The Loire Valley and especially Blois
Our neighbourhood association in Blois, Les Amis des Grouets, holds a mulled wine and chestnut evening every December next to the local church, with roastde marshmallows for the kids. Notre association du quartier à Blois, Les amis des grouets, fait une soirée vin chaud et chataignes en décembre tous les ans à côté de l’église avec …
Continue reading “Roasted Marshmallows – Brochette de Chamallows”
Jean Michel went mushroom picking with Alain, our friend and neighbour from Les Grouets who led him straight to these wild hedgehog mushrooms. The French name pied-de-mouton means sheep’s foot but we can’t find the origin. The fine needle-like spores are bitter if not brushed off. Delicious cooked in a little olive oil and served …
Continue reading “Wild Hedgehog Mushrooms – Pieds-de-mouton”
Don’t you love this little shed dwarfed by the surrounding trees? Qu’elle semble minuscule cette petite cabane à côté des grands arbres.
A walk with my friends and neighbours from Les Grouets, Françoise and Lili, took us past this lovely old cedar in the grounds of our local château de la Vicomté. Une marche à pied avec mes amies et voisines des Grouets, Françoise et Lili, nous a fait passer devant ce beau cèdre dans le parc …
11th November is a public holiday in France and Belgium. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” A ceremony takes place in each town and flowers are placed …
Continue reading “Armistice in Les Grouets – Le 11 novembre aux Grouets”
We had stopped by to get some daffodil bulbs from one of our neighbours in Les Grouets when I looked up and saw this amazing sky! Nous étions arrêtés chez un de nos voisins aux Grouets pour prendre des bulbes de jonquille lorsque j’ai levé la tête et j’ai vu ce ciel étonnant!
No photo yesterday because we were without electricity from 6 pm to 5 am (in Paris!) following a storm. This photo of Château de la Vicomté is from the archives and taken in our street in Les Grouets. Pas de photo hier parce que nous étions sans électricité entre 18 heures et 5 heures (à …
Continue reading “Sunset in the Trees – Coucher de soleil dans les arbres”
Paella is a traditional dish from Valencia in Spain based on short-grain rice and mussels which derives its name from the pan used to make it, but it’s been popular in France for a long time now and can often be found at the market. We also saw our friend Sire Damien who makes those …
During our evening promenade in Les Grouets, our neighbourhood in Blois, we always pass this manor house with its turrent, probably built in the 18th century. I love the semi-circular shutters. Ce manoir avec sa tourelle, sans doute construit au 18è siècle se trouve sur notre promenade du soir aux Grouets, le quartier de Blois où …
We were very surprised to see this lovely slug on very dry ground. Nous étions bien étonné de voir cette belle limace sur un terrain très sec.