Joining in

Brian glued and clamped the third bookshelf together today. We tend to bring them into the salle à manger to dry overnight, as it’s still generally too damp and cold to leave them in the workshop.

In the morning he removes all the clamps before we take them through to the library. The whole process is a bit unwieldy, but we manage between us.

As soon as this is done he is back in his workshop, joining wood, then planing and sanding it, ready to build the next one.

1,2,3

After the storm, which was probably the worse tempest that we had experienced since arriving in France, the sky cleared, and although the air was rather chilly, the sky was completely blue.

I wanted to get some more pruning done, and Brian was starting on the third set of shelves.

He’d set up a way of cutting all three shelves together, which ensures they are all the same size.

With both uprights also now made, we are not far off getting the third set finished.

Jazzing it up

When we moved to France, three years or so ago, we brought some old vinyl records with us that we had inherited from our families. Amongst them were a number of jazz albums. I was never aware that Brian’s parents listened to jazz, and I’m not really sure he was, but we realise now that they had a pretty good taste for it. With names such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Jelly Roll Morton we now have a pretty good little collection.

What we really love about our ready-made jazz collection is that it’s a great backdrop to aperitifs and dinner with our friends, family and guests, helping create a warm and calming mood. Now, when we are out at broccantes, we always look for more albums. It’s another interesting little thing to be looking out for on our days out.

Levelling up

We woke this morning to a rather nasty storm, so we’ve decided it’s a day off from woodworking. However yesterday was a good day, and with a bit of help from me to lift it into place, the second set of shelves are now complete.

There’s always a little trepidation on whether they will fit as he wants them to, but they couldn’t be more level.

Inspiration

The villages and cities of France provide so much visual, creative stimulation. From ironwork fences to Juliet balconies, or beautiful gardens to glorious old mansard roofs, the wonderful French style is seen everywhere.

Below is an external staircase we couldn’t help but andmire and photograph on our trip to Besançon.

On a recent trip to Dijon Brian photographed these glorious doors. Photos like these are great for referring back to when you need inspiration. How can you not be inspired.

More clamps

With the second set of shelves cut, sanded and biscuit holes cut, Brian can now start to assemble them.

He has made himself another jig to support each of the shelves whilst they are drying.

I think we could have bought him a few more clamps, I’m not sure you can ever have enough!

Love machine

Last week, when I nipped out to get some groceries on our return from our holiday, I was pleasantly surprised to be handed a token at the checkout to use in the ‘love machine’. All very exciting, I strolled over to insert my token and pull the arm of the machine.

To my delighted surprise I won! It wasn’t one of the 5 romantic getaways, but a little packet of seeds for me to grow my own herbs. An absolutely perfect present for me, and I can’t wait now to propagate them. Thank you Leclerc for a thoroughly enjoyable moment.

Unblemished

With the biscuit holes cut, it didn’t take long this morning for Brian to glue together the first section of shelving. I have to say it was rather heavy helping to lift it into place. I’m so glad we decided to make it in 4 separate sections.

No time to waste, Brian was back at it, and with a little elbow grease, and some patience, he had soon sanded off some marks to the shelves which he was preparing for the second section of shelving. Some of the planks of wood that we’d bought were a bit blemished, but about €15 cheaper per plank than the unblemished ones. Taking a bit of additional time is all that is needed to make them just as good as the others. Definitely worth it.

He was then ready to start to mark up the second section, careful to ensure each of the shelves are going to line up and everything is straight.

Jiggedy jig

Before our little break, Brian was ready to make up one of the sets of shelves, however, he was still undecided about how he wanted the shelves to be attached. His initial intention was to screw them in, but having played with his biscuit jointer for a while he started to feel that that might be an option. It would certainly deliver a better finish. So whilst we were away he gave it some thought, and decided the best way to do it was with a jig. I’m not really sure I understood what he meant by this, but when we returned he set about making one.

It’s a simple little device that clamps around the uprights and has two marks where the holes have to be cut. He made it big enough to be clamped into place, as he needs two hands for the jointer.

Jig in place, he simply adjusts the gate on the front of the jointer for upright cuts and voila! It sometimes helps to stand back from a job and take a rest, and solutions can pop up when you aren’t thinking about them.

This is starting to make sense to me now, I can start to see how it’s all going to come together.

Misty morning

The day after returning home we had another early visit to Bar-sur-Seine, to get the ‘anti mouse box’ and two new tyres fitted to our car. The mornings are still rather chilly but now they are misty too, with the vineyards barely visible.

One of the things we have found different here from our experiences in the UK is that they won’t change a single tyre, they will only do them as pairs. It makes sense, and on this occasion it works for us as we are having all season tyres fitted to match the front two we replaced last year. It also gets us up early to see the beauty of our countryside, that we might otherwise miss at this time of year.

Rather cheesy

During our little sojourn we enjoyed some rather delicious meals. The Jura is famed for its cheese, dairy products and charcuterie, so we made the most of that whilst in the mountains, with meat platters, cheese fondues and delicious cream soups. I always love, after a long walk, never having to feel guilty eating a hearty meal, and we had a few of them. Most very simple, but also simply delicious.

City delights

Before leaving Besançon this morning we wanted to see some of the old part of the city. We first headed towards place Victor Hugo, where the house he was born in stands. The house has mostly been modernised since then, and converted into a small, but insightful interactive museum about his life, but there are still parts of it that give a peek into how it once would have looked. The receptionist was full of energy, and very keen for us to learn as much as we could about his achievements and beliefs. We only scratched the surface on our visit, but will definitely be delving into some more history about him. I’m wondering if a film was ever made of his life.

Just along from his house is the site of an old Roman theatre. You need a bit of imagination for it, and what is there is quite at odds with the surrounding architecture. They have created a small park on the site, I would imagine it’s a beautiful, cool place to rest on a summers day.

Our walk took us up through the Roman ‘Porte noir’, built around 175 AD to celebrate the emperor Marcus Aurelius, then into the cathedral, which unveiled its very own little treasures.

Altar image copyright Christophe Finot

The first thing that strikes you, high up on the wall and looking somewhat out of place, is an Astronomical Clock which apparently has a very complex mechanism that operates 4 clock faces found all around the cathedral. The grand, stained glass windows provide a rich backdrop to the stark stone walls, along the side of which is the only French example of a circular altar, carved out of white marble. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a circular altar before. Towards the front of the church is a painting of ‘The Virgin of the Saints’, painted in 1512 by Fra Bartolomeo. It’s rather exquisite, and such an unexpected work of renaissance art to discover.

Nightcap

We arrived back at the Hôtel de Paris after a wonderful meal at restaurant LÔ, in need of a cup of tea before bed. We hadn’t packed our travel kettle as we had assumed the hotel would have tea facilities in the room, but we were quite wrong.

Not to be defeated though we asked the receptionist for two cups and a pot of hot water, which they promptly sorted for us. No need to ask for tea bags, as I always make sure we travel with our own, I do like my cup of tea.

The lift was already waiting, as someone had just called it. We joined the man in the lift who was carrying two pizzas to his room. He had pressed the second floor, but we were stopping at the first, so Brian pressed the appropriate button. We made some small talk with the French chap and then said our bonsoir’s as we got out.

Our room is at the far end of the corridor, and a turn to the right. It’s always nice to be at the quieter end of a hotel, so we didn’t mind the walk.

As we reached our door, we were perplexed to find a door sign for 215, whereas our room was 119. Just as we realised, a slightly out of breath Frenchman with two pizzas turned the corner, “C’est the deuxième étage!”. We all laughed, as Brian and I set off back to the elevator. For some reason the elevator must have gone to the second floor first, which we hadn’t expected. We would have felt quite silly, except it was clear that the French chap had done the same thing, before realising and rushing back before his pizzas got any colder.

We were soon back in our room and enjoying a delicious cup of mint tea.

Ramped up

Some friends had mentioned that Besançon is a pretty, little city, and maybe worth a visit on our way back from the Jura. Although it’s only 2½ hours from our home, once I’d started to research it, I felt it might be worth having a stopover. So we booked a night at the Hôtel de Paris, in the centre of town, and planned our little jaunt.

One of the places that looked like a ‘must visit’ was Besançon’s Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology, which was originally founded in 1694, and apparently has the oldest public art collection in France. Silly not to go! For comparison, The Louvre was opened in 1793, almost a 100 years later.

The construction of the museum’s new site began in 1967 and was finished in 1970. The internal structure of the museum has been left as rough, unfinished concrete, with the wooden shuttering, used to form the walls, still visible in its surface. Black ceramic tiles are used for the floors. The lighting is a mix of natural and artificial, which works well with the various art pieces.

The visit starts with the archeology, with some interesting pieces that have been found in the local area, or donated for display from other collections.

The various exhibits are cleverly split into their own spaces, even though the museum is essentially one vast open building. It’s a bit like when you go round IKEA, it just flows well.

Once we’d completed the ground floor, we followed the central spiral of ramps up through the spine of the museum, viewing each set of works as they unfurled on each of the floors. Often not realising we were ascending, as we viewed the exhibits displayed along the wide ramps.

With works by Bronzino, Renoir, Rodin and Pompon, there are some beautiful masterpieces to be enjoyed, all set in a glorious and carefully considered space. Well worth a look in if you are visiting the area.

Rally round

Just before our walk around the lake, as we were changing into our walking boots at the car park, a couple of noisy cars whizzed past. As we looked up, we noticed they were all stickered up and appeared like they were competing in a rally. Minutes later three more whizzed by. They were obviously having fun. Anyway, we set off on our walk.

When we returned, we changed our boots and decided to drive back around to the other side of the lake, and look for somewhere to stop for a little picnic. We found a nice quiet spot with a picnic bench at the other end of the lake, well, we thought we had. Just as we settled in to our picnic a car pulled up, and three people jumped out with long lensed cameras, chattering away to each other. I then noticed the rally cars starting to arrive on the other side of the bridge. We realised we were sitting right opposite a checkpoint.

For the next half an hour, the cars rolled in and roared off, well some of them roared and some of them spluttered.

They were a real mixture and great fun to watch. Some were definitely more up for the competition than others.

Winter sun

Today, having had a big hike yesterday, we decided we’d drive to a nearby lake and do a low level walk. The tourist office has suggested we visit Port Titi, which was once a fishing village on the lake.

We started in Oye-et-Pallet, a small village at the top of the lake. The early part of the walk took us through pastures and up into the woods.

It was a well defined path, and made for some easy walking, which was quite welcome.

Occasionally the path would open up with amazing views across the lake. There is actually a hike that takes you all around the lake – about 20km – but today we plumped for the shorter 6½ km circular walk.

As we turned toward the lakeside we took a short detour to Port Titi. It was a small village of old painted buildings, some in bright, cheery colours, whilst others looked a little more rustic. We think it is now most likely used as summer residences.

The village was very tranquil, and we took time to just sit and enjoy the views and the lapping of the waters edge. It was a lovely moment, probably quite different we thought to the hustle and bustle of the summer months.

The last part of the walk led us to a beautifully made footbridge, that took us around a wetland area which was full of water birds: moor hens, coots, grebes to name a few. It was delightful watching them playing and chatting in the winter sun, calling to each other, and maybe saying ‘Look at those humans walking by in the winter sun’.

The making of Mont d’Or

With its snow capped mountains and beautiful meadows, the Jura is of course perfect for cows, and the region is rightly famed for its rather delicious cheeses, such as Comté, morbier and Mont d’Or.

Mont d’Or is easily recognised by its spruce strap wrapping, which is the last process in its production. Before this happens the cheeses are crammed into wooden boxes and left to mature for a few weeks. This allows various natural moulds to form, along with a slightly velvety, mottled outer skin, and the familiar rippled top: all perfectly edible. Once the cheese is aged, the spruce strips are then boiled to soften them, before being strapped around the cheeses ready to be sold.

All the local cheeses are made with the milk of the local dairy cow: the Montbéliarde, sometimes known as the ‘Pied rouge des montagnes’, or the red foot of the mountains. This breed was apparently chosen for their rich, high fat milk, and their ability to cope with the high altitude variations in temperature.

Mont d’Or is a truly seasonal cheese, and is only made between the 15th August and 15th March, when the cows come down the mountain from their high summer pastures. We got to see the cheese making process at a ‘fruiterie’, or cheese producer, who also had an excellent museum of their family history of cheese making going back three generations.

Inside the museum there are short films on all the manufacturing stages of cheese, both ancient and modern, and also a short film on the family business, with a man projected onto a mesh screen between family photos and old cheese making machinery. It’s a very engaging way of getting the story across.

Mont d'or is a delicious soft scoop cheese, one of the few cheeses in France that needs to be served with a spoon. Across the country it is often eaten hot, by baking it in the oven in the box.

How to bake Mont d’Or Cheese: the way I do it.

Preheat the oven to 180/200°C

Remove the lid and pop the box into an ovenproof dish, or onto a baking tray.

Cut a few slits in the cheese and pop some thinly sliced garlic into the holes, along with some fresh thyme or rosemary, black pepper and a few tablespoons of white wine.

Then wrap it in tin foil, and bake for about 15–20 minutes.

Careful when you remove it, it’s very hot and drippy! make sure it’s melted and gooey, stir it up a bit, and serve with a crusty baguette, and you might as well eothe rest of the wine. Yummy.

1463m

We decided we’d have a little break from the bookshelves and take a short trip to an area of France we’d never visited before, the Jura mountains. We were heading for the small village of Métabief, about a 3½ hour drive from us. During the winter there are a few small ski resorts, like Metabief, which seem to do very well keeping a few pistes open for the skiers with very little snow. However, for us, we felt the conditions were more suited to doing some walking.

We’d visited the small, but very helpful, tourist office when we arrived and gained some useful local information. We then planned our walking route using our Outdooractive app. Once we were happy with our plan, we packed up a picnic, dressed up warm, and headed out for the top of le Mont d’Or.

We first needed the chairlift , which was going to take us part of the way up the mountain to Le Morond. I’m really not great on chairlifts, but Brian chatted to me all the way to keep me distracted, and we were soon at the top.

Once off the chairlift we got our bearings and headed away from the pistes, towards the trail which would take us to the summit of le Mont d’Or.

The trails are really well signposted, so we soon found the path and were heading up towards the peak, where we found ourselves touching the clouds.

The weather improved on the way down, and made way for some stunning views across the valley.

That’s scary!

If you visited last year, you may remember we had a pigeon nesting in our barn, which actually wasn’t a big problem, just a bit flappy at times. Ideally though we would prefer Mr & Mrs Pigeon would live somewhere else this year so, to try and discourage them from the barn, I made a couple of pigeon scarers, which I needed Brian to hang from the beams. When I explained this to him he said “Hmm, you do realise their old nesting spot is about 30 ft up, and my ladder is only about 10 ft high”. This was clearly a problem to overcome, but without letting his doubt bother me too much I went and found some drawing pins, thinking to myself ‘I know he’ll find a way’. I gave him the pins, and said I’d go and make some tea. That usually helps.

It wasn’t long before he came in, smiling and looking very pleased with himself, “I’ve done one, come and look”.

he showed me how he’d done it by doing the second one. He fixed the drawing pin, attached to the pigeon scarer, to a piece of sticky tape on the end of a pole.

He then climbed his ladder and swung the pin, stuck to the end of the pole, into the beam.

Hoorah, one glittering pigeon scarer in place. Now we just need to see if it works.

On the spirits again!

With 2 uprights and three shelves already cut, glued, planed and sanded, it was time for Brian to define the heights of the shelves.

The top of the cupboard isn’t perfectly level, so all the uprights need to be a little bit different in height. Because of this it is important that the shelves all work to a fixed level, not just a measure taken from the bottom of the uprights, it seems all very technical. So out came the trusty laser again to ensure a true level.

However, when Brian set the laser in place, and checked the height each side using a tape measure, he doubted the laser for a moment. Being as cautious as he is, he got his old school spirit level out to check the accuracy of the laser level.

Finally convinced, and all happy again that the laser was actually telling the truth, he marked up the shelf positions ready for the next stage.