Animal life: There was a large toad clambering around in the rockery by our car space a couple of nights ago. Also a couple of days ago a large group of sanglier (wild pigs) were hanging around in the car park behind Pat's work when I arrived to pick him up. The pack (what is the collective noun for pigs?) seemed to consist of a big mama, a couple of smaller daughters and a whole swag of piglets. As they trailed off into the pine trees we could see the last two were lame in their back legs. They were all quite dark and bristly. People here reckon their numbers have increased because there are less hunters. Certainly residents with gardens near forests regularly have them dug up. And I saw Australian "sanglier" being sold in a frozen foods shop here!
I also just remembered that on one of our walks in the Dordogne we encountered a hillside so covered with wild garlic we could smell it.
Today I cooked baked beans. It took more than 4 and a half hours. They will have to be better than the canned variety, which are hard to get here.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Auvergne Trip
Pat's company closed down for French National Day (Bastille Day) and the two days between it and the weekend. We have just come back from the Auvergne area (le Massif Central)- about 500kms from home.
14/7 We parted from the A7 motorway towards Le Puy-en-Velay. The first campsite was in Gaudet, a very small village on a river, just near the start of the Loire. We walked to the only hotel restaurant and had a decent menu. We were persuaded to have marinated strawberries and cream even though we were both full, probably the best bit!
15/7 Explored the Loire valley and the Livradois-Forez area. Went into Le Puy-en-Velay.
Above Le Puy-en-Velay
The cathedral has Oriental and Byzantine influences and was built in the 12th century. We walked around the old religious centre and up to the huge red painted Notre Dame statue.
Drove through La Chaise-Dieu with another pilgrimage church. Even small villages on the St Jacques de Campostelle (Portugal) routes have large cathedrals! Campsite on small Plan d'eau (reservoir) amongst pine trees near Champagnac-le-Vieux. No dinner as Pat was still recovering from a virus that gave him a fever and aching muscles.
16/7 Tried to find a geocache in the forest off a mountain bike trail from St-Germain-l'Herm, near a cascade but had no luck after searching for 20 minutes. Also managed a short walk to a dolmen in a field near Issoire. Campsite above Chambon-sur-Lac. We found the nearby St Nectaire area, an old spa holiday town, to be a bit dead so ended up in a pizzeria by the lake. We tried Forme d'Auvergne and cantal on our pizzas. However, the tourist office in St Nectaire had earlier been helpful with brochures in English.
17/7 Interesting visit to a chateau at Cordes. Bussed up the top of the Puy de Dome after visiting the Parc de Volcans exposition on, you guessed it, volcanoes (and man, since men have been here thousands of years). Campsite above Mont Dore after taking the cable car up to near the summit of Puy de Sancy (1885m). Lovely dinner in town at a traditional Auvergnate restaurant. Lots of local cheese featured. For entree, I had a feuillette with Bleu d'Avergne then a steak with wine sauce, Pat had a porc and cabbage dish "pottée". We finished off with fromage blanc and tarte and creme brulée. The restaurant was entertained by a traditionally dressed woman with a medieval instrument, singing and playing.
I was bitten all over by tiny midges as I got undressed outside the tent in the dark. And I really mean all over - between my legs, bottom, small of my back, arms, feet, next to my eyes - ugh! I only discovered they were there when I shone the torch inside the tent and started to squash the ones I could see.
18/7 Rain began during the morning. Pouring as we left so we set off south, past Lac Pavin, a volcanic lake. From Condat we encoutered a "fun run" going up the hill in the pouring rain! Stopped in Egliseneuve d'Entraigues for the Maison de Fomage and found a market fête going on despite the rain. Stopped in St Flour for lunch and a walk around. The Tour de France had been there a couple of days before. This perched town looks better from a distance as close up it's a bit colourless. After a short stint on a free motorway we drove down the N106 through some lovely countryside and ended up in Nimes held up for twenty minutes by the end of the Tour de France road closures. Made it back home at 8pm.
Spending some time now annointing my midge spots with antihistamine cream. Also Pat has passed the feverish virus onto me so not feeling too chipper today (Tuesday 20/7).
14/7 We parted from the A7 motorway towards Le Puy-en-Velay. The first campsite was in Gaudet, a very small village on a river, just near the start of the Loire. We walked to the only hotel restaurant and had a decent menu. We were persuaded to have marinated strawberries and cream even though we were both full, probably the best bit!
15/7 Explored the Loire valley and the Livradois-Forez area. Went into Le Puy-en-Velay.
Above Le Puy-en-Velay
The cathedral has Oriental and Byzantine influences and was built in the 12th century. We walked around the old religious centre and up to the huge red painted Notre Dame statue.
Drove through La Chaise-Dieu with another pilgrimage church. Even small villages on the St Jacques de Campostelle (Portugal) routes have large cathedrals! Campsite on small Plan d'eau (reservoir) amongst pine trees near Champagnac-le-Vieux. No dinner as Pat was still recovering from a virus that gave him a fever and aching muscles.
16/7 Tried to find a geocache in the forest off a mountain bike trail from St-Germain-l'Herm, near a cascade but had no luck after searching for 20 minutes. Also managed a short walk to a dolmen in a field near Issoire. Campsite above Chambon-sur-Lac. We found the nearby St Nectaire area, an old spa holiday town, to be a bit dead so ended up in a pizzeria by the lake. We tried Forme d'Auvergne and cantal on our pizzas. However, the tourist office in St Nectaire had earlier been helpful with brochures in English.
17/7 Interesting visit to a chateau at Cordes. Bussed up the top of the Puy de Dome after visiting the Parc de Volcans exposition on, you guessed it, volcanoes (and man, since men have been here thousands of years). Campsite above Mont Dore after taking the cable car up to near the summit of Puy de Sancy (1885m). Lovely dinner in town at a traditional Auvergnate restaurant. Lots of local cheese featured. For entree, I had a feuillette with Bleu d'Avergne then a steak with wine sauce, Pat had a porc and cabbage dish "pottée". We finished off with fromage blanc and tarte and creme brulée. The restaurant was entertained by a traditionally dressed woman with a medieval instrument, singing and playing.
I was bitten all over by tiny midges as I got undressed outside the tent in the dark. And I really mean all over - between my legs, bottom, small of my back, arms, feet, next to my eyes - ugh! I only discovered they were there when I shone the torch inside the tent and started to squash the ones I could see.
18/7 Rain began during the morning. Pouring as we left so we set off south, past Lac Pavin, a volcanic lake. From Condat we encoutered a "fun run" going up the hill in the pouring rain! Stopped in Egliseneuve d'Entraigues for the Maison de Fomage and found a market fête going on despite the rain. Stopped in St Flour for lunch and a walk around. The Tour de France had been there a couple of days before. This perched town looks better from a distance as close up it's a bit colourless. After a short stint on a free motorway we drove down the N106 through some lovely countryside and ended up in Nimes held up for twenty minutes by the end of the Tour de France road closures. Made it back home at 8pm.
Spending some time now annointing my midge spots with antihistamine cream. Also Pat has passed the feverish virus onto me so not feeling too chipper today (Tuesday 20/7).
Thursday, April 15, 2004
We're back in the week after Easter. The long weekend (only Monday) we spent in the Vaucluse region of Provence.
Saturday we drove to Vaison-la-Romaine, found a campground in nearby St Marcellin then drove into the town and walked around. First up the hill to the ruined chateau cum fort, through the old medieval town then across the Roman pont to the opposite side of the river Ouveze. The town had a massive flood in 1992 so there has been rebuilding but the extensive Roman ruins are still there. We didn't pay to go in but walked around and looked through the fence at the impressive amphitheatre.
We missed out on a meal in a rather rustic looking fixed-menu restaurant in the medieval part so opted to try Morroccan for a change. Entrees of cumin-spiced tomato, eggplant and zucchini and a pancake (brique) with chicken and sweet sauce were followed by couscous (of course) with beef and prunes for Pat and meatballs for me, again in a tomato sauce.
The first night in the tent was very cold, even after taking a short walk along the riverbed.
The following day dawned clear (although we woke up after 9.30!) so we drove up Mont Ventoux after a stop in Malucene for bread and a drink. Ventoux is the highest mountain in Provence (2010m) with its own ecosystem. True to its name it was blowing a cold wind up there and snow dusted the trees higher up, above the road closure. A short walk away from the road gave us a slightly better view of the ski slopes (now bare) and the various towers on the summit. The view off the mountain was a bit hazy. After a picnic lunch on the way down we drove through the fields back around to Vaison-la-Romaine via another old village, Seguret. There we admired the little paved alleys and the strangely woven plane trees over the carpark.
We found another campground in a different direction from Vaison and finally found one of the Michelin-guide-recommended places to eat. Dinner was a three course menu in a busy upstairs room next to a tiled shaft down to the floor below and a fake staircase up the wall to an old door in the mezzanine. I started witha goats' cheese tart and Pat had a rabbit(?) terrine ,which was a bit bland and complete with bones. My main was sauteed porc in a mustard cream sauce and Pat's was baby goat (chevreau); chocolate gateau and fraise et cafe glace for dessert.
After a warmer nights rest and a shower we left to drive home via a few more stops. We found an interesting Chateau in Suze-la-Rousse. The wind was now blowing freezing cold. Before lunch we found the trogolodyte village of Barry near Bollene and walked around its many buildings and looked at the view of the Rhone. Back-tracking a little we found a picnic table in some woodland and had a rather chilly meal. Last stop was Orange where we found the amazing Roman relics of a triumphal arch and huge theatre. The theatre had a very interesting audio tour although the wind whistling through didn't make one want to hang around. The remaining marbles collected from it were in the museum opposite. There was a very nice oil painting of the port of Nice in there too. Pat tried unsuccessfully to drive me past the Chateauneuf des Papes winery (with a tiled roof he claimed to remember) but only succeeded in finding the chateau in the town of the same name.
We headed back on the motorway (after we found it and after we negotiated the hazard of filling up the car and getting back into a traffic jam or two).
All in all an enjoyable trip.
Saturday we drove to Vaison-la-Romaine, found a campground in nearby St Marcellin then drove into the town and walked around. First up the hill to the ruined chateau cum fort, through the old medieval town then across the Roman pont to the opposite side of the river Ouveze. The town had a massive flood in 1992 so there has been rebuilding but the extensive Roman ruins are still there. We didn't pay to go in but walked around and looked through the fence at the impressive amphitheatre.
We missed out on a meal in a rather rustic looking fixed-menu restaurant in the medieval part so opted to try Morroccan for a change. Entrees of cumin-spiced tomato, eggplant and zucchini and a pancake (brique) with chicken and sweet sauce were followed by couscous (of course) with beef and prunes for Pat and meatballs for me, again in a tomato sauce.
The first night in the tent was very cold, even after taking a short walk along the riverbed.
The following day dawned clear (although we woke up after 9.30!) so we drove up Mont Ventoux after a stop in Malucene for bread and a drink. Ventoux is the highest mountain in Provence (2010m) with its own ecosystem. True to its name it was blowing a cold wind up there and snow dusted the trees higher up, above the road closure. A short walk away from the road gave us a slightly better view of the ski slopes (now bare) and the various towers on the summit. The view off the mountain was a bit hazy. After a picnic lunch on the way down we drove through the fields back around to Vaison-la-Romaine via another old village, Seguret. There we admired the little paved alleys and the strangely woven plane trees over the carpark.
We found another campground in a different direction from Vaison and finally found one of the Michelin-guide-recommended places to eat. Dinner was a three course menu in a busy upstairs room next to a tiled shaft down to the floor below and a fake staircase up the wall to an old door in the mezzanine. I started witha goats' cheese tart and Pat had a rabbit(?) terrine ,which was a bit bland and complete with bones. My main was sauteed porc in a mustard cream sauce and Pat's was baby goat (chevreau); chocolate gateau and fraise et cafe glace for dessert.
After a warmer nights rest and a shower we left to drive home via a few more stops. We found an interesting Chateau in Suze-la-Rousse. The wind was now blowing freezing cold. Before lunch we found the trogolodyte village of Barry near Bollene and walked around its many buildings and looked at the view of the Rhone. Back-tracking a little we found a picnic table in some woodland and had a rather chilly meal. Last stop was Orange where we found the amazing Roman relics of a triumphal arch and huge theatre. The theatre had a very interesting audio tour although the wind whistling through didn't make one want to hang around. The remaining marbles collected from it were in the museum opposite. There was a very nice oil painting of the port of Nice in there too. Pat tried unsuccessfully to drive me past the Chateauneuf des Papes winery (with a tiled roof he claimed to remember) but only succeeded in finding the chateau in the town of the same name.
We headed back on the motorway (after we found it and after we negotiated the hazard of filling up the car and getting back into a traffic jam or two).
All in all an enjoyable trip.
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