Architectural Details of Preuilly I

These photos showing 17th century architectural detail are of Preuilly's 'second chateau'. La Rallière was built by Samuel Gaudon (hence the SG monogram in the cornice). It is to my mind a much grander building that Preuilly's chateau proper, but strictly speaking it is a hôtel particulier (grand town house). 

Gaudon was born in Preuilly, Protestant, and made a fortune market gardening on the outskirts of Paris*. The building was never finished and today is a privately owned holiday rental. Compromised during the Fronde, a period of political unrest, Gaudon was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1649 and building work came to an abrupt halt.

*I can't remember where I got the information about Gaudon being a market gardener. CHM has pointed out to me that the real money came from the fact that he was one of Louis IV's tax farmers.

La Tour de Vesvre

In the north of the département of Cher, between the vines of Sancerre and Menetou-Salon in the commune of Neuvy-Deux-Clochers sits the Vesvre Tower. Vesvre grew in importance in the Middle Ages because it was on the route between Bourges and Sancerre. A massive fortified rectangular house with thick masonry walls was built in the middle of the 12th century by Hugues II de Vesvres on the vestiges of an earlier aristocratic home which dated from the 11th century or even earlier (maybe the 9th century). Along side the tower is a complex of buildings and earth works, including the much older original motte and the farm and farmyard from the 13th century (remodelled in the 16th century). Archaeological studies have revealed a system of defensive ditches, hedges and palisades. The buildings became the property of the local commune in 1973, since when the site has had extensive renovation and archaeological work undertaken.

 The Vesvre Tower House.

The fortified house was built on a square platform surrounded by a moat and defended by a lookout tower at each corner of the mound. The building has been much altered and remodelled over the centuries and only took on its current appearance in the 17th century. At the end of the 15th century Renaissance style lodgings were added to the west, but they are now in ruins. To the north there are the vestiges of other buildings from this period, but what their purpose was is now difficult to interpret.

 Dovecote and barn of the fortified farm of Vesvre.

The existing buildings of the fortified farm are estimated to be no earlier than 1500, but the archaeological digs prove that the farm had been fortified in the 13th century. Both the dovecote and the outer barn wall form part of the fortifications. Originally there was a drawbridge between the farm and the tower house platform. There is documentary evidence of a chapel here too, which has now completely disappeared. It would explain the otherwise mysterious origin of the name of the nearby village, Neuvy-Deux-Clochers. The village only has one church ie only one belfry, not two, yet 'Deux-Clochers' means 'two belfries'.

Anyway, it's a jolly impressive tower house, and with its red sandstone blocks, clearly Berrichonne rather than Tourangelle. It is open to the public and I could have gone in, but my friends and I had an appointment with the cheese producer across the road.

The French Official Office

Recently we've had cause to need vaseline. Célestine needed some for her battery posts, Simon needed some for cracked heels.

To obtain vaseline in France you go to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for some. Vaseline is vaseline in French, by the way (pronounced 'vah-ZLEEN'). The pharmacist goes out the back and returns with a tube in a blue and white box. Printed along the side it says 'Vaseline Officinale'.

This word 'officinale' (or 'officinalis', depending on declension) I'm used to seeing as the specific name for many plants -- Soapwort, Common Fumitory, Garden Asparagus, to name but a few. I knew it meant a species that had medicinal use.

The word 'officinale' comes from the Latin 'officina', which means a place where herbal remedies are prepared. The museum at Issoudun has a very nice example, called in French an officine, with much of its original furniture, ceramics, and equipment. The French word officine is a synonym for pharmacie. So Vaseline Officinale is pharmacy grade vaseline.

I thought the French word office, which means an annex to a kitchen or dining room where food service preparation can be done must also be connected to 'officinale' in its sense of being a place where plant material was prepared for human consumption, but it turns out to come from a different Latin root. According to Larousse, office comes from 'officium', meaning 'duty'.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

The White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster is a big distinctive white, black and grey bird. This one is a mature adult ie at least 5 or 6 years old, and they can live to 30. The wingspan is 2 metres and the 3 kg birds measure about 80 cm long. Never abundant, but they can be easily seen around the coast of Australia. They are also present on major inland waterways. Mostly they eat fish, which they catch by plucking them out of the water on the wing, but they won't turn down carrion of any sort if it presents itself. They will also eat turtles, snakes and water birds, and harass other birds for their catch. Apparently they are capable of taking a swan, but it has to be said that Australian Black Swans are smaller than the Northern Hemisphere species.

I see that their call is described as a loud goose-like honking. I have to admit, it had never occurred to me that it was goose-like, but it certainly is loud and they are quite vocal birds, especially in the mornings and when couples greet one another. Unfortunately nesting couples are easily disturbed by human activity, but if left alone a nest can be occupied by the same couple for decades. 

They can share territory with Wedge-tailed Eagles (the Australian equivalent of the Bald or Golden Eagle) because they go for different prey. The two species don't seem to interact much, although there might be competition for good nesting trees. The wedgies will hunt over dry land and the white bellies over water.

Their numbers seem to be declining as they lose habitat and coastal land is urbanised. However, this may be offset as the inland population do well thanks to the otherwise unwelcome introduction of European Carp to Australian fresh water bodies.

This one was photographed cruising overhead in a National Park on the New South Wales coast.

Our posts on Sundays have an Australian theme. If you would like to read more, click here.

Sancerre and Chavignol

Looking down on Chavignol from about three-quarters of the way up the vineyard slope.

In September I participated in the annual women only outing that our car club organises. As usual I acted as navigator for Suzanne G and she drove her Citroen Traction Avant. Our first stop was to pick up a third companion, Bénédicte. Women and cars were coming from all over the Touraine and Berry. The meeting place was the village of La Borne, near Henrichement. We had morning tea here then went on to do some sightseeing at the cathedral of Jean Linard and cheese tasting at a goat dairy farm before picnicking at the étang at Neuvy-Deux-Clochers. Everyone had brought their own lunch. I made a savoury carrot dip/spread and and a citrus juice and rosé punch. The punch went down extremely well and Bénédicte asked me for the recipe.

 Classic cars, all lined up by their women drivers in the forecourt of Michel Girault's winery.

After lunch it was on to Chavignol to walk amongst the vines and then go for a tasting at a carefully chosen winery in Bué. What was the criteria for choosing the winery? Plenty of parking and the winemaker owned a classic car.

 Looking down on Chavignol and across the valley.

When we got to Chavignol, Bernadette J who was organising the outing, thought it would be a good idea to walk straight up the the hill through the vines. The view would be worth it she insisted. I cannot emphasise enough how hot it was out there amongst the vines, and no, frankly, although good, the view wasn't quite worth it. It may have been September, but the temperature was in the 30s and the vineyards are steep. Fortunately I had taken Bernadette's advice and brought a hat and a stick, but even so I nearly expired on the way up. I imagine Bernadette slightly regretted setting off up the slope too, since she had picked up quite a cargo of hartwort and agrimony seeds by the time she got to the top. Those tights of hers would not have been salvageable.

Bernadette descending through the vines.

The winemaker at Bué, Michel Girault, had been extremely lucky. Sancerre was one of the wine appellations that was badly hit by the April 27 frost in the spring, some producers even losing their entire 2016 vintage. However the slopes around Bué, which are part of the Sancerre AOP, were more or less untouched, so Michel was looking forward to a good harvest.

 Red grapes (I assume Pinot Noir) nearly ready for harvest at Chavignol.

I've noticed that Sancerre is the one Loire Valley appellation that our American clients all know. I like Sancerre wine, but we don't drink much of it because it's actually quite a long way from Preuilly. Much easier to buy Touraine and Vouvray.

Steep, with loose crumbly limestone pebbles. Not easy to walk up in the blazing sun.

The head of the valley at Chavignol.

The sensible members of our group took the farm vehicle track which was longer but easier walking.

The village of Sancerre over on the next hill and beyond that the Loire river.

Sancerre wine from Domaine les Beaux Regards (Michel Girault and sons).

Bernadette's tights.

Chavignol Goats Cheese

In September I visited a Chavignol goats cheese producer on his farm with a group of friends.  In terms of quantity produced Chavignol is second after Sainte Maure de Touraine of the Loire Valley goats cheese Appellations d'Origine Protégées (AOP) and just a bit more than Selles sur Cher. Valençay and Pouligny Saint Pierre produce half or less of the quantity of the others. Rodolphe le Meunier, the cheese refiner, said to me once that Chavignol was his favourite of these cheeses. I don't see it so much around Preuilly, which is in the Sainte Maure de Touraine geographic area, so I was hoping to taste some good farmhouse product that was a bit different.

 Alpine bucks taste the air around young does who may be coming into season.

As it turned out, I was ambivalent about the cheese and more particularly about the producer. He was clearly knowledgeable but I didn't take to his rather vulgar, sometimes salacious way of talking about goat husbandry and cheesemaking. 

 Kids, just a few days old.

The goats were clearly in good condition, calm and comfortable. It was kidding season for half the troop, so there were hugely pregnant does with unbelievably enormous udders, and one even gave birth while we were there. On the other side of the shed the bucks were in with the young does who were coming into their first season. Their bedding was fresh straw and their water troughs were clean. The Alpine breed goats were fed on hay and grains produced on the farm.

Fresh Chavignol cheese, with a replica ceramic cheese mould.

However, the milking parlour and the shop were the dirtiest and untidiest I have seen. There was dust and flies everywhere. I've visited quite a few goat farms in the Loire Valley and normally what strikes me is how amazingly clean and tidy they are, in all areas, and the producers are clearly fastidious. I was really disconcerted to encounter an AOP certified farm that didn't seem to take hygiene in all areas extremely seriously.

I was also disappointed by the cheese. It was extremely delicately flavoured. I know a lot of local French people who love many foodstuffs that are subtle, whereas I like bolder flavours, so this is not a comment on the quality of the cheese. The cheese was actually very good, just not to my taste.

 Chavignol cheeses of two different ages.

Chavignol goats cheese is sold in a puck shaped form known as a crottin. The literal translation of 'crottin' in modern French is 'dropping', but the word for the cheese doesn't come from any resemblance to a dropping. The word comes from the little ceramic colander style moulds the cheese was traditionally made in. These are called crottins in the Berrichon dialect, because they are named after the crots ('holes') on the river banks where the laundry was washed and the clay for the cheese moulds was extracted.

Raising goats in the Chavignol and Sancerre area seems to have begun in the 16th century. When phylloxera hit the vineyards of Sancerre in the 19th century, a significant portion of the land under vines was converted to cheese production. Today there are 550 000 hectares involved in the production of an annual 774 tonnes of Chavignol cheese. 

 Pregnant does.

The Crottin de Chavignol is a raw milk cheese, made from whole goats milk and a lactic culture. The cheese is white with an ivory natural rind (which can go bluish or brown with age). Each cheese weighs 60 - 90 grams and has a 45% fat content. 

The goats are always of the Alpine breed, good milkers yielding about 800 litres a year. The milk is about 3.5% fat and 3.1% protein. There are 70 farmers who just produce milk which they sell to the factory, 22 producers who only sell to specialist cheese refiners, 23 farmers who sell direct to the public, 3 specialist refiners and one factory. They produce 13 million individual cheeses per annum, a third of which are made on the farm.

Crusty Substances

On the last fungi foray I went on we found a number of crust fungi. They are quite quirky so I thought I'd present them on the blog.

Netted Crust fungus Byssomerulius corium (Fr. Mérule papyrasée).

This pretty crust fungus is apparently found worldwide. The genus name 'byssomerulius' refers to its appearance resembling folds of fine silk. The specific name 'corium' means 'hide' and refers to the way it forms a skinlike covering on its host twig before forming small brackets.  The underside is covered in meandering ridges and holds the spores, the upperside is downy white. It is one of a group of fungi known as 'white rot'. This is not an edible fungus -- not because it is toxic, but because it is so leathery.

Split Porecrust fungus Schizopora paradoxa (Fr. Polypore étrange).

Thanks to Jean-Pierre Lafont for identifying this for me. This is another of the fungi known as 'white rot'. Apparently it's a very common species, but I've never encountered it before. It occurs in Europe and Africa. Both this species and the previous one are referred to by mycologists in their descriptions as 'resupinate' (which means upside down). It has angular, maze-like pores on the upper surface, rather than underneath like most fungi.

Hairy Curtain Crust Stereum hirsutum (Fr. Stérée hirsute).

Hairy Curtain Crust can vary quite a lot in colour. Like the Netted Crust above it is found all over the world. The genus name 'stereum' means 'tough', because they are so difficult to tear. The specific name 'hirsutum' means 'hairy' and when you look at them they are distinctly hirsute on their upper side.

My Back Pages: Simon's T-Shirt Archive (10)

Not strictly a t-shirt, and definitely not rock and roll. This is a souvenir from July/August 2005.

Back then I was at a loose end: funding for the project I had been engaged on in London had dried up, and a Chinese friend (married to a Korean) I had met in London emailed to ask if I had considered teaching English in Korea at summer camp. It doesn't do to think too deeply about questions like that, so naturally I immediately said yes.

I really like Korea. I got on fabulously well with the food, the beer was cheap and plentiful (although you really want to be drinking "Cass" brand beer rather that "Hite", because Hite should have been taken as prescient rhyming slang). The people are friendly, especially when they find out you're English rather than the US citizens they are used to and can talk to you about football (or soccer, if you must), the scenery is amazing, the bookshops are huge, and there is always a new experience to be had.

One day I would like to return and spend some proper time touring as work was 9.00am to 4.00pm six days a week (not including lesson preparation time) which didn't leave very much time for exploring.

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Loire Valley Nature: A photo of a flower infected by a fungus has been added to the entry on Soapwort Saponaria officinalis. 

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Rehome a Dog: Our French teacher Dauphine has recently moved house. Unfortunately this means she must find a new home for her lovely young English Pointer. If you are interested in giving a loving home to a young gun dog please get in touch by email (via my profile on the right side bar) and I will put you in touch with Dauphine.

Susan

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A la cuisine hier: Cream of potato and leek soup from the freezer.

Simon made scones which were rather good. We ate them with butter and homemade blackberry, apple and white currant jam.

Simon's sausage and bean casserole from the freezer.

I made apple crumble and served with leftover homemade custard.

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Au jardin hier: I spent the afternoon weeding a row in the vegetable garden. The weather is mild (enough so that I wasn't wearing a coat) and the soil not too wet. I also dressed the row with ash and marked orchid leaf rosettes coming up in the grass. The resident wren scolded me from the compost bins and the resident buzzard glided over at low altitude. A variety of insects were enjoying the rotting apple peels in the compost. Whilst weeding I uncovered a large black beetle larva and an equally large green caterpillar.

Jean Linard, Artist

In September 2016 I went on an outing with the female members of our car club. We visited a number of places in the Sancerre area, including the Cathédrale de Jean Linard.

The artist Jean Linard lived most of his life in a sort of hobbit house that he built himself over the course of his life in an old flint quarry near Neuvy-Deux-Clochers in the département of Cher. It evolved and enlarged as he had ideas and was entirely constructed out of found and salvaged materials. He died in 2010 and his only surviving child couldn't afford to restore and keep the place. Fortunately a group of 'friends of Jean Linard' stepped in, formed a charity and bought the place. They are still in the process of deciding exactly how best to use the place.

Cross.

A potter, sculptor, painter as well as a builder, he began what he called a chapel in 1983. Originally it was to have been a collaborative public art project in the nearby town of Sancerre, but he fell out with the town authorities and decided to go ahead with the project on his own land, just outside his studio. It soon spiralled into a church and then a cathedral. It became his master work and is what people come to see when they visit the property, but to be honest, I prefer the house and its quirky decorative elements.

The Cathedral.

He originally trained as an engraver and worked in Paris from 1945 to 1959. In that year he met the Danish potter Anne Kjaersgaard, who had arrived in the village of La Borne after having worked with Bernard Leach in Cornwall. La Borne was effectively an artists colony, where many studio potters had established homes and workshops. Jean bought the quarry and they married in the 1960s, moving in to the tiny cottage on the site and setting about enlarging the building to suit themselves. 

Everything you see in stone or clay has been created by Jean Linard.

He became a potter, turning bowls, plates, cups, pitchers, vases and goblets and creating his own glazes using ash from oak, straw and vines to produce creamy whites, pinks, celadon greens and blues. Over time he constructed several kilns, but eventually, wanting more control over the firing process he installed a gas kiln in 1976. Very particular, he loathed thick rims and liked to glaze the interiors of goblets but leave the exteriors unglazed. He liked the contrast between the glaze and the bare clay, and had a horror of identical sets.  Because he worked when an idea possessed him, he never took commissions.

Little creatures on the roof.

In the early 1960s he started producing some sculpture. These works were clay, but augmented with raku, cement, mosaic and iron. In the last 15 years of his life it was the sculpture that occupied most of his time.

The entrance to the gallery wing.

He was inspired by the nature and people around him. In 1974 he married for a third time, to Anne-Marie Guenin. She liked cats, and so cats joined the birds, especially owls, that he had been making for years. His daughter's dolls inspired a series of characters which became 'angels' and then there were 'teachers' and finally, monumental 'guardians'. Anne-Marie's brothers asked him one day why he didn't do cows, since there was a herd across the road, and another series of creatures was born.

The tile floors in the gallery were replaced twice by Linard.

He is very clearly in the tradition of the Facteur Cheval, la Maison Picassiette and the Catalan architect Gaudí, and was a big fan of all three, as well as Picasso.

A flight of steps in the gallery wing.

The cathedral, his most well known work, is an expression of his deep faith. He felt driven to start it and continue the project. Initially he made the tiles used in the mosaic, but very quickly he resorted to buying seconds from a big commercial tile manufacturer.

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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry has been added for White Mulberry Morus alba, introduced in the 15th century and now naturalised.

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A la cuisine hier: Ricciarelli (Siena Almond Biscuits), like old-fashioned macaroons, made by pounding almonds and pine nuts to a meal, adding sugar, orange zest and stiffly beaten egg whites. The biscuits are formed using two spoons then rested before baking. Delicious and moreish.

Chicken noodle soup from the freezer.

Cod with lentils, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, onions and chorizo, which somehow turned out a bit odd. We blame the chorizo, which was a different brand to the one I normally buy.
 

Three Very French Things

All three of these things were photographed at Chez Les Filles, a bar in the village of La Borne, near Henrichemont. La Borne is home to dozens of potters and ceramicists, and has been since the 12th century, due to extensive clay deposits in the area. I visited with friends on a Sunday in September, and this being France, none of the potter's studios were open, so we went to the pub.

Madeleines.

These little oval cakes made in scallop shell moulds come out with their bases fluted and a bump on top. They were made famous by Proust and many French people genuinely adore them. They are not very sweet and rather plain. Do not under any circumstances eat them unless freshly homemade or artisanal. Ones from a packet you bought in the supermarket, even in France, will be such a pale shadow of what a madeleine should be that you really must not poison your mind or body with such a thing.

Zinc bar.

Bars in the old days were commonly covered in pewter, known in French as zinc (pronounced 'zaing'). 'Le P'tit Zinc' is quite a common name for a bar here. The zinc on this bar does not appear to be old, nor does it appear to be pewter (galvanised, ie zinc coated, steel is a common substitute these days), but it is beautifully done and creates a real sense of style. Zinc bars were made famous by Zola and later by Hemingway. In their day, a bar zinc was not an overly salubrious drinking spot. Apollinaire puts it thus: 'Tu es debout devant le zinc d'un bar crapuleux, Tu prends un café à deux sous parmi les malheureux' ('You are standing at the metal counter of some sleazy bar, Downing a coffee or two amongst the malcontents', from the poem Zone, translated by me, with a nod to Donald Revell). The metal countertop protects the wooden bar from spilled drinks, and it wipes clean without staining. Pewter is an alloy which contains varying quantities of several metals, such as tin, copper, lead and antimony. It is malleable so can be pressed into decorative moulded edges and around curves, and can be buffed to a silvery shine if you want a more upmarket look.  The stuff is also used on the exterior of buildings, as the flashing around slate roofs to ensure the angles between roof and masonry are sealed, to protect wooden or deteriorating stone windowsills and as smart decorative capping on gate pillars and the like.

A la turque toilet.

These squat toilets are slowly disappearing, but I know lots of places which still have them. They are a nuisance if you are wearing a skirt, wide legged trousers or don't bend as well as you used to. The floor of les toilettes à la turque are invariably wet as they always have ferocious flushes.

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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry has been added for the distinctive parasitic plant Dodder Cuscuta epithymum.

Corrugations

The unsealed road in to Green Cape, with boneshaking corrugations which caused bits to fall off one of our group's vehicles. This is not the outback, but it is fairly isolated. Car rental companies in Australia generally have small print that invalidates your insurance if you go on such roads. 

Our posts on Sundays have an Australian theme. If you want to read more, click here.

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A la cuisine hier: Simon's spicy dhal from the freezer, served with plain rice.

Slow roasted cheap tomatoes that were on their way out.

I made a curing mixture of salt, sugar, fennel seeds and dill weed, and rubbed two pieces of trout with it to make gravlax.

Chicken noodle soup from stock I'd made a few days ago, and bits of chicken from the carcasses the stock was made of. I added sweated tiny dice of carrots, celeriac and leeks, then parsley and vermicelli.

Pork loin chops, which I didn't season enough, so they were a bit dull, served with mashed potato.

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Loire Valley Nature: A photo of mixed Beech and Sessile Oak woodland has been added to the entry on Forest and Woodland habitat.

A new entry has been added for the invasive alien Chufa Sedge Cyperus esculentus.

The House With the Bell

This house with its rather extreme doorbell is in a side street just off the market place in Mézières-en-Brenne. Other than that I can't tell you anything else about it. I don't know who built it or when, or who lives in it now. At a guess I'd say it is a late 15th century house that was enlarged in the 17th century, restored in the late 19th century and again in the late 20th century. I'd love to know who JN was (or NJ, or maybe N&J).

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A la cuisine hier: Split Pea Soup and savoury biscotti from the freezer. I thought the combination of the dry walnut, parmesan cheese and rosemary biscotti with the salty grainy soup was excellent. Simon wasn't so convinced, but I am definitely making these biscotti again, with hard dry goats cheese. I reckon that will work very well. The recipe is from Sally Schneider's 'A New Way to Cook', a book I bought when it was released and have loved ever since.

Chicken thighs with salt and Asian spices rub, oven roasted, along with diced potato and celeriac. Served with steamed broccoli. Followed by icecream and salted butter caramel sauce from the supermarket.

Weather Report: It's properly cold, with thick white frost on lawns, roofs and cars until lunchtime yesterday. It's been getting colder over the past few days, with heavier and heavier frost. Of course, the compensation is clear blue skies and bright sunshine during the day, and fantastic night skies if you are hardy enough.

The Wolves of Amboise

These rather good chicken wire wolves are by the sculptor Amandine Bocquelet. They were on display until the end of October at Le Choiseul, a hotel in Amboise and are for sale at €950 each.

Real wild wolves were eradicated in the Touraine in the very early 20th century. Despite the reappearance of wolves in the mountainous areas of France, it is unlikely they will ever return in the wild to the lowland areas like the Touraine.

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Vote for Weeds: A local nature conservation organisation, the Société d'étude, de protection et d'aménagement de la nature en Touraine (SEPANT) is currently focusing on arable weeds (les plantes messicoles). This group of plants -- which includes poppies, cornflowers and corncockles -- is greatly at risk due to modern farming methods and my friend the botantist Dominique Tessier has set up a conservatoire on his farm on behalf of SEPANT. The project is competing for a grant of €1000 from the food supplements manufacturer Atlantic Nature. For SEPANT to win the grant they must get the most votes. You can vote every day until the end of the month ie each individual can vote once every 24 hours.

Smell the Forest

On the last fungi foray to the Forest of Preuilly we didn't find much, but we did find a number of species with distinctive scents.

Devils Fingers Clathrus archeri (Fr. Anthrus d'Archer).

This species, introduced from Australia in the early 20th century, has colonised the forest and is easily found by its stench of rotting meat. Sometimes you can smell it while standing nearby, but usually its pong only impacts when you get down on hands and knees to photograph it.

A Webcap Cortinarius sp.

 This nondescript little webcap had a light but definite geranium scent.

Marasmus scorodonius (Fr. Marasme alliace).

Another nondescript little toadstool, and this one really packs a punch. It smells strongly of garlic, and even its mycelium must smell of garlic, as we couldn't see many fruiting bodies, but the more we walked on this patch the stronger the smell of garlic became. The soil must be completely riddled with the fungus ready to burst out as little cream mushroom caps.

No fungi to be seen, but this whole patch smelled of garlic. Extraordinary!

Nitrous Bonnet Mycena leptocephala (Fr. Mycène chlorée).

Nitrous Bonnet is very common amongst the leaf litter of the forest floor. So are several other very similar Bonnet species. Luckily, if you just pick a couple and sniff them you can usually tell if you've got Nitrous Bonnet or not. This species smells of bleach, often quite noticeably. It's not the only Bonnet that smells of bleach, but it's the one you are most likely to encounter in the forest.

 Nitrous Bonnet.

An earthball Scleroderma sp (Fr. Scleroderme).

The one above on the table hasn't yet burst its top to explode its spores all over the place. The ones below are completely open and full of grey powdery spores like ground pepper. You can see the dusting of spores on the leaf litter all around the fungi. Earthballs don't pong quite as much as the Devils Fingers but they are definitely noticeable when you get down close to photograph them. We couldn't pin these ones down to a species, except to say that they are not the common species.

Earthballs.

These fungi were all photographed on 13 November in the Forest of Preuilly.

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A la cuisine hier: Thin pizza made on a base of a Turkish flatbread, spread with tomato puree and topped with anchovies, olives and leftover mozzarella cheese. 

Brioche buns from the boulangerie. 

Really rich chocolate gingerbread, from the freezer.

I've brined a piece of rolled pork loin. I bought a pack of two and made one into orientalish soup. The other I soaked in a light seasoned brine for a couple of days. I don't know what I'll do with it yet. Suggestions welcome.

Split pea soup, a classic British winter dish, from stock I had previously cooked a demi-sel pork hock. The split peas were green (yellow ones don't seem to exist in France). I added potato, celeriac, carrots and onions, all pureed together then squares of crisp thin back bacon as garnish.

Herb pork sausages (bought from the supermarket, so the butcher didn't get a chance to do his joke about how they contain marijuana) with mashed potato (from the freezer) and peas (also from the freezer, but not homegrown). A bit of ketchup on the side.