Accommodation, France, Sightseeing, Travelling, Uncategorized

Travel Tip for Biking in France – My New Paris Baby – The Marais Poitevin

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Interesting posts from other Anglophone Bloggers on France this week include a travel tip for biking in France from Experience France by Bike, but it’s not restricted to cycling -getting a chip credit card can make life a lot easier! Next Petite Paris introduces her “new baby” – a B&B in Paris that I’d just love to try if I didn’t already live in the City of Light. Then Abby from Paris Weekender takes us to the Marais Poitevin which has been on my list of places to go for some time. I’ll let you discover it for yourself!

Travel Tip for Biking in France – Get a Chip Credit Card

by Experience France by Bike

If you are planning a bicycling trip to France or anywhere in Europe this summer, simplify your travel by getting a credit card with a chip.  Often referred to as smart cards, this type of credit card has been in widespread use in Europe for several years.  Unknowing Americans often miss trains, are unable to pay for gas at the pump, and cannot rent bikes at public kiosks all because the machines do not accept credit cards without a chip.  Sometimes the problem causes an inconvenience, sometimes it can result in a major disruption to a trip.  Missing a train because you cannot retrieve or purchase a ticket can really be a problem. Read more

My New Paris Baby

by Petite Paris, an Australian-based service for Australian travellers and fellow francophiles

Coucou friends!!

I feel like im constantly announcing new B&B! Oui, but I am! We have landed another 4 in the last 2 weeks alone 🙂 Its so exciting and I really do feel as though each one is my new special little one! hehe

This latest addition to the ‘Petite’ family is so incredible. The ‘like’ ratings are going through the facebook roof! 😀 Its a complete package… in a nutshell:  You have your own private entry into your 2 bedroom apartment, ensuite bathroom, free wifi, delicious breakfasts served in the FABULOUS salon with sunny 30m balcony around the entire apartment! Foral and green and happy!

Martine your sweet hostess lives next door and offers guided tours of her secret spots in the neighbourhood and around Paris, as well as French lessons! (additional hrly cost). Read more

The Marais Poitevin and Angles sur l’Anglin

by Abby from Paris Weekender, with her collection of ideas for Paris weekends: staying put and getting out of town

The Marais Poitevin, aptly nicknamed la Venise Verte or Green Venice, is a magical place, a large network of intertwining canals. Marais, like the neighborhood in Paris, actually means “swamp” and the Marais Poitevin is indeed a swamp. Yet miraculously, there are no mosquitos! When I first heard this, I knew I was going to love this place

The architecture of the towns around the Marais Poitevin (Coulon and La Garette, for example) looked surprisingly Provençal to me. Perhaps the bright sun and warm weather helped that impression. And we had never seen so many roses in bloom! Read more

France, Loire Valley

A Dead Mouse in a Country House

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I wake up on Monday morning in Blois by myself. Relationnel has gone back to Paris and Femme Francophile is arriving by train to spend a week with me. I look out the window and see the sun has unexpectedly come out. Yesterday’s weather report for the week was pretty dismal.

I get dressed and go downstairs to have breakfast. I remember that I am supposed to bring the rubbish bin in from the pavement. I take off my slippers to put on my rubber clogs and nearly have a heart attack. There, just next to my foot is a tiny dead mouse. I don’t have my lenses in so I can’t see it very well, but it’s definitely a dead mouse. I can see the tail.

Yesterday, I removed one of those sausage-shaped door draught preventers left by Mrs Previous Owner. I don’t have a problem with draughts and it looked a bit scruffy so I decided to remove it but I didn’t notice the mouse or you can be sure, I would have got Relationnel to remove it.

So I wonder how I’m going to get rid of it without seeing it in any greater detail. I decide it would be better to have breakfast first. After all, it’s not going to run away, is it? So I take a little longer over my tea than usual steadfastly ignoring the corner of the room with the dead mouse.

Relationnel rings so I explain my problem. “Just pick it up with a dust pan and put it in the rubbish bin,” he says. As though I haven’t thought of that already. It’s all very well for him, he’s a country boy and he’s a man anyway. I have visions of my brother, aged 6, berating my very tall and really very soft-hearted father, also a country boy, I might add, because he had caught a large mouse in a trap then hit it on the head with a spade to put it out of it’s misery. “There you are, 6 ft 3”, he sobbed in anger, “and there is that tiny mouse and you killed it!”  He wouldn’t talk to Dad for days.

I remember that Femme Franchophile used to live in the Australian outback, unlike me, a pure city dweller, my only experience being of cockroaches and frogs (which I hate) inside the house and an occasional snake skin or toad (even worse than frogs) in the garden. But she might not feel very welcome so I abandon the idea.

Then I think of Steph and her tales of love, life and llamas in the Limousin and all the terrible things she has had to face over the years and can imagine how appalled she would be that someone might be squeamish about throwing out a tiny little dead mouse. I take my courage in my two hands, as the French say.

First of all, I try to pick it up with a newspaper but then I see it is stuck to the floor. So I look around and see the fire shovel that I’ve just de-rusted. I gingerly take it over to the mouse, slide it under, unstick it from the floor and scoop it up. Trying not to look at it too closely, I take it out and deposit it in the rubbish bin. And I inwardly thank Steph, for giving me the courage!

Who knows, I may become a country girl yet.

France, Loire Valley

An Irish Band in the Loire

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One of the things most people worry about when they retire to a new area is isolation. It can take years to get to know the locals. So we’re very fortunate in our choice of Blois because we already have a whole network of English and French speakers. Each time we come here, there is some kind of event on. Last time I told you about the monthly get-together on the first Friday of the month  at The Shaker in Amboise.

This time, we went to hear an Irish band called The Palers playing at a private home in the little village of Cangey about half an hour from Blois. There were nearly a hundred people there including kids of every age. I don’t know about the boys but the girls had a wonderful time dancing to the music in the big old barn behind the house. Relationnel  and I love Irish music and have quite a few CDs of the Dubliners (which my kids don’t like at all!)

When we were in the garden having food and drinks before the performance, no fewer than four hot air balloons flew over. They looked so peaceful floating across the air, but I’m afraid with my fear of heights, I’m not tempted, even though I’m told that it’s not a problem when you don’t have your feet on the ground. Hot air balloon are called mongolfières in French after the two brothers who are said to have invented them in 1782, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etiennes Mongolfier.

But it wasn’t until the 1950s with the invention of the nylon balloon and the use of propane as a fuel that they came into widespread use, first in the United States, then in France in 1972. They’re extremely popular in the Loire Valley because they give you a wonderful view of the many châteaux in the region. The balloon is suspended above a wicker basket that takes up to 10 or 12 people. And only in the Loire do you find yourself behind one on the road!

Spain, Travel photos

Monday’s Travel Photos – Seville

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We spent 5 days in Seville in February 2011 and loved it. The weather was sunny (except for the last day) and warm enough not to need gloves and to be able to sit outside to eat. The trees will also full of oranges! We stayed in a wonderful hotel called Las casas de la Juderia (the Jewish houses), full of labyrinths and surprises that I highly recommend. It’s always difficult to choose six photos but I think these are presentative of “my” Seville.

 

 

Uncategorized

A Restaurant with a View of the Seine

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River view in Prague

In Paris, there are not many restaurants with a view of the Seine, unlike Prague, for example, where you can sit right next to the river. Priority goes to the cars here! But there’s a big project underway to do something about it. In the meantime, we decided to try out a restaurant with a panoramic view of the river. We had to drive for about an hour from the centre of Paris to a town called Rolleboise in the western suburbs, not far from Giverny, nothing spectacular in itself, but there is a hotel with a restaurant up on the hill called Domaine de la Corniche.

Domaine de la Corniche on arrival

We booked a couple of weeks ago for our wedding anniversary in the hope that the weather would be fine. Of course, last week would have been ideal, but you can’t choose dates, can you? Black Cat reminded me that on the Big Day 14 years ago, it rained as well. Just during the apéritif fortunately and we had a marquis so didn’t get wet! But the kids’ new shoes were totally damaged from running around in the wet grass afterwards!

It was overcast when we got to the restaurant last night but we could still appreciate the panoramic view of the Seine from inside the dining room and the sun quite suddenly came out after an hour or so and cast a wonderful light over the valley below.

Amuse-bouches

We appreciated the friendly service and the food even though I didn’t think there was a big choice. I was disappointed in the “amuse-bouches” which I thought were a bit dull even though they were beautifully presented. In fact, the presentation of the different foods was probably one of the highlights of the meal. Each dish was prepared with considerable artistic flare. Even the cutlery was original (though I must confess not very pratical!). I chose 2 different coloured tomatoes and mozarella as an entrée, mainly because I wasn’t attracted by any of the other choices. Relationnel took the poultry gallantine.

But I had underestimated the chef, Vakhtang Meliava. My entrée consisted of red and green tomatoes with two white puff affairs which turned out to be a delicious mozarella mousse. Relationnel’s gallantine with cep mushrooms (we swapped plates halfway through) was very tasty as well. I followed with the extremely tender veal (called quasi-veau!) and spring vegetables while Relationnel had the maigre (meagre), an unappetizing name for a fish, you must admit. For dessert, I had a green tea mousse with verbena sorbet and Relationnel had a very pretty strawberry and raspberry dessert.

We started with champagne and then chose the “tasting duo” selected by the wine waiter to match our choice of dishes. He let us taste the wine first before he told us what it was. I haven’t posted much on wine but we are actually wine buffs from way back. We started with a series of wine tasting courses soon after we met 16 years ago and have since spent many wonderful holidays, mainly in France, going from vineyard to vineyard and adding to our collection of wine. We’ve slowed down in recent years because we’ve run out of room in the cellar and have reduced our wine consumption.

View when the sun came out

However, I was extremely proud of myself last night because I was able to identify three of the wines (the grapes anyway!). I had a Saint Bris sauvignon which comes from a village near Auxerre in Burgundy where the whites are usually chardonnays. Relationnel had a half-sweet chenin blanc from the Loire (Domaine de la Paleine “Traviata”) that we have never tasted before. After that, I had a 100% syrah (shiraz) from Minervois while Relationnel had a red burgundy. He had to ruefully admit to the very friendly and helpful sommelier that he had got them all wrong! As he pointed out though, he’s still better than me at finding and identifying mushrooms …

Domaine de la Corniche, 5, route de la Corniche, 78270 Rolleboise, Tel 01 30 93 20 00 contact@domainedelacorniche.com, www.domainedelacorniche.com
Art, France, Paris

An Original Engraving

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The first engraving I bought (I already had Captain Cook) was a Christmas present for Relationnel soon after we moved into the Palais Royal. It’s a coloured engraving of the Palais Royal gardens drawn by Fred Nash (1782 to 1856) and engraved by Edward Goodall. Instead of today’s rows of linden trees, planted very recently in fact (less than 20 years ago), there are various trees of different heights. The fountain was much higher and there’s even a man picking apples! Soldiers in tricornes and women in sun bonnets and brollies mingle around the garden very sedately. I love all the little historical details of engravings.

I had noticed various engraving and lithograph shops around the Palais Royal but their prices were a little daunting. However, during my wanderings, I came across a very small shop in rue Rameau called Christian Collin, where the people were very friendly and let me take my time looking through their collections. I’ve bought another couple of engravings since then to take to Australia as presents.

So next time you’re looking for something light and different to take back home, why not try an engraving or a lithograph?

 
Christian Collin
11, rue Rameau, 75002 Paris
Monday to Saturday, 1.30 pm to 7 pm
www.collin-estampes.fr
Art, French customs, Paris, Sightseeing, Travelling

Roland Garros 2012 – Back in Paris with a “Grand Slam”! – Père Lachaise Cemetary and Brocante – Travelling Alone. Solo Travel. What you need to know.

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From before the Paris sky turned dull and gloomy, Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris describes her Roland Garros tennis experience, Kathy Stanford from Femmes Franchophiles goes to the Père Lachaise Cemetary and gets swooped on, and Johanna Castro from Zigazag Magazine, whose aim is to “champion voyages of discovery to dream places and quiet spaces. Helping you to “Live for the moment, Love adventure and Do something awesome” gives helpful tips to people travelling solo.

Roland Garros 2012 – Back in Paris with a “Grand Slam”!

by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris

Stephane and I live within walking distance of Roland Garros, the home of the French Open. His favorite sport, aside from soccer, is tennis. Yet, there we were, fresh off the plane in Paris, without any tickets for the tournament. Standing forlornly outside the stadium on opening day, we wondered what had happened. Read more

Père Lachaise Cemetery and Brocante

by Kathy Stanford from Femmes Francophiles

Being the ‘season’ for brocantes I visited the Père Lachaise brocante nearby to the cemetery of the same name. I was actually filling in time until the cemetery opened. It opens later on weekends. Brocantes are where individuals and dealers sell second hand and antique goods. You can buy everything from crockery and glassware to furniture to knick knacks. It was a funny moment when I tried to disengage myself from discussion with a dealer who was keen to shout me coffee at the local café. He was amazed that an Australian would learn French and come to France. Read more.

Travelling Alone. Solo Travel. What you Need to Know.

by Johanna Castro from Zigzag Magazine

Must Know tips for Travelling Solo

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the fastest-growing household type in Australia is ‘lone-person households’ which are anticipated to grow to about three million by 2031.

With that in mind tour companies and hotels will be wanting to attract this new demographic, so do your research before you pay a hefty single supplement. Read more

 

Flowers & gardens, France, Loire Valley

A Rose Garden in a Priory

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June is a wonderful month in the Loire Valley because all the roses are out. I’ve already told you the story of our Madame Meilland or “Peace” roses and our Pierre Ronsard climbing roses.  Yesterday morning, as we were having breakfast in the kitchen, which looks out into the courtyard in front of the house, I realised that the stone wall next to the front gate was looking a little bare. We discussed the possibilities and decided climbing roses would be the perfect solution.

So in the afternoon we went to visit the botanic gardens at Prieuré d’Orchaise, only 11 kilometers from Blois, who were selling rose bushes this weekend. This delightful 3 hectare park overlooking the luxuriant Cisse Valley, is next to a Romanesque bell-tower built in 1060 by monks from Marmoutiers. The garden’s founder, Hubert Treuille, has collected more than 2,000 varieties of plants from across the globe.

When we got there, we spoke to the very friendly and helpful gardener and told him what we wanted – a hardy climbing rose that would have lots of flowers very quickly. He suggested a variety called Saharan whose flowers change from pink to abricot as they mature. I didn’t find the potted example he showed us particularly appealing so he sent us to look at a well in the garden where the roses were growing.  It was so stunning that we immediately went back and bought it as it was the only one left!

We thought we should also have a climbing rose outside the front fence (well, it’s a stone wall really) on the second disused gate that we’ve just repainted. We initially thought we’d had to replace it altogether but after treating it for rust, repainting it and removing the black plastic from behind, it is as good as new and ready for our new Pierre Ronsard. We then got the gardener to explain how to prune our different rose bushes so that they would be as lovely as his.

I knew you had to cut off the faded roses but wasn’t sure exactly how. So he showed us that below the flower, you first have a cluster of three leaves, then five, so you should always cut just (on a slant) above the cluster of five. That way, you’re encouraging the new wood to grow. When you’re pruning in the spring, you have to cut off the dead wood and prune drastically.

After we’d bought our roses we then went to visit the rest of the garden which is very lovely and has a beautiful waterlily pond with cypresses in the background. We had just missed the peonies but will make sure we go there earlier next year during the peony weekend and buy a few bushes. And we’ll definitely be visiting regularly to get helpful advice from the gardener who even gave us his phone number!

Jardin Botanique du Prieuré d’Orchaise
Place de l’Eglise
41190 Orchaise
Video (in French) of the gardener talking about his peonies
http://prieure.orchaise.free.fr/
Open from 3 pm to 7 pm from 1st April to 31st October
Adults: €6 (free for children under 12).
Cooking, Cycling, Loire Valley, Uncategorized

Summer Mushrooms in the Loire

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We really have had a beautiful week in the Loire. Everyone in France this year, particularly in Paris, has been complaining about the awful spring weather and it was no better in Blois. But when we came back last week, the potatoes we’d planted in the rain two weeks before were looking very happy (and so were the surrounding weeds of course!) and the vegetation, especially the roses, was flourishing.

The good weather stayed with us and as a result, we were able to go cycling several times. Our last excursion was to the nearest village, Chouzy sur Cisse, about 5 kilometers away, in the opposite direction from the centre of Blois. Being on our bikes, we were able to take a dirt road running parallel to the main highway along the Loire, thus avoiding the 70 kph road I’m not so keen on.

The entrance to the village is not particularly attractive, but in the centre there’s a butcher (very handy for barbecues), a baker, a little supermarket and a hairdresser. I had seen a sign saying “plan d’eau” which generally means a small lake so we kept going and, to our surprise, came across a lovely little stretch of water next to the Cisse. The river itself is very picturesque with yellow waterlilies and water irises.

We followed the path along the edge and found ourselves cycling along the river past lots of small market gardens. One even had a whole row of lilies-of-the-valley. Relationnel consulted the map and said we could take Rue Beaumont. I groaned inwardly because the name means “beautiful rise” which obviously means cycling uphill. We were rewarded though because it took us onto a flat though bumpy road through the forest.

Suddenly Relationnel stopped and said, “Not sure what it is but maybe … “. I continued cycling but soon realised he wasn’t following. I looked back to see him waving frantically. “You should get out the camera”, he said as I got closer. What a find! Several large fresh summer cep mushrooms. Now one of the reasons we chose Blois for our retirement is its proximity to a state forest so we can pick mushrooms in the autumn, so finding such wonderful specimens in summer is extremely promising! We cooked them in the frypan and ate them with our côte de boeuf!

Cycling, Switzerland, Travel photos

Sunday’s Travel Photos – Rheinfall near Schaffhausen in Switzerland

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Last summer, we spent three days in Germany and Switzerland cycling along part of the Eurovelo 6 bike route. The highlight was definitely the natural waterfalls on the Rhine river near Schaffhausen in Switzerland, the largest in Europe – 150 m wide and 23 metres high. When they came into view on our cycle path, the effect was stunning. It was a little overcast but when we came back again after lunch, the sun had come out, making the water dance and sparkle. We didn’t take the boat out to the falls because it looked as though you could get pretty wet!

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from the Tropics to the City of Light