Category Archives: Loire Valley

Australia, France, Loire Valley, Paris

Gardens I Have Known

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I spent my first 9 years in France living in a flat and biding my time until I could have a house and a garden again. It finally became a reality when I was pregnant with Black Cat and Leonardo was nearly 2 1/2. It was a funny sort of a garden, 10 metres wide by 30 metres long, but typical of the area which used to have a lot of orchards with espalier pear trees. I was into organic food then and we grew apples, hazelnuts, black currants, red currants, tomatoes, strawberries and, best of all, raspberries which the kids loved to pick for dessert. We also had the most wonderful old style rose bushes with the most divine scent.

Before I had my own roses, I didn’t particularly like them but the garden had an enormous variety and I took immense pleasure in picking them to give to my friends who didn’t have gardens. There was a lovely yellow one which started out pink and a red rose whose petals felt like velvet. I was so sad when we grew a hedge of thuya bushes for privacy and it crowded out most of the roses. We realised the damage too late.

 

When I divorced, I had to give up my garden but I was lucky enough to find a ground floor flat with a small garden that we gradually turned into a mass of flowers. We had trumpet creepers and clematis, hollyhocks and azaleas, columbines and delphiniums, irises and forsythias and even a lilac bush, all of which would all suddenly appear after winter. Every year in November we’d plant lots of tulips, jonquils and hyacinths, tiny pansies and cyclamens. We had lilies of the valley for May Day as well.

In the summer, we’d plant masses of busy lizzies, geraniums and nastursiums. Our hanging pots were filled with petunias and begonias. Just thinking about it makes me nostalgic! Then we moved to our apartment in Paris overlooking the Palais Royal gardens. We couldn’t even have window boxes at first because it’s a listed monument. But I finally convinced Relationnel into letting me have planters on the sills of the French windows that you can’t see from the other side.

So you can imagine how much I’m looking forward to our new house in Blois. I can’t wait to see the shrubs come into flower and discover all the different species in the garden. The little wood at the back is full of daffodils and primroses and even tiny ground orchids. I know there are hollyhocks because I’ve seen the leaves but no one has mentioned any columbines or delphiniums. There’s a climbing rose on the front stairs but it looks a little lonely so I’ll have to see what company I can find. And I can’t wait for the wisteria to bloom in April!

France, Loire Valley

Henri II Style Furniture

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We’ve been haunting second-hand furniture shops and websites since we signed the promise of sale for our house in Blois last October and having a lovely time. Now that it’s actually ours and we can’t live there permanently until Relationnel retires in 2014, we’re getting it ready for self-catering holiday rental. When we first started looking for furniture, we didn’t really know what we wanted.

One of the styles we kept finding at incredibly low prices is called Henri II. Considering that the French king by that name was born in 1510 and died in 1559, it hardly seemed likely that the  furniture we were seeing actually corresponded to the time of his reign, particularly since Relationnel said it was the sort of thing his grandparents had. So I checked it out.

It turns out that it corresponds to the “second” French Renaissance, also called Renaissance Revival, which took place in the second half of the 19th century. The main piece is the buffet made of solid oak or walnut and consisting of two parts with torsaded columns and spindles holding up the top part, sculpted bas-relief figures on the doors, complex heavy cornice and base mouldings and bun feet. The table is usually an almost-square with two or three extensions and the chairs are frequently upholstered in deeply sculptured, dark brown leather which rarely stands up to the test of time. Chairs with cane seats and sculpted wooden backs also exist. It’s difficult to find ones with the cane still intact and it costs a fortune to have them redone.

Henri II furniture is not at all popular in France. It is considered to be dark and old-fashioned. Also, the buffets are usually very high which makes them unsuitable for modern houses and apartments. They are perfect, however, for our Renaissance house! Some of the figures on the bas-reliefs are somewhat naive, but there are some very intricate and very beautiful pieces to be found, particularly on www.leboncoin.com.

Our first Henri II purchase was a table with six chairs in which the cane has been replaced with fabric-covered padding. We thought they would be perfect for our large kitchen. We then set about looking for a buffet, table and leather chairs for the dining room. On the phone, I specifically asked if the chairs were in good repair and was told, each time, that they were. Each time, however, they proved to be torn and cracked!

After driving for two hours (and being reassured, once again, that all six chairs were in good condition), we found a buffet we really liked. The first two chairs were fine, but that was all! Fortunately the owner, who was selling off the contents of his parents’ 17-room home, also had 8 cane chairs as well so I guess that will have to do. At least the cane is in good condition. It’s a pity, because I love the leather chairs but unless they are maintained well, the leather dries out and cracks.

Loire Valley, Restaurants

A Celebratory Lunch in Blois

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To celebrate  this truly momentous day in the life of our couple – the purchase of Closerie Falaiseau, our beautiful Renaissance home in the Loire Valley built in 1584 – we chose L’Embarcadère in Blois , with its lovely view of the Loire. It was a perfect spring day, with bright sun and blue sky.

View from L'Embarcadère

Embarcadère means landing stage, from the word “barque” or boat used to ferry people across the river. L’Embarcadère thus has a nautical theme. We’ve known it for many years and return each time we’re in the area. It will definitely be one of our regular haunts. Good view, good food, good service, good value for money. What more could your ask?

We started with champagne, of course, and some delicious nibbles – salmon rillettes, tomato tartare, little grey shrimp and prawns. Relationnel then had fillet of cod while I had salmon tartare. We both had a glass of white cheverny and finished off with a café gourmand on a green theme.

We’re looking forward to returning in two weeks’ time to collect the keys and spend our first night in our new home – we’ve already bought the bed!

 
 
 
L’Embarcadère, 16 quai Ulysse Besnard, 41000 Blois, 02.54.78.31.41 contact@lembarcadere.fr

 

Food, France, Loire Valley, Paris, Restaurants, Wine

La Saint-Valentin

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As my 9-year-old nephew in Sydney pointed out to me yesterday when I mentioned Saint Valentine’s Day to him, the “Saint” has disappeared from Valentine’s Day in English. Francophiles may wonder why it’s “la” Saint-Valentin and not “le”. Well, like all feast days, it’s short for “la fête du Saint-Valentin”.  Hence the feminine for what looks like a masculine.

Back to the day itself. Relationnel, who is a real romantic, arrived with a bunch of roses at lunchtime. He had taken the afternoon off so we decided to go to a couple of depôt-vente and find some things to furnish and decorate Closerie Falaiseau, our new house in Blois. The temperatures have risen since our previous excursion last Saturday so my hands and feet weren’t completely frozen this time. There is a website called www.troc.com that now has 190 second-hand shops in France so we chose one about three-quarters of an hour from the centre of Paris in the western suburb of Orgeval.

We found quite a few goodies, including a coffee grinder, a long-handled bed-warming pan, a set of pewter jugs, a coffee pot, some scales and a Moustier fruit bowl in troc.com and a new expresso/cappuccino machine and a steam iron in another place called Cash Converter, also a chain, which has a lot of musical instruments, hi-fi equipment, small appliances and other household goods. We learnt that you can see the items for sale at troc.com on-line and even reserve them. We’re going to see if we can get some dining-room chairs that way.

We got back to Paris just in time for dinner at La Bastide Odéon, which specialises in cuisine from the south of France. As we were walking along towards our destination, I suddenly saw a restaurant which looked as if it had towels rolled up on the tables outside.  How very odd! I was trying to imagine what sort of Valentine’s celebration was in the offing there when Relationnel said they were blankets for people to sit outside. The blankets even have the name of the restaurant on them – Le Comptoir!

Our restaurant didn’t have a terrace with rolled-up blankets so we sat upstairs.  Relationnel thought he had discovered a new venue but in fact we had eaten there once before with friends from Canberra and enjoyed it. The tables are fairly spread out but there was a lot of noise in the room next door which we weren’t too thrilled with. At one stage, two of the people came out and Relationnel immediately recognised Robert Badinter, famous in French history for having successfully abolished the death penalty on 9th October 1981. After that, we didn’t mind the noise!

They had an excellent set menu for Valentine’s Day at 49 euros per person, starting with champagne and a little sweet pepper (piquillo) stuffed with goat’s milk cheese (very tasty). It was followed by a choice of two entrées – creamy scrambled eggs with black truffle or carpaccio of sea scallops with spicy avocado, sauce vierge (which just means olive oil) and horns of plenty (excellent) – and a choice of two main courses – grilled fillet of bass with candied lemon, creamy risotto and sea shell bouillon (which we didn’t take) or roast rack of lamb (extraordinarily tender), mutton stew gravy (sounds better in French – jus de navarin), eggplant caviar and candied tomatoes (they didn’t look very candied to me).

For dessert, you could have a soft-centred chocolate cake (moelleux au chocolat) with chestnuts and condensed milk ice-cream (all very tasty) or candied pineapple with lavendar honey, fiadone (a Corsican soft cheese dessert) and brown sugar biscuit ice-cream (speculoos) (Relationnel’s choice).

A bottle of wine per couple was also included in the menu. We could choose from two wines – a pouilly fumé sauvignon from the Loire Valley or a côtes du Rhône. We took the red, which we regretted afterwards – not because we didn’t like it, but because it was 15° !!!

As we walked past Le Comptoir on the way back to the car, we noticed that all the outside tables were taken and everyone had their blankets around their knees.

La Bastide Odéon, 7 rue Corneille, 75006 Paris, tel 01 43 26 03 65, contact@bastideodeon.com, www.bastideodeon.com, M° Odéon lines 10 and 4, RER Luxembourg, open every day. 
 

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Cycling, France, Loire Valley

Sunday’s Travel Photos – Chenonceau

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Chenonceau castle is one of the 3 Big C’s in the Loire Valley – Chenonceau, Chambord and Cheverny – and it’s definitely my favourite. A ladies’ castle, built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, decorated by Diane de Poitiers, extended by Catherine de Médicis,  and saved by Louise Dupin during the French Revolution!

We have discovered a wonderful cycle path that runs behind the castle and definitely gives you the best view. On leaving the castle, take the main road in the direction of Montrichard, take the first turn on your right and just over the bridge, you’ll see a path on your right that runs along the south bank of the Cher river. You may have to get off once or twice, but you’ll be able to get through and continue over to the other side of the château. These photos were taken in May, a perfect time to visit.

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France, Loire Valley, Restaurants, Wine

Three More Reasons to Live in Blois

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There we were, two Aussies, a Southern Californian and two Frogs, standing in a street in Blois, talking ten to the dozen in French and English, just opposite a beautiful Renaissance building called Hôtel d’Alluye built in 1508. Next to us, there was this street sweeper with one of those plastic birch brooms they have here. And he started telling us, in basic English at first, then in French once he saw we all understood, about the history and architecture of the building. He really knew his stuff! So friendly and hospitable!

The owner was Florimond Robertet and he was the treasurer for three kings – Charles VIII, whose emblem was the blazing sword, Louis XII with his porcupine and François Ier symbolised by the salamander. Behind the façade is a courtyard with Italian-style galleries. We’ll visit it next time.

We had just come from lunch at L’Appart’ Thé, which is a double play on words. Appart’ is short for “appartement“, “thé” means “tea” and combined, you have “aparté” which means a private conversation. And that’s exactly what it is, an appartment converted into a very cosy place to have lunch, brunch, morning or afternoon tea. When you walk inside, the American-style kitchen is right in front of you and there are lots of comfy chairs and tables inside and out. Since there were six of us, we had a table upstairs.

If I remember correctly, the dishes on the slate perched on the fireplace included veal stew, lentils and duck fillets and zucchini and goat’s cheese quiche, all at about 9.50 euros. The wine list was written on a bottle label and we could choose wine by the glass. We mainly went for local cheverny which comes in red and white. The white is mainly sauvignon with sometimes a bit of chardonnay or menu pineau and the red is gamay and pinot noir.

I’m not sure what the others had for desert (maybe they can help me out!), but I had a very delicious café gourmand for 6 euros with panna cotta, moelleux au chocolat with French custard, a raisin biscuit called a palet solognot which is a speciality of Chambord, a cupcake, a piece of “cake” which is a French version of fruit cake and a heart-shaped shortbread biscuit. After that, we were ready to face the cold!

Our next stop was Troc de l’Île, a dépot-vente on the outskirts of Blois which, despite the cold –  there’s no heating in these enormous places – was great fun. We came away with an antique oak wardrobe, matching bed and bedside tables, a sideboard and a very large wicker basket to put the firewood in. Not to mention very cold feet and hands from lashing it all onto the trailer in the Siberian wind.

When we got it all to the new house, where the current owners are providing storage for all this new furniture and other bits and pieces until we sign on March 16th, there was lovely hot tea – and palets solognots – waiting for us! And that night, we went back to stay at one of our two favourite B&Bs in France – Le Moulin du Mesnil.

 
Hôtel Alluye 8 Rue Saint-Honoré 41000 Blois 
L’Appart’ thé, 12-14 rue Basse, 41000 Blois, 02 54 74 26 73
Troc de l’île 144bis avenue de Châteaudun, 41000 Blois, open 10 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 7 pm
 
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Australia, Cycling, Food, France, French customs, Loire Valley, Paris, Wine

A to Z in the Life of an Aussie in France

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Enjoy my A to Z and don’t forget to click on the links for more …

A – Aussie: How else could I begin? Aussies come from Oz or the Land Downunder where I was born and bred.

B – Blois: In the middle of the Loire Valley, where we’re in the process of buying a house built in 1584 which we’ll be renting out as self-catering holiday accommodation until the NEW ADVENTURE in my life starts in June 2014.

C – Cycling: Our favourite activity from April until October in France and wherever. Next trip: Paris to London once they’ve completed the bike route for the London Olympic Games.

A bike path around the city of Innsbruck

D – Down Under: Not the Land, but the book by Bill Bryson. Full of clichés, but most of them are just so true! And a good read any time.

E – Early bird: Which I’m not, but it’s the only way to beat the tourists and I hate standing in line! And that’s what siestas are for.

F – Foie Gras: One of my very favourite foods and that I now know how to make.

G – Garret: Where I thought I was living when I first moved to France, even though it was just a room in a third floor apartment.

H – Home Exchange: Our new way of holidaying. First stop Madrid and lots of exchanges planned for Australia, some simultaneous, some not.

I – iPhone: Something I’m crazy about and which can certainly make life easier on holidays. Perfect for Twitter and Facebook too.

J – Jam-packed: The metro at peak hour so why not take the bus instead and be a real Parisienne?

K – Kilos: The 20 I have lost and never intend to put back on!

L – Loire Valley: Land of kings and queens and castles. Our future home. Less than 2 hours’ drive from Paris.

Chambord in the Loire Valley

M – Mushrooms: Our second favourite activity after cycling, from April to December. But next year we’re heading for Provence in January to check out the truffle market!

N – Natural skinnies: The people who don’t ever have to lose 20 kilos.

O – Oysters: Another of my favourite foods, especially on Sundays – “spéciales” with fresh homemade bread and a lovely cold bottle of Sancerre.

P – Palais Royal: My home for another two years and for the last seven. Right in the middle, with a view of fountain from my balcony, directly above Miss Bibi!

Q – Queensland: Where I was born, in the tropics, a true-blue Banana Bender!

R – Relationnel: My very French husband whom I cycle, pick mushrooms and travel with. Among other things.

S – Summer time: The very best time of the year, when it’s still light at 11 pm and the days seem to go on forever.

T – Tuileries Gardens: Where I power walk, lunch with friends and Relationnel, and watch the sun set over the Louvre.

U – University: Where I’m still teaching translation, despite the sad lack of equipment and outdated installations.

V – Vélib’: Paris’ rent-a-bike system that’s immensely popular with Parisians and great fun along the Seine on Sundays when the road’s closed to traffic.

W – Wolves: To be found in the Palais Royal only when it snows.

Snow in the Palais Royal Gardens in December 2010

X – Xtraordinary: What everyone in Australia thinks my life is, what with living in a Royal Palace and speaking French all the time, but they don’t know how hard it really is!

Y – You-tube: The very best way to learn anything these days, particularly all that new technology and how to set up a blog.

Z – Ze only way most French people know how to say “th”, including Relationnel, giving them a highly recognizable accent.

 

Accommodation, Croatia, Food, France, Loire Valley, Paris

Happy New Year! Bonne Année!

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These are the first snowdrops in the private woods behind the house we are buying in Blois, La Closerie Falaiseau. The photo was sent to us by the current owners. That, of course, is our big adventure for 2012. On 17th March, the house will be ours. We’re planning to spend Easter there with the family.

As we watched the Eiffel Tower shimmer and shake from our window in Paris at midnight and drank our champagne, we imagined ourselves at the same time the next year in the Closerie next to a roaring fire, snug inside our four-hundred-year-old walls!

The incredible Plitvice Falls

This has been an eventful year: a week in Seville in February and a week in Orthez in the Pyrenees in April, taking up again with my very first friend in France, Elizabeth. Relationnel went surf fishing for 10 days in May in Normandy, where I joined him both weekends to cycle. We then spent five days cycling in the Loire Valley in June. In the summer, we took four weeks off and drove to Eastern Europe, visiting (and cycling) in no less than nine countries (France, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia Herzogovina, Slovenia, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany and Switzerland), speaking four languages (French, Italian, Croatian and German), dealing in three currencies (euros, Liechtenstein marks and Swiss marks) and clocking up more than 5,000 kilometers. Highlights included the incredible Plitvice lakes and falls.

Relationnel then spent a week trekking in the Alps in September before we both went to eastern Champagne to cycle around the largest man-made lake in Europe and visit the eleven half-timbered churches in the region. In October, Relationnel turned sixty and Leonardo decided to pull up his roots and go to Australia to live and work, helping me to set up the blog before he left.

Relationnel and I then went went to the Loire Valley for a few days to start looking for a place to live when Relationnel retires in June 2014.  We fell hopelessly in love with the very first house we visited, built in 1584. Who could resist? Since then, we seem to be caught up in a whirlwind. 

Today, as we ate our oysters on Sunday, we talked about everything we need to do. It’s a little overwhelming to say the least. We want to divide La Closerie in two and rent out (or exchange) the ground floor. Once he retires, Relationnel is going to completely renovate the “Little House” next door which is part of the sale so that we can use it as a short-term holiday rental and invite friends to visit. This means furnishing La Closerie (dépôt-vente, here I come!), setting up a website and organising rental.

This year, we’ll also be going to Australia in September/October where I’ll be organising a big family reunion on my father’s side in Armidale (there are 39 cousins in my generation and 54 in the next generation!), the first in 50 years, and spending two weeks in Tasmania (on a home exchange!) plus a couple of weekends in Sydney and Brisbane. We hope to organise other home exchanges in Europe during the year.

I’m also giving up my university teaching in June after 16 years.  I’ve loved teaching and gained many friends among my graduates over the years, but I feel it’s time to move on to other things.

And, of course, I’ll be continuing my blog. Thank you to all my faithful readers for your encouragement.  Bonne lecture, as they say in French, for the year to come!

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