Simon's keen eyes spotted this sub-adult Western Green Lizard Lacerta bilineata or Lézard vert occidental (below) lurking at the back of a flower bed, blending in with all the greenery.
From her premises in the Vallée Coquette, which have been in the family for 300 years, Catherine produces 20 - 30 thousand bottles a year - just her and one employee. Being in Vouvray, she only grows a single grape, Chenin Blanc. This is the grape that Saint Martin brought to the Loire from Hungary in the 4th century, and his abbey is only a few kilometres down river.
Like many producers in this area, Catherine's winemaking is done in a cave (cellar) dug into a cliff. The grapes grow directly above. Walking into such an old cave is quite an experience - everything is covered in fungus, a patina gained by centuries of winemaking in this place. No need to add yeast to these wines - it's here on the walls and in the air all around. The aroma is fruity and intense with just a little edge of sourness.
Catherine herself is quietly spoken and gentle. She understands a bit of English, but is too diffident to speak more than a few words. In French she is happy to describe the wine, offering a wide choice of vintages to taste, in a variety of styles from sec (dry) to demi-sec (semi-sweet), moelleux (sweet) and pétillant (fizzy). We bought some 2009 sec (€6.50/bottle) and 2005 demi-sec (€7.50/bottle). Our clients bought a couple of bottles of 2005 demi-sec from her old vines grown in a section of the vineyard called the Coteau les Brulés. The clients, from Chicago, had never been to a winery anything like this, and I'm always amazed at how much time to visitors our local winemakers are willing to give, and what good value and high quality the wine is.
As Susan wrote before, on Thursday we visited the garden at la Chatonniere, stopping along the way at a restaurant "Croc & Broc" in le Hay. This is a funny little place, being a second hand store and restaurant combined. The food is good, but the brocante I am not so sure about.
Friday was Tour de France day, full of noise and bustle, and added to by visiting the back of Chenonceau. It was a long and tiring day, so I think the parents were rather glad that on Saturday Susan and I had to work, leaving them to their own devices all day. We did manage to get out together, eating at le Twenty on Saturday evening
Sunday was the end of Mum and Dad's holiday. We had a slow start to the day, visiting the potager in the morning. That afternoon the three of us drove to Tours to catch the train to Charles de Gaulle airport where they were catching the plane back to Sydney (from there they caught the bus to Canberra, making it 38 hours door to door).
We did many things over the week and a bit:
On the Tuesday we left them to their own devices whilst I went for my health check up (I think I mentioned that I am really healthy...) and then ate dinner at l'Image (thanks Dad).
This example is in Chisseaux en Touraine.
This one was photographed yesterday at the Prieuré d'Orsan, in Berry, a couple of hours to the east of us beyond Châteauroux.
This day flying moth resembles a bumblebee, and often feeds alongside them. The wings are transparent, with rust coloured borders.
Susan
This privately owned château is close to Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau, but I think a bit overlooked because people stick to the big name châteaux. It is very obviously a garden in the 'English' style of billowing plants and floral abundance, so it is a shame more people don't visit it. Anyone who likes a somewhat less fiercely controlled garden than Villandry presents, but admires the formal nature of the garden's structure will love la Châtonnière for its combination of geometry and romantic abandon.
The waitress in the picture is called Camille. Her name badge says she is a stagiare, meaning she is a trainee (or more properly, an apprentice) doing work experience. The government provides financial incentives to restaurants to employ young people under the age of 19 for two years and train them up in the business. Waitressing is a proper profession in France, and Camille will learn all about how to present and serve food both on the job and in formal training at the Centre de Formation d'Apprentis (Apprentice Training Centre) . Camille will have chosen her profession because she cares about food and waiters are part of the restaurant team all working towards providing the diner with good food at a fair price (un bon rapport de prix et qualité, a very common French expression of praise for a restaurant they have enjoyed).
Because the river Indre has been divided into many channels here, with complicated arrangements to control flow to feed several mills, there are a number of islands. This one (below) covered in ash trees, is stablised in the ancient tradition. The trees are carefully cut and trained so that their roots provide buttressing and revetements (a bit like traditional hedge laying) to ensure the island doesn't wash away. You can see this system of bank stabilisation along the canals of the Marais Poitevin too, to our west, also using ash.
A view of the mill on the other side of the river (below) across the millpond.
A bridge out on to an island with picnic tables (below). The tables are chained to the trees, and at first I assumed it was to stop vandals throwing them into the river, but then it occurred to me that it was more likely to stop them being washed away in a flood. Vandalism of that nature is quite rare in the Loire.
Susan
In early to mid-July (or even earlier this year) you sometimes find small leathery eggs in warm sandy places. These have been laid by Common Wall Lizards Podarcis muralis (les lézards des murailles in French). When they are first laid they are quite small, but they swell with the growing baby lizard inside until they are about 14mm long.
If they survive predation they will hatch into tiny lizards about 20mm long. We see them scurrying all over the place in the garden, on the walls of the house, in the courtyard. We find they are quite prone to coming inside, where they are almost impossible to catch and put outside. We rescued one from the laundry tub last year and had several abortive attempts at convincing one who had taken up residence in the fireplace that it would be better off outside.
Susan
One is for a patisserie, the other (maybe painted over the top) I cannot work out.
On Tuesday I had an all day appointment at the Centre de Réadaptation Cardio-Vasculaire in Ballan-Miré, just south of Tours. This meant leaving home at 06.45 for an 08.00 start (far too early, really) and a series of tests:
The restaurant was very stylish - proper damask tablecloths and napkins, waiters in waistcoats, and silver service. Lunch was 4 courses (including cheese but no wine) and no disincentive to have to visit again.
Bonne Maman® is the most famous range made by Andros, a family owned company based in Lot. They make high quality jams, bottled fruits and biscuits that we often buy. They are a famously secretive bunch, never giving interviews. The Bonne Maman® products are distinctively packaged, and reuse of their jars for homemade conserves or as trendy vases or drinking vessels is actively encouraged by the company. The jams are 10% of Andros' total business, taking 35% of the French market and selling 68 million jars a year, made from 20 000 tonnes of fruit (most of it fresh, unlike some of their rivals). The biscuits gain market share year on year against the giants like LU (Kraft Foods). A third of their jam is now exported all over the world, but only 10% of their biscuit production is sent out of France. Bonne Maman® products are significantly more expensive than their rivals, with jam working out at about 11€ / kg (compared to 7€ / kg on average), but consumers know and trust this quality product so are prepared to pay the premium. The supermarkets love the products because they provide a good margin.
and the bath!!!
Exciting isn't the word for it, I tell you.
After that it was tiling time. The tiles are from Lapayre and were exactly what we were looking for. We discovered later that if you can work out what the manufacturer's name for the tiles are (Lapeyre invents all its own names) you can buy them slightly cheaper elsewhere (Bo Karo are particularly good in this respect; especially when it comes to plinthe, which was half price.)
Susan
In fact, it isn't something you ever expect to see. Twenty seconds later it was gone: a shoal of little fish swan too close and it shot forward, scattering them all. I don't know what the result was, but they do have a reputation as fearsome hunters, even little (about 40cm long) one's like this.
Saturday 2 - Festival des Barroudeurs 2011, the always excellent fun music festival at Barrou on the Vienne.
Sunday 10 - Les Amis du Chatelier (the Friends of Chatelier Chateau) are hosting a concert of classical, jazz and gypsy music by the Ensemble quatuor Todoroff. La Grange des Protestantes, 5.30pm, for further information telephone 06 99 01 62 62.
Saturday 30 - the Café Franco-anglais is meeting Au Panier d'Alice in la Celle Guenand 16.00 - 18.00. Participants should bring an extract from a book, a song, a recipe, a personal story, a painting, a postcard, a photo, an event or a piece of history from their country to present and the group will discuss in French and English according to ability. It's all extremely informal, so come along if you are anglophone and would like a chance to practice your French in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. There is a 6€ charge to cover refreshments.