A Proud Achievement and an Embarrasment.

First Guinness in Le Puy Notre Dame

I think that we have every right to be proud of our achievements since arriving in France over 10 years ago.  We have become well-integrated, our French gets better all the time and we have very many French friends and acquaintances.  However, above all this I think that my biggest cause for self-congratulation is in persuading Sonia, “la patronne” of our village bar here in Le Puy Notre Dame to order Guinness making it, as far as I am aware, the only bar between Saumur and Vihiers where you can buy the Irish nectar.  The picture is of the first “demi” being pulled.  The system is one I have never seen before.  Sonia pours the Guinness from a can and then puts it on  a small plate attached to the machine which then shakes which causes the  traditional Guinness head to develop.  One of our guests over Christmas who happens to be Irish tried it and said that it compares favourably with Guinness from his homeland.  After a few hours of experimentation it is also proven that it also revitalises flat beer and sparkling wine. – a small step for mankind but a giant leap for clients in the bar.  The only problem is that, having been instrumental in getting Sonia to order it, I feel compelled to keep drinking it so any help from people living locally would be appreciated!!

I am not quite so proud of the second incident which I am about to relate which was frankly bloody embarrassing.

We were in the Intermarché supermarket in Doué la Fontaine and I asked a question regarding a particular joint of meat on the butchery counter.  To identify the joint in question I reached over and pointed at it.  The glass that separates the public from the meat is sort of curved and I rested my wrist on the edge – big mistake!!  The glass exploded with a huge bang and shattered into hundreds of small pieces which covered all the meat in the display cabinet which, being Christmas was of the more expensive sort,  being things like venison, guinea fowl stuffed with cépes, confit de canard etc, etc.   The supermarket was packed and they must all have been warmed by the furious red glow coming from my face.  It’s now in the hands of the two Assurance companies so we’ll see what happens.

A day or two later I went into a bar in Doué and joined a group of guys by the bar to discover that one of them was saying that some “mec” had broken the glass in Intermarché and that they had thrown away all the meat in the cabinet – at a value of over €3,000!!  ”Yes, I know who did it”, I interjected, “I know him very well” . “”Well, who was it”? was the response.  ”Errr…me” I replied.  Which of course cued much uproarious hilarity, totally over the top in my opinion!!  Although “mon copain” Didier did come up with the idea that  I should go to see the Manager of the rival supermarket, “Super-U”, and ask for a reward for sabotaging the opposition’s meat sales just two days before Christmas.  I’ll have a think about that one!!

Have a good 2012!

Brian

Gite vacation lets in the Loire Valley

Christmas in the Loire

Dear Friends Near and Far,

How quickly Christmas comes round each year.

In France Christmas or ‘Noel’ is a time for the Family marked by Family Reunions.

Creche in Village Church

In the Loire, our Churches and Cathedrals are packed for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve – at 9pm, (the French are very logical and realise that midnight would be much too late to eat so they still call it Midnight Mass but start at nine)! Most Churches display a beautiful crèche.  Anyone visiting France during Christmastime should make sure they see a crèche as it’s definitely a must-see as so much work goes into creating them.   A few days before Christmas the family sets up a nativity scene on a little platform in the corner of the living room and some families decorate a Christmas tree but the crèche is much more important.  After mass, families celebrate with the Reveillon (the waking), with an expansive late-night feast.  This festive table can include:- Mussels, lobster, foie gras, escargot, delicious canapés, chestnuts, poultry, salads, and desserts including the traditional ‘Buche de Noel’ (a log shaped cake) all washed down with sparkling wines! After the Reveillon it’s customary to leave a candle burning in case the Virgin Mary passes by.  Children put shoes in front of the fireplace in the hopes that Pere Noel (aka Father Christmas) or baby Jesus will fill them with gifts.

Last Sunday, we enjoyed a lovely long lunch with our good friends Jean Pierre, Claire and their son Aurelien, eating the last of our freshly picked tomatoes from the garden.  Incredibly our last tomato harvest was on the 17th December and here’s the picture to prove it!

Tomato harvest on 17th. Dec.

We practiced our gastronomic Christmas lunch recipe of Venison, and afterwards sampled the first home made Buche de Noel which Claire had prepared – all washed down and enjoyed with some great wines!  A nice prelude to Noel when Brian and I are looking forward to receiving our guests at “Le Clos des Guyons” for a Xmas Break Special – and it’s such a good excuse for indulgence!

Jean-Pierre, Claire, Aurelien et Brian

The village of Le Puy Notre Dame has been busy hanging sparkling lights around the tiny rues, there are Santa’s dangling from windows and chimneys, the crèche in the Church has been lovingly created by a dedicated group of ladies including our neighbour, Jeanette Guyons and the little bright star on top of the Eglise is already twinkling for everyone to see for miles around.  So, before I continue with our hectic Christmas preparations, I would like to share with you a Christmas greeting:-

 

“Christmas is full of shiny things that sparkle, gleam and glow;
These holiday pleasures dazzle us and yet, deep down, we know…

That Christmas has its special gifts but our year-round joy depends
On the cherished people in our lives our family and our friends”. 

 

It has been a frantically busy year for us with our wonderful guests, many with whom we have formed treasured friendships and are more like family to us now, so Brian and I would really like to thank you all, along with friends old and new, for your continued and enthusiastic support. We look forward to enjoying good times and interesting conversations over a glass or two of wine in the seasons to come in 2012.

Relax, uncork that bottle of wine drink and be merry!

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas, Peace, Joy and a Happy, Healthy and Blessed New Year!

Meilleurs Vœux et Bonne Année 2012!

Salut!

from Sheila and Brian

Gites and Wine Tours in Loire Valley

Le Beaujolais Nouveau is here!

The hats get bought out late in the evening - as you can tell!!

Bonjour tout le monde!

At the stroke of midnight on the third Thursday of every November, France erupts into celebrations in honour of the unveiling (or should we say uncorking) of the Beaujolais Nouveau.  This year it celebrates its 60th anniversary with all the hallmarks of a vintage year.

This red wine is made from handpicked Gamay grapes grown in the Beaujolais region south of Burgundy (only 6 weeks old) where the beverage accounts for half of the region’s production. While most red wines improve with age this wine is all about freshness.  To make Beajolais Nouveau the winemakers use carbonic maceration in which whole grape clusters are thrown into a tank. The tank is then sealed, trapping the carbon dioxide from the fermentation process inside.  After three weeks in the tank the free run juice is collected, filtered and bottled.  The resulting young red wine is light bodied, with fresh cherry, raspberry and fruit flavours, accompanied by a distinctive banana aroma.  Many describe Beaujolais Nouveau as an easy to drink, fruity red wine, best drunk when chilled which makes for a festive wine to be gulped rather than sipped. I prefer a Beaujolais Village and particularly from  Moulin a Vents or Morgan as these are weightier with solid tannins, but all are certainly very drinkable and let’s not forget that the whole raison d’être of Beaujolais Nouveau is to be young, simple, fruity and fresh!

Generally, this time of the year, everything focuses on Beaujolais Nouveau but there are Vins Primeurs and Anjou Gamay Primeur celebrated in Pays de la Loire also. In fact there are fifteen Angevin vineyards producing about 10,000 bottles. These are on sale in our local cafés, bars, supermarkets, restaurants in and around Anjou and degustations are available in la ‘Maison du Vin’ de Saumur and Angers.

Regulations delay the wine’s release until the third week in November. Grand traditions have developed in honour of its release with the biggest festival taking place in Beaujeu, the ancient capital of the Beaujolais region. It springs to life during this weekend in November, hosting a massive party called Sarmentelles. The party gets its name from the French word for cuttings from the canes of grapevines called sarments, which are burned in the centre of town just prior to the grand midnight unveiling. Then the huge barrels are opened to much fanfare and party-goers indulge in the new wine for the festival’s 3 day duration. Other areas in France also celebrate the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. Lyon hosts the Beaujolympiades (Beaujolympics), marking the release of the wine with music and fireworks followed by 2 days of sampling. In Paris, restaurants host their Beaujolais Nouveau parties, staying open through the night uncorking hundreds of bottles.

Indeed, a couple of years ago we thought we would like to go to Beaujeu to see the festival for ourselves.  At that time we still had our old work companion, Meg, our  Border Collie, and together in our little sports car we set off  - it was so funny because she was such a big Collie and she sat squashed obediently in the back with her head in the middle of ours watching the road as if she was searching for a sheep opportunity at some point. In fact, after our visit to Beaujolais, we went in search of sheep for her and visited the Lozere region, a renown sheep area and the home of Roquefort, the famous cheese made from ewe’s milk.  We managed to find some sheep but not as we thought in the fields because, as it was late November they were all safely housed indoors, but we found these in a restaurant. Yes, truly amazing, we were on the AutoRoute and stopped off to stay overnight at a little logis that had a restaurant called ‘La Bergerie’ and inside there was a corner encased in glass with a sheep and her two lambs resting!  Meg had been mystified why she could not get to them through the glass –  it was her most pleasurable moment of our trip.  Have to say to this day Brian and I truly miss her as do our returning guests at Le Clos des Guyons, when on their arrival she used to treat everyone like sheep and try to round them up for us in the courtyard and then lie down to watch their every move!  In fact, when we also had Sam, our older Border Collie, the two of them used to do it!  Ah so many happy memories of our farm days and two wonderful hard working animals, we will never ever forget them. Anyway ……returning back to our visit to Beaujeu. It was certainly very memorable and atmospheric with live TV crews and cameras  everywhere. Visitors were having their photographs taken alongside the Temple of Bacchus, winemakers were busy setting up inside marquees and caterers were everywhere.  All the excitement and ceremony starts at midnight so a long wait but that night it just so happened that there was a Mistral wind blowing our heads off and I remember thinking how lucky we were with our climate in the Loire Valley which is much softer and not normally victims of this climatic change!

The next day we took the chance whilst in the region to visit the impressive headquarters of Georges Duboeuf who, for over 40 years has been regarded in the wine world as King of Beaujolais.  He has often been accredited with starting the whole Beaujolais Nouveau festival but, while it is certainly true that he gave it a huge boost, the wine itself dates back many centuries.  In 1788 the citizens of Lyon rioted in the streets because, in that year, the flood of  foaming, purple wine from the nearby hills simply did not arrive.  It was a sort of dress rehearsal for the revolution which came a year later!

Overall it was an interesting experience, but for all its razzmatazz, it made me think just how lucky we were to live in our part of the Loire, not only for its ‘douceur’ climate but for the great spectrum of AOC wines which you can find in the Val de Loire.

This year we walked up to our local restaurant Le Bouchon Ponot in Le Puy Notre Dame.

The early birds got to share aperos, etc., with Jean-Yves et l'équipe

There were plates of delicious aperitifs and bottles of various Nouveau ready for sampling for the early invitées and, with generously filled glasses and lots of swirling and sniffing, conversation was animated about the grape, the terroir, etc.

This evening brought back humorous memories of last year with the antics of a local dairy farmer.  On arrival he announced that he was a ‘Papa’ after his wife had just given birth to a baby boy at the hospital in Saumur, to which there were shouts of  ‘Felicitations! It’s not just the wine that arrived today in France then!’  With tears of joy he proudly passed around photographs on his mobile phone showing his exhausted wife in her hospital bed smiling holding their new little son in her arms alongside a beaming doctor and nurses!  We asked when this happy event had taken place to which he said ‘Well just about an hour ago’.  We were a bit mystified as to why he was not still at the hospital with the new family and instead enjoying his ‘Pot au Feu’ and Nouveau!  Anyway, throughout the meal there were endless toasts of ‘A votre nouveau garcon’ et ‘Chin chin le petit garcon’ along with many others and further admirations of the photographs.  But finally, just before the desserts arrived, his happiness, and without doubt with the contribution of numerous toasts, it proved too much and he very, very slowly, slid from his chair onto the floor where he lay motionless. Well, his friend Jackie managed to pick him up and put him back on his feet, offering to take him safely home and get him to bed but, at the same time, there had been lots of discussions about what would happen to his cows at milking time in the morning, thinking maybe a team would have to be organised to help with this crisis.  Jackie told us not to worry as his friend would be on automatic pilot by then, even if he was still staggering a bit with a pretty bad headache!  Brian always used to say that life as a farmer is difficult enough without animals having alarm clocks built in!

Apologies this is a longer than anticipated blog by the way but I do so enjoy writing them when I have the time!

So, finally, if you are a Nouveau enthusiast, get your bottle and don’t wait too long to open it.  This is a great excuse to celebrate life, the love of the grape and a grand French tradition.  Brian and I raise our glasses to you all and to the spirit of Nouveau!

Viva!

Sheila and Brian

Le Gambetta, Saumur’s First Michelin Restaurant

Interior of Le Gambetta, Saumur

Today, the 27th. October was my birthday, (I mention the date just in case anyone wants to start saving for a present for next year).

It is also the date when the leaders of the Euro Zone seem to have finally reached an agreement on the debt crisis.  That being the case, I thought that they could stand a little more debt and so we decided to go to Le Gambetta.

Le Gambetta is certainly not cheap.  Evening menus From  €29,50 to €94,00.  Its main claim to fame is the fact that it is Saumur’s first Michelin starred restaurant.  To me, however, I shall always remember it as the restaurant where the dessert is a comedy act and leaves you, if not exactly splitting your sides, then certainly chuckling in a very contented manner.  But more about this later.

Situated on a side road near the Cavalry School in the centre of Saumur.  This tiny eatery of only six tables, was purchased by Céline et Mickaël Pihours in 2006.  After only a few months they were mentioned in the Michelin Guide and in 2010 were awarded their first Michelin star.

We went on a Thursday night and for the first hour were there on our own and served by a team of four people after being pleasantly received by Céline.  After that time another three tables were taken so we no longer felt that we were keeping the staff from their beds.  But, even if the place was full, I cannot think of another restaurant where the staff to customer ratio is as high as here.  Needless to say the service was impeccable.  When each course arrived at the table each intricate detail was carefully explained by one of the very knowledgeable team.

The dining room itself whilst attractive is quite minimilist but, when the food arrives, it doesn’t really matter because all your attention is focused on the creation in front of you.  Of course there is a Michelin starred chef in the kitchen but I think there must also be an award winning architect because everything that is served arrives as a sort of architectural fantasy.  Now, I am greatly in favour of well cooked, local cuisine but, every now and again what a treat it is to eat in a temple to food where every taste combination, every texture and the placement of every item on the plate has clearly been the result of much thought and planning.

Given the attention to detail you can expect to wait a while in between courses but, to fill in the spaces, a series of intricate amuse-bouche are served.  Effectivel,y these make the three course menu at €53,90 into something approaching a six course menu.  Flavour combinations are adventurous and, to be fair, one or two did seem a little discordant to Sheila but there are so many tastes and textures that it wasn’t really that important.

Because of the complexity it is actually quite difficult to describe how the dishes are presented so it is probably better if you have a look at the picture gallery on the restaurant site and you will get the idea.

One thing is certain, once each plate is delivered it becomes a talking point as you try to discover the flavours and textures so dinner table chat will never be a problem if you eat here.

Dessert, The memories of Childhood

So, onto the dessert.  It is called Souvenirs d’enfance, (Childhood Memories) and features all those childhood flavours which are hidden deep in our subconscious  from a time when kids ate proper rubbish!    Toffee apples, sticky toffee, ice cream, homemade lemonade and, believe it or not – candyfloss.  Having been prompted to dreamily relive the endless, hot summer days of days long past, remembering roaming around hills and fields with a group of scruffy, ragamuffins all with grazed knees and sunburnt faces, I then come back to reality and noticed a small portion of what looks like grated chocolate on the side of the plate.  Sheila put hers into her mouth, let the chocolate melt and then I saw her eyes widen and  looks of alarm and then amazement flash across her face as the tiny particles started to explode on her tongue.  I tried it and the tiny explosions were surprisingly strong, rattling my teeth and actually seemingly biting my tongue.

As I said you just had to smile.

Bon Appetite

Brian

See our other Restaurant Reviews

15th ANNIVERSAIRE DU GRAND PRIX RETRO LE PUY NOTRE DAME.

Grand Prix in Le Puy Notre Dame

As we have been so busy we never found chance to place this blog earlier and apologies for that as we know everyone loves to hear about this popular village event. And so:-

The pre-1935 vintage motor bikes and elegant classic racing cars including:- Aston Martins, Triumphs, MGs, the odd Rolls Royce (!), Darmont, Morgans, Bugattis, arrived and invaded the little rues!

We can tell you that on the day we enjoyed wonderful hot sunshine and high temperatures – this was during the French holiday shut down period when all of France had closed down for its vacation, luckily we were not in need of any workmen until September!

For our readers and guests who are not aware of this event, it is held on the last Sunday of the month of July every year in our local village of Puy Notre Dame where it is host to an annual Classic Vintage Car Race called ‘Le Grand Prix Retro’ which also includes vintage motorbikes. They all  race around the rues of the village and this fete is an emblem of the Cité Ponote, and is certainly a  unique and emotive event as the village is inundated with visitors from all over Europe who honour us with their presence.  The local population increases five fold.
The event started off on the Saturday morning with all entrants tootling along the local roads of villages (including rue du Moulin when we gave them all a big wave and ‘bonjour’)!  in their beautiful glitzy classics, stopping off for refreshments along the way until they finally congregated for a lunch at a local chateau. This year it was held at l’Orangerie du Chateau at Thouars.
Sunday is the race day but this year there was a surprise event for its Special 15^th Anniversary and the “cerise sur le gateau d’anniversaire” was to host an entirely new spectacle for 2011. This was then to be for the first time a Saturday Evening Semi-Night Race which started at 9pm.  This concept was accepted with intrigue and excitement as you can imagine, as only the real old more robust cars which could uphold the pressure of this serious race could participate.  It was indeed a very big success! So then on Sunday morning the customary more relaxed and friendly race was held.  Because a decision was made to change the route from alongside la rue du Moulin, sadly we no longer have the benefit of it being at our end of the village, but I suppose that’s life, things never stay the same do they!

And so we held what has now become our traditional BBQ Sunday lunchtime in Le Clos des Guyons courtyard.

BBQ at Grand Prix, Le Puy Notre Dame

The sun shone, our aperitifs commenced, wine flowed and the food courses continued!  The BBQ sprang into action with Brian slogging in the boiling sun providing deliciously cooked sardines and meats, for about 40 guests, friends and neighbours. We shared wonderfully prepared salads and gateaux from our friends, all washed down with local wines of sparkling, rouge, rosé and our neighbour’s, Robert and Jeanette Guyon’s donated 1986 Vin Blanc!  In the village Brian is famous for his sardines – not much in the roll call of fame I suppose but better than nothing!

I might just mention at this point that last year he collapsed in the searing sun together with the heat of the BBQ and a combination of pills he was taking for a minor infection.  He swears that wine had nothing to do with it! (cough)!!

So this year it was decided that he’d change the system and move the BBQ to the lee of the wine chais where it would be shaded.  The only problem was that he also decided to start cooking much earlier and use one of those hostess trolly thingys to keep the food warm.  However, because he had started that much earlier, the side of the chais was still in full, direct sunshine, so it was just as hot as the year before.  So that plan worked well then!  At least he mananged to stay conscious this year although I’m not quite sure whether that’s a good thing or not!

Moules et Frites, Le Bouchon Ponot

The BBQ lasted for around 3 to 4 hours and, if this wasn’t enough,  afterwards for any guests and friends who were left with any stamina and appetite, later in the evening Jean-Yves in ‘Le Bouchon Ponot’  village restaurant produced Moules et Frite in the street, (that’s to say that the tables and chairs were on the street – not the food).  Needless to say Brian made it and I didn’t having completely collapsed into bed!

A votre santé

Sheila

Holiday Accommodation in the Loire Valley

Last Summer Harvest

It’s the last week of October and we have just wandered through the veggie garden and harvested what will probably be one of the last summer harvests.

Summer Harvest

Left to right we’ve got assorted tomatoes, rocquette, lettuce, cabbage,  raddish, (huge but they grew so quickly that they still taste succulent),  carrots and a vegetable that we have really discovered for the first time this year;  bête or otherwise called swiss chard.  It’s  like two veggies in one with celery-like stems and spinach-like leaves.  Cooked roasted or sautéd it has been a real success this year when we have served it to guests on wine tours or during our October ‘special offer’.

We hope that we can continue for a few more weeks yet as the garden is a mass of summer flowers and half-hardy herbs.

In fact this year has been very strange indeed we had almost insufferably high temperatures in late spring and early summer, then,  although it was still warm and generally sunny, we neverthless had more rain in August than anytime in living memory followed by a very warm and sunny Autumn.

Tender pineapple sage in late October

The flip side of this is, of course, that plants have grown like things possessed and the vegetable garden has been like a production line. Ample tomatoes and basil have led to Brian experimenting with mozzerella and he has made some amazing salads with tapenade, olives and pesto.  We’ve gorged on huge beef tomatoes stuffed with all sorts of things.  Our neighbours fig tree has cropped so heavily that we actually got fed up, of eating figs,  except with Foie Gras of course – we’ll never tire of that combination.  Likewise, this year’s Asparagus crop actually became a chore to eat and we ran out of things to do with it.  Although the wine grapes really needed the September sunshine to reach full maturity, the eating grapes were huge and bursting with sweet fruit.  We are now planting garlic and spring onions for next year together with broad beans and early peas.  The leeks, brussels sprouts, kale and winter cabbage are looking good.

The hunting season has started so there will be lots of game around so we won’t be starving!  In fact we look forward to the heart-warming winter cuisine which will shortly start to replace the tomatoes,  herbs, olives and salads which are a mainstay of the summer.  In particular; we can’t wait for the Beaujolais Evening in the local restaurant, the Bouchon Ponot, when Jean-Yves does a huge cooking pot full of the Anjou version of  Boeuf Bourguignon.

‘Bon aperitif a tous!

Sheila

October in the Loire

PICTURE POSTCARD!

LA BELLE FRANCE

Roses, bales and vines in Loire

Just a short word (honestly)! –  On Sunday morning as I was driving from Le Puy Notre Dame into Doué la Fontaine, for my Bar Preservation Society meeting, I just had to stop the car and pull over to take this picture of one of the regions beautiful rolling rose fields, alongside the  baled hay with vineyards in the background.  It conjures up dreamlike days and is pure picture postcard France at its best! Doué la Fontaine is home of the rose and is grown here in enormous numbers and varieties and celebrated annually in a superbly scented and colourful festival called  les Journées de la Rose to which people come not only from all over France, but from all over the world.  The picture really sums up the small region around Le Puy Notre Dame, roses, wine and agriculture.  We have many guests in our holiday accommodation who often say that the region is picture postcard France and they are right.  The Loire in general is quite flat being all about the majestic river, (at least when it has any water in it!).  But in the wine appellation regions scattered along its length you suddenly start to see vine covered slopes and fantastic views.  All you have to do is to spend a little time exploring the little lanes and  byways.

Anyway, hope you share my pleasure of this snap!

A+ Brian

Gîtes du val de Loire

Le P’tit Resto, Saumur

VOUS SOUHAITE UN BON APETIT!

If you are the sort of holidaymaker that rushes around from point A to point B or who spends all the time snapping pretty, evocative pictures then the chances are that in walking up to the flashy Auberges and Brasseries further up the street into la Place St-Pierre, Saumur, you will have missed “Le P’tit Resto” in rue de la Tonnelle completely – unless you read this blog of course!

The entrance is quite inconspicuous, there are no tables and parasols outside and no sign of busy waiters and waitresses bustling around serving food with the great “voila” which is a necessary ingredient of French panache.  If you stick your head through the door you will find no attempt to create a historical facimile.  If you go a bit further you will also see that the menu is restricted and the meat almost entirely composed of cheaper cuts, no Cote de Boeuf  here. This is the sort of cooking which our grandmothers, back in the UK, were so adept at preparing particularly in the lean years after the war. Ironically of course it is now the height of foody fashion.

Interior

So, why have I put it on this blog and on our restaurant review?  Because, simply, “Le P’tit Resto” is a Saumur institution!  Generations of office and manual workers have filled this small restaurant for years.  (One of the menus is simple called le Menu des Ouvriers, the workers menu),  and the reasons for this popularity are simple:-  it’s good, honest local food at a very affordable price, cooked and served with a smiling proficiency by the husband and wife team of Claude and Brigitte Frémont. Claude does the cooking in the open kitchen with his grills and ovens  for all to see adding to the convivial atmosphere and Brigette bustles around the tables single-handedly with cheerful politeness and efficiency .  The ‘Plat de Jour’ price is €7.80 and the set menus start at €9.80 with wine included, no wine list of course, just excellent, honest Saumur rouge, blanc or rosé by the pitcher.  Each menu starts with a visit to a groaning buffet table for your entrées followed by the main course, served at the table, afterwards a huge plateau of assorted cheese appears being shared around the tables and then the desserts, an example being Panacotta with a Coulis de Framboise, which is just delicious. There are a few options including steak if you don’t fancy the day’s fixed menus which will feature thing like:- Boudon Noir, Andouillette and Tagine de Agneau. Incidentally, the restaurant is only open at lunchtime, 1130 – 1400.

There will be those, of course, who will bemoan the lack of “theme” and the fact that there is no attempt to serve food which may have more appeal to the tourist hordes which descends on Saumur.  These people can be safely ignored because they are really missing the point which is that the restaurant is a fine example of traditional, french, regional cuisine which quietly goes its own way supported by its multitude of devotees.  In fact, it is so popular that unless you are there by midday the chances are that you will be asked to go away and come back half an hour later.  All these diners can’t be wrong!!

à bientôt

Brian

Gites in Loire Valley and Loire wine tours  See all our restaurant reviews

Bonjour à Tous

Many apologies for not keeping our blogs ongoing! Having had our usual ups and downs of life again, another challenging period seems to have flown by as Sheila has been suffering with yet another mysterious and complicated back problem, which started the second week of January and has necessitated numerous medical rendezvous and lots of trauma, as we did not really know what the problem was though we managed to find out everything that it wasn’t!!  She is always now regarded with great surprise at our doctors because strangely enough, and we don’t know why, it always starts in January! To top it all this year – it even started again on exactly the same date as last year!! With great sighs of relief she is finally beginning to make progress now, and so my carer’s duties, of which there have been many, are diminishing giving me more time to look after the holiday gites, garden, etc.  In addition, myself and assorted friends have selflessly dedicated ourselves to a new charitable enterprise know as the BPS. This organisation is dedicated to keeping open those ancient sanctuaries of conviviality and sanctuary, (also known as bars), in these times of harsh economic adversity. In particular we organise a Sunday morning trawl of the bars in Doué la Fontaine in which largesse is dispensed in frightening quantities without a hint of personal gain. However, we can proudly state that, due in no small part to our unstinting efforts, no bar has had to close its doors on its desperate customers. – It’s the “Bar Preservation Society” by the way.

Am not sure really where to begin, but the best thing is to tell you about the early arrival summer which totally got its dates wrong and arrived at the end of February.  It has been incredible and this week we have had our guests, Margaret and Allan, (incidentally the very first guests in our gites in 2005), relaxing and unwinding in the swimming pool cooling down after long walks around and about the village and the vineyards. Also the local Boulangerie has been ‘en Fete’ at the weekend with Strawberry Fraisiers – just so mouthwatering and delicious, I am sure we are ploughing on kilos!  Seriously, the sun and heat has been frightening. We have been having courtyard temperatures of over 30° since late March. Spring is always mild here with the same number of sunshine hours as Provence but apparently it has been the driest Spring since 1900 and the sunniest in 50 years. But not everywhere in France has been like this. This year the South, the Languedoc and the East of France has seen a fair bit of rain and as I write this the south has had flash floods and massive storms. Good – serves ‘em right!!

Ready for the start of judging

… I was honoured that I was again invited to judge at Le Concours des Vins de Loire at Juigné sur Loire last month, along with my friend, a retired winemaker, who, incidentally,  just managed to attend before going into hospital for an operation in Angers – to have his throat cut the next day! I tell you this year has not been easy in rue du Moulin!  Thankfully he is making a good recovery and so normal services are resuming as they say! At the wine judging, again a large gathering of over 100 wine professionals were assembled together and split into ‘juries’ of three. I was initially disappointed because I was on the list for the tasting of my least favourite wine of all, the Rosé, Cabernet d’Anjou, but standards were high and despite my personal preference, professional objectivity prevailed and I have to say I tasted some excellent new releases.  The trophies and medals were extremely well merited and there is no doubt that standards are forever improving year on year.  One of the strange things about a professional judging is how everyone’s private marks are uncannily similar. Proving that wine can be judged objectively and it is not down to that irritating phrase I hear so often, “we all have different tastes”. If you consider yourself a bit of a wine expert then phrases like that should not be allowed to pass your lips. A good wine is a good wine whether or not you happen to like that particular style.

Afterwards there was a huge “Thankyou” lunch presented just outside the hall in a marquee, alongside many bottles of the huge range of appellations we had analyzed earlier, and, of course, animated discussions and debates continued over lunch!

Great meal in the marquée

I have to say I really enjoyed participating in one of the most prestigious wine events in the region and having the opportunity to help in the selection of  new local wines from Anjou Saumur and the Touraine, talking to local winemakers and people who work in the wine industry.

Talking about wine. I have to tell you about a recent article entitled:-

“Oops just lost a few litres of wine?!!!” This was an article with a cartoon in Le Courrier de l’ouest, our regional paper, where a vineyard worker is on his knees in the wine chais thanking one of the Duane, (Customs Officers), for the apparent miracle of him changing water into wine!  I imagine the Douanes were quite amused by the cartoon.  I also imagine that they were decidedly not amused at the anonymous wine-makers protestations that the undeclared wine in his cellar was just forgetfulness, an oversight, a mere administrative error – all 72,000 litres of it!  It has now been distilled into industrial alcohol and, after legal proceedings; no doubt a very hefty fine will be en-route to the unfortunate winemaker.

There are new owners of the village Bar/Tabac/Poste in rue de la Collegiale. Sonia and her husband and family, have been warmly welcomed and are working hard to make their new venture a success. At the same time we have wished Nadine and Christian the best of luck in their well earned retirement.  The Bar is now open for longer hours with tables and parasols outside in the rue, a new TV has been installed, and there are fresh flowers on the tables! The downside is that we can no longer get the ‘eau-de-vie’ that used to come in a plastic Vittel bottle – now isn’t life tough!  It is quite common in France to order a café – vittel.  Only in Le Puy Notre Dame did the spring water mysteriously change into something very like Calvados.

Chez Jean-Yves, the village restaurant ‘Le Bouchon Ponot’ is going from strength to strength and we are apparently appointed as official fresh herb and salad suppliers – not that the bugger pays us anything of course but it keeps the herbs trimmed and I do get the occasional glass or two for nothing.

Just a little note on the current uproar over nuclear energy: Apparently Germany has now decided to withdraw completely from the nuclear sector and I think France should do the same. This conclusion was reached after noting that

Mutated Lollypop Tree

one of our “lollipop trees” has mutated. – must be the proximity of the power station at Chinon! Sheila has mutated as well – she cleaned a cooker in a gite the other day. Amazing and hooray!!

Other news is that Le Puy Notre Dame has apparently been honoured by our previous American guests from three years ago, Andy and Lea Duffy, who are two architects. They wrote to tell us that after their memorable visit to the Loire and Le Puy they never forgot the lovely moments spent here and took back with them fresh ideas to fulfil their dream in 2010 to be Innkeepers in Oregon. They decided to choose ‘Le Puy’ as the new name of the Inn! In fact they have a room specially dedicated to The Loire for their guests to enjoy. We are honoured to think we contributed to their inspirations and are sure the villagers are delighted too.

The annual Fete des Village takes place on Sunday 26th June, when inhabitants celebrate the life of the ‘Petite Cité de Caractére’. Sophie, our representative in the Office of Tourisme, is busy informing every one of the planned animations, including an organised early morning walk through the vines, demonstrations of carving art in tuffeau, wine tastings, regional produce stalls and lots to eat, live jazz in the square by the side of the Eglise, can’t wait – let’s hope it’s a good sunny day for all the Ponots and Ponetts!!

Part of the herb garden

And so the evening is approaching and it’s a great time of the year to relax and sit in the courtyard with a glass of wine and enjoy the peacefulness that is early summer! The smells of the flowers, lavender and newly created herb and vegetable garden area are so pleasurable. We can reflect that our renovations have made progress after almost seven years of dirt, dust, accidents (dare I mention that word) and pure, bloody frustration. Through it all we somehow managed to hang onto our enthusiasm for living in this beautiful part of the Loire Valley which we unquestionably now regard as home but, would we do a renovation like this again?  Not a bloody cat in hell’s chance!!

We would like to wish guests and friends a happy summer and look forward to seeing you! Let’s raise our glasses and make a toast to sunshine, bonne fetes, friendship, good wine – and perhaps for the return of the Vittel bottle!!

à bientôt
Brian
Gites in the Loire Valley

Afternoon Tea

I’ve drank wine out of all shapes and sizes of bottles. I have drunk wine out of ceramic pitchers and glass pitchers,

Afternoon Tea

out of large glasses and out of small glasses. On one occasion, which I would prefer not to remember, I have even drank wine out of jam jars. However in all my life I have never been served wine in an upmarket restaurant or even in a downmarket one come to that, in a – teapot. But here is the photo to prove it. It was taken in Le Grand Bleu, Saumur’s foremost fish restaurant on the evening of the Fête National, (Bastille Day). Whether they had exhausted their normal supply or whether this was normal, I have no idea but I certainly puts a different slant on “afternoon tea”.

à plus
Brian