The Nancy Wake Memorial Ride

Meeting the cyclists at the stadium in Chateauroux. Later this year this will be where a stage of the Tour de France finishes.

More than a year ago the Nancy Wake Memorial Ride came to my attention on Facebook [ https://www.facebook.com/people/Nancy-Wake-Memorial-Ride/61555790881536/ ]. Led by Australian Armed Forces veteran Liz Wheeler a group of fellow female veterans planned to recreate the epic cycle ride made by Franco-Australian Resistance heroine, Nancy Wake. Working with them was the Franco-Australian cycle tour company Velotours, based in the Pyrenees [ https://velotours.com.au/].

  

The cyclists with the Velotours support vehicle at the stadium.

Nancy is not as well known as one might think. She was an Australian living the good life in the south of France, married to a French industrialist, when the Second World War broke out. Both she and her husband were active members of the Resistance. He was captured and killed but she survived, known as the White Mouse, despite the price put on her head by the Nazis. 

 

Riding into town between Sylvie in the white car and Claudette.

As a member of SOE she participated in many acts of sabotage and hand to hand combat. Her most remarkable feat was to ride from a village in Puy de Dome, through Montlucon, Bourges and Issoudun to Chateauroux and back, a distance of nearly 500 kilometres in 72 hours, in order to get a radio message through to London.

 

Outside the public library and theatre, posing for the newspaper photo.

The Australian veterans took it a bit more leisurely, but they made stops along the way to meet locals and spread Nancy's story. Our meeting in Chateauroux was no exception. I was able to put them in touch with a local journalist and members of the local Friends of the Resistance Museum (ACRDI), including Michel Fouassier, the secretary of the association, and Jean-Louis Cirès, the Chateauroux town archivist [ https://www.helloasso.com/associations/amis-du-centre-d-histoire-et-de-memoire-de-la-resistance-et-de-la-deportation-dans-l-indre-acrdi ].

Storing the bikes in the theatre café.

Chateauroux does not in fact currently have a Resistance Museum. It is a project 'de longue haleine' as Michel put it ie it has long been in the planning, but funding has been elusive. Consequently he was very pleased to have reason to collar a journalist and get some publicity showing how interested people are in Resistance history and how important it is to keep these memories alive and honour the brave people involved.

The cyclists posing outside the building where Nancy Wake arrived hoping to meet 'Samuel' the radio operator.

The cyclists arrived spot on time and we met them at the sports stadium on the edge of town. Then Sylvie, a colleague of Michel's, led us all in convoy into the centre to town to meet the journalist outside the public library. After parking the bikes in the adjacent theatre café (closed because it was a public holiday, but Michel had a key!) we walked the short distance to the building Nancy came to meet with a radio operator code named Samuel (real name Amédée Maingard). At the time it was the Café du Cygne, now abandoned and with a name change, but the building still exists. Unfortunately for Nancy, Samuel had fled for his life the day before, and she had to move on. 

Having lunch in the Italian restaurant.

Sylvie had booked us a table at an Italian restaurant nearby, so we enjoyed a well-deserved and agreeable lunch. After lunch there was time for a bit more sightseeing and we encountered the American Army reenactors in the main square. They were offering rides in their vintage trucks and jeeps. We went to see the house where the very first radio message was sent by the Resistance to the Allies in London, and then the War Memorial and the memorial to the Righteous among Nations.

Second World War American Army re-enactors, offering free rides to the public in their vintage vehicles as part of the Victory in Europe activities on 8 May. 

After that our doughty cyclists needed a rest and a freshen up, so we parted company. They went to their hotel, we came home. It was quite a special day and we've made some great new friends, both French and Australian.

At the house where Georges Bégué sent the first radio message from the Resistance to London. All subsequent SOE radio operators were known as 'Georges', and referred to as 'pianists'.

Further reading: Article in the Nouvelle République (in French, behind paywall) https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/chateauroux/cinq-australiennes-dans-la-roue-de-la-resistante-nancy-wake-dans-l-indre-1746727637

Wikipedia page on Nancy Wake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Wake

The War Memorial, which honours not just combatants, but those civilians who were deported to concentration camps.

The nearby memorial to the Righteous Among Nations, with Michel indicating his cousin's name at the bottom.

Out and About in the Claise Valley in Early April

My friend Ingrid and I took ourselves on a little nature outing to check on the state of the orchids in the Claise Valley around Chaumussay on 7 April. She wanted to practice with a new macro lens, so she took most of the photos. And we saw a lot of wildlife apart from just orchids. So here is a selection.

 

A Red-tailed Bumble Bee Bombus lapidarius (Fr. Bourdon des pierres) queen looking for a suitable place to set up her new colony.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Lady Orchid Orchis purpurea (Fr. Orchis pourpre) bud.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Male Green Fairy Longhorn moths Adela reaumurella (Fr. Adèle verdoyante) displaying on a Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana (Fr. Viorne lantane), waiting for females to appear.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Apple Blossom Beetle Tropinota hirta (Fr. Cétoine hérissée) on, you guessed it, apple blossom. The tree is a naturalised domestic apple I assume.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Lady Orchid.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

The remarkarble shared tower entries to a sweat bee Lasioglossum marginatum colony. One of the little bees who occupy these tiny tunnels is centre bottom.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi (Fr. Thècle de la ronce) on apple blossom. This lovely butterfly has a very short flight season, but the numbers appear to be increasing. These days I see it every year, which was not the case in the past.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

The rare parasitic fly Gonia vacua. This one is male and covered in pollen.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

The Second World War Demarcation line memorial at Chaumussay, on the D42 between Preuilly sur Claise and le Grand Pressigny. Conveniently, one can park there, and there is a colony of Early Purple Orchids.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Early Purple Orchid Orchis mascula (Fr. Orchis male) and Blue Sedge Carex flacca (Fr. Laîche glauque).

Cowslips Primula veris (Fr. Coucou) on the roadside at Humeau.

How Are Farmers are Coping in the Drought in the Loire Valley?

Local goats cheese producers are struggling to feed their herds. In order to retain their AOC certification for specific cheeses produced in specific locations they need to feed the goats with locally produced hay. 

Dairy goats.

A herd of five hundred goats will eat 900 kilograms of hay per day plus a bit of silage. This year farmers have only been able to cut half the quantity of hay that they would normally be able to produce. They are using stocks from last year, but if 2023 isn't a normal year they will not be able to replenish their stocks.

Dairy goats.

In the heat the goats suffer from a lack of appetite so they eat less and produce less milk. Normally each goat gives 3.5 litres of milk per day. At the moment the average is barely 3 litres per goat per day. 

Canola crop in the Claise Valley in April.

Farmers report that their winter cereal harvest (that's wheat, barley, and canola) was 30 percent down. The spring sunflower yield will be 50 percent of normal and they are expecting maize to be 70 percent of normal. Many farmers do not irrigate as they have calcareous clay soils that don't require it (they may look dry on the surface, but retain a lot of water in the soil). Last year there was a bumper crop, this year over all will be just over half of last year. Rainfall has been half that required. Many farmers have come to the conclusion that maize is too water greedy to continue with in the Loire Valley.

Sunflowers in the Claise Valley.

Some farmers are struggling to work out from the officially issued regulations if they are still allowed to irrigate. Those farmers who have their own dams can still irrigate, which the general public doesn't always realise. 

Barley crop in the Vienne Valley.

 

Four hundred of the 1500 cereal growers in Indre et Loire irrigate as normal practice. There are 240 other farms which irrigate, mainly for growing forage (for example, dairy farmers, but market gardens and nurseries are also included in this category of farms not primarily growing cereals). 

Dry dam (étang).

 

Only seed maize needs to be irrigated now, this late in the season. That's a hundred farms in a total of 3000 farms of all categories in the Touraine. Farmers take the view that it is not the current irrigation that is causing a lack of water, it is the lack of rain in September 2021.

Wheat being irrigated in late March in the Creuse Valley, where the soil is sandy.

 

Cars We Have Seen Recently

Has anyone mentioned that it's been hot??

Unbearably hot, in fact, but the one good point is that people who are normally reluctant to take their precious cars out in the rain have been out and about. These are some of them:

A 1948 Talbot Lago T26 roadster by Figoni et Falaschi

Frazer-Nash BMWs

You can see us on the road, rain or shine: here we are at Villeloin-Coulangé

If you want to explore the Loire Valley in style, rain or shine, check our tours at www.tourtheloire.com

Cheesy Chardy Tractors

Not far from us, near Chatellerault, there is a wheat farm. The couple who run the farm make pasta out of their wheat, which I buy often. It is excellent. I especially like the tractor shape, which is perfect for making macaroni cheese.

Little pasta tractors.

I also frequently buy chard, either from the Aged One or the Jardins Vergers organic market gardeners who come to the market in Preuilly. 

Chard (aka silver beet) growing in the Aged One's orchard.

When one of our English friends delivers a block or two of cheddar I have a trio of ingredients that go perfectly together and I can make cheesy chardy tractors.

The Aged One with a bunch of chard for me.

The recipe I use is on Simply Recipes.

Two individual servings for the freezer.

Views of Montresor

The other day we visited the ever picturesque Montrésor with Simon's brother Jonathan and friends Annette and Bruce, who are visiting from Australia. Here are a few pictures from the morning.

Footbridge over the Indrois.

The bridge, built at the Eiffel factory, links the castle to its kitchen garden.

The medieval castle gatehouse.

Amongst the earliest medieval stone fortresses built in the Touraine, parts of the chateau are contemporary with Loches and Langeais. It was part of the holdings of the Counts of Anjou, and as such inherited by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century. He is responsible for the building of the twin towered entry chatelet that you see in the photo (similar to the one at Loches, which he also had built).

Citroën Traction Avant at the garage.

Not one of ours and not one we recognised, but very nice.