My Motanka

One of the gifts I received from the Ukrainians at our Christmas party was a beeswax candle in the form of a traditionally dressed woman. This little figurine combines two Ukrainian folk arts -- that of making beeswax figurines, and of making motanka dolls, a talisman for protecting the family.

True motanka dolls are made of cloth and thread, but not sewn. They are featureless and normally have a cross of wrapped threads across their face. The tradition is very old, with motanka dolls being made 5000 years ago. Usually made with old cloth salvaged from items of family members clothing, the materials cannot be pierced or cut. Each cloth motanka is thus unique, but these modern wax versions are made in a mould.

Motanka dolls might be put in a baby's crib or given to a traveller to ensure they came home. To make a motanka for a specific purpose it must be done at the appropriate phase of the moon for that purpose. A motanka must be finished in a single day, and threads must be wound clockwise. They cannot be made on Fridays and Sundays. The maker must be thinking positive thoughts, so as to infuse the motanka with the right vibe. It seems to me they have some affinity with corn dollies, and indeed, apparently some motanka were made by plaiting and twisting straw.

In Soviet times the tradition was discouraged and the skills for making them nearly lost, but there has been a recent revival.

If you want to make one for yourself, here is an online tutorial:  https://ukrainian-art-experience.com/what-is-motanka/

Where to Buy Your Veggies in France

In France, the magazine Que Choisir is dedicated to looking at products and making recommendations to consumers on which are the best value. They have spent some time researching whether it is best to buy your fruit and vegetables from the supermarket or buying from shops and markets where the products are locally sourced. Their conclusion is that buying local produce with low food miles (Fr. circuit court) is much cheaper, despite a persistent public perception to the contrary.

 

My  local organic farm shop getting into the spirit of Halloween.

The supermarkets like to present themselves as protecting the purchasing power of the consumer, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Even organic fruit and veg is cheaper in the little local shops. 

 

My local organic market garden shop. There is a Michelin starred chef in this picture plus a serious foodie. Good to know I shop in such company.

Food in general has increased in price by more than 10% on average over the last year. Que Choisir showed that a selection of 28 fruit and vegetables with low food miles cost €104, whereas the same products cost €110 in a 'grande surface alimentaire'. The gap was even bigger for organic, which was €127 for locally grown against €144 from the supermarket. Que Choisir points out that not only to you benefit from cheaper prices if you shop locally, but you will benefit from freshness, quality and seasonality. The producers live in your community or the adjoining one, and will benefit from a fairer price. 

 My local organic market garden shop.

Shops that meet the criteria as stocking local food must sell a sufficient variety of fruit and veg, and at least 70% must be sourced locally. They have to be a physical shop, and open at least two days a week. You can find such retailers by using the interactive map developed by INRAE (the French National Agronomy Research Institute). Click here.

 

Organic heirloom tomatoes at my local market garden shop.

Studies show that supermarkets continue to put a significant margin on fruit and vegetables, and an even bigger one on organic produce.

 

These onions from the supermarket were grown in Australia, although the company supplying them is French.

Of course, it does depend a bit on exactly which products we are talking about. Button mushrooms, walnuts, washed carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes are all much the same price whether in the supermarket or an independent local shop. The supermarket is more expensive for garlic, turnips, endives, shallots, Florence fennel, cauliflower, spinach and lettuces, but cheaper for clementines, cabbage, leeks and broccoli.

 

Celery, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots at my local organic market garden shop.

The Que Choisir study was conducted between 25 November and 9 December.  They visited 371 independent shops in 60 départements (counties) all over France, and checked the prices online for 4500 supermarkets (Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Cora, E.Leclerc, Intermarché, Système U and Monoprix). The fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables chosen were garlic, beetroot, broccoli, butternut pumpkin, washed carrots, unwashed carrots, button mushrooms, white cabbage, cauliflower, clementine, shallots, endive, spinach, Florence fennel, yellow and green kiwi fruit, turnip, onion, sweet potato, leek, kuri squash, iceberg lettuce, oak-leaf lettuce, apple, walnut, celery, potato, pear.

 

Turnips, cauliflower, radishes, celery, potatoes, mushrooms and leeks at my local organic vegetables farm shop.

Here is the link to the Que Choisir report (in French).

 

Vegetables in a French supermarket.

Fruit in a French supermarket.

TOC-H

When we were in Batlow we went for a walk of the streets before dinner. It's a good time to explore a small town: the commercial crowd (such as it is) have gone home, and there's virtually nothing to stop you just criss-crossing the road at random. Looking at a map suggests that Batlow has three parks in the middle of town, and a wander around a park is always nice, so off we set.

Now I appear to digress...

The TOC-H is a Christian organisation founded in 1915 at Poperinghe, Belgium as"an alternative for the 'debauched' recreational life of the town". It was named Talbot House after the birthplace of Gilbert Talbot, brother of one of the senior chaplains in the British Army who was sponsor of the scheme, who had been killed in battle. First known as TH, it became TOC-H in the phonetic alphabet in use at the time by the British Army.

As well as its headquarters in Poperinghe, there were little TOC-H rooms across the trench system. Outside was a lamp, only just bright enough to be seen if you were close by, but not bright enough to attract the attention of the enemy. 

I have no idea why my Mother's family had an expression "As dim as a TOC-H lamp", although it appears to have been in fairly common usage in the UK at one time. As a child I never understood why any random act of silliness brought forth such a condemnation, it just was. I later researched (a little) and discovered the explanation of the lamp but never went any further.

So you can imagine my excitement (not shared by anyone else on the walk, I hasten to add) when I saw this:

TOC-H hall is now the Girl Guides hut.

The organisation still exists today, working mainly in the field of education.

Lake Mungo

When we were flying back from Australia we were blessed with an interesting route and (occasionally) not too much cloud cover. This meant I was able to take photos out of the plane window in the hope I could later identify something interesting. This photo is of a historically important place - not just for Australia, but of massive archeological interest world wide.

Lake Mungo is a dry lake located in New South Wales, Australia, and is part of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area. The sand dunes at the edge of the lake hold evidence of human habitation dating back over 40,000 years, making it one of the oldest known sites of human activity in Australia.

Lake Mungo through the window of a 787 Dreamliner. The sand dune is where the majority of the archaeology is found.

The discovery of the remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady in 1968 provided insights into early human behavior, including ceremonial burial practices. These might challenge previous assumptions about the timeline of human migration and development because some of the testing results date them from the time that homo sapiens were first leaving Africa.

For Indigenous Australians, Lake Mungo is a sacred site, reflecting the connection between people, culture, and the land. The remains themselves have become a political football, and the scientific findings contentious.

Lake Mungo also offers valuable environmental and geological records. The ancient lakebed and sediments provide evidence of past climate changes, which has been used to understand environmental shifts over thousands of years.

I am always amazed by people who get bored on a plane, especially when it's flying over land during the day and they're sitting in a window seat. I find the view out of the window endlessly fascinating, even if I do usually end up with a crick in the neck.

The Beginnings of Blondes Have More Fun

As you can see by the map below, France is a predominantly brown haired country. This makes anyone who is a natural blonde stand out, and I've always thought that one of the reasons Agnes Sorel made such an impact on King Charles VII is that she was a natural blue eyed blonde, in a court full of dark haired women. They met in 1443 when she was a young woman of around 20. He had been on the throne all her life and was around 40 when they met. She became his mistress soon after.

 

Her family came from Picardy (in the light haired zone), where they were minor but long established nobility. As a teenager she joined the household of the Duke and Duchess of Anjou (also known as the King of Naples and the Duchess of Lorraine). It was normal for young people to enter other households like this, with the parents hoping to forge stronger links with important patrons. They would receive an allowance, in return for agreed services, suitable for their rank and age. As well, these children would be educated and groomed for roles at court and marriages would be negotiated. Agnes's father must have been very well liked or respected, as the household Agnes entered was second only to the immediate Royal Family. Indeed, the Duke was the King's brother in law, and personally close to him. Agnes ended up exceptionally well educated, as this was a cultured and sophisticated household. She was clearly a clever child and soaked it all up.

As a young woman she became known as la Dame de Beauté, known for her great physical beauty, her lavish lifestyle and her influence on fashionable dress. As one of the King's closest confidents, she had political and social influence, often behind the scenes but there were occasions when the King nominated her as his agent. No other mistress had been so publically acknowledged. Like many women with both beauty and brains, she tended to polarise those around her, and she made powerful friends, but equally powerful enemies.

 

This painting by Jehan Fouquet is accepted as being an image of the Virgin, using the features of Agnes Sorel. Commissioned by Etienne Chevalier, the King's secretary, this was a common way of flattering an important ally.

 

We know from contemporary records and paintings that she was blonde, and her physical remains, examined in 2005, bear this out. Her long golden locks are discreetly portrayed in the famous painting by Jehan Fouquet on the right hand side of the Melun Diptych. You can see them streaming down the back of her neck and tightly pulled back at her temples.

France, Queen of the Roundabouts

One of the things some visitors to France comment on is just how many trafffic roundabouts there are in France. And they are not wrong. The statistics bear this out and show that France is a world leader in roundabouts. 

 This roundabout, in the industrial boondocks of Amboise, has an abandoned helipad in the centre.

According to the painstakingly calculated figures on the blog 'Beyond the Maps', the most roundabouts per population are to be found in mainly western France (Vendée, Loire-Atlantique, Landes, Mayenne) plus Pyrénées-Orientales in the south. The fewest roundabouts per population are around Paris and in the north east. We in Indre et Loire appear to sit in the middle. 

 A plane on a stick. To be precise, a Dassault Mirage IIIB two seater training jet previously of the French Air Force, now a roundabout decoration in Saint-Amand-Montrond

In terms of actual numbers of roundabouts there is a roughly east-west divide in the country, with the west being generally much more heavily endowed with roundabouts than the east. Toulouse takes the prize as the municipality with the most roundabouts (499 at last count). Virtually everywhere roundabout numbers are going up.

 

 A roundabout in the middle of le Blanc, a town about half an hour to the south of us.

 

France is the European record holder for roundabout density, easily outstripping neighbouring countries. The most famous roundabout in the country is of course the horror known as the Etoile, a six lane roundabout in central Paris, surrounding the Arc de Triomphe.

 

Arc de Triomphe and the Etoile.

This post is dedicated to entomologist Simon Leather, who loved aphids and France, but sadly died while being treated for colon cancer a few years ago. His blog is called 'Don't Forget the Roundabouts'.

Local Flooding

It has rained and rained, ceasing on Monday after weeks of wet and windy weather. The Claise is carrying a lot of water, and many trees have been damaged. Here are some photos I took between Preuilly and Chaumussay on Friday, during the peak of the water levels.

 

Once again the terrace of the guinguette was under water. 

Downstream from the bridge and weir at Chaumussay.

The bridge at Chaumussay.

From the bridge at Humeau.

The mill stream at Humeau is overflowing onto the island and draining into the river.

Refugee Association Christmas Party

I'm on the committee of an association which has supported displaced Ukrainians who arrived in our village early in the war. Our skillset turned out to be perfect for the task, with a team experienced in working with immigrants, medicine, education and the arts, and we have created a formidable network of contacts in the public sector and the charity and aid sector. This was our third Christmas party and things are beginning to change. Some of our Ukrainian community are moving on, to the opportunities in bigger towns and cities. The children are all growing and developing. Most are thriving, but not all.

 

Nataliya R and Anna.

 

Maria with gifts from Pere Noel, and Marilou in a Ukrainian embroidered shirt.

 

Speechifying.

 

Teenagers Vavara and Sophia catch up. When they first arrived they went to the same school, but Varvara now lives in Tours and was just down for the day. Both girls are super smart and doing well at school.

 

Martine, who took a Ukrainian family into her home in the early days, until permanent accommodation could be found. She's always there to help with advice and practicalities, and is very close to 'her' Ukrainian family.

 

I think Nataliya P has had the most difficulty coming to terms with her new and unasked for life. One of her ways of coping is to run every day.

 

Nataliya D has established a close friendship with one of her older French neighbours. He has become uncle/grandfather figure and clearly dotes on Nataliya and her children. Recently she has been able to return the favour and help him as he recovers from a serious fall.

 

Princess Maria with her mother Vitalina. Maria arrived as a timid two year old who wouldn't leave her mother's side, and has developed into a rambunctious four year old who has no trouble demanding attention from any adult she knows.

 

Michel, our Master of Ceremonies.

 

The loaded Christmas tree. Presents were exchanged all round. I got a traditional beeswax candle in the form of a motanka (guardian doll), some Ukrainian lollies made into a wreath and a lovely card from the Ukrainians.

 

Floral table decorations made by Olena and Vitalina.

Capon

Our traditional Christmas bird is a pintade - Guinea Fowl. This year we went for something slightly different and had a capon - a castrated male chicken, a practice that enhances their growth and meat quality.

The Janzé capon is a high value product from Brittany, renowned for its tender meat. The IGP rules say they must be free-range birds, raised for a minimum of 150 days on a diet of OGM (genetically modified) free grain, and for the last 3 weeks they are "watered" only with milk. 

The breed has an interesting history: famous in the 19th century but almost extinct by the 1980s. It was revived from individuals in an eco-museum near Rennes and reintroduced to farms. They're good fliers, and since 2016 have been put to work in cider apple orchards as a pest control measure.

As a meal they are excellent - really tasty, and even the white meat is moist. I enjoyed our dinner, but I'm not sure we needed the extra meat a capon gives, although it did make an excellent chicken noodle soup two days later. We'll try a Janzé chicken next time they're on special.

The Australian Beef Herd

My observation on our recent trip to Australia is that black Aberdeen Angus rule the paddocks. They've always been a popular breed in Australia, now it is rare to see anything else. A few Herefords, and that was really about it. According to my trawling of the internet, cattle with some percentage of Angus genes make up around 50% of the national herd. We weren't far enough north to see what the numbers of Bos indicus type cattle were in comparison. But I didn't see any Charolais even in good beef country.

50% of the Australian national beef herd is raised in Queensland. As in France, the consumer preference is for grass fed, and Australian farms reflect that, with two-thirds of the herd out on pasture. To be sold as 'grass fed' a beast has to spend its entire life outdoors eating grass.

Acknowledgement of Country

One of the changes that have occurred since we were last in Australia is the widespread use of the Acknowledgement of Country.  This is to pay respect to the original occupants of the land. The usual wording is "I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the (people) of the (nation) and pay my respects to Elders past and present."

Here the acknowledgement is at the bottom of the blurb about the painting. This work is on Junee railway station, New South Wales.

We saw it at the entries to towns, in public buildings and on information boards for nature reserves. I attended a tai chi class and the instructor began the session with the Acknowledgement of Country.

 

The Mount Majura Nature Reserve sign thanks visitors for caring for Ngunnawal country.

 

The Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve website says: "We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging and extend recognition to all First Nations peoples who visit us."

 Batlow's town sign keeps it simple, with 'Welcome to Wiradjuri and Wolgalu country'.

How Does the Cucumber Jump?

Have you ever encountered a Squirting Cucumber? They are frankly a bit alarming. The merest touch will send the fruit exploding its seeds and unpleasant liquid for metres, and you'd better be out of the way. This plant in the photos was in the courtyard of Preuilly's little local museum.

But up until just recently, it wasn't fully understood how the plant achieved its explosive power. The explosion lasts just 30 milliseconds, and the seeds, travelling at 20 metres per second, could end up 10 metres away. Oxford based scientists have now filmed and measured, and discovered something unique. What they realised was that the fruits become highly pressurised, filling up with mucilage. Then, amazingly, some of the fluid transfers back out of the fruit and returns to the stem causing it to become longer, thicker and stiffer. Crucially this causes the fruit to rotate to the perfect angle for blastoff. Finally the stem recoils from the fruit, causing the seeds to eject. These discoveries have implications for precise control of rapid drug delivery in medicine.

Ecballium elaterium or Squirting Cucumber as it is usually known in English (Concombre sauteur in French) is a perennial, native to Southern Europe, appearing wherever there is sandy, stony or waste ground. The plant is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, so is genuinely a cucumber. The fruits are poisonous and were used medicinally in the past (as so often with poisonous plants, the right dose is actually beneficial, but it needs administering with a skilled and knowledgeable hand – something that is largely lost to us now). Apparently, the fruit is so strong a purgative that just absorbing the liquid from the seed capsule through the skin can have an effect. The liquid is also extremely irritating to the skin.

Because of its very effective seed distribution system, it can very easily take over an area, and consequently, it is necessary every now and then for brave souls covered from head to toe in protective gear to remove as much as they can to keep it under control in gardens and public spaces.

A Resistance Hub

After France was divided into Occupied France and 'Free' France the town of Loches ended up being close to the Demarcation Line, more or less as far north as you could get in the 'Free' zone. As a result the area around Loches became one of the principle crossing places for people wishing to clandestinely get from one zone to the other.

Sympathetic locals emerged from the farming communities that lived along the frontier. They wouldn't accompany the refugees, but they would pass on information about the best routes so as to avoid unpleasant encounters, the timings of patrols, and they might offer a bowl of soup and shelter for the night. Later the frontier became better guarded, and brave souls came forward, offering to drive refugees up to the border, and they became known as 'passeurs'.

 

Now a Michelin starred restaurant called Abore et Sens, this was until 2019 the Gerbe d'Or.

Initially they were patriots offering their services for free. But as time went on, the Germans increased their surveillance and the risks became greater. The number of passeurs diminished, and the profile of the passeurs changed to more 'professional', some of whom asked for payment for their services in view of the risks they were running. Little by little a true network developed, with links to the Resistance. The veterinarian Goupille and his family in Descartes were key members of this organisation.

Then several passeurs were denounced. They were deported, and three of them never returned from the concentration camps. 

In Loches the café-restaurant La Gerbe d'Or was a meeting point for those wanting to discretely cross into the Occupied Zone. They would be driven to Dolus le Sec, where it was possible to cross the frontier secretly. They would wait at the Hotel Perrusson then at nightfall, accompanied by their guide, they would slip out. After several hours of walking over ploughed fields and open meadows they would reach the little train station of Cormery, in the Occupied Zone.

White Saddle Mushroom

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.