Fascinating day planned, with films from Singapore, India, China and South Korea and brunch at Café Français. It all kicked off at 11am with Ilo Ilo directed by Anthony Chen - his debut work, which was released this year at Cannes as part of the Directors Fortnight and came away with the Camera d'Or award - the first time a film from Singapore has won anything at the Cannes Film Festival - an amazing achievement and an absolute gem. Pitch perfect performances from everyone. The film rolls out effortlessly and is just wonderful to watch - a poignant story about a Singaporean family who employ a maid from the Philippines amid the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
A general stampede then round to Café Français. A beautiful Chinese buffet. Absolutely gorgeous, with wines as usual generously supplied by local producers. Café Français is our local live gig venue. It's just great. Small but perfectly formed. So a bit of a scrum inside but it worked superbly well, everyone sharing tables and chatting together often for the first time.
Back into the cinema for The Lunchbox - an Indian film directed by Ritesh Batra. Just superb. A simple concept, but with a complexity of outcomes, class conflicts and the loneliness that comes from an unhappy marriage, as well as after the loss of a partner. All these threads are linked to a lunchbox service. Bombay/Mumbai - thousands of lunchboxes (dabbas ) either prepared by wives at home or ordered from an eaterie somewhere in the city are delivered to workers at their offices. The charm of the film also came from the imagery - the bustling life and sound of Mumbai. The lunchboxes are collected by men on bicycles, either from the home or the eaterie. Each man collects at least thirty boxes (see photo left) which are a series of circular metal containers, staked on top of each other and held in place by what is effectively a metal strap, inside an individual covering and marked up with its destination. The boxes are taken to the station, loaded on to large metal containers, the deliverers go as well. Everyone and thing is put on to a train, then offloaded and taken to their various destinations. The film develops the story around what happens when a lunchbox is delivered to the wrong person. It's a bit like 84 Charing Cross road, except this time the link is food rather than books. The young married woman cooking the lunchbox contents and the man it is mistakenly delivered to, who is on the point of retiring, start writing to each other. A very gentle film, but superbly done.
A Touch of Sin - a Chinese crime drama directed by Jia Zhangke - had some terrific performances. It was an indictment of contemporary Chinese society - brutal, ruthlessly corrupt, increasingly violent - and allegedly based on true events from the recent past. Grim and very very graphic. The idea was an interesting one. Four different stories, of four different individuals, from different social backgrounds and regions in modern-day China. We were left wondering how it ever got passed the government censors. Somehow it did and was also nominated for the Palm D'or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. By the end of it, we'd had enough films for the day, so decided to skip the fourth one.
The fourth film The Host from South Korea, directed by Bong Joon-ho was a blockbluster plot mixed with political commentary, with some reference by all accounts of the American presence in Korea. Set in Seoul, American military types are seen dumping chemicals in the river at the beginning of the film, then some years later a monster arrives out of the river and attacks the local community. A huge success in S.K. it also won a series of top Asian film awards. A really interesting day of programming and like all the best festivals, gave us a chance to see stuff, liked or not, which would otherwise be unavailable.
The Seven Samurai - this time the long version, which at three hours thirty is a reasonable description - including an interval. It was followed by a discussion led by Charles Tesson, a French cinema specialist involved with the Cannes Film Festival. The idea had been to go the two films showing yesterday, but in the end the brain had had enough, so decided not to stay. Instead we spent time thinking and chatting about this fifty-nine year old wonder, that we'd once again been totally absorbed by. We do have it on DVD - the short version obviously - but hadn't watched it for some time.
The film we missed Tel Père, Tel Fils (Like Father Like Son), is a Japanese film - by all accounts superb - about a very successful architect, his wife and their six year old son Keita. They discover that after the birth, their baby was somehow swapped with another and that Keita isn't really theirs. The other couple involved live in vastly different circumstances - a very poor suburb - with three children, including six year old Ryusei. The couples meet, get to know each other and try to find a way to repare the situation. It's a film about family life in Japan, blood ties but also where love lies. We'll see if it's available on DVD.
As for The Seven Samurai - we've seen it at the most three or four times and always on TV - not the best place really, but usually the only option. Yesterday we saw it on the big screen for the first time. Fabulous. We were reminded just what a clever decision someone made to develop the idea as a western, and how much the success of The Magnificent Seven/Les Sept Mercenaires owes to director Akira Kurosawa. It's obviously not an exact copy, but it contains many ideas that appear in the original version. I love them both.
There was lots to discuss afterward. However not being overly familiar with the names of the Japanese characters, the conversation was simplified by calling them by their American counterparts. Outrageous behaviour may be, but it was practical. Mind you not all the characters are the same. For example, in The Seven Samurai, 'Kikuchiyo' played by Toshiro Mifune combines many of the traits found in 'Chico'/Horst Buckholz and 'Bernardo'/Charles Bronson. But he also brings a lot of Kabuki into the role, so it's very big character in sound as well as action. 'Kyuzo' played by Seiji Miyaguchi provides a blue print for James Coburn's Britt. Superb performances from both. Physically they look very similar, they each achieve the inner quiet that the character demands and move with ruthless elegance. 'Kanbe Shimada' (Chris), is played to perfection by Takashi Simura. A truly fabulous film actor. He was one of Kurosawa's favourite actors to work with as was Toshiro Mifune. They appeared in a lot of his films.
There's so much to admire in this film - direction and camera work, script, settings, lighting, all the performances. Ultimately, The Seven Samurai says plenty about our society and world, albeit nearly 6 decades on. The medium on this occasion is truly the message.
The Land of Hope is a fictional drama about the struggle to survive, after an earthquake causes the reactor at the nearby nuclear power plant to explode. Our own nuclear power station at Avoine is only about 19k away, so the film held some resonances for local audiences.
The Ono family consisting of two elderly parents (the mother has dementia), son and daughter-in-law, who are at the heart of the story, own, run and live on a small farm, primarily dairy, with a herd of about sixty cows. Some vegetables are also grown. The explosion presents a terrible dilemma for the parents, who remembering a earlier disaster, have to decide whether or not to stay and risk radiation poisoning or leave the family home and garden that several generations have spent building.
Whilst the story in the film is fictional, the family memories and the subsequent response to the situation as it develops is based on real events at Fukushima in 2011. The father Yasuhiko forces his son to leave home with his wife, for their own safety. leaving the father and his wife Chieko in total isolation, as all the other neighbours have by now been evacuated. The Land of Hope was
at times deeply moving, mainly because of the fabulous performances by
Naoko Otani and Isai Natsuyagi as the elderly parents. They just broke your heart with their devotion and love for each other and their determination to stay in the family home.
A double bill brought us into contact with a perspective on contemporary city life in China, and a parallel lifestyle which exists still, but is a seemingly archaic world in the mountains of Yunnan. Seemingly, because Yunnan is regarded as the most biologically as well as culturally diverse region in Chinon. Juxtaposition can be an interesting and useful tool. Both had French subtitles.
The first presentation, Mystery, is a 2013 film highlighting the burgeoning comfort of the young middle-classes against a seedier backdrop of city life, hidden behind a facade of acceptability. A class-ridden and complex drama, the director Lou Ye combines flashback with actual time to explore not only the tension between traditional mores and contemporary attitudes, but the lengths an individual is prepared to go to, to achieve self-gratification and avoid being caught in the process, regardless of the cost to others. Issues that are more often discussed in terms of 'western decadence', whereas in reality, they have as much to do with Peking and Moscow, as Washington and London. The film certainly lived up to its name. The story went off in all sorts of directions and because if the clever use of time, kept you wondering till the end.
After a short break we were back to see Les Trois Soeurs du Yunnan. Another Chinese film, directed by Wang Bing - love this name. It's a fly-on-the-wall documentary, which follows the daily life of three sisters aged four, six and ten. Their mother has abandoned them, their father works away in the city to try to earn enough money, only returning occasionally. They are 'looked' after by others in the village, referred to as aunts and uncles, although that is a term of respect rather than the description of family connection.The only dialogue is what occurs naturally among the people in the village. The conditions are tough and very very basic. At two hours thirty it was a long introduction to a way of life, that by all accounts even the Chinese aren't aware still exists. It wasn't comfortable viewing and life for the children is already mapped out as the generations before them. The future is to survive. The children sleep and work in the same clothes. Their shared bed is on damp straw with unwashed covers. They are lice ridden. Washing, means hands and feet which are mud covered, because shoes and boots are worn out and leak. A sharp cultural shock and a life-style that bears no relation to anything we know or have experienced. Yet amid the projected squalor you'll find mobiles and a televison. At a certain level, technology knows no bounds, but there remains an overwhelming sense of loneliness.
L'Image Manquante - The Missing Picture is a remarkable piece of work, focussing on the aftermath of the genocidal rule in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge, 1975 - 1979. It won a top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.The director and screenwriter Rithy Panh, was born in the capital Phnom Penh in 1964. His family were expelled from the city and held in a labour camp in a remote and rural part of the country. One by one Panh's father, mother, sisters and nephews died from overwork, exhaustion and starvation. He himself escaped to Thailand in 1979 and for a while was held in a refugee camp, before finally arriving in Paris. Initially training as a carpenter, he was given a video camera to try at a party. He was hooked and film became his passion, in particular the documentary, for which he is internationally renowned.
Panh was able to approach The Missing Picture from an authoritative standpoint, driven by his search for a specific image taken by the Khmer Rouge. Here's his synopsis of the film:
"For many years, I have been looking for the missing picture: a
photograph taken between 1975 and 1979 by the Khmer Rouge when they
ruled over Cambodia...On its own, of course, an image cannot prove mass
murder, but it gives us cause for thought, prompts us to meditate, to
record History. I searched for it vainly in the archives, in old papers,
in the country villages of Cambodia. Today I know: this image must be
missing. I was not really looking for it; would it not be obscene and
insignificant? So I created it. What I give you today is neither the
picture nor the search for a unique image, but the picture of a quest:
the quest that cinema allows".
How to film such a story and convey the cruelty and the grotesqueness of everything that happened and still hold on to your audience? The technique Panh adopted was to move the camera while everything else remained static. The only sound was his calm and gentle voice explaining the story with the occasional sound effect of rain. Hundreds of small clay figures were carefully crafted and painted. Each was completely different. Not just boy and girl, man and woman, but each figure showed an emotion through body language, movement and facial expression, in order to capture a particular moment, even death. The Cambodian landscape was also constructed in this way, with forests and fields, labour camps, stone quarry pits, all built to scale. It's a similar technique use in the Wallace and Gromit films. A labour intensive and time consuming process. We saw images of Panh's team at work as the credits rolled. They were all in one very large space, combining workshop and filming area. There was a table on top of which was a large box- the set - with the essential filming equipment all around. The hand-made figures were placed, repositioned, removed to create different images, while the camera panned across the scene. From time to time real film from the regime years was interspersed with Panh's story. An extensive re-education programme, particularly for the hierarchical/academic and culturally active communities was put into place, with devastating results. Panh's family were part of this.
We have a Cambodian family within one of our Anglo-French groups. The parents, as they are now, were as very young children caught up in the Khmer Rouge period, escaping into the forests with their families and managing somehow to survive and ultimately to leave the country as refugees before finally arriving in France. The things that happened and the things they saw, left them unable to speak for some years. Now of course things are different for them, but the memories of that experience will never go away.
That's the title of this year's Chinon Film Festival. Starts tomorrow and runs every day up to and including Monday 30 September. They are for the most part art house films, the most famous being The Seven Samurai which until now we've only ever seen on a DVD, at home. Really looking forward to it. Can't believe it's nearly sixty years old - 1954. The John Sturgess western-style remake, The Magnificent Seven which I also love is itself fifty three years old. They are at least for me, two classic films that remain timeless and which I know by heart - frame by frame.
The music for T.M.S. was composed by I think, one of the best ever - Elmer Bernstein. No relation to Leonard Bernstein. His other popular works include To Kill A Mockingbird, Ghostbusters and The Great Escape. An extraordinary individual who performed professionally as a dancer and an actor, including playing the role of Caliban in The Tempest on Broadway. Elmer Bernstein was also a painter and as if that wasn't enough, was awarded a scholarship to Juillard for the piano. Talk about multi-talented. While at Juillard he was taken to meet Aaron Copeland for whom he played some of his improvisations. One of my all time important and favourite musical moments was at the Royal Albert Hall with the National Youth Orchestra playing Billy the Kid and being conducted by the composer - Aaron Copeland. Can't remember what year, but I remember the concert very clearly. Stunning. Both men could interpret vast landscapes as well as intimate moments, as in the music here - the theme tune for To Kill A Mockingbird, conducted by Elmer Bernstein and played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
As for Extreme Orient, it's into the deep-end to watch films from Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, France/Combodia and China. All will be sub-titled in French. Most have been released this year. There is one that was made in 1996, but the oldest film to be shown comes from Japan and was made in 1936 - Le Fils Unique. An interesting time for a film to be made, particularly one that focusses on the family and the tensions between tradition and modernity.
There's a key-note speaker from the Cannes Film Festival - a critic and a cinema historian - a slightly older and possibly a more academic version of our own Mark Kermode. We'll see. Fontevraud are partnering the film festival this year and each of the main features is preceeded by an animation, which is something Fontevraud began to specialise in a few year ago.
So an exciting week ahead.
Here's a first. The Venezuelan government has seized a toilet paper (t.p.) making factory. An official spokesperson announced that due to 'troublesome shortages', '. . .the temporary occupation of Manpa (Manufactora de Papel) is aimed at
verifying that toilet paper industry production, marketing and
distribution" are all in line with state policies'. Does the UK have such a thing? Something which, perhaps like our constitution, has never been entirely committed to . . . paper.
How to translate Venezuela's latest statement? Is there meaningful shorthand at work e.g. troublesome = plumbing problems? I've never realised toilet paper needed a state policy. And what is it? Two sheets per person perhaps, multiplied by average/stipulated no of visits and for a certain no of days? Why the shortage? There's only one really obvious use for t.p. And it's certainly not origami. Which is why in this house - the official residence of the origami chef - we are not t.p. hoarders. But it raises some interesting questions. What are the mathematics and commercial implications to achieving the most effective roll? If there aren't, should there be 'His and Hers'
sizes, t.p. for singles, en couple? The most important thing about rolls of t.p. is that they are as just as disappointing as those wine boxes. Which is shorthand for - they never last as long as you think they should.
I did catch myself saying 'Well I never' when I was out in the garden yesterday, carefully cutting the roses back. There was a hedgehog which had got itself jammed in at the base of one of the plants. It wasn't very well hidden and to begin with I thought it was injured. I had heavy gardening gloves on so very gently touched it. Clearly alive but only the slightest movement. I did as much as I could around it, but then needed to move him or her.
Apparently it is easy to sex a hedgehog. However they need to be co-operative and you need to know what to look for. Mine wasn't and I didn't. According to Hedgehog World, a simple glance at the underbelly of a hedgehog will reveal all. The link provides full details. Anyway I took him/her across to a more sheltered part of the garden, then carried on with what I'd been doing. I went back later on to check but the hedgehog had wandered off. So there was nothing wrong with it. Such a sweet creature.
For some reason the idea of recipes for hedgehogs popped into my head. Apparently the 'domestic goddess' of prehistoric times would be adept at roast hedgehog, with barley bread on the side and a little bit of nettle pudding for dessert. The link also has the details for a rather unpleasant sounding recipe called 'Road Kill Carbonara' (serves four). Would I eat this. If there was absolutely no other option. I once made the mistake of roasting a chicken using a recipe called Chicken Stanley - I couldn't eat. Far too personal. I have eaten roast porcupine (quill-free) in South Africa. From what I can remember, the taste was slightly gamey. Visual similarities there may be, but otherwise porcupines and hedgehogs aren't in any way related, although it would be rather fun if they were. Although I am not a Telegraph fan, it has at least listed some proper recipes for the wonderful hedgehog. Unlike Hedgehog crisps. What heartless git came up with that notion.
Been in bed for a good chunk of the week with a streaming cold, hacking cough and no voice. Peace reigns for Mike. The wheezing and rasping sounding voice suggest I've been on 80 a day for years. Went into the market on Thursday and of course saw lots of people we know. Very funny how one second they're on the verge of giving me the usual 2 - 4 kisses (depending on who it is) and then suddenly on hearing I have 'something', have leapt back by about 4 feet. Not being a pill fan I've trying various natural remedies and the best one for the throat is gargling with warm salt water, followed up immediately by a chaser of thyme infused very warm water with honey and lemon. It's an amazing mix and sorted my throat out fast. It had been quite painful. Now it's just the cold to get rid of. Hopefully Mike can avoid most of it.
Went to the supermarket with Mike today. Parked the car. Could hear a cat/kitten miaowing like mad. Then noticed a large group of people huddled round another car parked a few spaces up with the bonnet raised, from where the cat sound was coming. How does a cat get into a car engine? Presumably it would eventually get out the way it got in - from underneath? But forty five minutes later when we left, nothing seemed to have changed.
The supermarket this time was SuperU at Ile de Bouchard. The town is equal distance from us as is Chinon, except in the opposite direction. We've never really got attached to it in the same way. There's a lot over there, including certain things we have to go for - the dechetterie being one. But as of today, we've decided to go shopping there for some items, more regularly. We're both fans of markets and local produce and have been going into Chinon religiously every Thursday - we'll still be going. But the prices in the market, particularly for fresh fish, are getting silly. It's locally supplied in the supermarket, as we'd hope and have come to expect. Neighbours have said that this SuperU is particularly good quality and pricing. Having seen it today - you can't argue with them. Anyway will give it a try.
It's an awkward one. Generally speaking, supermarket policy in the UK - not all I know - towards producers has been awful, and over the years we've tried to avoid them, preferring to buy from a farm shop, whenever possible. Here where we are, there is a stronger supermarket policy to supplying local produce, as well as the wider world stuff. But we're also lucky to be surrounded by producers, so contact with them directly is much easier.
There is also a wholesale local produce outlet just outside Chinon, which we've been talking about going to for ages. Haven't even looked inside as yet. But next week - with our own more 'adventurous' policy in place - we're taking a look. Some interesting comparisons no doubt.
Once CDs arrived, the general belief was that vinyl was finished. There were still specialist record shops in London that stocked the black stuff- les galettes noires - particularly jazz records. I grew up with vinyl: singles, EPS and LPS, Extended plays, listening and dancing to them across a few decades. It was still possible to hear the music, amid all the scratching and hissing. The time came to move from London and the vinyl got jettisoned. In any case by then, we had no means to play them. We'd got rid of the deck and needles were increasingly difficult to come by and were well over £50 a shot.
Back in the late sixties I worked in a record shop in Eastbourne. The manager knew everything there was about classical music, equally he needed someone like me who knew their way round the contemporary music scene. We learnt a lot from each other. Both of us also knew the stock inside out, every single record and where it was in the store, whatever the music. It was old fashioned in that you could request a record, go into a booth (there were four) and listen to it. If we had a quiet moment I'd put something current on for Brian my boss to listen to - usually he hated it - he do the same for me. It's where I learnt about Carmina Burana, Mozart's Requiem and Tosca and every single record produced by Johnny Mathis, as we had a passionate J.M. fan of his living nearby who was in every week, checking the lists.
Our record store quickly became the place to go. We could get you any record from anywhere. We were even outstripping Boots music department in sales at one stage!! Not bad for a small independent. We built an American Import side as well - which became one of my responsibilities. All of course in vinyl.
So it was a surprise to read in a French newspaper the other day, about how sales of vinyl in France have tripled in the last four years, and are now well into six figures, out-performing sales in the USA. Inveterate fans and DJs have been keeping the whole thing going. To the extent that young groups who sell their music directly on the web seem now to be going for a combination of download and vinyl.
Not a glimpse of vinyl though at the music festival in Chinon over the last weekend. Voyages en Guitare is an annual event which runs over both Saturday and Sunday, throughout the day and well into the evening. Music in the day can be found all over the place and is mostly free, although if someone's playing in a café or restaurant, then it's the price of a drink and something to eat.
Both evenings wound up with gigs in Sainte Même, a deconsecrated church, that regularly hosts music events which we regularly support. And it was standing room only both nights. The Saturday gig was just stunning - the Angelo Debarre Quartet . He is regarded as one of the best Manouche players in France and is always surrounded by fabulous musicians. All four of them took your breathe away: Angelo Debarre/guitar, accompanied by an outstanding violinist - Marius Apostol, Tchavolo Hassan/rythmn guitar and Antonion Licusati on double bass. The link is to their gig at Montreal. Just pure magic. Standing ovation. Sunday night - HO HO - The Popes! Led by Shane MacGowan formely of The Pogues. A blend of Rock and Irish folk, sometimes called the Paddy Beat. The place was jumping. Being a Sunday the start time was much earlier - 6pm. Another standing ovation. The Popes are a tough touring band, so the whole style and presentation was really in your face showmanship, which quickly got everyone tanked up. Whereas Saturday night, these extraordinary musicians, who in every way are quite brilliant, were totally laid back and by comparison absolutely motionless. The Popes were dashing about the stage, jumping off the stage. Totally mad but equally memorable.
www.hilaryshearin5.wix.com/imageshms
Well at last! I'm pleased to be able to say my website is up and running. Logo supplied courtesy of Mr. Mike Shearing - thanks so much M. Finished the site very late last night. Imageshms - not the original name I was going to use, but that wasn't available. This one was. My first attempt, which I can honestly say I have done myself - part of the challenge. I've really enjoyed every moment of it. Kept it simple, and am pleased with the way it looks. All the links work. Although for some reason the scape button itself is a bit slow. There's an introduction on the button as well as a drop down panel. I'm not sure if there's a way to speed it up. Will check it out.
I've wanted to build a website for a while. Actually began last year, using the iweb on my MacBook. But with all the travelling around we were doing, I just had to leave it, and in the end abandoned that version, having discovered that the Apple merge with iCloud didn't support the web software. Wasn't a waste of time. I'd learnt a lot and having had a look around, found Wix and was able to start again, with clearer ideas, as well as the determination to finish.
This
blog isn't linked to the website, it's a completely separate affair, and I wanted to keep it like that -
although I have included the blog address on the footer. I've had a grand sort out of photos, which is useful in itself. I now know what I do best as well as the type of photos I'm short on. People shots being one. I don't like having my own photo taken is behind it all, so feel I can't take shots of others. At the moment those images come mostly from special festivals in and around Chinon. But I am reformed!! So watch out peeps, next time I see you!! More black and white too. Just started up again with those shots. There are ideas for additional pages. I've been developing specific photo projects, the first of which will start very soon. The main aim though was to get the website set up and working, which has now happened. So I'm pleased.
The pic here is of Mike's latest origami wonder. It was a neighbour's birthday last week, so he made this flower ball for her. Sixty pieces of paper, individually folded and then stuck together. It was fabulous and went down a storm.
We discovered that this year was the tenth anniversary of Vignes Vins et Randos. There was a new poster, which is brilliant. The minor detail of the anniversary, we picked up later. Ten years is a real achievement. We first found out about the event in 2011 when the walk was around Cravant, with interesting variations and tastings for the second year. Each village hosts the walk for two consecutive years. This time it was Chinon's turn. We went with near neighbours who know Chinon 'like the back of their hand'. But even so, the walk we took introduced them to trails they've never seen before. That's why although the idea is really to attract outside visitors to your town/village there's always something new for locals to discover as well. Although when it comes to wine, our neighbours who have both been involved with the industry, know every wine producer as well as which parcelles of vines belong to which one. So as we walked along, they pointed out Allier grapes and Baudry-Dutour, Philippe Pion amongst others. For us this was fascinating. We know that producers have grapes all over the place but exactly where is something else. Yesterday we got to understand a little more.
The logistics behind the walks is quite something. Every individual for their 4€ (in advance/ 5€ on the day) receives a little back pack with a wine glass and neck sling, map, apple, pencils and a card to make wine notes. There's a guide with each individual group of walkers. Chinon had five groups on Sunday morning when we went. So five guides and also five wine producers, who stopped along the trail to explain more about the vines. Which by the way are now only two weeks behind. The spell of good weather has helped the grapes to catch up. Yeh!!!
Back to the logistics. . . lots of free parking was available and very near to, if not next door to the starting and finishing point. Yesterday we tasted seven wines with 'eats'. On returning to base, we were each given a magnificent cep or vine to take away. You also had the choice to stay for a set lunch which we did, as tents, tables and cooking team were set up there. It's all very well organised.
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| At Couly |
Our group who started walking at 8.30am had about thirty five people in it. The wine producer was M. Herault from Panzoult and his wife was there as well. Really sweet people. We set off down a track and then through vines to arrive at the Couly chai. A big red circular building, that you can see for miles, which we know well and visit fairly often. It also hosts terrific exhibitions. If you're driving to or from Chinon you can't miss it. We see it every time we go to Leclerc as the chai is directly opposite. Yesterday however, on foot, we approached it from an entirely different direction and to begin with I wasn't sure where we were. Must admit it was a bit strange tasting wine early in the morning. So a sip was really enough of very nice white and rosé. I'm not really a breakfast wine girl. Delicious though, as always with Couly. Then we headed off through the vines again stopping for a second tasting, somewhere North East of Chinon.
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| Les Belle de Mai |
This time were amongst the vines, near a hamlet called Grand Bouqueteau. Members of the large wine producing family - Sourdais (there are at least four separate wine producers in Chinon from this one family) were there ready and waiting with a range of red wines, along with some light entertainment by Les Belles de Mai. They were great fun, sang a lovely selection of French chansons, which of course everyone knew, so joined in. We were able to hum along pretty quickly and were reminded that this type of music and song is deeply embedded in French culture. French chanson features in programming pretty regularly.
We then headed more to the South East of Chinon. There seemed something familiar about the surroundings. Then realisation - the far side of the valley that we were all looking at and the little road running along, was in fact the back road that Mike and I always take if we're heading over in the Fontevraud direction. We were en route to Domaine Delalay at this point, which took us past what we think is an abandoned property. At least that's what we were told. At Domaine Delalay we tasted their wines and those of Noiré - Jean-Max is the President of the wine producers association in Chinon. Delalay we have visited once before - don't know much about the family. But it's one of those situations where the father who has literally built the estate, including carving the cave out of the tuffaut by hand, still wants to be the patron. It's what keeps him going. Whereas the moment arrived a few years ago, when his son needed to take over to move it on. This is how it was explained to us. In other domaines,
the transfer has happened involving either a son or a daughter, with
the knowledge of the father still sought after and appreciated. So a delicate subject.
The final tasting destination was at the site of the Chinon Astronomy group. Higher up and slightly westward now towards Chinon, they have a fully equipment observatory in place. It's very compact, but looked the biz. A busy weekend for them. The previous afternoon they'd been at the Forum des Associations as well as at the same time, greeting afternoon randonneurs, and they were open again for all us Sunday morning walkers. Various telescopes were out on display. It was a good visit with some good wines from Marie-Pierre Raffault but for us, particularly Thierry Landry. His wines we know well. Delicious.
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| Final leg |
After that we headed back to base and arrived bang on time. Midday. All the groups had a staggered set-off, about a ten minute break between each. So although the pace is nice and relaxed you have to keep moving along to avoid a bottle neck. Two groups coinciding at any one of the stop-offs wouldn't have worked. There was also for the first time a rider and horse trail - didn't meet any en route, but the walk back to base took us by their 'parking' area. There were about a dozen horse boxes. A ride through the vines was a lovely idea. Actually saw a lone rider late Saturday afternoon on our way home from Chinon. We were driving back on the lower road which we sometimes take as it's a really nice drive and he crossed over and just gently disappeared off into the vines. Looked an idyllic way to travel.
So as always a really good time. May be next year we can encourage a few more neighbours to go along. It's a thoroughly enjoyable thing to do. An 8k walk. Not too arduous even for anyone who is less than fit. We'll certainly be going. It will be interesting to see where the 2014 walk takes us.
Some wag had inscribed this on a wall in Chinon. We came across it on our way to L'Espace Rabelais where the annual Le Forum des Associations was taking place. Made us laugh. Which is more than I can say about the Jehovah Witness ladies who were hanging outside our drive when we got back. I remember seeing them in our road before. At the time the car still had English number plates. They were slightly confused today, by the same car having French number plates, but it didn't stop them chatting us up, with a bible reading in very dodgy English. If there any J.H. supporters looking at this blog, very sorry but I really don't like being approached, uninvited in my own driveway, by religious types intent on signing me up. The two women today were, as JH supporters always are, very polite. This diminutive Freedom of belief supporter was equally polite in return. But as Mike said afterwards, they soon realised I wasn't to be messed with. And I did it all in French as well. So felt a degree of satisfaction. Same as yesterday. I bought a copy of Le Monde and discovered a very interesting article about the Pompidou Centre, which we'll be visiting in October. I read and understood every word without a problem. Genuine improvement. Open that bottle of wine!!
The Forum des Associations is a September fixture, which attracts all sorts of local organisations. Some are official offering educational support for different age groups, as well special needs. There are also specialised interest groups such as astronomy, folk dancing, model aeroplanes, country and western dancing, crafts, history groups. There's always an interesting selection, all of which are set-up in the same large space in the centre of the building. So there's no problem finding everyone and getting round. There's also a stage, so at scheduled times different groups would give a presentation or would be interviewed. Hope they had a good turn-out. Chinon seemed quiet today.
That was possibly due to it being the Vignes, Vins and Randos weekend. A regional event, where villages and towns receive visitors for a walk usually around 3 hours. On the way there are wine tastings and food tastings. The last two years the local event was in Cravant. For the next two years it is in Chinon. Walks were available this afternoon or early tomorrow morning. We've opted for the early session at 8.30am and are going with some neighbours. Looking forward to it. Camera is set to go, so more later with hopefully a few decent pics.
Before we saw the film last night, I'd thought of doing a spoof blog. I was going to write about the exciting new discovery of an as yet unknown Hitchcock film, that had been found in a metal box in someone's attic, during a clear-out. The Bees, the spoof was to suggest, was the follow-up to the very successful suspense/horror, The Birds. But made several years later in the mid - seventies after Hitchcock had in theory retired.
Des Abeilles et Des Hommes deserves better. This was a beautifully produced and passionate film about the importance of bees to the environment and our food chain, and the affects mankind has been having on the bee's life cycle. The story filmed bee-keepers in Switzerland, China, Australia and America. In the last few years there have been regular reports in the press and campaigns about the demise of bees and what might be causing it. The film didn't attempt to dramatise the situation. However the understanding of bees and the alternative ways of managing them, from the large-scale commercial to the smaller independents, helped emphasize the wider concerns about biodiversity, and the need to protect and respect the natural world.
A lot of us eat honey. Usually we'll buy it from a supermarket. Contact with bees and beekeepers is often rare. Funnily enough in our home town Bradford on Avon, there are local beekeepers whose honey we used to buy at the W.I's fortnightly market, in the Riverside Inn. There was also (supermarket bought) a Rumanian honey, which gave my homemade bread a delicious flavour. Here in France, we are lucky to have someone in Crissay (mentioned in previous blogs) who, with the help of a few bees, produces the most delicious honey. Alexandra Carré-Laubigeau, and husband Xavier were both at the film last night.
What was so interesting were the different personalities and attitudes of the bee-keepers, as well as the bees. Regardless of the scale of operation, the business of honey (like wine) had, as was shown in the film, been developed over several generations by successive family members. But now, as one big American honey producer stated, his grand-father simply wouldn't understand or recognise the way he, the grandson, operated the business. There's a lot of money at stake and needs must, in order to keep earning it.
We've all seen pictures of farm animals being moved around and across continents. But moving bees! The film showed different methods, from smaller packets of bees that were individually placed in large 'Swan Vesta' type match boxes with wire meesh air holes, put into in a sort of jiffy bag and then posted to wherever. There were bees in bigger boxes, that were wheeled to the post office in a supermarket trolley, registered, then put on a conveyor belt to disappear into the sorting system like any other parcel.
In terms of animal husbandry we can become
very emotional when they aren't looked after properly. But insects? Sounds laughable? Bees aren't soft and cuddly are they? They don't make ideal pets. However as the film revealed, bees can be very badly treated and at times last night, it was difficult to watch.
One very large-scale commercial honey producer that we saw throughout the film, has thousands of hives and thousands of
bees. He employs several thousand individuals, some of whom drive
thousands of miles as they transport their bees on a pollination merry-go
round across the States, before returning to the company headquarters, where they set off from. The bees are transported in their hives which are packed into containers on large trucks - a bit like driving your dog along in the car, shut up in his kennel, with no opportunity to get out - sometimes for over 24 hours. As one of the drivers explained, bees shouldn't be shut up like that for very long. They need to pee. Trying telling several thousand bees to cross their legs. I don't think so. On their return the bees were unpacked. It was obvious something had gone wrong with a number of the hives. When they were opened all the bees were found dead at the bottom. Bees can get attacked by mites and other parasites, which can destroy a bee at different stages of development. But there's also considerable stress for the bees in being moved around and not being able to follow their normal cycle. This honey producer's point of view was that he didn't have time to find out what was wrong.
Des Abeilles et Des Hommes also introduced us to the world of the small-scale independent bee-keeper. Their beehives were well away from the noise and upheaval of the modern world, in the Swiss Alps and a remoter desert area in the States. There wasn't an attempt to say that bigger is bad or smaller is best. But the relationship between the keepers and their bees was very different. In this film, it was amongst the independents that you saw the passion for the insect as well as the product.
The success of Des Abeilles et Des Hommes, was to re-awaken our understanding of the importance of this industrious creature to our own existence. There was moment in the film when the hives belonging to a small producer were found, despite his dedication, to have contracted a deadly virus. All the bees had to be destroyed. The fumigator arrived to carry out the task. She turned to the bee-keeper and said 'I am so very sorry'. It was like losing one's entire family.
http://www.morethanhoneyfilm.com
What an evening!
A couple of months back our neighbours Jacqueline and Norbert mentioned a dinner dance Le Grand Mechoui that was happening in Cravant at the end of August. Did we want to go? Yes please! It's one of those events that takes place every year but since we've been here, we've not seen or heard anything about it. In the past we've been away at this time. We saw a tiny notice about it the other day in the regional paper, La Nouvelle République. But it was just a one line job. And there was another mention in a village newsletter. But apart from that, rien. We weren't quite sure as to what sort of event it was we'd signed up for, other than that if it was like all the other village events we've been to in Cravant, the evening would be superbly well organised, brilliant fun and exceptional value. €25 p.p. And of course, it was.
We went round for an apéro at Jacqueline and Norbert's house. Two of their friends came, who we hadn't met before, but were really sweet people - Janette and Jacky, and two neighbours from our road, Jacqueline and Alain. Fabulous apéro had been concocted to start with - pétillant, with passion fruit juice, and a drop of this and that including Cointreau. Really good. Then we took off towards the stade, home to local football and boule, where about 8 inter-connecting marquees had been set-up. The entrance was essentially a large space with a big bar on one side and the serving area for food on the other. This led into another large area with a wooden dance floor in the middle, and the MC/DJ set-up at the other end. On eac side were the dining room spaces, which had enough space to seat all 400 of us.
Le Grand Mechoui/Lamb Barbecue was really like a big village party. At least that's how it felt to us, and more so than anything else we've been to in the village. The Saint Vincent party at the end of January, which is organised by the same committee, is a much bigger affair, attracting these days lots of people from elsewhere in the region. By comparison Saturday night was very much a Cravant affair.
A perfect evening. Got there around 7.30. Pétillant flowed till about 8.30, during which we discovered that there were a lot of people we knew. So loads of chatting. The roasting pit was outside behind the marquee area. Invisible to the eye, but alluring to the nose, with wonderful aromas wafting about. Wines were included in the price of the ticket. Wonderful buffet selection for the entrée. We were called up by table number. The main course and side dish were brought to the table on big platters and we served ourselves and passed everything along. Delicious.Then back we went, by table, for the cheese course and dessert, which were apple tarts. Meanwhile the MC/DJ just did his stuff. Before dinner, between courses and after dinner, we just danced our legs off. The MC/DJ we've seen a lot of times at bigger gigs round and about. He's truly superb. Really got everyone going and kept them going. There were a couple of vignerons who we now know are stunning dancers. Jean Louis Loup and Thierry Landry. So used to seeing them 'at work'. To see really going for it and having fun like that was brilliant.
Put it this way. We crawled into bed around 2.30 in the morning. Enough said.
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