Mrs Fag-Ash

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.

Vinyl lives

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

Up and Running

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.


 

Vignes Vins et Randos 2013

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. 

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.

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.

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.

'Liberté Égalité Fraternité Électricité'

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.

An interesting night at the cinema

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




 

Way to party

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.