Les Deux Platanes

Queens Jubilee Celebrations

2012-02-22T20:45:00.001+01:00

Our many French friends need little excuse to turn any occasion into a dinner date and in the 40 or so years we have been visiting France we can recall being invited to dine in celebration of a wide range of events. This summer however we need little reason to invite all our French neighbours and friends to celebrate the Queens Jubilee. We are planning an 'English' afternoon tea in a large marquee we have bought for just such an event and we are sure everyone will flock to number 20 after receiving the invitation. The text below is in English but this will be translated for the printed invitation.

INVITATION

Diamond Jubilee Weekend

John and Maureen Hindhaughwould like to invite our neighbours and friends in Le Breuil aux Gittons to anEnglish afternoon tea and a vin

d’honour to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee ofQueen Elizabeth 11.

Sunday 3^rd June @ 16.00hrs

20 Le Breuil Aux Gittons

On the Monday we are planning another event that will include a big screen projected programme from the BBC so if you are staying at Les Deux Platanes during the Queens Jubilee weekend you can join everyone for the celebrations.

I am sure Maureen will have to produce some Cherries Jubilee

Both the UK and France could have some serious water shortages this summer unless we have rain in abundance in the next six to eight weeks and that is unlikely. Our well is always a good indicator of ground water levels and last year the water level dropped 2 metres and a friends well dried up completely. I think we will have to treat our water supply with some respect this summer rather than taking it for granted.

Spring 2012 news

2012-02-11T15:02:00.000+01:00

February at last, I hate to wish my life away but I do so look forward to the spring and summer and 2012 promises to be another wonderful year at Les Deux Platanes. The reorganised garden for the cottage and new flower beds will be in full glory this year building upon the planting from previous years. The two large Plane trees received a top cut last year and I am sure this will assist in filling them out further and providing great shade on those hot summer days for the cottage residents. As you will know from looking at the website the cottage is completly self contained with its own parking, gated entrance and gardens so guests are not bothered by other gite users as is the case on so many shared gite complexes. You can all make full use of the garden be it for a barbecue, sitting reading or whatever especially enjoying a nice glass of wine with a good book.

NEW WINE BOOK: The gite has a good selection of books including some excellent books and guides for wine lovers plus charts and maps for those wishing to visit vineyards in all sectors of the Loire region. For 2012 I have bought a new book specifically about the wines of the Loire. Written by award winning author Jacqueline Friedrich and entitled 'Earthly Delights from the Garden of France'. This text, full of background and easy reading for the non specialist provides an insight into the wines of the Sauvignon Blanc category, specifically Sancerre, Pouilly Fume and all the Sauvignon satellites. It also provides guidance on where to visit etc. Jacqueline is so impressed with the wines of central France she intends to write another two books eventually covering the entire region. Winner of the Wine & Spirits book of the year.

WEBSITE UPDATES: We are constantly updating the cottage website with new information and links to help plan your holiday, Maureen has also added some new favourites to the menu for 2012 and provided desciptions for all the main courses available. You will see that we now have links to the L’Hermitage restaurant at Buzançais so you can see the menus before you come on holiday and maybe plan a visit.

CROSS CHANNEL FERRY OFFER: I see that you can now book cross channel crossings for £39 in high season with DFDS and LD lines and remember you can use TESCO vouchers to pay for channel tunnel crossings.

More news soon!

Winter news

2012-01-05T22:22:00.000+01:00

Not a lot of activity over the winter months, the cottage is sleeping nicely awaiting the warm spring weather, new buds on the trees and birds all working hard to build the latest desirable residence for a fresh brood.

Ryanair have just announced a new route from Machester to Tours, and Tours is 50 minutes north of Les Deux Platanes and our nearest airport, our son has just reserved a seat in April for just over £20 including all tax etc - now that must be a bargain.

Those following the BLOG will remember that the small field at the rear of our house was seeded in October so hopefully 2012 will see some great grass cover rather than a sea of weeds that formed after the instalation of the new septic tanks and filter in 2007. In fact 2012 should see the finish of all the renovation work in the house and at the rear although the guests staying in the gite would never know that everything was not complete.

I have just bought a new Wi-Fi modem so hopefully this will provide a good signal allowing guests in the cottage to access the internet.

The cottage has 10 weeks booked already so anyone looking to visit in 2012 should take the opportunity to reserve any weeks they would like before its to late!

That's all for now

Mushrooms and Walnuts

2011-11-15T16:31:00.006+01:00

Autumn is traditionally the time when the mushroom pickers are out in force, and every year there are the inevitable 'accidents'. In fact our neighbours were caught out recently. They were taking a little 'promenade' through the village, when they spied some lovely specimens and duly took them home and had them for dinner. Unfortunately, they were not the sort you should eat, and they were both taken to hospital where they spent 3 uncomfortable days. So, the Salon de Champignons et Noix could not have come at a more opportune time!
I was asked if I would make some cakes to sell, so I scoured my recipe books and the internet and found a few recipes, and set to. I made some coffee & walnut slices which always seem to go down well whenever I make them, some walnut fairy cakes (or papillon cakes as the French called them), some biscuits and a cherry and walnut cake.

One room was given over to mushrooms and it seemed every mushroom in the vicinity had been picked, identified and displayed for everyone to see by the local mushroom pickers organisation (yes, there is a club for enthusiasts!). There were cards explaining what each variety was, and whether or not it was 'Edible'; 'Leave in the ground' ; 'Toxic'; or 'Mortal' The one eaten by our neighbours was labelled 'toxic'!

Just a few mushrooms on display

Guy ate one of these!

They organised a mushroom picking randonee on Sunday morning, and lots of people came back clutching baskets full of nature's bounty.
The event was well attended, and most of my cakes sold, but I'm not sure they knew what to make of Cuisine Anglais!
As for the mushrooms - well, I think I'll stick to Champignons de Paris from the local shop!

Autumn jobs

2011-11-08T17:47:00.001+01:00

You may remember a photo on our blog a couple of weeks ago which showed John and Dominic (our neighbour) being supervised by Poppy as they prepared the drive between our houses. Well, the calcaire (limestone) was delivered last Friday, so John & I set to - with Poppy supervising, naturally - and started spreading it, as the weather was fine and rain was forecast for the Saturday. I discovered muscles I didn't know I had, or thought I had lost!

The lorry left us 10 cubic metres, but when it was dropped, it didn't look much!

However, once we started moving and raking it we realised there would be enough.
On Saturday morning, John and Dom finished off and then tamped it down with another neighbour's machine. Doesn't it look good?

We've also seen a great improvement in the grass on the field. It's still a bit patchy, but by next spring it should be fine. Daniel, the neighbour who helped to prepare it, even suggested it might need a cut before we leave. However, it's been a bit wet lately, so I think we'll leave it.

Finally, the leaves are starting to fall in abundance from the 2 plane trees in the garden, and I seem to spend a lot of time raking them up. Guess who likes to go diving in to the pile? Not John or I, but Poppy chases her ball in there. I've got a video of her, but for some reason it wouldn't upload. I'll try later...

Last gasp?

2011-10-31T23:03:00.002+01:00

We had some very strange weather this year, but it seems to be straightened out now, and today we had one of those rapidly disappearing beautiful days which just beg to have the MG out on the open (and very quiet) roads here in central France.

After helping to tidy up after Sunday's Tea Dance, we had a bite of lunch and decided to have a trip out in the MG as we probably won't get too many chances before we return to the UK for the winter.

Where to go? We have explored so many parts of this area, but there are still lots of undiscovered gems. We decided to head for Richelieu which is just a little north west of us, but on the very edge of the Centre region.

On the way we passed through Maille (same spelling as the famous cornichon and mustard people). There was a massacre there during the second world war and the town had to be rebuilt after the war. It's strange - you can tell which houses were rebuilt, they are in the local stone but they still look new even though they were built over 60 years ago. Leaving the village, we were hailed by a Berlingo driver. Thinking there was something wrong up ahead, John quickly stopped so we could find out what it was. How wrong we were - he had an MG but there was something wrong with it - did we have any advice for him? John asked if the water in the header tank was normal. No, we were told, it was like mayonnaise. John said immediately the head gasket needed replacing - but my French doesn't stretch to that, so we suggested he contact our friend Michel who also has an MG which has had the gasket replaced. He was very pleased and was quite gushing in his praise for our little car!

Richelieu the town was named after the famous Cardinal and was built by the architect Jacques Lemercier. He first built a great residence, and following instructions from the Cardinal, he created a very ordered (model) town.

Some of the houses on the Grand Rue have been renovated, and it is possible to see the original layout. The chateau was unfortunately destroyed during the French Revolution, but the grounds give some idea of the scale of the building - Richelieu had a very big ego and wanted a palace to put it in!

When we are out and about, we like to use the roads which are shown as white on the maps (that is to say the very smallest roads marked on regional maps). If it's me doing the navigating, we usually end up where we want to be, but if it's John...(enough said!). Today, we returned down the Creuse and crossed the river at Guerche. Look what we found as we came over the river

It wasn't marked on the map, but we just had to stop to take a picture.

Strictly it's not!

2011-10-31T21:01:00.001+01:00

There are some things in France which hark back to a simpler, more uncomplicated life and the Tea Dance must rank highly on the list.

There is a small, dedicated group of people in our little hamlet of Le Breuil aux Gittons whose aim in life is to preserve a community spirit, especially as we are 33 houses spread over quite a distance with no cafe where locals could meet to discuss the burning issues of the day!

Throughout the year, we have various entertainments organised by Les Amis du Breuil - for example a free concert by the Clion amateur wind band in June, and our annual Mechoui which is held during the summer months. A sheep is obtained, butchered and then cooked on an open fire for hours. All the hamlet is invited to participate in a communal meal which lasts rather a long time! We will write more about this next summer.
In order to finance this, a The dansant is held in the winter. We knew there was one planned for the beginning of December when we will be back in the UK, but this was an 'Exceptionnel' (I think to ensure there were sufficient funds for next year!)

A bit flash for Le Breuil!

What we didn't realise is that it is really a marathon and not to be undertaken lightly! It started at 2pm, there was a break at 5pm and then it kicked off again at 6.30pm until 8.30pm.

We arrived for the late shift to be met with a hall full of locals out to enjoy themselves on an autumn Sunday. There were all types of dancers - the serious 'look at us' types, to the shufflers (and I put us in the latter category), but all were having a great time. During the break, 'pain aux raisins' were handed out, together with the aperitif of rose wine and pamplemouse (grapefruit juice) - but no tea!
The band were local celebrities too - our neighbour, Alain is head honcho of 'Les Compagnons du Musette', a local 4 piece band which does the round of local dances. They also have a string of CD's and DVD's to their credit. They have a dedicated band of 'groupies' who seem to follow them around the area, so any Tea dance which has them playing is sure to have a full house.

That's Alain on the right with the accordion

The place eventually emptied by 9.30, and we started to clear glasses and tables, but the night was far from over. In the kitchen I could see 2 very well cooked chickens together with some other food items. Apparently, after everything quietens down and things are tidied away, helpers are invited to sit down for a meal! We had soup, followed by chicken and green beans (which had been re-heated with some garlic and shallotts -yummy). We didn't have cheese as someone had forgotten to buy it (!), so we had a bit more chicken with the salad. All rounded off by some of Gabby's preserved fruits. We eventually got home around 12.30am!
We were back there this morning at 10.00 to finish clearing up.

Our first Tea Dance, but probably not our last - a lovely way to get involved with the locals - many of whom are happy to teach you the intricacies of French 'ballroom' dancing, which can be very different from the UK.

New Menu for 2012

2011-10-19T09:46:00.000+02:00

If you have explored the cottage website you will be aware that guests have the opportunity to have freshly prepared meals delivered to the cottage from Maureens kitchen. Along with existing favourites Maureen has added some new dishes and extended the menu for 2012 so guests can order a full meal including a selection of regional cheeses. The dishes are either plated or supplied in the cooking pot ready for guests to serve at the table, where required they can be kept warm in the cottage kitchen and you can be sure the servings are both generous and of excellent quality. Unlike a restarant Maureen cannot prepare different menu items for individuals so guests need to select items together as you would if you were eating at home or eating table'd'hote in France.

STARTERS

Tomato soup (home made with Maureens garden tomatoes)

Nordiq salad (with smoked salmon and prawns)

Tricolour salad (tomato, mozzarella and avocado)

Paté & regional rillette (served with cornichons and fresh crusty bread)

Tomato & red onion tarts

Avocado & prawn salad

Terrine of prawns and langoustines

* Salads are served with home made walnut oil dressing

MAIN COURSES

Pork fricassée

Coq au vin

Tarte paysanne *!

Quiche Lorraine *

Chicken breasts stuffed with cream cheese and walnuts (in a 4 cheese sauce)

Bacon, brie & avocado salad *!

Baked salmon with julienne vegetables

Mediterranean baked fish

Magret de Canard with Berrichon lentils**

All (except **) served with seasonal vegetables and potatoes except those marked * which are served with green salad

*! Also available as vegetarian option

CHEESE

A trio of local cheeses

DESSERTS

Chocolate pavé – A rich, dark chocolate fondant portion served with crème anglaise and seasonal fruits

Fruit crumble with custard, cream or ice cream

Cherries jubilee – Warm Cherries in a Kirsch based sauce over vanilla ice cream and topped with a meringue

Fruit tartlette with cream or crème fraiche

Maureen requires 24hrs notice and will provide more details as required so if you are coming to Les Deux Platanes in 2012 you can order a meal for your arrival or at some point during your stay if you so choose.

Allez les Bleus!

2011-10-16T15:41:00.000+02:00

'Least said, soonest mended', my mum used to say, so we won't say too much about the departure of all the home teams from the rugby world cup.
We were at the Salle Jeanne d'Arc in Chatillon again yesterday for the Wales v France match, and, although we changed our hats we were surprisingly neutral as to which team we wanted to win.

Notice they are hard hats!

Suffice to say, the French contingent in the audience were overjoyed with their win, and didn't rub it in too much. Our friend Chris took it all in good faith (he has an affinity with Wales, having worked there for a number of years).

Half time deliberations - who will win?

We'll be back there next Sunday, but I fear there will be some glum faces as New Zealand seem to be on a roll. However, stranger things have happened!

When we got back, John and Dominic (our neighbour) set about the roadworks at our entrance. We get a lot of water running down the 'drive' from Monique's place and the surface has gradually broken down - not that there was much of a good surface anyway! We decided it would be a good idea to tackle the problem before the onset of the bad weather, so the chaps took advantage of a late few days of beautiful autumn weather to tackle the problem. They dug out and laid some special gutter concrete blocks to provide a run-off for water into a current drain. In a couple of weeks we will have some gravel delivered and this will be laid over the current rubble. We need to roll it flat so will engage the local youths to help (Dom's son and his friend!)

Notice Poppy supervising!

We have started getting things organised for the winter which is a bit depressing but necessary. The potager is being turned over but I need a bit of rain to soften the ground - it sets like concrete when we don't get any rain!
I have finished sorting out the strawberry bed and have some of the suckers saved for friends who have yet to start their strawberry patches. I'm still picking raspberries which are having their last gasp before I cut them down.

John doesn't care for this time of year, but it's all part of the natural cycle - if we don't have winter we won't have all those lovely flowers and fruits come the spring and summer.

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside!

2011-10-11T18:04:00.000+02:00

As many of you will know we experienced a mini heat wave late September early October and although we had some unexpected extra work to complete finishing the grass preparation at the rear of the house we eventually managed to get away to the seaside for the weekend.

The field is now seeded and the first grass shoots can be seen!

One of the advantages of Les Deux Platanes is the central location in France, you can reach the majority of places within three hours and the West coast of France is no exception. The Gironde and the coast from La Rochelle is beautiful throughout the year so we decided to have a weekend at Chatellalion Plage which is just south of La Rochelle.

The MG was rolled out, dusted off, the picnic bag checked and we were soon on the virtually vehicle free roads to the west coast. Within 3hrs we had arrived at our Chambre D'hotes for the weekend and the exploring began.

A happy man relaxed with his MG looking out over the sea!

Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside
I do like to be beside the sea!
I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play: "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!"

So just let me be beside the seaside
I'll be beside myself with glee
For there's lots of girls besides,
I should like to be beside
Beside the seaside! Beside the sea!

The same man minutes later trying to light the disposable barbecue - looking at it helps apparently.

Festering in the bottom of the MG boot was one of those disposable barbecues, the weather was 35C so why not find some quiet spot and have a barbecue lunch? Armed with lovely spicy sausages, lamb chops, courgette and some tomato and pesto paste from a local butchers plus some cheese and wine we set about finding a nice parking spot overlooking the sea. Fortunately late September is virtually tourist free so the roads and coastline were very quiet. After some effort the barbi was hot and we both enjoyed a very nice picnic lunch and enjoyed half a bottle of red wine, French of course.

Its 10.30am and 25C , the beach is practically empty so we had a coffee in a promenade cafe.

We had a wonderful two days and returned refreshed and ready to complete yet more tasks before the winter arrives -including stacking and cutting wood before the cold weather.

The home of the Poppos tribe

2011-09-30T21:26:00.001+02:00

The Loire Valley is littered with chateaux of every shape and size, but it is always interesting to come across a gem now and again.
We have been very busy in our field this week, so when we felt it was time for a day off, we decided to visit the Chateau Montpoupon which is just to the North East of us . We got the MGF out and headed up to St Aignan for a coffee and supplies for a picnic, then drove on some of the quietest roads in the general direction of the Chateau. We knew it would be closed over the lunch time, so continued to Montrichard where we had a delightful lunch by the river. The weather really has been glorious this week!
At 2pm we set off back to the chateau to be hailed by a chap on a bicycle. Could we take his photo? Certainly! He had set off from Glasgow 21 days previously and was heading for his second home in the Vienne. As the cycle ride was for charity, he needed photo proof of his travels. Whilst this was underway, another cyclist turned up - this time a Canadian who had cycled over from Chenonceau and wanted to send a photo to his folks back home. He then set off back to Chenonceau!

The Chateau Montpoupon is a pocket chateau but well worth a visit. They have created a very interesting hunting museum as the chateau was (and still is) a centre for hunting with horses. They have some wonderful photos, and Hermes scarves covering all aspects of riding and hunting. There is even a recreated saddlery from Paris - and the smell of leather is wonderful!

By the way - the chateau is named after the ancient tribe who lived in the area - the Poppos.

There are some very intersting stone carvings in the chateau - here are a few

This little angel was on the staircase

Three medieval maidens

All chateaux had to keep a room ready in case the king decided to call!

The hunting museum had some very interesting exhibits:

Wouldn't want to meet him on a dark night!

We spent an hour and a half at the chateau - it could have been longer as there is a forest walk and a picnic area. Well worth the 8 euros!

OOPS!!

2011-09-25T19:57:00.001+02:00

The weather in central France during September and October can be very good and this week seems set to prove the theory. The field at the rear of our house has been through a torrid time over the years especially when the new septic tanks and filter system were installed in 2008. We were however determined to return the field to a good grassed area before the end of 2012 so now is the time for the work. After turning the area over in May we are now at a point where the work can continue and grass seed sown. Daniel Bonnamy, our neighbour, has access to every imaginable piece of agricultural equipment so he has been working on the field with his tractor . Daniel has a very strong Berichonne dialect so comunication can be a prolem at times but we struggle through.

Daniel at work turning the soil to a fine tilth.

Work continued today after Daniel rolled and seeded the field yesterday with a big roller but not without incident. The small tractor and roller he borrowed from the farmer down the road managed to get stuck in a ditch and rescue was required. We removed another mountain of stones, raked the soil level and rolled the raked the area - 50% is now complete HOORRAY!

Oops - took that corner a bit quick!

After much raking and work Maureen took over the important task of rolling the field and I have to say it looks much better.

Girl at work rolling the soil.

We still have less than half the field to do but this will be completed later this week and with some rain over the winter should be green grass in the spring of 2012.

We visit a local country market

2011-09-18T16:18:00.000+02:00

French country markets!!!
Ahhh, a French market, full of fresh produce, most of it local and everything looking just beautiful!

Dried and preserved fruit and olives provided a very colourful display to tempt customers

Beautiful fruit and vegetables

Fresh Oysters in different sizes

Wine to taste, buy in a bottle or box - about 2 Euro a Litre.

A wide selection of mushrooms both wild and cultivated in local limestone caves

Yesterday was warm and sunny, a typical mid September day in central France so it was an ideal opportunity to have a run out in the MG with the top down, wind in the hair and visit a market. Le Blanc is a medium sized town to the south of Les Deux Platanes and every Saturday like the majority of towns and villages throughout

France

hosts a market. As you can see from the photos which capture but a small portion of the stalls it is a colourful and interesting place to visit. Fresh mushrooms on one stall and a vast colourful selection of dried and preserved fruit on another. Local cheese, wine and vegetables plus butchers and specialist charcuterie stalls selling produce to suit all tastes and interests. The lady selling fresh oysters even has seats where you could sit and enjoy Oysters of your choice with a nice glass of chilled wine – the French certainly seem to have a good outlook and emphasis on good fresh food.

On returning we discovered our neighbour Daniel in our field preparing the ground for sowing grass seeds.

Its been a long process preparing the field for grass but we are nearly there and 2012 should see a nice green area.

Food Al Fresco!

2011-09-14T22:07:00.000+02:00

Food on holiday is very important. In my humble opinion its not that you are looking for strange or unusual food but holidays call for adventure, taste, abundance, freshness and for those willing to try; something different!

For those wishing to use the barbecue the gite is equipped with a good charcoal barbecue complete with an assortment of tools and cooking baskets. Many guests use this when the evenings are warm, experimenting with new tastes from a local market or shop and accompanied by a bottle of local wine, lovely fresh baguette, goats cheese and a dessert what more could one ask for on holiday!

The cottage barbecue comes with a large range of tools, baskets - for those lacking any ideas we even provide a barbecue cookbook!

We also have a barbecue in our garden where we try to cook fresh, tasty and wholesome ingredients from local markets and shops (and Maureen's potager). The weather during the summer of 2011 has been very mixed, which is unusual to say the least and August in particular has been a little damp. Planning a barbecue has been a hit and miss affair as warm summer evenings have not been guaranteed.

However this week saw some nice warm evenings so the barbecue was used to cook some fresh produce from the garden and lovely produce from the local butcher.

This week our barbecue is cooking:

Maureen's large fresh garden tomatoes a la provencal (garlic & black olives)
Maureen's courgettes sliced with olive oil dressing
Chicken marinated in lemon and herbs
Roasted vegetables
Spicy merguez sausage and herb chipolatas
Not shown : Fish portion cooked in foil.

There's nothing quite like cooking your own home-grown vegetables on a barbi!

Re-creating history!

2011-09-07T10:55:00.000+02:00

Towns, villages and tourist centres all over France are particularly good at putting on visual re-enactments of historical events often involving thousands of local 'actors' in a stunning setting. You could spend the evening at a Chateau watching a re-enactment of the storming of the Bastille, 100 years War or some other major local event. This has reached such heights that a 'theme' park was created just to provide such visual entertaiment. The Puy de Fou (www.puydefou.fr) is about 3hrs drive from Les Deux Platanes so an early start was necessary but we were at the gates by 10.30am and since the place is open until 10pm we had a full day ahead although we left at 6pm after watching the Vikings invade a local village.

Click on any pictures in the BLOG to see them full size.

This photo gives you some idea regarding the events and the scale of the presentation. This show was about Joan of Arc and the battles between the French and the English.

The Romans played a major part in the history of France with the Gauls putting up a savage fight. The French as you will know have a cartoon character called 'Asterix' showing his adventures with the Romans. At the Puy De Fou they have built a full sized Roman Amphitheatre that can seat 7000 people. The chariot races are spectacular!

A small section of the Ampitheatre before the gladiators and chariots and Lions arrived!

The 'Birds of Prey' were very impressive

It is certainly a full days visit, we would recommend taking a seat cushion as you spend some time watching the shows and the seats can be hard!

Our Big Fat French Wedding!

2011-09-05T19:43:00.000+02:00

We have been looking forward to the first weekend in September for months, our French friend's daughter was getting married and three days of wedding celebrations, meals, dancing and festivities were about to commence. The grooms parents and grandparents were staying in the cottage so the brass was given an extra special polish. Months ago, in a moment of utter madness we had offered to provide a meal for both families on the Friday evening – 24 people! We had put together an interesting menu, now it was time to deliver……and as we all know the French know a thing or two about food and wine.

Menu du Vendredi 2 Septembre 2011

En l’honneur du marriage de Karine et Antoine

Canapés

♥♥♥♥♥

Salade Nordique

♥♥♥♥♥

Cuisse de pintade farcie à la truffe

Avec

Pommes de terre du jardin de Maureen, rôties dans la graisse de canard

Gratin de courgettes ( du Breuil)

♥♥♥♥♥

Fromages

♥♥♥♥♥

Cerises du Jubilée (Le grand Escoffier les a crées pour le Jubilée de diamant de la reine Victoria en 1897)

♥♥♥♥♥

Café/Thé

Antoine and Karine about to embark on married life

The cottage garden with gazebo erected for the canapes

Tent prepared and ready to go

We planned to serve the canapés in the gazebo and the meal was to be served in a long ‘barnum’ (tent to you and me), and after hours of preparations everything was prepared. We even bought and wired in an extra oven in the barn to cook roast potatoes. Our good friends Chris and Julie offered to help and slave away behind the scenes to ensure everything went well.

Not a lot of time to take photo's as I was a waiter!

Anyway, to cut a very long story short the evening was a great success and a very good start to what was to be a very special weekend for all.

On the Saturday morning I delivered half of the 120 bottles of Champagne, 70 bottles of red wine and 60 bottles of white wine to the local Chateau that was the setting for the wedding celebrations. After the official wedding signing and church service in the afternoon guests started to arrive at the Chateau for the ‘Vin d'honour’ and canapés at 6pm.

I do....in French!

Maureen and our son Daniel walk down to the Chateau

A chef cooking some of the hot canapes

Another table with oysters and other seafoods - and some excellent Sancerre!

Now we have been to a few weddings in our time but the canapés were something to behold and since there was a never ending supply of Champagne it was indeed a quality start to a very good evening meal and dancing way past midnight.

Dancing the night away

All we have to do now is clear up!!

The Discovery of France?

2011-08-27T20:34:00.000+02:00

If you are ever looking for an interesting read that will provide a fascinating background to any holiday or life in France then the book to look for is ‘ The Discovery of France’ by Graham Robb (ISBN 978-0-330-42761-6) published by Picador. We have wonderful neighbours and friends here in this small hamlet, it is a community where everyone looks out for each other without interfering in each others lives. Vegetables mysteriously appear on your gate post, eggs from local chickens arrive at the door and when help is required everyone appears to ‘pop’ out of the woodwork with helping hands or equipment. This is rural France as described in the book. In the middle 1800’s when England was in the throes of the industrial revolution this part of France was virtually undiscovered and like many parts of France spoke a dialect that was far from the French we hear today. Our neighbours often speak Berrichonne, a dialect from the past but still very much alive in the Indre.

Maureen is having a bumper year with tomatoes from the garden, when available she sometimes puts a few in the gite as part of the 'welcome' pack - the tomatoes are excellent this year.

Last night we went to a Marche Gourmand in Chatillon, an evening of simple no frills quality food, great chat and entertainment. As is often the case long tent type structures were erected with tables for eating plus a variety of stalls selling everything from wine to cheese plus a variety of hot and cold food. Last night we were all in for a treat as the entertainment, three local jazz musicians were simply brilliant. The central player (guitar, violin and clarinet) was influenced by Stephan Grappelli - wonderful!
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Fresh cooked omeletes, fruit tarts and other delights were available from this stall

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A small section of the tent with the jazz muscians to the left.

It was also our friend’s birthday and since Chris has been of considerable assistance to the town he was presented with a gift by the mayor. We eventually left at 01.05am ……yes its late but only because John stayed to help dismantle the tents and return the tables to the town’s store.

More gifts!

2011-08-15T18:15:00.000+02:00

As we have said before, people in the village are very kind, and bring us all sorts of provender. This week is no exception, and we have received (among other things), peaches and fish.

Monique has some people staying next to her small etang which is stocked with different kinds of fish (You can see the etang on the aerial photo of the hamlet on the brochure display on the website). These folks are keen fishermen and have caught a carp of about half a metre along with some smaller fish. So, we were asked this morning did we like fish? I asked her what sort and all I got was a shrug of the shoulders, so when we said we did like fish, she offered us some. She arrived later with a bucket containing 5 smallish live fish!

They are in here somewhere!

John has done the deed and they are now cleaned and in the freezer ready for when our friends PetenSue come in September. We thought these would do nicely, filleted and cooked on the barbecue. Trouble is, we don't know what kind of fish they are, although I don't suppose that really matters, I am sure they will taste good.

The other offering was from a neighbour, Gabby, who brought a large bag of small peaches. Soft tree fruit has done very well this year, as the very dry spell in early spring was good for the flowers, and then we have had warm days with some rain which has brought the fruit on very well. So, what to do with lots of small peaches. I decided on (more) jam! This time Peach and Amaretto. It seems very nice, but I think I have enough jam to last well into next year now. In fact, we did a stock check yesterday and I have a total of 69 jars of various varieties!

A trip to Bourges

2011-08-09T21:36:00.000+02:00

Bourges is not somewhere we would ordinarily head to, but as today is our 36th wedding anniversary we decided to have a day off and take a spin in the MGF. We left just after breakfast, and arrived in Bourges late morning after travelling on some of the smaller roads (we like the white ones on the maps!).

The cathedral is a masterpiece and although we had been in before, I wanted to take some pictures inside, and our new(ish) camera is more than capable of some good photos when there is little light available (it's called 'museum setting' in the menu).
Here are a few I took:

The astronomical clock

We continued around the old town and eventually stopped for a light lunch.

We returned via Vatan where we stopped for a drink. In all, a very relaxing day.

Back to work tomorrow - digging up the potatoes!

Assistant Vet!

2011-08-05T17:30:00.001+02:00

One can never be sure what each day will hold. With a few years under our collective belts there are still new experiences that pop up and make life even more intertesting than normal.

Unfortunately this week the new experience was rather sad! John is looking after our neighbours small holding as she is away on holiday. So chickens and ducks have to be fed and watered, sheep feed with oats and straw and the duck pond topped up with water from the well. All was fine after the morning feed with all the animals fit and healthy so off we went to a local Brocante (car boot sale on steroids)

A very small part of the brocante - it had over 300 stalls!

On returning the couple who are staying in the gite this week suggested something was wrong with one of the sheep, they thought it may have had a lamb!!!!!! I rushed around to find a little still born lamb and a very distressed mother trying her best to lick it back into life, to no avail. It was then necessary to call the vet, arrange injections for the mother and we also had to administer more medicine the following morning. This involved catching the mother, trapping her against the hay rack, opening her mouth and pouring the medicine in. From all of this you may think we are experts in animal care, nothing would be further from the truth but when needs must you have to manage. The good news is mother is well and appears to be back to normal.

Jams and chutneys

2011-08-05T17:07:00.000+02:00

Since coming to France I have made my own jams, chutneys and relishes mainly from produce which I have in the garden or can find locally (free!).

Over the years I have made quite a variety and always leave some for our guests in the gite 'welcome pack' of foods ready for their arrival.

Our friends who live near Chester (PetenSue) who have been a great help to us over the years bought me a preserving pan and associated tools a few years ago and these have become indespensable.

This year, to date, I have made Strawberry, Apricot, Gooseberry & Elderflower, Blackcurrant, Mirabelle and Cherry jams, and today I made the first of the seasons' relishes - Red Hot Relish. I don't eat the chutneys or relishes but I am told they are mostly very good (The smell of them cooking is enough to put me off and helps to remind me why I don't like them!)

I made a Butternut, Apricot and Almond chutney last year, but I'm not sure this was very successful, as John - who is my main consumer - didn't seem very impressed!

John's favorite with cold meats and the local ham

The French don't do the savoury preserves so much, but we are gradually introducing them when we have the opportunity. Our friends Chris & Julie host a hunt on their land, and last year we did a curry breakfast for them (eaten at lunch time, not 8 o'clock in the morning!) and the chutneys went down a treat. In fact, the hotter the better in many cases. Indian food isn't as big here (yet) as in the UK, but I don't think it will be too long before we see some restaurants opening in the provinces. We have to get them onto beer with their curries though, as French wine doesn't marry with the spices too well.

It's always nice to be able to offer a jar of home-made something or other to our friends when we go for dinner. Better than flowers (which cost a bomb here for some reason).

A surprise for Monique!

2011-07-25T15:42:00.000+02:00

I was pootling about in the garden on Thursday when I thought I was seeing things - a lamb had appeared! Our neighbour, Monique has a few sheep and, unbeknown to her, one of them was pregnant. Afterwards she said she thought the female was a little tired that morning - no wonder, she gave birth early in the afternoon!

Mum was very protective, but I managed to get a few shots of the new arrival. The following day, Monique had to give it a tetanus injection, but said she didn't like doing it and normally closed her eyes! Poor wee lamb!!

We had rather a lot of rain last week, but it has had the advantage of making the grass nice and green again, and the flowers have all filled out.

Twice a year, the local Karting track holds competitions which count towards the national karting championships, so on Saturday night we went down there for the evening entertainment. We love these very French social events, when people get together for a bit of food, something to drink then a bit of a dance after - all held outside in the open air (thank goodness the rain had gone!) .We were entertained by 'Les Compagnons de Musette' which is a 4 piece band, complete with accordian player, and they play a wide variety of dance music. One of the members is also our neighbour, Alan, and Saturday was the first time we had heard them play professionally - normally we hear them practising in his barn. They were very good, and must be well thought of in the area, as they have a number of CD's and DVD's to their credit.
We had a good night with some dear friends - it was nice to relax after the very busy time we have had recently. I even learned to dance the Madison, which I have been trying to master for quite a long time!

Chatillon en fete - part 2

2011-07-20T11:17:00.001+02:00

On Friday evening we had the Marche Gourmand, (see a previous blog for the description). We were surprised and delighted to find there was also a Belgian stand offering free Belgian beer and free Beef Carbonade with chips! Delicious!!

As you can see it proved very popular!

After our Apero (!) we joined the queue for the moules frites. Joel did a roaring trade that night, despite the free competition from the Belgians!

A very orderly queue!

After the meal, we joined a large crowd who had gathered to listen to the entertainment. The Chatillon brass orchestra played a lively selection, and they were followed by the choir Les Paroles de l'air. We have a number of friends who sing in the choir, and whilst a number of their members were away on holiday, they still managed to entertain everyone with a varied selection of foot tapping songs from across the world.

Our friend Natalie (in the centre)

They were followed by the boys from the circus school in Belgium, then soloists from Stoke College in Suffolk, sang and played the guitar. It was a really lovely evening. We left at 11pm and they were still going strong!

Saturday was the Marche European, and there were stalls from all over Europe there - Slovenia offered various types of 'interesting' food, the Bulgarians had brought some art work, there was wine from various local vineyards, lots of art and craft stalls, as well as the Clare artists selling their paintings. The Bulgarians sang and danced to entertain the crowd.

Bulgarian dancers

Chatillon en fete

2011-07-16T10:12:00.000+02:00

Well, it's finally here - L'Europe en Berry-Touraine, which is the 3 day event in Chatillon over 14-16 July. We had a tiring but worthwhile day yesterday as we held the Jeux sans Frontiers with teams from various parts of Europe. The children (and adults) had a whale of a time competing in the silly games. Bulgaria were the eventual winners (by 5 points) with England coming second. We've posted a few photos below:

Belgian team assembling their escargot jigsaw

The English with the Rocket game

There was paint and glue everywhere for the mask-making game!

The clowns from the Belgian circus school proved very useful!

The evening passed with a repas champetre which was provided by the local commercants of Chatillon, and was very popular with the queue seeming to be never ending. We watched some traditional Berry dancing followed by some lively Slovenian dancers. At 11pm we had the traditional fireworks to celebrate French National Day and they were certainly spectacular - lots of 'oohs' and 'aahhs' from a very large crowd. The evening finished off with the Pirates disco - unusual in that it's a guy dressed as a pirate, playing an accordian doing karaoke! Quite a combination but one that seems to work! Lots of people got up to dance.

We have a group of artists here from Clare in Suffolk, and they spent today painting and sketching in and around the town, accompanied by some of the Chatillon art group. It was very interesting to go round having a look at their work.

Tonight we have the second of the Vendredi Gourmand evenings (see a previous blog), and tonight Joel is providing Moules frites. It seems the French eat moules when there isn't an 'R' in the month. So, just time for a quick shower before we head off - oh and we have to feed Poppy!

I'll post some info about the evening in our next blog!

Jeux sans Frontiers

2011-07-12T16:57:00.000+02:00

As mentioned in previous blogs we have been busy constructing games to be played on French National Day (Thursday) between towns visiting Chatillon from Clare on Suffolk, Germany, Belgium and Bulgaria. I use the royal 'we', as the games have been dreamt up by John and mainly constructed by him. I've just done a bit of painting and collecting of bits. As we said, the French game involves a snail on wheels, and she (it has to be a she due to the size of her eyelashes and the red lipstick!) has been sitting in our barn for the past week, scaring anyone who happens to look in. John says we are having a competition on the day of the games for children to choose the name, but I think she should be called Esmerelda (after the 'heroine' in Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame - 'the Bells, the bells!').

Scary isn't she!

There are 4 other games which are well on the way to completion, all we need now are the teams to arrive from their various towns and for the weather to be fine on the day. There is a lot of stuff which wouldn't take kindly to being wet!

We've got a busy few days ahead of us as the L'Europe en Berry-Touraine event starts tomorrow night

Au programme des festivités:• Mercredi 13 juillet : Retraite aux fambeaux, feu de joie, envol de 27 montgolfères au son de l’hymne européen, folklore et musique.
• Jeudi 14 juillet : Cérémonie de la fête nationale, jeux mêlant les jeunes et les moins jeunes, dîner champêtre, feu d’artifce, suivi d’une soirée dansante avec disc jockey.
• Vendredi 15 juillet : Visites touristiques, peintres et musiciens européens envahissent la ville, table ronde des entreprises, nombreuses expositions et animations. En soirée, diner champêtre et concert de musique.
• Samedi 16 juillet : Grand marché européen regroupant les spécialités culinaires, artisanales et touristiques européennes. Restauration sur place aux recettes diverses et variées de notre continent, danses folkloriques, rencontres sportives, nombreuses expositions et animations.

By the time Sunday comes I think we'll be hiding in a darkened room for the week to recover!

We had a lovely thunderstorm this morning which gave the garden a very welcome drink. Poppy doesn't like thunder and when John opened the barn door at 7.00am, she couldn't get to the house door quick enough, then spent the next couple of hours hiding under the breakfast bar - what a softie she is!

The Tour de France in the Indre

2011-07-08T22:23:00.000+02:00

We missed the Tour de France the last time it passed through the Indre in 2008 - Mark Cavendish won the stage as I remember, so this year we were determined to be there. Along with a group of British friends, we decided to go and wave the flag(s) - literally! We planned a picnic near the spot and duly set off. The picnic was a very civilised affair which lasted a couple of hours and drew lots of toots from French drivers passing by.

After lunch we made our way to Ecueille to take up a position just outside the town. The publicity caravan came through first throwing all sorts of stuff out

Eventually, the cyclists themselves came through - a group of 4 leading and then quite a gap before the main group. John managed to get a snap of Mark Cavendish who was at the back of the HTC team then they were gone!

There were lots of helicopters buzzing overhead, and then we saw them circling about a kilometre away. We since learned that there was a crash (and I'm not surprised really, as they were so closely bunched together!) and unfortunately, Bradley Wiggins sustained a broken collarbone. I hope it doesn't spoil his chances to defend his Olympic title next year.

When we got back to Chris and Julia's house we turned on the TV to watch the end of the race and were pleased to see Mark managed to win the stage - well done!

Choosing wine

2011-07-07T20:45:00.001+02:00

I mentioned in our last blog that we were going off on Tuesday to buy some wine from local producers. We have gradually decided on the wine from our area (Touraine) that we like, and, as we needed red, white and rose, thought we were due a day off from game producing to go off and replenish stocks. Touraine is an area often overlooked by wine 'buffs', and whilst the wine cannot compare with the robust Bordeaux or Cote du Rhone, it does have a number of very nice 'drinkable' wines. Our friend, Gaynor, wrote about a trip we took earlier this year to Reuilly and Quincy in her blog. These wines (mainly white) come from a very small area in the east of the Loire, and they compare most favourably with whites from other regions of France - if not the rest of Europe, but then we are biased!

Our first stop would be up near Onzain on the Loire for some Touraine Mesland, a nice light red. I had telephoned ahead (always a good idea) to our normal supplier, only to be told by the lady on the other end that a visit in the morning was not possible (very strange, as usually the wife of the vigneron normally does the selling!). Not to be outdone, I found another grower in the same part of the village, so we set off. We stopped for coffee in Cere la Ronde which is a very tidy little place, just south of Montrichard. We noticed most of the villages and verges along the way had been spruced up and it didn't take us long to work out that the Tour de France is due through the area tomorrow (Friday), so they obviously wanted the places to look their best on international television!

http://www.touraine-mesland.com/viticulteurs.htm

We continued on to Onzain and visited Domaine Chollet where we tried some very nice Rose demi-sec (we bought 3 bottles for stock) and also some Touraine Mesland Vielle vignes (red wine from old vines). This was so good we bought 2 x 10 litre boxes. We also asked for Etiquettes (labels) which means we can bottle the wine (remember the corker John bought at a recent Brocante!). It works out a very reasonable 2,60 euros a litre!

Our next stop would have been to Francois Cartier in Pouille on the Cher, but as we were a little late for our appointment, I re-arranged it for the afternoon, so we called at our Sparkling Rose supplier in Seigy. Their wine is lovely - need we say more! We also bought some Cuvee d'Automne which is a semi sweet white and perfect for aperitif drinking.

Lunch was in the small cafe in Chateauvieux, which offers a 10,00 euro 4 course meal including wine! Can't go wrong really.

Suitably fortified, we then headed for Preuille and bought some of the rose - Pineau d'Aunis, again in a 10 litre box with labels so we can bottle ourselves.

Our last stop was to Domaine de la Girardiere, near St Aignan, where Patrick Leger makes some very good Sauvignon blanc. Try the link below to read about him and his wine-making (it's in English to make it easy for you!)
http://www.domaine-dela-girardiere.com

We had a lovely day out - and so did our gite clients, who also bought some wine to take home with them. The price from the vigneron is so reasonable, and you have the added opportunity to try before you buy.

Escargot a gogo!!!!

2011-07-04T07:31:00.000+02:00

After a busy weekend we have made great progress with Escargot production for the games in town on the 14th July, oh the stress and responsibilities in retired life!!!

Maureen has been working hard to produce the escargot jigsaws, two down and three to go! The escargot vehicle is finished and I have even started on rocket launching inventions for another game - escargot photos below.

She is a beautiful creature for an escargot!

Painting the thick card for the Escargot jigsaws, hidden talents that girl!

Its been a glorious weekend so the guests in our gite have had a very relaxing time in the garden simply chilling out. We are having a trip to our wine vineyards this week as stocks are getting low and we have asked if the gite guests would like to come along.....they said yes as soon as the word 'wine' came up in the first sentence!

This Friday the Tour de France is passing through a local town so we have plans to attend and see the spectacle - apparently the Publicity Caravan is a sight not to be missed and it passes about 1 1/2 hours before the riders are due, so we don't want to miss any of the freebies they throw out!

I have been watering the gite lawn to keep it in reasonable condition, just very pleased we have a well and last week it still had 5 metres of water which is good considering the dry weather. The flower tubs and hanging baskets are filling out and looking good thanks to Miracle grow.

Time flies!

2011-07-03T07:42:00.001+02:00

It's amazing where the time goes! It's been quite a few days since we posted our last blog, but those days have been filled to the brim. We are currently decorating our bedroom which hasn't been much fun in 36 plus degrees, but it has cooled down now to a balmy 26! Keeping the cave (wine cellar) cool is no easy task especially as its not a 'cellar'. The epine was ready for bottling so together with the French neighbour we managed to produce 52 bottles!!!

Bottling the epine

We've also been busy constructing some of the games for the forthcoming European fete in Chatillon (13 - 16 July). Remember Jeux sans Frontier? Well, this is even better (hmmm in Maureens opinion!), although we can't offer Stuart Hall, but the games are just as much fun (and they all come out of John's head!)
There will be 5 countries represented - France, England, Belgium, Germany and Bulgaria. Each country has a game based on something to do with or popular in that country, so we have:
France: The Escargot jigsaw game
England: Traditional English Skittles
Belgium: Rocket launching game
Germany: Giant Sausage making
Bulgaria: Mask making

Construction begins - its amazing what you can do with an old banana trolley

Covered in card....watch out for the painted escargot

All this will take part on France's National Day (previously called Bastille Day) along with other manly games such as sawing the log and building a tower.
Hopefully we'll get some photos of the event to post on the blog.

Keeing the grass watered is no easy task, we are managing - just!

Glorious weather

2011-06-26T11:58:00.000+02:00

As I view the reports from Glastonbury and the accepted mud on the BBC news the 36degrees C weather here seems a pleasant contrast. During the 40 years or so that we toured France and Europe on our motorcycle I was always told that the good weather began south of the Loire. Having been washed away in the Dordogne a few times that is not a proven scientific fact but experience shows it holds some element of truth.

Warm weather equals more watering but the terrace flowers are starting to fill out the tubs and baskets

This weekend we invited our French friends for dinner and since the weather was so good we set the table in the garden managing to talk and laugh and enjoy some of Maureens great cooking until gone 11pm.

Then French 'gang' although Phillipe and Natalie are missing and Chantal is hiding in her chair!

As I may have mentioned before our neighbour, Monique, here in Le Breuil has what we would call a smallholding which she keeps trimmed and cultivated to standards that would be admired in a public park. The little ducklings that arrived ten days ago have taken to the water in the duck pond and even gained the confidence to steal oats from the chickens!!!

Ducks take to the water at last although two can be seen on a mission to steal chicken food!

Michel my French friend has an MGF and recently the bodywork underwent a renovation having a repaint and a new green hood. I managed to locate a good deal on hoods in the UK so on a recent trip back I collected the hood from the supplier saving a lot of money compared to the cost in France.

Two 'non' experts at work, making a fine job of fitting the new hood.

Being in the heart of the countryside you can see a wide variety of animals in the fields. The farmer down the road has three beautiful working horses although I am sure they are a particular type and have a rather restul life. In the field opposite you can see Maurice and Charles two big and handsome Charolais bulls, along with the sheep, goats and cows they make up the animal population of the hamlet.

Don't mess with me!

Claude, Jules & Hercules (The Boys)

Solar heater & work

2011-06-22T08:41:00.000+02:00

Raining at last, nice steady rain to soak the ground, water the grass and the vegetable garden although I am sure it would take a several months of rain to restore the water levels in the etangs. However one has to prepare for the hot weather so I am busy inventing a solar water heater for our inflatable spa, will it work I ask myself? Watch this space for further news.

20mm plastic electric conduit for the solar heater!

The gite is now fully booked until mid September so preparation of the gite garden and flowers is a priority, the Miracle Grow appears to be working well as the flower tubs and baskets are growing well although I am sure much more TLC will be required over the summer months.

Flower tubs developing well

Yesterday I came downstairs looking like a snowman after filling the plasterboard joints in our second bedroom. I admire plasterers who manage to put all the plaster on the wall and not on themselves. We have friends staying in three weeks time so completing the bedroom in the house is a priority.

Plasterboard joint filling in the house making progress.

Chatillon is holding a big European event from the 12th - 15th July and I have offered to help organse the 'Its a Knockout' Jeux sans Frontiers. I have some ideas that involve giant escargots, massive bratwurst sausages and wooden cheese - wait for the construction stage to see how things turn out!

Vendredi Gourmand

2011-06-19T08:06:00.000+02:00

The Comite des Fetes in Chatillon sur Indre organises Vendredi Gourmand evenings in June, July & August, and last night was the first. Of course, the weather was against us, but we went anyway - it's a good opportunity to meet and chat with our French neighbours. We took along our gite guests - they probably wondered what they had let themselves in for!

A small brass band arrived to help the evening along!

Now fine dining it isn't, but you are invited to walk around the market stalls, choosing what you want to eat. There is a chap who does Creole food (very spicy), a cheese stall, and the local outside caterer, Joel, who offers something different. This time it was a dish of Paella but he he was also doing Merguez (Moroccan spiced sausages) and chips. We also had a new face - a Portugese chef who was making onion omelettes and real chips from potatoes. (Portugese did I say??). Desserts are also on offer from some fellow English as well as tartelettes from the Portugese guy.

We claim a table before too many people arrive!

We can buy wine, beer or soft drinks and generally we have a good night. Tarpaulin covers had been rigged up so we had somewhere dry to sit, and the rain did stop, although the temperature was a bit low. The usual locals turned up to support the event, but the weather probably kept quite a few away. Still, it was the first of the year and many of the tourists haven't arrived yet. We ate, chatted, drank and stayed to help them clear up. This is a good way to integrate with the local community, and they appreciate our efforts.

One of the stalls selling hot food - local ladies helping as usual!

It's a bit damp this morning, but we won't complain, as the ground is seriously in need of a good soaking. It will also help the grass green up in time for our next guests who arrive in a week's time.

Market day and aperitifs

2011-06-16T09:29:00.000+02:00

French markets are well known for their diverse range of produce, and Loches market (Wednesdays and Saturdays) is no exception, so it's always worth a visit. It is also nice to sit at a pavement cafe with a grand creme and watch the world go by. We have our favourite stalls - the cheese lady who has a wide and varied range of cheeses from all over France, the butcher/charcuterie van which has excellent merguez and chipolatas, are two we like.

However, it's also easy to get caught out (yes, even us veterans of over 40 years travel in France!). There are often specialist cheese sellers who have maybe 3 or 4 types of cheese which they invite you to taste (they will somehow know you are English). Once you do, they have you, and you find yourself buying a smallish piece without asking how much it will be. We did this a while back and got stung for a lot of money! Even worse, I handed the cash over!! The same can happen with the saucisson seller and the smoked ham seller. Buyer beware!

Still, the markets in France are full of lovely fresh produce which is very much home grown, something which we may only see at monthly Farmer's markets in the UK.

****

On a different subject, remember the eau de vie we collected from the distiller recently? Well, we started our aperitif 'Epine' with our neighbour Dominic at the weekend. Firstly we had to collect the shoots from the blackthorn bushes (pous d'epine), then pour in 6 litres of alcohol. This was left overnight, then last night, John went over there and they added sugar and 30 litres of Gamay (plus a couple of other secret ingredients). This will be left for a few days and Dom will taste it regularly. When he is satisfied with the taste (it takes on a slight almond taste from the blackthorn leaves), it will be filtered and bottled. Then we drink it! Simple really! From an original strength of about 43%, it reduces to about the same strength as sherry.

Randonee semi nocturne and musical interludes

2011-06-12T21:12:00.000+02:00

The French do like their randonees, and we took part in a local walk on Friday evening around our local town of Chatillon sur Indre. It was organised by the gym club (keep fit to you or I) run by a 64 year old (yes, she is very fit) lady who has a smallholding which backs onto our property. It was supposed to be 9K - that was what was advertised, but she quietly told us it was just over 10K (that was a secret apparently). However, we were not deterred by this information, and duly set off at 8.00pm with Poppy who is always looking for new sniffing grounds. Halfway round, as is common with all randonees, there is a tuck stop. Sometimes these are very elaborate affairs with wine (yes at 10.00 in the morning!), sometimes barbecued food, but always plenty to eat. We had a drink and a slice of a very nice leek quiche, Poppy had a welcome drink then we set off again. There were about 50 people on the walk, and we spent a pleasant 2 hours covering the distance. Mind you, the legs were complaining a bit by the time we got back, but another bit of tuck this time accompanied by a glass of cider helped.
Our local hamlet also chose the same night for it's annual concert given by the nearby commune's wind band. We pulled up at 10.30 in time to hear the last 3 tunes, then we all stood around having a glass of wine and a galette or two. The galettes are not what you expect (flat pancakes), but are puff pastry triangles. More often than not they are made from potato flour, but those last night were standard puff pastry. A bit dry really, but then you just have another drink.
By the time we got home (12.30am) my muscles were really starting to complain and I had to put some muscle relaxant on them before I could get off to sleep. They are still grumbling today, but then I'm not in the best of conditions for undertaking 10K walks.

That's a right corker!

2011-06-12T19:40:00.001+02:00

Its June again and in France that's the season for Brocantes, many towns large and small fill up with stalls selling household clearance and everything else imaginable and today was no exception. Attending these events is a little like visting IKEA, you never know what you are going to leave with!!! Today I bought a wine bottle corking machine, something I normally borrow from my French friend.

A man needs to prepare his corking machine!

Guests staying at the gite can buy wine in bulk (10 or 20 litres) from local wine growers and now they can bottle the wine themselves with the use of this corking machine!

Sarah, Michel's daughter, and her husband Rodolphe called today along with Melville the 15month old additon to the family. As it is the weekend of Pentecost, they are visiting our friends Michel and Chantal for the weekend from Paris and Melville was keen to see the local animals....sheep, ducklings, chickens etc and since we are in charge of feeding and securing the neighbours animals this weekend we had a visit next door.

The sheep do not appear to be interested in the visitors!

The gite grass has improved considerablywith the recent rain and although the ground is still very dry the grass at least appears to have taken on a green tint.

Taken today, as you can see the gite garden grass is indeed green, remarkable!

All in a days work

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Every year around this time a strange vehicle arrives just outside the town near the river, and each day for about 3 weeks vans can be seen driving up to it depositing large blue containers and assorted others (like large black dustbins in our case). What is going on I hear you ask...well it is the annual distillation!
Whenever we have sufficient fruit, in our case small yellow plums which our friend says are not mirabelle, but are reine claude (greengages) - I don't agree with him as they are very small for greengages, we collect them and add sugar. When they have stopped fizzing, we seal them up and leave them over the winter. Then at the end of May we take them to the man by the river who turns them into eau de vie. We then use the eau de vie to make an aperitif called Epine (the recipe of which changes from family to family, but is a closely guarded secret), which is of a similar strength to sherry.

All of this is controlled by the local Mairie, and you have to have a permit to distill in order to turn your fruit into alcohol. Unfortunately, most of the permits are held by quite elderly people, and we are led to believe that the bureaucrats in Paris are determined to end the practice and will not allow the permits to be handed on to sons or daughters when the permit holder dies. It's a shame when a tradition in the countryside is not allowed to continue. Something is lost.

One of the fruits he was distilling the day we collected ours was strawberries - the smell was wonderful. It's a wonder he doesn't spend every day in a fuzz of alcohol! Certainly the fish in the river must be happy at this time of year! I wonder if the fishermen notice anything different about the taste of the fish they catch!

Well, we got 20 litres which I thought was quite respectable, but my neighbour Dominic has just told me he got 50 litres! Phew! Still, he says you never know if you will have enough fruit and it always pays to have some in stock. I suppose if the permits are being removed we won't know if we will get any next year so it's as well to have some in.

Our French friends put a little in the bottom of their empty coffee cups at the end of a meal - just to finish off the dregs. Me, I prefer a good malt whisky, thank you very much.

Rain at last!

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We've had such a dry spell for what seems like months, but last night it actually rained here. The grass immediately perked up and the flowers look much happier although I am sure it will take much more rain to restore the supply in reservoir's.

Poppy, our 4 1/2 year old black lab is also happier it's a bit cooler - black is not a good colour when it's 25 degrees in the shade!

John has gone upstairs to work on the second bedroom in the house now it's a bit damp outside. Which is just as well really as we will need the room ready for when some friends come to stay next month.

The cottage has received a good spring clean and repaint in the kitchen, John has polished all the brass so its looking good for our first guests who arrive this weekend.

Brass and copper polished...John's task I am pleased to say!

I'm going to try to go into the potager this afternoon as I may be able to turn the soil over now - when it is dry it sets like concrete and I can't do anything with it. The poor veg in the garden has struggled to say the least. The green beans show little signs of even flowering, but this rain might have helped. I can't get the salad to grow in the soil, so I resorted to putting the lettuces into deep trays and keeping them in the shade.

Mind you, the strawberries loved the sun - I must have made 20 jars of jam! The cherries are also fabulous. My friend Gaynor gave me a lovely recipe for clafoutis (that cherry dessert beloved of the French at this time of year), but when I made it last night I didn't put enough milk in and it's a bit heavy. I'll get it right next time, Gay, I promise!

After weeks of hard work we have completed the changes to the gite garden. We have removed some old leylandii trees and replaced these with a low panel fence and stone walled flower beds. It looks much better and brightens up the right hand side of the gite garden for our guests.

All I need to do now is add plants and hope the grass seed grows!

Madam Monique's ducklings arrived yesterday - little balls of yellow fluff with two tiny legs but I am sure they will grow quickly and soon be swimming around in the duckpond!

A new dawn for Les Deux Platanes

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We are John and Maureen, and we've just moved into the 21st century with our own blog from France.

We hope you follow the goings on here in central France, and the day to day story of country folk (no, it's not the Archers).

Our trusty 1980 Golding

We have been visiting France for more than 40 years, mostly on 3 wheels, always visiting this part of France during part of our holidays to see a French friend John met at University in the 1970's. In 2002 our friend telephoned to say the lady who makes the goats cheese in the village was leaving the village and her cottage would be for sale - needless to say it was an opportunity not to be missed - 8 years later the place is eventually looking ship shape!

And as the years passed we moved onto 4 wheels

We took early retirement 4 years ago so renovation moved up a few gears and the place is looking very presentable indeed. Just as well John served an apprenticeship in the building industry!

We'll post some pictures so you can see what it was like, and also what it is like now.
Watch this space.