My name is Jo, and in 2020 I moved to France with my husband, Brian. From our move to France, to running our B&B, my blog, which you can read below, is a diary of ‘Our French Adventure’. I share short stories about the Champagne region, and its people, and the life we have embraced here.
Brian is in the kitchen
By Brian Simpson
Guest author
Ever since I can remember my name has been a source of humour. Not that I’m complaining in any way, just that it’s a fact. When I was young(er), we had to have our name removed from the telephone book, because we were receiving a few too many calls asking ‘Can Bart come out to play?’. That was just the start of 33 years of living with one of the most famous names of modern times, and an endless string of jokes to go with it. So now we are living in France, it seems nothing short of ironic that my name, Brian, is equally as famous, and it’s not because he was an alternative messiah (or, indeed, ‘a very naughty boy’). No…Brian is core to the French understanding of the English language, because Brian was a central character in French childrens English languages books.
‘Where is Brian?’
‘Brian is in the kitchen.’
It’s strange, that once again, the humour in my name has become another familiar part of my life, but this time in France.
It all began quite a while ago, when my French ski teacher would say ‘Where is Brian? Brian is on the slope.’ Then, of course, I merely believed that he was a little eccentric, and thought nothing more of it. But as the occurrences built up, such as ‘Where is Brian? Brian is in the cellar’, or ‘Brian is in the pool’, or ‘Brian is in the garden’, my curiosity was obviously piqued. So I did a bit of digging online (actually, I didn’t have to try too hard) and there I was, basically a national institution.
So I can definitely look forward to many more instances of ‘Where is Brian?’. Lucky I have a good sense of humour!
River below, oh no!
Just before our guests arrived yesterday, I went to water my window boxes. ‘Oh no’, I exclaimed to Brian, ‘It’s fallen into the river.’
I noticed that two of my three window boxes had fallen off the window sill into the river below. Luckily there was not much water flowing, and they had not been washed away.
‘I’ll have to get in and pull them out, shall I do it now?’ ‘No I think we should do it together, let’s leave them until the morning”. As soon as our guests arrived we were going to serve dinner, so I didn’t want him getting all wet, and potentially muddy, for their arrival. We agreed they would be okay left until the morning, and I said, ‘At least they will get a good soaking of water overnight.’
In the morning, we both donned our wellies and climbed into the river to retrieve our flower boxes. Luckily they were not too worse for wear from their adventure.
We had had a lot of sun, and a little bit of wind, that meant the earth had dried out and they had become lighter, and as they are a bit front heavy, and are inclined to tip forward, I think the combination is why they ended up in the river. What Brian has done now though, to help prevent it from happening again, is prop them up at the front slightly so they tip back.
Le Valentino
We took a stroll into Troyes yesterday with some friends. They had recommended a restaurant that they had visited on a previous trip, so we thought it would be nice to go there together for lunch.
The city of Troyes was looking very splendid, with masses of flowers potted up around the main square.
The restaurant we were heading to was Le Valentino, 35 Rue Paillot Montabert, 10000 Troyes. It was tucked into a courtyard, within the old part of town, amongst the narrow alleyways that criss-cross through the many leaning buildings. Although it was a very hot day, the large canopy overhead shielded us from the heat of the sun, and it made for a delightful setting for an absolutely delicious meal.
David Austin
The roses in our garden loved the storm at the end of last week and are popping up all across the garden for another flush of colour throughout August. I particularly like my David Austin rose (the bright pink one) which is currently in a pot, so I need to decide where to plant this before winter, so it can settle in to its permanent home.
The negotiation
Things didn’t quite go according to plan on the negotiation I had to buy a lamp at the vide grenier on Sunday.
We had spotted a stall that was selling a lot of interesting lamps. Some looked kind of ‘trop cher’ (too expensive). However Brian spied a lampshade he liked, and I said I thought it would go well with another lamp base we already have. So I decided to see if she would sell us just the shade.
The lady explained the lamp was not very expensive, in fact 10 euros for the complete lamp, which we didn’t want, so I offered 5 euros for the ‘ l’ombre’ (the shade). She agreed, on one condition, we take the whole lamp. Brian was not that impressed when he realised ‘we’ had bought the whole lamp!
I know it’s not the prettiest of lamps, but I sort of like it. We’ll have to decide once I’ve cleaned the shade and seen what it looks like on the other base before I make any rash decisions on this one!
The galvanised jug was 7 euros, and it’s beautiful. The mini glass bottles were 5 euros each. I have a few of these now, which I use as vases. We also bought a door handle for 2 euros.
Finally, I bought a set of biscuit cutters -mine are a bit blunt, and these felt much sharper. The tarte tins may be a bit rusty, but they were a Euro, so I thought worth the risk in trying to clean them.
Generally a pretty good day out.
Bric-à-brac
I’m often asked ‘what’s a brocante?’ or ‘what’s a vide grenier?’, so I thought I’d share a short summary of the difference, and similar types of events or places you can buy bric à brac, odds and ends or second hand items in France, and there are a lot.
If you are looking for something specific, it’s best to go to one of the bigger events, otherwise the smaller events will often provide the best bargains. But I believe there is treasure wherever you look, it’s just thinking about how it can be used.
Events:
Vide Maison - empty the house. This is when an individual is selling used items direct from their house, just like a garage sale. It’s often a one-off event, over a weekend, so look out for little hand written signs adverting them.
Vide Grenier - empty the attic. This is more like a car boot, where people drive to a venue, usually a large field or recreation area on the outskirts of a village, and set up a stall. The French love these, and there seems to be one most weekends throughout the summer within a 20 mile radius. Just keep an eye out for the handwritten signs. This is a link to a great website that lists some of the vide greniers and brocantes all across France. https://brocabrac.fr
Brocante - Is really just another name for a flea market, but it can also be a secondhand shop.
Marché des puces - flea market. Flea markets tend to sell more collectible or vintage type of items.
Braderie - street market. These are normally big street events that take up whole areas within towns. Two very big ones are Braderie de Lille, which is on the first Sunday in September, and Braderie d’Amiens, which is on the first Sunday in October. You will find some weird and wonderful items at these events.
We love ‘brocanting’ in France, such wonderful old finds to be had, and I just love being able to reuse something that someone else is finished with. To me, it’s repurposed and new again. It’s also a wonderful way of discovering some pretty little villages. This is Gyé-sur-Seine, the darling little village we visited for the vide grenier we went to this morning.
Refreshingly good
After the storm of the previous night, the garden looked refreshed, the foliage was looking just that little bit greener, the grass not quite so dry and now the roses were looking ready to have another flush of flowers.
We had a guest coming for dinner, who we hadn’t seen for a while, so for an aperitif we felt like trying a blanc de blanc from Drappier. It was chilled nicely and suitably fruity to get our taste buds tingling. It is a rather delicious and delicate wine, and was very enjoyable as a pre dinner tipple with our dinner guest.
Summer rain
As we went to bed last night there was a sprinkling of rain, just enough to send the sweet smell of the gardens below wafting up to our open window. Summer rain definitely has a very distinct green aroma. Oh, to bottle it!
We were not expecting much more than light rain, but around 2am the heavens opened, and with some amazing flashes of lightening, and cracks of thunder, we were soon enjoying a very strong downpour. The night was quite unsettled, with breaks in the storm, then fierce downpours. We woke though to a coolness in the air, and once again a stillness outside - the storm gave some welcome light relief, and provided some well needed water to all the vegetation.
I had been glad that I’d picked my crop of tomatoes earlier in the day, as if they’d been left on the plants, they may have been damaged.
A delightful day
We woke quite late this morning. Our guests all departed yesterday and we have a few days before the next ones are due, so we made the most of a relaxing lay in. The day was going to be a hot one, so the plan was to catch up on a few light jobs before heading up to the pool to relax, read, swim and maybe a little snooze.
It wasn’t long before we were relaxing at the pool and enjoying our first dip of the day. The day passed slowly just catching up on nothing of any real importance, dipping in and out of our books, cooling off in the pool when it became a little too hot, and enjoying either an ice cold drink or a refreshing cup of earl grey tea.
A delightful day.
Chablis - biodynamic
On Monday we had a perfect, relaxing day in Chablis. We took the scenic route there via some gorgeous little villages, with some amazing views across the fields, peppered with the shade from woodland. As we dipped down into Chablis, the stunning, steep-sided slopes of the vineyards rose into view.
It is such a pretty little town, located along the Serein river. Full of colour, with beautifully planted flower boxes at every turn. There are interesting strolls through narrow alleyways and along the river banks of the Serein, with its winding arteries quietly meandering through the town.
We wandered deeper into its streets, admiring some of the old stone architecture. We walked around by the church, stopping to view its amazing door covered in horse shoes, and spied lots of doorways that were oozing with character. They are clearly all very ancient, and it makes you wonder of the stories they could tell.
We headed to Hostellerie des Clos where we had booked a table for lunch. We settled in under the shade of umbrellas, nestled in the courtyard. The walls of the courtyard are covered in wisteria, ivy and some grape vines, which help cool the air. We enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal, with some beautiful wines. All rather yummy.
A number of places are not open in Chablis on a Monday, so we had decided to book a tasting at the Jean-Marc Brocard winery just outside of the town, situated in the small village of Préhy. The winery was an amazing, modern building, nestled in vineyards that spilled out around the beautiful church on the edge of the village.
On arrival, Georgia - who greeted us with enthusiasm and an obvious delight in her job - gave us a brief explanation of the vineyard plots and wines of Chablis, and showed us the cellar which had been left rough at one end to help show the different layers of earth at that depth. We were then taken to see the wooden barrels and tanks, which were all cleaned and ready to receive the pressed grape juice which would be produced from the harvest, that is due to start in Chablis around 15th August this year.
We then enjoyed an excellent tasting of 7 wines, which included wines from Jean-Marc Brocard’s son, Julien Brocard’s biodynamic wines. All in all, a fabulous day out.
Last stop
Day two of the champagne festival started with another beautiful blue sky. We had two villages to visit today, Baroville and Meurville. We decided to start at Baroville, where there were three producers to try. It set the day up well for us with lots to see and a lively band to get us in the swing.
In Meurville they featured a number of wonderful old cars, some with a fun element.
There were another 5 producers to try in Meurville, so to be certain that we tried them all I needed to keep everyone moving. We arrived at the last stop at 5.30pm, just in time to enjoy our last tasting of the day.
It had been a thoroughly great fête du champagne.
First stop
Such a gorgeous day to wake up to, for day one of ‘La route du champagne en fête’. There was a lot of excitement for the day ahead, but first I needed to prepare breakfast. Brian nipped out with Lloyd to pick up some fresh bread and croissants, I wanted to ensure we had a tasty breakie to start our day.
We arrived at the first village of Bligny around 11am, and were soon sipping our first glass.
It’s such a great way to try different champagnes, and start to understand the grapes. There were a few villages this year that only had one producer in them, so we had decided the night before that we would visit these first. Next one Argançon.
You can visit the villages and producers in any order you choose. We thought it would be good to do a couple of villages with just one producer to taste first, then head to Urville where there were four more to taste. There was lots to see and do along the way, which makes for a really enjoyable event. It has a country fair atmosphere, with marching bands, vintage car exhibitions, unusual musical instruments, and plenty of choice for tasty lunch or snack trucks.
We decided to end our day at Champignol-lez-Mondeville. Where they had a superb three piece jazz band playing.
Our group of 11 people, decided to stay and listen to the jazz band for a while. The atmosphere was very relaxed and it didn’t take much to buy a couple of extra bottles for all to enjoy.
Arriving
By Friday lunchtime all of our friends had arrived. They had soon all settled in, introductions had been made, and we were enjoying a pleasant glass of champagne in the pool.
After lots of chatter and getting to know each other, we changed and ventured up to the point du vue. I never get tired of this view and it’s such a great way to see the village and vineyards.
Bags of tickets
It’s ‘La Route du Champagne en fête’ this weekend, and our guests will be arriving shortly to enjoy it with us.
We nipped into Bar-sur-Seine this afternoon to buy the tickets from the tourist office, which consist of a book of Champagne tokens, a glass, a breathalyser and a bag to carry them in that hangs around your neck. There was a bit of a queue, so we were glad we went to get them early in the week.
They had made a wonderful display just inside the door, and everyone was definitely getting into the party spirit, with lots of chatter and laughter.
This year there are 15 venues with 18 producers, across 6 villages. It will be the first fête du champagne for 3 years, so you can feel the excitement building, and the area has become much busier.
Clueless
This evening, whilst taking a little walk around the garden checking on the plum and apple trees, we noticed a rather biggish hole had been dug by something. We’ve absolutely no idea what it is, so if anyone has any idea please let us know. In the meantime we will keep an eye out for any other clues.
Passive place
Today was the planning stage for an exciting new project Brian will be starting very soon. He wants to rebuild our passive cellar in one of the barns. Because the water table here is quite high we cannot have a cellar below ground very easily. However, one end of the barn is cut into the side of the slope, so it’s partially below ground, and so benefits both from being shielded from direct sunlight and cooled by the body of earth. By insulating a room that he is going to build, and leaving the floor as natural earth, the temperature in the room will become both cooler and more consistent all year round, which is perfect to store wine.
I will share more as it develops over the coming weeks. It’s a big job but a really exciting one.
Sizing up a ceiling plank from the wood he has stored
Welcome
There are always a few last minute preparations for our guests. I like to make cheese gougeres as a canapés to accompany a welcoming glass of champagne. I have perfected my recipe for these, and they always go down well.
I also like to put fresh flowers from the garden in the rooms. I personally love to see them when I visit somewhere, so I like to pass that on. We have a couple of small vines in the garden, so I included some of the vine leaves, very apt for Champagne.
Brian recently bought a new hammock, and was keen to put it up whilst cleaning the pool today. When I’d finished doing my bits I went up to see if he was ready for coffee!
In a pickle
It was a little bit drizzly today, which after the extremely hot day yesterday was a sense of light relief. I decided I would have a day of courgettes, so started off with a great suggestion from one of our comments from the blog, making some courgette soup. To add another dimension, I added some fresh mint from the garden for a little zing. It was very tasty, so I’ve popped a few bags of it in the freezer, which will be a nice easy supper over the next few months. I also shredded one of the courgettes to use in a chutney.
I had decided to make an Indian courgette chutney. I’m not able to buy Indian pickles here that easily. Our visiting friends often get a request to bring a jar of mango chutney or lime pickle over with them, hopefully this will be a tasty alternative. We do love a spicy chutney with some homemade samosas.
I was really quite pleased with how the courgette chutney came out, my multi chef that my mother-in-law gave me some years ago, made light work of the shredding. Brian also loved the chutney as it has a real kick to it. I made about 6lb of the chutney in all, so it will keep us going for quite a while.
Whats the plan?
We were up early this morning, as we had quite a bit to do. We needed to get ready for guests arriving tomorrow and I wanted to nip into Bar-sur-Seine to buy some meat for tomorrow’s dinner, and order some for next week. I also had some shopping to do, and some Champagne to pick up, and Brian wanted to order some glass from Weldom. Oh, and of course take time to enjoy a coffee at the café des Halles in the marketplace. Our life has changed immensely since we moved here two years ago this week. I’m not sure we really knew what to expect when we piled our three cats into our car, and drove from Kent to start our new adventure in France. But we knew things were set to change.
I think the biggest change for us has been our pace of life. I read some of my early blogs again this week and, although I know a lot was happening for us at that time, my writing really recreates that crazy, mad, busy lifestyle we used to have.
Us in 2020
‘Busy’ now is not quite the same. Don’t get me wrong, we have lots to do, and we pack lots into our day, but we enjoy every minute of it, and we rarely rush anything.
At the beginning, we had said that “We wanted to experience a change of culture, visit local markets for seasonal produce, sample new foods, meet new people, delve deeper into its wines, enjoy a different pace of life, and most of all enjoy more time with each other.” and amazingly we have achieved all that. But mostly, I think a different pace of life is what has made our move so worth it. Not to be forgotten is our change in diet and lifestyle, delicious fresh produce, time to really enjoy cooking balanced meals, daily exercise and relaxation - we both feel so much healthier, calmer, more energetic and definitely more creative.
The hardest thing by far was leaving family and friends behind, and being in the middle of a pandemic, with no idea how it would develop or end, made it all the harder. But technology has helped us overcome some of that, and having parents and family that support our choices is enormous. It’s great now having people visit to enjoy our beautiful home, and we can share with them, and enjoy together, a little snapshot of life in Champagne.
We have a busy couple of months coming up with both ‘chambre d’hôte’ guests, and friends and family visiting. Next week is the ‘fête du champagne’, and then a few weeks later Vendanges (harvest) will start, it is very early this year, but will be extra busy for the region, as they have increased the grape harvest quota for the growers to 12,000 kg per hectare from 10,000. This is due to two previously bad years - last year was down to poor weather conditions, and the previous year due to lack of demand. (You can read more on this in Brian’s ‘newsletter’). Such a beautiful time to be in Champagne.
When we arrived two years ago we could only dream of what things could be, we had no idea of what life could really be like. we still have challenges, but we work together to overcome them, and live every day to the full. Waking up, enjoying a slow cup of tea together, and asking ‘what’s the plan for today then?’ is always exciting.
