Things are Grave Part VI -- Charles Pigeon and Family

To modern eyes this family monument, with the deceased in bed together fully clothed, is somewhat ridiculous. Today, this grave is what Charles Pigeon is remembered for, but in the late 19th century he invented a gasoline lantern that would not explode, making his fortune. He sold lamps for miners and cyclists and was one of the earliest entrepreneurs to realise the value a company logo -- in his case, a pigeon standing on a globe and holding a lamp in its beak.

Despite the incongruity of the couple's attire versus their setting, this is a tender scene of a loving husband and wife. He is working with a pencil and notebook, no doubt making jottings and sketches of a new idea, whilst his wife looks on attentively, ready to respond if asked her opinion. Above them, the angel holds his patented Pigeon lamp.

Jean-Baptiste Lully

On British TV, Christmas and the New Year is ballet season, so I expect the Nutcracker received it's annual screening. (I could let out a long sigh at the lack of imagination being shown, but what would be the point?)

However...

Many years before Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky came on the scene the man for ballet was Giovanni Battista Lulli, an Italian composer (and dancer) better known as Jean-Baptiste Lully. He was introduced to the court of Louis XIV by Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, and wrote many ballets, operas and quite a few religious works for Louis XIV in the French Baroque style (which he just about invented, and wasn't Italian at all).

Some music, because we can and because I like it.

Everybody knows (or should know) one thing about Lully: he died of gangrene: having stabbed himself through the foot with his conducting staff he refused to have the foot amputated in case he couldn't dance again.

Salmon Mousse

This is an adaptation of a recipe given to me by Stéphane Bureau, the chef at the Clos d'Amboise in the Loire Valley. 

Cure 500 g of salmon overnight (or longer -- up to 4 days is fine) in a mixture of sugar, salt, dill weed and lemon juice (recipe here). Rinse the cure off, dry the salmon and remove the skin. Dice the salmon flesh and blend with a tablespoon of lemon juice, 500 ml thick cream, 250 g cream cheese, salt and pepper. 

Serve as a dip, with batons of carrot, sweet pepper, kohlrabi, cucumber and celery.

On peut trouver la recette en version français ici.

Yum

Le Mont St Michel

The clothing brand Le Mont St Michel was founded in 1913, making bleus de travail - heavy denim work clothes for proper roughty toughty working men. Even today you can see their painted adverts from the middle of last century on buildings all over France. Close to us there are signs in Preuilly, Saint Flovier and le Petit Pressigny - but because they are ubiquitous I have no doubt there is advertising we drive past each day but no longer notice.

This sign is in Le Petit Pressigny

In 1998 the business was taken over, and according to their website it is now an "urban & modern fashion label, still in line with the functional soul coming from its workwear legacy". It looks rather like leisurewere faux rugby shirts to me, but I'm not a clothing expert.

When we were in Paris we saw one of their stores.

You couldn't dig your spuds in the new stuff...

Monday is Queens Day: 13 Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans

The daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, who was brother of (and conspirator against) King Louis XIII of France,  Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans was always going to be trouble. This was amplified by the fact that her immensely wealthy mother died 5 days after giving birth, leaving Anne Marie the richest heiress in France.

She never married, although she received proposals (or plans for hitching her up were received) from various quarters including Charles II of England, Alfonso VI of Portugal, Cardinal Ferdinand of Austria (presumably before he entered the church), and Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy. She was also close (some say too close) to her cousins Louis XIV and Philippe, Duke of Anjou (who was openly gay).

She was very close to her father, and supported him in his plots against Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu (and his sucessor Cardinal Mazarin), and it was this that queered her pitch to marry Louis XIV. She was exiled a number of times due to her intriguing (and always choosing the wrong side), but her wealth ensured that she was eventually always forgiven. This wealth was increased even further when her father died and she inherited the bulk of his estate.

It was at this point it appears she went from being a danger to the crown to just being a nuisance whose foibles and excesses had to be tolerated. She was prone to dressing inappropriately, and once said "people of my rank are always young". In 1666 she met the Duc de Lauzun, an impoverished minor nobleman and distinguished soldier who was part of the marriage negotiations between Louis XIV and Queen Marie Thérèse. She asked Louis XIV's permission to marry Lauzun, which was given, and then retracted because he was seen as well below her status. Lauzun was then imprisoned in the Bastille (for no stated reason), which gave Anne Marie another chance to make herself unpopular with the ruling parties.

She died in 1693, the "the wealthiest single princess of Europe", and was buried in St Denis.

The Jardin du Luxembourg has statues of 20 French Queens and Illustrious women. The subjects were chosen by Louis-Philippe I in 1843. This statue was created by Camille Demesmay in 1848. To see Anne Marie Louise looking (it has to said) a bit frou-frou you have to go here.

Eventually all 20 statues will be featured here.

Swamp Wallaby

The Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor is found in the eastern woodlands of Australia. They are grey, but dark, even black on their back, buff on their fronts, with rusty patches at the base of the ears and back of the neck and overall their appearance is darker than other wallabies. Their cheek stripe is also buff coloured and their points (hands, feet, tail) black. Males are a bit bigger than females and they weigh about 15kg, looking rather stocky.

Normally solitary, they will join other wallabies, sometimes forming mixed mobs, to feed. They are browsers, prefering to nibble on shrubs, but are opportunistic and will eat all sorts of things. They can apparently tolerate quite toxic plants such as bracken and hemlock.

Still reasonably abundant, their numbers are probably declining, especially where urbanisation is encroaching on natural bushland.

 They are the only wallaby that will use its hands regularly to eat.

Aussie Trip 2017: week 7

This week: the Darling Downs, a typical old school burger bar, a road, and a Big Banana.

Things are Grave Part V -- Citroen Family

How could we pass up the opportunity to photograph the grave of André Citroën and family?

We visited Montparnasse cemetery in September and will be posting photos of some of the interesting graves we discovered there over a period of weeks.

Chilled out hounds

We have been to Chateau Cheverny many times in the past 8 years, but rarely have I seen the dogs this relaxed. True, while I am filming one does take exception to something, but all the others just ignore him.

There are 120 dogs (more or less) in the pack at Cheverny, and you can't have one if you want one. You have to be a proper hunter, then they may let you have two. Which is a pity, because I don't hunt, but I think they are the world's doggiest dogs.

We are posting this video of lazing in the sun today (midwinter) because we're in Australia, and it's what we're doing.

More of Villeloin-Coulangé

Some more photos of Villeloin-Coulangé. If you lived in the cottage in the first photo, your view from the front door would be the second photo.

Under a Rock

You never know what you will find under a rock. Sometimes it's creepy, sometimes it's crawly. This rock is in a car park in le Bois du Tay, near Hambray in Mayenne.

You wouldn't be turning it over, however, as it's a big one, and you might find what's under it rather surprising:

Happy New Year for 2018

Wishing you a splendid year to come. May your dreams be fulfilled and your life contented. Stay healthy and keep in touch. We really value our readers and hope that you will join us throughout the year for more photos of the Loire Valley, a bit of Australia and please feel free to comment on anything we post. 

(Tintamarre is a natural sparkling wine from our friends at Chateau Gaudrelle, ideal for celebrations.)

That Was Quite a Year!

Although this year has been fraught, what with Brexit, a reduction in the numbers of independent tourists, and one or two health thingies, we've had quite a good year.

Probably the best thing that happened this year was Susan's Apero Club, a regular gathering of Anglophile French and Francophile Anglos. They have been quite relaxed and low maintenance (as far as organising is concerened) and we have got to the stage where people we don't know are arriving at apero who have been invited by someone we have invited - which is exactly the way we hoped it would be. We have met some great people, swapped some handy hints to staying sane, and had a drink (and plate of nibbles) to boot. What's not to like?

We joined the walking club in April, although we haven't been quite as scrupulous about walking as we could have been. The walks have been interesting, although hard work at the hottest time of year. A number of times both of us we worried about blowing a fu-fu valve. I'm sure it's all good for us.

Another "joining" was Loire conneXion, which is similar to Susan's Apero Club, but held at le Shaker in Amboise. They meet the first Friday of each month, and we try to get there every second meeting, work permitting. Once again, interesting and useful people, and Simon gets to practice speaking French with Jean-Michel, one of the few people we know whose English is worse than Simon's French.

We have also got to parts of France we have not seen before - but really should have. Mont St Michel, Avranches, Le Mans, bits of the Normandy coast, the 14eme of Paris. All have been surprising in their own way, and have provided good blog material.

Even further afield, we went to London for an anti-Brexit demo. We felt we had to, because one of us had been very vocal about how wrong Brexit was and felt that we should turn words into actions. We had a good day, heard some inspirational speakers, and stayed overnight with Simon's cousin Linda before driving home.

And talking of further afield, we have been in Australia for the past 6 weeks, spending quality time with family and friends and doing extensive milage up and down the east coast. No doubt more of that is to come on the blog in the following year.

Of course, there were some car events (three!), various visitors from Australia, a Belgian wedding, and a pair of peripatetic South Africans.

So that was 2017. Not a perfect year but very interesting. Thank you for reading us during the year, have a good evening, and a great 2018.

Aussie Trip 2017: week 6

This week: more mountain-top views, a christmassy fruit salad, and a moonflower.

Things are Grave Part IV -- An Angel

There are surprisingly few angels in the cemetery at Montparnasse, but here is a splendid example. This is the grave of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the man who created the Statue of Liberty.

Born in Colmar in Alsace, he grew up in Paris, moving there with his mother after his father died. He studied drawing, sculpture and architecture, but finally settled on focusing on sculpture. He proposed the idea of the Statue of Liberty while he was on a trip to the United States in 1871. At the time the statue was being made his own home in Colmar was part of the territory annexed by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War and ideas of liberty were very much on his mind.

Montparnasse cemetery has 35 000 graves and 300 000 people are buried there, with about a thousand new interments every year.

We visited the cemetery in September and will be posting some examples of the graves we saw over a period of weeks.

Moulin de la Charité

In the mid 19th century four large cemetaries were built outside the city walls of Paris to replace the numerous parish burial grounds that littered the city. The Cimetière du Sud was created on grounds previously held by the monks of the Hôpital de La Charité, who had already open a small private burial ground.

The current Cimetiere Montparnasse occupies two plots, and many famous people are buried there (but more of them later). The most unexpected sight is the Moulin de la Charité, a windmill erected in the middle of the 17th century by the monks who had previously owned the site, and left standing for use as the cemetary office.

You would hardly believe this small stone building is surrounded by skyscrapers

The windmill is now empty and surrounded by warning signs, but declared a national monument.

Bir Hakeim to Passy

A while ago I mentioned that the hotel we stayed at in September in Paris was on Metro Line 6, and how convenient that is.

My Favorite Metro station is on Metro line 6, so last time we were in Paris I took the opportunity to make a short video. Even though my camera has a 24mm wide angle lens, it isn't big enough to properly take in the view. In order to stop as much camera shake as I could I hand clamped the camera to the train window, which meant I was square on to everything. Thus you kinda get an idea of the view without getting the view. Tant pis, as they say...

You will notice the lack of clackity-clack. Line 6 is one of the Paris Metro lines that runs on rubber tyres.

Bistrot le Terminus, Amboise

We have mentioned the bistrot le Terminus near Amboise in passing a couple of times: once when we ate there with Leon, Sue, and Olivier, and once when we saw a rather nice car parked outside. We were introduced to it by Olivier in September last year and have eaten there a number of times, both with clients, and friends and family.

The bistrot itself is not the easiest to find (ask Leon and Sue!), but it is worth the effort. We usually approach from Amboise, via this route - you just have to be a bit bold with the underpass. Like many of its kind it's not in the most picturesque of places, but parking for all the white vans is plentiful, as is the food.

The entree cart

The menu is 14€50 for 3 courses, which includes buffet entree, a well cooked and generous (but not stupidly huge) main course, and buffet desserts. I will pause there... Buffet desserts.  Everything appears to be made in house and is fresh and tasty, and it is rather easy to eat too much. Drinks are extra but the wine (local, of course) is inexpensive and rather good.

Did I mention buffet desserts?

If you're in the area it is well worth visiting. If you're not in the area but close, it's worth the diversion. There aren't many establishments of this kind around Amboise, and this is an absolute beauty.

Merry Christmas

Simon's homemade mince pies (he made the fruit mince and the pastry from scratch).

Large-leaved Staff Vine

Large-leaved Staff Vine Celastrus subspicata is an Australian native climbing shrub found in warm coastal rainforests, so I assume Ravensbourne National Park on the Great Dividing Range, where I photographed this one, is probably as far inland as it will be found. It is a very vigorous plant which will grow right up into the canopy of giant rainforest trees.

Earlier this year scientists who have been working with this plant published a paper saying they have extracted certain compounds from it which appear to be useful in treating prostate cancer. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds.

The flowers are fragrant.