

As well as preparation for the gardens themselves, a new bridge had to be designed, constructed and installed above a main road to safely link the two sites.  We'll have a closer look as this part when we go back in a few months time.

This year the theme was Sensation. Like everywhere else, Chaumont hasn't had the type of weather to help push the gardens along. In previous years growth is well underway by now, but this time not, so it was too early to get a sense of the theme from all the gardens. However there's loads else to appreciate - the sheer skill of concept and construction; the planting, colours and textures.  

The choice and use of materials is also interesting and so intrinsic to the design. Some of the gardens are very open in layout, in some respects they are planted in a traditional way, so that everything is apparent. Whereas other gardens as in this photo, depended on the successful construction of a timber frame to help provide the sensation of movement. It also offered intriguing angles and shapes to be planted into, so breaking up the hard surface of the timber. These gardens are particularly interesting. They are really living sculptures, constantly changing as the plants follow their individual cycles so reaching maturity, then dying off and new growth emerging. So looking forward to going back.

Une sortie au département de Loir et Cher: Day 2 - Chambord

Visiting historic houses often invites comparison. But in this instance it would be superfluous. Cheverny and Chambord are fundamentally different in concept and purpose. Shared points of reference are really limited to whether the footprint of Chambord and that of the overall estate is larger than at Cheverny. The answer to both questions is yes. Then we move on.

Chambord was not designed for comfort or to be lived in. The outward appearance is austere and the day we visited, being so grey, the sense of aloofness was very much heightened. Also unless it's a really nice day, the estate isn't  visually stimulating. There aren't the formal gardens that are so often associated with such properties. However during one of our conversations with Sophie at Les Chambres Vertes, we learnt that there are plans in place for or during the next few years, to restore the grounds at Chambord using the original design which has survived. It will take a considerable sum of money to complete the project. Bearing in mind that the chateau is state maintained, that is a big commitment. 

The history of Chambord rolls out over centuries from the initial conception, through periods of immense  social upheaval and changing ownership. The architecture of Chambord makes the chateau instantly recognisable, and at its heart is an extraordinary double-helix staircase. Brilliant in concept and technically complex, many believe that it is a Leonardo design or perhaps a copy of his work. It certainly bears all the hallmarks of Da Vinci ingenuity.

Chambord is the largest chateau in the Loire Valley. It was built but never completed by François 1 (1494-1547), as a hunting lodge, although he never spent more than seven weeks in it. The king also had royal residences at Blois and Amboise and it was at the Chateau de Clos Lucé in Amboise that Leonard Da Vinci spent his final three years of his life at the invitation of François 1. So there is a direct link between the two men. Several designers are credited with the design of Chambord including Da Vinci. It took twenty-eight years to construct Chambord: 1519–1547. Successive owners remained faithful to the original plans initiated by François 1. It of course suffered during the revolution. Napoleon gave it to his subordinate, Louis Alexandre Berthier. His widow sold Chambord which was purchased on behalf of the infant Duke of Bordeaux. Restoration was attempted, but never truly succeeded. In the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, Chambord became a field hospital. Various Ducal ownerships followed, but all restoration stopped with the onset of WW1. Chambord was confiscated as enemy property in 1915 and that suit was not settled until 1932.  The art collection of the Louvre was stored at Chambord during WW2 including the Mona Lisa. Restoration began again after WW2, in 1945. Disney used it as inspiration for the 1991 animation of Beauty and the Beast. It's a fascinating and on-going story.

As to the double - helix staircase, the original building centred around it. Essentially the two staircases in one construction rise through the three floors of Chambord, without ever meeting. You step off it when you reach the floor you want. I walked up one side and Mike walked up the other, in opposite directions and met on level 2. I can't describe it adequately. Somehow the staircases cross over each other but you never meet as you are walking up or down the staircase. You can only see each other through the 'windows' as here in the photo, that have been built into the central column.

As you walk up the construction material of the staircase changes from wall to glass, which is quite dramatic and lets in a considerable amount of light. It is referred to as 'the lighthouse effect'. Eventually at the very top you can go out on to the terrace.  The roofline with all its masonry looks like the skyline of a town. There are eleven different types of towers. Not sure how many chimneys. 

Henry James on visiting Chambord apparently remarked,
 ' the towers, cupolas, the gables, the lanterns, the chimneys, look more like the spires of a city than the salient points of a single building."


We're glad we went to Chambord, but our feelings were mixed. Given the extraordinary imagination that went into its design and development, we didn't think the visitor interpretation at Chambord was adequate. There was a fabulous film on the ground floor, which was essential viewing, if you were to stand a chance of understanding the design and the history. It was so interesting, so well put together and was available on different screens in different languages. But after that there were no visual references in any of the rooms, which were for the most part were empty. If you didn't see the film, the building simply couldn't come alive in the imagination. 

We discussed this with Sophie the following morning. It is a difficult problem to resolve. Being a historic building there's a limited amount of alteration that can be made, which is no different to the English Heritage restrictions in the UK. Also the walls are so thick, it is impossible to install electricity anywhere else, so audio visuals can't be supplied.  

Let's hope that someone somewhere will have a Da Vinci moment and will find a solution.
It would make such a difference. Whats more Chambord deserves it.  
A remarkable building.

Une sortie au département de Loir et Cher: First day - Cheverny

The Loir and Cher is in the Centre Region of France and gets its name from the two rivers that cross it. One to the north, the Loir and the other to the south, the Cher. There are loads of Chateaux in this area, around 35 in all, some of which are extremely well known and are a must for any visitor venturing into the region. 

The two we'd decided to visit were Chateau de  Cheverny and Chateau de Chambord. Vastly different buildings with vastly different histories. Chambord was and remains essentially a political statement with very little sense of comfort about it and is state owned and maintained. Cheverny is very much a home and has been lived in by the same family for six centuries, so privately owned and maintained.

Les Chambres Vertes where we were staying for two nights, was a perfect spot to get to both Chateaux and also was really close by to Chaumont which we were going to on our way back home to Cravant.  A good choice, owned and run by Sophie a charming Parisienne with whom we had lots of interesting conversations. She is also a bio enthusiast, so edibles and usables were sourced carefully. Weatherwise - well we just had to get on with it, meaning dress for rain and chill and hope for the best. Chateau de Cheverny was literally about fifteen minutes away from Les Chambres Vertes and isn't very big, so we arrived mid-afternoon leaving ourselves about 3 hours to have a good stomp around.

Chateau de Cheverny is a gem. Plenty of visitors, so photos were a bit tricky inside and outside, as in this image, grabbing a shot in between people and rain.From the outside Cheverny looks substantial. The inside is beautifully presented and despite the richness of life and decoration, still has the feeling of family, although the rooms are decorated and furnished to different family tastes and social position, according to period.

Downstairs in the first floor reception rooms, elaborate wallpapers and highly decorated wooden panelled ceilings were the form, along with beautiful furniture crafted as you'd expect, to exceptional standard. It is always a surprise how a space that is decorated in such a heavily patterned way - wall paper, curtains, carpets, door panels, paintings - still manages to avoid the feeling of being oppressively fussy. Cheverny managed this in every room, whether it was the children's nursery, the armament room, the tea room, lounge or bedrooms. The quality of the light was interesting as well. Through careful use and choice of fabric, light fittings and their positioning, a gorgeous and subtle warm light was achieved right through the house.

Back outside, we found the grounds to be typically manicured, but again there was a charm about them, which meant they were very relaxing to walk around. A mixture of herbaceous borders, shrubs, walkways of trees and a wisteria arch. Couldn't get a decent shot of it, as the sky had suddenly got very grey and looked as if it was just about to burst with rain. At the end of the archway was a tea room, so we dived in there.  A three hour visit is about right for Cheverny. There's more than enough time to get round the house where a lot of the rooms are actually quite small, and of course all round the gardens. However there's something extra at Cheverny which was a real treat. 

Anyone who is into Tintin has to go to Cheverny. The author of the legendary Tintin comic books, Hergé,  modelled Moulinsart - our hero's palatial home, after Cheverny, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the Loire. The Domaine de Cheverny and the Hergé Foundation have joined together to create a permanent exhibition at the chateau called The Secrets of Moulinsart. Animations, original drawings, artworks and props, rooms set up as scenes from some of the books, sound effects, secret panels. It's such fun. So very well done. We had a great time in there.





By the way in case there are questions about my spelling,  there are the Loir and the Loire rivers, as well as the départments of Loir et Cher and Indre et Loire. Tricky letter the  e!

The joy of French telephone conversations

Given that I'm such a book nerd I have to acknowledge that I love my Kindle. It will never of course for me replace the joy of holding a book or the act of turning the page, but it is a useful piece of kit to own. Especially with the dual life we've been leading. Now of course being based in one place - France - the Kindle's usefulness has changed. It's no longer the essential travelling companion. However, a new purpose now beckons. 

One of our Anglo-French groups has a regular book club. We've been to two since we moved here and one earlier in the year, before we moved, to get an idea of what it was like and whether we could cope with a more 'intellectual' level of French conversation. All was fine, as was the range of books being read. A good mixture of authors from scandinavia, across europe and eastern and asian litterature, some contemporary others classic reads. All of course are translated from the original language into French. 

My Kindle was bought and registered in the UK to a British email address, which we no longer use. I tried to download various books in French to UK amazon, but of course as you'd expect the range is limited, in part because of copyright as well as sales. So initially I could only download books from the reading list here in English, at least some of them, while the versions translated into French, were almost non-existent. Problem of course that we want to improve our French litterature reading skills, that particular aspect of the French language, being different from the everyday spoken and written, because of the tenses. I contacted Amazon UK explained that I wanted to be able to order and download books in French from Amazon FR rather than Amazon UK. How to do it? I was told to change my home address to my French address. Which I did. Fine. This was a couple of days ago. I wanted to down load The Summer Book by Tove Jansson for the book club meet, week after next. Wouldn't let me do it. French Amazon Kindle didn't recognise me at all. So I got in touch this morning via the Amazon FR website to Kindle support. 

I can write and speak French pretty well, so had no problem explaining my problem, in an email this morning in French. Mike went into Chinon for what proved to be an abortive attempt to post some letters, both of us forgetting that being a public holiday here, nothing was going to be open. In the meantime, I got into the shower. Then I got out of the shower, still wearing showercap, and heard the phone go. Grabbed towel, stuffed feet in slippers, rushed to the phone. A very rapidly speaking Frenchman from Amazon Fr had received my email and was going to talk me through what to do. Dripping English woman in shower cap is startled, as wasn't expecting a phone call. She removes shower cap in the hope that it will help her to hear more easily! Actually I did pretty well. These days we no longer, both of us, run away into separate rooms when the phone goes. We can manage phonecalls with ease, but something like this, that involves technical tweaking, is still a bit of a challenge.

Got through the first phase of the process. Then he had a problem and I misunderstood what he was asking. So for a few minutes, we were definitely at cross-purposes to each other. Fortunately he was very patient. 

The sticking point was, so simple as it turned out, that I couldn't use my French email address as that related to my home here in France. My account could only be transferred to Amazon FR using the original UK email address to which the Kindle was first registered when I bought it. Once I'd understood that bit, it was all straightforward. Our old email address is still active although we don't use it. 

So as of half an hour ago, my Amazon Fr Kindle account was opened and I have made my first transaction which is a Collins e-French/English dictionary. Useful to have I hope.
Need another shower.

Well this is a daft day - part 2

What news to report today? Basically another poor - yes that about sums it up - poor weather day. It's been pretty much raining or to put it another way, the sky has an ongoing plumbing problem which means it has been chucking down the wet stuff non stop, albeit in a kinder, drizzlier sort of way. 'Good for the garden' type rain. We have a couple of days booked to visit Chambord and Cheverny for the first time. Although it will be Cheverny first and then Chambord - Monday and Tuesday - by which time it should have just about cleared up weather wise as we set off back to Cravant on Wednesday, via, hopefully, Chaumont, for the annual garden design festival, which opened last month.  So there are interesting visits ahead with a few extra options, should the weather be really horrible. 

Mike and I do have an umbrella problem which is why we always carry our own. Love is NOT sharing an umbrella in our household. It comes down to the difference in height. Mike is somewhat taller than me. I am somewhat shorter than he. So the prospect of us both attempting to shelter under the same umbrella becomes problematic. If it is held to suit my height, Mike becomes a contortionist, as he tries to squeeze himself within the circumference of the umbrella's edge. It's a bit like being accompanied my Max Wall. Even the hair style is (sort of) similar.  If the umbrella is held at a height to suit Mike, I just get drenched, while somehow Mike doesn't. Which really doesn't make sense as he still has to hold it high up in the air. But never mind.

Anyway what could be better on a wet and windy day than to have a French lesson. So here's bi-lingual boy - the one and only, Eddie Izzard  to show you the ropes.


Bonne soirée à tous!

Late Night Blog

Had a great evening. Weather couldn't possibly dampen the spirits. Tables up in the barn, log fire going, wine flowing, terrific food, excellent conversation and lots of laughter. Couldn't be better.

This was the first time we'd visited our new friends. They'd taken over this huge place, big house and out buildings, which is in the middle of the French countryside just outside Seuilly. Fairly remote, but it's a gorgeous - old, renovated, with plenty of work to do, but imagine it's a labour of love. They've found a fabulous spot.

Left about 11.30pm. Pitch black in the countryside as no street lighting. We'd literally turned the car round, and were negotiating our way back to the main road. In the car headlights, we disturbed a large rabbit which rushed ahead of us before disappearing in the undergrowth. On the other side  was a large open and ploughed field, and what should be rumbling its way across towards us - a fully grown badger. It's a long time since we've seen one in the wild. Coming into Chinon saw a fox on its way back home, after a successful night hunting. Presumably somewhere nearby it had some cubs waiting to be fed.

It's one of the joys about living a rural life - there's always something special to see and for us, catching a glimpse of a few nocturnal prowlers is a real treat. Tonight we had a good haul.

Well this is a daft day!

We're back in flaming winter!! It's nutty. One minute gorgeous sunshine, then huge blobs of rain, back to sunshine and really warm temperatures, then the clouds come, horrible big grey-black things, then the wind kicks up, so you feel as if the house is taking off to Kansas, temperature drops, out come the winter woollies AND we've still got a winter weight duvet on our bed!
For goodness sake it's halfway through May.

Our neighbours who have a large potager/vegetable patch that runs along the bottom of ours and other neighbours gardens, are always concerned about the weather. It isn't just a British thing. At the moment therehasn't been enough sunshine for anything to grow properly. So way behind for this time of year and am guessing it's the same for the wine producers.

What a rotten day too for all the portes-ouvertes of which there are several happening this weekend. Some have organised les pique-niques as well. We were due to go to one at lunchtime today, but other things have cropped so we can't. Instead we went along about 11.30 am for a chat, tasting, joined in with a guided tour, and finally indulged in some fizzy buying. Got back in the car about 1.00pm, and the rain and wind just haven't stopped since. They'd sensibly got a big marquee out - a Barnum - and had trestle tables laid out inside, so the pique-niquers were safely installed inside. Not the same though. So wanted it to be a lovely day for everyone.

Am looking out of the office window on to a blaze of red from the Azaleas. Startling colour against the grey and wet of the gloom. They look fabulous.

This evening we're going to a Barbecue. Ha ha ha ho ho ho!! Fortunately the friends we have over in Seuilly have an enormous place with out-buildings, so there's no shortage of inside space as alternative venue.

Which reminds me of a very British barbecue we went to one Sunday up in London. The weather was really the pits. Peeing with rain. But us hardy types were determined. In any case what's a drop of wet to the diving fraternity. So despite the rain, wind and cold, out we all went into the garden sporting a mixture of flippers, goggles, wetsuits, snorkles, shorts, t-shirts and umbrellas and just got on with it. One of the best impromptu fancy dress barbecues we ever been to.

Perhaps we should start them here. 

Seeing is believing part 1

Les Hospices de Beaune

The model in the photo is a replica of Les Hospices de Beaune, founded in 1433 by the Chancellor of Burgundy - Nicolas Rolin - as a hospital for the poor. It's now a museum and generally regarded as one of the finest examples of French fifteenth century architecture. We visited it at least twenty years ago, while on holiday with some friends. A fascinating place, with a striking and very beautiful polychrome glazed-tile roof - the symbol of Burgundy. We saw this model in Tours and were so impressed with quality of the detail. If you look up Les Hospices de Beaune on the internet there are loads of photographs, which provide a testament to the quality of the skills involved in building this replica. Made by George Bouché, it took 800 hours to complete. The only other things about it I should tell you are that the model is actually a cake and it won first prize at Les Olympiades de la cuisine - Frankfurt, in 1976.

We were in Tours ostensibly for a photographic exhibition, but as that didn't open till the afternoon, and as we were wanting to spend the day over there, Mike researched what else was on and found Le musée du Compagnonnage - the history of the guilds for the building/construction trades. But there were obviously many other organisations affiliated to guild membership as the presence of the cake indicates. The museum's website has  English translation facility, but just briefly. . .

 Le musée du Compagnonnage showcases the collection of master carpenter Pierre François Guillon (1848-1923), who was a member of a guild known as The Duty of Freedom. The guilds are regarded as the precursors to unions (les syndicats), with some masonic tendencies thrown in. Pierre François Guillon founded a school for the construction of design arts in 1871, where he taught carpentry, joinery and stonework to apprentices from all over France and abroad for fifty-two years. After his death, his son donated his father's papers, models and student's materials for a museum which was built originally in 1928. In 1994 the building was renovated, and new rooms added. The original collection has been greatly expanded through bequests and acquisitions to present a comprehensive social history of the guild system. For us it was an excellent introduction to the range of skilled craftsmen that operated in our region. Up until this point, we were mainly aware of stone masonry - an ongoing and much needed profession with all the the chateaux here in the Indre et Loire.  There are still traditional boat makers, clog makers and black smiths. But  Le musée du Compagnonnage provides a much wider context with models, that were themselves masterpieces, as well as the different 'uniforms' that members of each guild wore to distinguish themselves.

Barrel makers, carpenters, roofers, shoe makers, chefs de patisserie, blacksmiths and

farriers, rope makers - such an interesting collection of professions. One in particular was of relevance to my own family through my father.  My father was born in Henley-on-Thames on 10 May 1911. He was the youngest of three, all were too young fortunately, so missed WW1. He was apprenticed to a wheelwright as a young man, somewhere near to Henley. The details including how old he was when this happened are now in storage. Amongst the documents is his deed of apprenticeship. Very official and elaborate in appearance, the handwriting is of it's time, full of swirls and curls, with seal and ribbon attached.  Working with wood was something he loved all his life, even though his abilities took him into a completely different profession in London.  The wardrobes and cupboards in our family home were made by him with such care and skill, in his workspace in the garage. I still have his tools, which are now of an age. I ought to find a proper home for them. Amongst the few family photos I have of him from that time, is one where he's sitting in the foreground with his three workmates in the company backyard, having a break, in hobnailed boots, dark overalls with his sleeves rolled up and arms folded.  There's a look of contentment on his face. The tools might go, but not the photo.

Perfect partners . . .

Certainly close to the top of my foodie list would be toast and marmite. Toasted egg and bacon sandwiches are simply to die for. Seem to remember being partial to a cup of tea after grilled sausages. Then a surprise on the list, given that I'm not a chocolate fan is vanilla ice cream with a tiny bit of chocolate sauce, ideally made from a melted mars bar with a drop of brandy in it, which helps with the softening process. Nearly forgot meringues with vanilla ice cream are very yummy. Coconut ice cream is a real fav. Then we get to good old honey and lemon.

That particular combo was and still is a very practical application against colds and sore throats. But looking on the internet, honey and lemon does have a more adventurous side. Cakes and tartelettes, honey roasted potatoes, glazed carrots with honey and lemon, roasted chicken with a honey and lemon sauce, as well as honey and lemon tea.  For something a bit different, how about a Honey & Lemon Face Mask, which 'lightens, tightens and brightens' apparently, better than anything else. Honey and Lemon also seem to be good for weight loss. These are two very adaptable ingredients.

Given these multifarious benefits to the human condition, we were delighted to find that the honey producer in Crissay, as mentioned in Sticky Origami , makes a honey and lemon marmelade, which as the label suggests, looks like an orange marmalade mixed with thin slices of lemon. But that's where any similarity end. The scent can only be honey and lemon. The consistency is more of a conserve. It holds its shape rather running, blobbing or dripping over everything, while the flavour resembles a delicate lemon curd, but without the excessive sweetness. It is absolutely delicious and on fresh french bread or toast, has gone straight into my top ten. 

To apicultrice - Alexandra Laubigeau, her team of bees and her father-in-law who looks after them, you have created a wonderful product. We'll be back shortly for some more.

Unexpected connections

We've just had a terrific few days with our friends Diane and Tony, who arrived for a long weekend from London - their first visit to us in France as well as their first in some time to this region. The weather was very kind and we managed in a very relaxed way, to sample a good selection of local wines and cuisine, as well as driving slightly further afield to two very beautiful gardens. Both have been mentioned previously in the blog as amongst our favourite places. So we are always delighted to return and at any time of the year.

La Chatonnière

Sunday was garden day. In the morning we went to La Chatonnière. Then after at a gorgeous lunch at L'Etape Gourmande, which is just outside Villandry, we headed back into the centre of the town to spend the afternoon in gardens at Chateau Villandry. It was a really fabulous day.

A few weeks ago we picked up a copy of a magazine called ICi. . . which is a bi-lingual magazine about the Loire Valley.  A really useful publication with lots of interesting features, which as it turned out this time round, particularly so for us.

Edition 5: Saison 2013 as well as gardening tips carried some interviews with three highly regarded and influential garden designers from the region. The one that interested us particularly was with Ahmed Azeroual - Head Gardner at La Chatonnière. Seeing his photo in the magazine I realised we'd seen him a number of times at La Chatonnière without realising who he was or knowing his story. The link is mostly in French, a little bit of translation here and there and some good photos and illustrations.  So this last Sunday we arrive at La Chatonnière with Diane and Tony, and who should be on duty, covering admission to the site, but Ahmed Azeroual. We'd arrive early, and as at that time there was only one other couple there who were well ahead of us, I grabbed the chance to have a chat to him, in French and stopping every now and again to translate. 

An absolutely charming man, originally from Morocco. His is an extraordinary career. He worked for twenty years at Villandry he told me and has worked now for twenty years at La Chatonnière in partnership with Béatrice de Andia, whose own story is fascinating.  Both gardens are magnificent. In 2009 he received a highly prestigious award - the Order of Agricultural Merit- on the day of his  60th birthday. I can't imagine a better birthday present.

The first flower

We've been working in the garden. Usually first thing in the morning, which is a favourite time of day and at the moment, the coolest. Depending on what's happening, we try to get out again in the early part of the evening. Probably we're totalling up around an hour a day. It does make a difference being able to get out there regularly. The ground can bake hard here and when it's like that, there's nothing you can do, except wait for some rain to soften it up a bit.  So we're working fast.

The most difficult thing is the cooch grass which took root while we were in the UK. There's no other way than to dig it up. It's quite satisfying, and right now, not too dry. So the fork is going in easily,  the grass isn't proving difficult to pull out and the soil is dropping away very nicely from the roots. This grass is a nuisance though, particularly when it grows up through another plant. You can't get at it.

Colour in our garden at the moment is coming from the azaleas. We've one particular bed at the back that's full of them. They're at different stages, with the red and yellow flowers being the most advanced.  The pinks and purples are still in bud stage. Such powerful colours. Azaleas are actually quite tricky to photograph. You have to be careful to set the camera properly, otherwise the images are over saturated and you can lose a fair bit of detail.

Red poppies are particularly difficult to capture, at least for me. The colour has such a sheen to it and almost vibrates. I'm determined to crack it this year. Have more time to spend on flower photography, which until now has been consigned to an occasional macro shot. But I've some new lenses to try so there's added incentive.

One thing that was a real delight to see today, was the first flowerhead on our Wisteria.
We planted it a couple of years ago. But apart from looking healthy and
gaining some foliage, that was about it. This year it's obviously developed well enough or is established well enough to produce some lovely pale purple flowers. Lots of leaves as well. It's growing up against the side wall of our house, and has plenty of uninterrupted space to fill.  Eventually it will look quite dramatic and no doubt, as Wisterias tend to be, very beautiful.

What a sound and what a day.

Chinon view from campsite

Roitelet Huppé and a few others, were in full throttle yesterday morning, charming us with their musicality as well as their technical dexterity. Individually they were superb vocalists and collectively, offered a sound that was as complex as Tallis's Spem in Alium. Not that Spem in Alium is performed that often, whereas our singers go through their paces every day.

We were out yesterday morning for a walk in Chinon, on the other side of the river, starting near the campsite. It was a beautiful day. There were fourteen of us from one of our Anglo/French groups, Among them was a wild flower (and mushroom) expert and also a bird song expert, who was 'leading' the walk, as essentially it was about birds along the Vienne. We went because we don't know much on the subject. But the walk also took us  along a trail we'd never done before so offered different views of Chinon.

There were a couple of places, where at least a dozen birds were gathered in one spot, all singing their hearts out. With our expert in tow, we were able to tune into each of their songs, so that little by little as we went along, could pick out the individual birds from within the chorus. Just fabulous.

For the first time ever, I heard a nightingale/Rossignol philomèle - in fact two. We saw a bird called a Serin ciri, which stays in France, never venturing across the channel. It looks like a small canary. There were several Roitelet Huppé/Goldcrests. Blackbirds/Merle noir. Dunnocks or Hedge Sparrows/ Accenteur mouchet. Chiffchaffs/Pouillot véloce. We were walking for about 2hrs, but it just flew by. Oops sorry about that! Had camera so took photos from time to time. We then headed back towards Chinon for lunch in a little café by the river. An added bonus was being shown all the wild salad and edible salad leaves, which you could pick along the road side. Although we seem to have a few in the garden. We've often spoken about growing a few lettuces. Now it seems we don't have to.

Lunch was simple and delicious with the La Forteresse (as Chinon castle is called), the river and traditional river boats providing an idyllic setting. After that we drove home- around 3.30pm. As we pulled into the drive our neighbour Isabelle rushed out - would we go round for a coffee. So we dumped our gear, changed out of walking boots and went round for a coffee with Isabelle & Jean-Phi, Annabelle & Christophe and their children from our road. Then another neighbour, Julien, came in with his little girl, Lily. The children all know each other so happily played together -  all four of them.

By the time we went home next door it was about 5pm. We had three private view invitations yesterday as well, but realised going to all of them was not practical. Our priority is to support our local gallery - Gallerie Cravantaise owned and run by Danielle Perrot. Lovely lady. So we changed again and around 6.15 walked down the road towards the gallery which from us is a quick fifteen minute stroll. Gorgeous evening for a p.v./ vernissage. Quite a few people there. Grégory Cortecero was the artist on view, who is part of a International Chinese Calligraphy and Ink Painting Association. Completely different style and some of it was particularly lovely. Thoroughly enjoyable. We met a Dutch/French couple who live in Cravant. Seen them twice before, so had a good chat with them. And for the first time we met wine producer Joel Bournigault and his wife and daughter. We've often seen him out working and walking. He's a distinctive figure - very very tall, and is neighbour to our friends Patrick and Nadia Lambert who are one of our favourite Cravant wine producers. Got back around 8.30pm.

A grand day out as Wallace and Gromit would say.

Food for thought

We've met an American couple, Moira and Chris who are renovating a house in a village called Seuilly. It's the other side of Chinon to us. They're in France for a year, to experience the life and get work done on their house. But with three teenagers, the plan for the immediate future seems to be to come to France three times a year. Great experience.  We have a number of friends over in Seuilly now - French, English and German. It seems to be a pretty multi-cultural environment and several of them including Moira (Chris is busy working) come to one of our Anglo-French groups.

Moira is vegetarian - not easy in France, certainly not where we are. We have various friends in the UK who are vegetarian, so for some time, at least fifteen years, we've been trying out recipes and really enjoy the food. Moira and I decided to prepare a vegetarian lunch for our Anglo-French group today. There's always a picnic lunch (everyone brings their own) after the conversations on Monday and Thursday. But every now and again, like today, someone likes to do something different. Stupidly we both forgot to bring cameras, so there's not a single pic for the blog. How daft is that.

Anyway for E7 per head (there were fifteen people) and including wine and bread, the menu was as follows:

Veloute de Cauliflower
*
Braised cabbage with tofu; Vegetarian Moussaka with a selection of salads:
Rice Salad, Beetroot Tzatziki, Belarusse Carrot Salad, individual salad nicoise
Wine: Vieille Vigne 2011: Domaine Hérault - Panzoult (next village to Cravant), which is
a fantastic wine.
*
Apple cake with a honey yoghurt dip and fresh fruit

Seemed to go down very well. Both pleased with the combined effort, although we appreciate
that no one was converted to vegetarianism. Not sure I would want to be a full-timer. But we certainly eat vegetarian meals once or twice a week, and view them as part of a balanced diet. And with all the fantastic fresh vegetables and fruit available from Chinon market and other local producers, it's just brilliant fun.

Next time I'll remember the camera.

Sticky origami . . .

Or rather the potential for it was realised when we drove over to Crissay -sur-Manse. Regarded as one of the most beautiful villages in France, it just oozes charm. We've often driven through the narrow and picturesque streets on our way to somewhere else. But never stopped. This time we did at the suggestion of friends of ours in Cravant, who told us about a honey producer and family who lives and works there. Crissay is only about a fifteen minute drive from Cravant, but the landscape is very different, much flatter, wider and more open. The colours are more yellow and gold as there's crop farming over there. 

Crissay has some history. The streets are lined with houses from the 15th and 16th century  which are made out of tufa stone. The inspiring ruins are now all that remain of the fortified castle, and the 16th century church contains the tomb of the wife of the French critique and poet Joachim du Bellay - a master of 16th century poetic forms. He was a member of The Pléiade, a group of French Renaissance poets.

The purpose of our visit was obviously less cultural and more edible.  Alexandra Carré-Laubigeau is the Apicultrice. I think she's third generation. Their little shop is part of their house. The house sits side on to the road. Only the door to the shop is accessible from the road, so visitors can't see or intrude into the rest of the family home. The family uses another door or the gated driveway to get in. It's a practical arrangement. The link is to their website

Honey tasting is no different from wine tasting, in as much as  you need to start with the right one and work your way through the range. There is a point to it. There were five honeys. Absolutely delicious from the first, the palest through the increasingly golden coloured, to a blend with hazelnuts. We also tasted the honey and lemon marmalade, which is more like a French conserve. Quite beautiful. We bought that and two of the honeys.  There were other products such as honey cakes, hand cream and oils. So interesting and all neatly arranged in this lovely front parlour.

It was the husband who met us. Guess in his 30s and who gave us a brief run down of the family history. His wife Alexandra has taken over from her father in law, who decided to retire. But there is someone else in the family who's developed a different type of skill. Alexandra's mother in law enjoys origami. The sales cash box was positioned in one corner and hanging overhead were about twenty different flapping birds, in all sorts of colours and patterned papers. They're not shown on the website. Mike being an origami groupie was delighted, and of course it gave us something else to chat about. So we were there for a while. A lovely visit.  

As for paper and honey - not easy companions. Can imagine some very sticky situations.