Joan of Arc and the Fortress of Chinon. Bourgueil Market.

Day 11

Joan of Arc and the Fortress of Chinon. 

Bourgueil Market.

Here in Chinon, where I am based, there is a remarkable fortress with a remarkable history. It includes the Plantagenets. Eleanor of Aquitaine was imprisoned here by her husband Henry II but the woman that dominates the story of the fortress even though she spent just a few days here is Joan of Arc, the teenager who put an end to the awful 100 Years War.

The town of Chinon (and the River Vienne) as seen from the fortress

In February 1429, in this very fortress in Chinon (began in the 10^th century),  she persuaded the disinherited French king Charles VII to stand up for himself or at least to let her stand up for him and for France. He agreed and it made a king of him and a martyr of Joan who was captured by the Burgundians and handed over to the English who engineered, with church cooperation, her burning at the stake for heresy.  

Here be dragons! A summer exhibition in the fortress. Even Nessie is here.

Twenty five years later, the verdict was overturned by an inquisitorial court and the rehabilitation has been going on ever since. The Maid of Orleans, who lived to be just 19, is the French patriot and has been used worldwide as an example of patriotism. 

No shortage of cabbage plants at the market

The morning was much more peaceful. Then, we headed up the road to nearby Bourgueil (about 13 km) for the weekly market there. It was packed. It is spread over the main street, some adjoining ones and also takes in a smallish hall.  All over the place and hard (not impossible!)  to get a handle on it as food stalls are mixed in with those selling clothes, shoes, knives, and so on.

A local goat cheese.
"Drink with dry wine!"

We had no bother filling bags. Got lots of local fruit including delicious melons. Also a local goat cheese, after a taste and with some friendly advice to eat it with a dry wine. Lunch too was covered, mine a crispy tasty mille feuille with ham and cheese. Met the man with the beer and wine that we’d seen last week in Chinon and went off with some beer and a large bottle of gorgeous apple juice.

The boys at the bar, a very popular market stall.

Had been hoping to pick up a good ready-made meal at the market but they seemed in short supply so we fell back on our local traiteur in Chinon and now have a Pork Curry in the fridge for dinner, along with some other bits and pieces that will cover starter and dessert  from Bourgueil. A bottle of local beer is nearing its end and a bottle of local wine is about to be opened.

The sun too has made an appearance this afternoon after a hazy morning that promised mist but delivered zilch. Looks like dining al fresco this evening.

From the underground: Death Cap and Sparkling Wines

Day 9
From the underground: Death Cap and Sparkling Wines

A misty morning led to us going underground for this Sunday afternoon. The Death Cap was one of countless mushrooms seen in the underground Musée du Champignons in St Hilaire-St Florent, just outside Saumur, but the first call was to the premises of BouvetLadubay well known around the world for their quality sparkling wines.

Disgorgement machines, the more modern ones!

The visit began with a tour of the underground cellars- it seems virtually every winery hereabouts has conveniently cool cellars adapted from former tuffeau quarries. Temperatures are about 12 degrees, all the time, ideal for wine and mushrooms.

Underground art.

The méthode traditionnelle is used here and we were given examples of the old way of the famous “disgorgement”   and the more modern mechanical time-saving method. 

The tasting line-up

The cellars, in under a local hill, are extensive and impressive and we had glimpses of the lives of the quarry workers and saw how the caverns have been adapted to the wine makers’ use. Bouvet Ladubay, with 460 awards for their wines in the last forty years, is a big name in the world of sparkling wines.

Death Cap (in a glass case!)

We were looking forward to our tasting which was carried out above ground. We had four to taste in all, including an unusual red sparkler, and our favourite was the Decanter bronze medal winner Saphir Brut 2011, fruity and fresh with a nice acidity. A few bottles are on their way back to Ireland, maybe! Might have to return to Saumur for more.

Horse's Mane or Pom Pom growing

A few miles up the road, we came to the fascinating Mushroom Museum. Not just a museum as the underground caves are used to grown many varieties, including some that, thanks to Ballyhoura Mushrooms, we are familiar with. 

Pink Oysters growing. Get them from Ballyhoura Mushrooms at Farmers Markets

Enjoyed strolling through the various mushroom beds and reading the info. There is also a massive museum section there with information and representations, in 3B and photograph, of virtually every mushroom in the world.

More oysters growing, just a different colour

By the way, the sun did come out after lunch and it turned into quite a pleasant afternoon and evening, the only big cloud in the sky on our drive home from Saumur coming from the towers of the local nuclear station.

All the fun of the fair on a sunny Saturday in Chinon

Day 8 (Part 2)
All the fun of the fair on a sunny Saturday in Chinon

The annual vintage market continued in Chinon this sunny afternoon.

Highlight was an old fashioned threshing. Thirsty work and, for a short spell, we withdrew from the streets to visit the Caves Painctes of Chinon, the headquarters of the Confrerie de Bons Entonneurs Rabelaisiens. Didn’t quite make the cut for membership. You have to drink a glass of wine. What’s the problem, you say. The problem is the glass takes a whole bottle and you must finish it without a pause!

It is an interesting visit into the caves under the town, some 100 meters under the fortress above. Got some drops of water on my shirt at one point and the guide told me it had taken two months to get down from the top. After a nice tasting of red, rose and red, we were soon out in the sun and a different kind of fun.

Cross-roads (well, rond-point) dancing

Tractor driver lets off smoke at a "heckler"

Fun time

I have a bigger one!

Some fine horses here today

Lining up for tasting at Caves Painctes of Chinon

Horse have shite of way

No French Fair complete without one.

Sheaf throwers

Rabelais and his work crew

Sheaf style.

Faces of Chinon at today's Marché a l'Ancienne

Day 8 (Part1)
Faces of Chinon
at today's Marché a l'Ancienne
A Vintage Fair.

Very enjoyable morning. Back now to the town centre for more vintage fun!

Food, wine and beer at the town market. Then a wee tour as temps rise!

Day 6

Food, wine and beer at the town market. Then a wee tour as temps rise!

Stars and stripes. Market hats

There was a superb market, large and with much variety, in Chinon this morning. Food, followed by clothing and footwear, accounted for the major part of the stalls.

Kids eye the sweets

Amazingly, we ended up coming home with a bag of Asian food. The intended main course is Chicken with Black Mushrooms while a couple of enormous Spring Rolls are also included along with two little bags of an orange coloured liquid whose purpose we had to work on.

Mussels!

It seems that the sauce, possibly a ginger based one, is to be paired with the Spring Rolls (below). In any case, the rolls, full of shoots, nuts and chicken bits, wrapped in rice paper and topped with prawns, were absolutely delicious with the slightly spicy sauce. What a starter for two euro each!

Garlic

And the main course, the Chicken with Black mushrooms, was incredible. So tasty, especially with the savoury rice from the same stall. Getting worried here as CL is beginning to clear her plate before I do. 

Mother and Child in St Martin's

These two courses underline what I’ve been preaching the past few years about the value of markets and traiteurs in France. One of our best meals so far cost us just over seventeen euro, twenty two if you add the lovely bottle of Vouvray, also bought in the market. Don’t know what the strawberries cost but they are for desert.

The morning wasn't the warmest but the temperatures rose as the day went on and I spotted it reach 31 degrees in the car. Our terrace, sheltered on three sides, goes even higher, so a mid-day visit to the pool was necessary.

Nuclear power

In the afternoon, we headed for the lovely village of Candes St Martin and its ancient church where the saint died. A tough walk in the conditions took us to a magnificent viewpoint over the confluence of the Vienne and Loire Rivers and the view also included the local Nuclear Powered Electricity Plant from which lines of enormous pylons march through the vineyards.

River trip on the Vienne. The bit of sand behind separates it from the Loire,
though the two rivers soon join to your left

Over the river then and on to the wine area of Bourgueil and to St Nicolas de Bourgueil in particular. Here we called to the recommended Caveau des Vigernons and bought our first bottles of the local red (made from Cabernet Franc, just like neighbouring Chinon) and also booked a table in their restaurant for tomorrow evening.

St Nicolas de Bourgueil.
A roundabout.

Detained in a French Restaurant!

Day 5

Detained in a French Restaurant!

Knuckle (we call it shank) of lamb 

What is it about some French restaurants that they seem to want to keep you there all night? The answer, methinks, is understaffing. Our server at L’Ardoise in Chinon, a Michelin mentioned bistro and a busy place, was worked off his feet and, despite valiantly trying, could hardly be expected to keep up with the demands of about fifty persons in our downstairs section.

Delays just got longer and, while I didn’t time ours, the couple next table did and said they waited fifty minutes for dessert. We had to struggle to get dessert and the bill and then the credit card machine before escaping into the dark and a night-time temperature of 24 degrees.

On top of all that the menus were on big blackboards. Okay. But when customers came in you were trying to look through them to see what is available and besides the server has to explain the menu to each new arrival. Time wasting and crazy. What not have the regular menu on paper, the specials on the boards? Even the way the wine was handled was awkward. You had to go down to a display of bottles to pick your red and then to another display to choose white or rose. Never seen anything like it.

Yet the food, aside maybe from the desserts, was good. CL’s starter of Foie Gras Poele sur son Carpaccio de bouef and my Mille Feuille avec sentures de maquis and chèvre were quite satisfactory if not outstanding.

We each had the same mains and this was the highlight. It was Knuckle of Lamb cooked for 7 hours and served with rustic potatoes. Really gorgeous. And the wine, a Chinon Red 2012 (18 euro per bottle) wasn't bad either. 

The main visit today was to see the 16^th century Chateau d’Azay de Rideau. It seems that many French also made it their day to visit and the place was busy but far from uncomfortably so. Built between 1518 and 1527, this château is considered one of the foremost examples of early French renaissance architecture. Set on an island in the middle of the Indre river (a tributary of the Loire), this picturesque château has become one of the most popular of the châteaux of the Loire valley.

Stain glass detail from one of the windows

The huge building had to have its king’s room and that forms part of the tour and Louis XIII and Louis XIV stayed here. Quite a lot of other impressive rooms here also, including the Billiards Room! Didn’t get to stay in the King’s Room but did enjoy a lovely lunch in the nearby Creperie du Roy.

Headed off then to nearby Sache which is known as the town of Balzac, the 19^th century novelist, and we saw his chateau and also the 12^th century Auberge where he came for a drink or two. The Auberge is still going strong but today’s menus are on the expensive side. Another well known figure, the 20^th century American sculptor Alexander Calder, also called this town home and one of his large mobiles dominates the small town square.

12th century auberge in Sache

Calder's mobile

We also paid a visit to Villaines les Rochers. Since the Middle Ages, willows from the local river valleys have been made into baskets, anything from fruit holders to baby carriages and even bigger. Must say that I was fascinated by a tour of the local co-op and there are three or four other enterprises making baskets and related items in the town.

She was Queen of France and then Queen of England

Day 3:

She was Queen of France and then Queen of England.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the richest and most powerful women ever.

Eleanor effigy

 Lovely meal this evening in the Restaurant At’Table in Chinon but the highlight of the day was the visit to the magnificent Abbey Fontevraud, described as the largest and most extraordinary in France. History is writ large here in this early 12^th century building that was run for nearly 700 years by aristocratic abbesses.

It contains the remains of one of the most remarkable women ever, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Her effigy lies next to that of her second husband Henry Plantagenet, the King of England, and their son Richard the Lionheart. Eleanor had before that been married to Louis VII and that made her Queen of France. The story is quite complicated and she endured imprisonment by Henry before being released by son Richard and then going on to live until into her 80s before dying at Fontevraud.

The abbey's cloisters

 After the French revolution, the Abbey was turned into a prison and was used as such until 1963 upon which repair and restoration began. Today, it is a hive of activity both inside and out and is a fantastic visit, not least because some of the areas are used to mount large scale art works and installations. Plans for the future include using part of it as a luxury hotel.

The abbey's chapterhouse

 We had our first stroll around Chinon this morning and very impressed with the statue to another amazing French woman, Joan of Arc, who is remembered here by a monumental statue of her on horseback with a bunch of enemies crushed underfoot.

The duck

 Chinon though is dominated by its chateau. We didn’t visit it but looked at it from down in the town and from a great viewpoint across the river, the Vienne.

After a busy day, we visited the At’Table for dinner and went for the three course menu for 22.90, really good value. The only bum note was a glass of red Chinon house wine, served very cold and probably poor enough in any case. The white, on the other hand, was excellent.

The fish dish

 Good choices for all courses and CL’s starter was a delightful Carpaccio of Melon, sorbet red port and condiments while I absolutely enjoyed my river fish terrine with a lime mousseline. Mains too were top notch, her Parmentier of Duck Confit with orange sauce superb and my Omlet-Chevalier (a sea fish, I’m told) with courgette crumble and red pepper emulsion. Very enjoyable outdoor meal at a very busy venue.

The Sabayon dessert

Dining in style on the high seas.

Loire Holiday 2013

Day 1 & 2

Fishermen in Cork Harbour

Quite a swell as we left the familiar arms of Cork Harbour on Saturday but nothing that the veteran Brittany Ferries ferry, Pont Aven, couldn't handle. So calm was the voyage to Roscoff that we enjoyed a great meal at le Flora, the ship’s main restaurant, as you can see from the pictures.

Duck ravioli with cream of lettuce sauce

The Pont Aven arrived on schedule, maybe even a little early in Roscoff, and, about 7.30 French time we hit the road. All familiar as far as Rennes and then some new roads as we headed for Chinon in the Loire Valley. Hadn’t been there before but the journey was easy, with the big cities, Rennes and Angers, easily by-passed.

Crab dressed in vegetable salad, diplomat sauce.

After lunch at a nearby village, arrived in Chinon as arranged and soon Sylvie showed us around our troglodyte gite. Well equipped, with a pool where the water temperature is in the high 20s. It is very close to the centre of the town and looks like a good base to explore the vineyards and chateaux of the famous river valley.

Chicken and asparagus with Albufera sauce

Cheese course

Kirsch and vanilla pear parfait

Lemon biscuit with tequila ice cream

Brocante market in Chinon this Sunday afternoon