Some things you might not know about France.

I've just been reading some articles which were 

written in 

our local free news paper

THE BUGLE

which might be of interest to all you lovers of France.

DID YOU KNOW

NO it's not a joke!

READ on....

I'm not into # 

BUT READ WHAT FRANCE THINKS OF IT.

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SNCF    TRAVEL INFO.

This might be of interest to some of you who are planning to visit France.

Some new cheap NO FRILLS  Ouigo  TGV  trains  from Paris to the south of France.

from the 2nd April 2013

PARIS to SOUTH of  FRANCE

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS  website 

http://www.ouigo.com/fr/astuces-et-bons-plans

Not usually my style of post.

but

I Hope it was of interest to the lovers of France.

Who might be visiting 

PARIS in the SPRINGTIME

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian 

My plant order has arrived, so it must be Spring.

I know Spring must have arrived

as I've just received my plants which I ordered in early February for Spring delivery.

I've only ever ordered plants from a catalogue once before, 

and I swore I would NEVER do it again

 I was so disappointed as they looked just like twigs.

No resemblance to the pictures in the catalogue

That was 23 years ago it wasn't easy to buy shrubs where we live.

 This area is mostly agricultural and if you couldn't eat it they didn't grow it.

 Thankfully things have changed a lot since then.

This time they seem to look a lot better than my first order, 

and in the box was a bonus

 3  free shrubs !

One of these looks like a twig ! The 'Magnolia  Kobus' 

 It's going to take a long time to look how it does in the picture!

 but,  it was free so I mustn't grumble !

I've planted  them all in pots, as they came bare rooted and need to get settled into some growing compost

as you can see the magnolia looking like a twig, will need some extra care and attention.

But I remember my old friend Leonard giving me a Magnolia, that looked like this, and it wasn't that long before it became a big twig with a few flowers and now when I pass my old house it has been moved ,

it must have grown too big for the garden.

I'll leave these in the pots, until they show signs of good growth

then plant them in the ground, 

 

The plant in this pot is a free one ' Ceanothe Victoria.' - Blue flowers.

These Marguerite were delivered. bare root in a poly-bag covered with sawdust.

I'll plant these in my new flower bed and cover them over with some dried ferns for awhile,
 the young growth could get damaged  by frost, as the nights are still cold
  where we live, and we can get unexpected ground frost.

These Marguerite will be pretty in a sunny area.

Six hardy Fuchsias 'Mme Cornelissen'  (  frost resistant to -15 ) 

A little on the small size with only young growth at the moment, 

so I'll keep them under cover for the time being,

 then they will be planted in a long trough for the deck.

Just to let you know I wasn't that thrilled about my box of plants.

Will  I be buying any more plants I haven't seen. ?

Maybe or maybe not !

I will keep you up to date with the success or failure of these plants.

Enjoy your gardening

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Birthday and Daffodils

Today was my other half's birthday.

For the past few days we'd had beautiful  blue sky and warm sunshine.

 As it was the first signs of warm spring weather, we were looking forward to a nice day out in the Perigord region. about an hours drive from where we live, hoping to have lunch sitting outside at one of the many restaurants we love to eat at. It was not to be. We woke to grey drizzly weather.

Not a day to be driving, wanting to enjoy seeing the numerous Chateaux we would pass on the way.

We decided to put that visit on hold for the next sunny period. 

My other half who is easily pleased, suggested we should make a quick trip 

to the local supermarket and buy the ingredients for a nice lunch.

While I was waiting near the checkout for him to choose the wine 

I saw a glow of yellow from a huge bucket which was full of daffodils.  

I slipped a couple of bunches in with food items.

 We did end up with  a feeling of spring sunshine even if was only from the daffodils. 

I hope you'll enjoy them as much as we will.

As we had planned to be eating out, I hadn't made a birthday cake.

We don't very often eat bought gateaux, but French patisserie is delicious.

This is what he chose for his birthday gateaux.

I checked the name on the box and it was called

' Religieuse café '

Not sure why ! but the icing looks like a priests ruffle collar.

It was so delicious, the choux pastry was filled with a caramel cream

and the glaze was coffee.

A missed day out, turned into a day in, enjoying a nice meal and a house full of daffodils.

When we do take our drive into the Perigord region, I'll be taking  my camera with me,

so you will also be able to enjoy visiting this area of France. Which I know you will love.

So come back soon & take a peep.

à bientôt
Barbara Lilian

   

I'm still thinking of Spring.

In my last post I told you I had found some tulip tips just peeping up through the cold ground.

Since then our weather hasn't improved. It's still cold and has poured with rain everyday.

Yesterday we had some publicity posted  in our mailbox

 advertising these tulips in a basket for only 3.99€

Similar to the ones waiting to flower by the front door of my ' Petite Maison '

We dashed off to the S/market ( Aldi ) which is 30 mins. drive from where we live, hoping to buy at least
 two baskets, but  I was so disappointed.as they  had sold out early that morning. 

 I did the next best thing & bought a bunch of tulips @ 1.99€

Tulips are not easy to arrange as they will soon bend over, drooping to where ever they want to go.

Have a peep at the pictures I've taken to show you what I was able to do with just one bunch.

I brought out some of my small white containers that I love to use for flowers.Then chose     

 a few tulips, cut the stems short and  opened out their petals to make them look like this.

Have you ever tried doing this?

I first saw this method about 30 yrs ago, when I wanted to learn about flower arranging.
I'll always remember it, as the demonstration was given by a man who showed simple ways of using just one
or two flower stems with  clusters of flowers and buds cut  to produce a very decorative arrangement.

As you can see, one bunch or bouquet,  I should say, as I live in France,  goes a long way.

Hope you liked what I did with one bouquet of tulips from  the super marche.

and @ a Bon marche prix.

a bientot 

Barbara Lilian

Chateaux on my doorstep.

Are you in love with France and  Chateaux ?

If so, spend a little of your time with me and share some of the Chateaux I could pass by just popping to the Boulangerie to buy a baguette, or our Sunday morning croissants. and one on the way to my hairderssers.

Our lovely visitors have just left after their 17th year of staying in our holiday home. While we talking about where they had been on their many outings around our picturesque countryside, it made me think how much I take for granted the beauty of where we live and it's all on our door step. Which ever direction I take, I could pass a chateaux. My nearest neighbours are the owners of Chateaux de Brie. 

All of the Chateaux are on the route of King Richard the Lion Heart. King Richard spent many years in France where he was shot by an arrow and as a result from this injury he died in 1199  at  Chateaux de Chalus - Chabrol X1c - XV11c

This is approaching my neighbours at Chateau de Brie from our house.

Just a little inside info..

When we bought our first house in France and where with the Notaire signing the documents, we were informed that the owners of the Chateau kept their horses on some of the land that came with the property we were buying and he asked us 'did we mind' !  Only ever having lived in houses with what we thought had a large garden, we had no idea of how much land he was talking about. We were taken by the Immobilier to see the land which had been mentioned, he then  pointed to the right & the left and said 'as far as you can see in both directions is yours'. Well ! looking at the amount of land which was about to become ours and not having horses we were very pleased that the Chateau owners would be putting their horses on our land.

This is a photo of Chateau de Brie taken by my husband during a flying trip he went on.

 

I love this picture of Chateau de Montbrun
taken on a frosty morning during a really cold winter.

Chateau de Montbrun is lived in and privately owned.

Approaching  Chateau de Jumilhac.
Such a lovely view we sat here to eat our pic-nic. This is a small but very picturesque town where most of the old houses bordering the chateau have been tastefully renovated.
 Imagine this view from your kitchen window !!!

Chateau de Jumilhac 

 This is my favourite Chateau,  because it has so many towers.

 Chateau de Nexon and Parc. 

This chateaux is set in 40 hectares of landscaped park, which was created in the late 19th c.

Since the municipality acquired the sight, it became the Mairie (town hall ) 

which is now open to the public free of charge all year round.

 

I thought you might like this sign. Those who are travellers in France will be familiar to seeing these yellow signs used in France. This one directs you to use a quieter and more touristic route to Paris.

As I'm not a city girl and fortunately neither is my other half,  we usualy take these routes.

 We find we see so much more.

Chateau de Rochechouart X111c Renaissance style.
Now has a contemporary art museum on the top floor.

 

We are now at the end of the Chateau tour at Chateau de Chalus. which is now an historic monument situated at the cross roads of the 'Chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle'

The historical route of the Plantagenet's.

It was here Richard Coeur de Lion ended his life.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of some of the Chateaux near where I live.

Enjoy your week-end.

A bientot.

Barbara Lilian



Vin de Noix - Aperitif.

I'm now back home after a busy summer, making sure  all of our visitors had an enjoyable holiday in our gites So now I can get my life back to  normal, what ever normal is.

When we moved here to France which is now 23 yrs ago, our English friends asked what will you do with yourselves when you get to retirement age? That's another thing, what is retirement age? I used to think it was when you reached 60 and stopped working, and you where automatically slotted into the category of being too old to do most things. Well I've well past that age & everyday we are doing things I had never dreamt I would be doing.

This summer I had the chance to experience making Vin de Noix, which is an aperitif in the Dordogne region of France, which is well known for it's Walnut trees.

While I was holidaying at my daughters her 'Belle Mere' (mother in law) was also visiting, so we spent a very pleasant time together and picked some walnuts from the trees in my daughters garden, then she showed me how to make  Vin de Noix. This is her old recipe which was passed down from her grand mother, which I will translate for you. There are lots of variations of making Vin de Noix, but I like the idea of using an old traditional method. 

Maybe next year if you get the chance to find some walnuts at a market or be fortunate enough to have a walnut tree of your own, harvest them while they are still green, which is very important! you might like to try my now cherished French recipe.

Recipe for Vin de Noix

 

3 litres of GOOD red wine.

1 Litre l'eau de Vie (alcohol des prune 45 deg )

20 Green walnuts

750 gr. sugar

Method

Chop the green walnuts into small pieces & put into a wide necked glass container. If you can find an old flagon or demi /john similar to the one shown in the photos which we used, all the better. add the  alcohol and leave for 1 week. Then add the red wine and leave to macerate for 45 days. Now add the sugar and give it a swirl from time to time to make sure all the sugar is completely dissolved. Pass the liquid through a filter taste & if necessary add more sugar  to your required taste. Leave in a dark place, the longer you can leave it the better the taste.

Just a tip. use gloves when cutting the walnuts as the tanning will stain your hands. or do as shown in the pics. put plastic bags over your hands in true French country style, also do not use a wooden chopping board as it will be no use after.

l'eau de Vie

Cleaning the demijohn

 

 

The walnuts are usually ready at the end of June around Saint Jean’s feast day 24th June which is the correct time, specified by French tradition. Important thing  about this recipe is unripe walnuts, still in the green outer casing and feel soft when pierced with a pin.  If you're reading this in the autumn, you're too late to make it this year. But you’ll know how to make it  for next year. Bon chance.

Chopping the walnuts.

 Vin De noix

Good health, Cheers, a la votre.

A bientot

Barbara Lilian