Just plum roasted!

We’ve had a pretty severe canicule (heatwave) in the last two weeks, and it’s taken its toll on our impending plum harvest.

It had looked to be a good crop this year, but the lack of rain and the intense heat has dried most of them out…

…and many have already dropped.

We’ll have to see how the year ends.

Bees and butterflies

Our lavender is now in bloom, and looking stunning again against the white stone of the house. Despite the rather hot weather, we’re also seeing many other flowering plants come into bloom. That means there are plenty more bees and butterflies around the garden, in all shapes, forms, and colours.

I counted four different types of bees on one plant! Now that’s a good sign and simply gorgeous to see.

Chicks

Great excitement this morning, as we discovered the little black redstarts have come back to their nest from last year, and have four newly hatched chicks.

They are in our barn, near where we park the car, so we have to be very careful not to disturb them too much. Simply beautiful.

Cool pool!

When the temperature reaches 40°C, and we don’t want to do anything but hide indoors or stay in the shade, it’s time to take the slow, hot walk to the top of the hill, where the pool awaits.

There are definitely times when the pool can seem like a lot of work, but on days like these, it’s worth it.

Cooling down

Our trip to Langres had been very pleasant, it is a beautiful little old town, with crumbling buildings displaying a faded glory. There is noticeable investment into the ancient ramparts, which are now almost all intact, and completely surround the town. It had been hot, but we’d made the most of the glorious weather, and enjoyed a slower pace of life.

Now we were back home, and Brian wanted to check on the pool, so I suggested we head up there for an evening cup of tea. We were rewarded with a fabulous sunset.

The sun was actually setting behind us, but the reflection on the clouds in front of us was simply gorgeous.

Simply stunning.

Langres

We enjoyed an ice cream for lunch, under the cool Lime trees in the centre of town. Tea and ice cream are surprisingly good together on a very hot day.

In the afternoon we headed to the musée de Diderot.

Diderot was a leading figure of the ‘enlightenment’, along with other philosophers such as Voltaire, D’Alembert, and Montesquieu. Along with D’Alembert, he was the creator of the first encyclopaedia, which was published in 1752. The enlightenment, also known as the ‘Age of Reason’, was a movement that stood against superstition and faith, and instead promoted understanding through science and logic.

In France, the group were known as the ‘Lumières’.

The museum was a fascinating, well presented, collection of exhibits. Well worth a look if you are visiting the town. We both enjoy these little glimpses into French history, and try to understand how they fit into what would have been happening in the UK at the same time, such as Johnson writing the first dictionary.

There were lots more things to see and do around Langres, and, no doubt, we’ll do those on another trip. For now, we were very happy with our little interlude, and ready to head home.

Sanctuary

Following coffee the temperature had started to rise, so what better place to visit than the beautiful cathedral. It had a real presence in the centre of town.

Apart from the respite from the heat, it was a quiet sanctuary for a moment of reflection. I always say I’m not religious, but I truly find a moment of peace, and a sense of calming, in a place of worship.

There were some rather beautiful frescoes around the walls…

…and a sculpture that was a little too realistic for me.

Langres, early risers

We decided to get up a little earlier for us today, as we knew it was going to be a real scorcher of a day.

We had checked the map of Langres out, and decided to start the walk around the ramparts just behind the tourist office, until we were level with Diderot’s statue, where we knew we could get some coffee.

We were rewarded with some stunning views across the valley, and darting swallows that seemed to fly just over our heads.

There was lots of information about the town displayed as we strolled around the ramparts, and we were suitably impressed by the little funicular, which you could take from either the bottom car park, or the one half way up.

Now that’s how to encourage people not to drive into a town.

Le Jardin de Silière

Today we were heading to Langres for a couple of nights, it’s about a 90 minute drive from us. We’ve never been there before, but I’ve been reading lots about it, and there’s lots to see and do.

First we stopped off at ‘le jardin de Silière’ in Cohons. It’s just 10 minutes from Langres, and only a short diversion from our route. The property is privately owned, and for €8 you can visit their rather beautiful gardens.

We were welcomed by their head gardener—maybe their only gardener, although he did say he had an apprentice. He provided us with a printed, laminated sheet in English that explained the history and structure of the gardens. Then he showed us where to begin and what route to follow.

It was around 36°C, so we spent as little time as possible in the sunshine, and made our way to the shaded lime tree walkway.

At the top of the garden there was a spring, which flowed down towards the house, and provided natural pressure for the fountains on the way.

Part of it had also been diverted to flow through the woodland, which provided interesting little streams and waterfalls.

Simply delightful on a hot day.

Within the woodland were some extremely old trees—250 years plus—and some extremely tall, and unusual, trees. It made for a rather interesting little escape from the heat of the day.

Chocolate mousse

Mmm, yummy chocolate mousse for dessert!

It’s such a simple recipe, and now it’s much easier to make with my ‘Bain Marie’ to melt the chocolate in. It’s a double layered jug, which has an opening to put hot water in. You can then heat it up further on the stove. No messing around trying to heat a bowl up over a saucepan of boiling water.

Anyway, the mousse: all you need to do is melt 200g of chocolate, I prefer dark chocolate, in your Bain Marie. Then separate 6 eggs, making sure not to get any yolk in the whites. Whisk the yolks until they are whitish in colour, then separately whisk the whites to soft peaks.

Fold the slightly cooled chocolate into the yolks, careful not to scramble or cook the eggs. You need to be careful, but you also need to be quick, as the chocolate will immediately start to firm up. Then fold in a couple of spoonfuls of the whisked whites with a large metal spoon, this will loosen the mix again. Remember to fold, and not stir, as that would knock all the air out. Then fold the loosened chocolate mix into the bowl of remaining whites. Spoon into your serving bowls, and chill for two hours.

Voila! Perfect little clouds of chocolate mousse. I used little champagne coupes, and served juicy fresh strawberries on top. Delicious.

Basil

I’m loving all the different basils I’ve bought from the market, Greek basil, Thai basil, red basil, and ordinary green basil.

They all taste a little bit different, and can all be used in salads or to cook with. Thai basil is great used in a green chicken curry, whilst Greek basil is good with stuffed tomatoes, or a simple salad of feta, cucumber, black olives, and fresh sweet tomatoes. Sprinkle with a good olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

Moon landing

Wow! The moon last night was spectacular, and it had a super bright star right near it. Did anyone else see it?

Flowers

It was time to say cheerio to all our fabulous friends, who had travelled over from the UK. They had all helped us so much over the weekend, and amongst it all we had shared some very lovely time together, laughing, joking, eating, drinking, partying, chatting, and generally catching up on our lives.

Pam was keen to do one last job for me before jumping in the car to head back to Calais. She collected all the vases together that we’d prepared for the party, and freshened up the flowers for a beautiful, delicate display, in the new vase I’d bought in Sens.

They look absolutely gorgeous in the hallway, which, if we keep the door closed, is keeping quite cool., even in this 38°C heat.

I’m also loving the simple look in the salle à manger, using some beautiful blue wine bottles, that I’d found a while back at a vide grenier, to display some of the other greenery from the weekend.

Simply beautiful.

Champagne artist of the year

We were all ready for a day of rest and relaxation on Sunday, and what better place to have that than up at our pool.

Brian had other ideas though. First a game of water volleyball. The teams were easy to pick, tall people in the deep end, shorter ones in the shallow.

After a sparkling refreshment break, he then organised us in a little painting challenge—‘Champagne Artist of the Year’.

It was great fun. We’d asked everyone to bring an ‘Artists hat’ with them, to help them get in the mood.

Then Brian introduced them to using acrylic paints, and encouraged us to all pick up a brush and paint a view of the landscape. To paint what we saw.

It was amazing to see all the different styles and views. Such a fun thing to do together.

I think we all did pretty well.

Party time

On Saturday evening, we had invited some of our local friends around to celebrate Brian’s birthday.

We’d spent the day preparing the garden, putting up bunting and fairy lights, setting up the tables and chairs, and arranging flowers. It was wonderful, everyone just got involved, and made the house and garden look amazing.

The champagne flowed and everyone enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. It was a fabulous evening, lots of chatter between old friends, and some new.

It was an evening we will be talking about for many years to come.

The old gang

We had some friends arriving for the weekend, hence why I haven’t been able to make time to blog, apologies for that.

On our first evening we’d booked to go to l’Union, one of our favourite local restaurants.

Our aperitif was a delicious new cuvée from a local producer Paul-Bastien Clergeot, in Polisot.

He has produced this organic champagne using Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. He has preserved the purity of the fruit, with fresh apple and citrus flavours, and a touch of white flowers. A perfect start to a meal.

Our dinner was equally as delicious, with a choice of pork or veal served with seasonal vegetables, simple but delightful.

Definitely one of our favourite restaurants.

Life list

I was looking forward to our coffee break at ‘the garden room’.

The view across to the church is delightful. But the wonky arch was a bit of a distraction, so Brian had straightened it up last week. We were happy with where we had placed it, so he went ahead and concreted it in. My friend, Lan, had bought me two Jasmines to grow over it, unfortunately one did not survive the harsh winter, but with a little tlc the second one is starting to flourish. I think next year it will look beautiful.

I let Brian know I had brought some coffee up.

As we sat, a little weary from our morning’s gardening, the birds in the garden were giving us a delightful medley of chirping and singing. So with our coffees I decided to put my ‘Merlin’ app on. Within a minute it had identified 7 birds in the area.

Within 10 minutes it had identified 19 birds, 3 of which were new to our life list. We spent some moments trying to spot them. It’s such a fun and informative little app, and a great way to learn about new birds.

We are not bird watchers, but there is something to be said for watching the wildlife, especially in your garden. It’s a precious moment of calm.

Gardening

We woke to a beautiful, bright day—however a little cool, around 19°c. Ideal for a day in the garden.

The slope and walled garden both needed mowing and strimming, so we had quite a bit to do. We put on our work clothes, and got started nice and early.

Brian began in the walled garden, strimming first, before mowing and edging the beds. I started up the hill dead-heading some of the irises and the roses.

After that, I went to get the electric mower from my new garden room.

It’s just so easy now to take the big mower out and begin straight away. It’s also so lovely having somewhere I can sit and look at the garden, especially the little containers I’ve collected whilst visiting vide greniers, which I have now planted to go around it.

Once he’d finished the walled garden, Brian came up to help me on the hill, bringing his trusty big strimmer with him.

It makes short work of the areas the mower can’t easily reach.

Just a bit of weeding and pruning left, and our work for the day was done. It was a very long day, but the gardens now look amazing. Ready for a houseful of guests this weekend.

Singing

We had to nip out this afternoon, and on the way back we just took a moment to soak in the beautiful view across the fields, and admire the expansive skyline.

As we switched off the engine we could hear the skylarks singing up high. You have to look really hard to see them, just little pin pricks in the blue sky.

These delightful little moments make my heart sing.

Preparing to fly

Looking out of our bathroom window, Brian spotted a little family of sparrows.

The two chicks are waiting patiently on the edge for the day mum & dad say they can fly.

For now, though, they sit back and just wait to be fed.

Simply adorable.