Mountain Singers

Back in September we mentioned that back in July we had seen a mens' mountain choir in Cauterets.

This is what they sound like. I hope it's worked.

Obviously it didn't. I'm working on fixing that.

Done. Phew. What a palaver.

Three Surgeons

When we were at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Tours the other day we noticed tree surgeons at work on the huge Cedar of Lebanon (planted 1804) that fills the entry courtyard.

You need a lot of strength to be a tree surgeon. Not only do you have to be able to climb a tree, you have to be able to do it whilst carrying what appears to be your own bodyweight in climbing accoutrements.

Breakfast in Tours

I mentioned yesterday that on Monday we had a nice breakfast in Tours. That was in a café/pâtisserie/salon de thé /chocolaterie/confiserie called Aux Délices des Beaux Arts which can be found here.

The view is good, the pastries and coffee are nice, and the man behind the counter will insist on taking your photo as soon as a camera appears.

We didn't have any of the following, but they look too good not to show you

Le Dolmen de la Grotte aux Fées

We had a day off in Tours on Monday. We started off with a slow breakfast in a nice café, and followed that with a stroll around the cathedral and a visit to the Musée des Beaux Arts.

After some shopping and a bite of lunch we went for a little explore, ending up in a field north of Tours.

Le Dolmen de la Grotte aux Fées was built overnight by a team of fairies. Either that or it's three huge stones which were balanced on 8 smaller stones about 7000 years ago by a neolithic community as a communal burial chamber. But by "smaller" we're talking huge, and by "three huge stones" we're talking properly massive. It's estimated the whole ensemble of stones weighs over 88 tonnes. It's over 11 metres long, divided into two chambers, and shards of worked stone were found in the soil inside. One of the stones is a polisoir, a hard stone used for grinding and sharpening stone axes.

It's proper big!

It can be found here. 

Look Out For Drone Flies in the Touraine Loire Valley

The drone fly Eristalis tenax (Fr. Eristale gluante) is an inoffensive species of fly disguised as a honey bee. It is the most abundant Eristalis species in Europe and as it feeds on the nectar of many species of plant it has a role in pollination. Like several other species of hover fly, the drone fly may make a long distance migration twice a year.

They are nimble flyers and capable of hovering on the spot. If they are attacked one of their defensive mechanisms is to whiz around and around their enemy.

Their larvae are known as rat-tailed maggots and live in shallow stagnant water full of rotting vegetation. The 'rat-tail' is in fact their rear mounted breathing siphon.

The Wait is Almost Over

The chapel of Saint-Hubert, patron saint of hunters, was built in 1493 by Charles VIII on the foundations of the old oratory of the chateau of Amboise which was built by his father, Louis XI. The chapel was intended for the private use of the king.

On 2nd May 1519 Leonardo da Vinci died in Amboise. He had expressed a wished to be buried in Amboise, and his tomb was in a now demolished church in the chateau grounds. When the demolition happened, the tomb (or at least, the coffin) was moved to the chapel.

For the last two and a half years the chapel has been under wraps whilst being restored, but that program is now almost finished. We've written about the restoration, before - here about the carvings, and here about the carpentry.

This is what it looks like from the street below the chateau. The chapel's reopening is on the 16th of June, and anticipation is starting to rise.

At the moment the most effective view is from des Tanneures, the large public car park.

A Korean Soup

Those of you who have been reading the blog for some time will know that for a couple of weeks, many years ago, I worked in Korea. The first meal I ordered for myself in Korea was Mandu-guk (만두국), or dumpling soup.

It's become a favourite in our household, especially recently. NOZ, the end of line/overstocks shop, has had frozen mandu (dumplings) on and off for a couple of months, and I've been a fairly regular purchaser. 

Here's my recipe for mandu-guk:

Ingredients:

8 -10 Dumplings (mandu or goyza)

Litre of stock (doesn't really matter what sort)

1 onion, finely sliced

1tsp soy

1egg, beaten

1sheet dried seaweed (gim / nori), thinly sliced

Sesame oil

Method:

Dry fry the dumplings until slightly browned

Bring the stock to the boil and add soy and onions

Add dumplings, boil for 10 minutes or so

Slowly add beaten egg whilst stirring the soup.

Add seaweed, then serve.

Once in bowls, drizzle a little sesame oil to flavour.

This is a simple cheat's recipe, and probably not authentic. But for a filling almost instant lunch, it's perfect.

Look Out For Orchis spp and Their Hybrids in the Touraine Loire Valley

Orchis spp hybridise easily and I see the resulting hybrid orchids often in the Touraine Loire Valley. 

Monkey/Lady Orchid hybrid Orchis x angusticruris.

Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe).

Lady Orchid Orchis purpurea (Fr. Orchis pourpre).

Monkey Orchid (left), hybrid (centre) and Lady Orchid (right).

Hypochromatic Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe), with a ruby-tailed wasp Chrysidae.

 Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe).

Monkey/Lady Orchid hybrid Orchis x angusticruris.

Monkey/Man Orchid hybrid Orchis x bergonii.

Hybrid Monkey/Man Orchid with parent species.

Monkey/Man Orchid hybrid Orchis x bergonii.

Man Orchid Orchis anthopophora (Fr. Homme-pendu).

 

Filming in Town

Recently the comedy duo Les Bodins filmed sequences of their new film in Preuilly. Apparently it's about the biggest goats cheese in the world and events that go rather wrong. The market square was given a makeover and several of my friends were extras (Fr. figurants). Lieutopie, the community café, was paid €200 as compensation by the film company because one Saturday they were unable to open, and they were quite happy with that. By all accounts it was a fun time and the stars made themselves very accessible. There were lots of selfies with and without the main characters circulating on social media. As I passed on various errands I took the opportunity to photograph whatever the action at the time was. 

The pizza kiosk on the right is part of the film set. It was erected and painted over the course of a couple of days prior to the filming.

Many of the market stalls were our real regular traders. This is my friend Sandy's organic apple stall, just zhuzhed up a bit with pretty baskets. Sandy normally uses ordinary fruit boxes to lay out and display the apples. She'd be forever refilling baskets like this in real life!

The bunting was provided by the film company.

This stall is completely the work of the film crew.

The tarpaulin wrapped object in the middle of the photo is the 'giant cheese' (naturally, a log shaped goats cheese).

Packing up.

I see that my friend Catherine's house was turned into the town hall, and the apartment next door became a real estate agent.

Packing up the last few props.

What is This Plaque About?

The short answer is nobody knows. But I will now proceed to write a long blog post with lots of speculation.

I've known of the existence of the plaque for some time, but only recently got to see it. Along with lots more people who will get to see it now, I paid a visit to Malcolm Motté's new joinery showroom [link]. It is off a courtyard that used to be private, which you enter from a corner of the market square in Preuilly.

Reading a thread on Facebook concerning the plaque it seems that some locals assume it is a funerary memorial. But before I read the thread that didn't occur to me. I thought it was something more joyous, celebrating a birth or a milestone for a much loved child. What is interesting is that the child in question, who clearly must have meant a great deal to whoever erected this unusual plaque, is female.

The plaque, which is carved limestone, isn't very big, and it's positioned rather high up on the wall. There is no indication if it is in its original position or has been brought here from elsewhere (for example, one suggestion is that it has come from a columbarium). But it doesn't seem to be a gravestone or marking a grave, although it is presumably a memorial of some sort.

It is not very difficult to read, but interpreting it is proving challenging for even our most informed local history sleuths. It says "Félicité Nabon Agée de 5 mois le Jour [illegible] Ap(rés/rit) sa Prem(ière) Robe 1809". Which would translate as 'Felicity Nabon Aged 5 months the Day [illegible] After/Took her First Dress 1809'.

According to Fabrice Doucet, who is my go to source for this sort of local history, Félicité Nabon was born on 18 December 1808. She was the daughter of Félicité Abraham and Mathieu Francois Xavier Nabon. Her father was from an old Preuilly family, a branch of which owned the Hotel l'Image on the other side of the market place to the house with the plaque. The young married couple had tied the knot on 15 February 1808 in Angers. The house that now has the plaque was owned at the time by Mathieu Nabon.

Fabrice can't find any record of little Félicité dying in 1809 though. He had done a bit of research because he'd been asked by my friend Christiane, who is a descendant of the Nabon family. She doesn't know the background to the plaque but was curious. However, Claudette, who grew up in our house, has been doing some rummaging in the archives and found a young woman named as Félicie Nabon, the daughter of Mathieu Nabon and Marie Abraham who died at the age of 17 at the Convent de la Grand Maison in Poitiers on 5 December in 1825. Could this be 'our' Félicité we all wonder? As Fabrice pointed out, she would have been very nearly 17 at that date. He added that this boarding school for young women in Poitiers, being close to Preuilly, may well have been popular with the local bourgeoisie. He'd like to see a bit more evidence, but thinks it is an interesting idea. He's not too bothered by the differences in the first names, as errors of transcription were very common at the time.

Out and About in the Claise Valley in mid-April

To check on the progress of the orchids around Chaumussay I invited my friend Carolyn to come out with me one Sunday morning in mid-April. Here is a selection of what we saw, which was not restricted to orchids.

 

The entry holes to the nest tunnels of a species of sweat bees, maybe Lasioglossum marginatum. You can see a trail of pollen into the hole at the bottom. 

Carolyn entranced by these little bees' activities.

A male Green Fairy Longhorn moth Adela reaumurella (Fr. Adele verdoyante) hanging around on a Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana (Fr. Viorne lantane) waiting for a female to turn up.

Female Great Banded Furrow Bee Halictus scabiosae (Fr. Halicte de la scabieuse), a good 'gateway' bee, since it is easy to identify and abundant.

This Apple Blossom Beetle Tropinota hirta (Fr. Cétoine hérissée) appeared to be fighting a rival on a Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe).

Great Banded Furrow Bee, showing her distinctive 'furrowed' abdomen tip.

Look out for Great Banded Furrow Bees, which are on the wing from April to September, when they are busy making nests in hard compacted soil, often in the middle of paths.

Bush Vetch Vicia sepium (Fr. Vesce des haies), growing on the far side of a roadside ditch.

Common Carder Bumble Bee Bombus pascuorum (Fr. Bourdons des champs) feeding on Ground Ivy Glechoma hederacea (Fr. lierre terrestre) along the roadside.

Small-leaved Helleborine Epipactis microphylla (Fr. épipactis à petites feuilles), an uncommon and under-recorded small orchid.

Wild Madder Rubia peregrina (Fr. Garance voyageuse), not to be confused with its relative R. tinctorum, which is a source of red dye.

Sanciau Berrichon (Apple Pancake)

The old Berry province is situated just to our east. At la Chandeleur (Candlemas) this typical Berrichon dish would be served. Sanciaux are thick pancakes with apples, guaranteed to appeal to children and adults alike. They are served either as a dessert, or as an afternoon snack.

Ingredients

125 ml milk

60 g flour

1 egg

A pinch of salt

2 apples (ideally of course a local variety such as Reine des Reinettes de Saint Martin d'Auxigny, Reinette du Berry or Belle de Boskoop)

20 g butter

A dash of liqueur or spirits (optional. I used Calvados but Poire Williams is also used)

Sugar (some people use cinnamon sugar)

Method

1. Mix the milk, flour, egg and salt together in a jug. I used a stick blender.
2. Peel, core and slice the apples.
3. Gently fry the apple slices in the butter until they are golden.
4. Add a dash of Calvados and set it alight.
5. Spread the apple out evenly in the pan then carefully pour in the batter.
6. Cook on low heat for 7 minutes.
7. Put a plate over your pan and tip the pancake out onto the plate, then slide back into the pan to cook the other side for 3 minutes.
8. Cut the pancake into quarters and serve warm, sprinkled with sugar.

 

 

Don't Bother Going to Look

A week ago I was going to write a blog post about how great the triangular park with the chapel in it at the end of our street was looking. It was a riot of wild flowers in the grass, with orchids, clover, buttercups and daisies. Just as well I didn't get to it, because the day after I took these photos it was mowed by a municipal worker. What a waste. 

Early Spider Orchid Ophrys sphegodes (Fr. Ophrys araignée) in the flower rich sward.

Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee Anthophora plumipes (Fr. Anthophore aux pattes poilues) nectaring on Red Clover Trifolium pratense (Fr. Trèfle des prés).

Mowing should be done at this time of year (April to August) to create a mosaic, so you mow bits this month and other bits next month. This allows different lengths of vegetation, which suit different species, ensures all plant species get a chance to flower and set seed, and that there is a continuous supply of nectar for insects that need it.

Hotel Arnaldo Aquila d'Oro

I wrote last Saturday about Rubiera, and mentioned I'd be writing about the hotel another day. This is that day.

I had booked a room at the Hotel Arnaldo Aquila d'Oro, via an online booking engine. The price (40€61) seemed so much of a bargain that certain people feared it was some sort of scam. It turned out not to be, just a combination of sheer good luck and doggedness on my behalf.

The exterior of the hotel makes promises the interior lives up to.

From their own website:

HOTEL ARNALDO AQUILA D'ORO

is located in an old 15th century building that once housed a post station with stables for horses and an inn to accommodate pilgrims passing through Rubiera.

The hotel is located in the same building as the Arnaldo Clinica Gastronomica restaurant, and both have been owned and managed by the same family for three generations. Since Arnaldo and Lina bought the inn in 1936, many changes, renovations and improvements have been made, while maintaining the same elegantly rustic flavour as in the past.

 And I couldn't have put it better myself.

Our room was large, comfortable, pleasantly cool, and nicely furnished with proper antiques (not just granny's old stuff). The bathroom was similar.

You will have noticed mention of the Arnaldo Clinica Gastronomica restaurant. That's the hotel's own 1* Michelin star restaurant. I suspect that the fact that the restaurant doesn't open on Sunday evenings is the reason the hotel was so amazingly priced for us. We ate out at a perfectly acceptable restaurant about 100 metres from the hotel.

Breakfast was an entirely different matter. Our booking included breakfast at the hotel, and I had checked by email that we had enough time for a relaxed breakfast before departing for the parmesan farm. They assured us we did, so as soon as we felt it was polite we went downstairs, grabbed a table under the arcade, and wandered in to check out our options.

Man looking overwhelmed by what he saw in the breakfast room.

The breakfast buffet was probably the most comprehensive I have seen in Europe. There were the staples of multiple varieties of breads, jams and pastries, cheese and meat (presumably for any Dutch clients) dairy, cereals, a vast range of fruit juices and teas, fresh and stewed fruit. Coffee was ordered from the nice waitress at the tea and coffee bar and delivered to the table. I could have spent another hour being stylish and elegant, but parmesan was calling.

More food than you can shake a stick at

 The Hotel Arnaldo Aquila d'Oro's website is here.

New in the Orchard This Year

The results of neglect are clear to see in the orchard, and one of those results is several species new to the place in April. None of them are rare, but I haven't recorded them in the orchard before. Neglect, with nothing more than the vegetation being slashed by Sylviane early in the year, and one of her horses being put to pasture in the potager for a few days, is so far delivering excellent biodiversity observations.

 

Golden Ground Beetle Carabus auratus (Fr. Carabe doré), not uncommon, but increasingly threatened by pesticides.

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio (Fr. Orchis buffon) is abundant locally, and can form large colonies, but has never before popped up in the orchard.

Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe) can also form large colonies, but has never appeared in the orchard before.

One of the leaf beetles, Chrysolina bankii (Fr. Chrysomèle de Banks), a species which is localised, but can be abundant where it occurs. Its favourite food plant is ribwort plantain, which the orchard has in abundance.

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi (Fr. Thècle de la ronce) butterfly, a species that eats such a wide range of plants as a caterpillar that you could see it in almost any habitat in the Touraine Loire Valley.

Look Out for Dog Rose in the Touraine Loire Valley

Dog Rose Rosa canina (Fr. Rosier des chiens).

This is an abundant species in hedges and woodlands, especially in the lowlands. It has several ecotypes, or subspecies that have evolved to grow in different habitats or conditions. Many pink flowering cultivated rose varieties have R. canina somewhere in their ancestry. The species always has single (or simple) flowers.

 

The name Dog Rose comes from the ancient belief that the root could be used to cure the bite of a rabid dog. The rosehips are called grattes-culs ('scratch arses') in French because the hairs inside could cause itchiness around the anus if you consumed badly prepared rosehip tea, jelly or syrup, once important tonics and sources of Vitamin C when other things were scarce.

 

The plant can grow up to 5 metres, in long arching canes with very prickly back curving thorns. They produce pale pink or white flowers in May and June and are pollinated by insects. The seeds are dispersed by birds.

 

One of the reasons Roe Deer are attracted to your garden and will eat your rose shoots and buds is because they grow up eating the wild Dog Roses in the forest and they are a favourite food.

 

The species is native to all the temperate zones of the Old World and naturalised in the New. Globally it is abundant, up to 1600 metres above sea level. 

 

 

It is heat (but not dry) loving and grows in a range of neutral to calcareous soil, tolerating lightly acid soil, but not waterlogged soil.

 

Both flowers and leaves are scented, especially if crushed. It is one of the species used in the perfume industry and in North Africa especially, for making simple culinary rosewater.

 

The plants are fairly disease resistant, but often have strange growths called bedeguar galls caused by a tiny wasp.

 

 

 

The old name for this rose is eglantine. You will still sometimes hear it called that, especially in France, but today the name is more properly given to Rosa rubiginosa.

 

There are two other peskily similar species of wild rose you may encounter. 

 

Field Rose Rosa arvensis (Fr. Rosier rampant) only has white flowers and the centre of the flower (the stigmae) are some bobbles on a 'column' (Dog Rose has the bobbles but not the 'column'). It's a bit smaller than Dog Rose and flowers at the same time. It is more shade tolerant and more lime loving than Dog Rose, and not quite so frequently encountered in the Touraine. Both species have abundant yellow pollen on anthers, but Dog Rose anthers turn brown.

Sweet Briar Rosa rubiginosa has bright pink flowers and is even more sun loving and much more lime loving than Dog Rose. The stigmae are bobbles in the middle of the flower, and it is much less abundant than the other two species. It is also smaller than Dog Rose and flowers a bit later (although the two species flowering season overlaps in June and July).

Further reading at Loire Valley Nature:

Galls https://loirenature.blogspot.com/2012/03/galls.html