Category Archives: Mushrooms

Accommodation, Architecture, Art, Germany, Mushrooms, Sightseeing

Bamberg – A World Heritage Site in Germany

October 8, 2015 Rosemary Kneipp 7 Comments

My Australian friend Jane first told me about Bamberg a couple of years ago but although it’s still in Bavaria, it’s a lot further north than the Danube. However, my iPhone says that the shortest route from Melk to Blois is via Nuremberg and Bamberg is only 40 minutes further north which makes it a good stopover on our way home. The weather forecast is also reasonable for visiting although it is not warm enough for cycling especially now that Jean Michel has a sinus infection.

The Altes Rathaus, Bamberg's most well-known building — The Altes Rathaus, Bamberg’s most well-known building

I find an apartment through booking.com that’s close to the historical centre and appears to be spacious. We haven’t been doing so well with out accommodation recently so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. As soon as we arrive in Bamsberg, we know we’re going to love it. The check-in for the apartment is at the Weierich Hotel. We can park in front of the apartment which is just opposite the hotel to drop off our luggage then park in a public car park about 10 minutes on foot for 8 euro per 24 hours which is very reasonable, especially after Hungary.

Our living room in Bamberg Apartments on the second floor, Lugbank 5

Jean Michel loves the apartment which is in a building constructed in 1510 (even older than our house in Blois) and has a bedroom, a large living room with 5 windows and a properly equipped kitchen at one end, a sort of sitting room and a bathroom, not to mention a small terrace with two gnomes. I’m relieved since I’m the one who chose it!

The frescoes on the wall of the Altes Rathaus. Have a close look on the right bottom.

The historical centre of Bamberg was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1993 because of its beautifully preserved mediaeval architectural ensemble. The first thing we see is the Altes Rathaus, or old town hall, Bamberg’s most emblematic construction built in the 14th century and rebuilt by the people of Bamburg after a fire in 1440. It is just a stone’s throw from our apartment. It was given a Baroque and Rococco conversion in the mid-18th century and frescoes were added on both sides. We photograph it from every possible angle.

The Cathedral, showing two of its four steeples

We then walk up to the Imperial Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint George on one of Bamberg’s seven hills. The second and present-day building was completed in 1237 and combines both late Romanesque and Gothic elements.

It fronts onto a large square with the turn of the 18th century New Residence on one side and the Old Court on the other.

The lovely inner courtyard of the Old Court

We walk through to the splendid inner courtyard of the Old Court with its half-timbered buildings decorated with red geraniums. Now why can’t I grow geraniums like that?

The fishermens' quarter with its quaint houses — The fishermens’ quarter with its quaint houses

We walk back down to Bamberg’s Little Venice with its quaint fishermen’s houses along the towpath of the Regnitz River.

From there, we go back to the Altes Rathaus and walk through the arch and over the bridge from which we can see the frescoes on the other side.

Wild mushrooms in the green market – the ones we don’t know are on the bottom right in the top corner of the box

The Green Market is next with its many fruit and vegetable stalls, including wild mushrooms we’ve never seen before.

From there we go to Maximiliansplatz, the largest square in the town centre, dominated by the present-day town hall with its Baroque façade built from 1732 to 1737.

We work our way back to the apartment via Harmony Garden where we stop for a drink. My feet are starting to burn – we’ve walked 10 kilometers in about 2 ½ hours, mostly on paving stones, but every corner reveals another beautiful or quaint building and we want to make the most of the sun. We know that it’s going to be partly overcast next day.

Back in our apartment, we have dinner (it’s an intermittent fast day) and I discover there is no hot water to wash up. Jean Michel checks the radiators and tells me two of them are not working, including the one in the bedroom. We go across to the hotel and explain the problem to the night watchman who only has very basic English but is very helpful. He finds the solution to the hot water (it has to be turned on under the sink) but it’s too late to do anything about the heating. He offers us a room in the hotel instead so at bedtime, we take what we need for the night across the street to the hotel.

Breakfast at Hotel Weierich - best yet! — Breakfast at Hotel Weierich – best yet!

Next morning the girl at the desk tells us someone will look after our heating during the day. She asks if we’d like to have breakfast in the hotel (no extra charge). We accept and have the best breakfast we’ve had since we left home nearly a month ago! The brioche loaf is exceptionally delicious.

Back in the apartment we find the heating is working again and wonder whether the renovation work next door has anything to do with the problem. As we leave the apartment, the sun comes out and we cross a different bridge over the river and get another superb view of the very photogenic Altes Rathaus.

The broom and brush vendor on Maximilienplatz

We head for Maximiliansplatz to find a bookshop to buy a guidebook in French as our tourist brochure isn’t very adequate. On the way, we come across a brush and broom vendor, very similar to the one we found in Dresden last year. We buy a new broom for our hearth in Blois and put it in Jean Michel’s backpack.

The building we used to find the gardens

The sky clouds over and we decide to head for Bamberg’s market garden district owned by a dozen or so families on the other side of the river and which was responsible for Bamberg’s considerable commercial development in the middle ages. However, we have trouble finding it because of the poor indications but by studying one of the photos in the guide book, we are finally able to locate it. We climb up a leaning metal platform to get a bird’s eye view.

The view of Saint Otto's and the surrounding gardens from the viewing platform — The view of Saint Otto’s and the surrounding gardens from the viewing platform

Unfortunately the little market gardeners’ museum is not open on Tuesdays so we eventually work our way back to the island in the middle of the city, having a cappuccino on the way to give my feet a rest.

The market garden museum closed on Tuesdays

We follow the suggested itinerary in the guide book which includes several of the places we visited yesterday, but only from the outside. Near a lock and an old watermill, we come across a little ferry and cross the river . We are reminded of all the little ferries along the Danube and Rhine. Throughout the day we see lots of local cyclists and regret that the weather is not warmer.

The ferry crossing the river from the old watermill

Our path takes us to the Imperial Cathedral and this time we go inside. Jean Michel starts reading the guidebook out loud but it is so detailed that I can’t take in any more. I gather there are three main things to see : a statue of an unknown horseman, circa 1250, the tomb of the imperial couple, Heinrich II and Kunigunde (1513), and the Marienaltar (1523).

The incredibly detailed and finely sculptured bas reliefs depicting Kunegonde

The Bamberg horseman is a little high up to appreciate the details but the Kunigunde carvings are quite fascinating. I consult the guidebook to find out more.

We’re now ready for lunch so walk down a flight of steps to the centre and find ourselves in a street with several possibilities. We choose Scheiner’s Gaststuben with its typical wooden benches and find ourselves a seat next to a German couple. We have a mixed sausage grill (gemischter bratwurstteller), sauerkraut and fried potatoes for 8.90 euro, very good value for money, and have a glass of local white wine to go with it.

Back up the stairs to the cathedral square after lunch to visit the New Residence whose Baroque wings were built under Prince Lothar Franz von Schönborn at the end of the 17th century. Unfortunately, we have to follow a guided tour in German and it is not until the second half that our tour guide realises that we need the brief guides in French!

The white room with its white enamel stove — The white room with its beautiful stucco work and white enamel stove

We are able to admire the beautiful painted ceilings and ceramic stoves though – there isn’t much furniture.

The rose garden behind the New Residence offers a wonderful view of the city but, more especially, takes us down a tree-lined path that gives us a superb view of the cathedral. with its four spires.

You can see the four spires on the cathedral

We follow our guidebook itinerary until we reach the 12th century Carmelite monastery converted, like everything else it seems, to the Baroque style at the end of the 17th century. Its late Romanesque cloisters from the 13th century remain unchanged.

The cloisters of the Carmelite Monastery with their finely carved capitals and painted sundial

The Upper Parish church (Obere Pfarre) with its Tintoretti painting and white Baroque interior is the only purely Gothic church in Bamberg. The high chancel is supported with flying buttresses which make it very impressive from the outside.

We debate about whether to climb another hill to see Saint Michael’s Monastery founded in 1015. The photos in the guidebook showing the painted ceiling with its 578 flowers and medicinal herbs convince us and we make a final effort. It’s closed for renovation. Sigh.

The view as we go down the hill along a small pathway to the historical centre makes up for the disappointment.

The view pf Saint Michael's Monastry and vineyard from the path — The view pf Saint Michael’s Monastry and vineyard from the path

An ice-cream in front of the Altes Rathaus gives us enough stamina to call in at Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas decoration store where we buy a little set of bells for the Christmas tree. We usually buy something for the tree in each new country we visit but we totally forgot to do so when we were in Serbia and Romania.What a pity!

An inviting cafe along the canal in Bamberg

Back at our apartment, after having walked 15 kilometers (according to the health app on my iPhone), we check the weather and the map for a last one-night stopover on the way hope. We decide on Colmar, another Little Venice with its pretty canals and Alsatian decor. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to find some vin nouveau and harvest bread like we did last time !

Blois, Life in France, Mushrooms

Why I love the market even when it’s cold or rainy #1

May 9, 2015 Rosemary Kneipp 14 Comments

We go to the fresh produce market in Blois every Saturday in Place Louis XII no matter what the weather. You never know what you’ll find! We arrive any time between 10 am and 11 am and park in the underground parking lot nearby.

Over the last 3 years and particularly since we moved here permanently six months ago, we have developed a set routine to include our favourite vendors.

In winter, we start with the oyster vendor and buy two dozen spéciales as these are our favourites. At 7.20 euro a dozen, they are considerably cheaper than the ones we used to buy in the 1st arrondissement in Paris. Our vendor and her husband live and raise their oysters in Charentes and come to Blois three days a week. Between them, they cover the Amboise market on Friday and Sunday mornings, two markets in Blois on Saturday morning and various selling points on Friday and Saturday afternoon, from the beginning of September to the end of April.

The saucissons vendor on the market with local varieties such as deer and wild boar.

Next stop is the saucisson seller with local varieties such as deer and wild boar. Saucisson in French corresponds to dry sausage of the salami type as opposed to saucisse of the frankfurter type. Saucisson is one of our favourite appetizers.

One day there was even a donkey to attract donations for children with cancer

The chicken and rabbit vendor comes next. Rabbit is one of Jean Michel’s specialities that we buy from time to time and have with chasselas grapes or prunes depending the season.

The mushroom vendor who sells button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and Japanese shitake

After that, we have the mushroom man. He works with a partner who grows button mushrooms (called Parisian in French) , shitake and oyster mushrooms. He loves joking and talking to each customer. He always wants to know what you are going to do with the mushrooms and selects them accordingly – very firm to be eaten uncooked, large if they are to be sliced, tiny to accompany a roast.

The egg lady who is part of the fruit & vegetable stall

The next vendor is the organic baker. The vendors (a young man or a young woman) are not very friendly, but Jean Michel prefers their baguette with his oysters – I prefer the multi-grain bread I make myself.

one of the philosophical signs on the fruit & vegetable stall — One of the philosophical signs on the fruit & vegetable stall

A large self-serve fruit and vegetable stall comes next. The owner of the stall is a farmer himself and all the produce he sells is fresh and local. In between the cardboard boxes are little signs with philosophical quotes such as “Humility is like a pair of scales. The more you make it go down on one side, the higher it goes on the other”. The lady behind the scales writes everything down on a piece of xcrap paper and then adds it up. They also sell free-range eggs so we take along our empty cartons.

Three generations of Italians run the stall

Next on the list is the Italian stall. It’s very popular so we always buy four types of ravioli and some tagliatelle and freeze them so we won’t have to queue as often. You can plunge the pasta directly into boiling water still frozen and cook it like fresh pasta. The stall is run by three generations and their produce comes directly from Italy.

When it's no longer scallop season, they sell fresh fish, shells and prawns — When it’s no longer scallop season, they sell fresh fish, shells and prawns

In winter, we often buy scallops (coquille Saint Jacques in French) from a stall run by two young men. Their hands must be frozen by the end of the morning, after opening literally hundreds of scallops. For the last two or three weeks, a young woman has been present, cooking scallop kebabs on a gas-fired griddle plate. She has a little sample plate cut into small pieces with a couple of whole scallops. Jean Michel thinks they are for sampling too ! I explain to the woman but she just laughs and says “don’t worry”.

Now comes the best bit. The coffee stand. Not only can you buy coffee grains, you can also buy fresh espresso, tea and hot chocolate. We order our two cups of black espresso and hand over our empty packets to be refilled with colombie and déca (decaffeinated coffee). There’s the usual banter between the lady who serves the coffee and the man who owns the stall. He pitches in when it get busy but spends the rest of the time talking to all his mates who stop by.

The make-shift coffee tables behind the stall, also red and white. — The make-shift coffee tables behind the stall, also covered with red and white table cloths.

We take our coffee to the trestle tables and benches behind the stall. It’s just started to rain so we appreciate the awning. By now the tables have filled up as it’s the weekly meeting place for a group called “On Va Sortir” (let’s go out) but there are still a couple of places left. We say hello to the others at our table and listen in on a conversation about the famous Chambord brocante held the day before during which it rained solidly.

They have a friend who had a stall. She suddenly arrives with her daughter and sits down in the space next to Jean Michel. We were very keen to hear about her “wet” experience. Rendez-vous in my next post to hear her story!

Architecture, Mushrooms, Sightseeing

The Truffle Fair

February 20, 2015 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

We’re up at the crack of dawn (well, for a Saturday anyway) to join Susan and Simon from Days on the Claise at our first truffle fair in Touraine, a couple of hours away. Not chocolate truffles, but the mythical mushrooms.

Chanterelles and amethysts found in the State forest

As you know we are keen mushroom pickers. The proximity of a State forest was even one of our criteria when we started looking for an area to retire to. Blois stood out because it is surrounded by forests in which we have the right to go mushroom gathering, unlike Sologne where you can be chased out of the woods.

But we never find truffles. Only carefully-trained pigs and dogs can do so. They are mostly found under truffle oaks which can be planted but it takes six or seven years before the first crop appears.

We arrive in the little village of Marigny-Marmande but there are no signs indicating a truffle fair. We see some other people walking around so ask them. They, too, are looking for the truffle fair. We park next to the church and send a message to Susan. Within a few minutes, Simon turns up and tells us to get back in the car and follow them.

Still no signs indicating the way. We turn left down a very unlikely road and come to a sort of community hall. When we get out, Susan tells us that when they have the truffle markets before Christmas, the whole parking area is full of vendors.

We enter and see a man sitting at a trestle table so I assume we have to pay to get in. No, he laughs, he’s selling truffle oaks. I am immediately interested but the waiting time for the first crop seems a little far ahead (several years) and we probably don’t have the right soil. Neither do we have a truffle dog. We could hire one but the distance might prove a little prohibitive.

I leave Jean Michel to it and go into the hall. There are about six or seven truffle stands, a beekeeper, a spice seller, a saffron vendor and a couple of other stands that I can’t remember.

Susans tells me that the Marigny-Marmande truffles are black truffles Tuber melanosporum, or truffes in French, which are found in France, Italy and Spain, growing in the earth in a symbiotic relationship with broadleaf deciduous trees, mainly oak. They are harvested from November to January.

The first truffle vendor is very friendly and willing to answer all our questions. We see there are two qualities of truffles. He explains that the more expensive ones (first category), which cost a mere 800 euros a kilo, are whole, wheras the second category, at 700 euros a kilo, are missing bits but the actual taste is the same. At the Christmas markets, Susan tells us, the prices are higher – 800 to 1000 euros a kilo.

He cuts us off a shaving to taste. He also explains that once they are dug out the ground, they only stay fresh for about a week. They should be firm and not soft. We can freeze them, he reassures us.

We wander around the other stands. At one of the them, a man accosts me and asks me if I know the difference between first and second category. I reel off my explanation without hesitation and he is suitably impressed, but I don’t like being sollicited. We’ll buy our truffles from the first man. They are also selling truffle slicers but I don’t think we’ll be buying enough truffles to need a special slicer!

Second category truffles and the truffle slicer

Another stand is selling books about truffles. There is an explanation about how they train the dogs. One lady used to always hide three truffles when she was teaching the dog the find them. Once it had learnt what to do (and didn’t eat the truffles!), she took him to the truffle plantation. However, as soon as he found three truffles, he would stop for the day!

We eventually return to our truffle vendor and choose two small truffles, one to use fresh and the other to freeze. We’re intending to put some in next year’s foie gras! The total cost is about 70 euros which is a bit extravagant but I have fond memories of little bottles of truffles in oil we bought in Umbria and used to put in mashed potato. Delicious!

The truffle oak field — A young truffle oak field

When we’ve bought our truffles we set off for Richelieu where we’re meeting up with two other English speakers for lunch. On the way, we go past several fields of young truffle oaks.

We have visited Richelieu before and enjoyed it. It was designed by Cardinal Richelieu in the 17th century as an ideal city and is based on a grid plan.

Many of the houses, unfortunately, need renovating but the overall impression is interesting. The rafters of the big market hall have been completely refurbished and are most impressive.

It’s really a little cold to linger in the streets for long so we go to a likely-looking café for an aperitif. It’s obviously a favourite with the soccer crowd.

Simon and Susan in front of the soccer trophies

We make our way to the Auberge Le Cardinal for lunch. Nothing wonderful, but there isn’t much culinary choice in Richelieu. As the lunch continues, I start feeling very much under the weather. I swap places at dessert and sit next to Susan, unfortunately for her, because you may have guessed it – I’m coming down with the flu and probably at my most contagious. She and I are both still worn out and coughing a whole month later.

Auberge Le Cardinal in Richelieu where we had lunch

We forego the visit of the lovely gardens that we cycled through last time we were here and I go home to bed. We end up freezing both of the truffles because I am certainly not up to appreciating them and it seems a great pity to waste such gourmet, not to mention, expensive ingredients, on someone with the flu …

Blois, Food, Les Grouets, Life in France, Mushrooms

Thank Goodness for Friends and Neighbours

December 22, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 14 Comments

The weather is revolting. When it’s not raining, it’s grey and overcast and I can’t remember the last time we saw any sun. The adjustment to retirement is proving far more difficult than anyone imagined so I am truly grateful for any distraction that will take us out the house and into the company of others.

The first distraction on the programme is a gougères and mini-croissants workshop at Martine’s in preparation for Christmas. We tasted both these goodies at her place recently when she held a book signing.

The gougères are a speciality from Burgundy, where Martine hails from. They are little puffy cheese things, light as a feather, delicious and surprisingly easy to make. You can also freeze them for later use (as in Christmas).

Next come the mini-croissants filled with ham and cheese, salmon, goat cheese or whatever else you think will taste good. You start with store-bought flaky pastry and use a little cutting wheel to make sixteen wedges. You cut the filling to size, roll up the wedges and pop them in the oven. Hey presto! Perfect as an apéritif with vouvray sparkling wine.

Gougères and mini-croissants beside the fire

The second distraction is lunch with the girls from Françoise’s gym. I’m not really into gym but I like meeting all the participants. Sixteen of us, including one game husband and the gym teacher, have a most enjoyable lunch in the Initiation dining room of the local catering school, where we’ve already eaten a couple of times in the Brasserie.

A little help from the supervisor in getting the flambeed bananas right

For 14.50 euro, we have an apéritif, eggs Benedictine, poulet chasseur and flambéed bananas which are prepared at the end of the table, together with a local red and coffee. As usual, good value for money. The young apprentices are very serious and do a good job under the attentive eye of their supervisor.

The view from the dining room - grey as usual — The view from the dining room – grey as usual

On Saturday, a local caterer, Eric Bacon, is holding an open day where you can taste and buy various Christmas foods, such as foie gras, salmon, snails and a selection of tarts. Around six, we walk up the hill with our four neighbours from Les Grouets to Eric’s place where a large tent is keeping everyone nice and warm to the sound of the accordéon. Our local biscuit maker, Damien, is also there as well as a representative of Daridan vineyard near Cheverny.

Sharing an appetizer platter inside Eric Bacon's tent — Sharing an appetizer platter inside Eric Bacon’s tent

We taste their cheverny, cour cheverny, sauvignon and « fines bulles » (natural sparkling wine with fine bubbles) and choose the sauvignon to go with the appetizer platter we’ve decided to share : shrimp, whelks with herb mayonnaise, foie gras and wild boar pâté.

Chanterelles mushrooms in their natural habitat

Going down the hill is much easier particularly as Liliane has invited us all to share a duckling that has been simmering on the side of the wood burner all day accompanied by chanterelle mushrooms that Jean Michel and Alain went picking the day before while Françoise and I were enjoying our lunch!

The Mikiphone, the smallest talking machine ever made

Halfway through dinner, Alain brings out a surprise. It looks like a large tobacco tin and turns out to a Mikiphone pocket phonograph patented by a Swiss firm in the Jura mountains in 1924, the smallest talking machine on the market. We watch as Alain puts it together, then gets out an old vinyl record. The sound isn’t brilliant because the stabiliser is missing but the songs are still recognisable!

We walk home feeling warm and fuzzy at the thought of having such wonderful friends and neighbours to help us through this period of adjustment to togetherness as one of our Australian friends so aptly described it.

France, Italy, Mushrooms, Sightseeing

Weekly Blogger Round-Up – Wild Mushrooms – Fest Noz in Brittany – Napolitan Novels

November 12, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 5 Comments

This Week’s Blogger Round-Up starts with a logical follow-up to Monday’s post on Forbidden Mushrooms. Susan from Days on the Claise talks about what mushrooms are safe and explains how to pick them. Next on the list is a description of a Fest Noz in Brittany by Abby from Paris Weekender. If you’re intending to visit Brittany in the summer, you should make sure you include one of these very traditional festivals. And to finish off, I’m including a book review by Claire from Word by Word, who is a constant inspiration for my insatiable reading habits. My Brilliant Friend is the first in a fascinating tetralogy of novels by Napolitan author Elena Ferrante. All available on your Kindle. Enjoy!

Would you eat these mushrooms?

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 and running Loire Valley Time Travel.

The mushrooms in the basket are all edible. They belong to a group called boletes, of which the ceps are the best known and most prized. They grow in forests. There several species in the basket, mostly Orange Oak Bolete Leccinum aurantiacum, but also a few Bay-brown Bolete Boletus badius and Red-footed Bolete Boletus luridiformus. The person who picked them was only collecting for the table and has not touched anything they did not know to be edible. Boletes are the best beginners mushrooms here because they are safe — none are lethal and the couple that will give you a stomach ache are unappetising looking (coloured or staining luridly) and/or bitter to taste. Read more

Fest Noz in Malestroit

by Abby from Paris Weekender, an American dividing her time between New York, Paris and Brittany who offers suggestions for Paris weekends, either staying put or getting out of town

A Fest Noz, or night festival, is a traditional festival in Brittany, centered around dancing and music.

Just about every very town in Brittany holds its own festival, so especially if you’re visiting the region in the summer, it’s hard to find a single evening when there isn’t one somewhere within an hour’s drive. Read more

My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante tr. by Ann Goldstein…Neapolitan Tetralogy Book1

by Claire from Word by Word, Citizen of Planet Earth, Anglosaxon by birth, living and working in France, who loves words, language, sentences, metaphors, stories long and short, poetry, reading and writing

Elena Ferrante is already something of an Italian legend. An author said to spurn interviews, her pen name fuelling speculation about her real identity. Her work is said to be autobiographical and already capturing the attention of English readers in a similar way to the autobiographical series of novels by the Norwegian Karl Ove Knausgaard …

In 2012, My Brilliant Friend, the first in the trilogy of Neapolitan novels was translated into English and the two subsequent books The Story of a New Name and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay were published in 2013 and 2014 consecutively. Read more

Loire Valley, Mushrooms

Forbidden Mushrooms

November 10, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 12 Comments

The last few times we’ve been mushroom picking, we haven’t had much luck because of the unusually mild autumn. The last time we were in Blois State forest we came across a group of forest workers and one of them told us that we should go over to Lancôme where there are beech trees which are the usual habitat of chanterelle mushrooms.

So one day, after some mushroom-producing rain, we drive the 25 minutes to Lancôme. We pull up at the first forest entrance where they is a lovely pond surrounded by autumn colours but also a large sign saying private – foraging and picking prohibited. We get back in the car and drive further. Each time, we find the same signs. In France, unless there is a sign saying keep out, you are allowed to walk in private woods and forests but not to remove anything.

Sign prohibiting the collection of mushrooms and other edibles

Finally, we pull up on the edge of a field just next to some woods and can’t see any warning signs so we change into our big walking boots. I get the baskets out of the car, but Jean Michel advises me just to take a plastic bag just in case it turns out we’re not supposed to be there.

Forest floor with very little light not very good for mushrooms

As we penetrate the forest, which has very little light, we gradually start to find hedgehog mushrooms, leccinum griseum, amethyst deceivers and even a beefsteak fungus and a cep de Bordeaux.

You can see the light grey caps of the leccinum griseum if you look closely.

We decide we have enough and head towards the car. As we reach the edge of the forest, we hear a car cruising along the road. Jean Michel immediately tells me to hide behind a large tree trunk and puts the plastic bag on the ground.

We walk out onto the side of the road and the car stops. A man gets out. “Do I come and take things from your property”, he asks. I don’t say a word, because I don’t want him to hear my accent. Jean Michel takes a hail-fellow-well-met attitude. He explains about the forest workers but says that we’re not interested in going onto private property. We’re only there because there is no sign. “Oh I don’t want to put signs up”, he says.

“I suppose you’re looking for mushrooms”, he goes on. “Yes”, says Jean Michel. “Well, there aren’t any”, says the farmer. “Oh, there are”, replies Jean Michel, “but only leccinum griseum and hedgehog mushrooms. No chanterelles.” “I don’t pick mushrooms myself”, says the man. “My forest is for hunting. If I find anyone with mushrooms, I confiscate them and throw them away.”

“”I was looking for you, you know. I saw the car, but couldn’t find you.” “Well, we weren’t hiding”, says Jean Michel. “We’re parked in full view of the road. We won’t be back in any case. We only like to forage in State forests because we don’t like trespassing.”

Our five different mushrooms (we picked 2.2 kilos altogether)

The farmer gets back in his car and we return to ours, but he continues cruising very slowly. We change our shoes and Jean Michel makes a big show of clapping his together to get off the mud off, so the farmer will think we’re leaving. He eventually drives off and Jean Michel sprints into the forest and retrieves our bag.

State forest or forêt domaniale where foraging is allowed

We quickly get back into the car and drive off. I can’t believe that anyone would be that devious. If he doesn’t want people on his property, all he has to do is put up a sign. But no, it’s obviously his favourite sport in autumn when he has no work to do on his cereal farm. We certainly won’t be back there again. We’ll make sure we go to a forêt domaniale next time.

Cooking, Food, Loire Valley châteaux, Mushrooms

Cycling to the Rendez-vous du Chocolat at Château de Villesavin

October 20, 2014 Rosemary Kneipp 9 Comments

We can’t believe that it’s mid-October and the temperature is going to be 25°C in the afternoon! Absolutely unheard-of. We can’t wait to get out on our bikes. It’s also the 9th Rendez-vous du Chocolat at Château de Villesavin so we choose Itinerary n° 5 on the Châteaux à Vélo route called “Shadow and Light” and drive the 20 minutes to Cour Cheverny, about halfway along the 30 kilometre loop.

We cycle through typical Sologne countryside, mainly fields and ponds, and come across several several roadside crosses. I’ve never seen one as colourful as this before!

Further along, we see an unusual crop of small squashes which are very popular at Halloween and make great indoor decorations.

Suddenly Jean Michel calls out “champignons!” and we stop next to a field with the stubs of a cereal crop after harvesting. It’s full of umbrella mushrooms which is a nice surprise because we haven’t found any mushrooms for ages due to the lack of rain in September. As there is no fence, we pick all the half-open mushrooms we can see.

In Bracieux, with its beautiful halles, where we once attracted the comment “at your age and in love“, we ride past Max Vaucher’s chocolate factory, but it is not our destination today. We’ll go back on a cold winter’s day!

Château de Villesavin where the Rendez-vous du Chocolat is held every year with Rotary sponsorship

A couple of kilometers further on, we arrive at Château de Villesavin and are told that cyclists can ride ride right up to the entrance. Now that’s one of the things I really like about arriving somewhere on a bike! After securing our bikes we continue on foot to the entrance of the Rendez-vous. We pay 4 euros each and are given some documentation.

Main tent at the Rendez-vous du Chocolat

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting (maybe those chocolate dresses they have in Paris that Mary Kay told us all about in Out and About in Paris?) but it is really like any other food fair except that everyone is selling chocolate.

We taste our way around the large tent and are particularly interested to see what chocolat sans sucre and 96% chocolate are like. The chocolate without sugar tastes like any other chocolate. The young man explains that the sugar is replaced with malitol and it’s designed for diabetics. We don’t buy any.

The 96% chocolate is less bitter than I imagined but not particualrly tasty. We don’t buy that either although I’ve read that it’s an excellent appetite suppressant.

In the château itself, there are several demonstrations going on and we see a malleable sort of chocolate that can be flattened with a rolling pin and several torso sculptures.

Set of chocolate tools - not to mention the violin and sheet music — Set of chocolate tools – not to mention the violin and sheet music

At one stage, I look around and who do I see? The lady who used to live in our “house of happiness” as a child! Running into someone we know at a local event gives us a sense of belonging in our new home in the Loire.

We go to the afternoon tea tent and get a glass of rosé each and a slice of cake. Jean Michel chooses chocolate while I prefer the apple, which is a much better choice! We find a seat looking out over the lovely grounds of the château.

We then do the rounds again and find some blocks of chocolate to accompany our coffee. I love the chocolate shoes and bags but we don’t buy any of those either!

World Chocolate Champion, Mikaël Azous — World Chocolate Champion, Mickaël Azouz

There is even a world chocolate-making champion among us but his products are very sophisticated and I only like plain dark chocolate … I’m almost tempted by the chocolate shirts and glasses on another stand though.

We get back on our bikes and cycle the 15 km back to the car. At Cour Cheverny, we find a butcher and buy a côte de bœuf for the barbecue to accompany our mushrooms. Surely in mid-October, it must be the last of the season!

Food, France, Mushrooms

Wild Mushroom and Onion Quiche

November 27, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 10 Comments

I am a sporadic cook at best these days. When my children were at home, I used to cook a lot more but most of the time, I serve up the same old dishes that are easy and quick to make and that Jean Michel and I both like. However, now that we have started to go to the Saturday market in Blois where they are a lot of market gardeners I find myself with ingredients that I don’t usually buy.

I usually make my own pastry but recently I bought some fresh pie crust pastry to make a leek or a spinach quiche and promptly forgot all about it. Today, I had a look at the use-by date and saw it was my last chance before I’d have to throw it away. I obviously had no spinach or leeks left so I rooted around the cupboard and came up with some onions. I had some boletus mushrooms in the freezer from our last forage plus some chives so I figured I could combine them all.

Quiche is traditionally made with fresh cream but I usually make it with fromage blanc which I always have in the fridge because I eat it for breakfast every day. If I buy cream it goes off before I remember to use it.

Do you have a favourite quiche recipe?

Ingredients

1 pie crust

2 very large onions

Wild or cultivated mushrooms

2 pots (about 1 cup) of fromage blanc

2 pots (about 1 cup) of milk

4 eggs

fresh (or frozen) chives

Slice the onions thinly and cook in olive oil until brown and soft. Beat the fromage blanc or fresh cream, milk and eggs together. Season and add the chives.

Cook the pie crust for 5 minutes at 225°C in the oven. I use a convection oven so you will need to add a few minutes if you’re using a regular one.

Line the bottom of crust with an even layer of onions. Place the cooked, sliced mushrooms on top then pour over the egg mixture.

Cook for about half an hour at 200°C. It’s cooked when it puffs up and is slightly brown.

Bon appétit!

France, Mushrooms

The Joys of Mushroom Picking with 4 safety tips

October 28, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp Leave a comment

I’ve already written extensively about my love of mushroom picking here on this blog but following a recent comment on Facebook by Judy McMahon, I wrote a guest post for MyFrenchLife on how to pick mushrooms safely.

How to pick mushrooms safely in France: 4 secrets

by Rosemary Kneipp, writing for My French Life – where you can discover France beyond the cliché with other curious, savvy francophile & French members.

If you’ve never picked mushrooms, you are definitely missing out on one of life’s great pleasures! You probably think that’s an exaggeration, but you only have to look at the ecstatic expression on my Aussie friend’s face when she found her very first wild mushroom in the Loire Valley to see what I mean (pictured right).

Maybe it’s our scavenging instinct coming out, but searching for, finding and eating mushrooms create an incredible feeling of wellbeing and satisfaction. While you’ve got your mushroom eyes on, you don’t think of anything else. It’s wonderfully relaxing – particularly if you live in the city. And when you suddenly spot one, usually trying desperately to blend in with the vegetation, you feel exultant. Read more

French language, Mushrooms

Friday’s French: confondre is confusing!

October 3, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 17 Comments

Confusing is a word we use quite a bit in English to mean that something is unclear and difficult to understand. e.g. “The information he gave me is confusing.” If I confuse John and Paul, it means that I wrongly think that John is Paul and Paul is John. Now I hope I’m not confusing you too much!

Un champignon qu'il ne faut jamais confondre ! — Un champignon qu’il ne faut jamais confondre ! The fly agaric – reputed poisonous and hallucinatory – but also said to be edible if cooked the right way.

Now, to say the same thing in French is a little bit complicated. The verb confondre does exist and can be used in the second example: Je confonds toujours John avec Paul. That’s easy. It can also be used without avec as in the caption above where it’s understood that you mustn’t confuse the fly agaric with any other mushrooms (not that you can – it’s very distinctive).

However, to say that “information is confusing” requires a slightly different approach. Les informations sont confuses is not quite the same meaning. [Note the plural in French and the singular in English]. In the first case, the information has not been presented correctly, while in the second, it may be the person’s lack of knowledge of the subject that prevents them from understanding. A bit confusing, huh?

Les informations ne sont pas claires is probably the most usual way of expressing the idea. You may already have noticed that French often uses a negative when a positive would be used in English.

So how are we going to translate “a bit confusing”? I would tend to say difficile à comprendre or pas vraiment clair but you might have some other ideas.

Now if you say to someone, je suis confuse, it doesn’t mean you are confused at all, but that you are embarrassed about something you’ve said or done! It’s actually a veiled apology.

How about “You’re only confusing the issue”? Vous compliquez tout! Vous ne faites qu’embrouiller les choses. In fact embrouiller which means obscurcir, compliquer une question, une affaire, y mettre la confusion often conveys the same meaning as the English verb confuse. Tu ne fais que m’embrouiller: you’re confusing me. Il s’embrouille: he gets muddled, he gets confused. We could say les informations sont embrouillées to mean that the information is not presented clearly.

Now it’s over to you. Let’s have some suggestions on how to translate the following sentences:

1) Are you still confused about how to use confuse in French?

2) I was confused when nothing happened.

3) Imminent and eminent are easily confused words.

Are there any other examples of confuse that you don’t know how to say in French?

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Aussie in France