What, we asked on Friday, is this object? [link to be inserted]
Further rummaging around in the cupboard at the gîte revealed that the object had a twin, with an extra piece that explained all.
It's a cruet set! The trilogy (triptych? triumvirate?) of little revolving bowls are for salt, pepper and mustard. No doubt you can pick them up at any broccante...
We were invited to apéros with the cousins of friends the other day. They were staying in the gîte that we had stayed in before our house was habitable. So it was intriguing to see how much the building has changed in 20 years, and with three successive owners.
And there was another intrigue. In the kitchen cupboard the cousins had found a curious cut glass object. They brought it out and we discussed its possible purpose. Was it a bell that had lost its clapper? Turned the other way up, was it a specimen vase, of the sort that went in a wall bracket or even some models of old car?
Eventually we figured it out, but you'll have to wait until Monday to see the answer. Please submit your guesses over the weekend in the comments or by email!
I took these photos three weeks ago, so things have moved on a bit since then. But they are too good to waste, so here they are.
An abandoned well in the hamlet of la Boissiere.
Marsh Crane Fly Tipula oleracea (Fr. tipule potagère).
A canola crop with the hamlet of la Boissiere in the background.
Arable farmland in the Claise Valley.
Violet Oil Beetle Meloe violaceus (Fr. Méloé enfle-boeuf violet).
The former orangerie, now a holiday let, in the grounds of the Chateau de Boussay.
Horse chestnut avenue in the grounds of the Chateau de Boussay.
Grape-hyacinth Muscari neglectum (Fr. Muscari).
Chateau outbuildings.
The moat around the Chateau, and the stables.
Chateau de Boussay.
White Saddle Mushroom Helvella crispa (Fr. Helvelle crépue).
White Saddle mushrooms are ascomycetes, meaning they don't have gills and are a sort of consistently rubbery substance. They are twisted and fluted and grooved so they present a very distinctive appearance. I'm sure many people encountering them think they are some sort of weird mutation or are old and damaged. But no, this is how they look. They are one of my favourites to spot on a walk (or from the car when driving by as I did with these ones) because they are so unusual looking.
They are whitish all over, with a crinkly cap and multi-stranded 'stem'. The scientific specific name 'crispa' refers to the frilly or wrinkled form of the cap. No doubt because of their striking appearance the species has quite a few vernacular names, in both French and English. You might hear them called 'bonnets de capelan' or 'morilles d'automne' in French, or 'fluted white elfin saddles' in English.
They grow under deciduous trees in damp places, often alongside tracks. The group in these photos is growing on the roadside between the bridges over the Claise at Humeau, under some poplar trees. You could see this species all through the autumn, and these were photographed just a few days ago, in January.
It's a mushroom which has had changing opinions as to whether it is edible or not. It was traditionally eaten in both France and Italy, but then was regarded as toxic. More recently some opinion has swung back to considering it edible. You do need to know that it is definitely toxic if consumed raw or insufficiently cooked. The question now is more that although one toxin is destroyed by thorough cooking, it seems there is a second toxin which is not so easy to deal with.
This second toxin is more random, and sometimes has no effect, but at worst can cause long term neurological damage and even cancer. Historically there has been confusion between this species and a number of others containing similar toxins, which are probably more dangerous. This may explain why tests often show no significant toxins present in H. crispa, and there are very few confirmed cases of poisonings which are definitely this species. The likelihood is that White Saddles are edible, so long as they are blanched in boiling water before being thoroughly cooked in an open pan.
The chateau of Boussay has been lived in by the same family for a thousand years. (I'll just let that sink in for a while.)
They are celebrating this weekend with a series of events:
At the height of the plague we made a video about the village of Boussay, its chateau and church. I drove Susan mad making it, but we're quite proud of it.
"A victim amongst all those others, but not officially recognised as 'Mort Pour la France'."
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| Plaque on the grave of Valentin Paillet in the cemetery of Boussay, mentioning "died in his family from his war wounds" at the age of 31 years. |
This is a guest post, written by Fabrice Doucet, who is an amateur local historian with a particular interest in the First World War and Preuilly. With his permission, and some AI help, I've translated a post he wrote for Armistice Day last year on a Facebook group that we both belong to, and used his photos.
On this November 11, 2022, let us recall the tragic destiny of a soldier from Boussay during the First World War. Valentin PAILLET, born on September 1, 1888 in Martizay, is the son of Silvain Paillet (farmer) and Virginie (Rose) Vignault. He was mobilized in the 90th Infantry Regiment of Châteauroux and joined his posting on August 3, 1914. He was wounded for the first time by a piece of shrapnel on April 25, 1916 at "Hill 304" near Verdun. After his convalescence, he was posted in July 1916 to the 54th Infantry Regiment, originally based in Compiègne.
He was evacuated from the front seriously wounded during the battle of the Somme, on September 25, 1916 at Bouchavesnes, because of a "wound in the right temporal region caused by shrapnel". He was awarded the Military Medal and the Croix de Guerre in October 1916. It tells us a little more about the circumstances: "very brave soldier telephonist, absolutely dedicated. Repeatedly volunteered to go and repair the lines under violent shelling. He was seriously wounded during one of his dangerous missions". He was then hospitalised in Bordeaux where surgeons specialising in complex operations on the faces of the "gueules cassées" were stationed. The disfigured faces of these thousands of soldiers will be one of the symbols of the horror of this war. Valentin Paillet went before the special discharge commission of Bordeaux on April 7, 1917 for "complete loss of bone substance in the right parieto-temporal region and left hemiplegia". Discharged category n°1 with a bonus, he was "struck off the rolls" and sent back to his home in Boussay on November 30, 1917, 14 months after his injury.
He stayed in Boussay with his parents in the hamlet of Roux and died of his war wounds on May 18, 1920. In spite of his eloquent military citation, he was not recognized as "Mort pour la France", the deadline for recognition being October 24, 1919. In spite of this, the municipality of Boussay decided at the time to inscribe his name on the Monument aux Morts located in the cemetery. Steps taken jointly in recent years with his great niece Jacqueline Paillet have not allowed the official attribution of the mention "Mort pour la France", for lack of being able to demonstrate by a document of the time the cause of death... However, the soldier's career, the plaque on his grave and the family memory leave no room for doubt.
NB : his brother-in-law Martial Hélias (husband of Marie Louise Paillet) was a cabinetmaker in Preuilly.
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| War memorial in the cemetery of Boussay (37) where the name of Valentin Paillet is inscribed with the date "1920". |
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| Postcard of soldiers of 14-18 wounded in the face, called the "broken heads" (Versailles June 28, 1919). The writing on the card says "Congress of Peace, Versailles, 28 June 1919, Delegation of the Mutilated -- French." |
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| Grave of Valentin Paillet in the cemetery of Boussay. |
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| Portrait of Valentin PAILLET soldier in the 90th IR of Châteauroux (family archives). |
15 August is a public holiday, Ascension, in France, but in Canada it is la Fete Nationale de l'Acadie, celebrating the French Canadians known as Acadians, who found themselves in difficulties when the British took over the French territories in Canada in 1759.
This year several places locally decided to celebrate as well. Many Acadian families came from the area just to our south and west, and the history is well known here.
La Halle, the popular guinguette in Boussay, staged a 'Fete Acadienne' on the eve, featuring French Canadian 'artists' such as 'Carine' Dion, 'Jules' Vigneault and 'Foie' de Pirate. I actually don't know who the performers really were, but a lot of the audience clearly did. The crowd loved it. I must admit, I was expecting a more zydeco infused evening, but there wasn't an accordion in sight.
I joined friends (after aquagym) and it was a great night out. The poor staff at La Halle were overwhelmed by numbers though and we didn't get to eat until 10 pm. Even for France in the summertime, that's a bit late! The meal was a set menu of cooked ham, mashed potato and salad, followed by squidgy chocolate cake, costing €17.
Two nights earlier I had been there for a different local group, and got to witness a respected regional television journalist starting a conga line (Fr. une chenille). I was invited to join (she's one of my swimming buddies) but being uptight and anglo I declined.
August in France is all about going to the guinguette in the evening! A guinguette is a summer pop up open air bar that serves simple food, has live music and dancing and is almost always situated on a river or a lake. We have an equally popular one in the old public laundry, La Lavoir, in Preuilly, and recently we went with clients to the big one in Montbazon for that authentic French holiday experience.
These lovely and uncommon wild flowers were all photographed on the Eperon du Murat nature reserve near Ferriere-Larcon on 13 May 2023.
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| Upright Bugle Ajuga genevensis (Fr. Bugle de Geneve). |
Upright Bugle is probably often mistaken for Bugle A. reptans as it resembles it closely, they hybridise readily and A. reptans is much more abundant and well known. If you see a bugle in an open sunny grassy environment with a brighter lighter blue flower that is your clue that you might have Upright Bugle. Check the stems, which like all plants in the mint family, are square in section. If they are hairy on all four sides then you have Upright Bugle. The species likes dry sunny sites with poor calcareous or neutral soil. The flowers produce lots of nectar and are very attractive to Honey Bees Apis mellifera (Fr. Abeilles des ruches).
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| Veronica orsiniana (Fr. Véronique d'Orsini). Probably. |
This speedwell is not considered threatened, but it is in decline, and uncommon enough in the Touraine that if it is present on a site it can be declared a Zone Naturel d'Interet Ecologique, Faunistique et Floristique (ZNIEFF). Native to southern Europe, it likes hot dry short grassland and woodland edges on poor calcareous soil.
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| Basil Thyme Clinopodium acinos (Fr. Calament des champs). |
This is an annual or biannual, in the mint family. The leaves are hairy and the flowers are usually pink or mauve but sometimes they are more violet like the ones in the photos, and they often have a white patch on the lower lip.
The species likes uncultivated reasonably warm dry calcareous sites that are mowed annually. You can find it in short grassland, fields and fallow land.
The nickname for my new bike is "The Vicar" - as in "more tea, Vicar?" - to
celebrate it's upright and conservative form.
Yesterday the Vicar
and I went to the pool via Chaumussay. Here are some pics:
Here is a selection of orchids that are flowering now in the Claise Valley. These photos were all taken at Chaumussay or Boussay on Saturday 7 May.
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| Narrow-leaved Helleborine Cephalanthera longifolia (Fr. Céphalanthère à feuilles étroites), earlier flowering than the very similar White Helleborine C. damasonium. |
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| The rather uncommon Hybrid Man x Monkey Orchid Orchis x bergonii. |
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| Man Orchid Orchis anthropophora (Fr. Homme-pendu), growing in the ditch very close to the hybrid. |
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| Early Spider Orchid Ophrys sphegodes (Fr. Ophrys araignée), flowering later than usual this year. |
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| Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera (Fr. Ophrys mouche), looking, as ever, like Churchill in his velour onesie. |
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| Military Orchid Orchis militaris (Fr. Orchis guerrier), one of our rarest orchids, although it is a bit more abundant in other areas of France. |
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| I think this is probably a hybrid Lady x Military Orchid Orchis purpurea x militaris. |
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| A horde of Monkey Orchids Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe). |
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| Greater Butterfly Orchid Platanthera chlorantha (Fr. platanthère à fleurs verdâtres). |
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| Monkey x Lady Orchid hybrid Orchis x angusticruris. |
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| Hypochromatic (lacking pigment) Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe). |
