What is the Polish Connection to a Small Town in Deux-Sevres?

On our way back from Morbihan in June we stopped off for a toilet break in Airvault in Deux-Sevres. I took ten minutes to check out the interior of the church. One of the things which struck me was a painting of the Madonna, with a plaque underneath in French and Polish. It said the painting was a gift from Polish soldiers on 4 April 1940. 

What, I wondered, were Polish soldiers doing in a small town in the middle of nowhere in western France in April 1940, and why had they wished to make this gift? A bit of digging on the internet revealed a little known story that was part of a much bigger picture...

 

The Polish Madonna in the church at Airvault.

In September 1939 Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and the USSR. On 3 September France declared war on Germany. In December 1939, France welcomed thousands of Polish soldiers, fleeing the occupation of their country. By June 1940 there were over 80 000 Polish soldiers in France. The men wore French military uniforms (with a Polish eagle on their berets), officers wore Polish uniforms. This was an Allied Army, attached to the French Command, but fighting under its own flag. More than half of these men were volunteers who were Polish immigrants already living in France when the War broke out, the rest were recruited from Poland.

Opened in 1939 on land requisitioned from private owners, the camp at Veluché straddled three municipalities territories (Airvault, Jumeaux and Saint-Loup), and closed in March 1941.  In this period of under two years it had two distinct functions. From September 1939 to June 1940 it was primarily a training camp for the Polish Army (and a staging post for some Polish refugees who came via Hungary and Romania). The Polish government, led by General Sikorski in exile in Angers, decided to open two training camps for its refugee soldiers - one at Coëtquidan and another at Veluché. The proximity to a north-south train line with a double track, and a cement factory were the major deciding factors in choosing the location, as well as the fact that it was out of the way, in the middle of nowhere, hidden by trees, and very far from the Front Line.

 

The imposing market hall in the centre of Airvault.

The camp was constructed by a thousand Spanish Republicans, who were themselves refugees, supervised by French engineers. It was originally composed of five sections in an unenclosed triangle stretching over four kilometres and was primarily for training. There was also an arms depot, administration facilities, a medical service, water tower, observation posts and blockhouses, and a bakery, with roads, some sort of sewage treatment facility and electricity. 

Although there were 500 barracks constructed of concrete, brick, timber and stone, with slate or fibro-cement roofs, to house newcomers, the soldiers were billeted with local residents, or allocated to empty barns, houses and attics, once they had received their basic training, mainly in Airvault, but also in Thouars, la Gatine and le Bocage. The local mayors had some difficulty finding accommodation for all these men, and the winter of 1939 was an unusually hard one. Officers were of course billeted in the homes of local residents in more comfort, and were given French lessons by volunteers. Hosts were paid 90 francs a month to provide a room and the officers were given 20 francs a day to cover their meals at local restaurants and cafés.

 

Medieval timber framed building in Airvault.

The more solid buildings were for housing the men, the timber buildings stabled horses used for transport and anti-tank batteries. There was an exercise field and a vast shooting range, and the soldiers were given long heavy World War I era rifles. Originally intended for 16 000 troops, in the end about 35 000 Poles, most of them aged between 16 and 18 years old, passed through the camp in ten months, creating unbreakable links with the local population. The camp's activities stretched over neighbouring fields, and arrangements were made with local farmers to establish when they could work their land. The road would be blocked while shooting practice was going on.

What stands out from the personal testimonies of locals who remember this time is the impression of the sheer numbers of men and how they were everywhere. Residents heard them singing and marching all the time, and shopkeepers reported that 75% of their takings were from these soldiers. There was an appreciation that these men were here to defend the French, and the future. Informal contact with the locals was warm, friendly, polite and respectful. So long as their French hosts spoke slowly and clearly the Poles understood most of what was being said to them. They knew the tune of the Marseillaise, although they were a bit vague on the lyrics. At Airvault they arrived on the train the week before Christmas, and suddenly they were everywhere. They clogged up the streets so that you couldn't circulate. They were very pious, drank the place dry and bought a lot from the shops in town. They sang beautifully and greatly enhanced the Mass, and especially Christmas. All these things made a strong impression on the locals. 

 

The very large church on the market square in Airvault.

Charitable Franco-Polish organisations held events to ensure good friendly links between the two communities. There were concerts, theatre evenings, religious ceremonies, wreath laying ceremonies, military presentations, and a celebration of the Polish national day. In a six month period from December 1939 to May 1940 there were 22 public events of this nature in the area. One of the local newspapers had a daily column dedicated to the activities of the Polish soldiers. The soldiers also got quite a bit of attention from the young women of the area. The interest and kindness was reciprocated, and churches in both Airvault and Bressuire received gifts of copies of the painting of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in 1940, and a cross was erected on the roadside near the station at Airvault.

But in June 1940 it was the Germans who were everywhere. One group of Polish soldiers left for the Front at Belfort. Others managed to get to England by embarking from la Rochelle, and participated in the Normandy landings four years later. On 21 June 1940 the camp was completely empty. The last eight Polish soldiers and a civilian were machine gunned down at the railway station. The same day the Germans entered Airvault. Shortly afterwards they discovered the existance of the camp. 

 

Airvault, which I noticed was home to a good population of Swifts.

From October 1940 to March 1941 it became a prison camp for 'colonial' soldiers. Veluché was rather convenient for the Nazis. As they advanced at breakneck speed, they found themselves with tens of thousands of French soldiers to imprison. Amongst these there were a lot of men of colour, from the colonies (Antilles, Senegal, Morocco and elsewhere in Africa, Indochina). They made up nearly half the French Army. Propaganda from the 1920s meant that there still was a good deal of fear of 'blacks' amongst the Germans, and they didn't want these men detained in Germany.

The Nazis had already decided to create a prison camp for 'colonials' in the west of France. Veluché was perfect, and it became Fronstalag 231. The first prisonners arrived in October 1940. In total, in six months, around 12 000 soldiers of 28 nationalities were detained here. According to the official lists, only three Spanish and four French men were held here, including Jacques Ménard, who later became a Senator and Mayor of Thouars. Why he was held here is a mystery though.

 

Airvault.

Although the hundred or so other Fronstalags in France were managed by the French, Veluché was managed by the Wehrmacht directly, using mainly Austrian veterans, with twenty doctors (12 Germans and 8 French). Visits from local 'godmothers' were encouraged by the priest in Airvault.

In the beginning it wasn't the worst camp in which to live, but in January 1941 there was a turning point. There had been more than a hundred escapes, so the Germans put their minds to tightening security, mainly by employing younger guards.

 

Church porch, Airvault.

But the following month, another turn. An epidemic of tuberculosis began, to add its ravages to the already rampant dysentry. Eyewitness accounts tell of thick black smoke, leading historians to suppose that the bodies were burnt. Soon after, in March 1941, the camp was closed for good. Today, few vestiges remain of the camp itself, as it was demolished by the Germans.

After the War the bodies of 26 African troops were recovered from a mass grave near the water tower in the camp. They were reinterred in a dedicated military memorial cemetery at Airvault. There seems also to have been an incident in June 1940 when the railway station at nearby Thouars was bombed and some Polish soldiers were killed, and subsequently buried in a ditch at Airvault.

Sources: local history professor and Poitiers University lecturer, Mattieu Manceau, whose book on the subject, Un camp en Deux-Sèvres, Veluché 1939-1941, came out last year, and Gazet@ Beskid, a French language Polish online magazine.

A Happy Birthday Card

Niall and Antoinette gave me one of the best birthday card ever. I made a timelapse movie of it.

I hope it works - blogger is really haphazard at the moment 

An Interesting Day

I had my first proper day out yesterday. 

We started with lunch at Au Bon Coin in le Petit Pressigny. We've lived here for over 15 years, and never eaten there before. Which is a mistake, because it's an absolutely typical French Workers Restaurant, with 4 courses for 15€90. Everything was tasty and well prepared, and a convivial time was had by all.

After lunch I  drove us to Tours in the Cactus so I could relocate Claudette to Amboise for tomorrow. We then drove the cactus home, for a total of 180km.

No pictures, but here's some theme music:

Once Upon a Time in Loches -- the Liberation of Loches 6 September 1944

 

"This new occupation of Loches extended over ten days during which the Germans progressively left for the Eastern Front. The residents of Loches witnessed an incessant stream of German trucks. The whole time the Germans were fleeing by any means possible, including by bicycle. Loches didn't immediately believe in the Liberation.

On 2 September 1944 the last German soldiers left the town. On 3 September a car full of maquisards entered Loches, surrounded by delighted Loches residents. Nevertheless, the town did not feel free, the painful memory of 20 August still remained present in everyone's mind.

On 5 September the rumour of a parade leads to a crowd forming in the Town Hall Square. The different maquis groups met there to work out who would do what in the parade to come and to make sure that Lecoz did not participate. An exchange with a prisonner was enough to avoid this undesirable presence.

On 6 September 1944 the liberation parade took place. The different maquis groups paraded in Loches, surrounded by flags and onlookers. But the enthusiasm was not quite so strong as on 16 August. The first 'liberation' of Loches had left the residents cautious. After an assembly in Place de Verdun there was a call to arms and a speech by Raymond Mallet. Friday 15 September an American jeep arrived in Loches with a Major Knapp on board. Everyone saw that as a sign of the real liberation of Loches and the announcement of the end of the War in the Touraine."

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This poster is part of an exhibition in the Chancellerie on 'Loches in 1944' https://www.ville-loches.fr/expositions-article-3-10-56.html

Duralex

Duralex International is a French company based in La Chapelle Saint Mesmin in the county (Fr. département) of Loiret, which manufactures tableware from toughened glass. The business was placed in receivership in April this year. At one stage owned by the famous glassworks Saint Gobain, they were also affiliated with Pyrex.

Established in 1927 near Orléans by the vinegar producer Dessaux, the glassworks was sold in 1930 to the perfumier François Coty, who used it to manufacture perfume bottles. 

 

Duralex Picardie glasses in our kitchen.

In 1934 the business was acquired by Saint Gobain and in 1935 the factory employed 575 people. Saint Gobain had just invented toughened (tempered) glass, and the factory was put to work making headlights and windscreens for cars. In the 1970s the factory produced sanitary ware and in the 1980s they were making the doors for washing machines. 

At the same time, from 1945 onwards, the factory was making tableware. Their small round Gigogne glass was launched in 1946 and it became a cult object. The nine faceted Picardie glass was released in 1954 and became even more iconic. Generations of pupils in school cantines remember comparing their 'age', by checking the number on the bottom of each glass. The 'youngest' had to then fetch the water jug for that table.

The markings on one of the Duralex glasses in our  kitchen.

These numbers, from 01 to 50, represent the number of the machine the glass was made on. It allows the factory to quickly identify a machine with a problem and fix it.

The 1960s were a golden age for the factory, with these two products known world wide. In 1965 an advertisement for Duralex won best publicity film at Cannes, and MoMa in New York and the Elysée Palace in Paris were selling the glasses in their gift shops. At the time the factory employed 1500 people.

The decline began in the 1970s and Saint Gobain sold the business to an Italian glassmaker. In 2004 the company was sold to one of its executives, with investment backers. Within a year he had filed for bankruptcy and the business was bought by their biggest customer, a Turkish wholesaler. He promptly asset stripped the factory, left it in even more debt and disappeared back to Turkey. Half the machinery and stock is missing and there is a European arrest warrant waiting for him.

After a year a Franco-British industrialist, Antoine Ioannides became president of the company and he and his brother invested some tens of millions of euros. Things were going well, and then there was a serious problem with some specialist equipment after a new furnace was installed. The business was insured but claiming the money was taking years. And then Covid hit and the principal end users of their product, cafés and bars all over the world, were all closed. It was the killer blow and the Ioannides decided to sell to try to recup some of their investment.

The business started winding down but they could not completely close down the furnace for technical reasons. It limped on with a skeleton staff. Finally in 2020 it was placed in receivership. 

Then International Cookware (Pyrex) stepped up and took over. But in 2022, after becoming the Maison Française du verre, they got caught out by the hike in energy prices. This time the furnaces were shut off, for five months, and the 250 employees put on chômage partiel (a government scheme which means that employees are paid 80% of their wage by the State, to ensure a business in temporary difficulty doesn't close permanently with all employees becoming unemployed).

In March 2024 the company was taken over by New Duralex International. They were promptly asked to pay the 'rights to pollute' fee that was associated with the previous management. Within a month they'd asked the court to proceed with receivership. 

Last month the local authority offered to buy the land and buildings of the glass factory, in order to help the employees buy the business as a workers co-operative (Fr. Societé Cooperative et Participative). The workers have 6 months to get something together to save the company and their jobs.

Entree libre

Some shops in France have a little sign in the window or hanging on the door that says 'Entrée libre'. Anglophones think to themselves 'free entry'!? WTF, it's a shop, of course it's free entry if they want any customers!!

But 'free entry' in the sense of there is no entry fee would be 'entrée gratuite' in French. 'Entrée libre' actually translates as 'enter freely', as in - 'come in, feel free to browse...'. And the implication is that there is no obligation to buy.

It's a hangover from the days when you did not enter a shop unless you had a firm intention to buy something. The shopkeeper would let you in and out usually, and upon entering you would discuss your purchasing requirements with them first, before being shown a selection to choose from on the counter. Or you might have a list, which you handed over and the shopkeeper gathered the items for you. Shops were often set up as a small space with a counter at the front, with all the goods in a storeroom behind. 

It started to change in the 1960s, but prior to that the relationship of customer to merchant had hardly changed since medieval times. There was an expectation that you chatted with the shopkeeper, exchanging pleasantries and news. If you wanted to browse you went to the market rather than a shop.

An Update on My Health

Two weeks on from having my prostate removed and things are improving. All my stitches have dissolved and I no longer have any dressings on my wounds. The nurse still calls every day to administer my anticoagulant injection, and do my weekly blood test.  The catheter came out just over a week ago, so I am retraining my bladder. Getting out of a chair, sneezing and coughing are still a challenge, but the "Protections pour fuites" are working, and lasting longer.

Yesterday I even went for a walk. It wasn't a long walk compared to my normal efforts in July, but it was a walk in some considerable heat, and afterwards I really knew I'd done it - very tired and needing a lie down. 

So, all good, and getting better.

The Cabinet des Sciences at the Chateau de Chenonceau

The Chateau of Chenonceau has a new permanent exhibition. It has become the custodian of an extraordinary collection of over 40 scientific instruments and pieces of laboratory equipment that once belonged to Louis-Claude Dupin de Francueil.

 

Top left, a bell in a vacuum, used to demonstrate that sound does not travel through a vacuum; top right, a lighter in a vacuum, used to demonstrate the effect lack of oxygen has on a flame; bottom left, an adjustable convex mirror, for making distorted images; bottom right, a gold leaf electroscope, which shows that two electrically charged objects which repel one another have the same polarity.

Dupin de Francueil was the eldest son of Claude Dupin, the owner of Chenonceau in the 18th century, and the grandfather of the writer George Sand (real name Aurore Dupin). His stepmother, Louise, was part of the Enlightenment movement, hosting a salon that received the great men of the day such as Montesquieu, Diderot and Voltaire. Her secretary, before he became famous, was none other than Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Being herself interested in the sciences, she allowed Rousseau to work with her stepson, to create a collection of scientific instruments which were intended as pedagogic tools, to demonstrate phenomena such as forces, movement, vacuums and so on, so they could be understood by their application and consequences. This unique collection was owned by the Touraine Archeological Society, but they have nowhere to display it and it has been passed to the Département d'Indre et Loire. Now it has returned, on loan, to its place of origin.

 

 Terracotta retorts, used to heat substances and recover the gases given off.

In 1745-47, during the Dupin's habitual autumn residence at the Chateau of Chenonceau, Rousseau, a keen botanist and seeker of knowledge, and Dupin de Francueil, interested in chemistry, natural history and experimental physics, set up a laboratory in the stableblock. There, they occupied themselves with measuring, experimenting and testing new theories of physics and astronomy. Included in the collection are armillary spheres, a 's Gravesande gutter, a hydrostatic balance, and a hoist with 8 pulleys. The instruments were made by Dupin de Francueil himself, with the assistance of Rousseau, who came from an artisanal family background of watchmakers. 

 

Top, a hydrostatic balance, used to demonstrate density; bottom left, a Heron's fountain, a closed circuit hydraulic system; bottom right, a conical flask, used in atmospheric pressure demonstrations.

It seems Dupin de Francueil had ambitions to be admitted to the French Academy of Sciences, but nothing seems to have come of it. He took chemistry lessons with Academician Guillaume-François Rouelle in Paris and commissioned Rousseau to write a book to popularise science, but it remained unfinished.

These activities were fashionable in France at the time and some important science came out of private laboratories such as the one at Chenonceau. But further than the science, the instruments in this collection are of a very high quality, and reflect the refined style of French objects from the time of Louis XV. Only the collection of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris rivals the one now at Chenonceau.

Once Upon A Time in Loches - the New German Occupation August 1944

 

"The evening of 20 August was taken up with negociations between the German officers and the Loches Liberation Committee. After numerous difficulties and threats to burn the town an agreement was reached in the middle of the night. Loches, occupied anew, must deliver 20 hostages who will be executed if there is the least attack against the Germans within a radius of 5 kilometres around the town. 

On 21 August the Germans intended to reassert their presence. The 20 hostages, bargaining chips, were placed under heavy guard, at the Lasnier house, opposite the Chateau de Vauchignard. As a warning to the residents of Loches, three barracks in Place de Verdun were torched, as well as the Tivoli camp. A group of German soldiers visited the farmlet of Corbery and executed three of the four young Resistance fighters who were found there. The German lieutenant in charge of the garrison at Loches visited the hospital with the aim of capturing and shooting the maquisards wounded in the fighting the day before. The intervention of Dr Paul Martinais, who was engaged in caring for a German soldier when the officer arrived, meant that summary executions were prevented. 

In the following days the tension was palpable in the streets, felt equally by  Loches residents and the Germans. Confusion and suspicion reigned. German trucks passed through the town, heading for the Eastern Front. In the night of 30 August the German soldiers stationed in Place de Verdun fired on a German column that they mistook to be maquisards, and whose passage had not been scheduled. Around Loches fighting raged between the maquis and the German troops, who sought to rejoin their comrades further East at any price."

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This poster is part of an exhibition in the Chancellerie on 'Loches in 1944' https://www.ville-loches.fr/expositions-article-3-10-56.html

La Puxisardinophilie

Sardine tin collecting is a thing, especially in France, and in French it's called puxisardinophilie ('puxi' is the same root as pyx, a box used to carry the Eucharist wafers). A sardine tin collector can also be referred to as a clupéidophile (sardines are part of the Clupeidae family of ray-finned fish, which includes herring as well). Generally, puxisardinophile is used for collectors of unopened tins, whilst clupéidophile indicates someone who collects empty tins. It's affordable so anyone can do it. Most collectors buy unopened tins, and they may choose to focus on a particular area or factory's output, or they may collect globally. 

 

A collection on the wall of a bar in Carnac, Brittany.

The sardines from Brittany are considered to be the best in the world, and the Breton company Connétable is the oldest extant fish cannery in the world, founded in 1853. The very best Bretonne sardines are caught only in July, August and September, when their fat content is highest. Top quality sardines in tins must have a minimum of 10% fat to be given a vintage year (Fr. millésimée) and a use by date of ten years after processing, both printed on the tin. Also printed on the tins are the name and home port of the boat that caught the sardines inside. After canning these premium sardines will be aged by the factory for a year before being sold to consumers. Collectors will often age them another decade after the use by date and say that by then the bones have dissolved and the taste and texture has refined. If the tin is undamaged this is not dangerous. Plain olive oil rather than fancy marinades are favoured.

The reason the tins are collectable is because there is a long tradition, almost as long as sardines have been canned, of tins being printed with designs by professional contemporary artists. This means that the vintage sardines can be issued as limited editions -- doubly special and collectable! And there are also artists subverting the tradition, by using sardine tins as their medium.

 

Collectable tins of sardines at Galland Epicerie de terroirs in Amboise, a high end French regional products grocer.

Sardines are a delicate fish, not easy to keep in good condition after they are caught. Prior to canning being possible they were dried on outdoor racks, or pressed between layers of salt in barrels. From the 1820s large scale canning was underway and there were many factories processing sardines.

Sardines were the first staple food to be marketed in the modern sense. Once the means existed to preserve them and ship them inland, especially to Paris, these new markets needed to be encouraged to purchase such an unfamiliar product. So, along with advertising and promotional campaigns for fancier products such as chocolate and tonic drinks of high alcohol content and dubious health benefits, the humble sardine was introduced to its new public with painted wall advertisements, posters and newspaper space. The cleverest way of boosting sales was the use of eye-catching colourful and collectable tins. This is now so well established that it is just about the only way sardines are promoted these days, apart from occasional specials in supermarket catalogues.

 

The range of tinned sardines in one of my local supermarkets. Even the supermarket own brand has vintage sardines.

These days sardines are rather polarising as a foodstuff. You either love them or you hate them. Many people find them too stinky and unappetising, and can't face them, despite knowing all about their Omega-3 fatty acid health benefits and their sustainability (at least, the Atlantic stocks...). Canned tuna is as far as these people are prepared to go. Fortunately Simon and I love sardines, so we always keep a tin or two in the pantry. 

Tins of Bretonne sardines make great gifts when you travel, as they are lightweight, sealed and robust. Likewise they are a good product to pick off the shelf and donate when your local food bank is collecting at the supermarket.

 

The tin of sardines currently in our pantry.

Tinned sardines (Fr. sardines en boîte) are best served simply, just with some good bread to sop up the oil, and a few drops of lemon juice. 

The Bretonne sardines are Sardina pilchardus. The sardine fishing and processing industry employs several thousand people in Brittany. The port of Douarnenez was for many years the biggest sardine fishing port in the world, and a pioneer in industrial fish canning. Nevertheless the industry has had its ups and downs in the region, with changes to manufacturing processes and fluctuating stocks of fish.

Why Visit Morbihan (Brittany)?

 Part of the Carnac alignment of standing stones (menhirs).

We recently spent a very successful short break in Morbihan, staying in a cabin (Fr. mobile home) in a caravan park at Carnac. Morbihan is a county (Fr. département) in the south of Brittany (Fr. Bretagne) on the Atlantic coast, around the Gulf of Morbihan. Inland it is agricultural, on the maritime side it is fishing and pleasure boat ports. It is a beautiful part of France, where the hydrangeas are blue and the stone is granite. To my mind there are three main reasons for going to Morbihan:

 

Wild Foxgloves Digitalis purpurea (Fr. Digitale pourpre) were abundant on roadsides and woodland edges.

 

1. The prehistoric stone structures.

The number of prehistoric menhirs (standing stones), cairns (dry stone covered chamber tombs) and tumuli (earth covered tombs) is astonishing. They are everywhere! and each more interesting and intriguing than the next. We stayed across the road from the famous alignments of Carnac. Which is impressive enough, as it is several rows of standing stones which go on for some kilometres. But then we visited the island of Gavrinis, and got to go inside the cairn. The young archaeologist conducting the tour was excellent. After that we saw the related tombs across the water at Locmariaquer and then a few more that I don't even remember the name of. Some are publicly owned, carefully guarded by heritage professionals and there is an entry fee. Others are on private property and access is freely granted. They date from the time four to six thousand years ago that man was just settling down to live in small fixed communities rather than being nomadic. We were awestruck to be allowed inside these remarkable links with the distant past, and to be allowed to take photos. Frankly it beggars belief that Morbihan is not UNESCO World Heritage Listed for its prehistoric landscape.

 

The remains of a marvellous meal of Breton mussels (Fr. moules bretonne).

2. The distinctive Bretonne cuisine, in which dairy and seafood feature strongly.

Brittany has maintained its own culture and even its language rather better than some other regions of France. The list of gourmet delicacies that come from Brittany is long: kouign amann (butter cake); far breton (prunes in a thick pancake); palets, galettes and sablés bretons (plain biscuits); seafood especially shellfish (mussels, oysters, clams) and sardines; cider; salted butter; salted butter caramel; crèpes and galettes (savoury crèpes made with buckwheat flour); quatre quart (pound cake); cocos de Paimpol (dried white beans); andouille de Guémené (chitterlings); lait ribot (buttermilk); cotriade (fish soup); farz (pasta made from buckwheat flour); artichokes; strawberries; pink onions. Some of these have made it out of Brittany and can be encountered anywhere in France now, especially in places where Bretons migrated to, like the Montparnasse quartier of Paris. But others, whilst known to foodlovers, have to be discovered in their home territory. We had the best mussels we've ever eaten, quite by chance, by lobbing up to a restaurant on a small harbour because it was lunchtime and we were passing. No consulting of restaurant reviews, just a quick perusal of the menu board outside to check they did the kind of food we liked at the price we wanted to pay. Kouign Amann is a must have if you are in Brittany, and we bought ours from a small stall in Carnac market that was selling nothing else. 

 

 Le Grand Menhir at Locmariaquer fell not long after it was erected and broke into four enormous chunks.

3. Sailing and other water sports.

We didn't participate in any watersports this time, but it was clear that the Gulf of Morbihan is a paradise for anyone wanting to learn to sail or get to grips with sea canoeing, paddle boarding or kite surfing. It's a big protected inlet and there are hundreds of boats big and small moored in the many harbours. We saw yachts ranging from century old yawls that now take tourists out to islands for day trips, to enormously tall masted trimarans with the very latest in high tech sails [link]. Even if you know nothing about boats it's picturesque and alluring.

 

 Kouign Amann at the market in Carnac.

Once you've visited the area you know why hundreds of French families have holidayed there since the 19th century, even though Brittany is famous for weather which includes drizzly rain nearly every day. There is so much to do, so much opportunity to just relax and take it easy, and the visibility of the Breton culture means that you know you are not at home. The locals clearly rely on tourists for a significant chunk of their annual income, but the place has not been turned into a caricature of itself. Bretons are proud to speak their language and practice their culture and would do so whether there were tourists or not. I was interested to see that the SuperU supermarket in Carnac had an extensive selection of local produce, including ceramics, baked goods, drinks and caramels. It was a one stop souvenir shop as far as I was concerned and I bought a mug, some pommeau (an apple liqueur), beer, kouign amann (again...) and salted caramel sauce. At the market there was a stall selling the iconic stripey shirts that Bretons are stereotyped as wearing. Of course it was aimed at the tourists, but the locals do genuinely wear them too, so we bought one each. They are good quality and weren't expensive.

 

 Artichokes at Carnac market.

We had such a nice time we can't believe we never made it up there before, and we certainly have plans to return.

 

Caravan park. Our cabin was through the arch.

Some sort of aquatic exercise class. 

The photo makes it look as if it was very early in the morning, but in fact it was 10 am.

Part of the alignment of prehistoric standing stones at Carnac.

Embarking at Gavrinis Island.

Flowers

In anticipation of tomorrow's blog:

Who's a Happy Little Vegemite?

We all have foods we remember from our childhoods which we revert to when we need a little comfort. One of mine is Vegemite, something we have mentioned on the blog before.

Vegemite was created in 1922 by chemist Dr. Cyril Percy Callister. In response to the disruption of supply of imported British Marmite after World War I, Fred Walker & Co. commissioned Callister to develop a local alternative. Using leftover brewer's yeast, he created Vegemite, a rich source of Vitamin B. It was initially marketed as a health food, but struggled to gain popularity until the 1930s when a marketing campaign boosted its profile. By the 1940s, Vegemite had become a staple in Australian households, further enhanced by an advertising campaign and jingle in the early days of commercial TV.

Compared to Marmite, Vegemite is thicker and more of a spreadable paste. The name was chosen as a result of a competition.

After I came out of hospital I mentioned that Vegemite on toast would be really nice, but buying it it France was twice as expensive as in Australia. Jean piped up to say that she was in England, her local Tesco's sold Vegemite, and that she was returning to France soon.

A couple of days later she popped round with 2 jars. I instantly made myself Vegemite on toast and had a Proustian rush.

We're Not Doing Much

You won't be surprised to hear that we haven't been out and about much lately. What with daily visits from the domiciliary nurse, the Tour de France on TV and the fact it's been warm outside, I have been resolutely domestic. Yesterday was my first excursion outside since getting home from the hospital, and that was a car ride to le Grand Pressigny to see our General Practitioner (in french, médecin traitant).

Hardly photogenic stuff.

So instead, a photo of some Charolais cattle we encountered on a walk near Chaumussay the day before I went into hospital.

Once Upon A Time in Loches -- Fighting August 1944

 

"After the 'Liberation' of Loches the maquisards put up road blocks on the routes coming into town, fearing German reprisals because troops were passing through, having been ordered to march to the East. The country was not yet liberated. At Loches several German columns attacked the town on 20 August from several different points of access.

*Route de Tours, at the spot called Marray a small German contingent attempted to get into town at 9 am, but an hour of fighting was enough to make them turn back.

*Route de Ligueil, at around 10:30 am nearly 500 German soldiers attacked the road block at Blanchardiere Farm. Facing them were 11 maquisards of the FTPF. After 2 hours of battle the Germans retreated, but took around a hundred inhabitants of Ligeuil hostage and positioned them around their convoy. Equipped with these human shields, they turned back towards la Blanchardiere in the early afternoon. Despite 3 hostages fatally wounded, the maquisards held their position and the Germans turned around to head for Bournan and Sainte Maure.

*Route du Perusson, at the same time a German convoy was engaged in fighting at la Cloutiere. The FTPF, installed at the Tivoli Camp, joined the men of the Maquis Lecoz who were defending the road block. Around 6 pm the German Army gave up and turned back, realising that they were too few to face these French Resistants.

*Route de Manthelan, more than 600 German soldiers crossed the Forest of Manthelan in the late morning. They extended their front line from the Mouzay road to the Chanceaux road, then progressed up to the Ligeuil road. Against the Germans, the maquisards were ill equipped and too few in number, and they could not hold the position. Around 5:30 pm the enemy fired a canon on the Donjon de Loches from Bel-Ebat. The maquisards fought even in retreat, after the loss of about 20 men during the days fighting. Loches fell..."

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This poster is part of an exhibition in the Chancellerie on 'Loches in 1944' https://www.ville-loches.fr/expositions-article-3-10-56.html

Classic Clafoutis

 Homemade clafoutis just out of the oven.

We love clafoutis. It's a simple seasonal dessert popular in all the regions of France where cherries do well. I've posted about it before [link], but thought it was time for a reprise of this classic of French provincial cuisine. This is a particularly creamy version which I like a lot.

 

Ingredients for clafoutis.

Ingredients

3 eggs

½ cup sugar

Pinch of salt

½ cup flour

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup milk

½ cup cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Finely grated zest of half a lemon

300 g (about 3 cups) of cherries

 

Method

1. Set the shelf above the middle and heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Butter a flan dish.
3. Put the eggs, sugar and salt in a jug and using a stick blender, whisk them for at least a minute.
4. Add the flour and blend well.
5. Add the melted butter and blend well.
6. Add the milk, cream, vanilla and lemon zest and blend well.
7. Pour the batter into the flan dish.
8. Gently drop the cherries into the batter.
9. Bake for 35 minutes. It should be just set, maybe a bit wobbly in the centre and browning at the edges.
10. Let cool slightly and serve warm, cut into wedges.
    

 Ready for the oven.

Serves 8.

Locmariaquer

When we were in Brittany (what feels like years ago now) the stone alignments of Carnac were our first priority - a novelty that you get blasé about pretty quickly because there are so many of them.

Once we had been to Gavrinis we needed to go to Locmariaquer. One of the large stones in the ceiling of Cairn of Gavrinis was once part of a huge carved dolmen at Locmariaquer, and there were other attractions - it was raining, and the idea of spending time out of the rain was appealing.

The first thing you see is the Er Grah tumulus, a long mound of stone covering multiple burial chambers. And by long, I mean 140 metres long and about 15 metres wide. Many of the stones used in its construction have been used elsewhere, but it's still an amazing piece of work. There has been considerable restoration done on the tumulus since it was used as a car park in the 1970s. It's really difficult to get an idea of how big it is, so here's an aerial view.

The Table des Marchands is a cairn that has a large capstone supported by upright stones. This has a couple of carved stones inside a la Gavrinis, including some on the ceiling. Like Gavrinis, it's a dry stone construction over a long chamber.

The third amazing thing is the Grand Menhir Brisé, a large broken standing stone. The stone was originally 20.60 metres tall and weighed about 330 tons. It stood upright, but now lies in several pieces, and quite a large chunk (according to our guide at Gavrinis) found its way there. There were once nineteen menhirs in an alignment, all of them apparently worked and smoothened.

Remember: all the rock you see, plus another piece, were all part of one standing stone.

These structures are believed to have been erected during the Neolithic period, around 4500 to 3300 BCE. The purpose of the megaliths is not definitively known, but as usual they are thought to have had ceremonial or religious significance.

One thing that struck me was continuity of purpose. At the foot of the monuments is the town cemetery.

Nice Legs!

You would have thought I could have found a better pair of shoes to go with those stockings.

This is the most disturbing image I will be posting.

An Update on Simon

It has finally happened! I said on Monday that I was coming home. Then circumstances played against me.

After the operation on Wednesday and all looking good, I had a massive setback on Thursday night. I had a migraine that meant all I could do for 24 hours was lie down and chew painkillers. I didn't eat anything at all on Friday, which they understood whilst not being totally happy about.  Then I fainted in the shower - completely out. I had someone in there with me so I didn't fall.  I was better on Saturday, ate two half meals and sat up for a bit. Then I fainted in the shower again.

Then, on Monday, when they were supposed to be releasing me, I got them to help me to the bathroom, got them to pose me because I thought I wanted a to use the toilet, and the next thing I knew I was on the floor with them trying to lift me. That gave me a huge egg on the forehead, a black eye, and a bruise on the cheek. All that meant I had an extra 2 days in while they did tests.

But it's good. I got home yesterday, and I'm already 200% better. I have to have a daily visit from the nurse for the next 27 days for an anticoagulant injection, but the catheter comes out on Monday - and that's damn good news!! I've never been more uncomfortable. I do have to wear the sexy, sexy support stocking for a few more weeks.

But the surgeon looked smug every time he inspected his handiwork, and the nurse at the hospital said it was "impeccable"

I have to say that while the staff were brilliant the food at the hospital was less than inspiring. There wasn't a single meal I finished, and the lack of food is probably what made me faint.

Oakmoss Rebounds

Apparently Oakmoss Evernia prunastri has bounced back to abundance in Europe now that so many coal-fired power stations have closed. The lichen was sensitive to the sulphur dioxide pollution emitted by the power stations. Oakmoss was once an important ingredient in high end perfumes, but it is now superceded by a synthetic substance because so many people are allergic to the real thing. Beware if you are handling firewood too.

Oakmoss is a very special lichen, known far and wide as a precious ingredient in high end perfumes, most famously, Chanel No 5. Its scientific name is Evernia prunastri, or mousse de chêne in French, and it is not rare at all in the Touraine Loire Valley. It can be found everywhere, growing on just about any species of tree and is one of the most abundant lichens in Indre et Loire.

It provides musky and woody notes to perfume, but some people have an allergic skin reaction to it -- not just women using perfume containing it, but sometimes foresters too, who are handling wood with the lichen growing on it. It is generally regarded as the most likely suspect when someone shows signs of being allergic to a perfume. In bad cases it can cause restlessness, vomiting, dizziness, tremors, kidney damage and convulsions.

Oakmoss grows in large clumps on the branches and twigs of trees, resembling bundles of tiny greenish white antlers. It is most abundant in open, windy, unpolluted locations and about 6000 tonnes a year is commercially harvested in Macedonia and Bulgaria, from where it goes to Grasse in France for processing. The compounds extracted are used as base notes and fixatives and are crucial elements in 'Fougere' and 'Chypre' style perfumes. However, it is fairly rapidly being superceded by synthetic products, following a European Directive to accurately label and list the percentages of certain extracts to which many people are allergic.

Fougere style perfumes are nearly always marketed for men -- typical brands being Brut by Fabergé and Paco Rabanne's Pour Homme. Oakmoss is combined with fragrances such as lavender, vetiver, citrus and geranium.

Chypre perfumes are based on a blend of citrus and oakmoss which is often modified with patchouli, musk and labdanum, and enhanced with rose or jasmine. The original Miss Dior was a chypre style perfume, but the formula has been changed now, probably due to issues with oakmoss allergies. Lagerfeld is a chypre perfume aimed at both sexes.

In the past it has been used by the Romans to make a purple dye, and by the Egyptians in various ways when they were mummifying a body.

Once Upon a Time in Loches -- 'Liberation' August 1944

 

"Following these events (the roundup and reprisals) the mistrust of the people of Loches towards the occupiers increased. At the national level, since the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, the Germans fell back towards the Eastern Front. As French towns were progressively liberated, Loches nutured the hope that the occupation would end on their territory.

During the night of 15-16 August 1944 the German soldiers evacuated their camp at Tivoli where they had been installed since 23 July,  after having noisily destroyed their stocks of ammunition and startling all the nearby inhabitants. The FTPF took charge the morning of 16 August and secured the former German camp. The news of the departure of the Germans was picked up by Captain Lecoz mid-afternoon. He was hanging out at Chanceaux with his men and decided to change the plan by entering triumphantly into Loches with his maquisards. Loches seemed to be liberated and the people of Loches acclaimed him as the liberator of their town.

From 16 August Lecoz's men engaged in hunting collaborators, proven or not. Those who could have helped the enemy were gathered together in Place de Verdun in front of everyone with brutality. A patriotic ceremony was organised to congratulate the Resistants. A new town organisational structure was put in place. A 'Liberation Committee' was created by the Resistance commanders, who designated Raymond Mallet as mayor and sous-préfet. The people of Loches turned towards the future and the post-War."

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This poster is part of an exhibition in the Chancellerie on 'Loches in 1944' https://www.ville-loches.fr/expositions-article-3-10-56.html

A News Round Up

1 July 2024 means that my little brother is 60. I don't want to make this about me, but it does mean I can't be 55 any more. Happy Birthday JB!!!

The other news is that I will be home this afternoon after a week in hospital. 

Last August I received a phone call from my doctor telling me I had to make an appointment ASAP. Never good news...  The eventual outcome was that on Wednesday last week I had my prostate removed. That is all done now, so I am planning a future that doesn't involved being probed or going through the atomic donut every other week.

Susan has been making the hour each way trip to Tours every day, and I've been on morphine. That's why there was no blog post on Saturday.

Boats in Brittany

There are a lot of boats in and around the Gulf of Morbihan. These are a few of the more interesting ones.

The Unity of Lynn, an English smack, was launched in 1906 in Boston, Lincolnshire. Her homeport is Saint Goustan, Auray.

The Lys Noir is a French gaff rigged yawl built by the Barrière d'Arcachon shipyards in 1914.

Sails of Change is a maxi-trimaran preparing for a huge challenge. The objective is to win the Jules Verne Trophy by beating the round-the-world record held since 2017: 40 days, 23 hours, and 30 minutes.