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?

2010 in Review. Part 1

January was taken up with staying out of the cold, occasionally venturing into the garden to work on the apéro terrasse. We had just returned from Australia, so the change in weather (even though we knew what to expect) was a bit of a shock. We also went to Paris to Retromobile, which was fun and will be an annual event in our calendar.

In February, winter went, then came back again - twice. We started thinking seriously about bathrooms: where they would go and how they would be equipped, even to the extent of starting to shop for fittings and furniture. The big news, of course, was Xynthia. We survived her without too much trauma (and no damage).

This photo typifies the first three months of 2010

March's exciting event was the arrival of the cranes. It was the first time we had ever seen them, and like everyone else we took them to be a sign of spring arriving. A week later, winter arrived again with some more snow. We started buying the materiel for framing and insulation for the bedroom and bathroom walls, an ongoing event throught the year.

April. This was the month we started working with our business. At home, we commenced the rennovations with a vengence, starting with the guest bedroom and bathroom. At the same time, the stonemasons were here, replacing the stonework around the back door, and raising the lintel of the laundry door so I could walk (rather than crawl) in there. We also met Jim Budd, and dined at le Detour for the first time. Phew!

In May we celebrated 12 months living in France, work continued on the house, we had frost after the Saints des Glace, and plenty of orchids in the orchard. We spent quite a lot of time in Célestine, both with paying guests, and just for the sheer joy of it.

And this photo typifies the rest of the year:
The dust, the dirt, the stuff all over the place!

June was exciting. Just one word: bathroom. With working shower and hot water and everything (I know - I have exceeded the self imposed limit of one word, but it was that exciting). Later in the month the roofers arrived to re-roof the bits that weren't done in 2007.

All that in six months? No wonder I am tired!

Simon

Extra special happy birthday wishes to my mother, who is 80 today. She and my father are being treated to a few days at O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse with my sister and brother-in-law. Sorry I can't be there. A picture of them all from Christmas 2009 is here. Susan.

Placo Fever

At last the exterior wall of the kitchen is fully insulated and lined. It looks great, but it seems to have taken its toll on the workforce.

Photo op coming up apparently...

Travolta to the life...

Trying to get all the plumbing and electricals through all the right holes...

The finished wall.

Susan

Le Jardin de fougères rustiques

A few months ago I put the word out amongst my gardening friends that I wanted to create a fernery at the back of the house, around the coin d'apéro. I asked if they had any little ferns that were surplus to requirements that I could use to augment the half dozen ferns I currently had dotted about the front courtyard. Thanks to Jill, Louisa and an unknown client of our professional gardener friend Nicole (whose husband Alex made the terrace) I received a lovely selection of hardy native ferns, and they've been settling in for a while now. To my surprise my friend Jean-Pierre, the retired director of the Parc Floral de Paris and an acknowledged fern fancier, said he didn't have any ferns in his garden. However, he had ordered one of each variety supplied by a nurseryman mate, and they were a gift!

A bucket full of ferns from J-P.

A few days before Christmas he arrived in town to stay with his mother, bringing the ferns. I discovered he'd actually ordered two of each, and was planning a fernery of his own in the courtyard of his mother's house. We sat at her kitchen table and carefully labelled them all and split some that had arrived as single plants. Then I brought my share home and potted them up in the sleet. They are all perfectly hardy, so they should be fine. There are 13 of them, all different.

The new ferns, potted up.

They range from species that will get really tall like the Royal Fern, to low growing spreaders like Fortunes Holly Fern. Many are native to France, like the Scaly Male Fern and the Soft Shield Fern. One, the Sensitive Fern, is North American and another, the Mother Shield Fern, is Australian. J-P warned me that the Sensitive Fern will need a lot of water, and the Mother Shield Fern will spread quickly and widely. One of them rejoices in the scientific name of Matteuccia struthiopteris (apparently it's named after an Italian phycisist and an ostrich wing...)

Part of the fernery, before the new additions.

For any of you who are Fern Nerds, here is the complete list: Fern List

Much of the garden at the back of the house gets no sun, or very little. The ferns should thrive here, and watering them should not be a problem. The next big challenge is planting out the section of the garden that does get sun, and where the soil is mostly clay. In the summer it is baking hot and dry, and in the winter, cold and wet. Nothing I've planted so far has been a great success. Ideas please?!

Susan

Les Buchettes

It is traditional in France to have a bûche for Christmas — a yule log in gloriously squidgy cake form. They are rather expensive and I didn't think we needed a whole one, so instead I bought a buchette each. These were two hefty slices from a Black Forest bûche, but buchettes also come in complete mini bûche form, decorated with silver miniature axes.

For this sort of fancy cake I always go to the boulangerie pâtisserie 'down the hill'. Aurelien, the young pâtissière, is a formidable pastry cook and Sophie, his wife, is a real sweetie. When I went in for the buchettes, and some meringues for our Christmas pavlova I was able to congratulate them on their latest achievement - a baby girl, born on 1 December and named Tia.

Susan

Hôtel d'Harambure

The rather rambling 17th century house you get a glimpse of through the imposing gateway in rue du Cygne, Preuilly-sur-Claise, is known as Hôtel d'Harambure, after the man who constructed it. The word hôtel in this case denotes a private town house, not an establishment with rooms available to rent for the night, although both meanings are used in French.

Curiously, this is the only building in Preuilly listed in Le Patrimoine des communes d'Indre-et-Loire as being made of pierre (stone). This is as opposed to tuffeau, the soft local limestone. I assume the implication is that it is made of rough field stone, or more likely, harder stone that has been imported from another district.

One of the most interesting features of the interior is a remarkable box bed, contemporary with the construction of the house and installed for the cook. The cook was an important character in this type of household, so their safety and comfort was taken into consideration. The highset bed made getting in and out easier and protected its occupant from rats.

Jean d'Harambure was a loyal companion of Henri de Navarre at the time of his struggle to win the throne of France and become le bon roi Henri IV. During the battle of Aumale against the Spanish in 1592 he saved the king's life, losing an eye in the process. Like the king, he came from Navarre, a small kingdom in the French Pyrenees, in the south-west of modern France. Settling in Preuilly, Harambure built this house and founded a family. The family prospered and grew, so Jean built another manor house and barn, this time at nearby Yzeures-sur-Creuse. Protestant, he recanted his faith under Louis XIV, who revoked his grandfather Henri IV's pragmatic solution to the Wars of Religion, the Edict of Nantes. Once again, it was awkward, if not dangerous, to be a dissenter. Royalists like the Harambure family were given the choice of emigrating or abjuring.

By the 18th century the family had expanded its holdings to include a manor and a fortified farm near Chaumussay. Jean's descendant François d'Harambure was the representative for Preuilly in the Estates-General of 1789 held at Versailles. This national general assembly, a sort of parliament, was called by Louis XVI in the expectation of sorting out his government's financial difficulties. Instead, it triggered the Revolution. Although firmly monarchist, François d'Harambure was an equally firm constitutionalist, and served as a general during the Revolution. He seems to have been a level headed and courageous man who strongly and publically stood up for what he considered right, no matter which side of the political fence it fell. However, after narrowly avoiding execution in 1793, he retired from public life at the age of 51 to spend the remainder of his days quietly in Preuilly.

Susan