Recent ruin

June 2009 - The 'donjon' of the Château du Grand Pressigny.

A quick visit to the 'Office de Tourisme' taught us that the 'donjon' only recently - that is in the eighties - collapsed.

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A successful holiday requires careful planning

Some weeks before going on a weekend outing or a holiday I start preparing our trip. I ‘tour’ the internet … faithfully helped by my omniscient friend, Mister Google. It’s a mystery to me what I did before meeting him sometime in 2003!

Over the years I have learned that a good way to start is to draw up a rough plan, based on the market days in the Indre-et-Loire and Cher departments. You can find most of them, in alphabetical and chronological order, on the website of the ‘Conseil Général du Département Indre-et-Loire’, (http://www.cg37.fr/index.php). We particularly enjoy buying the supplies for our daily picnic from local producers, rather than getting mass produced food in super markets. Especially as the brands sold in France are often the same as in Belgium.

Next step is to list all the interesting sites to visit in, around or on the road to these market towns. This avoids you driving around aimlessly up and down, from east to west, and from north to south. The websites of the local ‘Offices de Tourisme’ can give you a head start. Their main flaw, however, is that they often only mention the ‘great classics’. You’ll rarely discover the more ‘insolite’, unusual spots by sticking to these official sites.

To find those you need a different approach. Once you have found a site or a blog about the area, click on every link you can find. Continue doing this each time you find a new site proposing new links. Follow the links on these sites too … and so on. You’ll be surprised about the amount of information you can gather proceeding this way. There is usually even too much. And although I include everything in each year’s particular holiday agenda, we never get to see everything. That is one of the reasons why we keep going back!

By doing so I’ve found most of the places that I’ve described in my earlier posts: such as the Cat Museum in the town of Richelieu, Yul Brynner’s tomb in Luzé, the Château de Brézé (well-known nowadays but only recently open to the public when we visited) and many other off-the-beaten-track places that are worth a detour. It’s also a great way to find affordable little restaurants, although we came across the ‘Relais du Moulin’ in Saint-Aignan purely by accident.


2009 - Riverboat on the Vienne in Candes Saint Martin
I’m not pretending that this system is completely flawless, nor that it’s the best. But it works for us … Nevertheless, I’m convinced that we’ve missed several worthwhile and interesting sites over the years.

Finally, there is yet another advantage. By preparing our trip in advance, I live it thrice: planning it, enjoying the actual journey and … once back home, looking at the pictures, making a digital photo album and writing this blog. It’s like three holidays in one! A pretty economical way to travel, isn’t it?

P.S. These days I'm planning our two day escapade to northern France. For the first time, we won't be travelling alone. A friend of mine and her husband will be accompanying us. This will make quite a difference, but I am confident, as they are such great friends!

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Beauty and the Beast

Although the 15th and 16th century Kings of France didn't exactly have Casanova's good looks, they all definitely behaved like him. If you’ve ever seen a portrait of Charles VII (1403-1461) you will know that he was probably the ugliest of them all. Nevertheless, and although he was married to Marie of Aragon, he successively had three mistresses: Odette de Champdivers, Agnes Sorel and Antoinette de Maignelais. The latter was Agnes Sorel’s cousin and became the King’s mistress after Agnes’ untimely death at the young age of 29.

Agnes Sorel was the daughter of a soldier and of Catherine de Maignelais. She was twenty and working in the household of Rene of Naples, Charles’ brother-in-law, when the visiting Charles noticed her peerless beauty. Smitten by her looks and smart wit, he immediately made her his mistress and offered her the Château of Loches in southern Touraine. I wonder if Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve had Charles and Agnes in mind when she wrote ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in 1740?

Our ‘meeting’ with Agnes Sorel goes back to 2007 when we visited the ‘Logis Royal’ and the ‘Donjon’ in the old town of Loches. The Logis hosts a permanent exhibition on the life of Agnes Sorel and the strange circumstances in which she died. Her story made great impression on us, especially as the exhibition was very well documented and presented. Officially she died in 1450 while giving birth to her forth child. But even at the time there was a rumour that she had been poisoned by Louis XI, Charles’ legitimate son and heir to the throne.

2007 - Donjon de Loches

During the short nine years that she lived as Charles’ mistress, Agnes had become very influential. Not only was she the first mistress of a French king to be recognized at such. Charles also often sought her advice before making personal and even political decisions. It goes without saying that his regular advisors and other courtiers were not happy about this. A conspiracy against Agnes, led by the Dauphin was and is therefore a plausible theory.

In the beginning of the 21st century curious scientists and historians decided to dig up her body from under her sepulchral monument in the church of Notre Dame in Loches. They wanted to examine it in order to try and establish the exact cause of her death. Samples of her hair, nails and bones were taken and scrutinized using the most modern techniques. The tests showed the presence of excessive amounts of mercury in the tissues. Although mercury was regularly used in the 15th and 16th century to cure different kinds of ailments, the quantities they found were far too important to have been administered for medicinal purposes. As a result the scientists concluded that Agnes was probably murdered. Who her assassins were, and how they administered the poison will however remain a mystery.

After the exams, her body was buried in her former home, the ‘Logis Royal’. On the wall over her new tomb hangs a copy of the famous portrait by Jean Fouquet which shows Agnes Sorel with a bared breast, a trend that she introduced on the French court.

The exhibition also shows a genealogical chart that links Agnes Sorel and her three daughters to all the existing royal families of Europe … She’s therefore lovingly called ‘the grandmother of Europe’, a title she shares with former Queen Victoria of England …

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Picture postcard material

During our many trips to France we’ve seen some lovely and very often even spectacular places. But one of the most impressive views we saw last year, were the ruins of the castle of Angles-sur-Anglin, overlooking the Anglin river.

Angles-sur-Anglin

The ruins sit on top of a bluff, with beneath it a large watermill. A weeping willow tree adds a dramatic effect to the whole scene. We couldn’t resist shooting several photos from different 'angles'.

The village is also known for ‘Les Jours d'Angles’ (openwork or appliqué embroidery). I wanted to visit the little museum displaying the techniques and some of the intricate creations. Usually my friend is a good sport when it comes to visiting castles, gardens and other unusual places, such as little soap factories, mushroom caves and wineries. This time, however, he couldn’t bring himself to go and look at ‘decorated pieces of textile’ as he disrespectfully called the openwork embroidery. In spite of my insistence, he hustled me into the car and drove straight on to our next destination, the village of Chauvigny.

Chauvigny

On a hill overlooking the new town of Chauvigny, five castles and a beautiful Roman church, la Collégiale St. Pierre, will keep sightseers happy for several hours. The castles were all built and/or upgraded between the 12^th and the 15^th century, while the oldest parts of the church date from the first quarter of the 11^th century. We only saw them from a distance, as by the time we got to Chauvigny lunch hour was almost over. Ever since the French government voted a law introducing the 35 hours working week in 1998, restaurants and shops have drastically reduced opening hours to avoid that their staff works overtime. This means that they open up for lunch from 12 a.m. till 1.30 p.m., where as opening hours till as late as 3.30 p.m. or even 4 p.m. were no exception in the past.

We only just managed to get a table at 1.30 p.m. on the terrace of a fast food restaurant in the main town square. My friend had a slice of grilled ham, while I chose a hamburger. Both came with French fries and a small green salad. The meal was satisfactory, although my hamburger was slightly overcooked. By the time we had had our coffee it was time to move on.

Instead of taking the motorway for our return trip, we decided on the ‘Route Départementale’ and followed the Vienne River. That is how we came across this lovely castle with the funny name: ‘Le Château de Touffou’ (pronounced like ‘tout fou’, which means ‘totally crazy’). It didn’t look like a ‘folly’ to me, though. As it was early June, the château wasn’t open to the public yet. Nevertheless, I managed to shoot some great photos.

Château de Touffou near the village of Bonnes

Angles-sur-Anglin, Chauvigny and Le Château de Touffou are sheer picture postcard material and they definitely made up for our disappointing visit to La Roche-Posay earlier that day.

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Pretty but gloomy

I’ve just realized – to my surprise – that, besides a few ‘food’ stories, I’ve been posting about our weekend in the Alsace for more than two weeks now … which is quite an achievement, considering that it was a mere four day trip!

Before long we’ll be off to Northern France, for a two day escapade discovering the countryside and some typical villages around the metropolis of Lille. I suggest that, in the meantime, we ‘return’ to the Loire Valley …

Whilst staying in Vouvray last year, we decided to venture outside our beloved Touraine to see what the adjacent Poitou-Charente region had to offer. The region, with a total area of 25,810 km², covers four French departments: Les Deux-Sèvres (NW), La Vienne (NE), La Charente-Maritime (SW) and la Charente (SE). Having only one day to spare, we limited our excursion to the northern part of La Vienne.

We took the A10 from Tours to Chatellerault, where we left the motorway to follow the D725 in the direction of La Roche-Posay, the largest spa resort in France and Europe devoted exclusively to skin disorders. The soothing, healing and softening qualities of its ‘Eau de Velours’ (Velvet Water) are recognized since the 16^th century. Each year almost 10,000 ‘patients’ seek adequate treatment here. The water is also used by a cosmetic laboratory in the area to produce skin care products, such as moisturizing facial and body cream, make-up, shampoo, soap, etc. They are exclusively sold through pharmacists and often prescribed by dermatologists to people who have a sensitive skin.

I’ve been using La Roche-Posay foundation cream for years and I thought it might be fun to visit the town and the laboratory … and maybe get some foundation cream at factory outlet prices!

Our visit turned to be a disappointment on all accounts. Although the town square offered a pretty sight with its colourful and rich floral decorations and in spite of the fact that the streets and sidewalk terraces were crowded with people, the atmosphere was somewhat gloomy. You could almost feel that most visitors didn’t come here for fun. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it felt a bit like a hospital site… but nearly. We made some enquiries at the local pharmacist about the exact location of the laboratory and quickly learned that it was completely ‘off-limits’ for ‘unqualified visitors’.

Fairly disappointed, we scuttled off towards the old town, which was much more to our liking. Walking through the narrow streets and alleys we came across some lovely old houses and a small park. In it stood a medieval ‘donjon’ which, judging by the scaffolding with enough wooden seats to accommodate an audience of about a 100 people, was probably used as a stage setting for outdoor theatre performances.

Many of the typical houses had signs ‘Meublé à louer’ (furnished flat or apartment for rent) stuck behind the window or on the door. We wondered whether these housing facilities were meant for the numerous people coming to town seeking relieve for there skin disorders. Or were they just regular holiday homes for tourists visiting the area? Or were they vacant because the local inhabitants were fleeing town?




We left La Roche-Posay with mixed feelings. The town itself was pretty enough, but the atmosphere was very peculiar … making us feel uneasy. We were anxious to get to Angles-sur-Anglin, the next village on our to-see-list!

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The best ‘Fish & Chips’ outside of the UK

Like Picasso’s work can be classified into a ‘Blue’ and a ‘Rose’ period, my life can be divided into an ‘English’ and a ‘French’ period! My ‘English’ period lasted all through the seventies and the early eighties. As a teenager I spent many a summer in the UK, more precisely on the Kentish coast, in the attractive seaside town of Deal and the tiny village of Kingsdown. I used to stay with an English lady who over the years has become like a second ‘mum’ to me. Although I haven’t seen her since Christmas 1983, I still telephone her regularly to catch up on the latest news about her health (she’ll be ninety next March) and her two children, who are about my age.

August 1974: a 35-year old picture of the beach at Kingsdown seen from the cliff.

We used to have a lot of fun together, hanging out on the beach, playing miniature golf and taking long walks on the cliffs between Deal and Saint Margaret’s Bay. When we turned eighteen, the local pubs - The Sun in Kingsdown and The Ship in Deal - became out favourite hang-out places. In the evening, we would meet up there with other youngsters who lived in the neighbourhood. Apart from the odd young man who tried to drink 'a yard of ale' in an attempt to impress us, it was all good, clean and innocent fun. After closing time we would move to someone’s house where we would listen to music, play cards or try to scare each other by experimenting with an Ouija board until midnight, our curfew time!

My lovely lady of the house’ had lived in India with her former husband, and was familiar with Indian cooking. She was a great cook too and introduced me to English and Indian cuisine. I can’t honestly say that I liked everything she prepared though, as my continental and young taste buds were not quite ready for fried pig’s liver, steak and kidney pie and hot Tandoori chicken!

As a special treat she would surprise me once during every annual stay with fresh stuffed North Sea crab from the fishmonger’s or fish and chips from the local shop by the seashore. I’ve been a big fan of fish and chips ever since. However, fish and chips shops are a rarity, not to say non-existing, in Belgium. If you are lucky to find the dish on the menu card of a restaurant, the fried fish usually looks and tastes like an ordinary frozen Captain Iglo’s fish stick! Until recently …

Waterloo, the town south of Brussels where in 1815 Napoleon was defeated by the armies of the Seventh Alliance, hosts a large colony of ‘expats’ working for NATO, the EEC or other governmental or private organizations. They’re mainly American, British and Scandinavian. The town therefore has a number of food stores and restaurants that cater mainly for them. Last year we discovered a great restaurant in Waterloo that not only specializes in seafood, but also does great fish and chips and an extremely hot Beef Vindaloo.

Fish and chips in their newspaper wrapping

It had been a while since I’d had my last portion of fish and chips. So today, we decided to treat ourselves to this great British classic. In spite of the classy interior of the restaurant, the fish and chips are served in the traditional way: wrapped in newspaper and with a bottle of malt vinegar on the side. Although roughly cut, the chips are tasty and crispy and the batter on the fresh cod filets has a nice golden colour. The dish is served with an excellent tartar sauce … everything is perfect, except for one small detail … the newspaper the fish and chips are wrapped in is the Belgian French ‘La Libre Belgique’. They should at least use ‘The Sun’ or ‘The Daily Mirror’, shouldn’t they?

By the way, my ‘English’ period’ more or less ended in 1984, when my friend, who’s a real Francophile, insisted on taking me to France for our holiday… something I’ve never regretted … although I feel that I still have an Anglophile streak in me!

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Must run ...

Flowers in my favourite village of Candes Saint Martin

I have a busy day ahead and therefore no time to post this morning. But I'll be back tonight around nine. See you then!

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Sitting under the walnut tree

'Le Lac de Lindre' (Moselle department)
on a lazy Sunday afternoon in September

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Lindre or L’Indre ?

On our way to Bérig-Vintrage (Moselle department – Lorraine region) and our Chambre d’hôtes for the night, we drove through the town of Dieuze. In and around it we noticed several signposts directing visitors to the ‘Etang de Lindre’ (nothing to do with the Indre River in the Loire Valley!).This vast lake seems to be a very popular Sunday outing destination for the local population. So we decided to go and look for ourselves what made this place so special.

It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at the lake. The parking lot was full and we drove around for a while without finding a place to park. Finally, we found a little spot to leave the car, and we joined the steady stream of people walking towards the lake.

An information board taught us that the lake was created in the Middle Ages (10th – 11th century). Its total surface is 620 km². Over the ages it successively belonged to the Dukes of Lorraine, the King of France and the French Empire. In 1976 the local council – Le Conseil Général de la Moselle – acquired the lake in order to preserve the quality of its natural and archaeological environment. Nationally as well as on a European level, it is renowned for the richness and diversity of its fauna and flora. The lake also hosts France’s largest piscicultural farm. The proceeds of this farm and those of the agricultural and sylvicultural activities are used for the upkeep and the preservation of this exceptional site.



A few people sat under a walnut tree enjoying the peace and quiet. Most, however, set out for a walk which would lead them halfway round the lake to the Maison du Pays des Etangs. Some passers-by told us that the ‘Maison’ hosts a permanent exhibition about the history of the lake and the local fauna and flora.




It was drawing late, and we didn’t have enough time to walk all the way to the ‘Maison’. So we shot some photos of the view and had a look at the basins of the piscicultural farm. The gates being closed, it was impossible to walk straight up to the edge of the basins to get a good look at the fish; which was a pity as I like to watch fish and the supple way they glide through the water.

Then it was time to move on to our final destination for the day: La Dame Blanche!

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It’s official …

Although I still have some stories about the Alsace-Lorraine that I want to share with you, I interrupt this sequel to write about an annual recurrent event … today, September 21^st, autumn has officially started. The leaves on the trees are slowly but surely turning yellow, red and brown and soon the first autumn storm will blow them away. I hate it when I have to get up at 6 a.m. and it is still pitch dark outside.

But let’s face it; autumn has some splendid qualities too. There is a special smell in the air, of burned wood and mushrooms and the familiar aromas that come out of the kitchen. Autumn is a great time to make stews and soups, and roasted venison, pheasants and partridges.

From mid-September till the end of March, I try to stick to the habit of making a weekly pot of soup. One and half litres will last me for the best part of the week and very often my supper when getting home from work is a large bowl of soup with a slice of bread and some cheese. Last Sunday I made a hearty tomato and celery soup. This is what I did.

Ingredients

6 stalks of green or white celery
2 medium sized onions
2 cloves of garlic
a 400 gr. tin of chopped tomatoes
some leftover fresh tomatoes (if you have some)
half a cup of coral lentils
a cube of vegetable stock
olive oil, pepper, salt, Worcestershire sauce
1 tot 2 litres of water

Method
Chop the onions, the garlic, the celery (you can use the leaves too) and the fresh tomatoes (optional). Heat some olive oil (any other type of vegetable oil will do too) in a large pot. Add the chopped raw onion, garlic and celery. Let them fry for a little while but don’t let them get brown. Add the tinned tomatoes and the chopped fresh tomatoes, stir well and let them heat through. Add the lentils, pepper and salt. Stir again to mix all the ingredients together. Make sure the lentils don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

Put in the water, the stock cube and the Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Put the lit on the pot and let it simmer for 30 tot 45 min. Take the pot of the heat and blend everything together using a mixer or kitchen robot, till there are no solid pieces left.

Put in some extra Tabasco if you like your soup spicy.



Serve steaming hot or let it cool down completely before putting it in the fridge till the next day. It warms up beautifully and tastes even better when it has sat 24 hours in the fridge.

This soup is not only easy and quick to make, but it is also full of vitamins, exactly what we need to resist the autumn weather. Enjoy!

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Everything you always wanted to know about canals …

The canal that runs through the town of Saverne is called the ‘Canal de la Marne au Rhin’. It connects the two rivers between Vitry-le-François in the Marne department (Champagne region) and Strasbourg in the Haut-Rhin (Alsace region). It was built between 1838 and 1853 and has a total length of 312 km. There used to be 178 locks on it. In 1969 this number was reduced to 154 with the opening of the ‘Plan incliné d’Arzviller’. This ingenious structure replaces the 17 locks that were needed before to cover the level difference of 44.55 meters. Here the boats are put in a giant container filled with water that glides down or up – depending which way the ship is travelling - along a 108 meters’ slope set at an angle of 41°. The ‘ride’ takes about 4 minutes.

When we visited the ‘Plan incliné’ some years ago, we arrived a few minutes too late to catch the last tourist boat that was ready to go down the slope. So we drove to the lower level from where we watched the container sliding down. Although the tourist boat was a small vessel, it was an impressive sight. Imagine what it must be like when a large Rhine barge of 250 or 300 tons (the maximum tonnage that is allowed on the canal) makes its way down or up!

One of the side canals of the ‘Canal de la Marne au Rhin’ is called the ‘Canal des Houillères de la Sarre’. It links the first to the Sarre River. The two canals confluent near the ‘Lac de Gondrexange’, one of the many reservoir lakes in the area. This canal has a length of 105 km, 63 km of which are artificial. The other parts are natural rivers that have been canalized. It was built between 1861 and 1866. The maximum allowed tonnage is 250 to 280 tons.

‘Ecluse 16’, the restaurant where we had lunch on Sunday, is near one of the 27 locks on this intriguing canal. After leaving the restaurant, we came across ‘lock number 13’, - numbers 15 and 14 were probably located off the main road - just when two Dutch leisure boats were entering it. We saw the owners talking to a lady in blue working clothes standing on land. We were curious to know what was going on, so we parked the car and watched the lady disappear in the lock keeper’s cabin. The boaters attached their vessels according to the regulations. To our surprise it was the lady who operated the lock. The whole operation took about 10 minutes.

The first of the two Dutch boats entering the lock and the lady lock keeper walking towards her cabin.

While both boats carefully steered out of the lock, we walked down to the cabin where the lady was watching the boats leave. When asked, she gladly explained to us all about the canal and the locks. She showed us the inside of the cabin, which looked a bit like an air traffic controller’s workspace. Two thirds of 27 locks on the canal are automatically controlled. The others are still manual and have to be operated by a lock keeper or the boaters themselves.

The lady lock keeper of lock 13 is in charge of 5 locks, 4 of which she controls from a distance. On her computer screen she ‘picks up’ the incoming boats two locks before they arrive at number 13 and she guides them all the way through. She’s a civil servant who can be sent all over France where a lock keeper is needed. During her career she has worked on several canals, but never on the famous Canal du Midi. (Remember the television serial with the British chef Rick Stein who sailed down the Canal Midi on a gourmet odyssey, on his way trying out the culinary delights of Southern France?).

She also told us that the canal was no longer used for its original purpose – the transport of coal and iron ore from the mines and quarries to the numerous factories and production plants in the Rhine area. Today the traffic consists of leisure boats, mainly German and Dutch. The two boats we saw earlier were a perfect example of the luxury vessels that cruise the canal nowadays. These leisure boats are floating apartments, offering all the comfort or even more than a house on land.

We enjoyed our talk with the lady lock keeper as it was very instructive. We thanked her for her time and took our leave to continue our drive, admiring the hilly Lorraine countryside. We were curious to know what else our trip had in store for us.

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Lock ‘Number 16’

On Sunday morning, the first part of our weekend in the Alsace was drawing to an end. We left the Moutonneraie at about 10 a.m. after another delicious breakfast and an interesting chat with the landlord and his wife.

But we yet had another lovely day ahead as we would be stopping overnight in the hamlet of Bérig-Vintrage in the French Lorraine before returning to Brussels on Monday. Although it was still rather chilly when we left Hipsheim, Sunday promised to be a lovely day, with blue skies and temperatures up to 22°C; not exactly a heat wave but pleasant enough for walks in the country or taking an aperitif outdoors.

On Saturday we had phoned the restaurant ‘Chez Michèle’ in the village of Languimberg, to book a table for Sunday lunch. We absolutely wanted to try this restaurant as it has recently obtained a Michelin star. In spite of this prestigious award, it still serves a lunch menu at 19 euro, which is very good value for a gastronomic restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for ‘congés annuels’. Luckily I had prepared a plan B: a restaurant called ‘Ecluse 16’ (Lock number 16) near the village of Altwiller, south of the town of St. Avold.

Finding Altwiller was no problem, thanks to the help of ‘Mauricette’. Finding the restaurant, however, turned out to be a different matter. The name ‘Lock 16’ implicated that the restaurant was situated close to a canal. Some time before arriving at Altwiller, we had crossed a small canal, but we had lost track of it since. We were quite lost and had stopped in the centre of the village, when we saw a man walking towards the car. After glancing at the license plate, he bent over to the window on the drivers’ side of the car. ‘Puis-je vous aider?’ (May I help you?’) he kindly inquired. When my friend explained that we were looking for ‘Ecluse 16’, the man gave us the necessary and very clear instructions.

They implied a 3 km drive through woods and fields, taking a left turn and immediately turning right and then straight on … All this in the middle of what appeared to be ‘no-man’s-land’. At last we saw a small bridge and the canal with on the other side a long two story high semi-industrial building with unattractive red brick walls. The sign over the front door read: ‘Ecluse 16’. To our surprise the parking lot was packed with cars. This somewhat reassured us.

The major part of the carpark was furthur to the left

The interior of the building turned out to be a surprise. The large dining room was in complete contrast with the gloomy outside of the building. It was bright with colourful decorations and pristine white tablecloths. Almost all the tables were taken, and we were lucky to get a small one near the entrance. The patrons were mostly families: father, mother and children, often accompanied by one or two grandparents. The success of the restaurant was probably due to the Sunday lunch formula, proposing a five course menu (wine included) for a democratic price of 30 euro per person …

Being not very hungry after our gourmet breakfast at the Moutonneraie, we chose the ‘Main course + cheese’ formula at 22 euro + a bottle of our favourite Saumur Champigny. My friend had the filet of deer and I took the Charolais steak with ‘rattes’ potatoes (small potatoes steamed in their skin). Both came with a delicate pea mousse and steamed baby carrots and courgettes. My steak was served with a tasty pinot noir wine sauce. The cheese plate turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as it hardly contained three itsy bitsy transparent slices of cheese. There was a Crottin Chavignol (goat’s cheese), a Trappe (Abbey cheese) and a Comté. In spite of the meagre cheese portions, we really enjoyed our meal, which was delicious and beautifully presented. I didn’t take any photos because the place was very crowded and I didn’t want to attract people’s attention by flashing a camera around.

The cute lockkeeper's house, now privately owned.
Makes a perfect little holiday home, doesn't it?

We had our coffee on the terrace by the waterside, after which we took a walk along the canal. We had a look at the lock and the lock keepers house. Afterwards we would learn that the cute little house is now privately owned and that the lock is operated from a distance by a lock keeper some 10 km further down the canal.

The quite road along the canal... perfect for walking and cycling ...

After our walk we programmed ‘Mauricette’ to take us to Bérig-Vintrage where we would spend the night. But first we would make some more interesting discoveries. More about those tomorrow…

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A day of sightseeing and local cuisine - 2

That morning in Colmar, it looked as if everybody was on holiday. The whole atmosphere around town was relaxed and cheerful. People were strolling around, not bothered by traffic and everybody seemed to be having a really good time. The only vehicles that you’ll meet while wandering through the old town centre are the little tourist trains and silent electrical buses, occasionally ringing a bell – instead of blowing an aggressive horn – to announce their presence, leaving you ample time to clear the road for their passage.

After sharing a ‘Tarte Flambée’ on a waterside terrace, it was time to head back to the restaurant for lunch. We were greeted by a friendly waiter who was the spitting image of the French actor Philippe Noiret in the film ‘Alexandre le Bienheureux’. If you’re familiar with French cinema, you’ll certainly know who I mean.

The restaurant 'Les Trois Poissons' in Colmar

We had a Crémant d’Alsace, a local sparkling white wine, not unlike Loire Valley Vouvray as aperitif. The waiter brought us the menu and explained the suggestions. There was fresh Dover sole, skate and ‘moules de bouchots’. I decided to take the sole, although it was rather expensive (what the h…, we were on holiday, weren’t we?) and my friend chose the skate. Being loyal to the Loire Valley wines, we had a chilled Saumur Champigny and half a bottle of bubbly mineral water to accompany our meal.

The restaurant wasn’t very busy, which slightly worried us. Yet, it turned out that there was no need to be alarmed as it filled up nicely during lunch. The sole came as I like it, ‘Meunière’ style (miller’s wife fashion), which means very lightly coated in flower and baked in sizzling butter until golden brown. The skate was served with a melted butter sauce, enhanced with capers.

By the time we had finished our fish, all the tables in the restaurant were taken. It was reassuring to hear from the conversations that most people were locals, not tourists. This confirmed the excellent comments I had read on the internet about ‘Les Trois Poissons’.

We decided to skip dessert and just have a coffee to top off our delicious meal. After paying the bill we left the restaurant, kindly escorted to the door by the waiter who wished us a pleasant afternoon.

We walked back to the parking lot following the little canal and thus discovering what was left of the old ramparts. Leaving town in the direction of Turckeim, we saw this drawing of Bartholdi and his famous Statue of Liberty on the façade of one of the houses. Colmar is clearly proud of his illustrious son.




Turckheim, the picturesque village I’ve written about in my post about the storks, turned out to be the scene of the annual ‘Course des côtes’. This is a speed race of pumped-up little city cars such as Peugeot 206, Opel Corsa, Renault Clio etc. through the Vosges massif. They make a hell of a noise and certainly pollute the whole area. We saw three of them take off on their hellish ride, two of which were brought back half an hour later on the back of a truck, with their front sides and windshields smashed.

We quickly did some charcuterie and baguette shopping for our picnic dinner, and left Turckheim without seeing any of its famous storks. If I’d been a stork, I would have fled the village too - to escape from the noise and the smoke - to come back only after the racing cars had left and peace and quiet had returned to the village.

AUX TROIS POISSONS
15, Quai de la Poissonnerie
38000 COLMAR

Tél. +33 3 89 41 25 21

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A day of sightseeing and local cuisine - 1

On day 2 of our Alsace trip we decided to visit the nearby town of Colmar. On the internet site of the local tourist board I had acquired a detailed plan of the old town centre and an overview of the most important sights to see. I had also found a great fish restaurant for lunch – one of the three restaurants on our to-do list.

Starting out on the normally 40 minutes drive from Hipsheim to Colmar, we got lost … not because of ‘Mauricette’. She gave us the right instructions but we failed to interpret them correctly. It took us some time to figure out where we had taken the wrong turn and we lost almost 15 minutes before being on the right track again. And then, at 5 km from our destination, we got stuck in a gigantic traffic jam because of some road works further down the motorway.

By the time we reached Colmar it was well over 10.30 a.m.. Approaching the roundabout on the main avenue leading into town, we suddenly saw the Statue of Liberty emerging in front of us (see yesterday’s post). It wasn’t as large as the original – which, I admit, I have never seen in real life – but nevertheless very impressive. Why was it there? Well, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (August 2^nd 1834 - Oct. 4^th, 1904), the designer of the Statue of Liberty, was born in Colmar. The house where his family used to live is now a museum. And all over town you’ll find more of Bartholdi’s creations.

The original statue measures 46 meters (93 meter including the pedestal) and weighs 225 ton. France offered it to the US as a token of friendship on the occasion of the first centennial of the independence of the United States of America. Bartholdi has always claimed that the face of the statue was modelled after his own mother’s face. The statue was originally destined to be a lighthouse on the northern entrance of the Suez Canal. Egypt had no money to pay for it though and France decided to give it to the US.

Little tourist train

The old town of Colmar turned out to be even more interesting and lovely than we had expected. Here too, tourists were omnipresent and the little trains driving them around showing the main sites were doing great business. However, one of the streets – la Petite rue des Tanneurs – was completely deserted.

Walking through it was like going back in time. I almost expected to see a horse drawn carriage coming towards us with the hooves of the horses and the wheels of the carriage clattering and clanging on the old cobble stones.

La Petite rue des Tanneurs

The ‘Little Venice’ district, with its flowery canal, was a mere 100 meters down the road. We walked along the water edge shooting photos and watching the flat-bottomed tourist boats float by. Our restaurant – Les Trois Poissons – was just on the other side of the little canal. As it was still too early to have lunch we ventured on.

On the corner of the ‘rue des Poissonniers’ we were attracted by the delicious smell of what you could call the local pizza, ‘La Tarte Flambée’. On a thin crunchy crust lies a topping of cream cheese, sliced onion, little ‘lardons’ (finely cut pieces of lean bacon) and some gruyere cheese. The ‘Tarte’ is backed in a hot oven until the cheese has melted and the bacon is nice and crisp. Many people on the nearby waterside terrace were having one of these ‘Tartes’ with the local Colmar beer. Being good tourists and feeling slightly hungry, we followed their example and sat down at one of the tables. We decided that we would skip starters at the restaurant and share a ‘Tarte Flambée’ there and then.

Tarte Flambée

We had a great time, sitting there, relaxing and enjoying the ‘Tarte’ and the ‘Colmar’ beer (which turned out to be very good), while watching the crowds walk by.

(to be continued)

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Where can this be?

Where do you think we came across this famous statue?

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Locks and keys

Although we didn't go boating, the locks on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin in the Lorraine-Alsace weren’t the only ones I had to deal with lately.

After the firemen who took care of my wasps’ nest and the technicians that came in to clean the burner and replace the expansion tank of the central heating system, I had to call in a locksmith. My front door which is a double door (one of which is a burglar and fire proof), desperately needed a new – well actually two – new locks. On several occasions I had found myself in front of a locked door that refused to open. The key turned wildly and aimlessly around without any result. It was quite frustrating to find myself locked out of my own apartment.

Until last week I'd always managed to get in, by insisting long enough and turning the key up to 10-12 times. But last Tuesday the lock of the outer door broke down completely. I had to call in a locksmith who, with his wizard toolset, opened the door in less than 3 minutes. He temporally replaced the lock of the outer door, the time it took to order two brand new and identical locks from the factory.

The old locks.

He came back on Friday to install them and hand me the six keys that came with them. Cost: almost 200 euro, which I can fortunately reclaim from my insurance company.

I hope this was the last of the repairs I had to have done to the apartment … although I recently saw a humidity stain on the wall … and it’s getting bigger rapidly. I’m afraid I’m in for more home improvement work soon.

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Two nights in a sheep pen

After our visit to Obernai, our first day in the Alsace was slowly drawing to an end. We were happy to find that ‘Mauricette’, our GPS, had no trouble finding the secluded village of Hipsheim, where we were to spend two nights at a Chambre d’hôtes called ‘la Moutonneraie Fleurie’ (the flowery sheep pen!).

Arriving at the main gate of the Moutonneraie, we found it locked. Even after ringing the bell twice, nothing happened. A sidegate was unlocked though and we ventured in. I felt slightly uncomfortable as I expected we’d soon find ourselves eye to eye with a large barking and growling dog* that was protecting the premises against unwelcome intruders. These large places in the country often have one or two dogs running around just for that purpose.

After ringing the doorbell, we heard someone stumbling around but no barking dog. What a relieve! Yet, there still was no answer. We walked to the back of the main house, which was separated from the annex by a covered passage way. In between the two buildings lay a swimming pool.

There were three cars parked at the back of the house and behind one of the windows someone was definitely moving around. At last a young boy of about 13 came out of the back door. He explained that his father was busy welcoming some other guests that had arrived a few minutes before us. He showed us the way into the annex where we were warmly greeted by the father. Like the main house, the annex was brand new and spotless. In the central room were three doors that opened into spacious and bright bedrooms. Our room was called ‘le Bleuets’ (the cornflowers). The decoration was mainly white and blue with corn coloured accessories.

The window and glass door offered a fantastic view on the fields, over which dark clouds were gathering. The bathroom had a large walk-in shower with a powerful showerhead.

As the other couple was going out for dinner, we had the central room – with bar, dining table and comfortable chairs - all to ourselves. We laid out our picnic on the table by the window and enjoyed a pleasant evening eating, drinking our Loire Valley wine and listening to sixties-seventies music that was being broadcasted by a local radio station. Being close to the German border, the program and music were mixed French, German and some English. People in the Alsace are fluent in French and German, and easily switch from one language to the other.

Evening sky after the thunderstorm.

While we were having our picnic dinner, the dark sky outside was suddenly lit up by a bold of lightening. Then came the thunder and the rain. It was almost dark by the time the thunderstorm had stopped. We went out for a breath of fresh air and saw some storks hovering over and landing in the nearby field. They never came close enough, however, to get a good photo of them.

The next morning we had breakfast in the conservatory of the main house. There were different types of baguette, brioches, croissants, cheese, smoked sausage, jam, honey and yoghurt … and coffee/tea/hot chocolate and orange juice of course. The landlord made sure that we had everything we wanted and stayed chatting with us all through breakfast.

By 9.30 a.m. we were ready for our daily excursion, which will be the topic of a separate post. We returned to the Moutonneraie at about 6 p.m. Another couple from Paris arrived around 8 p.m. Like our other neighbours, they went out for dinner, and once again, we had the place to ourselves. We spent another lovely evening on our own … making ample use of the dining room and other facilities. With outdoor evening temperatures around 12°C, we never got to use the swimming pool, though.

The next morning we woke up to a clear bleu sky with some light mist floating over the fields. Sunday promised to be a beautiful day …

P.S. There was a dog after all, but it was a friendly midget greyhound … nothing to be afraid of!


La Moutonneraie Fleurie
9, rue des Prés
67150 Hipsheim
Tel. : +33(0)3-88-64-94-28

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Sauerkraut

By leaving Saverne at 3.30 p.m. on day 1 of our Alsace trip, we had ample time to do some more sightseeing before trying to find our Chambre d’hôtes in the tiny village of Hipsheim. Until then our GPS had guided us flawlessly without getting off track. So we programmed ‘Mauricette’, as we have nicknamed our Mio580 GPS, to take us to Obernai.

Once again ‘she’ did a great job, taking us straight into the centre of the town. Obernai is just as pretty and typical as the other villages and towns in the area.

Colourful timbered and richly decorated houses, sumptuous flower decorations, churches with typical spires, souvenir shops, sidewalk terraces, restaurants recommending their ‘choucroute garnie’ and ‘baeckoffe’ as the best in town ... and tourists … September seems to be a very popular month to visit the Alsace!

We squeezed our car between the dozens of others parked at the foot of the church. On the corner was a large souvenir shop. We walked in and bought some postcards and had a look at the impressive collection of knickknacks that were on display. I couldn’t resist buying two mini stoneware pots, which look exactly like miniature versions of the ‘Le Creuset’ cast iron pot that I use for making stews and soups. The little pots are perfect for serving individual portions of soup, vegetables or rice.

The shop also carried a large selection of the typical colourful Alsace platters and pots that are used for making and serving traditional dishes such as ‘Choucroute’ and ‘Baeckoffe’. Apparently, the ‘Capitale de la Choucroute’, the village of Krautergersheim, is just 8 km down the road. Choucroute or Sauerkraut is finely shredded cabbage that is left to ferment in big stone jars. Salt, crushed peppercorns and juniper berries are added. You can also add some milk to accelerate the fermenting process. A heavy weight is put on top of the shredded cabbage, to press out all the air that is left between the leaves. The 'new' choucroute is ready to be eaten after a fortnight or so. This is called ‘La Choucroute nouvelle’. It is made with the first cabbages that are harvested at the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn.

I’ve had some of this ‘choucroute nouvelle’ during an earlier stay in the Alsace and find it much nicer than the traditional one, which can be rather hard to digest. It also has more crunch than the cabbages that are left to ferment for months before being sold in jars and tins. Unfortunately, you can get it only locally during a very short period … unless you want to try and make it yourself. Do you feel like giving it a try?

It was almost 5 p.m. when we left Obernai following the instructions of ‘Mauricette’. On our way to Hipsheim we drove through the above mentioned village of Krautergersheim. It certainly lives up to its title of ‘Capital de la Choucroute’ as cabbages are the main culture in the fields surrounding the village.

At 5.20 p.m. ‘Mauricette’ delivered us flawlessly at the front gate of the ‘Moutonneaire Fleurie’ in Hipsheim were we would stay for the two following nights.

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