Thanks for resting your eyeballs here for a moment.(They are resting, right?) If you rest them a little longer, you may learn some interesting,(hopefully)entertaining, and, yes, ocassionally BIZARRE things about FRENCH COUNTRY LIFE (more…)
Bicycle Gourmet | January 27th, 2017 | Continued
There is a place in France that marches to the beat of a different drummer. A way different drummer. A drummer with only one stick. The French call this place – “La France Profunde.” Deep France. France the way it used to be. In the good ole’ days. (you remember them, don’t you?)
No Boutique – No Swingin’ Hot Spot
Deep France is France in the slow lane. No stress. No pressure. No worries. Rural. Bucolic. (not a cow disease, but a ten dollar word for “booty-ful”) It’s a place where the wide open spaces are wider. The air fresher. And freeways are a crazy urban circus you only see on TV.
The location of this magical place where time runs on two speeds – dead slow and stop – is subjective. Because there is more than one region that qualifies. But the name most associated with “La France Profunde” is “The Cantal.”
Geography 101
The Cantal is a region of France within the department of Auvergne. It’s at the bottom left on the map, bounded by the Haute Loire region on the right. While it’s impossible to say which city/town is the “big smoke” in the Cantal, the administrative centre, and most prominent on the map, is Aurillac. (iaurillac.com) That said, the Cantal is “choc-a-block” with medieval villages. Extremely well preserved. And functioning today with very few changes. Other than the obvious “Mod Cons.”
Medieval Beef
This is because the Cantal is quintessentially a rural environment. Way rural. The locals describe it as :” 10,000 people, 100,000 cows.” And so, you will truly find that the hills are alive with the sound of “moo –sick.” The beef the Cantal is famous throughout Europe for, comes from the Salers cow. From the city of the same name. Ok, unless your in the breeding/selling biz….a cow is a cow is a cow, right? But the medieval village of Salers, is very much more than your standard“can’t believe it’s so old” collection of crumbling ruins. Put it high on your list. (salers.fr and salers-tourism.fr)
Da BG’s other medieval Cantal recommendations are Laroguebrou(chateau perched on a hill above the gorge du Ceres – info from : chataignerie-cantal.com), and Marcoles. (marcoles.fr)
Who Loves ya Baby?
But wait – There’s more! (three “mores” actually) The first being FOOD! And, as you might expect in a cow filled land, beef figures in the menus big time. The centre of “gastronomy”(fancy eatin’) in the Cantal is the tiny(pop. – 1500) of Laguoile.(Curiously pronounced “la-ge-ol” by the locals, and “la –yol” by the rest of France.) THE place to chow down there is the Hotel/Restaurant Augy. Jean-Pierre and Isabelle Augy(she’s the chef) will take good care o’ you and yer stomach.
A Cheese runs through it
A huge contribution to France gastronomy are the cheeses of the Auvergne. Particularly the Cantal cheese. This is a semi-hard frommage(think consistency of cheddar)coming from the aforementioned Saler’s cows, that’s aged up to 18 months. Here, I promise you, more than any other region, you’ll chow down on an incredible variety of exceptional cheeses. (and the wines not too bad either!)
The second more, is, ……a knife. The Laguoile knife. Internationally renowned for the quality of materials, and workmanship. Virtually ever self-respecting Froggie Male has one on his belt And, of course, there are steak knives, dinner sets, knives for every occasion, yada,yada,yada. The handmade versions can put a serious dent in yer wallet.(2000 euro plus) Naturally, they’re a “must have” souvenir for touring Texan cattlemen!
The third more, is “Le Nature.” The landscape. Miles and miles, of miles and miles.
A paradise for walkers. And, for most o’ the rest, jus’ a paradise. Especially if QUIET is at the top o’ yer paradise list. And, happily, there is an association of country inns that specialize in quiet. They’re : relaisdusilence.com Locations all over France. And that includes the Cantal.
Enough ta get ya started?
THROW ME A BONE HERE PEOPLE!
What are ya thinkin’?
French History is the World’s greatest(and longest running)action adventure movie. Chock full of everything you could want in a Hollywood blockbuster.(expect the SFX, bien sur.) Love, Intrigue, Betrayal, Murder, Assassination, Torture, War,Plagues. And, ocassionally, a few brief periods of peace, happiniess and justice for all.
Although I am, as you are well aware, a “dyed in the wine” Francophile my interest in things Historical here in the land of gastronomy is not massive. However, from time to time, a slice of ancient froogie-dom freezes on my screen. Such an event is the story that I’ve entitled : “The Tears Of Chenonceau.”
Our tale begins during the reign of King Francois 1. Our interest however, is in the King-to-be, his son. Young (future)Henry 2, like all nobles of his day, had a variety of tutors. And not just the readin’, writin’, ‘rithmatic variety. World history, knowledge of other languages and cultures, knowing which fork to use for the salad were also on the educational menu.
One of young Henry’s tutors was a cultured lady of her day by the name of Diane de Poitiers. A Noblewoman of considerable power and influence in the court of Francois 1, it was Diane who gave young Henry his farewell kiss when he was sent to Spain.(Owing to the fact that his Mother was dead) That kiss would blossom into a relationship so intense that some future royal documents were signed : “HenriDiane.”
This understandably did not go down well with the Queen. She being Catherine de Medici, of the infamous Italian dynasty, who Henri married in 1533. Although the Italians did introduce that revolutionary eating instrument – the fork – to the French table, they, and the Medicis’ in particular, were’nt on anyone’s quick-dail in Henri’s court.
So, yet another negative for Catherine to deal with. In addition to the fact that, as a coronation present, Henri had given Diane the magnificent Chateau of Chenonceau – which Catherine had been drooling over.
But wait – there’s more! Catherine was not having success with producing a Royal heir. Which, as you well know, is the primary function of the Queen. Enter an entourage of snake oil salesman/potion peddlers (predictably Italian) each claiming to possess the magic elixir that would enable Catherine to finally have “a bun in the oven.”
To Diane’s credit, she did see to it that Henri paid frequent visits to his wife’s bedroom. And eventually (with or without the Italian fertilizer magicians) 10 children were produced.
And, of course, the rivalry continued. Curiously, Diane and Catherine were actually related. Both being descendants of the La Tour d’Auvergne family.
As Shrewd as she was beautiful, Diane realized that her power and influence could not be challenged by Catherine while Henri was alive. Ok – time now to get out your hankies.
When Henri was mortally wounded in a jousting accident(in which the ribbon he won was Diane’s, not Catherine’s – OOPS!)Catherine asserted her Queenly powers. First refusing to allow Diane access to Henri. (although he’s alleged to have called out for her. And why would he not?)
Next, when Henri died, Catherine, obviously humming a few bars of “revenge is sweet”, barred Diane from the funeral.
Tout de suite apres, Catherine de’ Medici banished Diane from Chenonceau to the Château de Chaumont. She stayed there briefly. Living out her remaining years in her chateau in Anet, Eure-et-Loir, where she died at age 66.
And so, dear reader, if you should visit Chenonceau, looking right to see Diane’s garden, and left to view Catherine’s, and if, treading the stones of it’s ancient interior you should feel a certain “tristesse” that you can’t quite describe, you will let me know, won’t you?
THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!
What are ya thinkin’?
Early in the 1860s a few young artists began to paint modern life as they saw .They had quietly rejected the idea that art was to tell stories of religious mythology or history. They were not interested in the past.
Contrary to popular belief, Impressionism is not a style but an attitude toward the relationship between life and art that believed it should express what people care about in their daily lives.
The first impressionists were Claude Monet, Aguste Renoir Camille Pissarro and Edgar Dega. This small group of artists dared to throw off the shackles of the past creating art that was ahead of its time.
It all began early in 1873 when Claude Monet invited several of his painter friends to a meeting at his home. Money had decided it was time to find an alternative to the old system where French artists lived at the mercy of the salon jury for success at the salon ,the state-run art exhibition.
At that meeting, the painters planned a group show that would be independent of the salon. To maker their independent exhibition dream a reality,the group desperately needed money.
They began by collecting duess and looked to expand their membership.Next invited to join the group was it’s first female member ,Berthe Morriset. She would later be joined by another Female aritist, the first and only American in the group, Mary Cassatt.
Edouard Manet, the leading avant-garde painter of the day had declined to join. He was determined to make his name at the salon idependently.
Camille pissarro was busy helping to organize the show when he got word that his nine-year-old daughter Manette was ill with a respiratory infection. The family doctor could do little and the infection grew worse. Manette died on April 6 1874.
Pissarro rejoined his friends in making final preparations for the show. They found a space for the exhibition in one of the poshest sections of town on the boulevard de kappa. Monet who happily had a good marketing instinct ,painted the view from the window.This would enable visitors to the exhibitioin to compare Monet’s painting with the actual scene of modern life below.
In contrast to the classic salon presentation, where you saw all the paintings at once,you only saw the impressionist works one at a time.
The exhibition opened on April 15th 1874 and immediately captured the attention of the art critics in fact it seemed that every art critic in Paris had something negative to say about the impressionist’s work.
One example: “what we see in the work of this school is a revolting insult to the taste and intelligence of the public.”
The painting that became the cause celeb of that exhibition was “Morning Sunrise” by Monet and the word Impressionism comes from the title of that painting When a critic said: “These are nothing but impressions.” Meaning weren’t finished works.
So it was that the group of impressionist painters had moved from anonymity to noteriety in a matter of weeks. But not selling enough to even cover their expenses, they were so disappointed that it be two years before they would exhibit again .
End of Part One.
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