The Scourge Sent by God and Other Local Sights Around Yzeures

The other day I walked 7 kilometres with les Galoches along the flood plain of the Creuse River from Yzeures. 

 

A quince tree in a garden.

The Creuse River.

An intriguing inscription which refers to a tremendous flood in the mid-19th century as 'a scourge sent by God'.

Wooden dividing wall in a barn.

Sorghum (Fr. sorgho) crop.

Big Sheath Mushroom Volvopluteus glioicephalus (Fr. Volvaire gluante) growing in the horse manure and straw left after a weekend event which included gypsy caravan rides.

The Creuse River.

A Big Fly and Some Tiny Ants

The other day I photographed a magnificent horse fly on our barn wall. I'm a big fan of horse flies, so anyone who wants to carry on about how they bite can scroll on.

 

This one is a female Giant Dark Horse Fly Tabanus sudeticus (Fr. Taon des Sudètes). The species is supposedly the heaviest fly in Europe and females are about 25 mm in length. You can encounter adults on the wing throughout the summer, in dry pasture or woodland clearings. The larvae on the other hand are aquatic and eggs are laid on waterside plants.

Giant Dark Horse Fly females may bite you if you are wearing dark clothing, breathing heavily and warm and sweaty. But really they are more interested in getting their obligate blood meal from a cow or a horse. Without the nutrients they gain from biting a large mammal and sucking some blood they cannot lay viable eggs. If you are unlucky enough to be bitten, disinfect the wound immediately and take an antihistamine. You'll be fine unless you are unusually sensitive, in which case it may develop into a hard red lump about 10 cm across. Don't scratch the bite because it will get it infected.

I was so delighted to have a cooperative horse fly to photograph that I didn't even notice the ants until I was processing the photos. I didn't recognise them so I did what everyone does these days -- asked in the appropriate group on Facebook. A local entomologist got back to me to tell me they are Temnothorax sp.

Temnothorax ants are only 2 or 3 mm long, and live in small colonies of a couple of hundred individuals in dry dead wood or small cavities in rocks. There are at least 25 species in France and they occur throughout the country.

Our Unused Front Door

I've been looking at our front door, which we haven't used as such since we moved here in 2009. It's much less convenient than the door in the kitchen, and it's a bit fragile.

I don't want to replace it, as that would be costly, and it doesn't need to be fully insulated as it only leads into a porch which is fully insulated and has double glazed doors. It's also very large - and original. I'd like to re-putty it, paint it, and leave it at that.

The problem is the existing putty which is haphazard and very old, and two pieces of glass which are cracked (marked with red dots in the photo). I'm worried I'll crack more glass trying to remove the old putty.

I like the mismatched glass and the old sticker and would like to keep them (heritage and all that). I just have to work out how to do that.

Peach Cobbler

 Last week our neighbour Edouard knocked on the door and presented me with a basket of vine peaches (Fr. pêches des vignes). He had decided to strip the tree as storms were predicted. He's allergic to fresh peaches, and there's only so much jam his wife can make, so he thought of me. He also told me he's had a number of thefts from his potager. The usual stuff like tomatoes, but this year someone stripped half his quince tree! We both thought that was quite odd. 

 

Anyway, I was very grateful for these lovely peaches, which were all perfectly ripe and delicious. I had baked some biscuits only an hour before so I was very pleased to be able to exchange the peaches for some biscuits. I immediately blanched a couple of kilos of peaches and sliced them to make a cobbler, and the rest I halved and poached in heavy vanilla syrup. The latter will get used for Peach Melba or served with Greek yoghurt/fromage frais battu and such like.

 

Ingredients

1.5 kg peaches (vine peaches are small so this is about 16 peaches)

¼ cup soft brown sugar

Juice of a lemon

1 tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp ground cinnamon + a pinch for sprinkling on top

Pinch of nutmeg

1.5 cups plain flour

1/3 cup sugar + 1 tbsp for sprinkling on top

1.5 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

85 g butter, cold and cut into centimetre cubes

¼ cup milk

Method

1. Turn on the oven to 180°C and butter a lasagna dish.
2. Pour boiling water over the peaches and leave them sitting in it for 2 minutes, then slip their skins off, stone them and slice them into a large bowl.
3. Toss the peaches with the brown sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
4. Spread the peach mixture evenly over the bottom of the lasagna dish.
5. For the topping, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
6. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers.
7. Add the milk and mix until a soft dough is formed.
8. Tear off walnut sized pieces and flatten them a bit before lay them on top of the peaches. Distribute the dough evenly, but leave gaps.
9. Brush the dough with milk and sprinkle with the extra sugar and cinnamon.
10. Bake for 50 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
12. Serves 8, with vanilla ice cream.

Best served on the day of baking. It will hold in the fridge overnight before baking, so you can prepare it well in advance. After baking it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, but beyond that the topping goes unpleasantly soggy. An uncovered reheat in the oven can help.

Reflections

It hasn't all been about my treatment this week. We have been for the occasional wander as well. I'm surprised that this photo turned out this well - I didn't spend any time on it.

 Yesterday my fluid loading went well. I'm hopeful that I can round out my first week with another win.

A Piece of Good Planning

I mentioned yesterday that men exiting the radiotherapy suite tend to have an air of urgency around them.

Luckily, the architect knew what he was about, and the dressing rooms are next to a room bearing this sign. It's reserved for patients.

Yesterday I was again under full. I was about to get a finger wagging, when I showed the radiologist my drinking schedule. That mollified him, he agreed it was a good plan, but made some suggestions for change. As a stopgap I drank 3 cups of room temperature water and walked around for 10 minutes. We're all friends now.

Fingers crossed - then legs crossed!

Two Down, Thirty-three To Go

On Monday I started my 7 weeks of radiotherapy. This involves a lot of planning and a lot of blocks falling into place.

Because the treatment is "down there" I have to be prepared, which starts 3 hours before treatment. I have to drink the right amount of water at set periods (I've never been so hydrated) so that my bladder is holding no less than 350ml (but not much more) at exactly the right time.

Then the taxi/ambulance has to arrive between 75 and 90 minutes before the treatment, and get me to the hospital 70km away not too early (and definitely not too late).

Finally, the treatment has to happen and finish before the urge to explode takes over. This is tricky, because the treatment entails lying on a table for 15 minutes and "bougez pas!" This means no jiggling, even involuntarily.

On Monday I got my level correct, but yesterday I was about 60ml under, which is annoying and earned me a finger-wag. It shouldn't be too difficult to adjust.

If you're ever in a radiotherapy unit and you see a man looking stressed and waddling, make way. He's a man on a mission.

Finally then, one can relax - until tomorrow, when the whole lot starts again.

The Great Hall of the Palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine

Simon enjoying the stylish chairs in front of the gigantic 17th century triple fireplace.

Eleanor of Aquitaine had the Great Hall of the Palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine in Poitiers built some time after 1160. It replaced an older great hall. The sculptors who worked on it also worked on the nearby Cathedral. Eleanor's Hall features a new entry, aligned with the Roman bridge, and including an impressive flight of stairs.

 

The grand entrance to the Hall.

In modern times the Hall has mostly been referred to as the Salle des pas perdu (the room of lost steps). This is by virtue of its function as a vestibule for the courthouse (palais de justice). Large rooms such as this which are spaces where the public can gather outside of the tribunal are known by this rather curious term. The etymology is very uncertain, with several dubious anecdotes commonly told to explain the expression. The term has been used since at least the 17th century.

 

Eleanor, I assume.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Looking up one of the chimneys.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Simon's Radiotherapy Diet

Simon starts seven weeks of radiotherapy today. As part of his preparation he has to be able to retain 350 ml of urine in his bladder while the machine delivers the dose over 15 minutes. This has meant he has been diligently recording his intake and output times and quantities so he can establish a pattern and arrive at hospital in just the right state. It's much harder than it sounds as it's over an hour from home to the hospital.

 

Banned.

He is also not allowed to have intestinal gas. We've been given a diet sheet, which is a list of foods to avoid and a list of foods that are encouraged. It has meant a quite radical change in our diet and a lot of thinking on my part.

 

Banned.

Number one on the banned list is anything in the onion family, so I've made batches of chicken and vegetable stock with celery, parsley and carrots, no leeks, no onions. So far he has enjoyed my special chicken noodle soup, and there is vegetable, and tomato to come.

 

Banned.

Number two on the banned list is green vegetables, mostly anything Brassicae, but also chard and spinach, green beans and peas. Zucchini seems to be fine, and soft lettuce such as oak leaf is positively encouraged. Green asparagus is allowed too, but a) he doesn't like it, and b) it is out of season. 

 

Banned.

The only truly safe vegetables that he can eat and likes are carrots and potatoes, so long as they are peeled and cooked. I am going to be so sick of them by November, and sick of peeling them. 

 

Banned.

Other banned veggies are peppers, most root vegetables (cooked carrots and beetroot are the exceptions), cucumber and white asparagus. I'm taking the view that as tomatoes and aubergines are not mentioned they must be okay.

 

Okay.

Naturally the other big group of banned foods are pulses (leguminous veggies such as dried beans, chickpeas and lentils). This is a food group that we would normally eat several times a week!

 

Okay.

He can eat hard cheeses but needs to avoid soft cheeses and blue cheeses. Yoghurt is okay, and desserts such as rice pudding. I've been doing him stewed fruit to have with yoghurt, and he can eat all sorts of plain cakes and biscuits. Toasted white ham and cheese sandwiches are okay and now a mainstay. He's encouraged to eat honey, but he doesn't like it.

 

Okay.

The herbs and spices he can have are limited and I've been doing my best to liven some bland dishes up. He can have cumin, dill, fennel, cardamon, basil and turmeric. Saturday night I did a sort of pretend white chilli, with turkey, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and just about all of the allowed herbs and spices.

 

Banned.

Meat is restricted to chicken, turkey and white fish. I've no doubt he could have rabbit too, but he doesn't like it. Luckily we have a good new fishmonger at SuperU in la Roche Posay so I can get good fish easily.

 

Banned.

Considering that we are a household that easily reaches the recommended 30 plant species per week in our normal diet, and usually manages double that, this is going to be challenging. I've been scouring the Monash University FODMAP recipes for inspiration, but even they are not always suitable. They were designed to help people with IBS and a couple of other bowel problems though, so they are a good starting point.

 

Okay.

Further reading: the Monash University FODMAP website https://www.monashfodmap.com/about-fodmap-and-ibs/

Random Blogging

We've been a bit all over the place this week. Susan has had work, and I've had medical stuff to attend to to. There's also been lunch with friends, and a little bit of house renovation.

The whole of my week has centered around drinking litres of water every day, and measuring the "results". My radiotherapy starts next week, and for each session I need to have "a full bladder and an empty bowel". I also need to be gas free, which means that for the next 7 weeks I will be on a very plain diet. Susan has made a lot of meals which are as delicious as you can get without the use of onions, garlic, spices, beans, red meat, and most vegetables. Or fresh fruit, most dairy, and "exciting" drinks such as tea, coffee, and soft drinks.

No photos, because - you know 🥴

However...

There are photos of our front yard cleanup. First we had Rafael, our gardener, weed and remove the rubbish. There are no photos of the courtyard before that because, quite frankly, it had become embarrassing.

We then had a stonemason fix the surrounds of what should, one day, be our front door. The bricks had eroded away, leaving the back of the insulation exposed. That brickwork was corrected, then the whole lot rendered.

Now we have to start on planting, remembering that during summer the courtyard is Saharan, and during winter it can get very frosty. In order to overcome the dry we have plans to install a 300 litre water butt, but there's nothing we can really do to ameliorate the 50° heat.

Potter Wasps on the Canadian Fleabane

The other day I got out of the car and noticed that there was half a dozen potter wasps going crazy for the Canadian Fleabane Conyza canadensis (Fr. la Vergerette du Canada) in the front courtyard. It doesn't have very eyecatching flowers and it can definitely be called a weed here, but it must be packed with nectar that these distinctive wasps were feasting on.

Potter wasps Eumenes sp (Fr. les guêpes potières) are notoriously difficult to identify to species level, but luckily the Spanish social wasp specialist Leopoldo Castro was able to look at my photos in Facebook and offer his opinion. He says my photos are almost certainly of E. coronatus. We think there was a second species present too, because some of my photos show an individual with an almost entirely yellow posterior half of the abdomen. The photos were all taken with my phone, so most of them are quite blurry.

Potter wasps make charming little mud vases attached to twigs on bushes, which they lay an egg in and stock with a paralysed caterpillar which will become food for the larva once it hatches.

Wall Paintings in Poitiers Cathedral

 In 2012 a study was done prior to necessary restoration work after water damaged some of the vaulting.  It revealed a superb assembly of medieval paintings under the imitation stone render done in 1783 in the neoclassical style. The restoration of the south transept paintings began in 2015 and took 10 months to complete. This radiant Gothic art was probably executed in the time of Bishop Gauthier de Bruges just before 1300. A different scene is depicted in each quarter. In the north it is an offering of crowns, in the south the coronation of the Virgin, in the east the Last Judgement, and in the west the bosom of Abraham.

Another wall painting in the nave represents Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and dates from the end of the 17th century.

Packed For a Picnic

Fifteen August, Assomption, fell on a Friday this year so it was a long weekend throughout France. We enjoyed the company of Simon's brother, his wife and their friend. One of the things we did was join the annual classic car meet at Lésigny. This involves meeting at the river for breakfast, then driving a 40 km circuit through rural countryside and villages, along with hundreds of other classic cars following one after another. Once back at the riverside park it was time for a picnic, then a swim.

This is Claudette's boot packed with all the essentials for a picnic and swimming.

For the picnic we served melon and dry cured ham, followed by onion and goats cheese quiche (made by Simon), lettuce, tomatoes, homemade basil vinaigrette, and homemade pickled onions. That was followed by a cheese platter, then homemade mirabelle clafoutis. The drinks served were rose, sparkling water, ginger beer, and champagne.

Every House Has a Well

I came home from shopping the other day and as I walked round to go into the house our Irish neighbour John beckoned me over and said 'Come and look at what I've found!'

He'd been doing some gardening and discovered that behind the cast iron pump that sits decoratively in the front flower bed under a linden tree, there was evidence of a what he strongly suspected was a well cover. A bit of crowbarring later and he was proved right.

Every house in our street, which is named after a well, has its own. Nowadays I don't think any of them are in use, even to water gardens. Our own well is at the back of the house, and like John, we didn't discover it immediately. We'd owned the house for a year when one day we had an architect poking about and he lifted the manhole cover to reveal our well.

Our well is 18 metres deep, John's is 15 metres. Both have water at the bottom. We've never measured ours, but John reckons he's got nearly a metre in depth. In both cases the stone walls of the wells seem in good condition.

The Bridore Granary

While we had visitors over the long weekend I took them to the marvellous and little known 15th century Chateau de Bridoré. They've made lots of improvements since the last time I was there, several years ago.

 

The gatehouse, with the tower which houses the silo on the righthand end.

One feature I had only ever seen from the outside before is the granary, or 'silo'. Now you can get inside the tower than protects it, and there is a full explanation of how it worked.

 

The gatehouse from inside the bas cour (lower courtyard).

The actual granary itself is a 5 metre wide pit in the floor of the tower. This is already a very old idea in the 15th century. We've seen pits for storing grain at a site visit to an archaeological dig of a Gallo-Roman farm near Sublaine, dating from more than a thousand years earlier.

 

15th century fireplace inside the tower.

The way it works is that the grain is deposited in the pit and trodden down several times to compact it during the process of filling the silo. Then the opening is sealed so the grain is stored hermetically. The top layer of grain will germinate, using up all the oxygen to do so, then die once the silo is anaerobic. This means that the grain is protected from rodents and insects, and so long as it stays dry, will last for years if necessary. 

When the grain was to be used the silo was opened and the grain transferred into sacks. A pulley hung from the beam above for hauling them out. I'm guessing that the silo was small enough that hopping in to shovel grain into sacks was not hazardous in the way it would be in a big modern silo (where the grain acts like quicksand).

 

Display showing how hams, sausages and fish were cured by hanging them from the beams and smoking them in the tower.

In addition to the silo there is a fireplace on the ground floor of the tower. A smoky fire would be used to cure meat and fish hanging from the beams, out of reach of all but the most determined rodents. 

The tower which contains the silo would have been used to station guards above what was the main entrance to the chateau in the 15th century.

 

A pulley used to haul sacks of grain (reconstruction).

In the 1970s the owner of the chateau discovered a human skeleton buried under the dirt floor of the tower, and a 15th century Spanish soldier's metal helmet.

Further Reading: 

My post on the Chateau de Bridoré  https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2015/03/chateau-de-bridore.html

My post about visiting the archaeological site near Sublaine https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2021/07/visiting-archaeological-dig.html