Air conditioning in Ferriere-Larcon

The bathroom window with the shutters closed, but the window opened, in the morning. We will open the shutters now!

Summer has arrived in France.  The highs are near 90*F, while at night it cools down to 60*.  There are no magic machines to cool the house, instead we use windows and shutters.  At night time, the windows downstairs are opened with the shutters, which will still allow some airflow, closed for security.  Upstairs, both windows and shutters are opened wide.

In the morning, we open all the shutter downstairs, especially the two windows on the east side of the house. Here, the prevailing morning breeze is from the east.  It is amazing how quickly the entire house becomes almost too cool.

The window in the salon is opened wide to let the cool morning air into the house.

The bathroom window, one of only two on the east side of the house, is the first to be opened.  Our cool morning breezes are always from the East.

The thick walls of our stone house, plus the shutters, are the key to keeping things cool.  By closing the shutters during the heat of the day, the stone walls keep the air cool.  In fact, there have been a couple of days when the inside of the house was too cool; we would go outside for a bit to warm up!

Looking out the opened dining room window.

When you drive through the villages of France on a warm summer day, it often looks as if no one is home. This is because all the shutters are closed tight.  But is you get out of your car and walk around, you will hear people talking, music playing, the tv on; all behind closed shutters to keep the cool in.

We hope the airconditioning continues to work.  It's forecast to be 91 for 3 days in a row next week.  

When we are home during the day the dining room window shutters are left opened until the mid-afternoon sun shines on them.  We love having light with using electricity.

Lunch at La Promenade in Le Petit-Pressigny

The business card for Maison DALLAIS restaurant "La Promenade.

Celebrating an anniversary is always fun, but this year it was especially delicious.  Two villages away from Ferriere-Larcon, is Le Petit-Pressigny, which appears to be about the same size.  Driving though the village, the road makes a turn; at that corner is a Michelin One Star restaurant!  Thanks to Susan from Days on the Claise blog, for the recommendation.  We guess if you are a good enough chef, you can put your restaurant anywhere you want and be successful!

With our Kir Royales, we were served a small tray with amuse bouches, fun for the mouth.

We had to start with Kir Royales and a toast for our years together.  The waiter brought a small tray of amuse bouches, which come with any aperitif.  Two chinese soup spoons, which we promptly ate before remembering the camera, held one small tomato, steamed, cooled, then split in two.  Inside was an avocado mixture similar to guacamole. The tomato was put back together and olive oil drizzled over, pooling in the bottom of the spoon.  One bite and it was gone!  The two fans are actually potatoes standing in toasted seeds, which we were unable to identify.  The shot glasses had creme fraise mixed with salt, pepper and lemon, topped with finely chopped tomato, chives, and radish.

Our appetizer at the start of lunch.

 Time for Lunch!  Our appetizer came in an egg cup in a cute stand.  Inside was a buttery, creme custard, topped with nutmeg.  The surprise was in the bottom; a lettuce puree, whipped to be light and airy.  Heaven on the tongue.

Huitres speciales, compote d'artichaut, citron confit et comsomme de tomate.

Foir gras de carnard en gelle de madere et date de fruit ala, poire tapee.

The entre came next.  I had the oysters and Bill the foie gras de canard.  On mine, the little egg on top is lemon in a merangue sitting on a wafer of artichoke and tomato.  Underneath were large, raw oysters on a bed of tomato mixed with artichoke.  The foie gras was covered in a jelly made from Madera, the little dots are date sauce, and the puree to the side is pear.  Since we had ordered different items, of course we had to share a taste.  Both were delicious!

Geline de Touraine rote, jus de Roquette et royale de foir second.

 For our plat, we both had the local black feathered chicken, a Geline, roasted in a wonderful sauce, sweet and savory.  There is a piece of breast as well as a thigh, sitting on a bed of rocket, a local green, some of it juiced.   The small dish is whipped potatoes with so much butter, they literally melted in your mouth.  To drink, we had a local Touraine Sauvignon vintage 2008, recommended by the sommelier, Xavier.

Strawberries with sweetened basil puree stems, sitting on cheese cake with a cookie base.

Whipped cream with figs on a cookie base with a local speciality pastry on the outside.  The little dots are a delicious fig sauce.

Our desserts were ordered while enjoying our aperitif. Food this beautiful takes time to prepare!  The menu was separate, and I didn't think to take a picture to get the descriptions in French.    We had skipped the cheese course; we did want to be able to walk out of the place!  But said yes to coffee, which, this being France, is served with it's own tray of small tastes.

Left to right:  white chocolate cups with whipped creme and hazelnuts, sugar coated currents on the stem, madelines,  dark chocolate cups with sweet cherries nestled on a light chocolate pudding.

The Murano glass light fixtures say this a wonderful place for celebrations!

Arriving home, we took pictures to prove we could still stand.  Later in the evening we opened a bottle of sparkling Vouvray we had purchased on our wine tasting excursion.  It had been aged 7 years, then hand riddled to remove the sediment.  Sante!

Happy 44th Anniversary to Us!

To visit the restaurant:  www.restaurantdallaislapromenade.com

To enjoy Susan's blog: www.daysontheclaise.blogspot.com

Happy Anniversary to Us

Today is our 44th wedding anniversary.  We don't have any pictures of our wedding; we eloped.  But we do have pictures of us doing what we do best, enjoying being together.  We found this mirror just hanging there on a wall in Chenoncheaux.  The rest of the people in the room, and there were quite a few of them, thought we were crazy.  Maybe it had something to do with our laughter!  If we had only found a mirror 44 years ago........

 Now let me see, how do I get the camera out of the picture.

Success,sort of.  He took off the top of his head!  

Les Pompiers de Montresor

Here they come, walking down the hill from their firehouse.  I took this picture with friend, JP, in mind!

Les Pompiers, the firemen, of Montresor came to watch le Tour de France in Montresor.  There were seven men and one woman.  Reminded me of the Smurfs, all the little blue guys and then the amazing Smurfette. So is a female firefighter called La Pompiette?  In my French, of course!

Getting all the latest gossip from the Gendarme.

The Many Faces of Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud

 The Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud is one of our favorite places.  We have visited several times, even bringing our children one of the times.  The place has been spruced up since the first time, which means it will survive for many more centuries.  Once you get past the enormity of the place, you can start focusing on the small things:  Faces.

On the wall in the rectory, say Ah!

This jolly fellow seems to be eating an orange.

Why is he sticking his tongue out at me?

An angel hanging out with a skull and crossed bones.

Richard LionHeart's sarcophagus.  His father, mother and sister are lying about, too.

We found these two in the gardens; the same place they took a picture with their two children in 2000.

Fete Nationale

July 14 is Fete Nationale to celebrate the start of the revolution when the people marched on the Bastille in Paris.  Every village has a celebration, including fireworks.  We decided to join in the fun here in Ferriere-Larcon.

We left the house about 10:15 pm to walk down to the football pitch (soccer for you Americans).  As soon as we started down the road, we were met by a group of about 15 adults and children, carrying lighted paper lanterns.  The woman at the head of the group invited us to join them on their march, so of course, we did!

At the field, the local band was playing, led by the saxophone player.  We knew some of the songs, so sang along; Oh Susannah!  and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Not what we were expecting to hear in rural Touraine.  The band finished a little after 11.

It was now dark enough for the spectacle!  Music started playing through a really nice sound system,  then, BOOM!  Fireworks!  They were spectacular!  The show went on for over 15 minutes.  Amazing for a tiny village of 100+ people.

Le Tour de France

After waiting for several hours, here came the riders!  Zoom!

Le Tour de France route was nearby us on two days, so we went to watch twice.  The first day was west of here in Lignieres de Touraine, while on the second day we traveled east to Montresor.   Lignieres de Touraine was very crowded, not at all what I was expecting from Bill's description of back country roads.  The party was in full swing when we arrived 2 hours early.  We parked on the side of a small road leading into town, facing back the way we came, so we could get out more easily.  Good thing, too, cause it was worse than a Texas highschool football game when it came time to leave! (Those of you who are Texans, know what I'm talking about!)

So you would know which direction the race was going, there were signs.

The caravan of sponsors comes through first, throwing their products from fast moving vehicles into  the crowds.  We only caught one thing: a packet of flavoring to add to water:  sans sucre, sans calorie!  Bill had planned to set up his tripod for taking videos, but the crowds soon put an end to that idea.  At one point, a car stopped and a man emerged, to loud applause.  The local mayor shook his hand, he signed a few autographs and had his photo taken; then he was off again in the caravan.  A man standing next to Bill, seeing  his perplexed expression,  "You know Jean-Claude Killy?  That's him!"  Well, looking at our pictures later, it's not him.  Now we are left wondering, who?

The next day in Montresor was much calmer.  The crowds were what you would expect in a small village; all the locals and a few tourists.  This time when the caravan came by, we made a haul of freebies!  Snacks, keychains, hats, a blow up pillow, a packet of laundry soap, a condom and even a little backpack to carry it all in.  Fun!

Our collection of free things.  Each is given by a company who is listed as  "the official  provider for Le Tour de France", be it water, or cars, or condoms!

The lead riders, coming though both towns, whizzed by in a flash of color and applause.  The rest of the pack, while going just as fast, took longer to pass.  Then is was finished.  Time to go home.

Each team has a support vehicle following close by the riders.  There must be hundreds of thousands of euros  on top of all these cars.  Sorry Dan and Robin, they weren't giving any of these away!

Market Day in Loches

There is a market on Wednesday and Sunday mornings in Loche.  The vendors meander up and around most of the streets in the central shopping area, which has been pedestrianized; vehicles only allowed for deliveries.  We have been to the market several times, but Wednesday was the first time Bill took his camera out of the case.  I know, it's hard to believe.  He has been much too busy looking and smelling and tasting and buying, to even think about picture taking!

The fish monger.

To go food; paella, or roasted chickens, either whole or pieces, with vegies that have cooked in the drippings.  The smell is so good you drool!

Clothing in classic French stripes.

Melons and plums.

Scarves and purses for the well dressed woman.

Candy!  Candy!  Candy!

Soaps, body washes and parfums.

The crowd was speaking mainly French, but we also heard British English,  Dutch and German.

Brightly colored handbags and backpacks.

We were tempted by one of these beautiful bowls, but couldn't imagine hauling it around for the next three months without breaking the thing!

Table linens, my weakness.  No, I didn't buy any.

You can even get a wind charger for your home.

Old bicycles at a brochante stall.  I don't think these will be doing  much racing!

Bill purchased a small bag of tomatoes to enjoy with our cheeses.

Olives!  

We will be back to the market several more time during our stay, I'm sure.  There is one woman who sells the best tomatoes....

How we celebrated my birthday in France

This is my third birthday to be celebrated in France.  We started with an omelet for breakfast.  The melon wasn't ripe enough, even though it smelled good.  Oh well.  The Wednesday market was on in Loches, so off we went.

Wandering around in Loches is always a good thing, even if it was hot and humid.  We stopped by the SuperU for a few things, then checked out the NOZ store.  It's a remainder kinda place.  Things set out hodge podge, with not much organization as to type of merchandise, so you have to walk through the entire store.  We purchases a couple of bottles of spices,  one called TexSpice, the other a red pepper, then mixed them together at home to hopefully come up with a nice hot blend.

Bill made a yummy omelet with lardons and emmental, plus a melon and toast with either  cassis conserve or local meil, honey.

After walking around the market in Loches, we came home to a selection of cheeses and a bottle of Vouvray sparkling wine we purchased on Monday.

On our walk to dinner, we came across this lovely lady, a Citreon Traction Avant.

We had the entire cafe to ourselves.  The owner was fun to talk to.

We walked to dinner at the local cafe by the river.  The view out the back window was relaxing and there was a bit of a breeze blowing through to help cool us down.  The French say we are having a heat wave, it's been all the way up to 83 degrees!  We just call it summer.

Don't know what was so funny, or maybe just the wonderfulness of the food caused the happy face!

Dinner was very tasty.  We were the only ones in the cafe, so the owner would come out and talk a bit between serving courses.  All in all a delightful 62nd birthday!

 

Kir Royales to start our meal.