Candé and Cowslips

The Chateau of Candé, taken by Simon on 17 April, from a low angle on the wildflower lawn that slopes away from the house at the back.

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Can you help? : I've had an email from my friend Jean Claude Jacques, who is a retired ecologist working on a project to publish a photographic pocket guide (un Livre Rouge) to the threatened habitats and species of the Centre Region of France. He tells me they are still looking for photos of the following:

•  Spengler's Freshwater Mussel Margaritifera auricularia (la grande mulette)
• a water, bicoloured or lesser white-toothed shrew (Neomys fodiens, Crocidura leucodon, C. suaveolens) - in French les musaraignes.
• a stoat (une hermine)
• a genet (une genette)
• an Edible Dormouse (un loir gris)
• a water vole (un campagnol aquatique)
• a pike (un brochet)
• a European smelt (un éperlan)
• a spined loach (une loche de rivière)
• an eel (une anguille)

All photos must show the animal in its natural environment.

Email me if you think you have suitable photos and I will put Jean Claude in contact with you.

Surf's Up at Chenonceau Again!

One day in mid-April I once again encountered the Cher River boogie boarder at Chenonceau. This time he had some mates with him.

 Powering along against the current just downstream from the chateau.

Some sort of conflab mid-river. The water looks deep, until you realise people can stand up in it like this. I particularly like the bottle holder on the board of the man closest to us.

Taking a break at the base of the chateau. Unfortunately I never get to see what they do next.

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Au jardin hier: I mowed the potager yesterday. For two and a half hours work it seems a pitifully small area to have covered and it isn't exactly manicured. Some of the grass clippings have gone into the compost, some has been used to mulch the veggie plants. I'm pleased to report that nothing has eaten my newly planted seedlings (yet...) and I only accidently mowed over two orchids.

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A la cuisine hier: Cream of pea and leek soup followed by cabbage leaves stuffed with pork mince, rice, grated veggies and chopped herbs, braised in tomato sauce.

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Loire Valley Nature: A photo has been added to the Common Toad Bufo bufo entry.
A new entry has been added for Monkey x Man Orchid hybrid Orchis simia x O. anthopophora.

Wildlife at Candé

Last week while driving through the grounds of the Chateau of Candé in the late afternoon/early evening we encountered some typical wildlife.

Two Roe bucks couldn't make up their minds whether to flee or ignore us.

A fat and complacent Ring-necked Pheasant cock took no notice of us as he pecked a few morsels from the grass and kept an eye on his hen, who lurked about in the undergrowth.

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A la cuisine hier: Potato salad made from locally grown Charlottes and homemade mayo, with diced red pepper, canned sweet corn and finely sliced homegrown spring onions added.

Pasta with a sauce based on tinned sardines in tomato sauce. Not stellar, but not as gross as it sounds either -- a reasonable storecupboard dish. Can you tell I'm overdue for my monthly visit to the supermarket?

Uluru Again

Uluru, taken at 16.17 on 22 April 2006. Bored yet?
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A la cuisine hier: A southern USA thing going on yesterday, with Pork and Black Bean Chili served with cornbread (many thanks to Ken for his Mom's recipe). Followed by strawberries topped with homemade chestnut icecream.

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Au jardin hier: The first pototoes are up and some of the broad beans are forming pods. I pulled some spring onions. I planted out chard, beetroot and coriander seedlings (many thanks to the Potager Queen, Pauline, who gave me the chard and beetroot seedlings along with some others like tomatoes that it is still slightly risky to put outdoors -- she has the touch with seedlings, I don't).

It looks like we will have no peaches or nectarines, some plums, a reasonable crop of red sweet cherries and sour cherries, but not many yellow cherries, good numbers of pears and apples, with the Granny Smith absolutely loaded.

The first Bee Orchid Ophrys apifera is out in the orchard, joining the Early Spiders and the Lady who have been flowering for several weeks.

Uluru Two

Uluru famously changes colour as the sun moves and the weather changes. Compare this photo, taken at 16.08 with the one I posted last Sunday, taken just 14 minutes later, on 22 April 2006.

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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry for the flower longhorn beetle Stictoleptura cordigera has been added.
A new entry for Praying Mantis Mantis religiosa has been added.
Photos of Saint Mark's Fly Bibio marci have been added to the March Fly Bibionidae entry.

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Yesterday's Quiz: The girouet is at Rivière, on the Vienne near Chinon. Congratulations to Dean France who got it exactly right.

UNESCO Weathervanes

 The Loire Valley between Chalonnes and Sully sur Loire has been declared a World Heritage Site since 2000. Throughout the area you will encounter these windvanes or standards (called girouets in French). The top and bottom motifs are the same on all of them, showing the UNESCO symbol at the top and the World Heritage logo at the bottom. Between the two will be a motif symbolising each individual town or village. This one depicts Saint Martin.

3 points if you can tell me where this UNESCO girouet is.
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Quiz Update:  Congratulations to Dean France who is exactly right and wins all 3 points.

The Nature of the Touraine Loire Valley in May

The Cuckoos Cuculus cuculus arrived in April and they spend May in the tops of trees 'cuckooing' their hearts out. This one is in a walnut tree in Beaulieu-lès-Loches. Even though this isn't the best photo in the world, anyone who is familiar with cuckoo species all over the world will recognise the jizz, especially the droopy winged stance. It's amazing how rarely one sees a cuckoo, given how often one hears them.

Longhorn to Look Out For:   Golden Bloomed Grey Longhorn  Agapanthia villosoviridescens. 
You may see them lurking about on vegetation at this time of year. I don't know if it is coincidental, but whenever I have seen them they are on plants that are prickly or otherwise irritant.

This is the first month of the year when temperatures are likely to be in the 20°s and sunlight hours at least 200. Hurrah! Minimum temperatures around 10° on average.

The Loire at Souzay Champigny

Margaret of Anjou's Chateau at Souzay Champigny

This charming small, semi-troglodytic chateau once belonged to Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI of England. She and her court of 600 retainers occupied all the buildings along this section of the Loire river cliffs. All the houses link to one another via underground passages, allowing the queen and her courtiers to safely and privately move from one building to another, without going out on to the street in front, which was at that time the main thoroughfare through town.

Margaret of Anjou (1430 - 1482) was the second daughter of René Duke of Anjou and Isabella Duchess of Lorraine. As such she was a relation of King Louis XI and married off to the mentally unstable Henry VI at the age of 14. Because of Henry's clear incapacity to rule, she was active in the political sphere for much of his reign and the Wars of the Roses are at least partly due to the personal emnity between her and Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, who had been appointed regent.

After Richard of York's son, Edward IV took the English throne she was imprisoned but subsequently ransomed by Louis XI. She spent the last years of her life in France, her own son dead at the battle of Tewkesbury and her spirit broken.

The Bastarnay Family Tomb, Montrésor

The tomb of the Bastarnay family lies in the church in Montrésor. The church itself was built at the orders of Imbert de Bastarnay primarily to house the tomb. He was seigneur of Montrésor and an influential courtier in the reigns of Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII and François I. A skilled diplomat and negotiator he lived to 85 years old, to his great sorrow outliving his son François (killed in battle in 1513), whose effigy is also placed on the tomb.

The tomb was created in the Tours workshop of sculptor Michel Colombe in 1523, on Imbert's death, but the church not consecrated until 1532 and not finished until 1541. The tomb was broken up during the Revolution in 1793 and not restored until 1875. Three white marble (or alabaster?) effigies rest on a thick black marble slab. In the centre lies Georgette de Montchenu (died 1511), Imbert's wife, with her feet resting on two griffins. Her husband, to her right, has his coat of arms at his feet, and their son's feet rest on a lurcher. Their daughter Jeanne was Diane de Poitiers mother.

Uluru

The most photogenic rock in the world?

Wandering in the Desert

A Lesser Wanderer Danaus petilia photographed in the Northern Territory Australia. This species is an Australian relative of the famous long distance migrant Monarch D. plexippus butterfly (which also occurs in Australia).

Civilian Sacrifice

This evocative memorial to Australia's merchant mariners is in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

The Museum of Prehistory, Le Grand Pressigny

We've had a friend staying with us over the last 10 days and consequently have been motivated to catch up with visits to places we really should have visited long ago.

In 2009 the new Museum of Prehistory building was opened in the grounds of the Chateau of Le Grand Pressigny. The collection of prehistoric objects had been housed in the chateau and we had visited it in its old incarnation back in 2006.

The new building was widely reviled. Many people didn't understand why the new wing of the museum was unashamedly modern and not a pastiche designed to 'blend in', 'tastefully' and 'discreetly'.

We've always liked the new building, noting its clever use of matching new lines with old, but at the same time ensuring no one is deceived into thinking new build is old.

Now we've seen the interior we are even more impressed. The architect has borrowed the landscape at every opportunity, and the space is airy and light. The collection has been displayed in a way that enhances understanding of global context and sequence as well as highlighting how important the many local finds have been. There are study and activity spaces that look great for engaging kids, and we took a guided tour of the temporary exhibition Bêtes à Tout Faire (All Purpose Animals). The guide was knowledgeable and enthusiastic and we were impressed (and learned stuff).

Covered Market, Richelieu

The 17th century covered market in Richelieu has not long been fully restored. The wooden pillars stabilised, carpentry whitewashed, new floor and services installed, practical glass wind breaks around the perimeter, and a new slate roof with copper guttering.

I noticed that the slates are not fixed with the usual 'S' shaped hooks, but must be nailed on. I liked the nifty solution to divert water from rushing down the junction between the market roof and the adjoining building's gable -- a little lip which sends the water to the right and then allows it to fall down into the gutter, very practical, aesthetic and clever.

Commuting from Tours to Paris on the TGV

Thankfully I don't have to commute to Paris from Tours every day, but here are some statistics about those who do:

• 4000 people do the Tours-Paris return voyage every day.
• the journey takes about an hour (compared to minimum 2.5 hours by car).
• parking at Saint Pierre des Corps will cost you €78/month and there is a 2 year waiting list for places.
• a monthly ticket for the TGV costs €600. This goes down to €462 at the end of three years of commuting.

A TGV pulls in to Saint Pierre des Corps (Tours) station.

Commuters generally catch the 7.31 from Saint Pierre des Corps and return on the 18.37 from Paris Montparnasse. Many commuters keep a scooter parked at Montparnasse for getting to and from their place of work. They usually sleep on the train on the way up and work on the way back.

Commuter bikes next to the TGV in Tours Central station.

The commuters are known as pendulaires (pendulums) or navetteurs (shuttlers/commuters). They do it because of property prices in Paris and because employment prospects and wages in Tours are so much more limited. Especially once couples have children they simply can't afford a suitable property in Paris, but they can in Tours (an apartment in the best location, such as near the cathedral, will go for about €3000/m²). Saint Pierre des Corps is cheaper, at €1454/m² for an apartment, €2034 for a house. Compared to paying nearly €10000/m² for an apartment in central Paris (€6600/m² in the suburbs) no wonder people make the move and are prepared to commit to the slog of commuting 500km a day on a fast and relatively efficient service. Some of them are lucky enough to have employers who reimburse half their fare, but others have to deal with employers who are dubious about the reliability of the train and the effect of commuting on their employees.

The commuters have formed a rail users group, just to make sure that SNCF and the local authorities keep on their toes and provide the best possible service. Some of their concerns are that track maintenance has been downgraded in the last couple of years and the track is deteriorating which causes delays; there are fears that the new high speed line to Bordeaux will sideline the TGV to Tours; the price of tickets continues to go up (34% in the last 10 years); and only the deputy mayor of Tours attends their meetings, not the mayor (the mayor of Saint Pierre des Corps attends), so they feel their concerns may not be getting the full attention of the local authority.

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International Earth Day: Today has been officially designated International Earth Day by the UN. It's a day to think about how we interact with the earth and what is special about this planet. It's a day to celebrate our wonderful world, but also to remember that the world we know is changing and that perhaps we should show more respect. If anyone has organised an event near you, please support them by attending or participating. This year's theme is Green Cities.

Bells and Bunnies

In France the church bells go to Rome and bring back Easter eggs, so you also find chocolate bells amongst the chickens, eggs and rabbits on the supermarket shelves.

Lindt make Cloches d'or and Lapins d'Or as special treats for Easter.

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Honey Bee Swarms: Chris Luck has written a timely post on what to do if you have a honey bee swarm on your property. We noticed a beekeeper dealing with a swarm only a couple of days ago in Richelieu.

La Chiotte

An Australian icon this. But this traditional looking dunny houses a smart modern composting toilet, not a metal pan that has to be emptied and buried once a week.

(And just so you know -- Redback Spider distribution map)

Up until my mid-teens I had never lived in a house with an outdoor dunny. We lived on farms, and had septic tanks, but when we moved into town, we got downgraded to a shed down the back of the garden because the small town we moved to didn't have a sewerage system until a few years later, in the late 70s.

The dunny in the photo above is at Brayshaw's Hut in Namadgi NP, ACT.

PS Chiotte (or more usually, chiottes) is French for dunny. (It amuses me that even when you are using slang it is not considered proper to refer to toilets in the singular in French.)

The Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk

While we were in Sydney in late 2012 we engaged in the latest must do attraction that Sydney has to offer -- the Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk. We walked along the cliffs between Bondi and Coogee on a very hot day. We had the best company -- our friends Liselle, Alex and Stefania. The scenery is dramatic and the views wonderful. The path is very popular and well used by all sorts, from locals going for their daily run to groups of young foreign tourists enjoying the sun, surf and sand. Nothing like this was here when Simon and I were spending time in Sydney in our 20s (ie 30 years ago).

 

This last image was taken looking back the way we had come. All the rest are looking forward, with Bondi behind us and Coogee to come.

Cirque d'hiver

 The 'Winter Circus' in Paris's 11eme arrondissement is a large 20 sided oval building designed as a theatre in the round for the performance of circus, dressage, wrestling and concerts. It opened in 1852 and was a favourite hang-out of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. For more information about its history and pictures of the interior, see Paris Connected.