Twenty Years Ago Today

It is twenty years ago today that we made our first home hunting trip to France. This is my report, first blogged in August 2006.

When we decided to actually get serious about France, we started looking in the Charente. We had spent a magic week at Bas' place near Confolens, and naturally this was the first place we looked. Finding a house in our price range wasn't going to be easy though. There were a number of houses shown on the various internet sites, but they were in a condition even more perilous than we were prepared to take on.

Susan at dinner with Bas, Terracher

There were a number of criteria that had to be met. We needed a large garden of at least 2000 square metres for growing our self sufficiency vegetables. It had to have guest accomodation for paying guests. And it had to be in the country, far enough away from a town that it was quiet, but not so far away that the market was inaccessible.

For various reasons, all of them too distant in the past to be able to justify properly, we started looking at a small town called Argenton-Chateau in Deux Sevres. There was a nice large ex-forge overlooking the river which was just about in our price-range. After emailing the immobilier we waited......and waited. After a while, we received an answer, and arranged to see the property. Then 2 days before we were due to leave we received an email saying that it had been sold. We decided to visit Argenton-Chateau anyway, as our flights and accomodation had been booked.

The flight (from Gatwick to Nantes) was delayed by 4 hours and 59 minutes, meaning that we arrived at past 2.00am in France. BA had given us food tokens at Gatwick, but only one restaurant was open (and that soon closed) so I bought about £30 worth of biscuits and bottled water. At Nantes, BA booked us a hotel for free because the car hire place was, understandably, closed.

The house and it's view near Thouars

We went to the immobilier in Thouars, who took us to see a couple of properties. The best one was part of a farm complex, the rest of the farm still being in operation . It didn't grab either Susan or myself, even though it wasn't expensive, and the agent said the owners were willing to make a deal. The main problem is both houses were small, and it was out in the sticks. The garden consisted mainly of a huge concrete hardstanding. It had a great view though - a derelict chateau standing (but only just) about 100 metres away. On reflection, we may have been expecting a bit much!

The house at Argenton Chateau

That afternoon, with another agent, we visited a few properties closer to Argenton Chateau. Once again there was no enthusiasm from either of us for any of the properties. I then asked about a property that I had seen advertised, but which filled none of our criteria. It was a house which had been converted into a hairdressers at some time in the past, which stood exactly opposite the church, only 50 metres or so from the Market square.

For some reason this place really appealed. We told the agent we were seriously interested and left for the day. We spent the whole of the next day in and around Argenton Chateau, and on our return to London, decided to make an offer. We rang the agent, decided in consultation with him as to what our offer would be, actually put the offer in - and then the vendor decided not to sell.

This put us both into a bit of a sulk. The next trip was to be more inspiring.

Simon

In hindsight, we are glad we missed out on the house in Argenton. I'm not sure how we would have earned a living, and I suspect the ex-hairdressers was in need of a lot more work than we realised. The other kicker is that Argenton Chateau changed it's name to Argenton-les-Vallées in September 2006, and again to Argentonnay in 2016. I'm not sure I would have kept up.

Foraging for Wild Plants in Spring

With the spring comes the possibility to forage for wild edible plants. This is increasingly trendy and last year's booklet of nature outings published by the Département of Indre et Loire was full of workshops and outings to teach the public how to forage for edible plants and how to prepare them.

 

Autumn Crocus photographed in March.

Part of being able to forage for edible plants is knowing how to correctly identify them and not poison yourself. Between 2020 and 2022 there were 28 cases of poisoning, resulting in four serious cases of liver damage and two deaths, because people mistook toxic Autumn Crocus Colchicum autumnale (Fr. Colchique) leaves for the delicious edible garlic flavoured wild leaf of Ramsons Allium ursinum (Fr. Ail des ours). There is a risk of mistaking Wild Arum and Lily of the Valley for Ramsons too.

People mostly make pesto with Ramsons, but it is also used in salads, sautéed or in quiches. One simple way to tell if you have Ramsons is to rub the leaves between your fingers. This should produce a strong garlic smell. If it doesn't, do not eat your harvest.

 

Ramsons.

Autumn Crocus leaves are stiffer, slightly fleshy, with rounded tips and no stem. Ramsons leaves are pointed ovals, with stems. 

The French Anti Poison Centres recommend the following as best practice:

• make sure you know the plants you harvest well.
• check each leaf for a smell of garlic by rubbing it between your fingers.
• don't cut the leaves in handfuls, to avoid cutting several species at once and mixing the toxic with the edible.
• if you have any doubt about the identification, don't eat it!
• stop eating it immediately if you experience any bitter or unpleasant taste.
• photograph what you pick to facilitate identification in case of poisoning.
  

Poplars and Their Parasites

Mistletoe Viscum album (Fr. Gui) on Poplar.

One day driving to the supermarket I noticed that there was a magnicent Hoof Fungus Fomes fomentarius (Fr. Amadouvier) growing on one of the poplar trees (Populus plantation hybrid) lining the road to the hamlet of Humeau. The next day I made sure our walk passed the spot so I could photograph it. And as a result I realised that the tree was being attacked by at least two species of fungi, and it, and a companion across the road were in fact dead. These poplars have numerous parasitic mistletoe balls attached to them as well as the fungi. On these two trees the mistletoe was clearly dead, making it evident that the trees themselves were dead and the supply of nutrients to the mistletoe had ceased. Other nearby poplars had green thriving balls of mistletoe.

 

Dead Mistletoe on dead Poplar.

It is unlikely that any of these fungi, or the mistletoe, killed these trees on their own, but they would have contributed to the death, and taken advantage of weakened trees that were suffering some other stress. My guess is the stress was weather related, particularly several long dry spells in the past few years. The fungi will now process the wood in the tree, decomposing the lignin and the cellulose and recycling it back into the soil. 

 

Unidentified fungus on dead Poplar.

Possibly old Tiger Sawgill Lentinus tigrinus on dead Poplar, and a medium sized beetle exit hole.

Hoof Fungus Fomes fomentarius on dead Poplar. This was the largest of several Hoof Fungi emerging from all around the trunk.

The underside of a Hoof Fungus on a dead but still erect Poplar trunk.

From There to Here - Preuilly

I was bouncing around the internet last weekend -as you do - and found this photo of Preuilly, taken in about 1912. I spent age looking in the wrong place for our house, but eventually found us.

What surprises me is that today the building is virtually unchanged to 1912. I assumed that the back of the house - now our kitchen and spare bedroom - was a post world war one build, executed when materials were almost impossible to get.

The photo was taken from somewhere near the cluster of evergreen trees on the horizon in this pic.

If you can't find our house, don't panic - it's here, circled in orange.

The Dogs of Loches

 

 Spot the dogs.

If you visit the Logis Royal, the royal hunting lodge and residence of mistresses and queens, on the Royal Citadel in Loches one of the first things you will see is a series of carved stone hounds sitting on the balustrade of the staircase up to the southern entrance. All the locals know and love them. 

But not everyone is aware that whilst the royal hunting lodge was built in the 15th century (in two phases), the dogs and their staircase were only added in the early 20th century, when the building ceased being the government offices, and opened to the public as a heritage tourist attraction. And what even more people fail to notice is that there are other dogs ornamenting the building, which, so far as I know, are original to the second building phase in the late 15th century.

 

15th century dormer windows.

This hunting lodge was a medieval Valois stronghold, refuge and sanctuary. The Valois royals were famously besotted with their dogs and the contemporary records make it clear that these animals were pets and companions, to be cossetted, fussed over, spoiled and loved.

 

Anne of Brittany, the Queen for whom the extension created in the second phase of the building was made, was accompanied everywhere by a pair of whippets. Louis XI had a great white lurcher (Fr. lévrier) that was with him until the very end. Someone buried a medium sized dog hard up against the chapel wall in the 15th century, and the position tells us that it must have been an animal that a high status person cared about a lot.

 

The dogs sit high and proud looking out over the valley towards the forest.

Whilst there were no breeds as such at this time, there was a hierachy of dog types. At the top were the 'running dogs', what we would call greyhounds, whippets, lurchers, wolf hounds and the like, used as both pets and hunting dogs. It is almost always this type of dog that gets mentioned as beloved in the contemporary literature. Then there were the 'hunting dogs', which were big hounds and mastiffs, used in packs to bring down large prey. There were 'guard dogs'  and 'shepherd dogs' which protected property and controlled livestock. And there were small dogs suitable for living indoors and spending much of their time in their owners arms. Portraits of the great and the good feature cute little dogs surprisingly often. There must also have been small hunting dogs like terriers for catching vermin.

Beware of Processional Caterpillars

Ever noticed that some pine trees have sacks made of what looks like spiderweb up high in the tree? These are the communal nests of the notorious Pine Processionary moth caterpillar. If you have pine trees on your land you would be wise to buy the trunk bands with a plastic bag full of soil attached that act as a trap for the caterpillars as they descend. Garden centres sell them.

The caterpillars are a danger to you, and more especially to your pets. The caterpillar hairs are urticating, which means that they cause an allergic reaction if they touch flesh. You will most likely just get itchy red spots on your arms, but your pet may ingest the hairs by sniffing the caterpillars or licking their own fur where the caterpillar hair may have settled. This can lead to tragic consequences.

The caterpillars live in the web nests from autumn to spring. Every evening unless very cold the caterpillars emerge in single file to feed on pine needles. They are a serious pest of pine forests. One day in spring they form a single file procession behind one of the female caterpillars. They descend from the tree and the female leads them to a patch of ground where they will bury themselves in the earth to pupate. Forestry managers have discovered that they can be tricked into thinking groves of deciduous trees planted amongst the conifers are open ground suitable for pupation. The trees come into leaf after the caterpillars pupate, leaving them in the shade and many of them die. The caterpillars have extremely irritating hairs which hang in the air and fall from the nests long after the caterpillars have vacated. Neither the nests nor the caterpillars should be handled, and pet owners need to be on their guard in case animals are exposed to irritant hairs. The rash generally lasts about 3 weeks and should be treated initially by taking a hot shower as soon as possible after exposure, and washing clothes exposed in hot water. Pets which are exposed should be seen by the vet as soon as possible, as in severe cases, exposure can lead to necrosis of the tongue, requiring amputation or even causing death. 

Scientific Name: Thaumetopoea pityocampa.

English Name: Pine Processionary Moth.

French Name: les Processionnaires du pin (='pine processionaries').

Lookalikes: Oak Processionary Moth T. processionea, however these are only associated with oak woods, not pine and the moths have discoloured hind wings. I've only ever seen these once in the area, in the Forest of la Guerche. Don't confuse with other very hairy caterpillars such as the Tiger and Eggar moths. If you see a hairy caterpillar all on its own, it is not a Processional, so don't squish it, even just in case.

Habitat: Pine trees and the ground nearby. All types of conifers with Black Austrian Pine being the preferred host. The caterpillars seem to choose open ground to bury themselves for pupation. Depending on the weather, the caterpillars could start appearing in long lines on the ground as early as February, but usually it is March or April here in the Touraine. 

 

Red spots caused by Pine Processional caterpillar hairs. In this case the person picked up a cat which had been outdoors and had the urticating hairs on its fur.

NOT a Pine Processionary caterpillar. This is a tiger moth caterpillar -- darker and all on its own.

NOT Pine Processionary caterpillars. These are Glanville Fritillary butterfly caterpillars - rare and precious. They are black with red heads, not ginger and grey, much smaller than processionary caterpillars, and their web nest is on the ground, usually over a plantain plant.