Australia Day 2011

Today is the national day in Australia, but for many it won't be much of a party atmosphere. The government is talking about introducing a very controversial one off tax to help pay for the flood clean up. Billions have been lost through crops being ruined and mines (particularly coal) being inundated. The money to restore buildings and livelihoods must come from somewhere, and diverting funds from other projects is inevitable.

A typical Australian beach with soft pale sand and no crowds.

Nevertheless, Australians have a reputation for knuckling down and getting on with it, especially in rural areas. Whilst there is a certain amount of blame flinging going on at present, I hear from several of my friends that they have been greatly moved by the willingness of volunteers from areas less affected to pitch in and clean up the stinking muddy residue. Of course, the people who will never recover entirely are those who have lost loved ones, and those whose houses were engulfed are fairly traumatised, whether they are showing it or not.

This scene was immortalised by the Aboriginal painter Albert Namatjira
(the trees have seen better days).

I was particularly struck by the captions on some photos in The Sentinel, the newspaper that serves the town my parents live in, and where I spent my teenage years. Here is a selection - the article was headed 'Flood devastation after wettest year on record':

No mail today...snakes or ducks are about the only things Wendy Pfeffer is likely to find in her letterbox. (The picture shows Wendy at a roadside mailbox, up to her waist in water, which stretches for many metres all around her.)

Self-mulching...Kevin and Vicki Bond's prizewinning garden at Pampas was just one of many inundated after Christmas. Three months ago the garden won the small homestead section of the Carnival of Flowers competition. (The picture shows some attractive small green weeping trees standing in a pond of dirty water and surrounded by a slurry of mud covered loose plant material dumped by the flood.)

Road closed - Perrier's Gully became a raging torrent on December 27. Cattle from the high school's agricultural farm were seen swimming, along with foxes to the safety of higher ground earlier in the day. The unrelenting force of the water took fences out with it. (The photo shows fast flowing water perhaps 100m across a gully that is normally dry.)

I'm sorry I can't show you the pictures, but the Sentinel is so small a concern that it doesn't even have a website. The paper says that the winter grain crop losses in southern Queensland are estimated to be around $200 million and it is too early to assess the damage to the summer crops, but about 50% have been flooded. Local farmers also pointed out that equipment has been seriously damaged, as well as the transport infrastructure of roads and rail. The local council estimate the road repair bill will hit $10 millon and farmers report that items such as rollers, hay bales and fuel tanks have been carried up to 4 km by the floodwaters. The government is holding seminars throughout the flooded districts to advise people on available assistance, farm financial counselling and community services.

Introduced to Australia thousands of years ago by the Aboriginals,
dingoes are now completely naturalised wild dogs.

The total rainfall for the town was 1252 mm. That is 153 mm more than the previous wettest year and 434mm fell in December alone. Things were looking good until June - up till then they'd had just over the average rainfall with 430mm. The town has only had more than 1000mm five times in the past 124 years. The year before (2009) most dams and reservoirs in the area were perilously low - now every one is full to overflowing.

A different flood in a different Australian state.
The egrets are fishing on a flooded road.

Fortunately, the town itself is on higher ground on the edge of a vast floodplain of deep fertile aluvial soil given over mainly to broadacre farming and more recently, coal mining. The town was completely cut off, but my parents and other residents were in no danger at home. It was one of the few towns on the Darling Downs not to be completely inundated.

Most of the figures quoted above are for an area very similar to our own département of Indre et Loire. The main (only) city is Toowoomba, about the same population as Tours, the main occupations are rural, the town my parents live in is about the same population as Preuilly and situated about the same distance from the city. In the weeks just prior to this flood there was serious flooding further north and similtaneously the area to the east, including the state capital, Brisbane, flooded. The European news was reporting the event as covering the equivalent of France and Germany combined, but in Australian terms, it was at first a single state in the north, Queensland. Now the southern states are copping it. We thought the fires last year were bad, but this flood has turned into the worst natural disaster Australia has ever experienced (in economic terms if nothing else).

No swimming - if it's dry it's just sand,
if it's wet it's a raging torrent.

I am conscious though, that there are some small mercies. Floods occur in the summer in Queensland. It may not be the hottest summer but still warm enough for people to be out and about in shorts and tee-shirts. In Europe they occur in the middle of winter, like Xynthia. In Pakistan, 6 months after their devastion, many people are still living in refugee camps in the cold mountainous regions. It may be summer too in Brazil, but the mud in Queensland was nothing to the deluge they experienced. These events come so suddenly and so shockingly, disrupting our lives without warning, but at least in the wealthy nations we can provide the basics for all of our citizens given only a few weeks.

Our blogger friend Thirsty Kirstie, who has had rather an exciting time of it herself, is proposing that, since the year has begun so badly, we just ditch January 2011 and start again. She would like everyone to 'join' her at 18:00 on January 30, no matter where you are or what you are doing and have a drink to the new new year. Yippee - that means popping open a nice bottle of Vouvray at 9:00 on Sunday for us.

Susan

PS The Sentinel also had a small piece on my mother's 80th birthday party, brilliantly organised as a surprise by my father, who thought of everything. Except... perhaps they should have told my sister and I about their third daughter. It was in the paper, so it must be true.

The Waterlily Man

Tomorrow is the centenary of the death of the French botanist Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac. In 1875 he founded a waterlily nursery, and his most celebrated customer was the Impressionist artist Claude Monet.

Native Yellow Waterlilies in the moat at Dissay.

Latour-Marliac and Monet met at the 1889 Paris World Fair, where, by happy chance, they were exhibiting in neighbouring pavillions. Four years later, when Monet purchased the meadow opposite his house at Giverny and built a water garden, Latour-Marliac was the man he turned to for a stock of waterlilies. Monet would spend the rest of his life painting them, and Latour-Marliac would ultimately breed 110 varieties.

The native White and Yellow Waterlilies growing together in the Brenne.

Latour-Marliac was born in the Aquitaine region in 1830, and originally studied law. The revolution of 1848 meant that he beat a prudent retreat to manage the family estate. Now he was free to indulge in botanical experimentation, and eventually set up the waterlily nursery on 4ha of land that included two wells, a stream and 14 springs. He brought together species from Sweden, France, America and China and cross pollinated using a method that is not entirely understood now. His cultivars are all sterile, presumably a deliberate ploy to ensure they could not themselves be bred from.

Waterlilies in a garden in the Northern Territory, Australia.

The resulting waterlilies, some tiny enough to be grown in a gold fish bowl, many reliably hardy, all in beautiful delicate tones, soon became famous, particularly after he began corresponding with William Robinson and contributing to Robinson's magazine, The Garden. By 1904, three-quarters of his trade was outside France, with British customers particularly. His customers included Leopold de Rothschild (Gunnersby Park), Gertrude Jekyll, Veitch's nursery, Tolstoy, the Olmsted brothers and the Vatican.

Waterlilies growing wild in Kakadu National Park, Australia

After his death his descendents continued the business until the 1980s. In the 1990s the owners of a British aquatic plant nursery saved Etablissements Latour-Marliac from closure, and the current owner acquired it in 2007. The nursery, situated about 100km south-east of Bordeaux, is now the third most visited tourist site in Lot-et-Garonne.

Susan

Bisque de crevettes

Medium sized cooked prawns known as crevettes roses are cheap and good quality here. I buy them often from the fishmonger at the market, as do many people. I always save the heads and shells for making tasty fish stock, but I don't always get around to it and can build up a collection of little bags of prawn bits that sit in the freezer for quite a while. So I was glad to come across this super economical recipe for prawn chowder that uses them all up. The recipe is from a little book I received as a free gift from the supermarket. It's called Un dîner presque parfait ('Pretty Perfect Dinners') and has all sorts of advice for food shopping preparation and consumption.

Prawn heads and carrots boiled up in wine and stock.

Here is my translation:

It is rated as an easy, affordable entree for 4 people, taking 15 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:

500g prawn heads and shells
1 shallot*
1 carrot
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp brandy
150ml white wine
300ml fish stock
1 tbsp tomato concentrate
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 bouquet garni
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper

Method:

1. Peel the shallot and garlic and take out the germ.
2. Finely chop the shallot, garlic and carrot.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the prawn heads and shells and stir well.
5. Add the brandy, then the wine and stock.
6. Dilute the tomato concentrate in 400ml water.
7. Add it to the saucepan with the bouquet garni.
8. Season with pepper.
9. Bring to the boil then lower the heat, cover and leave to cook for 30 minutes.
10. Strain the mixture, pressing the prawn heads and vegetables well to extract every last bit of their flavour.
11. Reheat the soup gently for a few minutes and add the cream.
12. Taste to check the seasoning. You probably won't need to add salt.

The attractive and tasty finished soup.

*The original recipe calls for 1 belle échalote ('1 nice, good sized shallot'). No such specification is made for the carrot, so I assume any old carrot will do...

Susan

A Typical Saturday in Winter

Living in this part of France is great: the scenery is really pleasant, the people are friendly, we have good markets and shops, and all the history and glamour of the Loire Valley is right on our doorstep.

None of which is much use when the weather is dull, grey cold, wet and windy. It's on days like those that we should be painting, and will be eventually. At the moment there is still some plaster to be sanded off before we can start on the attic bathroom, and neither of us really feel like painting at the moment.

So instead Susan has been translating a document from French about the mills on the Claise (fascinating, and coming one day in to a blog near you), made rhubarb and custard, and done a couple of loads of washing.

A photo of summer in Azay le Rideau to cheer us up

I, meanwhile, have been indexing photos, and putting locations and captions on the photos we have loaded on the web. This is a tedious job, but as I have been putting links to the business on them, I hope it will pay off.

We have also been mulling over decisions about cookers and mixers, and not yet getting anywhere.

In between times we sit by the fire, which is really pleasant.

Simon

The Collegiate Church of Saint Mélaine

High above the town of Preuilly-sur-Claise, within the medieval chateau walls, and now the private property of the current chateau owners*, sits the ruined collegiate church of Saint Mélaine. Built of tuffeau (soft limestone) in the 12th century, it qualifies as a collegiate church thanks to the honorary and transferrable title of Canon accorded to the Barons of Preuilly.

Built to replace an earlier (9th century) chapel, at the time of its construction it was richly decorated, but has had rather a rollercoaster time of it subsequently. Partially destroyed in the 16th century by the Protestants, it was reconstructed by César de Vendôme. César, the son of the good king Henri IV and his great love, Gabrielle d'Estrées, was Baron of Preuilly. A couple of centuries later, the church was laid waste again, during the Revolution. The only existing part of the 12th century building is the bell porch sheltering the entrance. Until the early 20th century this porch also sheltered a collection of remarkable capitals, but they were sold in 1930 (we have heard it was to pay for the restoration of the chateau) and now reside in the Cleveland Museum of Art's archive store in the United States.

There is some graffiti which is probably the work of a cleric in the 12th century. It shows a bishop with an old fashioned mitre giving the benediction, the cross turned towards the interior of the church. The initial 'M' indicates that this represents Saint Mélaine himself. The tomb of Mélaine, who was Bishop of Rennes in Brittany at the time of Clovis, was brought to Preuilly for safekeeping at the time of the Norman invasions (the Normans appropriated territory in all directions, not just England). This holy tomb was made the object of important pilgrimages on the part of loyal Bretons for three and a half centuries.

Susan

*I have a suspicion it's their garage.

More Old Film

In November we posted an old family film which had been digitised and loaded on to the "Mémoire, les images d’archives en région Centre" website.

This is another which shows Preuilly sur Claise, as well as some of the chateau of the area: Boussay, Le Grand Pressigny and Rouvray.

I would have edited the film to show only those places near to us, but I was defeated by technology. At 4.10 there is a rather nice Traction Avant, as well.

Simon

The American Camp

Visiting Ken and Walt on Tuesday reminded us that although we took a photograph a couple of years ago, we have never blogged about the memorial on the bridge between Noyers and Saint-Aignan.

During World War One there was a substantial American replacement troop camp in Noyers-sur-Cher. The memorial says:

Occupied by the 1st Div VSA 24 Jan 1918 - 27 Dec 1918 and by the first replacement depot 27 Dec 1918 - 10 July 1919. A half million American soldiers passed through this depot. Erected in memory of the 853 American soldiers who died in this area.

The camp, with its rows and rows of pyramid shaped tents, was like a town in its own right, with a cinema, shops and repair workshops, a dance hall, basketball court, hospital and cemetery. It was American policy not to send newly arrived troops straight to the front, so the Sammies, as they were known, were stationed here so they could aclimatise, then be quickly and easily moved up to the north-east of France to the front line as required. Likewise, when the War ended, the camp was used as a mustering point while troops waited to be repatriated to the USA.

One of the most important facilities on site was Camp Hospital 26, situated opposite the current cemetery. Its own cemetery was on one side of the hospital grounds. Officially, it could hold 1500 patients, but in times of emergency, took up to 2200, dealing with medical, surgical and dental cases. As such, it was an exceptionally large facility of its kind and had several specialist clinics (for those banes of military life, venereal disease and flat feet). The usual standard for a camp hospital was 300 beds.

At the beginning of American involvement in the War there were 73 000 American hospital beds in France, for a force of 300 000 men, provided by a combination of new build and annexation of existing French facilities, with the co-operation and agreement of the French government. Camp Hospital 26 seems to have been a mixture of new construction, annexed existing French hospitals and other existing buildings. Six months later there was a total of 238 917 hospital beds, of which 25 232 were in Camp Hospitals. Towards the end of the war, partly because of the outbreak of influenza, which caused the bed occupancy to nearly double, the Americans were negotiating for the provision of 600 000 beds.

Camp Hospitals were intermediate establishments, between Field Hospitals and Base Hospitals. They were usually associated with a Convalescent Camp. The one at Noyers-sur-Cher was also located in what was known as the Intermediate Zone, that is, between the Front Line Zone (north of Orléans) and the Base Zone (west of Tours).

Susan

Ovens Part 2

Yesterday we visited Ken and Walt, taking with us a large steak and kidney pudding, something they had never eaten before.

While we were there we discussed ovens/cookers and what to look for. We also picked their brains as to the location of the oven shops in St Aignan, so we could go and look at the ovens we have to choose between. Although we have previously seen the Smeg and Sauter cookers (as discussed here), we hadn't seen the Hotpoint Ariston, which was now within our price range due to the soldes.

As we left Ken and Walt, Susan and I discussed if we would cross the river to visit the kitchen shop on the other side. Susan was disinclined to, wanting just to visit the kitchen shop we would be passing on the way home, but as I had the cars keys (and probably more importantly, control of the steering wheel) we did cross the river and locate the kitchen shop.

This photo has nothing to do with this blog post:
Roofs in Chisseaux, one of which needs work.

Imagine our surprise when we walked into the shop only to see the exact cooker we were wanting to look at. This is a truly amazing thing, and may be a sign, although we will be buying the cooker online at a saving of almost 45% on the price displayed in the shop.

We also discussed Kitchenaid mixers, as Ken and Walt have one, and everyone who has ever used them raves about them. We would rather like one of these; Susan because they are stylish, solid and really useful, and me because Susan can make cakes and biscuits with them. In France these are incredibly expensive (almost as much as the cooker) and in the UK they are just plain old ordinary expensive. In the USA they are just about affordable but then you have shipping costs (you can buy 220-240v Kitchenaid stuff direct from the US). We will probably order one from John Lewis in the UK and either pick it up, or have someone bring it over on their next trip, thus saving us a couple of hundred euros (which staggers me - we are talking about saving that much on an item I would have been tempted to buy someone else's version of for 30 euros).

Either I am maturing, or I am losing my marbles. Answers on a postcard, please.

Simon

This Week in the Garden

Not much is happening garden wise at the moment, which is actually quite surprising.

Normally you wouldn't expect anything at all to be happening, it is January, after all. However, the weather at the moment is incredibly mild, and has been for a couple of weeks. This has us slightly worried, as we have no doubt there is a frost to come (for instance, today's weather forecast shows snow next Wednesday) but it's possible that plants will start to think that spring is on its way.

However, the mild weather has allowed us to do some things in the orchard: I connected our rainwater tanks and have plans to buy and connect some more, whilst Susan has been surveying and plotting her orchids. We also have plans to build new compost bins (the old one is now full, but not matured).

In the potager our onions are doing quite well, but everything else (including, annoyingly and uncharacteristically, the cabbages and leeks) seem to have died off because of the mild but wet weather. We have not yet started planting seeds in our cold frames, that will probably be another 6 weeks yet.

In the back garden of our house the daffodils are starting to shoot and they will probably be flowering in late March. The orchids that Susan had to transplant when we built the grape vine trellis are showing signs of growth, and they should flower in late May.

Apart from that, it is all quiet in the gardens.

Simon

Oeufs en meurette

This one's for CHM, as I believe that eggs in red wine sauce is one of his many favourite dishes. It's a French classic from Burgundy, but equally found in nice cafés in Paris. We had never had it before, so when I came across a recipe in a little French cookbook that came as a free gift from the supermarket I decided we should try it.

Here is my translation of the recipe:

It is rated as an economical entrée of moderate difficulty, serving 4 people and taking 15 minutes to prepare, 30 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:

4 slices of white bread
4 eggs
8 slices of streaky bacon
1 onion
2 shallots
Some chives
50g butter
500ml red wine
2 tbsp white vinegar

Method:

1. Bring the wine to a boil in a saucepan and reduce it by half.
2. Peel and finely chop the onion and shallots.
3. Add them to the saucepan, then reduce the wine by half again.
4. Whisk in the cold butter thoroughly.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Strain and keep warm.
7. Grill the bacon and keep warm.
8. Bring a saucepan of water to a strong simmer and add the vinegar.
9. Poach the eggs.
10. Drain them on kitchen paper.
11. Put an egg on each slice of bread, share out the bacon and nap the dish generously with the sauce.
12. Sprinkle with a few snipped chives and serve.

I let the wine reduce a bit far which meant the sauce wasn't as generous or as smooth and glossy as it should have been. Personally, I felt that whilst it is an interesting dish and I am glad I've tried it, it was really rather a palaver for something that seems so simple. It's the sort of dish I probably won't make again (unless CHM is coming to supper and I want to make something to impress him).

Susan

Eglise Notre-Dame-des-Echelles

The tuffeau (soft limestone) Church of Our Lady of the Stairs at 4 rue Notre-Dame in Preuilly-sur-Claise dates from the 9th, 12th and 13th centuries. A basilica style church has been on this site since the 9th century. In the 12th century the entrance and belltower were built and a large twin lancet window topped by a quatrefoil rose added in the 13th century.

The church bears the additional name of des Echelles ('of the stairs') because it is perched high above the street, and you need to access the entrance via some steps. The building must in fact have gained this 'nickname' in the 19th century, after it was no longer a church, because the stairs did not exist during the time it was a church. In the first quarter of the 19th century the street, the main road to Loches, was driven through at a lower level, effectively raising the level of the door. Apparently this caused quite a kerfuffle at the time. Where the old porch once stood it was necessary to create a balcony accessed by stairs to get to the original door. A new door at street level was created by punching a hole through the facade.

The gable end was restored in the 18th century, in the style of that time. Some masons symbols are carved on one of the stones and a Medusa head inserted (below).

Three curiously carved stones can be seen, two on the facade (below) and one inside. These are believed to have been salvaged from an earlier Carolingian building on the site. The low relief cartouches represent either lions or horses.

At the Revolution the priest of Notre-Dame-des-Echelles was the only one remaining in Preuilly. He was assigned to the Abbaye Saint-Pierre, which then became the sole parish church. Notre-Dame-des-Echelles was decommissioned and declared national property. It was sold to Maître Fossié, the notaire whose office was not far away in rue Saint-Melaine.

The belltower was demolished sometime in the late 19th century and the bell removed to the Hotel de Ville. Until recently, no image of the church with its bell tower intact was known, but thanks to Dr Mike Vaile, a 19th century watercolour by John Louis Petit has returned to Preuilly, clearly showing the bell tower in place.

In the 1920s the building was owned by a manufacturer of meat curing seasoning mixes and used as a venue for functions and events. It could be hired for wedding receptions or mobile cinema screenings showing films in episodes. According to Roger Lezeau, who was a small boy at the time, you could go in and see Tarzan, a documentary, a detective story and the life of Jesus, delicately hand coloured, all in the one session.

Later it held a library and the first floor was home to a local theatre troupe, which they shared with the last cinema operator. Its current owner has done a remarkable job of safeguarding and restoring the building.

Susan

Soldes

The soldes are on.

These are the twice a year sales, which are held France wide on dates set by the government. Outside of the set dates, it is permitted to have soldes, but you need to apply for a licence from the préfecture to do so. You can give discounts, you can have special offers, but you can't call them soldes unless you have the permit.

We are currently looking for a cooker (stove, range, call it what you will) and thought the soldes might be a good time to buy. Imagine our surprise, then, when the particular items we have in mind are listed on websites as being part of the soldes and showing discounts of 30% or more, but 10 Euros more than the normal discounted price.

One day, we will have a stove where the freezer now is.

The dilemma is that items that were previously well out of our price range are suddenly only just more expensive than we are wanting to pay. Living where we do, this means we have to make a trip to either Tours or Poitiers to look at the newly almost affordable items to feel them over - see them in the flesh, work out why the oven capacity of some cookers is half the size of other cookers (even though the external dimensions are the same), and check how sturdy the knobs are. Once that is done we can make a decision about ordering online: in the local electrical stores these items are still in the "out of our range" range.

The choice looks like being narrowed to the following:

• Smeg CG90x
• Hotpoint Ariston CP98 sp6
• Gorenje KM590N/E
• Sauter SCM1090R

Of those, The Hotpoint and the Gorenje are the two new ones in the calculations. If anyone out there has any experience with these cookers (or their UK equivalents) we would love to hear from you. This decision has taken months, and is no closer to resolution.

Simon

La Moutarde de Dijon

Recipe books often specify Dijon mustard in their list of ingredients. This iconic French product is made from vinegar, water, salt and mustard seeds, but mustard is hardly grown in France any more, much less in the Dijon area. The prepared mustard paste manufacturers of France source 90% of their mustard seed from Canada.

The reason for this seems to be that after the end of the Second World War, with the introduction of the Common Agricultural Policy, farmers found mustard was no longer profitable. The crop did not receive an EU subsidy, and so they switched to growing other things.

Susan

A Flood Video

For those who have been following the events in Queensland, this was the view of the carpark we used to park in most days.

It was filmed from the office we would have been working in if we hadn't left in 1997.

If you would like to make a donation to help the many families who have been affected by these floods, the Queensland Government's own appeal site is here.

Glimpses 15

We have posted pictures of various windvanes before (and said "We have posted pictures of various windvanes before" as well).

This one is just around the corner from us, but only recently drew itself to our attention.

Simon

Tourangeaux Births, Deaths and Marriages 2010

The population of Tours at the last census was 138 783, in a departmental population which has gone over the 600 000 mark.

In 2010 there were 3042 births - 506 fewer than in 2009, and for the second year in a row, boys exceeded girls (or as the Nouvelle République newspaper put it, les choux ont été plus florissants que les roses). Nine babies in ten in the department were born in the Bretonneau hospital, in the maternity unit named after the 18th century feminist Olympe de Gouges. Births can now be registered at the hospital, rather than having to make a separate trip to the town hall.

All marriage ceremonies take place in your local town hall.

Camille is the most popular name for new babies, followed by Arthur, Emma, Lucas and Nathan. First names are tending to be shorter and shorter, with parents often choosing names of one or two syllables e.g. Léo and Théo. Diminutives are also becoming more common, such as Sam, Tony or Tom. Old fashioned names are experiencing a bit of a revival, with plenty of little Basiles, Luciens and Josephs. American names are falling out of favour, with some exceptions (variations on Emy, Dylan and Joey, for instance). A few parents are inventing or choosing very unusual names for their little ones, like Gaucelme, Ephissème or Dragos. Quite a few get named after fruit or flowers: Cerise, Airelle, Capucine. Composite names are being modernised so that although Jean-Luc remains very popular, we now have Louisa-Mériem, Léo-Paul and Léo-Pahn. Often this is the result of the parents wanting to merge two cultural traditions. There is no 'presidential phenomenon', with only two Nicolas and a single Carla.

Deaths were also slightly down on last year, with 1443 people dying. Of those, 1139 were over sixty years old, 44 were killed on the roads and in addition, there were 95 still births. Very sadly, there seem to have been quite a few suicides. They are reported in the paper distressingly frequently, and Preuilly has not escaped, recently losing a respected and popular young man. Just as sadly, a neighbouring village lost one of their young men a couple of months ago serving in Afghanistan. Over all, more men than women died.

419 couples were married, with 19 June taking the prize as the most popular date (14 couples chose this particular Saturday). Weekday marriages are becoming more common, especially Friday evenings. Couples say it's calmer, there is less pressure and they can take more time for the photos. One couple apparently requested a webcam so they could broadcast the wedding in real time to their friends overseas, but sadly, it wasn't possible to set up.

Susan

Reflections of Summer

The last week has been particularly mild down our way: for couple of days the temperature has been hovering around the 14°Celsius (57°F) mark, and overnight we have hit lows as high as 10°C and 11°C. This is about 20°C warmer than the same time last year, and the weather isn't expected to return to normal winter temperatures for at least the next week.


Meanwhile, in Toowoomba, which Susan wrote about yesterday, their problem has been rain. A huge amount of water fell on the city and the surrounding area, the official figure at the moment being "at least*" 100mm ( 3.937 ') of rain in three hours. The water arrived in the CBD of Toowoomba in a wall of water at least 2 metres high and is now working its way downstream, placing towns which have already been flooded this year back onto flood alert, as is Brisbane, where the river has already broken its banks.

The road from Toowoomba (where we used to work) to where Susan and I lived is cut again, and they have found a car washed into a (normally dry) creek from a flood proof 15 year old bridge. So far there is no sign of the driver. In the Lockyer Valley things are no better, with all the roads to where my house was completely cut, and with more run off to come. The death toll so far is 9 people, with another 66 missing. An up to date report and photos can be found here.

At this time, out thoughts go to family, friends, ex-work colleagues and other acquaintances in the area and hope they are safe, dry and warm. ThirstyKirstie hasn't blogged about it yet, but I know she has no electricity at the moment. We also know she is safe because her Facebook is being updated (I assume from a mobile phone), and she has been speaking to her mum.

Simon

*I assume the rain gauge filled up.

Finally, a photo to cheer us all up: a window in Tours

News Flash

Actually that should be Flash Flood.

I received an email first thing this morning from my old friend and regular blog commentator Abbeysmum to tell me that the town in Australia that Simon and I used to work in, and live nearby, was dramatically flooded today. My parents, who live in a small town about 50km away are fine. Their garden is under about 5cm of water simply because the ground is saturated, but there is no danger there of real flooding. I know some of my friends are cut off by floodwaters and marooned in their house. I am sure that others will have had to evacuate. My father had organised a surprise 80th birthday party for my mother on Saturday and almost everyone was able to attend, but not everyone has been able to get home, and they are staying with my parents.

This is what Abbeysmum had to say:

The water from the creek at the back of the Library was up through the library carpark , across the road (covering the seats outside the library) and into Village Fair (Garden Town) to the extent that the whole building had to be evacuated,water was creeping up the escalators !!!!

The water at the corner of Margaret St near the coffee club was raging, I don't know how deep it was, maybe you could look on the Chronicle site, they may have had some Photographers out and about.I did get a few pics and when I get them on the computer I will send some, if you can't see it on the news.

I was on my way to pick up a book at the library and thought I would park on the roof of Village fair just in case the creek came up into the carpark of the library, when I went to walk across the bridge over the road all I could see was water everywhere.

Very scary.....I think we had 3 inches in 2 hours this afternoon and it is still raining and has been since yesterday lunch time, sometimes heavy sometimes light.Big land slide on the range today, closed coming up and down.

My father tells me that the library must now be under water. I watched some of the footage on SBS television. The force of the water flowing through the middle of town was very powerful, pushing a van into a tree which then went over. A 7m wall of water is coming down the creek where I went to college, and people are being told to evacuate. Two people have died and 6 people are trapped in buildings in the centre of town.

Susan

Photos are here

The Abbot's House

The 15th century tuffeau (soft limestone) building to the south of the Abbey, facing on to rue du Trottoir in Preuilly is known as la maison de l'Abbé (the abbot's house).

While the convent associated with the Abbey was rebuilt in the 15th century, the religious community was dispersed into various locations in town. At the time, the Abbey also owned this private house, which I suspect may originally have been an investment to earn them rental income. Its opulence was certainly a long way from the strict Cistercian rule practiced earlier, but the nuns moved in and by the 19th century it was a girls school. It narrowly avoided being destroyed in a bombing raid during the Second World War (the house across the road was hit and the abbey windows shattered).

At the back of the house there is a spiral staircase tower dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. It is unusual in that it has a stone vaulted ceiling constructed on wooden ribs. Mid way up the stairs there is a monk carved into the wall, depicted lighting the visitor's way.

At present there is a movement in town to have the building converted into sheltered housing for the elderly.

Amusingly, in Le Patrimoine des communes d'Indre-et-Loire, a composite photo has been used, giving the house an extra bay.

Susan

Le sac à pain

Yesterday morning the boulangerie was handing out free promotional bread carry bags. These are long and narrow, to protect your pain or baguette on the way home.

These ones are made of calico, printed with the name and address of the boulangerie. At the top the cord handle acts as a drawstring to close the bag. Quite practical and stylish, although my one criticism would be that the cord is too long to allow someone my height to hold the bag at my side, and too short to sling over the shoulder. Almost all carry bags suffer from this fault in my experience.

I wonder if it is bad form to use it when I buy bread from the other baker's?

Susan

A Proud Moment

Every year at about this time the Maire has an official function at the salle des fêtes, where he announces the council's plans for this year and recaps last year, thanks everyone for being good citizens, and offers a glass or two of champagne and a piece of Broyé du Poitou.

The townsfolk, gathered for drinkies.

We went last year, and although we didn't totally understand what was being said, decided it was important for us to attend this year. Plus, Gérard Thoreau had called in earlier in the day to check the spelling and / or pronunciation of our names, so we figured something was up. We assumed we would get called up amongst those who started new businesses in town last year.

Imagine, then, our delight and surprise to hear our names in the Maire's speech along with mention of this blog and how it promotes Preuilly sur Claise and presents such a positive view of the life of its citizens, and to be called forward to receive a medal.

Gilles Bertucelli (the Maire), Simon, Gérard Thoreau (Deputy Mayor),
Susan and Jean-Paul Charrier (Councillor)

Our Medals

Susan's medal shows a medieval carving from the now destroyed church dedicated to Saint Nicolas. Gérard said that he can remember the carving in situ on the exterior of the church, but now it is in the museum. Simon's medal depicts the Poterne, the medieval post gate to the château, which is now the museum.

To say we are proud and well chuffed is an understatement.

Simon

p.s. Mention must also go to Madame Elton-Wall, who received an honourable mention in the beautiful front gardens competition.

Le Château de Boussay

The château at Boussay dates from the 12-13th centuries and the 17-18th centuries and is made of tuffeau (soft limestone) like most local buildings. Owned by the Menou family, it was designated a fortified house in 1533, surrounded by a moat and entered via a drawbridge. In those days there was a distinction between a château (castle) and a fortified house, often implying the occupants were lesser nobility or newly ennobled.

The front of the château, with the two old towers.

At this time the château comprised four blocks of living quarters, arranged around a vast internal yard. The only survivors from this maison forte are two towers, one round, one square. By the 18th century the southern wing had disappeared and part of the western wing.

Apparently, in one of the rooms, there is an 'English fireplace', salvaged from the nearby ruined hamlet of Varton. The name of this hamlet is a corruption of 'war town', the name given to it by English troops during the Hundred Years War. I have heard a number of different versions of the story of the English at Varton and have yet to get to the bottom of it. We drove through the area recently, and Varton appears to have been turned into a recreational four-wheel drive centre and campground.

The eastern facade.

Very unusually, the château has never been put up for sale since 1342 and is still occupied by descendents of the Menou family. At the time of the maison forte, the family also added a grand memorial chapel to the local church and generations of Menous are buried there. With such a long association with the village, the family and the château have been the hub around which the community has revolved.

One of the most remarkable members of the family was the 18th century Jacques-François Menou. Like François d'Harambure from Preuilly, he was the local representative for the nobility at the Estates General of Versailles in 1789. I think the family came to regard him as very much the black sheep, despite his being responsible for the introduction of a single flag to be used by the Navy, and the precursor for the current national flag. A friend of Napoleon Bonaparte's, he succeeded General Kléber in Egypt after the general was assassinated. Jacques-François took rather well to life in Egypt, adopting native dress, marrying a wealthy Egyptian woman and even converting to Islam. Napoleon and the Menou family were distinctly unimpressed, but he clearly enjoyed the exotic lifestyle.

Susan

Mont-d'or

I first encountered this rather special cheese in London's Borough Market, when the woman just in front of me cried out (in an American accent) 'Oh My God, they've got Mont d'Or!'. Hmm, I thought, if she's that excited, perhaps I should try some. I'd never seen it before and so I asked the cheesemonger about it. He explained that it was produced in the French mountains by cows that spent the summer out on the high pastures, and that it was only available seasonally, around Christmas time. Simon and I both loved it, and ever since, when we see it, we buy it, once a year, for the winter holiday period.

The milk in Mont-d'or comes from a rather special breed of cow, the Montbéliarde, and the cheese is redolent with the resinous scent of spruce. It's made in the area known as the haut Doubs, the place which regularly records the coldest temperatures in France. The Montbéliarde cow has a white head and red ears, an excellent milker which gives us not just Mont-d'Or, but also comté, vacherin, morbier and bleu de Sassenage. Vacherin-mont d'or is an AOC Swiss cheese, Mont-d'or and vacherin du haut Doubs are French cheeses made from raw milk, with a squidgy middle and a brined crust which obtained an AOC in 1981.

A box of Mont-d'or with a friend.

The practice of sending the cows up into the mountains to graze on the flower and herb rich grass is known as transhumance. Many places make a real carnival parade out of walking the cows up from the village or farm to where they will spend the summer. In mid August the cows come back to their sheds (summer doesn't last very long here!). This is the time when their milk production starts to slow, and is no longer sufficient to make large hard cheeses such as comté. In the 18th century the farmers came up with the idea of making smaller cheeses, named Mont d'Or after the highest peak in the area. Now there is only one family left, the Mamets, who are involved in the whole process from milking the cows to making the cheese on the farm, allowing them to uniquely label their product fermier.

Immediately after milking, the milk, at 35°C, is tipped into vats and left to mature for an hour with lacto-bacteria and rennet, which makes curds. The curd is cut into big cubes, encouraging the discharge of whey. Everything is stirred and the curd comes together and water eliminated. The cheese is then put into moulds, pressed then removed from the moulds and strapped up in spruce bands, which impart a slight woody taste. Then they are plunged into a brine bath and stored in a cave on spruce planks. For three weeks they are turned and rubbed with salty water. Then they are left to develop a crust and mature for 6 weeks. The diameter of the cheese is just slightly bigger than the spruce box they get packaged in, so when they are forced into the box the creamy cheese buckles and undulates - just like the Jura mountains it comes from.

It is quite common for people to serve Mont-d'or a little warm, by putting it in the oven, box and all, but the producers disapprove of this practice, saying it breaks down the aromas. They recommend it is consumed at room temperature, with a good wine. Many people like to cut a cross in the top and dip fruit into the soft cheese.

Susan

Source: Régal No38.

Butterfly Surveying in France

This year I have joined the Suivi Temporel des Rhopalocères de France (STERF or, in plain English, the French Butterfly Atlas project). Some of you (my family in particular) will be familiar with 'bird atlasing'. Surveying for butterflies is based on the same principles.

The aim of the project is to find out what species occur where and whether populations are increasing, decreasing or stable. Volunteers and professionals all over the country gather data from (April) May to August (September) and send it in to the French National Natural History Museum biodiversity recording unit. They do the number crunching and produce graphs showing the population trends and distribution maps. The data also feeds in to the annual European report on the state of grassland butterflies and the International Red Lists of Threatened Species. Butterflies make good indicator species because they are particularly sensitive to habitat change. They are also easy to survey because they are generally easy to identify without capturing.

One of the squares I have been given to survey.

Each surveyor is allocated one or more random 2km² patches within a 10km radius of their home. They then decide on 5 transects within that square. A transect is a strip 5m wide and of varying length, depending on how rich the habitat is. For the French butterfly survey, you must be able to walk it in around 10 minutes, counting and identifying all the butterflies within the 5m strip as you go. You must only survey in good weather, as it is pointless going out in conditions when your target will be keeping out of sight.

Polyommatus bellargus Adonis Blue (le Bel-Argus)
one of the target grassland species.

Of particular concern at the moment are butterflies that inhabit grasslands. It is clear that their numbers are plummeting in almost every case (a total population decrease in Europe of 70% in the last 10 years, and it is believed that the population was already greatly reduced when surveying first started). The causes are the increased intensification of farming (eg. broadacre farming, improved pasture) and conversely, the abandonment of small, steep sites which were once grazed, but are now considered uneconomic. On these latter sites, butterflies thrive for a couple of years, but with no grazing stock the grassland gets rank and is slowly replaced by scrub, and the butterflies disappear. Intensive farming on the other hand, uses almost every inch of soil for monocultured crops, with no space for the mosaic of wild flowers and wild grasses that the butterflies need. Improved pastures replace native flower rich grasslands with a much less complex mix of much lower habitat value for butterflies. Even haymeadows don't provide as high a quality of habitat as they used to, as in the modern farming calendar hay is cut earlier (and silage even earlier).

This is the middle of my other survey square.

As a result, STERF surveyors are told that 3 of their 5 transects must be through agricultural land. The aim is not to concentrate on high quality nature reserves, but to get a broad and realistic picture of the situation throughout France. The clearer the problem becomes, the more chance the project has of influencing policy. Environmentalists believe that the Common Agricultural Policy must be reformed, to encourage and allow farmers to become ecological stewards rather than ruthless exploiters of the landscape.

If you are interested in monitoring butterflies and can commit to about an hour a month between May and September, please contact STERF. Last year there were only about 120 surveyors, checking 660 transects. Some departements don't have a single surveyor yet. You don't have to live in France (or even speak fluent French) but if you have a holiday house here and visit once a month during the summer you could participate. If you have any questions don't hesitate to get in touch with me or with STERF. And if you see me wandering about the Chaumussay area or the Parc de Boussay with a clipboard, you will know what I'm up to.

Susan

Danger Vipères

I love this sign. I can't imagine anyone is in any real danger from vipères (adders), but the sign is stylish and adds a frisson to a visit to the château de Montpoupon.

This rocky ledge is at the base of the château perimeter wall, right on the roadside. I am sure no self respecting adder would be tempted to lay about here during visiting hours, no matter how enticingly warm the rock got. I bet the local adders love this place first thing in the morning though, when it allows them to refuel for a day of lurking about in the undergrowth, ready to strike unsuspecting voles.

Susan

Bread and Butter Pudding

Last year just before Christmas, Susan bought pain de mie. This is a sweeter than normal bread, with sugar added to the dough (but not as much as "normal" North American bread), and baked in an enclosed tin. This means that it is all mie (crumb) and no crust.

A week later, we still had most of the loaf left: though we are led to believe that many French children have it for breakfast, it just didn't appeal.

Therefore, it was just perfect for bread and butter pudding.

Ingredients:
Some bread (or brioche, or if you have it pannetone)
Sultanas - about 2 handsfull
Dried Apricots - about a handfull
Candied orange peel - 6 or 7 strips
a cup of milk
some cream (I used créme cru, but double cream will do)
4 eggs
butter
Sugar

Chop up the apricots and peel, and mix with the sultanas.
Butter a stoneware dish.
Butter the bread. It doesn't have to be perfect, you're not making sandwiches for the vicar's garden party.
Put a layer of bread in the dish, sprinkle with with dried fruit.
Repeat the process, but use all the fruit before you get to the top layer of bread.

Mix the eggs, milk, cream and sugar in a bowl, and pour over the top.

Stick in an oven at 180C for 30 minutes or so.

The basis for this recipe was Delia's. I don't do measuring, so either; I was lucky, measuring is overrated, or I have a gift. I also don't do nutmeg or zest, and unless it's soft and very orangy candied peel, neither am I much a fan of that. Still, Delia was a good departure point, so I am happy to acknowledge I departed...

Simon

PS, yes, it was as good as I had anticipated.

Partying till Dawn

At least, that's what the poster said. Sadly, Simon and I don't have the stamina, and we left the Caribbean themed New Year party put on by the Ecole de Musique at 2am, soon after the main course was served. We debated about whether we could wait another 2 hours in order to be there for the dessert, but decided bed was calling more strongly. Luckily, on our way out, we were told our cake would be delivered chez nous on New Year's day.

Simon was among a handful of people who did not get up and dance (he is a member of the Bass Players Union, which has a rule prohibiting any form of public dancing). Many people clearly enjoyed dancing and were graceful and stylish. Other people, myself included, couldn't hit the beat with a barn door, but as my galant dance partner (who fell into the first camp) kindly told me, it wasn't about whether you could dance, but whether you were having fun.

The singer, Nathalie Goutté, began the evening in 19th century caberet mode, then progressed to Cuban and later 80s disco followed by her husband DJing. I don't know who the woman in the foreground of the photo below is, but she and her husband were indefatigable dancers. You could see that she must have been a real beauty in her youth, with big dark eyes and classical western features.

The entrée, of Caribbean spiced boudin noir (blood sausage / black pudding), pâté de pied de cochon en croute (pigs foot paté in pastry) and accras de morue (spicy salt cod fritters) caused a little flurry. An announcement was made to suggest that we did not eat the skin of the boudin. The little sausages had been made especially for the event and I suspect the problem was that the organisers had forgotten to check if the casings were natural or not (although I am not sure because I didn't understand some of the announcement). The recommended method of eating the boudin was to pull them through the teeth, squeezing the filling into the mouth and discarding the skin. This was hilariously disgusting, but the boudins were delicious, and I doubt they had any left over. I will leave it to your imagination to picture the scene and the abandoned casings littering the table.

The 2008 Saumur Champigny, made from cabernet franc grapes, wasn't bad. It was selling for €8 a bottle, and I am sure every table chose it.

We've never been to a St Sylvestre reveillon before, so were curious to see how it went. I was rather surprised that we were the only 'anglos' there. Going to a dinner which began at 9 pm and was strung out so that the main course wasn't served until 1.40am was a new experience. Mind you, most people had scoffed so much of the 3 courses prior to the main that they didn't really want the main course of colombo (curry), rice and beans. The main difference, of course, is that Auld Lang Syne is not sung at midnight. Instead people just cheer and rush round kissing everyone on the cheeks and wishing them a bonne année.

Susan

2010 in Review. Part 2

July was a busy month: really busy. The roofers were still here, and we were working on the sas d'entrée. Later in the month we had visitors: first my brother and sister and their respective spouses, then my uncle Geoff and aunt Pat. A month, however, most notable for my birthday, celebrated in style.

In August we started work in the attic, first building a new floor, and then going on to insulate the whole roof space. I also managed to finally sort the mysteries of Célestine's headlight switch, whilst Susan filled the kitchen with jam.

The Abbey, Preuilly sur Claise

Work on the attic continued into September. Our alternate life was busy as well, and we visited the chateaux of Chauvigny, Chenonceau, Chaumont, Cheverny, Loches, Azay-le-Rideau, and Montpoupon, some of them more than once.

October was a bit of an odd month: work on the house continued (this time in the office), and we took some visitors on tours, but all the while the weather couldn't make its mind up - a recurring theme this year. Our poster campaign got underway, to really good response (thank you). Meanwhile, the rest of France suffered with a series of strikes; which we noticed, but they didn't really affect us.

The Bridge over the Cher at Montrichard, on
an October day that also bought us teeming rain

November started with some serious dust and ended with... oh. Dust. In between times we had a friend from Australia (and some of her friends) visit, which was nice, and the cranes flew over on their way south (which was nice, but a sign of colder weather).

Which brings us to where we are now. December. It has been cold, and we had plenty of snow at the start of the month. We started work on the kitchen, finishing the insulation of the house in the process. Last year we has one room that was warm, and two rooms which were tolerable as long as you were wearing gloves and a hat. This winter we can use the whole house (but not the graineterie) wearing sensible level of clothing.

Some numbers from 2010:

• 20 rolls of insulation
• 80 sheets of placo (plasterboard)
• 7775 photos
• 2 electric drills
• 98,000 visitors to the blog
• 250 orchids in the orchard
• 425 metres of electrical cable
  

What a year this has been. Last year we had the excitement of moving to France and starting a new life, and this year we had the excitement of making that life more comfortable.

Simon

Our circle of friends in and around Preuilly has widened, and we are particularly grateful for the advice and energy provided by Stéphane. Without him, we would not have got nearly as far with the house. Susan.

2011 eh. Whooda thunk it?