Meurville

A friend of ours arrived last night, so today we drove over to Meurville. It’s a small but beautiful village tucked away in the vineyards about 9km from Bar-Sur-Aube, a 25 minute drive for us.

We wanted to visit a couple of small Champagne houses we knew there. We had not called ahead, but wanted to just drop by and see if we could do a degustation.

We rang the bell at the first one, Jérome Cothias, but no answer. However, another potential client had arrived, so she said she would telephone the number on the door. ‘5 minutes and I will arrive’, was the answer. We used the time to practice a bit more french on the lady.
Before long we were sitting in their rather chaotic tasting room, I say that, as there were bits and pieces everywhere – old advertising boards, Champagne paraphernalia, a display cart now full of a range of boxed bottles and glasses covered in hearts for valentines. I love these little boutique producers, that work so hard and have to know a bit about everything. Not just making wine, but also selling and marketing their wines. We have bought from Cothias before and particularly like their Rosé de Saingnée.

Florence, the lady who had come out of the vineyard to do the tasting for us, offered us their nature to try. This has no dosage in it, so far less sugar, which is becoming more appealing to many nowadays. I have to say I prefer my Champagne with the dosage.
We tried a couple more, then made our decisions. They sell reasonably priced Magnums, which we both bought.

The second producer was not available, which was probably good, as we had already purchased about a dozen bottles.

It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, and I’d popped a little picnic in the car, so we drove up to a local point de vue and enjoyed eating and chatting overlooking the vines. Idyllic.

The vineyard closest to us in this direction has been ‘grubbed-up’. That means they will be replanting it this year.

Coiffure

Yesterday we drove to a delightful little town called Montbard. It’s actually not that little, as it does have a train station, which the TGV from Paris runs through. It’s about an hours drive from where we live, and Paris is just over an hour further on the TGV.

We were there as Brian had an appointment. We parked up in the centre of town, and took a leisurely walk to where the appointment was. No, we were not off to the barbers, but to the dermatologists.

The clinic was in an old building down a narrow street. There was a shiny brass plaque on the door, so we knew we were in the right place. We entered and sat in the waiting room, with one other person. Docteur Gras didn’t keep us waiting long, and she soon popped her head round the door and invited M Simpson to follow her. We had agreed I would go in as well, as we knew this would be a French conversation, and two heads were better than one.
The surgery was a small, white painted room, with two chairs on one side of the desk, and a little stool for Dr Gras on the other. There was a couch next to this, with various pieces of medical equipment. It all looked very clean, but a little old and tired. Dr Gras made us feel at ease, and we were soon answering a few basic questions. She then asked to see the moles that we were concerned about. “Pas problem”, she exclaimed, and again “pas problem”, basically ‘No problem’. What a relief, she could see we had both been concerned and were now smiling at the news.
She then indicated to a pot in the corner, and asked Brian if he wanted them removed. We weren’t quite sure what this entailed, and I’m not certain Brian would have said yes if I’d not been there. In a flick of the head she had a cotton bud in her hand and was wrapping it with more cotton wool, then dipping it into her pot of liquid nitrogen, to be dabbed onto the moles. “Relax”, she whispered, in her now broken English. I think Brian was a little overwhelmed with the whole experience by now. Between us though we kept him calm, and minutes later we were learning what needed to happen for the after care.

All in all a very good visit, to such a delightful and very professional docteur. As we left and walked back up the street, this time with a spring in our step, we noticed an amazing church silhoutted against the bright blue sky. What a gorgeous day.

The bidding

The auction was being run from a conference room at the Hôtel de Ville, which was just a short walk from the house viewing. It was also running live via an online feed and via telephone bids, so there was quite a lot of activity.

For lunch we took ourselves off to a café, where we had time to review our approach to the bidding. We considered everything, and came to our decisions. We had a plan, and we knew what we were really interested in, and what we were prepared to go to on price. Our list of lots, of which there was 172, had been clearly marked so that we would not get confused. We had about 6 or 7 lots that we were truly interested in, and they were spread across the whole sale…so it was going to be a long afternoon that would need concentration.

We’d agreed that Brian would do the bidding.

We settled ourselves in for the ride, extremely aware that the whole sale would be in french! What could possibly go wrong?

Our first lot came up, a pair of rather beautiful table candles dripping with glass crystals – the kind of thing I love. The guide price was €100–150, and we had decided we’d go to €200 at most. Brian sat up ready to get going. The online bids raced in, and our hopes of an early win vanished, as the price quickly rocketed to over €550! We settled back down, as our next lot was a little while away. We eagerly watched the bidding of the other lots, diligently writing down the sale prices as we tried our best to keep track of the bidding in french. The guide prices were being smashed one after the other. A collection of naively carved wooden fish went for €3,500, about €4,300 with commission. It was madness.

Then a lot came up that we’d left off the list, in favour of our preferred lots. It was an old fire screen with beautiful material, quite worn, but very lovely. The bidding started at €70, and then went nowhere. Brian whispered to me “Are you interested?”, but I couldn’t answer quick enough. As Brian went to make a bid anyway, the auctioneer reduced the price to get it moving. “Quarante”, he boomed – €40. “Oui”, shouted Brian, his pen in the air. The bidding stalled for a moment, then the hammer went down…we won! I was so happy, I’d wanted the fire screen, but I had abandoned hope to focus on the others. Bargain!

Bolstered by our win we bid on a cast iron umbrella stand, but that too went far higher than we had hoped. Lot after lot escaped us, and late into the afternoon our final lot came up, a walnut book shelf with glass doors. The guide price was €60–80, but it was pretty clear it was going to go over. As we had only won one of our lots, I had the feeling Brian was going to go for this one. The bidding started. An online bid came in first for €90, which was quickly raised to €100 by someone to our left in the room. The online bid came back, €110. Brian hadn’t moved. I thought he had probably dropped out, as €100 had been our agreed limit. “€120”, broadcast the auctioneer, pointing to the person to our left. Then the screen showed €130. We looked to our left, and the person made a hand motion declaring they were out. Brian turned to the front, and nodded. “140”, barked the auctioneer, pointing to Brian. I got excited, the game was on. The screen changed again. “150”, he said and looked at Brian, who nodded. “160 dans la salle”, which meant the bid was in the room. But the online bid kept coming, €170, another raise from Brian, €180. Again the screen updated, €190. The auctioneer looked at Brian, and there was a heart stopping pause…then a little nod. “€200”. For a brief few seconds that seemed ages the screen froze. Then the sound of the hammer. “Yes”, I said. We’d won the book shelf.

I have to say that it was great fun, and educational in so many ways, not least as a test for our french, especially our numbers. What a great day out.

Collection day is on Friday, so we will be picking them up then.

The viewing

It was a rainy grey Sunday morning. Earlier this week a friend had visited us who used to live in our village - she now lives in Essoyes. She had not seen our house since we’d completed the renovation of the bedrooms, and was looking forward to see what we had done. She loved it.

We chatted about where we’d bought some of our furniture, I think she liked our eclectic look. Whilst she was with us she shared the details of an auction website which she likes to use. I was keen to take a look at it, so was soon exploring what they had for sale. I came across an auction that was happening this weekend in Châtillon-Sur-Seine. How exciting was that, this was literally 30 minutes drive away. So this morning we took a drive to Châtillon to view the contents of an old maison de mâitre in the centre of the town.

Prior to attending the auction we needed to register online to receive our bidding number, just in case we wanted to buy anything. Once we had registered we were given the exact details of where the auction would be.

We arrived at the Maison for the pre-sale viewing, which was very interesting…to say the least.

It has to be said that there are some very unusual items.

Just waiting now for the bidding to start…find out tomorrow how it all goes, I just have to remember not to get carried away with my bidding paddle!

Simplify, simplify, simplify

Before moving to France Brian worked in advertising and graphic design. In the later stage of his career he was ‘Creative lead’, which meant he lead the running of a creative department, not so much hands-on as he was in the early days. He often tells me that his team would say that ‘great design was not about putting more in, but instead about having an idea, and then stripping it back until it was perfect’. Their motto was ‘simplify, simplify, simplify’.

Following a contact from someone for information recently, which we thought was readily available on the website, we realised that maybe we hadn’t been practicing what Brian’s team preached. So today we took some time and sat and reviewed the website. We realised we had committed a cardinal sin…it took too many clicks to reach the information. After our review, Brian went about reducing the number of pages on our site, and making the important information clearer and more abundant. So we now have a revamped website, which is far simpler to use.

Let us know what you think by visiting the new homepage and linked pages, we think it’s a lot easier to use, but would love to hear your thoughts.

Just in time

So pleased the pellet man came this morning. We had expected the pellets to last until next week, but the cold spell had meant we were using more than expected, and were about to run out any day now.

We do also have a log fire which we light in the evenings to sit by. We enjoy everything about having a log fire, the warmth it gives when walking into the room, the smell of the burning wood and the dancing flames and crackles. Whichever one of us is free will light the fire, it’s not a chore, it’s the start of the evening. A time to nurture the young fire and think about the day, before sitting down with a drink to relax.

Must I?

There is some amazing architecture in Dijon, of all era’s. I love how the shop fronts are fitting into the buildings with consideration. The roof of the building below on the left is just potty, I love it, it looks like it’s just landed. Whilst the one on the right has been covered in detailed carvings, and I’m not sure they could have fitted anymore on if they tried. Delightful to discover these little historical gems.

We were actually now looking for the famous mustard shops. I think you would have heard of the famous Dijon mustard, a smooth, delicious, hot accompaniment that is very versatile and can be flavoured. The mustard can be used to help provide a layer of flavouring to meats, sauces, or vinaigrettes. I’m kind of thinking that the mustard was more of a by product to the wine industry, rather than a desire to do something with mustard seeds. This needs more research, so I will share more on this at a later date. What I do know though is that the seeds are mixed with wine or vinegar to make the condiment we all know, and I love.

We eventually found the two main mustard shops in Dijon, the first one was Edmond Fallot, the last independent family mustard mill in Burgundy, whose factory is in Beaune, about an hours drive south of Dijon. The shop here is behind the church of Notre Dame, and has a vast array of different flavoured mustards and vinegars. I chose just one mustard, a mix of dill and lemon.

We then found the Maille mustard shop. A beautiful shop front with lots of tasty goodies inviting me to go in.

Maille mustard, and other products, are sold all over the world, and a vast selection can be bought in french supermarkets. However, it was nice to buy a few jars from here to take home.

Dijon

We wandered back to the brasserie where we had enjoyed coffee, and decided their plat du jour sounded very tasty, roast chicken, vegetables and frites. We then plumped for a chocolate fondant for dessert. It was not only a delicious lunch it was actually a very timely lunch, as whilst we were in there it chucked it down with rain.

Never ones to be deterred by a bit of rain though, we wrapped up and ventured out to explore Dijon. Brian and I had visited Dijon with Mum and Dad about 14 years ago, we had had a beautiful holiday touring around Burgundy with them, and I remember we had popped into Dijon on our way heading back north. Since then it has been pedestrianised around the centre, which has worked really well.

We also strolled through the old part of the city, with it’s beautiful cobbled streets, glistening as the sun was now starting to push through the clouds, and there was a glimmer of blue sky. The beautiful tiled rooftops you can see at the end of the street are a very traditional theme across Burgundy.

There is a beautiful crescent, the main square in front of the Mairie building, which reminded us of some of the crescents in Bath, especially with the light coloured stone used to build with, and the pillars supporting a capita. I’m looking forward on a warm day to come back and sit and enjoy a drink or lunch here whilst soaking up the architecture. It was rather spectacular, and this picture does not do it justice, but a good memory jogger to return.

Whilst exploring the old part of the city, we stumbled across a beautiful old church – the church of Notre Dame (our lady). It was built in the 13th century, and displays some very typical gothic architecture. At the front there are 51 grotesque gargoyles. However, these are not functioning water spouts, but purely decorative. That’s a relief as I think any major downpour and you’d get soaked going to church. The ones which cover the sides are just as grotesque but do function. The church is steeped in history, and inside next to the altar is a wooden statue – Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope). She dates back to the 11th or 12th century, and is believed to be one of the oldest statues of the Virgin in France. The church itself is beautiful, with an amazing vaulted ceiling, so calm and serene. On one side of the church is a beautiful statue of Joan of Arc, a story I want to learn more about, but that will be another day.

Ophthalmologist

It was an early start, on a cold damp Monday morning. We have not had one of them for a long while, an early start that is. The reason we were up at the crack of dawn, and on the road early, was because we had our appointments with the ophthalmologist. Today we would hopefully get our ordonnance’s to be prescribed new glasses. A friend had recommended Docteur Perez in Dijon, which is just under a 2 hour drive from ours, actually about 1 hour 40 minutes, if we take the autoroute. I know that may seem a long way to travel to the opticians, but this optician had been recommended, and you cannot beat a recommendation, especially when you are told he speaks very good English. Normally we will make every effort to speak and understand french, but when it’s to do with our health, it becomes very difficult. So we booked in via the DoctorLib app – which is so easy – and started looking forward to our visit to Dijon.

We arrived in plenty of time, so found somewhere nice for a coffee and enjoyed it with a free croissant.

The clinic was a very modern building, and all the staff were extremely welcoming. We checked in at reception and made our way up to the first floor.

The waiting area was in a central position, with a number of well equipped examination rooms situated around it. First of all we were called to have photographs taken of our eyes, which was done quickly with very modern kit, then we were called for the eye examinations. Once this was complete we were taken together to meet Docteur Perez, who discussed the health of our eyes, and what changes were needed on our glasses to help us see better. We both knew our prescriptions had changed, and were pleased when he presented us with our ordonnance’s, which meant we could now order our glasses officially.

We left the building very pleased with our visit, it had not only been successful, but a really pleasant experience. Next on the list…lunch.

Lemon marmalade

Hot buttered toast, and lashings of sharp lemon marmalade. What a great way to start the day.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon making lemon marmalade. I remember having it for the first time when we’d visited India, about 15 years ago. We’d visited the state of Madhya Pradesh. I’d wanted to visit some silk weaving mills and there was a beautiful old fort to stay at in the town of Maheshwa where we were going. It was all very pleasant, and unlike most of our other trips to India, it was genuinely relaxing, and a lovely memory. So I thought, with the beautiful lemons I’d bought the other day, I’d try and recreate the marmalade.

This is how I did it. First, boil 6 lemons in 2.5 litres of water until the skins are soft – this can take a couple of hours. Remove the lemons, and let them cool slightly. Cut the lemons in half, and remove any pips, tying these up in some muslin to add to the pot later to help set the marmalade. Any juice released at this stage goes back into the water. Make sure you have 1.5 litres of water left in the pan, if it’s over, reduce it down, if it’s under add more water. Slice or chop the lemons, depending on how chunky you like your marmalade, and add these back into the saucepan with the bag of pips, plus 2kg of sugar. Boil for about 20 mins. You can test whether it’s cooked enough by smearing some of the juice onto a cold saucer. If it turns to jelly and wrinkles when you tip it up it’s ready to be spooned out.

You need to spoon the marmalade into pre-sterilised jars, making sure to remove the bag of pips when you come across it. Be careful when spooning the marmalade out, as it is very, very hot. My 6 lemons made 8 jars of marmalade.

Caramelised onions

Onions are so versatile and full of goodness. One thing I like to make with onions, when I have time, are caramelised onions. They will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 4 weeks, and give you a great pot of yummy goodness to dip into. I would have them on top of homemade burgers, pop a spoonful in a casserole, or use on top of some flaky pastry. Roll out the pastry onto a baking sheet, dot a few fork pricks in it, then bake it in the oven for ten minutes with nothing on it. Then spread on your onions. You can then pop back in the oven, as is, for another 10/15 minutes, or you could add some sliced cooked potatoes, cheese, anchovies, or whatever takes your liking.

To make the caramelised onions, first warm some oil and a knob or two of butter in a large pan, then add your sliced onions. I also add some salt at this point and some thyme to taste. The salt helps bring the juices out of the onions, which we need. We want the onions to soften but not to caramelise yet. Pop the lid on the pan, turn the heat to a low simmer and find something else to do, as this takes about an hour. You do need to stir it about every 10 mins, so don’t just forget about them completely.

After an hour, remove the lid and turn the heat up, this is when it will start to caramelise - care not to burn them, just caramelise. It can still take some time depending on how juicy your onions were, so be patient.

They will soon start to take on a nice shade of caramel. When you are happy, turn off the heat, let them cool and pop them into a container and store in the fridge.

I did say you need plenty of time! They’re worth it though.

Friday market

Market day today, so I went to buy my lemons to make lemon marmalade. Six large lemons were 4 euros. Pretty good I thought. I also went to the mushroom stall. They only had about half a tray of brown ‘champignons de Paris’ left, so I asked how much for all of them. There was about a kilo, and she offered them to me for 4 euros, excellent value. Especially when she popped another handful of white ones in.

I then went to the veg stall and bought a 5kg bag of onions for 5 euros, and a very large cauliflower. I have a recipe for cauliflower steaks, which I’d like to try one evening, and with the bits left over I will make some soup. I also picked up a couple of leeks, for a chicken and leek pie tomorrow.

I just love buying the fresh produce in France and discovering new recipes, and the wonderful thing is Brian loves eating them.

Still going strong

When Brian and I first met in the early 90’s we made a rather big purchase for us in those days, we bought some IVAR shelving from IKEA. We wanted to use it as Brian’s bookshelves, as he already had rather a lot of books back then.

Gradually, as the years passed, the shelves have been used in a number of different rooms - the lounge, bedroom our garden room, in the attic and more recently in my laundry room. However, we needed more storage in the atelier, to get some stacked boxes off the floor and emptied. The particular part of the wall we wanted to use for shelving, we realised, suited the IVAR shelving perfectly. The IVAR had seen better days though, and we wanted the shelves to look smart, so Brian got to work on cheering them up.

With a bit of sanding, Brian has made them look as good as new. Who would have thought, when we bought them 30 years ago, that they would still be going strong today.

A shade of grey

Along with the clear, bright blue skies during the day came a real drop in temperature at night. And last night was a particularly chilly night, at -6°c. This morning it was not warming up, hanging around -3°c. The trees were appearing various shades of grey, but how beautiful.

The harsh frost was crusty under foot, so we really didn’t venture far. But Brian couldn’t resist getting his camera out and taking a few photos.

The valley was oh so quiet.

Apricity

Not a cloud in the sky, which today, was a rich blue. The warmth on my skin made me smile - not just because I love the warmth of the sun on a cold winters day, but also because last week I learnt a new word from a friend who said he ‘likes the apricity of the sunny days.’ Apricity describes the warmth of the sun on your skin in winter as opposed to the warmth of the air.

The vignerons are surprisingly busy at this time of year. They are using the time to tidy up the vineyards. The rows of vines are being weeded, the broken wires fixed, and the vines themselves pruned.

Everything is all so neat, even the piles of sticks that have been clipped off the vines are all laid out in neat lines, criss-crossing across the vineyard ready to be collected.

I’m thinking I really must prune my roses!

Tip, tea and toast

It was a beautiful sunny morning this morning, and I thought what better way to start the day than with some delicious, light banana drop scones covered with a sprinkling of sugar and a few squeezes of a fresh juicy lemon. Scrumptious.

Lemons came into season in December, and they are currently abundant at the market and in the shops. I’m thinking it would be nice to make some lemon marmalade.

As the sun was out, we decided it was a good day to have a tidy up outside and have a trip to the déchetterie (tip). Brian reminded me that the trailer was still full. We hadn’t taken it last time we went as it had been dark and one of the break lights was not working. He said “I’ll fix it before we go”. “Have you got a bulb?” I enquired. “Must have somewhere, we’ve got a couple of bulb kits we kept in the car. Something must work.”

We were soon all loaded up and ready to go. There’s a really good feeling once you’ve been to the tip and sorted your rubbish into the recycling bins. And I love the ease in which it all happens. Home now for a nice cup of tea, and I’m thinking a slice of toast and honey.

Wood it?

The wood glue worked well and the wooden fixing was securely stuck to the underneath of the table. Brian just wanted to clean up the join a bit, and stain it so it blended into the wood better. He also found an old screw to fit into the screw hole, this added a bit more strength to the fix.

The question now - would it screw back together?

Perfect, we now have a gorgeous little stable table, ready to be used for the next little tipple.

Screw top

A very dear friend of ours gave us a beautiful old table that was unfortunately broken. It’s probably more than a 100 years old, and really quite delicate in its style. It has a main spindle supporting the table top, which has three legs at the bottom. However, the spindle was once screwed into a wooden fixing underneath the table top, which is currently broken in two.

It is such a beautiful piece of furniture, and I know it will look wonderful in our house, so I was really keen to see how Brian could fix it and for it to once again hold a glass or two. I can only imagine the many stories it has to tell - the drinks it has held, the conversations it has listened to, the joyous evenings it has shared - what a life it has lived.

There have been a couple of recent repairs, mainly where epoxy resin has been used to try and stick the top back on. So the first thing to do was to remove all the old glue. Brian approached this with care, so as not to damage the table further. He used a combination of white spirit and acetone to help break the old glue down, then chipped away carefully to remove any stubborn bits.

The threads are visible now on the spindle and the wooden fixing, so hopefully they will still have enough structure to twist together. The cleanup also revealed a small screw hole that had become too wide and needed closing up to help with the strength of the table top fitting.

He aligned the wooden screw plate and, using wood glue, he has secured it into place. This has been left overnight to dry.

Dough way

Later this year we will learn if the French Ministry for culture has been successful in obtaining ‘know how and culture of the bread baguette’ for inscription on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage. There is great pride across France in its heritage for bread, which is governed by french law, and as part of that it needs to be available to the people on a daily basis. In Paris the bakers are split into two groups, one group holidays in July, and the other in August. The following year they flip over. The system seems to work with apparently few complaints.

Last week E. Leclerc, one of France’s major supermarket chains, lowered its cost of a baguette from 35 cents to just 29 cents. It had previously been sold at 35 cents for the last 10 years. There has been an outcry from farmers, bakers, and competitors, exclaiming that they are devaluing the baguette, and it appears a price war has begun, as this week Lidl have matched the price of E. Leclerc.

Boulangerie’s, who offer a better quality baguette, will not be matching these offerings by the large supermarkets, and I think I’m right in my observation that France would not want them to compromise on their quality to match these prices either. For us, we enjoy the higher quality baguette, and we will continue to buy our bread from our local bakers, which is the right thing to do anyway.

Wheelie good

Gosh it was chilly today!

We went into Bar-Sur-Aube, a town about 30 minutes drive from us. The river Aube runs around the centre of the old town which has a beautiful old church in the centre of it. It was just too cold today to go exploring, but we will be back to look around on a much warmer day. Today we decided to do a bit of window shopping…from inside the shops.

I need to buy a wheelbarrow, as it will be so much easier when I’m pruning, or generally working in the garden. Brico had a couple of really good sized barrows, Brian seemed to prefer the metal one.

I wasn’t sure. Any thoughts on which one is better would be greatly appreciated.