Scorched earth

The heatwave in France has been hard for the green areas. While the vineyards are hanging in there, waiting for the respite, and necessity, of a mid-summer rainfall, our gardens are suffering from the drought. Today, though, the clouds have gathered, and are looking threatening.

We can only hope!

We’re jamming

I just love it when the fresh apricots arrive. My friend Dominique organises a van to bring boxes of freshly picked fruit up from the south of France, and they are always so fresh and juicy.

First we cut them in half, and made up a few bags to freeze, so that I have some to use in tarts and crumbles throughout the winter.

But I also like to make some apricot jam.

I prefer to keep the apricots in halves. I know many recipes will have you blitz them, but I like to see the fruit in the finished jam.

I didn’t cook the jam for as long this time, so it will be a bit softer on the set. Can’t wait to try it on some gorgeous French baguette and cold salty butter. Delicious.

Flea market

We headed to Semur-en-auxois this week, for their annual quatorze juillet marché des puces. It’s set under the shade of some beautiful old lime trees, which was really welcome in the 38° c heat.

We just love wandering from stall to stall, discovering new little treasures.

If you love giving old objects a new life, or searching for your own treasure, this is a fantastic flea market to visit.

Paella or poulet?

On Monday evening the village came together for a very convivial celebration of quatorze Juillet. This year though, due to the canicule, our Maire had decided not to light the fireworks, it was just too dangerous. And with reports of the forest in Fontainebleau on fire, with over 1000 hectares of woodland burning, it was most definitely the right decision.

For the village, it was more about how to stay cool in the heat. The team that had organised the event had set up a novel solution, with water sprays hanging from the trees.

The meal was a choice between roast chicken, mushroom sauce and potatoes, or paella. We’d chosen the chicken, which was very tasty. Cheese and dessert followed.

As a little bit of fun, during the proceedings, we were asked to guess the length of a piece of string wrapped around a bottle of Bordeaux. We didn’t stay for the unreeling, so not sure who won the bottle, but it was a great idea, and a superb evening.

Quatorze juillet

It’s the 14th of July, and here in France it’s an important celebration, marking the storming of the Bastille in 1789, and also the unity of the French people at the ‘Fête de la fédération’ on the same day in 1790. It’s most commonly known as Bastille day outside of France, but that name means nothing to the French, who call it simply ‘Quatorze Juillet’.

As it’s a big public holiday, for us, it’s a chance to relax and do nothing, except perhaps brush up on our history.

Welcome home

It was a warm drive home, although quite nice to be in the cool of the aircon in the car.

We pulled off the motorway, and drove the last 15 minutes of our journey across the recently harvested wheat fields, that were now looking very dry—spent of their crop. I smiled, ‘Oh look, the sunflowers are out.’

The fields of bright sunflowers were welcoming us home.

They always bring me joy, I will never tire of seeing them. I can’t help but have a huge smile on my face.

Pub lunch

What better way to spend a Sunday lunch than to visit a local pub? We went to the Dun Cow in Salthouse, in north Norfolk, and enjoyed freshly caught cod, fried in batter, with mushy peas, chunky twice cooked fries, and tartare sauce. Delicious.

The afternoon was spent strolling across the marshes spotting many different birds, I found five new ones for my Merlin life list. Sitting, chatting on the beach, watching the waves, it was so relaxing. I do so love spending time by the sea.

After a couple of nights with Jon & Caroline, and thir family, we headed back south to stay with friends, and meet up with Brian’s family.

We enjoyed some quiet time strolling around east London, going to some old haunts of their’s. We visited the Grapes Inn, one of the oldest pubs in London, Greenwich park, with its maritime museum, and just shared time together.

Meet Gordon

We recently made a short trip to the UK to see family and friends. Whilst staying with my brother, Jon, and Caroline, we were lucky enough to meet Gordon.

Gordon is named after a popular tipple of the family, and one that saved his little life. When Gordon was born, he was struggling to breath. They’d tried everything to keep him alive, but were struggling with what else they could do. Bee, my nephew’s fiancée, suggested they try giving him a little gin, to help him get started. She’d heard an ‘old wives tale’ to that effect. They were running out of time, so were keen to try anything. A little miracle happened, and Gordon started breathing properly. He was named after his saviour.

My brother asked if I wanted to feed Gordon, ‘Of course’ I replied, ‘how will I know which one he is?’ ‘Don’t worry he’ll find you’.

As I walked across to the paddock, where he was grazing with his mum, he saw me with the bottle, and came racing towards me, with mum Sarah chasing behind.

What a delightful little lamb. He’s actually getting a bit big for his bottle, but I was so glad I got to feed him.

Very special little character.

After he’d had his dinner, they all settled down for the evening.

Drip, drip, drip

With all this scorching hot weather, Brian suggested he set up a drip watering system for the garden.

I was rather impressed, as we only needed to buy two sets of pipe, which had all the drip holes ready positioned, and an adapter for the tap.

Between us, we laid the pipe out between the plants, ensuring the smaller delicate plants would all receive a watering.

We then decided to purchase a timer, so that it would automatically switch on at given times of the day.

Perfect addition to our garden.

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.