Rural Life

Comice 2015

Having failed to blog about last year's Comice, I thought I had better get down to it today, as the event has just finished, and before other things got to me.  This annual highlight of the agricultural year in Anjou is the one in a series that will now go on for a few weeks.  Each has its own flavour and traditions, but decorated floats are generally part of it, as are ploughing matches.

This year the theme for the whole event was land from here and elsewhere and for the procession of floats, each commune drew from a hat a French region and a foreign country and could chose which one to show on their float.  And here they are - with apologies to Echimere and Montpollin, whose efforts I failed to photograph.

Boce will host next year so started the parade - here I saved everyone's sensibilities by not taking a picture which included the "chaps" on and with the float - the coconut bras were truly disturbing on too many levels.  They decided to share with us La Reunion.

Next came Clefs, who chose to show us the gritty side of Nord, with their interpretation of the coal mines of the north.  There were any awful lot of spectators who were kissed, fondled or otherwise groped by the miners on their way to the Comice venue, including stewards, who were covered in charcoal dust.

Cuon showed us the "national" sport of the Basque country, which I can't even begin to spell!

Then there was St Martin d'Arce who I think must have got Provence and who decided to demonstrate that with the Gendarme de St Tropez, complete with beach, 2CV and Gendarme.

Vaulandry took the theme of the Alps.

Fougere went for abroad and showed us all the best of Italy, complete with ice cream salesman, gondola and a pizza oven.

Le Guedenieu, our hosts last year, produced a fabulous float and team, complete with bull to show Spain.

Pontigne apparently drew England (so I was told) but instead went with their French region - Normandy.  This lovely float including the landing beaches, Mere Poulard and a Camembert.

Chevire le Rouge - our hosts - brought up the rear with the local region of Anjou, including a fine gabare and a pretty landau for the Carnival Queens.

There was also a fine Western caravan, nice during the day, brilliant illuminated at night.

And le Vieil Bauge?  Well, we had the option of Alsace or Switzerland.  We ran out of inspiration thinking about Alsace, getting as far as sauerkraut, but no further, so went for Switzerland instead.  See what you think!

 

Another new critter in the zone - cynips!

Today's Courrier de l'Ouest had as its main story dire warnings about a new critter, not native to Europe that is decimating sweet chestnut plantations in France.  Big news guys - the wee varmint has been here for a year or two, and specifically in the One Acre Wood.

Last spring we spotted galls on some of the low branches of some of the young sweet chestnut stems, and wondered what it was about.  Now we know - Cynips de Chataignier - or Dryocosmus Kuriphilus - or Chestnut Gall Wasp.

Self-fertile (nasty) wasps lay eggs in next year's leaf buds in the summer.  The following spring, the eggs hatch in the bud and create a gall in which they live and feed and grow.  They hatch out in late spring/early summer and fly around laying more eggs.  The effect on sweet chestnut trees is to reduce fruiting drastically - by up to 70% some claim - as well as sapping the strength of the branch their gall is on, and in the long term, reducing the strength of the tree.

It is a notifiable pest, so that is today's job, finding and reporting it to the relevant authority and waiting to hear what happens next. 

If you spot galls on sweet chestnut trees, check them against this website/document and then contact your local authority with responsibility for control of foreign pests.

Pub Excalibur Soap Box Derby 2014

Our village is lucky to have a pub, and lucky also that the current owner is a chap with ideas who likes to see things happening.  He also has two teenage children.  So the last weekend in September, and for the second year running, he organised the Vieil Bauge Soap Box Derby.  He had help from a load of local farmers, the quad bike club, a number of local companies, the council and the comite des fetes, and put on an amazing spectacle that closed the village to traffic for a whole Sunday.

There is quite a gradient in the village, so the unpowered vehicles started at the top by the school and relied on gravity to get them down to river level, and skill and decent steering equipment to get them through a number of hair raising bends and a chicane, and adequate brakes to stop them disappearing into the river at the bottom of the hill.  The following photos are from the quad bike putt to the top of the track and the final series of timed descents.

Then in order of racing:

They were very safe, very yellow and quite slow.

Quite scary this one.

This elegant machine handled well, had good if simple brakes and was incredibly fast - not to break the suspence but this was the winner with the TWO fastest times.

This was the 'home' team, the Excalibur car, driven this time by Alain's daughter.

Closest perhaps the the Soap Box ethos, this terrifying machine with its three riders was so much more stable, robust and fast than it looked.

This sleek little number had amazing handling.

These guys had wheel problems, with 3 different types/sizes.  It could have been that which caused the problems with gravity - at one stage on one descent they ran out of impetus and had to use a straw bale to get themselves moving again.

This one was scary, but the pilots had clearly been practicing and never missed a turn, however not one for the girls as you can see from the back view....

You know what the caption is to this, don't you?

This one juddered so much as it went, it was impossible to get a front view that was in focus (my excuse anyway).  It looked to us like it was built on a ride on mower base, with a water barrel as a front hood.

On one run, this mean machine had the nastiest accident, and everyone's hearts were in their mouths, but it was the fact that it had a roll cage and seat belts that made it hard to get the unharmed crew out, in order to get it upright again.

These are the official times for each of the cars on each run.

And here is the trophy being handed over to the winning team by the mayor of Vieil Bauge, Beatrice Tessier.  Thanks to everyone for a really fab day - even the weather was on our side!

 

2012 Comice at Fougere

The weekend of the 18/19 August saw record temperatures for heat in the Baugeois and also the 2012 edition of the Comice, held at Fougere with a theme of gardens.  Due to the heat, we didn't spend much time there on the Saturday, so can't report on the Inter-village games, but we did go along to see the traditional procession of decorated floats.  Fougere presented five floats and numerous decorated carts, all other communes apart from Chartrene presented a float each.

The 2013 Comice will be hosted by Bauge, so they had the honour of opening the procession.

The 2011 Comice was hosted by Vaulandry, so they came next.

I can't remember the order after that, apart from the fact that the main Fougere float went last, so will do the rest in alphabetical order!  Boce!

Chevire le Rouge had the one float, but it was a "wagon and drag" affair, with the usual Chevire musical accompaniment on the second trailer.

Next up was Clefs with a magnificent display of garden produce.

Cuon produced a magnificent float once again - how do they do it?

Echimire went for an English Country Garden - any one for tea?

Le Guedeniau had the furthest to come so have to be forgiven if some of their natural folliage looks a bit faded.

Le Vieil Bauge chose the Garden of Eden, however Adam and Eve could not resist the apples on the tree, so weren't allowed on the float.  Will they never learn?

Monpollin had a secret stock of water on their float and weren't afraid to use it!

Pontigne chose an Alice in Wonderland theme, hence all the playing cards.  They were followed by a bunch of people on stilts.

 

St Martin d'Arce had a load of produce and a load of critters.

St Quentin le Beaurepaire had a change of tractor driver this year (where is your MEP when you need him?).

This year's Miss Comice were in a donkey cart.

And last come the Fougere Five.  It looked to us as though there were a mix of districts, societies and the village itself behind the floats, and well done Fougere, as it is a lot smaller than Vieil Bauge in population.

Well done to all concerned.  I wonder what the theme will be next year?

 

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!

 

The loveliest villages in France

About 10 days ago, we went travelling to visit our favourite hotel and restaurant in Brive la Gaillarde in the Correze.  La Cremailliere is as wonderful as ever, although as the patron said to us, "this is a recession against the middle classes and those of us who supply to the middle classes are suffering".  I hope things pick up for him, and if you are in the Brive area for rugby, this is a good place to stay/get fed (particularly if you are a carnivore, but his fish dishes are wonderful too).

We took the opportunity to visit a few of the plus beaux villages de France while we were there.  This nomination is hard won, and we think entitles you to grants for ensuring things are restored well, but also seems to inflate property prices and make maintaining buildings once purchased very expensive even with grant assistance.

Collonges la Rouge was our first stop - stunning in red sandstone and a stop for pilgrims to Compostella, but buildings were either chichi shops, restaurants or shuttered up.

Our second village was Turenne - quite wonderful and a bit more lived in than Collonges, and the view from the top of the tower was amazing.

Finally, on our way back up to la Loire, and therefore probably not in the Correze but jolly close to it, was Segur le Chateau (no relation to Montsegur as far as we could tell).  This village was for sale piecemeal it seemed to us and there was no way to enjoy the chateau other than from the river bank.

We also saw lots of other pretty but not classified villages and became quite blase by the time we got home to our own very lovely village in France.  While ours does not have the appellation, it is very lovely and perhaps a bit more alive than those we saw further south.  All of them were lovely out of season, but between June and September would be full of tourists, and between November and March/April would be cold, difficult to access, and mostly closed.

 

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?

 

Comice 2011 Vaulandry Day Two

Day two of the Comice sees the less serious side of the ploughing matches, though no less competitive.  Here are the Vieil Bauge heros working as a team.

 
Clefs had to show off and do it with a horse, but actually apart for frequent stops for chats, seemed to be just as good as those using the old tractors.

 
Of course the big event for the Sunday of a Comice is the procession of decorated floats - the Pontigne line up for example was shown in all its glory here!  The theme this year was farming in days gone by, which brought out all the traditional skills you would expect.  Fougere opted for the forge.

 
Bauge introduced the first of two dairies, this one complete with cow and milk maid.

 

Situated as it is by the majestic Foret de Chandelais, it was inevitable that le Guedenieu would show forestry skills.

 
Singing as they went (as usual), Chevire showed off their threshing skills.  They also showed off by having a double trailer!

 
Next up was St Martin d'Arce with a wheelwright.

 
The village of Clefs is home to the best shop around for the needs of bee keepers, and this was emphasised in their bee keeping themed float.

 
Echimire had a theme of the butchering of the family pig - fortunately the float was very sanitised or this one could have been a bit yukky (and smelly given that it was 32 degrees in the shade).

 
Cuon was the first of two villages to have chosen a theme of milling.  The float was really good, and there was occasional community singing (Meunier tu dors), but there were also harpies around chucking large quantities of chaff down people's shirts.  As a victim, I was not impressed.

 
Looking again at my photo of the Montpollin float, I think they too must have had a forestry theme, but I can't remember what it was.

 
St Quentin de Beaurepaire was the second village with a milling theme, and thinking about EU subsidies, it was perhaps fitting that the tractor was driven by the Mayor of St Quentin who is also MEP for the Pays de la Loire.  Nice bloke too, and a very fine vintage Farmall tractor.

 
Pontigne worked hard to give a very full view of village life in olden days.

 
Patricia Leroy pulled out the stops once again for Vieil Bauge this year and taking the theme of the grape harvest, there used to be vinyards all around about a hundred years ago, produced a wonderful float, manned by village children and driven by Robert Letaire.  Two pictures of this one, but it is my village!

 
 
Then there was Boce with the second dairy theme, this time the co-operative of milk producers, and a very fine vintage Citroen van.

 
And finally, Vaulandry as the hosts came through.  They chose to represent the Marquis of Turbilly, founder of the Comice movement, communing with one of his peasants.  It should be noted that Marquis and Peasant were both portrayed by Brits!!

 
Soon the theme of the next Comice, at Fougere, will be announced and then we can all get going on making the next batch of paper flowers for the Comice 2012.

Well done Vaulandry however, as the only issue I have was that the press coverage of the event was awful, and there wasn't a lot they could do about that.

 

Comice 2011 Vaulandry Day One

Yes, it is Comice time again - that season when the preparations by the Comites des Fetes of the local villages are displayed for all to see.  This year it was the turn of Vaulandry to host the event and this meant that the Comice movement went back to its roots, as the whole event goes back to the agrarian Marquis of Turbilly, who wanted to improve the quality of farm outputs on his land, and thought that competition might be the answer (we are talking 18th century here).

The theme for the weekend was Agriculture in Days Gone By, and it was also one of the hottest weekends of the year, so we were pleased to find that part of the Comice area was in a poplar plantation and therefore shaded.  The Saturday was as ever devoted to the serious ploughing matches in the morning and in the afternoon to the Inter-village games.  This year the Games were done in two parts - a song/choreography following the theme of the Comice and a Fil Rouge or obstacle course.  Prizes were distributed on the basis of the times in the obstacle course.

Vieil Bauge did Old MacDonald as its song this year, but translated into French for the comfort of the audience.  Jim McKomisky of the local band Out of Time played guitar and sang (cow), and the other singers were Valentin Devanne (chicken), Antonin Morrisset (dog), Perine Pele (duck) and yours truly (sheep), with John sitting in for Old Mac himself.

 

 
 
Then the obstacle course team took over - the process was that a child (Valentin Devanne in our case) did a sack race effort in a slalom through cones to where a man (Pauline Morrisset - don't ask) picked him up and carried him back down the slalom course to the waiting woman (Florian Morrisset, who may never live it down), who pushed the child back up the slalom in a wheelbarrow, before all three had to fight their way through a rope maze and get over the finish line, against the clock.

 
Our amazing, if unconventional, team bashed the previous winning time by a whole 6 seconds and therefore won the day, and Vieil Bauge were the proud winners of a really nasty cup.

It is a bit sad that it was only young Pauline Morrisset who was prepared to heft little Valentin over her shoulder for that part of the race, but all the chaps around from Vieil Bauge got a sudden rash of bad backs - too much time spent at the beer tent perhaps?  Still, if she hadn't stepped up, I don't think we would have won - they were through that rope maze like greased lightening, so well done all.

Day Two and the Mayoral ploughing match and procession of floats will follow.

 

 

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!