Eat, drink and be merry!

Far from spending all our time visiting châteaux and cathedrals, we do enjoy sitting at bistros and having a drink, or appreciating fine dining.

Pétillant Rosé

Here we are in Montsoreau.  I am sipping an afternoon treat of "rosé pétillant" (pink champagne), while Karl is having a Heineken.  The waiter's pronunciation was such that Karl kept hearing "in a can", and he kept answering, "Non, sous pression", which means I want a draft.  They eventually understood each other and Karl got his draft beer, which happened to be a Heineken.  Just hilarious.

Heineken (in a can)

We also returned to a favourite restaurant of ours in Chinon - "Au Chapeau Rouge".

Menu cover

We had met and taken a photograph of the chef, Christophe Duguin, on our last visit.  This time, perhaps because they were short-staffed, he is the one who served us our meal personally! 

Appetizer

We each had 3 little appetizers: a puree of peas with pea shoots that we spooned like a soup; a Chinese spoon filled with a bite of fish and a dill mousse; and a melted cheese slice sprinkled with black pepper.

Velouté d'asperges

Fish Tartar

For an entrée, Karl had the asparagus soup which was so smooth it carries the name "velvet" very well.  I had the fish tartar, which did look a bit like a cat's breakfast, but was delicious.  Its recipe even graces the restaurant's brochure!  It consists of: fresh fish from the Loire (alose), dried tomatoes, fennel, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, shallots, salt & pepper.


Karl and I both ordered the same main dish, which was pork tenderloin topped with foie gras, lots of mushrooms in a rich sauce, with a side of fava beans and cherry tomatoes.

Pork Tenderloin

Desserts were awesome!  Karl had a pineapple dish and I had a strawberry dish.  Each theme was presented in a variety of different ways - each one delicious!

Pineapple

Strawberry

And just when we thought we were finished came the coffee and candy.  This is the restaurant where I first tasted the chocolate-covered candied orange peels and replicated it at home - to rave reviews.

Macarons, candied orange peels, white chocolate with candied fruit

Just as a general comment, Karl and I feel that the prices have gone up in France since two years ago.  Wine and restaurant meals seem to be the most obvious.  But, since we purchased more Euros with our Canadian dollar this year (1: 1.3 vs. 1: 1.5 two years ago), we will not complain.

Fontevraud

Women Power!  The Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud is the largest and most remarkably intact medieval abbey in Europe.

It was founded in the early 12th century by Robert d'Arbrissel, a visionary itinerant preacher who set up a Benedictine community of monks, nuns, nobles, lepers and vagabonds.  Due to Robert's charisma, there flowed rich donations, much of it from the counts of Anjou.

The radical founder entrusted the running of the abbey to an abbess, usually from a noble family, and the abbey became a favourite sanctuary for the female aristocracy, including Eleanor of Aquitaine.

The Abbess was in charge of the "Grand Moûtier" (Great Minster) of St. Mary's for the nuns, the St. Benedict infirmary for the sick, St. Lazarus for the lepers, and St. Magdalene's for repentant women (prostitutes), and enjoyed the unique privilege of taking orders from none but the Pope in spiritual matters and from the French king in temporal affairs.  The monks had their own home, built outside the walls of the abbey, and were ruled over by a Prior, under the authority of the Abbess.
 

Gothic cloisters

Modern stained-glass has replaced the old windows.  They represent the coats of arms of the Plantagenet kings and of the counts of Toulouse, who lie buried in the church.

[Sidebar:  The Plantagenets.  The legendary counts of Anjou were named after the "genêt", the sprig of broom Geoffrey Plantagenet wore in his cap.  He married Matilda, daughter of England's Henry I.  In 1154, when their son Henry - who had married Eleanor of Aquitaine - acceded to the English throne, the Plantagenet dynasty of English kings was founded, fusing French and English destinies for 300 years.]

Effigies of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

The Renaissance doorway of the Chapter-house

Romanesque kitchen, or Evraud's Tower

Pepperpot chimneys top the towers of the kitchen, restored in the 20th century. 

Legend has it that it was, in olden times, the lair of a brigand, who used to light a beacon after dark to lure on travellers who had lost their way in the forest, to rob them undisturbed of their belongings.  More prosaically, it is nothing but the old kitchen of the monastery, the only one of the Romanesque period still existing in France.







It is an octagonal tower roofed with overlapping flags laid out like inverted scales.  Its pattern allows the rain to fall in a scattered pattern rather than all in one spot, which would deteriorate the more porous walls.

Inside view of kitchen chimneys

Karl is walking on the "Belvedere", a temporary modern art form that allows walkers to see the inner courtyard of the cloister from various heights and angles.

The monastic era ended with the French Revolution.  It was only with the arrival of Napoleon that the Abbey was converted into a penitentiary, ensuring its survival.  The first prisoners arrived in 1814 and eventually numbered 2000.  During WWII, the Vichy government used the Abbey to imprison French Resistance fighters.

Gardens

Outside the abbey, there are multi levels of gardens, with some plants representing what would have been available during those days.

Le Moulin de Crevant

We discovered a lovely little restaurant in Thouars, on the edge of the river Thouet, that we didn't know about two years ago.  Like "Trompe Souris", it's also an old mill, but this one did grind wheat.  There's a muesum attached and a big event coming up where we'll be able to tour the machinery inside and read up on the history.

While enjoying a nice light lunch, we can hear the water rushing, watch a few fishermen cast their lines, and appreciate those lazy ducks just basking in the sun.

The view is great, but my view across the table is also very good.  Isn't that a handsome man sharing this journey with me?

Trompe Souris

With just enough cloud cover to make the 27 degrees bearable, we ventured towards Airvault.  We quite possibly saw the smallest market in existence, but oh, such a beautiful setting in this arched medieval courtyard located smack in the centre of town. 

Artisan soap

Arched market in Airvault

The market is large enough to sell most regular fare and some specialties: fish, round zucchini balls (which I had never seen before), seasonal white asparagus, and wonderful artisan soaps which I just couldn't resist!  I bought Ylang-Ylang, Vanilla, Karité, Anis and Bourrache.

We then visited the old Abbey and its distinction is its "cylinder organ", which doesn't take up much space at all.  I once had a small jewelry box that I would wind up and a little ballerina would dance; that was a cylinder music box also. The air was musty and damp, stirring memories of ancient days.

Old Abbey

Cylinder Organ

By the time Karl finished his walkabout and I had explored the local bookstore, where I bought "7 ans après" by Guillaume Musso, it was time to have some lunch.  We headed to Luvay, a small town just a few km away, to the "Trompe Souris Café".  The name is very interesting in that it translates roughly to "Deceiving the Mice Café".   The restaurant's setting is an old mill, but there was never any grain ground in this mill.  They used it to grind other products which were not consumable, so when the rodents arrived, there was nothing to eat!

But we had lots to eat.  Chicken Parisienne and Chocolate Fondant for dessert, with a glass of wine to add to the enjoyment. 

Rushing water next to the mill

Karl enjoying the scenery

The setting was so very pleasant and tranquil, with the chatter of birds in the trees and ducks waddling on the shore.

Enjoying my dessert!

Lucien Paul Gobeil

July 8, 1950 - May 24, 2012

The news arrived, not unexpected, but still weighing heavy.

My brother Luc had cancer.  Despite numerous surgeries and interventions, this dreaded disease took his life, as it did Dad's, and Mom's, and many other relatives.

Luc lived big.  He worked hard, played hard, and never flinched at what life sent his way.  He made fortunes, lost fortunes, and spent every waking moment in pursuit of learning something new.  He was a barrel of a man, chopping trees, cutting stone, designing and building his own eco home.  Nothing was beyond his abilities, and if he had never tried his hand at something before, he read up on it and gave it his best shot.

He loved the land, the tender tendrils, the blooms, the berries, the fruit trees and the forest.  He loved to watch the sky and the clouds.  He anticipated the arrival of his birds every spring, and the curious wildlife that roamed his land.  His cathedral was built of mighty oaks and winding paths, the song of birds his choir.

I will miss you, my big brother, we who were the closest in age.  I will think of you as my Grizzly Adams with that big beard, and remember those times we walked on Vancouver Island to visit the new lambs and stopped along the way to eat those first sweet strawberries of the season.  You have given me so many beautiful memories, and best of all, the gift of you.

Be at peace now.  You will dwell in my heart forever.

O Ring

Rain on and off, cool breezes, grey skies - the perfect weather to stay indoors and read, catch up on our sleep, or do the odd little job around the house. 

Karl is a man of many talents, so today he decided to put on his plumber's hat and fix the leaky tap in the bathroom.  Not a big job, as long as you know where to find the needed parts.  And providing you know how to explain yourself in French!

Yollande, our new acquaintance from Le Café des Arts, told us that the hardware store, or "quincaillerie", is part of Weldom, home of the handyman, the "bricoleur".  So off we went to explore this huge store which carries everything you can think of.

There is your:

chicken run

rabbits

birds

colourful fish

and apartment gardener's plot.

Oh yes, we were here to find an "O ring" for the faucet.

I speak French fluently, but I don't have a plumber's vocabulary, so I resorted to sign language and a trick that Alzheimer patients often use: describing what they want without saying the actual word.  Thank goodness there were props to demonstrate what we needed.

 We now know that an "O Ring" is called "un joint".  There was definitely a variety of sizes to choose from!

We also had a second set of house keys cut, just so we don't see ourselves revisiting the nightmare from our last trip, when we locked ourselves out of the house!  

You'll be pleased to know that the faucet no longer leaks, the extra set of keys is safely tucked in my purse, and although the rain hasn't abated, we are comfy and cozy in our house, reading and sipping tea.  Ok, sipping wine too!

Sipping wine can lead to an afternoon nap...