Last week, I posted photos of the outside of eleven half-timbered churches in the area known as “Wet” Champagne. I thought you might like to see what they are like inside. Unfortunately, the last three churches were closed by the time we got there. The recurring feature of course is the timber frame, sometimes unfortunately covered up with a false ceiling. One of the sad things I find about churches in France is that the original decoration and period are rarely respected when additions are made such as altars and stations of the cross. It should be remembered that, for the most part, these are country churches.
LentillesBailly-le-FrancOutinesChatillon-sur-BrouéDrosnaySaint-LégerMorembertMathaux (taken from a photo outside the church)Sainte-Marie-du-Lac-Nuisement
You’ll be pleased to hear that the balcony renovations are finished and the scaffolding has moved over to the next set of windows. This doesn’t mean there is no noise. The same drilling and hammering is still going on, only it’s not right next to my office and I won’t hear the trade union fellow trying to convert his fellow workers any more. The worst case scenario is four months which means that, theoretically, it will all be gone by the end of April if not before.
View from my renovated balcony
But that’s not what I’m going to talk about in this post, though it is related. The subject is actually my unwanted weight gain since last April, which has crept up to an annoying five kilos. The problem is the change in my daily routine. Being part-time in Blois and part-time in Paris and going to Australia for 5 weeks holiday upset the apple cart completely. When in Blois, Relationel – it has to be his fault! – does far more physical work than in Paris so I have to feed him and it’s not always easy not to eat the same things as he does.
Also, when I’m gardening or renovating, I get hungry and don’t necessarily have the time (or energy) to cook or prepare appropriately nutritious food. Not to mention the periods when I was by myself in Blois. I certainly sympathise with people who regularly have to cook for and eat by themselves. Often I just didn’t feel like it. It obviously requires a different strategy when you’re alone.
Doctor Antoinette Séjean
One of the first things I did when I got back to Paris yesterday was to ring and get an appointment with Doctor Séjean, my nutritionist, who recommends the “four bowl diet” (see previous posts). I was able to see her practically straight away, to my great relief, because I want to get rid of these extra kilos before they set in. She was very pleased to see me after all this time (my last visit was in October 2011) and delighted to learn that I had been including her in my blog.
The first thing she suggested was to concentrate on chewing well to prevent bloating when eating raw vegetables and to eat more slowly, putting your cutlery down after every two mouthfuls. The idea is to pay more attention to the food you’re eating and take pleasure in every bite.
Four-bowl plate: 1 bol salmon, 1 bowl quinoa, 2 bowls of cooked vegetables
She then said it would be a good idea to cut out all raw vegetables for the first one or two weeks of the diet and to have fresh citrus fruit rather than fruit juice at breakfast. I wasn’t sure if and when I should be eating carbs. She said to limit my intake to 3 to 6 tablespoons per meal (40 grams of bread) and have them at lunchtime rather than at night. I need one hundred to two hundred grams of protein and 1 to 2 tablespoons maximum of oil or butter at each meal.
But my big question was what to do at afternoon tea time when we’re in Blois and are gardening or renovating. We usually have Gerblé raisin biscuits (when there isn’t any Christmas cake!), which are very compact low-sugar biscuits that are supposed to give you vitality. Sadly, they have to be eliminated and replaced with 5 to 7 walnuts and some protein or fruit.
My new jacket from Un Jour Ailleurs that I’ll be able to wear when I’ve lost 3 kilos
I came out feeling motivated again and stopped in at the store where I bought one of the winter jackets that disappeared with my lost suitcase. I was delighted because they had practically the same model on sale and I was able to buy it because I know it will fit me properly when I’ve lost those extra kilos!
Who’s going to join me in my weight loss? If you have never used Doctor Séjean’s four-bowl diet, you should go back and read my other posts first, because the present diet is aimed at losing weight fairly soon after putting it back on.
This week’s blogger round up, slightly later than usual, starts with some very useful tips for travelling well in Europe in the winter from Frugal First Class Travel, followed by a horrendous tale of dog sledding in Lapland from Sylvia at Finding Noon (not a destination on my wish-for list) and ends with a day trip to the Great Wall of China by Susan from Days on the Claise. Enjoy!
Europe in the winter – 6 tips to travel well
by Frugal First Class Travel, an Australian who loves to travel – especially in Europe – and who has gradually learned how to have a FirstClass trip on an economy budget, without missing out on anything!
In this, the third part in my series of traveling to Europe in the winter, I look at traveling safely and how to get the most out of your trip.
1. Dress warmly, but in layers
You will be outside a lot sightseeing and traveling from place to place. If you aren’t used to snow and ice, don’t underestimate how cold it can be and cold you will get. Also don’t underestimate how over-heated European interiors such as shops and museums can get. Dress in layers, starting with thermals and work your way outwards. See my previous post on dressing for Europe in the winter (complete with packing list) for more details. Read more
Itarod, here we come
by Finding Noon, an American living in Paris who appreciates fine art, good music, succulent food, and breath taking scenery
Our first morning we awoke, slightly disoriented but excited about the day ahead; we were going dog sledding!
Arriving at Husky & Co the chipper Hungarian guide told us to put on one of their ski suits.
“But I already have this quite swank, rather high tech ski suit on,” desisted Mr French, “is that really necessary?” Read more
A Day Trip to the Great Wall
by Susan from Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history
On 11 December last year we were returning from Australia via China. Because we had a long wait between flights at Beijing we took a hotel (Air China provides a free hotel room if you know to ask). We had obtained a 72 hour transit permit when the plane landed for a couple of hours in Shanghai before continuing to Beijing and Simon had booked a guide and driver for the morning. Part of the Great Wall is about an hour from Beijing and our guide was confident he could get us there, spend an hour on the Wall, then get us to the airport in plenty of time to get through security (we’d checked our hold luggage all the way through and only had hand luggage with us). Read more
We are on our way back to Paris. It’s 10.30 pm and by one o’clock, we should be in bed. Not like last night when Relationnel hit the sack at 4.30 by which time I was asleep, woken from time to time with hammer blows. But today was our last today and it seem inconceivable to leave Closerie Falaiseau without finishing the fireplace.
After the third coat of limewash
In yesterday’s post, I was up to the first coat of limewash. When we got up next morning, we were surprised to discover that the pale ochre colour in the bucket had turned almost white on the fireplace. I applied a second coat and a certain amount of homogeneity appeared. It was quite amazing.
Bricks arranged like miniature Roman bath ruins
In the meantime, Relationnel began work on the hearth which – obviously – turned out to be much longer than expected. First, we were using refractory bricks of various shapes and sizes which Mr Previous Owner had recuperated from somewhere or other, thus saving us quite a bit of money. Second, there have to be little air tunnels in the hearth under the top layer of bricks. By the time he had laid it all out (upside down), it looked like miniature Roman bath ruins.
Mixing the colour into the rendering
So while that was going on, I started the rendering on the walls. I must say I had been somewhat apprehensive. I’d looked for a video on You Tube on applying “removable” rendering with a roller and there weren’t any. I did watch one on applying ordinary paint with a roller and got a few tips though. First, we mixed in the colour (well, Relationnel did with his neat machine) hoping we wouldn’t need a second batch halfway though because it didn’t look very repeatable. Relationnel then demonstrated how to apply it and it didn’t look easy at all. The paint seemed to fall off the roller before it even got to the wall.
Now, how to get it onto the wall without it falling off first
He told me to begin in the middle of the right wall (which will be hidden behind a large bookcase) until I got the hang of it. One of the things I saw on the video was that you should do the edges with a paint brush first (after putting adhesive tape on the adjacent wall for protection). My efforts didn’t look too bad and the paint got better at staying on the roller once it was totally impregnated.
Fraussie learning the techniques of rendering
That bit was done standing up. Then I had to climb a ladder to do the top bit. I’m not that keen on being that high up and by then the paint-soaked roller was really heavy. Also, since my technique was better, the paint wasn’t as thick, making the join a little obvious. There was also the hard-to-get-at bit between the mantle and the oak beam that you more or less have to do blind.
The wall on the right of the fireplace after rendering
After the middle and top sections came the bottom bit which is hell on your back. While I was doing it, Relationnel appeared. “That’s dangerous, you know”. “Oh là là”, I thought, “What have I done now?” “Oh, why?”, I asked, hiding my apprehension. “Because now I’ll want you to help me all the time.” “Ha ha!” The whole wall only took a couple of hours and I was rather pleased with the result though a little uneven. I attacked the second wall with much greater aplomb and it looks most professional.
Tea and Christmas cake on the worksite
Meanwhile, Relationnel was still messing around with his bricks and finally came to the conclusion that some of them would need to be cut. Eventually, everything was ready and he started cementing them into the frame. After tea and Christmas cake on the worksite, I added another coat of limewash. The result was getting better all the time.
Progress of the hearth at 4.30 am
But the bricks were very tricky and when Relationnel went to bed at 4.30 am, he hadn’t finished. This morning, he finished them off while I put on another coat of limewash. After lunch, it was my turn to help again and I learnt yet another skill – putting refractory mortar (my old friend) between the joints. We finished off the job together and at 7 pm, the only thing left to be done was to add the ventilation grills but two of them require a special metal bracket but that will only need another hour or so next time to we go to Blois.
The fireplace as we were leaving Blois (with the coat of arms taped up for protection)
We’re not satisfied with the mantel which needs another coat of fine-sand rendering to get rid of all the bumps but we can live with it for the next two years. The next time we go to Closerie Falaiseau, we’ll go hunting for a sofa at the dépôt-vente, buy some firewood, find a way to get our 150 kilo fireback upstairs, lit the fire then crack open the champagne !
This is the post that was supposed to announce that the fireplace at Closerie Falaiseau is finished and that we have opened our vintage champagne and eaten our home-made foie gras to welcome in the New Year.
The state of the fireplace in the last post
Well, we’ve eaten some of the foie gras because of its relatively short lifespan. But you’ve guessed it – the fireplace is not finished despite the fact that we’re staying an extra day and that I have contributed far more than I initially thought I would. You may remember from my last post on the subject that I was going to put rendering on the wall on either side of the fireplace after priming it.
What it looked like behind the mantel before Relationnel covered it all with refractory mortar
Well, since the mortaring of the inside of the mantel proved far more time-consuming than Relationnel initially thought, I figured I should volunteer for something else more urgent. I was told that I could fill the joints between the lintel stones. Not with putty, of course, but with lime mixed with sand and water. We’re doing this the traditional way. The information came from Nicolas, the man in charge of renovating our balcony in Paris who is apparently a superduper expert when it comes to stone.
Damaged lintel before filling the joints and reconstructing the stone
My experience with mortaring the back of the fireplace came in good stead and I eventually got the knack of filling the joints. Then I filled the other cracks and holes. Relationnel said I was doing so well that I could reconstruct the missing bits of stone. Great! I was very skeptical at first but in end I managed to create something very reasonable. However, half the reconstruction fell out of one of the gaps I had filled, which was disappointing to say the least. So I didn’t even look at the biggest one.
Partial reconstruction on the largest gap
Next day, I surveyed my handiwork and declared that the sand was too coarse so Relationnel produced some ultra-fine sand. Now why didn’t he tell me about that the day before? It produced much better results and I was able to reconstruct the one that broke and, with infinite patience, complete the gap I hadn’t even attempted. I was getting the hang of it.
The lintel after doctoring with a multitude of different colours and textures
On Friday we needed more mortar so we both went to Brico Depot together. It was the first time in four days that Relationnel had set foot outside the yard. I’d been grocery shopping in the morning, so I was marginally luckier. We decided to go out for dinner on Saturday night to have a côte de bœuf at Au Coin du Table in lieu of champagne in front of an open fire and not talk about renovations or fireplaces. We almost succeeded.
On Sunday morning, I got a new job – putting a coat of light-coloured rendering on the mantel using a water-down version of the fine-sand and lime concoction applied with a spatula. That was a joke! The first batch was too thick but we eventually found a workable consistency and did it together, with me on either side and Relationnel at the front. When it dried, it looked very uneven and not much lighter than the first time, just not as rough. Hmm …
Mantle after second lot of rendering on the mantle
When Susan and Simon from Days on the Claise arrived for lunch, with half the meal to boot, we were definitely glad of the diversion. They also run a tour business called Loire Valley Time Travel, taking visitors to the châteaux in Celestine, a Citroën called a traction avant which started life in 1953. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t brilliant and we didn’t get to meet Celestine, though maybe we’d never have got back to our renovations if she we had!
After lunch, I volunteered to whitewash the fireplace. Well, I gathered that was what “fleur de chaux”, water and a savvy mixture of pigments corresponded to. I was a bit doubtful about its ability to cover up all my handiwork, not to mention someone else’s plasters and the remains of a colour job somewhere along the way, ranging from dark red to yellow and pink. So we got out the scales and made up our extremely liquid mixture.
Result after the first limewash
Relationnel started panicking and said it wasn’t even worth trying but I was more philosophical. It looked a darned sight easier than anything else I’d done up until that stage. Why not give it a try? The result was not quite what we expected. I’ll tell you what we did about it in the next post!
Like most people, our only view of Champagne was Reims, Troyes, Epinay and vineyards but late one September, we were looking for somewhere to spend a long weekend and do some cycling before the cold weather set in. We found a gîte near Lac du Der and discovered, to our amazement, the existence of no fewer than eleven half-timber churches in the area, four of which we visited by bike and the rest by car. It was like a treasure hunt as we went from to the other and as you can see from the photos, it was an absolutely perfect day. Many of these churches used to exist in Normandy, but were bombed during the war. The ones in Champagne,mainly built in the 16th century, have been miraculously preserved.
Lentilles 1512Bailly le Franc 1510Outines 1530Chatillon sur Broué early 16th centuryDrosnay 14th to 18th centurySaint Léger sous Margerie 1492Morembert 1530Langlois 1483-1493Mathaux 1761Chapelle de Soulaine-Dhuys 1484-1504Sainte-Marie-du-Lac-Nuisement 1479, which was dismantled when Lac du Der was built and reassembled in a regional museum
Relationnel said today that if he’d known how long the fireplace was going to take, he’d never have started the renovations. I’m not convinced though. I somehow can’t see him going to stay in a gîte somewhere else in France to enjoy an open fire when we are the proud owners of a 400-year old house with no less than four fireplaces. He might have started the refurbishment earlier though …
Mantle with rendering on one side
He has been working full speed for three days. The mantle is now more or less ready to take the whitewash. He’s had to reconstruct it inside and outside, requiring large amounts of refractory mortar and bits of brick and a lot of skill and patience. We had hoped to be able to renovate the stone but it is really quite damaged and would take weeks and weeks to restore. It has also been painted various pink and ocre shades over the centuries so whitewash seems the best solution.
The right wall before painting
Having spent the first two days getting all my translations out of the way, I was finally able to contribute to the renovations today. Although there is rendering on the other walls of the room, the two panels on either side of the fireplace had been left unfinished, covered by a large bookcase on the right and a large cupboard on the left. Another cupboard stood in front of the fireplace. The previous owner left the bookcase on the right as it is almost an exact fit but the other side is completely bare.
Paint roller with bucket and grating
Relationnel decided that if we were going to do renovations, we had to do them properly, including rendering on both walls. So that is my job. Today, I did the undercoat, an easy though tiring job because I’m not used to stretching my arms above my head, getting up and down a ladder to dip my roller in the paint, getting down on all fours to finish off the bottom, etc.
Fraussie putting on the primer
I donned my throwaway overalls and put plastic bags over my shoes to protect them and used the cap that I won with Carolyn Barnabo at the barbecue quizz we attended last year at the Australian Embassy in Paris. I always knew it would come in handy. Relationnel demonstrated how to put paint on the roller and I was off.
The mantle with only the right side to go
We used to have our house repainted regularly when I was a child in Townsville by professional painters and I certainly don’t remember ever seeing them use paint rollers. I don’t know when they were invented, but they are certainly a big improvement over those large brushes I used when I did my first paint job thirty years ago.
Relationnel does the last bit of rendering
Also, that water-based paint is a real boon. When you’ve finished, you just have to wash it all off the brush, roller (though since it was a cheap-O one so we threw it away), paint bucket and grid thing. The only disadvantage is that in winter, cleaning everything outside with no running water is a bit of a bind. It was easier when we painted the front gate in the heat wave last summer.
Left wall after priming
But Relationnel said I did a good job so I went off to make lunch while he did some more mortaring. We finally sat down at 2 pm by which time I didn’t want to move another inch. I asked Relationnel how long it would take to dry. “Oh, you can put the rendering on this afternoon if you want.” No way. I had a nap instead. I’ll attack that tomorrow!
It was very comforting to have so many people commisserating with me during my attack of SAD, alias Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter depression and light deprivation disorder, with lots of helpful comments both on the blog and on Facebook. You’ll be pleased to hear it is OVER. I probably could have avoided it to some extent if I had been expecting it to happen. First, I would not have left my vitamin D in Blois and second, I would have made sure I went out each day to at least partly counteract the lack of light.
Sun streaming through my temporary office window
Now that we are back in Blois, even though I have been working like crazy to catch up with the translations I didn’t do when I was feeling so depressed, and incidentally suffering from RSI (repeated strain injury) in my mouse-hand, the light streaming through the window of my temporary office seems to have done the trick. I’ve now caught up and can devote the rest of the week to helping Relationnel with the fireplace so that we can celebrate New Year before we leave on 7th January.
Winter jasmin and roses
More news on the progress of the fireplace soon!
View from the kitchen windows on a sunny morning
Winter pansies and a flowering laurel on a sunny afternoon
Even though we are not sitting in front of a roaring fire in the renovated upstairs fireplace as planned (we’re in front of the closed-up fireplace downstairs) and the oysters are unfortunately back on our balcony in Paris, we are nevertheless in Closerie Falaiseau in Blois. People have been seeing in the New Year in this very house for 438 years. We are about to break that tradition.
Our boarded-up downstairs fireplace
What a mementous year! Knowing the hard work awaiting us in April to convert the bottom of the house into rental accommodation, we organised our first home exchange with Madrid and were not disappointed! Since then we have clocked up seven other house swaps in various parts of Australia.
John and Toshiko Modesitt in front of Closerie Falaiseau
The final signature for Closerie Falaiseau at the end of March was followed by two superhuman weeks during which we divided off, furnished and decorated the ground floor mainly with French provinicial furniture. The rental went well, with our first paying guests, American impressionist John Modesitt and his wife Toshiko in June. We are now the proud owners of one of their paintings! The comments in our guest book are very encouraging and it was wonderful to meet so many interesting people.
Cycling along the Loire
We came back several times during the spring and summer, doing a lot of cycling and gardening, even eating our first homegrown potatoes, planted in the rain. We repainted the front gate and fitted out a temporary kitchen in our “little house” next door so we wouldn’t inconvenience our guests. Relationnel will be turning it into a gîte after he retires in October 2014 and we take over the entire house.
The roof of the little house seen from the garden
I came to the momentous decision to give up teaching translation at university in June after 15 years. I felt I was ready to turn over a new page particularly since my vocation seemed to have given out. I also wanted to be free of any geographical constraints so we can come to Blois whenever we want.
In September, we went to Australia for 5 weeks via Hong Kong, holidaying first in Tasmania, then in Armidale where I organised a family reunion attended by 50 members of the Kneipp family. We spent many wonderful hours catching up with family I hadn’t seen for a very, very long time. But it was heartbreaking to leave so many people behind. We finished our holiday on the Gold Coast and Brisbane but unfortunately came home with only one suitcase out of two. Next day Black Cat was burgled.
Family reunion in Armidale
After we arrived home, I came down to Blois with some Australian friends for 10 days and Relationnel joined us for a long weekend. I then stayed on, mainly going back to Paris for weekends due to ongoing renovation on the balcony of the Palais Royal which was supposed to take 10 weeks and is still not finished after 4 1/2 months. It has not only been noisy, but also blocked out our view and light, giving me winter depression.
Scaffolding in front of our balcony in Paris
Relationnel came down for two one-week periods to renovate the upstairs fireplace which has turned out to be a major undertaking. We’re still hoping to finish it before going back to Paris on 7th January, by which time the scaffolding should be gone from the Palais Royal as well. We’ve decided to only herald in the New Year when we can do so in front of a blazing fire. We’re hoping it will happen this week!
Current state of upstairs fireplace
So what are my good resolutions,plans and expectations for 2013? The first is NO MORE RENOVATION until we move here permanently. The second is more travelling in Europe, starting with Barcelona in February for which I’m looking looking for a home exchange. After that, maybe Italy or Scandinavia, Ireland or one of the Eastern European countries.
The tower on the side of the house
The third is going back to fitter occupations than I’ve had in 2012 and losing the 3 or 4 kilos I’ve gained recently mainly due to going back and forth between two houses! The fourth is getting out and about in Paris more. The fifth is learning to make the most of my iPhone camera so I can take better photos particularly at night.
I haven’t mentioned Aussie in France, but that goes without saying. It’s a part of my life and I’ll keep writing posts until I run out of things to say.
And what about you, my faithful readers, what are your plans for 2013?
I wanted to pick out the highlights of my Monday’s Travel Photos posts in 2012 but rather than choose my own favourites, always a difficult task, I asked Relationnel to tell me which of my Monday’s travel photos he preferred month by month. These, of course, are not the places I went to in 2012, but taken from various holidays over the last few years. Which is your favourite? Or is there a photo you remember from another post that you prefer?
Lake Annecy, FranceTivoli Gardens, Italy
Burano Island, Italy
The Dancing House, Prague
Orvieto Cathedral, Italy
Hofkirche, Innsbruck, AustriaSaint PetersburgSaint Paul de Vence, FranceThe Sphinx and the Pyramid of Kheph, EgyptBrisbane, Australia
