The end of an era

Don’t you just dread goodbyes? I do, because you never know whether it’s not a final farewell. During nine of our eleven consecutive visits to the Loire Valley we stayed at the Château de Belmont in Tours. Over the years we developed a home-coming feeling every time we arrived at the hotel on Sunday afternoon. And every year we felt sad when we left on Friday morning, looking in the rear-view mirror of the car, whispering ‘Goodbye, we’ll be back next year.’

We always wondered what it would be like to say our last farewell … if ever that day came. We’ll never know however, as things didn’t turn out the way we'd expected.

On our arrival in 2006 we were surprised to find a little notice at the reception saying that the swimming pool was closed. Although we are not keen swimmers, we felt slightly disappointed as the weather was extremely sunny and warm and we had taken the habit of taking a dip in the pool every night after a long and hot day of castle hopping. That year we spent one depressing hour in the deck chairs overlooking an empty pool, wondering why they hadn’t taken the trouble of cleaning and filling it before the summer season started.

The pool as it used to look in May 2001

Later, during that same stay, the proprietor of the hotel told us that, due to new national safety regulations, important investments were required to make the pool accident-proof. And he wondered whether it was still worth it. This somewhat alarming news made us nervous about the future of the hotel.

The next year, I won first prize in an internet competition. It included a night in a lovely B and B near Amboise. You can read all about it here. We therefore spent the first night of our 2007 stay at the Château de Pintray, followed by four nights at Belmont. By then the swimming pool had been adapted according to the new regulations. Unfortunately the alterations were not very aesthetic, spoiling the original charm of the pool. Apart from that, everything had returned to normal and we were quite confident about the future when we left Belmont on Friday morning.

The same 'accident-proof' pool in 2007

Little did we know that it would be the last time that we were to see the beautiful house and the lovely gardens.

In February 2008 we received an e-mail saying that our reservation for the month of June had been cancelled as the hotel had been sold. The chef would cook his last meal at Belmont on February 27th, 2008. The e-mail also recommended some hotels in the area. Knowing that we would never find the same home-like feeling in another hotel, we decided to change our way of travelling and to book a room in a B&B in the area. This is how we ended up in Vouvray, where we will be staying again this year.

_____

Change of plans

Getting this year’s Loire Valley program together turns out to be far more difficult than usual. As I’ll be ‘acting’ as a guide for my friends, I have to find the right balance between things they want to see, sites I think they should see and some places I would like to (re)discover myself.

Last week I thought that I finally had a program that met all these requirements. And then, I received the monthly newsletter of the Touraine tourist board in my inbox! As a result I added the château of Langeais and the exhibition of Food in the Middle Ages on our Thursday list. This however meant that I had to move some of the visits that I had initially planned to another day or put them on the Plan-B list!

After a bit of shuffling around, I decided to skip the market in Chinon, and to drive straight to the museum of Maurice Dufresnes on the Marnay road north of Azay-Le-Rideau. I’ve visited the museum, which is located in an old paper mill, in 2002. It’s the weirdest and most unusual collection of items you’ve ever see; ranging from the last mobile guillotine that was used in France, to the glider plane in which Louis de Funès and Bourvil escaped from occupied France in what is considered as France’s best comedy movie ever: La Grande Vadrouille. I’ll write a more detailed post about it after our visit.

After the museum I'll propose to drive to Villaines-les-Rochers and visit the basket-weavers workshop and showroom. It’ll be my forth visit. I hope that this time I will be able to resist the temptation to buy yet another artfully crafted object …

Next and also new on my list is the restaurant where I propose to have lunch. At first I wanted to return to ‘La Ridelloise’ in Azay-le-Riday where, in 2002, my friend was mistaken for somebody else. The Touraine tourist board’s newsletter, however, made me change my mind. It contained a positive review of a pocket-size restaurant in the lovely village of Crissay-sur-Manse: La table de Béa. So I thought that maybe we could have a light lunch there.

2007: patch of fieldflowers in the village of Crissay-sur-Manse

In the afternoon we can visit the castle of Candé and Wallis Simpson’s dress collection. On the way back, and weather permitting, I’ll suggest stopping at Villandry and having a walk through the gardens. Or we can take the guided tour of the Grottes Pétrifiantes’ at Savonnières.

Next, we’ll cross the Loire River using the suspended bridge in Langeais and visit the aforementioned exhibition, before returning to Vouvray. If we have some time left and if our legs and feet haven’t given up by then, we can pay a quick visit to the Château of Cinq Mars and the Aqueduct of Luynes.

Pfff, just writing about it has left me completely exhausted!

_____

Wednesday Whispers

2001: The Place Debré and the rooftops of Amboise. View from the top of the castle's ramparts. The grey tower on the right is the 'Tour de l'horloge', a gateway leading into Amboise's main shopping street: la rue Nationale, pedestrians only !

The picture is a bit blurry, but that's because it was taken in a 'previous lifetime' when digital photography was not yet accessible to John and Jane Doe.

______

Brandade de Morue – the result

Well, Sunday’s ‘brandade, Belgian style’ was as good as it sounded and even better. The soft-boiled eggs gave the brandade a smooth texture. And the sour cream was a very pleasant surprise. I‘d never used sour cream before as I always associate it was the awful tasting and foul smelling cabbage soup I ate in Russia in 1979.

This cream was not sour tasting at all. It had a freshness to it that you don’t find in regular cream.

Lunch's over: this is what was left ...
without the cauliflower! I'll warm it up and have it for supper tonight.

Although I carefully followed the recipe, I added some personal touches:

- According to recipe 200 gr. of cod serves 4 … I used all 400 gr. (the complete content of the box in which it came). And although my mother and I have rather small appetites, I have only one portion left! Maybe the actual recipe is meant as a starter.

- I poached the fish in water to which I had added freshly ground white pepper (as the recipe said), but I also put in 2 bay leaves … the aroma was amazing!

- In spite of using 400 gr. of cod, I respected all the other quantities, except for the lemon juice. I used the juice of half a lime instead.

- Instead of pan-frying the coppa (bacon), I slow-roasted is for 20 minutes in an oven at 100°C.

- Finally, 1 small cauliflower is definitely too much. I used 1/4th of a normal-sized specimen.

One last tip! Don’t use pink prawns if you can’t get grey North Sea Shrimps. They are to large, and their texture and taste won’t do this dish justice. Instead, cut some smoked salmon in 1 by 3 cm strips to replace the shrimps. The delicate salty and smoky flavour of the salmon will blend in beautifully! Bon Appétit. You really should try this. It's fab!

_____

Brandade de Morue – Belgian style

“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brandade is a puree of salt cod, olive oil and milk, sometimes called Brandade de Morue ('morue' being the French name for salt cod). Brandade is a specialty of the Languedoc and Provence regions of France, particularly Nîmes. Similar preparations are found in other Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain where dried salt cod is also enjoyed. Although brandade does not necessarily include garlic, in Marseilles and Toulon crushed garlic is added to the dish. Potato is also frequently added to brandade. The word is derived from the Occitan verb brandar, meaning to stir.”

For this Sunday lunch, I will be making a Brandade – Belgian style. Last year I prepared the original version, adding one clove of crushed garlic. This time I want to try something different. My good friend ‘Mr. Google’ provided me with a Belgian recipe supplied by the VLAM (Vlaams Centrum voor Agro- en Visserijmarketing). This regional institute is in charge of the national and international marketing of products and services provided by the Flemish agricultural, horticultural, fishing and agro-food sectors.

Salted cod. This package contains 400 gr. That's far too much
for just two people ... Maybe I should invite the neighbours!

These are the ingredients (serves 4):

200 gr. of salted cod or haddock

500 gr. of potatoes
A handful of fresh chives
1 dl of sour cream
1 dl of lemon juice
100 gr. of grey North Sea shrimps
2 soft-boiled eggs (3 to 4 minutes)
Olive oil
Pepper and salt
8 slices of dried bacon (pancetta or coppa style)
1 small cauliflower

This is what you do:

The evening before: put the salted fish in a large bowl of cold water and let it soak overnight. Change the water at least twice.

The next morning: peel the potatoes, cut them into slices and boil them in salted water until tender. Remove the fish from the bowl and rinse one last time under running water. Let the fish simmer for max. 10 minutes in a large pot of water to which you’ve added some pepper. Don’t let it get to boiling point, as this will harden the fish.

Cut the cauliflower is very small pieces and let them sit for a while in salted water. Next, let them dry on a clean kitchen towel.

Mash the potatoes and add the soft-boiled and peeled eggs. Crush the eggs and add the cod, olive oil, cream, shrimps, lemon juice and some pepper. Stir vigorously until all the ingredients blend together. At this point you can also add a knob of salted butter.

Put the brandade on a plate. Sprinkle the raw, finely chopped cauliflower and chives on top and serve with two slices of cured, pan-fried bacon.

I’ll try and post some photos of the finished dish tomorrow!

_____

Medieval foodies

The castle of Langeais sits in the middle of the village by the same name. I remember walking up the stairs towards the drawbridge during one of our annual Loire tours, but I can’t really recall what it looked like on the inside. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was one of the few better-known castles that we didn’t actually visit.

But I suppose I am to find out soon. This year it is definitely on our list as from April 15th till August 15th it hosts an interesting exhibition about ‘A table au Moyen Age' or Food in the Middle Ages. According to the website of the Touraine tourist board this exhibition has some surprises in store for the visitors.

Photo: www.tourism-touraine.com

Apparently our modern perception of food in the Middle Ages has been strongly distorted by the so-called historical films. The first movie that immediately springs to mind is ‘The adventures of Robin Hood’ from 1938 with Errol Flynn, in which King John and his brawling rogues feast on huge plates of whole chickens, wild boars and legs of beef or mutton, with grease and wine dribbling down their chin.

The exhibition shows us that food and table manners were in fact far more delicate than that. Elegantly decorated finger bowls were used to rinse one’s fingers before eating, sauces were a light and subtle mix of sweet and sour, cutlery and plates were made of the finest materials. Stuffed peacocks and other birds or even the inevitable piglet with a red apple stuck between its jaws were only put on the table for decorative purposes and were by no means meant to be eaten.

Through manuscripts, kitchen utensils and accurate replica of medieval dishes the exhibition wants us to discover the real medieval cuisine and banquets, which were a true feast for the eye and the taste buds. Apart from the grandeur of life at court, we also get a peek at what the poor people used to put on their plates.

Being a 21st century ‘foodie’, I’m curious to find out which dishes the medieval ‘foodies’ liked and how they were consumed. I also hope that they’ll let us have a peek at the kitchens. I just love castle kitchens with their big open fireplace, large enough to roast a whole pig. I’ve read on the internet that the kitchens of the castle of Montpoupon have recently been restored. When we were there in 2007 large metal bars prevented the visitors from approaching the table, stove and other utensils that were on display. Maybe all that has changed now; my friends B. and J.L. will be able to tell me, as they will be visiting Montpoupon while I’ll be having lunch with my French friends who live in Francueil.

Just a little over three weeks to go! Almost time to start the countdown!

_____

Mysterious buildings

When you drive along the D952 from Tours to Saumur, near the village of Luynes, you’ll see a strange tower-like building on your right hand. It’s called ‘La Pile de Cinq Mars; Cinq Mars also being the village and château that are located behind the trees.

La Pile is a very strange structure indeed. At first sight it looks like the solitary chimney of a 19th century industrial building. However, when you take a closer look, you’ll notice that it’s much, much older. In fact it goes all the way back to Gallo-Roman times. Nobody seems to know what it is. It could be a look-out or navigation tower, the remains of a palace or even an over-sized tombstone.

Just behind the ‘Pile’, but not visible from the road, are the remains of the castle of Cinq Mars. The two main towers and the moat, which date from the 11th century, are all that’s left. Originally, the village and the château were called Saint Médard, but gradually the name changed into Saint Mars and finally became Cinq Mars.

One of the castle’s most illustrious ‘seigneurs’ was Henri Ruzé d’Effiat, Marquis de Cinq Mars and a ‘protégé’ of King Louis XIII. He was foolish enough to lead a conspiracy against France and Richelieu; an act which he paid with his life, as he was beheaded in Lyon on September 12th, 1642. He was only 22 years old.

Aqueduct de Luynes.
Photo: www.commons.wikimedia.org

I’ve seen the ‘Pile’ on many occasions and I’ve read a lot about the castle. Over the years, however, we’ve never taken the trouble to stop and take a closer look. I hope that this year we’ll have the opportunity to do so. It would also be a good time to visit the nearby Gallo-Roman Aqueduct of Luynes. It was built in ancient times to assure the water supply of an important settlement that later became the city of Tours. The original aqueduct had 99 columns, 44 of which are still standing (only 40 according to some sources).

Once again, there are too many things to see and do. Maybe, and like one of my readers suggested, we should stay a month instead of five days. Or return to the Loire Valley in 2011 … But that would be our thirteenth visit! And although I hate to admit it, I’m a bit superstitious. Do you walk under ladders?

_____

Wednesday Whispers

I've decided to change the title of my Wednesday post.
The most recent entries were not totally 'silent', were they?

A sunny evening in June 2008.
While sipping a cool beer on the terrace of 'Le Bouchon',
the village bar at the foot of the church of Vouvray,
something peculiar caught my eye.
Do you see it too?

_____

Haute couture

In June 2007 we visited the Château de Candé just outside the village of Monts, South of Tours. During previous visits of the region we had often driven past the castle, which always seemed closed to the public, but from the road we had caught glimpses of the elegant building. It sits on a low hill in the middle of a well-tended park with almost endeless green lawns and multi-centennial trees.

The château is mainly known because it hosted the wedding of the former English King Edward VIII and the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of this highly contested marriage, the ‘Département de l’Indre et Loire’ in 2007 organized a temporary exhibition dedicated to the event. It seemed like a unique opportunity to get a closer look at the castle. You can read all about our visit in one of my earliest posts.

2007: Feeling like Wallis Simpson ... but without the appropriate attire.

One of the highlights of the exhibition was the two dozen or so designer suits and gowns of Mrs. Simpson, who through her marriage with the former king became the Duchess of Windsor. They were on display in one of the rooms of the castle and you could just walk around them and even touch them. They were all by the greatest couturiers of the thirties, forties and fifties. The finest and most expensive fabrics had been used to produce these handmade clothes. Some were embroidered with beads and pearls. Most of them belonged to a private collector who had lent them out for the duration of the exhibition.

In a dressing room on the first floor matching shoes, handbags, gloves and copies of the Duchess’ famous jewels were on display in glass cases. It was impressive and yet depressing to see the wealth in which the couple lived in what can be considered as one of the darkest periods in history: the ante-bellum, the Second World War, the reconstruction of Europe and the Cold War.

In view of the great success of the temporary exhibition, the Département decided to acquire the collection. Since then, and in tourist season, the castle is now open 4 or 5 days per week.

Knowing that sewing and knitting are some of my friend B’s hobbies, I have included a visit of the Château de Candé in our 2010 program. When I told her about it, she immediately agreed. I felt a bit uneasy though, as I wasn’t quite sure that all the dresses would still be there. I therefore telephoned the castle last week to make some inquiries. The young lady, who answered my call, partially confirmed my fears. The owner of the gowns had agreed to sell part of the collection to the ‘Département’. Today only ten or so pieces are still on display and they are all behind glass.

Nevertheless, I’ve decided to leave Candé on our to-see list. We’ll probably go there on Thursday. But I’ll make sure to tell B. in advance about the reduced size of the collection and I will let her decide whether she thinks it’s still worth our while.

Although I like to watch fashion shows, I would never buy haute couture clothes (I can’t afford them anyway!). Some ‘creations’ are too weird for words. And they look so very uncomfortable, don’t they? I prefer a more casual attire. How about you?

_____

Happy as peas in a pot!

In spite of the ash cloud of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano that has been floating over north-western Europe since Friday, the weather is nice and sunny. Temperatures are expected to climb as high as 18-20°C today; sheer bliss after the extremely long and cold winter we’ve had.

This spring feeling has somewhat influenced my shopping behaviour. No, I didn’t splash out on new summer cloths or shoes … but on fresh spring vegetables, the so-called ‘primeurs’. Although I’m not sure that they are of Belgian origin – or if they are, they have definitely been grown in greenhouses – they look so tempting and fresh that’s impossible to resist them.

Fresh unshelled peas

I got baby carrots and new potatoes (the potatoes are from Cyprus, or at least that’s what the label says) and … fresh un-potted peas! The last are a real find as even in full pea season, unshelled peas are very rare, unless you grown them yourself.

Happy as peas in a pot !

I’ve already glazed the carrots and a chopped onion in some lightly salted butter. I’ve added some pepper, salt, sugar, thyme and a bay leaf. The potted peas will go in at the last minute, just before serving. That way, they stay nice and crunchy and they will keep their delicate sugary flavour.

The potatoes are pre-boiled in their skin. Once they are slightly cooled, the skin comes off easily. Next I will pan-fry them in some olive oil, until they are nice and golden-brown.

The 'ballotin de lapin'.

Finally, the meat! I’ve bought a ‘ballotin de lapin aux herbes’. You can of course make this yourself, but de-boning a rabbit isn’t one of my best skills. It came marinated in different herbs. What surprised me most is that label showed ‘volaille – gevogelte’. I didn’t know that rabbits could fly, did you?

A rabbit; poultry?

That reminds me of a very bad translation that I read once about a South-American penguin species that –according to the translation – was related to rabbits because … it nests in burrows!

_____

1,001 castles

I don’t know for sure whether there are actually 1,001 castles in the Loire Valley, but that’s what a website claims. I found it while I was looking for information about the Château de Valmer near Vouvray.

Last year my friend and I had planned to visit Valmer on the day of our arrival. We never made it though, as we were rather tired after getting up at half past four in the morning and driving over 500 km to get to Amboise. After having lunch at the Val Joli in Vouvray, we drove straight up to our chambre d’hôtes where we spent a leisurely afternoon by the pool watching the air show over Tours.

The castle of Valmer – or what’s left of it - is situated on a bluff overlooking the valley of the Brenne. It was built in the 16th and 17th century and sits in an 80ha park with beautiful Renaissance gardens. These gardens and a 16th century troglodyte chapel are the main attractions of the Château, which was largely destroyed by fire in 1948.

Since 1888 Valmer belongs to the Saint Venant family. The Duke is a keen winegrower and the wines of Valmer rank amongst some of the best Vouvray wines. The Duchess takes pride and joy in the gardens, which are exceptionally beautiful and moreover produce over a thousand varieties of vegetables, the seeds of which are carefully stocked and even frozen for later use.

So you see; there is a lot going on at Valmer, even if there is no longer a sumptuous castle to visit. I therefore really would like to go there during this year's trip. I suppose it won’t be too difficult to convince my friends to spend Sunday afternoon – weather permitting of course - at Valmer before checking in at our chambre d’hôtes. Sunday being the only day of the week that the castle is open to the public in the month of May.

If Valmer is one of the hypothetical 1,001 châteaux, I would like to know some of the lesser known remaining 1,000! On this year's to-see-list I already have: Beauregard, Villesavin, Troussay, Fougères … Maybe you know of some more ‘forgotten’ châteaux within a maximum range of 75 km from Tours? Your suggestions are more than welcome!

_____

Gardener Prince

Last Monday my friends B. and J.L came over to discuss the program of our upcoming trip to the Loire Valley. We did this over a home made lunch of Italian antipasti and a glass of ‘spumante’ (Italian bubbly); followed by my version of a ‘steak tartar’, French fries and a green salad. B. and J.L brought a nice bottle of red wine from the French Var region. It was completely unknown to me but very, very nice indeed. We ended our meal with a cheese platter: Camembert, Tomme de Savoie, Rochebaron and a ‘Brebis’ (ewe’s cheese).

I had prepared a two page program, listing castles, abbeys, gardens and museums to visit in la Touraine. It wasn’t difficult to come to an agreement, as B. has never been to the Loire Valley and J.L. was still a young boy - ‘en courte culotte’ (in short trousers) as he puts it – when he was there with his parents.

However, we did add one château that wasn’t on my initial list because I didn’t think it would interest them. If you’ve been reading my blog regularly you may remember that J.L. is a keen photographer and that he likes growing orchids. What you didn’t know – and neither did I – is that he’s also a keen gardener. So when I mentioned a château hosting a ‘conservatoire de la fraise’ (strawberry museum) he was immediately interested. I’ve never visited the place myself and therefore had to admit that I couldn’t tell much about it. However, I have visited the ‘conservatoire de la tomate’ at the Château de la Bourdaisière near Montlouis.

2003: Château de la Bourdaisière in Montlouis

My friend and I were there in 2003. The castle belongs to the Prince de Broglie, who’s also known as ‘Le Prince Jardinier’ (the Gardener Prince). In order to pay for the upkeep of the castle, the Prince has turned it into a hotel. The rooms are named after famous historic figures and the rates range from 170 to 300 euros per night. It is also available as a setting for movies and television programs. I vividly remember one reality show on Belgian television that was shot at the château.

The Prince’s pride and joy, however, are the beautiful gardens and the ‘conservatoire de la tomate’, a museum paying tribute to this delicate fruit. In a library-like room of the castle, the walls are lined from floor to ceiling with shelves on which sit hundreds of glass jars containing preserved tomatoes in all sizes and colours. In the greenhouses in the vegetables garden, rows and rows of tomato plants are competing in size and shape. And if you want to have a go at growing some of the exotic varieties yourself, you can drop in at the souvenir shop and buy the seeds of your favourite species.

I tried that some years ago and got a nice harvest of juicy and sweet yellow pear-shaped miniature tomatoes. But that’s another story!

When I told my friends about the castle and the tomatoes, they immediately decided to put the Château de la Bourdaisière on our to-see list. I’m now going to finalize the program by splitting it up in two parts: 1) the musts and 2) the alternatives. And a lot will of course depend on the weather conditions.

Have you ever visited La Bourdaisière or tried your hand at growing tomatoes?

_____