Rural Life

Day 12 of lockdown - market day

On Monday, our lovely and somewhat scary Prime Minister tightened the rules on lockdown, including open air markets - and I was devastated.  What he said was that in principle, all open air markets should be banned, but that Prefets could change that decree at the local level.  I believe that his reasoning was based on Paris and some of the other major cities, where there had been something of a scrum at the markets, and bizarrely it is easier to ban at national level and allow local exceptions than the other way round.  This is the case with bonfires for example.

So on Wednesday I was able to go to my principle market and get all sorts of good things, including raw milk and butter, as the Prefet of the Sarthe allowed la Flèche market to go ahead, strictly regulated of course (see day 9).  The Prefet of Maine et Loire was much less open to exceptions, and it was getting really rather nasty on social media.  The mayor of Baugé en Anjou, Philippe Chalopin, contacted the Prefet, told him about the measures that had already been put in place for a producers market to ensure security and access to local produce, and told him about the potential revolution, and was accorded the right to run the market today!  We found out yesterday.

The Saturday market is normally very vibrant, food only and vendors come in from around the department, but today it was restricted to local producers.  Nonetheless we had dry goods (pasta for example that is made down the road) and flour, eggs, vegetables and fruit, goat's cheeses, a butcher - 9 stands in all providing an excellent local service.  The stands were well spaced and those waiting were well disciplined and kept a good 2 to 3 metres between each other.  I was also able to pick up my order of loose Earl Grey tea (without which life becomes very harsh indeed) from a shop on the high street.

Thank you Mr Chalopin for perservering with the Prefet!

Day 9 of lockdown - guilt and markets

It's all over social media and the news programmes - the scrum that you encounter when you go to the supermarket to get the essentials for life as we know it (well first world, middle class or aspirant, comfortable life anyway). 

Here in rural France, there are the supermarkets, there are the small, specialist shops, and then there are the open air markets.  It is this last, where farmers and small producers bring their goods and bypass the middle men, that makes life for me so special.  In normal times, I have two different people I go to for raw milk, one on a Wednesday and one on a Saturday, a bloke for raw butter, a bloke for cheese, one bunch for salad and vegetables, another for onions and leeks, yet another for fruit, a preferred butcher for poultry and game, and preferred butcher for lamb, another for ham and sausage... The list goes on.

When lockdown started, the open air markets were told they could continue but only for food, so no flowers, plants, clothes and frippery.  With the increased rules this week, the powers that be decided that in general open air markets should be closed, and only allowed on the say so of the Prefet of the Department.  Wednesday's market at la Flèche was given permission to go ahead today, which was a relief.

Armed with a new attestation, I overcame all guilt and drove up.  Why is it that I feel such guilt in going out, even though it is for a good and allowed reason, I have the documents with all the permissions filled in correctly, and I social distance?

Arrangements were changed for the market, but exceptionally good, with masses of space around each stall and a policeman on each entrance to the square checking attestations and numbers.  So much safer than the scrum that is the local supermarket!  It was such a relief to see my regular suppliers, and get my hands on good milk, good butter, fabulous cheeses, farm chicken - thank you to all those food heroes!  Nothing over-processed and no profits to the big boys.

And as I left, my friendly policeman wished me a safe journey home.

No photos of the market or my purchases, but pretty pictures of plum blossom, honesty and a lovely carpet of cowslips, including some that are tending towards being red.

Day 6 of Lockdown - a very quiet Sunday (with a cat picture)

Once I had done this blog yesterday, I was overcome by a fit of domestic goddessness (and needing a good excuse to have The Cat Empire DVD on loud), so I made cake.  It is basically a Quatre-quarts using brown sugar, and with some of the flour replaced by ginger and cinnamon - it's very nice with cream and jam!

Today has been even quieter than normal, as people respect the lockdown and also the noise curfew that is always in place here on a Sunday.  Perhaps the highlight of my day so far was when I pottered down the garden to let the chickens out for their daily vandalism spree.

Zola decided to show me what a voracious hunter she is, by leaping into and climbing up the pear tree to catch a collar dove that was sitting in it and taunting her.  Zola is not aerodynamic or subtle, so before she was even half way up the tree, the dove had flown off to the next perch.  Leaving Zola in the tree...  I carried on my garden inspection, released chickens, talked to them (well berated them for poor egg production actually) and turned back to the pear tree.  Someone was stuck.  Someone was very stuck.  Someone was crying and asking for help.  So, once I had taken a few photos, I grabbed a branch she could walk down, then she walked down me, and ran away to find another tree to climb.  Later on she brought John a lizard's tail to say thank you (but I'm not sure for what).

We are lucky to have a garden and cats and chickens to entertain us.  We also have a vast reserve of DVDs we haven't watched in ages.  Yesterday was The Cat Empire, perhaps today will be The Who or Gerald de Palmas - not decided yet.

 

Day 5 of Lockdown - not so easy!

Once I'd written and published this blog yesterday, it was beer o'clock, but as we are in lockdown, it had to be done differently.  We booked FaceTime with my Mum and Brother, found some crunchy nibbles and then went to pour a couple of drinks.  Well John's beer wasn't a problem (for the moment), but my gin and tonic was - it was the last of the gin... Of... Any …. Sort!  Panic!!

Well the FaceTime aperos experiment worked very well by the way, and will be repeated later this weekend and a few times next week and probably for the foreseeable future, with different chums - let me know if you want to play!!

John had the responsibility of doing the shopping this morning as he also had a doctor's appointment.  He picked up the care package of Earl Grey tea that had been left for us, checked out the market and came back with lots of yoghurt and rice pudding as that particular supplier is going to self-isolate from today (eek), fish, apples, salad, ham and most importantly - Gin!

Not the strongest perhaps, but one of the best named, and with a smashing label!

The weather today isn't particularly nice - dull and cold (where did the sun go?), so I have carried on with working from home and the report that I am doing for the Broads Authority, while listening to my new CD by Claudio Capéo - if you are feeling bored, look up his brilliant songs Un Homme Debout and Dis-le Moi.  I defy you not to want to pogo around the room towards the end of the second one!!

The lack of sun has affected the cats of course.  Zola is in and out and can't settle to anything as she needs to keep warm (despite having a thick fluffy coat).  Poirot is trying to recover from me spending the morning with Patrick Bruel (on Facebook) and singing along loudly and tunelessly.  Nibbles is trying to sleep through it all.

Day 2 of Lockdown - and three attestations used!

I totally failed to mention yesterday's highlight - a drive by flowering!  A local flower producer and vendor dropped off flowers with her relatives and chums so that they didn't end up on the compost heap while still totally beautiful.  It was all done within the rules of social distancing, but what a lovely idea!  A lovely way to brighten a pretty grim day.

Today we braved the police with our attestation and decided to check that we could indeed use the local farmers market at la Flèche - we stick to our principles of supporting small and local business where possible.  I'm not sure we were supposed to go together, but other than that, it was good to go.  Benoit, producer of raw butter and raw milk that has a good two inches of cream on the top was there with our usual order, so we exchanged milk bottles and agreed to meet next week.  Jean-Marc the cheese man provided us with 5 excellent cheeses and we panic bought fresh Italian pasta.  The fishmonger had John Dorey and with few people there, I wasn't ashamed to ask him to fillet it.

This afternoon John worked - again armed with the famous attestation - but while it is a magnificent sunny day here and warm, the ground has yet to give up the ridiculous amount of rain we have had this month, so he wasn't out that long.

Zola the kitten-style cat has been having "difficulties", so I ended up with a third attestation as I whisked her off to the vet on a medical emergency.  No constipation, no excess liquid in her bladder indicating crystals, but a temperature and a diagnosis of cystitis - no cranberry juice for her, but anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and special food (cranberry juice would be a whole lot cheaper). 

So not really a total lock down day, but a weird one when we did sneak out (armed with our relevant attestations of course).

 

 

In the potager

March and April are always funny months for the garden, but I think 2018 is the most challenging yet.  In a normal season, I've already started to sow early salads - way too early in general, and have to re-sow as the first lot fail.

This year was always going to be different with the works in the house taking priority, and the fact that we ripped up the old raised beds last year, rotavated, smothered and killed perennial weeds, and then planted potatoes through weed suppressant matting.  Added to that, the various cold blasts from the East, and you get a very slow start to the season.

I found some 1 meter square raised beds - not very high - at the local supermarket and started just buying 4, but once I saw how well they worked, got another four.  We got a trailer load of well rotted horse manure - extremely well rotted actually - and over an exhausting weekend, sieved the lot and put a good wheelbarrow full in the first three raised beds and the rest in a one tonne bag, covered for when the rest of the beds are ready.  And then things stopped again with the weather.

Yesterday I stopped work early and topped up a bed with basic compost from a store and sowed the first seeds of the year - radish and carrot.  I know you aren't supposed to sow roots where you have manured, but actually the manure is covered with a good layer of less interesting material, and our soil is light and not hugely well nourished other than where chickens have been.

Then there was the effort to protect the bed and the seeds and the nice fresh soil from the garden vandals - five chickens and four cats can wreck havoc on a vegetable garden.  Metal frames and horticultural fleece were what I decided on, and I will report back on how well that works in a month or so.  Cats plant themselves.

A gastronomic weekend in St Malo

Last weekend we went up to St Malo as a bit of a city break.  It is a wonderful city, rebuilt after being pretty well destroyed in 1944, when the Germans settled in and tried to hold out against the Allies.  The rebuilding work was done amazingly well and the IntraMuros is wonderful.  Here is St Malo.

On the Friday night, we went out in search of dinner and a Beaujolais Nouveau.  We tried this place first, but they had no Beaujolais and no oysters and no food that didn't have a trace of mussel - which I can't eat.  So after being stung for a single beer, we left.  They had only just opened after a few days closed, but not having half the menu was not a good idea!

Instead we went two doors down (you don't have to go far in St Malo to find a bar or restaurant), who did have the required Beaujolais (very fruity, very silly, just as you would expect).  John had moules mariniere and I had oysters, then John had the fish of the day which had a mussel sauce, while I had brandade morue and salad - very good indeed.  Our afters were a plate of well cared for cheeses for me and apple crumble for John - all very good, 20 euros a head plus wine and infusions.

It being November and because we didn't really fancy sandwiches and there aren't many real food shops in St Malo (though biscuits and sweets are well catered for), we ate out for Saturday lunch.  John needed more moules, so we went to the Lion D'Or for moules frites for John and a massive goat's cheese and lardons salad for me, washed down with Chardonnay.  Again very good and at 15 euros or so each for the food, quite affordable.  Our lunch neighbours on one side were charming, but I wanted to smack the girl on the other side of me as she picked at her food until it was cold and made sure she finished the rice but the scallop casserole was another matter!

On Saturday night, I needed Mont St Michel pre-sale lamb from the salt marshes, so in order to ensure we got the real MacCoy, we went to the Hotel de France et Chateaubriand (named after the poet, who also gave his name to the steak).  Our 22 euro menu included fish soup with all the trimmings for John and a seafood platter for me, then our pre-sale lamb with beans and carrots, and then a dessert of baked pineapple, washed down with half a bottle of Muscadet and a bottle of Cotes de Rhone.  The restaurant is very elegant and art deco and the service is impeccable and the chef is a genius.  Another wonderful meal.

We went home on Sunday, but as we had done so much walking on the Friday and Saturday, we didn't put on a pound despite our greedy excesses - the wonders of French cooking and sea air!

 

Restaurant Reviews: Angers and Saumur

I'll admit I am slacking a bit and John has threatened not to take me out to lunch until I write up the restaurants we have been to recently.

First off on September 12th we had to go into Angers for various official bits and pieces - never the nicest visits.  To make up for that, we generally have lunch out and had hoped to go to our chum Dominique's new gaff Bar O'Lices or similar in the Rue des Lices, but Dominique doesn't do Mondays.  Instead we went to the Cafe des Orfeves which is joined to the Musee des Beaux Arts.  As well as a menu of salads and staples, they do a menu of the day at 11,50 for a starter and main or main and desert, or 15,50 for all three.  We went with the menu of the day, and rather unusally for us, ignored the starter (there is only so much cucumber salad you can eat), and had the main and pudding.

The main course was a slow braised, slightly oriental pork stew with mash and a salad garnish - very good indeed with totally melting pork.  The pudding was tarte tatin with special vanilla icecream, and in this instance, special was not an underestimate - it was fab.  We washed that down with a bottle of Perrier and had a coffee after (extra), which did the required smack round the head to get you fit to drive after a good meal.

This is cheaper than the big brasseries in the Place de Ralliement, better value and a very nice setting.  If we have to go to Angers again on a Monday, we will go back!

 

The second meal out was because we had to get the windscreen replaced and Saumur was the place to do it.  We went there on Tuesday 20th September, just as the weather was warming up for the Indian Summer.  As ever we ended up in the Place St Pierre, and chose the Restaurant Les Forges de St Pierre.  Prices are a bit higher in Saumur than round us, so the dish of the day (choice of three) was 8,90.  John had moules frites and I had steak frites (for those who obsess about these things, the exact steak cut was hampe or skirt).  The frites were very good, the picher of rose was very generous, and my steak was very flavoursome although to English tastes, it could have hung for a further week.  The moules were also good, albeit a tad salty (perhaps someone used salted butter in the mix?), but having said that, not a scrap was left on either plate, other than shells!

The winning point about this restaurant is that they understand the concept of one pudding but two spoons - we had the profiteroles and we couldn't have eaten a whole portion each.  They were rich and lovely.  The coffee didn't quite have enough punch to keep us moving through the afternoon.  The setting was lovely and the food was fine, and the wine was good, but we still haven't cracked eating out in Saumur I think.

Now can I be taken out to lunch again, please John?

 

Restaurant Review: Le Relais at Auverse

Auverse is on the main (but not Autoroute) road between Angers and Tours and boasts two restaurants, facing each other across the road.  We have already reviewed the Oeil de Boeuf, so this time it was the turn of Le Relais.  This is very much a lorry truck stop, and as well as a restaurant, is also a bar and tabac, so you can get ciggies and lottery tickets there too.

We went on August 19th - a hot, sunny day, when the Oeil de Boeuf was closed and it was heaving - I have never seen waiting staff work so hard over a lunch period.  We turned up at about 12:45 and were seated in the bar area (as my two lunch companions were large and took up too much standing space in an intimidating fashion as both are over 6 foot tall)).  Our unusual placement was a disadvantage in the end, but I will come on to that.

There is was a buffet of starters, and very good they were too - nice eggs, good mayonnaise and a very fine herring salad among other things.  The choice was a bit limited due to the number of people who had been through before us.  For main, there was a choice of veal with carrots, grilled gammon and steak, and with a choice of side order too.  Two of us went for the gammon and one for the steak, all with chips.  This took about 40 minutes to arrive (probably due to table placement and the numbers of people, including a party of pensioners), but was good when it all arrived.  There was then a small cheese board of well kept cheeses and finally a choice of flavours of cornetto style ice cream cones.  There was wine and water with the meal and coffee after, and the waitress did not bat an eyelid about the need for milk with one of the coffees.  It was 11,50 Euros all in per head.

The food was good and simple and the staff very pleasant, but note that it gets full quickly (lorries park up from 11:30am).  Somewhere we need to try again, when it is not so rushed!

 

Restaurant Review: Le Belem at Savigny sous le Lude

As today was a special day, we went out for lunch, but a Monday in August is not always the easiest of days for this.  Our first thought was to try the workers' menu in Genneteil, but that is closed until the 22nd August we found.  Next stop was Savigny sous le Lude, where Le Belem was open - Plan C was Buffalo Grill at La Fleche!!

Le Belem is also a superette, and must be a lifeline for those living in this small and rather remote community on the border between Maine et Loire and Sarthe.  They do outside catering (traiteur), but we were interested in their menu ouvrier - 10,50 including wine, coffee extra.  They do have an outside terrace at the back, but the clouds were just a little too threatening, and there is a bar area in front, but the restaurant is laid out with a number of tables and a maritime theme - le Belem was a famous French sailing ship.

For your 10,50 Euros, you get a choice of wine, cider or mineral water, and naturally there is a carafe of tap water available (chilled and very palatable), while the red is perfectly pleasant.  There is a buffet of starters - this had a good mix of things with and without mayonnaise, the hard boiled eggs were without the black rim to the yolk, there was only one starter with fish, and the rillettes tasted home made and were fabulous.  There was a choice of main, including beefburger, andouillettes (and therefore not to British tastes in general), but we chose the roast sucking pig.  You also get to choose your vegetable, and while there was a healthy option (green beans), and a sporting option (pasta), we had to try the house style chips.  These turned out to be crinkle cut wedges of fried potato and were wonderful - and the pork was melting and the light sauce on it with garlic and thyme was the perfect compliment.  It was one of the best main courses we have ever had in our researches on the menus ouvrier.  There was a limited cheese board and a choice of puddings.  There were rich and sticky things, but we opted for iles flottant and lemon ice cream, both of which were very good.  The coffee has ensured we stay awake into the afternoon, if you know what I mean!

We were the only clients, and the music selection was a bit eclectic (les Pretres, Viennese waltzes and some form of celtic/country mix), but if complaining about the muzak is the only bad mark, I think you will agree, this has to be good!  Of course, first you have to find Savigny sous le Lude!