Written on Monday, October 31st, 2011 at 9:28 am
Cafe de la Poste, epautre, potatoes, restaurants
Potatoes are so last year.
Having waxed lyrical about potatoes in a previous blog I’m about to show how fickle I am.
I’ve always enjoyed epautre – a grain it’s really hard to find in England. My suitcase is often filled with packets of Tipiak which contains a mixture of epautre and a couple of other grains and makes a good alternative to rice or couscous. Dinner guests have all enthused about it. But this summer Prosper at Cafe de la Poste in Venterol got me completely addicted to his sweet potato gratin. In fact, he could have given me it for all 3 courses and I would have been happy! This autumn he’s been ringing the changes with a puree of kidney beans, and, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better he recently served up a breadfruit gratin which was even more amazing. Sadly sweet potato is practically impossible to grow in England and I don’t think I’m going to find breadfruit in my local Waitrose….
And yes – it’s a breadfruit – sorry no prizes.
Written on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
activities, goats, sheep, walking in provence, wildlife
I always prefer my walks to follow a circuit. Turning back and retracing one’s steps is somehow dispiriting. There are a couple of walks I’ve found that have panneaux (information boards) along the route and apart from providing interesting and educational information they also give a sense of completion as you reach each stage.
This particular walk is found between Les Pilles and Chateauneuf La Bordette and is in an area used for grazing sheep and goats. We can give more precise directions as it’s not the easiest to find! The walk itself is very well signposted along the route with cute sheep signs pointing the way. The terrain is fairly easy with just a couple of downhill stretches that are slightly more tricky, and is very varied with open grassy sections, stony uphill paths and even a densely wooded area. There is a ruined farm with interesting bread oven and terraces once used for growing fodder and mulberry trees to feed silkworms. If you’re lucky enough you may see a flock of sheep complete with bells or a small herd of goats. The walk takes about an hour for the non superfit!
Written on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Written on Thursday, October 13th, 2011 at 8:23 am
bureaucracy, EDF
Or Sue’s meter saga.
Sometime back in may Sue noticed that the disc in her electricity meter was only turning intermittently. On closer examination she could see ants crawling around inside the glass cover. She did the decent thing and phoned EDF to report the malfunction. The operator dismissed the whole tale in that tone of voice that indicates that you’re obviously a crazy Englishwoman. The numbers had increased ergo nothing could be wrong.
In June the meter reader came and the air was filled with loud banging noises. Sue rushed down to see scores of ants tumbling around and out of the meter dislodged by his bangs on the glass. “It’s full of ants,” he said. “I know.” replied Sue, “I’ve tried to report the meter not working properly but they didn’t believe me.” “Profitez,” he said.
However Sue felt she should contact EDF again and this time she tried email, having returned to England. This produced another number to call, which she called from England and arranged a rendez-vous for the beginning of August when she’d be back at the house. Unfortunately at the beginning of July EDF decided to phone the French house to confirm the rdv. Sue’s son was there who knew nothing about the ants or meter and he took it to be a problem with the account – compte – rather than the meter – compteur. Confusion all round! Sue again emailed to explain the confusion and to confirm the rdv.
The date of the rdv arrived – and went – no EDF. More calls revealed that EDF have to call to confirm a rdv – email is not acceptable. However that’s a problem if it’s a maison secondaire and you’re not there. They are not allowed to phone England.
Eventually a very pleasant man came and fitted a smart new meter and Sue was charged retrospectively for the electricity (so no’profitez’). Not sure what the moral of the story is – maybe just another illustration of the complications of running a maison secondaire?
Written on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Eurostar, flights, Montelimar, MP2, train
These days it’s so much easier to travel to the Drome by train than it was, even five years ago.
Eurostar from St Pancras to either Valence, Montelimar or Avignon takes more or less the same time as flying once you factor in all the extra time required at airports these days with enhanced security checks etc. You have to change at Lille but it’s only a question of a quick change of platform. Going via Paris is a little trickier as you have to change stations but the Paris metro is a doddle – or you can always treat yourself to a taxi! (If you’ve left yourself some spare time between connections, the moules-frites at any of the restaurants opposite the Gare du Nord are far superior to any plastic sandwiches bought on board the train).
You can hire a car at Valence TGV station and take the scenic route through Crest and the mountains to Condorcet.
Montelimar is the best destination for getting a connecting coach straight to Nyons, and they’ve changed the times now so that they coincide with the TGV arrival/departure times. From Nyons it’s only a short hop in a taxi – or call us and someone may be able to pick you up.
Train travel seems so civilised in comparison to the experience at MP2 where you wait in an overcrowded terminal that ressembles a cattle shed and then jostle to get the best seat on your Easyjet or Ryanair flight. From the train you can see the French countryside passing by or just get stuck into a book. Nor do you have to worry whether your hand luggage is the right size – you can take a normal suitcase without having to break the piggybank.
So if you live in or near London with easy connections to St Pancras International, it’s definitely worth giving it a try; you may be surprised how quick and easy it is!
