L’union never disappoints

I can’t help but write about our evening at L’Union restaurant in Essoyes, we simply love eating there. They focus on seasonality, and flavour, and serve a great choice of bio wines. The atmosphere is relaxed, and it just simply never disappoints us.

Well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

Processed

I still had some tomatoes to use that my neighbour had given me. I decided they would be good in a roasted tomato soup. We enjoy a tomato soup in the winter, with a nice chunk of french baguette slathered with salty butter.

I cut them in half, drizzled them in olive oil, sprinkled with some salt and pepper, and some thyme leaves, then dotted some garlic onto them.

They only needed roasting for about 40 minutes at 160°c.

I also had some figs which needed eating or cooking. I thought a nice fig chutney, made with balsamic vinegar, would be nice to enjoy with some fresh goats cheese.

Then lastly I prepared our plums for the freezer. They just needed cutting in half, destoning, and popping into freezer bags.

I labelled them clearly, to ensure I know when they were picked.

It’s nice to have some delicious, fresh produce prepared and preserved ready for the winter.

Stars at night

Before he got into bed last night Brian took this wonderful shot of the early evening sky. The stars were so clear, and Brian pondered what constellation might be visible. He thought I might know, but even after some discussion we really were not sure.

A quick query on the internet, and the suggestion was Cassiopeia. Im just not sure if that’s true, perhaps if you are a star spotter you can confirm it for us.

Plum done

I have not had great hopes for my plum harvest this year. The tree that had always produced plenty of plums for me had been badly affected by the drought. I’m hoping it won’t have done any permanent damage to it.

However, I do have a few other trees on the opposite side of the garden, and the plums here were a little small, but still nicely sweet, ripe, and juicy.

Brian and I managed to pick a full bowl, which we’ll be enjoying throughout the winter in crumbles or plum tarts. I may try and make some fresh custard to serve with them this year.

Lopped

Our laurel hedge was in definite need of a trim! We realised this week that you couldn’t open the shutters near it.

With the secateurs and loppers in hand, Brian was soon up the ladder, and we set to work with me holding the base.

It is a bit of a task but we were really pleased with the job once it was done.

Now we just need to clean up and make a déchetterie run before our guests arrive.

All white

With the masking Brian had put around the glass on the French doors it was a much easier task for me to apply the two coats needed. I did have to wait a whole day though before I could add the second coat.

Then Brian went to work peeling away the tape. It was mostly quite easy, with just a couple of bits that stuck a bit too well. The finished result was well worth it though.

Ratatouille

There’s something absolutely delightful about being given fresh produce from your neighbour that they have tended carefully in their garden.

We’d been invited over for a little glass of champagne or two, or so we thought. But were also greeted with two boxes of vegetables. A box full of large tomatoes and another with courgettes, green peppers and aubergines.

I can see some ratatouille being made.

Undostravel

Our recent visitors asked us if we minded them taking some drone footage above the house. ‘That’s fine’ I chirped, asking if they’d mind sharing it with me.

As we sat having our coffee we soon realised the drone was overhead, and they were setting themselves up to get some good footage.

These are some of the shots they took. If you want to see more from them, you can take a look at their instagram page @undostravel

Chaux right

The wall next to the back door also needed some attention. Some of the render and pointing had fallen away and was looking rather worse than we had thought.

There are always lots of these little jobs that need doing, and often the most obvious jobs get done first, but this one is a bit hidden away. However, if we left this for any period of time, we would find that water would start to ingress, and this could cause damp issues in the future. So Brian mixed up some Chaux, and set about making it good again.

It’s a bit tricky, as the lower half needs some quite thick filling. His plan will be to do it in stages, letting it dry between each stage. Then layering more on. We’re not sure if a plasterer would do it like this, but we’re hoping this will work for us .

First stage built up from the bottom, and pointing is re-done. It’s certainly looking better than it did.

Invitare to La Chêne

It was a gorgeous warm evening last night, just the right temperature to sit out and enjoy some cheese and wine with friends.

Brian wanted to start with a bottle of Invitare from M. Chapoutier, a wine producer in the north of the Rhone valley. It’s made with the Viognier grape, known for its strong stone fruit flavours, like apricots and peaches. This one did not disappoint, it was rich, oily, and full of flavours of summer stone fruits.

I brought the cheeses out, all soft cheeses from around France. A nicely ripe Brie de Meaux; a Saint-Félicien, soft and extra creamy; a Saint-Aubin; a Pont-l’Évêque—which was probably the strongest-smelling cheese on the board, but delicious and one of my favourites—and a Délice de Bourgogne, a soft, light, and wonderfully creamy cheese from Burgundy. Which is definitely a favourite of mine.

We then moved onto a Pinot noir from Sancerre, an area about two hours drive from us, and a region we love.

This wine didn’t disappoint either. It was a 2003, and had spent time in a very special oak barrel. The wood from the barrel had come from an old oak tree that had stood near the village for hundreds of years, but had been blown down in a storm. So that it could live on, the villagers all decided it would be a good idea to make oak barrels out of it, and to produce special wine from it ‘Le Chêne’. Thanks to the barrels, the wine enjoys soft vanilla notes behind the delicate taste of cherry and hints of fennel.

A perfectly delightful evening.

Making it easy

To make my painting experience a bit easier, and so that we aren’t spending hours removing paint from the glass, Brian has taped the edges of the windows for me. I’ve never had it so easy!

I got down to work, and soon had the base coat on, which is mostly transparent, and will help protect the wood through our harsh winters and the heat of summer.

I’m going to leave this to dry thoroughly before finishing with two top coats.

That’s fixed it

Brian is keen to finish off fixing the red tiles to the top of the garden wall. He’s already selected the ones he will be using, so just needs to mix up some cement to finish the job.

He’s layering some old tiles at the back of the first row of tiles to raise the base.

He is then laying another row of tiles on the top of that.

I’m loving the look, and glad the top of the wall will finally be water tight again.

The finished wall looks absolutely brilliant.

And we’re off

And so it begins.

This is a job that I had planned to do last year, but other things took priority. Never mind though, I’ve started it now.

I began by sanding the door. To be honest it doesn’t need much sanding, just enough to remove any loose paint—alright, there’s a lot of loose paint. I’ve carefully done it with the electric sander first, but will finish up by hand anyway, as that will get all the little bits a sander misses.

It doesn’t take too long before things start looking better.

Dijon

We had an appointment in Dijon on Monday, so we thought we’d tie it in with a visit to Emmaüs, the charity secondhand shop. It was our first time visiting the Dijon store, and we were pleasantly surprised with the amount of amazing furniture, bric-a-brac, china, glassware, linen etc—simply a huge selection.

We came away with a beautifully restored chair, for €50. It’s a perfect yellow for our salon.

…and a little wooden table for €10, which came up beautifully after a good polish. I wanted it for upstairs.

What a bind….

My butternut squash plants have gone potty, along with some purslane, which appears to have decided to grow out of the paving stones.

There was also a ton of bind weed that had started to take hold amongst my dahlias. So an intervention was needed, and we both headed up there to weed the area, and give the butternut a chance to grow where it wanted to.

We were very happy with the results of our efforts. Having slightly cooler temperatures means that being in the garden is so much more enjoyable.

Raindrops

We woke this morning to the strong patter of rain on the window sill, it was a very welcome sound.

We sat in bed with a cup of tea, listening to the pitter-patter. It was very welcome, and quite calming. We decided on another cup of tea before we got up and started our day. We had a few admin jobs to do, so today seemed the perfect day to get them done.

Coming up short

We took a trip into Troyes today. It was a little drizzly, but we are really not complaining, it was great to feel and smell the freshness of the rain after such a blazing hot, dry summer.

I’d booked-in to get my hair cut. I decided to go much shorter, a big change for me, which I’m really enjoying.

It’s feeling much stronger and healthier already.

Perfect splash

Now the temperature has dropped a little, I am able to place some cut flowers in the house, and my dahlias make a perfect splash of colour.

As dahlias do not have much scent, I’ve added in a few herbs rosemary, oregano and lavender. They just help to bring the garden indoors.

Toooot

Our guests bought us a rather delicious treat, which we enjoyed this morning with our coffee.

As we sat there chatting about our day, and what we planned to do, we heard another group of pickers finishing up…. The Toooot of their horns could be heard all along the valley.

Quality not quantity

With the lower temperatures, and less intense sun, the vineyards have been busy with the pickers, pushing to get the harvest completed. 2026 is the earliest harvest on record for champagne, and there’s been a really welcome respite in the weather to get it done.

We know, due to the lack of rain and the canicules we have experienced throughout summer, that the grapes are small. However the high sugar content could be good, as long as the vignerons have caught the acidity at the right moment. If the fruits over ripen, the acidity will drop.

A few of the vignerons have already finished their harvest, or are just finishing off bringing the last of their grapes in to be pressed.

We just need to wait now to see if the grape quality will make up for the lack of quantity.