Métiers d'art

Last weekend was the Journées européennes des Métiers d'art, where local artisans open their doors to the general public and display their skills

In an uncommon fit of common sense, la Nouvelle Republique didn't assume we already knew what was happening, and listed the events nearby including one at the Musée Auto Vélo in Chatellerault, where M.Tessier would have the atelier open. A couple of years ago we visited Auto Classique Touraine for the Journées européennes des Métiers d'art (and didn't blog about it even though we took hundreds of photos) and I assumed it was the same people: I knew the name Tessier as a car restorer from somewhere.

 A 1948 Delahaye 135M, styled by Figoni et Falaschi.

Turns out that yes, I do know the name Tessier from somewhere, they are the garage on the roundabout at Veigné that seems to specialise in British sports cars (and the odd exhaust manifold bolt for Citroén Traction Avants), but this is a different M.Tessier, and a completely different enterprise to Auto Classique Touraine. This means that within 5km of each other we have two custom classic car coachwork builders, and a classic sports car restorer.

The car M.Tessier is rebuilding for the museum is a Delahaye 135M. The Delahaye was, like many top end cars, delivered as a rolling chassis to the coachbuilder of purchaser's choice, and a custom body built to the owner's tastes. This car is a 3.6litre straight 6, with a 4 speed electromagnetic pre-selector Cotal gear box. The body is mainly aluminium over an ash wood frame, and I would have one.

The gear selector is the mini switch to the left of the steering wheel.

The radiator cowl. Just like making a renaissance era armour breast-plate.

I love this kind of thing - people with amazing skills making beautiful things out of seemingly unpromising lumps of stuff. I also like the Museum at Chatellerault. It's in a great building and has some amazing cars and motorbikes, as well as an exhibit about the arms factory that previously occupied the building.

M. Tessier talking about his work

VIDEO. Châtellerault : restaurateur de voitures... par lanouvellerepublique 

Eventually the car will look like this, which is a 1938 Delahaye 135M built by Auto Classique Touraine in 2010.

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Au supermarché hier: Has anyone else noticed there seems to be a dark brown sugar crisis in France? I haven't been able to buy any for weeks, in any supermarket I've tried. I'm talking about the soft sugar that is called vergeoise brune in French and made from sugarbeet.

One type of product that seems to have burgeoned in French supermarkets since we first arrived is the range of spices available. The only problem is that much of the new range is not individual spices, but all sorts of blends -- for chicken, for curries, grills, various nationalities cuisine, couscous, and so on and so on. I was standing in front of the spice shelves in Auchan yesterday, not very hopefully scanning them for allspice (Fr. piment de la Jamaïque) and two young women came up beside me. They also scanned the shelves anxiously then one said to the other, in accented French, 'It's all blends! They don't have any on its own!' I didn't catch which particular spice they were seeking, but I was interested that their reaction was the same as mine. I don't want someone else's idea of what spice blend is good on chicken. I want the individual spices and to be able to mix to suit my personal tastes (and, generally unsuccessfully, second-guess what Simon will like). Susan.

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Ticks: I was reminded yesterday that it is time to start checking for ticks every time you come back from a walk in the countryside. We don't have the problem here with ticks causing paralysis of pets like they can in Australia, but just like there and the US, ticks here can carry Lyme disease. And you really don't want to get that. Tick tweezers are easily available from your local vet or the pharmacy. Seek medical treatment within 48 hours if you have any concerns (the sooner the better). The classic sign is a 'bullseye' bite mark, but not everyone develops this. Susan.

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Film Showing: Last year a movie was shot partially in Preuilly. It is a comedy drama called Vendeur and is showing on Saturday 9 April, screening at 8.30 pm at the Salle des Fêtes. It's about a salesman, very good at his job, but everything else in his life is sacrificed for the sake of his career. When his son comes to him to ask for a job to fund starting a restaurant, he hesitates, then takes him on as a salesman. Against all expectations his son turns out to be talented. We are planning to go with friends to watch it. Susan.

Anglos Developing a Taste for Loire Wines

The local paper is reporting that sales of Loire Valley wines are up in Britain and the US. The producers association InterLoire regularly organises trade shows and commercial opportunities in both countries. Apparently the British love Vouvrays, the Americans are discovering Chinons.

 Chinon wines in the caves of Charles Joguet, near Marçay.

The US is now the most important export market in terms of value (27%) and the second in terms of volume (21%) for Loire Valley wines. Sales increased in 2015 by 12% in volume and 19% in terms of value.

 Serving sparkling Vouvray wine to a group of British visitors
at the caves of Chateau Gaudrelle.

Not all the Loire appellations are members of InterLoire. There are a couple who have withdrawn because they feel the organisation is not worth the price of membership. InterLoire has a newly appointed president and I suspect this positive newspaper article is at least partly an attempt to raise the profile and reputation under new management.

 Boxes of wine stacked on pallets ready for export at Chateau Gaudrelle.

Whites from Sancerre and Touraine have been strong sellers in the States for a while now. Vouvray has not been able to crack the market there, simply due to lack of sufficient volume of production. Chinon reds are gaining a significant foothold in America and consumers enjoy their fruitiness and their very attractive price.

Touraine wine box at Chateau de la Presle.

The UK is still the premier export market for the region's wines, with whites being the most popular here too. Here Vouvray has gained some market share, as sales of still wines have gone down slightly, but sparkling has increased.

Labels for bottles of Touraine white wines destined for the USA.

InterLoire will be in the US from 5 April to 3 May, at three days in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago that they have dubbed 'Spring to Loire'. They will presenting Loire Valley wines to importers, distributers, wine shops and sommeliers. They are also going to have a significant presence at Wine Week in London from 23 to 29 May, where they will have sales points in 125 bars, restaurants and wine shops.

Two American clients tasting Touraine whites at Domaine de la Chaise with Véronique Davault.

Sadly there is no interest at all in Australia that I am aware of in Loire wines.

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Au jardin hier: The first orchid, an Early Spider, is out. The Glanville Fritillary caterpillars are getting bolder and foraging further afield and further apart. There was a Comma on the brambles.

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A la cuisine hier: Spicy Lentil Soup for lunch, chicken stir-fry for dinner, with carrot, onion, broccoli rabe, red pepper, loads of spices, Dutch sweet pear pickle and soy sauce.

The Master of Trognano

Mondays in Milan / Les lundis en Lombardie

This Ascent up to Calvary dates from the final quarter of the 15th century and may be the work of the Master of Trognano. It hangs in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. It is made of carved wood which has been painted and gilded.

Fogg Dam

Fogg Dam is the remnant of project to grow rice on a massive scale on the Adelaide River flood plain, centred around the town of Humpty Doo in the north of Australia. The project, which dates from the 1950s, was a complete failure, mainly because hordes of Magpie Geese flocked to the area and ate the young rice plants. Nowadays the Dam is a much loved and well used wetland nature reserve. The following are some photos I took in 2006 showing some of the wetland habitats.

Rainforest.

Waterlilies. These are the Australian native species Nymphaea violacea.

Floating grasses. This floating mat is part of the succession process of the wetlands. Once the grasses establish on shallow water, Paperbark Melaleuca trees can germinate on the mat and eventually form wet woodland. Nowadays there is also a problem with invasive species forming or taking advantage of the floating mats and a couple of years ago the National Park acquired a floating weed muncher. It's a beast and apparently the local crocs cruise alongside waiting for one of the operators to fall off and provide lunch.

Paperbark swamp.

Swamp Mahogany Eucalyptus.

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A la cuisine hier: I made Anzac biscuits, an Australian classic.

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Update: Chantal has sent me some additional information, so I have updated the post on the Forest of Montgoger.

Wild Tulips at Chateau Gaudrelle

Last year Jim Budd wrote about having visited the Vouvray vineyards and being shown Wild Tulip Tulipa sylvestris (Fr. Tulipe des bois). Until then I had no idea the species occurred here so I made a note in my diary to check them out this year. I asked our friends at Chateau Gaudrelle if they had any in their parcels and luckily they do.

Armed with my map annotated with an 'x marks the spot' by Cyril, the cellar master, I set out on the Thursday  before Easter to see them. Aurore, the office manager, thought late March was a bit early for them and offered to send me an email when they'd been observed flowering, but Alexandre Monmousseau, the owner and winemaker, told me that he had seen the first flowers already. He also told me that once the predicted rain over Easter came through, the fragile tulip flowers would be toast. So, it was Thursday or never.

There is an abandoned tourist train just behind the tulip colony, for reasons that were not apparent.

The tulips turned out to be extremely easy to find, under a walnut tree by a track near Chateau Gaudrelle, as described. They have a seductive charm despite the fact that only about 10% of the population ever flowers each year. The flowers are delicate and graceful, and it was clear that all the Chateau Gaudrelle staff loved them and were proud to be their guardians. Charles, the commercial services manager, commented that it made him mad when he saw daytrippers in the vineyards making off with fistfuls of wildflowers like these tulips.

Tulips, with the vineyard in the background.

They used to be common along the Loire from Orleans to Nantes, but within a decade or two of widespread herbicide usage in the vineyards beginning in the 1970s, they had become very rare. Increased urbanisation in the 1960s also had an effect on the population in certain areas. Vineyards gained a reputation for being biodiversity wastelands, and the wine industry still accounts for 20% of agricultural pesticide use in France. Happily in the Touraine Loire Valley there are now a significant number of vineyards like Chateau Gaudrelle which are extremely careful about their pesticide use, applying products only when necessary and not by the calendar. They are also always looking for the most appropriate product for the job, and will spurn sprays altogether if something like pheromone capsules work just as well. Importantly they are no longer using copper based sprays to control fungal diseases.

It is unclear whether these tulips are native to the Loire Valley or whether they were introduced into gardens in the 16th century and are now a relict population of naturalised plants. My feeling is that the Loire is probably the northern limit of their natural range (like so many Mediterranean species). They can be found in Southern Europe and North Africa right through to Central Asia. They are also cultivated and bulbs are reasonably easy to obtain for the plantsman style gardener, although apparently you have to be a bit careful you are not sold a lookalike modern cultivar.

Despite their scientific name of sylvestris, they are not really a woodland plant. Where they are growing at Chateau Gaudrelle is very typical. They like dry chalky soil near isolated trees, and will also grow amongst the vines themselves. Colonies can be hundreds of plants, but most of them don't flower. The flowers themselves don't persist very long, and touching them or bad weather can make the petals drop.

They are also apparently scented, but I didn't realise this when I was photographing them and although I got quite close to them, the scent must be quite delicate, because I didn't notice it. None of them were open, as it was a dull day and around 5pm in the evening.

The tulips stretch all the way along the track to the corner.

Seeing these flowers and reading about their decline in my lifetime made me reflect on how impoverished and banalised our environment has become in the 21st century. These plants have a brief and what would once have been a glorious flowering period. Now they are tucked in to tiny pockets where they are out of the reach of intensive farming. The loss of this particular species wasn't even slow and insidious as has been the case with so many plants and insects. In under two decades Wild Tulips went from abundant and ubiquitous in the vineyards to being declared endangered. It's really shocking and disturbing. Nowadays there is an awareness and a pride in these disappearing species, but it seems unlikely we will ever get back to the days of clouds of butterflies and carpets of wild flowers. One reason is that the soil is still widely regarded as nothing more than a cheap growing medium. The matrix between time, labour, products, yield and net income requires more and more attention from the farmer and they have few incentives other than the cost of products and personal beliefs to farm in anything but the most pragmatic and compromised way. Another reason is that very few people now remember what it used to be like, and younger people have no idea that the natural world could possibly be as fecund and beautiful as the records suggest. We have an idea of nature and healthy ecologies that is already grossly degraded and limited.

Chateau Gaudrelle, no longer owned by the Monmousseau family,
but they still own the surrounding chenin blanc vines.

Why does this matter? It matters because soil all over the world is poisoned (in vineyards and many other places by copper and arsenic), losing fertility and/or disappearing. Everything we eat comes from or depends on the soil, and the health of our soil also impacts on how well we can manage the effects of extreme weather.

I was accompanied on my outing to see the tulips by Tim and Pauline of Aigronne Valley Wildlife. Their post about the tulips is here.

Many thanks to Chateau Gaudrelle for allowing me free access to their vine parcels and being so helpful when I expressed a wish to see the tulips. You can read more about what we've written about the Vouvray winery Chateau Gaudrelle here.

You can read more about the nature of the Touraine Loire Valley on our other blog, Loire Valley Nature. 

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A la cuisine hier: Green Goddess Macaroni and Cheese, which was macaroni cheese with added chard. As you can see the steady supply of cheddar continues to be appreciated. Plus, I had half a litre of four day old raw milk that wasn't going to last it through the night to five days in consumable condition. Turning it into cheese sauce allowed me to feel righteous.

Dessert was the last of a rustic mirabelle tart (supermarket pastry, mirabelles from the freezer), with supermarket icecream.

A First World War Aviator

This plaque to aviator Lucien Prévost is in the church at Vendoeuvres in the Brenne.

He was killed 100 years ago today.

The French Armed Forces saw the potential of aviation very early and began training pilots in 1909. The Aéronautique Militaire formed in 1910 is generally considered to be the first Air Force in the world. By 1912 they had five squadrons and led the world in aircraft design. By the beginning of 1914 there were 132 planes and 21 squadrons, ready for their big test when war broke out in August. In 1916 most of the squadrons were based near Verdun and combat formation flying was introduced. Verdun was the first great battle in the air and the contribution of successive waves of French fighter squadrons over the skies of Verdun was critical to the hard won French victory.

Maréchal des logis Pilote Lucien Georges Victor Prévost was a non-commissioned pilot officer in the 27th Dragoon Regiment, attached to Number 2 Squadron of the fledgling French Air Force. He enlisted at Chateauroux. He was killed in aerial combat over Neuvilly-en-Argonne (Meuse).

He was awarded the Military Medal in September 1915 and the Croix de Guerre, and was mentioned in dispatches twice. He flew a Caudron and was based at Austricourt-sur-Aire (Meuse). According to his commanding officer he had 'demonstrated since the beginning of the campaign a remarkable endurance and courage. He had several bullets in his plane on April 28 [1915], having had a cell mounting broken by shrapnel. He nevertheless managed to set up and start shooting, all due to his coolness and skill'. In addition, he was a 'very skilled and very brave pilot, always seeking to fill the most difficult and dangerous missions'. On 22 September 1915 he 'was alone on board and despite a violent cannonade directed against him, was able to launch twenty shells at a train station and military buildings in enemy territory, accomplishing a raid of 450 kilometres into German territory'.

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It's time for another amazing Days on the Claise almost free offer:

We have become owners of a caravan (which can be seen here). Although I like the idea of a caravan we can't store it, and its not quite old enough to qualify for retro camping. At the moment we are paying to keep it stored, but that doesn't make sense. We're not sure how well it tows, so you may need a trailer, although industrial quantities of WD40 may make it towable if you're not going too far.

If you're looking for a garden office, drop us an email.

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Hier au marché, j'ai acheté... Potatoes (Fr. pommes de terre), lettuce (Fr. salade), chard (Fr. blette), spinach (Fr. épinard), apples (Fr. pommes), carrots (Fr. carottes), coriander leaf (Fr. une botte de coriandre), onions (Fr. oignons), oranges (Fr. oranges), bananas (Fr. bananes), apple and blackcurrant juice (Fr. jus de pommes et cassis), tomato sauce (Fr. sauce tomate). Spent €32.

Cave Dweller

A flash of red in the entrance to this cave caught my eye. It turned out to be a smurf on a garden seat.

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Au jardin hier: There was a Brimstone butterfly (Fr. Citron) flapping about, a couple of Dark-edged Bee Flies (Fr. Grand bombyle), a bumble bee (Fr. bourdon) queen (with a white tail, but I didn't get a good enough look to determine the species) and some Honey Bees (Fr. Abeille européene) and small solitary bees. The Glanville Fritillary (Fr. Mélitée du plantain) caterpillars (Fr. chenille) are starting to venture out and about a bit, but still together in their groups. 

The bee hotel that Kath made me has had an accident and its contents scattered on the ground. Either a squirrel has been jumping up and down on it or the wind has tossed it about. It has been taken over by Paper Wasps (Fr. guêpes), which I suppose is somewhat more convenient that the gatepost they occupied last year.

I have my eye on one of the orchid leaf rosettes. It is clearly different to all the others. What species will it turn out to be I wonder? The Greater Stitchwort, Greater Star of Bethlehem (Fr. La Belle-d'onze-heures), Sweet Violets (Fr. Violette odorante) and Primroses (Fr. Primavere) are all flowering. In the potager the 'spare' tulips are out and there are some escapee pinky purple Primulas in the grass.

The blackcurrants have their first little leaves and the first asparagus spear is up. Sadly the asparagus doesn't thrive, so I never get enough spears to harvest, but it always sends up a few spindly efforts. The nectarines are flowering better than they have for the last few years so I am hoping for a good crop since they are amongst my favourites. It's still too early to tell though, and they often get caught out with dry weather later on.

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A la cuisine hier: Onion bhajis, which are one of the few deep fried dishes I am prepared to bother with.

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Smartraveller: I have finally registered us on Smartraveller. This is the Australian Government's website for Australian nationals who are currently overseas travellers and or expats. We were advised to register last year when I renewed my Australian passport in Paris. I've tried twice before but couldn't get the website to work. Yesterday it worked with no hassle at all. To register you need to have on hand your Australian and any foreign passport numbers for yourself and whoever else you are registering as part of your group. You will also need phone numbers and addresses for whoever you want to nominate as your emergency contact. You can register multiple people together and multiple emergency contacts. Although the online registration is designed for travellers rather than those who are resident in another country, the embassy advises that people like us register too. In certain situations, such as wars, natural disasters and major accidents it is useful if the Australian government can identify and locate its citizens abroad.

A View of Preuilly

This view of Preuilly was taken one morning recently. It's from near Laurence's bakery, looking across the valley of the Miloneau towards Notre Dame des Echelles.

A Profusion of Primroses

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Portes Ouvertes: Clos Roussely is having an open weekend with a gourmet market on the weekend 2-3 April. They have the open weekend every year and it is quite lively and the producers high quality. Vincent Roussely, the winemaker, is presenting his new Touraine-Chenonceaux range. I tasted it the other day and it is excellent. I bought some red, €9 a bottle. The market will feature winemakers from other regions of France, oysters, honey, goat cheese, donkey milk products, mushrooms and traditional biscuits. You can also have lunch there.

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 Simon has changed the blog colours again. This may not be the last of the changes either...

Carved Elephant Tusk

Mondays in Milan / Les lundis en Lombardie

 A 16th century carved elephant tusk on display in the Castello Sforzesco.

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We have changed the look of the blog. It's been three years since we last did so. Yup - it's greener.

Royal Spoonbill

The Royal Spoonbill Platadla regia is a bird of Australia's wetlands, both saltwater and fresh. They feed by swishing their spoon shaped bill through the water, picking up small crustaceans, fish and insects. This one is in breeding plumage, with long plumes on the top of its head. In the photo they are laying down and loose, but they can be raised like a crown. It was photographed at Fogg Dam in the Northern Territory. The bird in the background looks like some sort of cormorant.

Looking Up the Miloneau

The Miloneau is a tiny stream that runs from the Chateau of Fontbaudry, through Preuilly until it reaches the Claise. This is the view looking up the valley it runs through, from the Route de Loches towards Fontbaudry.

Days of Future Past

Although we like doing the old car thing (actually, we love doing the old car thing!) we are by no means the most energetic or completionist of adherents. We are starting to get a 1950's style wardrobe together, along with a bit of vintage luggage and an accessory or two, but there is much room for improvement.

One thing that I really like the look of is retro-camping, a seriously organised nation-wide series of events for enthusiasts. Retro camping can be done under canvas in a 1930's style open car and canvas ex army tent, all the way up to a Citroen DS towing a mid 70s fibreglass caravan (with orange interior, naturally).

Not us, even though it's stylish

We first encountered retro-camping as visitors to the le Grand Pressigny campsite in 2009, just after we bought Célestine, and at the time thought it looked a bit of fun if weird. We also encountered it when at le Mans (we were camping, but not retro stylee) and at the Ste Maure traffic jam.

Now, I want to try. Having watched this program on French TV a couple of weeks ago, I have decided it looks like the best road trip holiday one could have in France.

So if all goes well, maybe this summer we will head off on holiday in one of les grandes dames.

The Garden Springs to Life

Some photos of the flowers in our back garden just now.
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A la cuisine hier: Tongue, which I had previously brined, then cooked on the wood stove, as tongue needs hours of super slow cooking. I made Sauce Gribiche to go with it and served it with lentils (from a can) and some boiled vegetables. Dessert was an experimental concoction involving cake, raspberries, chestnut puree, almond cream and chocolate. Simon rated the meal as 'magnificent'. I was very pleased with how it all turned out too.

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Au jardin hier: 'Our' swallows have arrived and have been checking out the garage. Simon heard a cuckoo while he was hanging out the washing.

Great Silver Beetle

The other day I found a Great Silver Beetle Hydrophilus piceus on the footpath outside the college in Preuilly. It was distinctly poorly and I assume had been hit by a car.

Great Silver Beetles are aquatic and out of the water a dark olive green. In the water however, they are enclosed in a bubble of air which makes them look like quicksilver. The beetles are covered in fine hairs which trap the layer of air.

There are two families of large aquatic beetles, the Dytiscidae and the Hydrophilidae. The way you can tell them apart is that Hydrophilidae have a very prominent pointy keel running between their legs.

Their shape is streamlined and their legs feathered, in order to move through the water. Despite their rather predatory appearance they are mostly omnivorous scavengers (although they will tackle water snails).

They are amongst the largest beetles in Europe and this one measured 5 cm long. It's female.

Lunch at Alain and Bernadette's

Last Thursday we went to lunch at our friends Alain and Bernadette's. They live on the hill overlooking Preuilly. They bought the house when they retired a couple of years ago. It's a great location, and we lunched in the fabulous conservatory (Fr. veranda) they added to take advantage of the view at the back of the house. 

Lunch had a south-western theme, based around duck. Alain is originally from Loches, but Bernadette's family comes from further south, where duck fat rules in the kitchen. On the table when we arrived was a selection of nibbles and a terrine with a foie gras centre, which had come from local producers Maison Perrin. Alain opened a bottle of Loupiac to go with the starters. Loupiac is a tiny AOC that we had never heard of, in the Bordeaux region. They only make sweet wine (Fr. liquoreux), but nowhere near as sweet and syrupy as their sister AOC Sauterne. I liked it, and it was interesting to have something different.

The main course was confit de canard with potatoes and mushrooms. Some clarified duck fat was served in a gravy boat and the wine was a Bordeaux. Duck fat was pronounced 'good for you' and we discussed the different sorts of mushrooms one might forage for this dish. Bernadette said that when she was growing up ceps were the main mushrooms the family foraged and they really only ate those or button mushrooms (Fr. champignons de Paris) and maybe the occasional girolle. Now she lives in Preuilly she has discovered Hedgehog Mushrooms (Fr. pieds de mouton), which she really likes. 

The cheese course was a farmhouse Saint Nectaire, a Sainte Maure de Touraine (local goats cheese) and a camembert. Gérard, who was the other guest, had brought a most unusual wine to go with the cheese. It was a 2002 Chateau-Chalon. This is one of the late harvest wines known as vin jaune ('yellow wine') because of its golden colour. It comes from the Jura mountains and is always bottled in the distinctive shaped bottle you see in the photo. The wine cannot be bottled until it is aged for six years and three months. It is matured in wooden casks which are never filled to the top. The wine develops a film of yeast which gives the end product a very distinctive flavour. You would be forgiven for thinking this is a fortified wine, and apparently the yeast is very similar to the one which develops on maturing sherry. I thought it went fantastically well with the cheese, and was especially perfectly matched with the Saint Nectaire.

Finally there was a chocolate Grand Marnier cake and some apple tartlets.

Lunch started at 1 pm and we were still at the table at 6 pm. The gathering only broke up because Alain and Gérard had to go to a meeting. It was a thoroughly enjoyable meal and the nicest company you could possibly want.

A Pocket Sundial

Mondays in Milan / Les lundis en Lombardie

This object on display in the Castello Sforzesco is an ivory and gilt brass pocket sundial and compass made by Hans Ducher of Nuremberg in the second half of the 16th century.

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A la cuisine hier: I hesitate to say that we have a surfeit of cheddar, because I don't want to discourage our English friends from bringing over for us periodically. However, I needed to use up some milk, and we currently have quite a lot of cheddar lurking about (just over 2.5 kg) so I thought some Cauliflower Cheese was in order. As I only had a small cauli, and other veg to use up, it was cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini and carrot in cheese sauce, topped with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Dessert was stewed peaches from the freezer. Lunch was cold corned beef sandwiches.