Let the music play

Chazelle church in the December snow

It is a busy time for us throughout the winter and early spring, as we are on the organising committee of Les Guitares en Cormatinois which is a music festival held every June/July in the church in Chazelle, a venue which has the most amazing acoustics.

The artists have been fixed for the coming festival and yet again we will have a very wide range of different guitar music.

Irish Kind of two years ago

We start on Saturday 7th July with an old favourite “Irish Kind Of” who surprisingly enough play Irish music. They are usually a sell-out, so get your reservations in early for that one.

On Sunday 8th we have a violin/guitar duo who should be very interesting. They haven’t given us their programme yet so I can’t give any more details on that one but it will be classical.

The following weekend we have only one concert, it will be on the Sunday (15th) we have Hair Brother a duo of guitars with humour thrown in for good measure.

The last weekend of the festival 21st and 22nd, we have Duo Atlas (guitar and cello) from Spain with interpretations of voice within music, which we are really looking forward to and a Manouche band Paris-Gadjo Club which should be a real crowd puller.

Let's hope we have plenty of sell-outs like this one

This year we have a time change for the concerts, all of the concerts will be at 17.30. We have always had more people to the Sunday afternoon concerts than to the Saturday evening ones, so we will see how this change goes.

Not only are we collecting information, designing and preparing the flyers and posters, but this year we have decided to renew the website to bring it up to date both stylistically and technically. We have had discussions with a designer and have found our new-look, all we have to do is put that into practice.

So there is lots of work to be done before we can sit back and listen to the music.

For the latest updates check out the website in the new year.

Christmas Markets

Every "nest" has a bird!

It is that time of year again when every weekend is chock-a-block with Christmas markets. So far this season we have had Les Oiseux Rares in Cormatin and Les Mères de Noël in St-Gengoux-le-le National. Both were absolutely fantastic. Cluny starts this weekend, but we haven’t been yet, it is also one of the best ones round here and “must visit” leading up to Christmas.

The theme for Les Oiseux Rares this year was “time”. We were all encouraged to participate by providing photos, drawings, poems or prose which signified time. Cees came up with a Dutch poem by Hans Dorrestijn and two photos and I managed a piece from Macbeth. I wasn’t at all convinced they would motivate the good people of Cormatin into coming up with anything, but how wrong I was, there were over 300 entries and that meant every tree, doorway and gate in the village was covered with our offerings. It would have taken hours to read and admire them all. We cheated and just looked for our own and that took us long enough.

Our collection is getting bigger

It was freezing cold so we went to warm ourselves up with a delicious lentil and split pea soup courtesy of Pascale Hautefort eaten out of the collectors’ item soup bowls made by Pierre Arnoud, Cormatin’s very own potter.

We enjoyed visiting the different venues, including some lovely photography of water drops. A great start to the market season.

Macbeth on a rusty gate

The next week and on to Les Mères de Noël who didn’t disappoint either. It was a completely different collection of artisans who were exhibiting in the gymnasium in St-Gengoux and luckily we managed to visit during a lull in the crowd, giving us easy access to all the stalls.

The exhibitors include someone making felted hats and a chap doing Arabic calligraphy. There really was some really beautiful stuff was available to sort out all your Christmas present needs.

I’m really looking forward to the next couple of weekends – I still have one or two items to buy, what will they be?....

A nation in mourning

Jean D'Ormesson in his Académie Française uniform

In Tuesday evening’s news the first 10 minutes were dedicated to Jean D'Ormesson, a member of the Académie Française, a philosopher, former head of Le Figaro and a prolific author, who passed away at the age of 94. President Macron called him "a prince in the world of literature".

As we watched that item on the news, we were impressed that an intellectual giant should get the first 10 minutes, summing up for us the French love of literature and philosophy and how that is engrained into their education system and hence the national character.

But the French also have a love of the performing arts, musicians and actors are held in great respect as well. None more so than Johnny Hallyday who is a national institution.

Rather prophetically we wondered how many minutes the rock star would get when he passes away and the next evening we found out.

Johnny Hallyday on stage

Johnny Hallyday is the biggest rock star France has ever had, was a legend in his own lifetime. Whilst he never made it outside the French speaking world, he was obviously well respected enough in the world-wide business to get the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Peter Frampton to play on his albums.

Even though (or maybe because) he had a “Bad Boy” image, he was loved by everyone. Generation after generation of kids had Johnny as their idol and in an ever changing world where kids grow up rebelling against their parents’ old-fashioned tastes and almost automatically dislike their parents’ idols, that is quite an amazing feet. He managed to change with the times and grow his audience. Helped in no small part by his charismatic performances both on and off the stage, he fell and he picked himself up many times, he failed and he came back and all the time he never stopped working. President Macron summed up Johnny very nicely "There was something of Johnny in all French people….. Across generations, he carved himself into the lives of French people”. He was both an ordinary and an extraordinary man.

The man himself in his iconic leather jacket

So when he passed away, the evening news was not only dedicated entirely to him, but it was extended to last more than an hour. There were no other items. After the “news” there was a two hour documentary on his life and music and that was followed by one of his most recent concerts. That is how big this man was in the French psyche.

So France is a country in mourning. It lost two of its greatest human treasures almost on the same day.

First Sunday of the month

Looking up at the main tower

Winter is a great time for some serious museum visiting. Firstly there are not too many tourists around, which lets you get a very good look at what there is to see without jostling with bus tours and over and above that, most museums are free on the first Sunday of the month starting in November and going through to March.

The first Sunday in November we were at the doors of Cluny abbey to see what has happened since our last visit.

Viewed from the "Farinier"

They have changed the film again, for the better this time. Gone are the 3D glasses, which is a relief as they never fitted me well and always made me feel a little queasy. Also at the entry to the film room there was a rack which suggested that you could use a headset to translate what was going on in the film. This is an excellent idea because the film gives a lot of information about the abbey and considering the number of foreign visitors there are, it would be a good idea if they can understand it too. However, I don’t know if they are considering the idea or if the headsets are only available in the summer, but there weren’t any when we were there. So please Cluny, we are waiting!

It is also nice that you can get back into the area where there are some half restored columns which are outside. This particular point of view, looking up and down the length of the church from “inside”, really gives you a real impression of the original length.

Cees emerging from the blue lit carpet....

Sadly the interactive screens have gone which projected the 3D model on to what you can actually see. They were not in very good working order last time we were there and I am not surprised they have now gone, but it is a pity that this facility has been lost purely because the hardware was not robust enough. Let’s hope they will get some more sturdy screens and reinstall this facility before the next tourist season.

There was a temporary art installation where you could go inside a blue lit cubicle made out of carpet and listen to the sounds of birds and Gomera whistling language. A bit surreal and I am obviously a Philistine as I didn’t quite “get it” but it was nice and warm on a cold day!

However, in the transept there was a beautiful sculpture by Anne Poivilliers made up if filaments and layers of material swirling around itself, the explication says “The filaments are assembled to creation a volume which appears to be suspended in space.” It certainly adds to the transept and I hope they will leave it there, but I suspect it is only temporary.

Anne Poivilleirs' beautiful sculpture

I am sure there are more details that I missed, but it just shows that the site is constantly developing and worthy of regular visits.

So tomorrow is the next “first Sunday” - we are still debating where to go, can't wait.

Mediaeval Day Out

Robinette Hood - look at that leatherwork

When Cees suggested that we could go to a mediaeval event with a Christmas market, I wasn’t too impressed with the idea. We have been to so many of these things and they are always, without exception, a let down. Besides Les Oiseaux Rares (the local artists group) were exhibiting in Cormatin, so why would we go to some unknown quantity?

Then he said that it would be held in the chateau of Varennes (near Mâcon) and I jumped at the chance even though there was an entry fee.

So why the change of mind?

Little robin there to welcome us

This particular castle is never open to the public and we have gazed at it over the walls of the neighbouring churchyard, wishing we could get in. We have tried to take photos of it by jumping up and down and when you are my height, that doesn’t get you very good pictures. So even with 3 Euros to get into a market we didn’t want to see, it got us into the castle, so mediaeval event here we come!

These events attract a big public and so we decided to go first thing this morning. We arrived as it was opening at 10.00 and even at that time, it was a bit tricky to park.

Fearsome looking drawbridge

I was very surprised at the mediaeval bit of the event, the costumes were exceptional, they hadn’t been taken from children’s dressing up boxes like the usual offerings and I was very impressed with the leatherwork of the young lady who was a female Robin Hood. The blacksmith was doing a tremendous job with a huge pair of bellows stoking up his charcoal fire and we spent some time watching him and the archers who very skilfully hit the target every time.

Entry into the Christmas market

The Christmas market was also well worth the visit, the exhibiters were of a very high quality. There was some beautiful calligraphy, leatherwork, horseshoe decorations, jewellery and wooden carvings just to name a few. At the far end of the market there was also a guy selling some very interesting “mediaeval” snacks, but as we had just had breakfast I skipped the delicious looking potato and cheese fritters - did they have potatoes in those days?

The castle was not at all what I had expected in two ways, firstly the part you can see from the churchyard is not as old as we thought and not that photogenic, but secondly, the other side of the castle was rather “mediaeval” looking (although I am tempted to say it wasn’t), it had a drawbridge that led into a little courtyard and it was truly charming.

All in all a great morning out, I would not hesitate to go again even if it is for the market this time!

Wine tastings galore

Decorations leading the way to the tasting

It is that time of year again when all the local winegrowers start to show off their latest wines, just in time for you to stock up for Christmas. This weekend it was the turn of Christophe Perrin who has his wine cellar literally just down the road from us. It is always a must to go there, he has some excellent food producers giving tastings and selling their wares and he and his staff are just so friendly and knowledgeable about the wines they have on offer.

This year it was the chance to taste the 2016 vintage, which has turned out to be a very good year. We tasted his rosé, 3 reds and four whites, good job he is just down the road!

They range from €6.50 for the rosé up to €10.00 for the top end red and white. The two cheaper reds are made from Gamay grapes which is very much frowned upon by Burgundy aficionados, hence the lack of information on the label as to which grapes are used. We only heard massive compliments on the wine and it was amusing to see the look on some people’s faces when they told what variety of grape had been used. Bravo to Christophe for having the guts to try it.

The four whites are all made from Chardonnay grapes, but two have been “matured” in standard tanks and two have been matured in oak casks. In my mind there is no comparison, the ones that had been in oak casks had so much more flavour and had had all the sharp tastes rounded off.

White wine tatsers

As Cees doesn’t really appreciate white wine, I decided it was a bit too extravagant to buy a case just for myself so we settled for a couple of cases of the Chapaize red made from the Gamay and will certainly enjoy sharing it with friends and getting their opinion on the grapes.

We were very generously give a bottle of rosé as a gift and, after cooling it off in the fridge, it went down nicely with the cheese we bought from the La Truffière stand.

Just an after thought, for those interested in the white wine, the Chapaize will no longer be on sale after today because it has proved so popular, he is now down to minimum stock. So happily business is booming for our local producers.

Changes in our eating habits

Café du Centre
a traditional French café

As you all know we are creatures of habit and we eat out regularly in Cluny. One of favourites is Café du Centre and we were dismayed when we learned from a slip of paper on the door, that it was closing down. We asked what was going on, only to be told that due to a lack of agreement on the purchase price, the new owner (who had been in there for just over 4 years by the way) was obliged to sell the café back to the previous owner for the price he had paid. How the heck that works is beyond me, but it meant that one of our Saturday lunch venues was changing. Not good for the likes of us stick-in-the-muds.

Sure enough on the allotted day, the café shut down, we said our farewells to the staff all of whom had resigned and would not be working for the new owner even though most of them had worked for him before. So, due to a lack of staff, the café stayed stubbornly closed for several weeks. Finally at the beginning of June it re-opened.

We went along even though our loyalty to the previous owner made me feel rather guilty. The restaurant had a rather restricted menu on a scrappy paper booklet. The service was chaotic, but as all the staff were new and obviously many of them had never worked in a bar or restaurant before, so we forgave them and we assumed it was just teething troubles. I must say that the steak was excellent, so that made up for everything.

La Nation, huge terrace in the main street
(screen dump from Google Street View)

We have been going back periodically since the reopening and the chaotic staff and restricted menu are still the order of the day. The place is clearly less well liked than before and so you do not really need to book a table for market day, which was an absolute must under the old regime. Whether the restaurant will ever get back into its old swing, I do not know, but I hope so for both the owner’s sake and for ours.

While Café du Centre restaurant was closed we decided (very reluctantly on my part) to try La Nation again. There was something about the atmosphere of that place, that we really didn’t like, but things can change can’t they?

I have to admit it, we were very impressed. The service is slick and the food is excellent.

The vineyards of one of the best white wines in this area
(photo from dico-du-vin.com)

I have only one complaint and that is their rather pushy way of trying to get you to buy more than you want. For example, when I asked for a glass of white Mâcon, the response was “Viré-Clessé? It’s a very nice wine.” I know that Viré-Clessé is a very nice wine and that it is from the Mâconnais but you wouldn’t call it a Mâcon white for goodness sake. I am not a wine expert, but I sure know that Viré-Clessé ain’t cheap, so I said no very quickly and then I had to fumble with the menu to find the Mâcon I wanted which for future reference is Azé, but also I noted that the Viré-Clessé was quite rightly not classified as a Mâcon white and was nearly 5 Euros a glass. The other trick they pull is when you order coffee “do you want coffee gourmand?” is the response. Well if you don’t know what that is, it is a cup of coffee with some delicious small desserts surrounding it, very nice I have to admit if you want it, but if you just want a cup of coffee, as some tourists we saw obviously did, the extra on the bill could be a bit unwelcome.

All that said, La Nation is rightly packed for lunch every day and it is almost impossible to get a table on market day. Members of the staff are getting to know us now with the accompanying handshake and “how are you?” when you arrive and “see you soon” when you leave. So they have well and truly won us over.

We now have a serious problem every time we eat out in Cluny, where should we go? There are just so many good options these days.

Journey by train

The 241P17 at full steam
taken from a bridge last year

To celebrate 50 years of friendship between Cees and one of his oldest friends who lives in Amsterdam, they decided to go on a train journey – graciously his wife and I were allowed to go along too. That may not sound too exciting, but Cees’ friend is a train fiend and this was no ordinary train. We were taking one of the fastest steam trains ever built, the 241P17, from Le Creusot to Mulhouse in the Alsace.

I love steam trains. I have mentioned before that I used to live in one of the cottages at Horsted Keynes Station in Sussex, the home to the Bluebell steam train line. Every weekend during the whole year and most days during the summer, steam trains passed by my front garden, their sound and smell, bring back many happy memories. I have taken the train from Horsted Keynes to Sheffield Park a number of times, it was always enjoyable but as it goes at a rather leisurely pace it is not a truly exciting experience, so to be honest, I wasn’t so sure what it would be like to travel in this particular train for the best part of a day up to Mulhouse and the best part of the next day to get back.

The fire brigade came to refill the water tanks

It was fantastic!

The train got up to a very respectable 125 km per hour, only restricted by the carriages it was towing as they were not allowed to go any faster. The sound and the rhythm, the smell and the smoke and all the happy smiling faces of the waving spectators along the track and at the stations was an experience well worth every penny of the cost.

Don't often get the opportunity to travel 1st class

We decide to splash out and travel first class, that put us in a comfortable coupé for 6 people which we shared with a Hungarian/French couple who lived near Lyon. We had our lunches delivered to the carriage, which were simple but very tasty and in the evening we dined at the Railway Museum in Mulhouse amongst the trains. The following morning we had a visit to the museum and then back on to the train.

Cees enjoying the view

I can safely say that I enjoyed every single minute of the weekend - well maybe not the getting up at 6 am to drive to the station, but every other minute. I must admit it was a bit expensive, but for such a special occasion it was well worth it, the organisation was superb and if you look at what you got for your money, it was certainly not overpriced.

We will be looking at the trips for next year - who knows maybe will be on that particular train again.

Dancing Cabbage

Tartiflette photo from www.cuisineaz.com

After the long warm evenings of summer have passed, we move into a different time of year where activities are very different as well. Instead of long BBQ evenings with friends, other outdoor activities or concerts in the glorious Romaesque churches that abound here, we move into the season of club events, annual general meetings, livened up with wine and food at the end, “salons”, exhibitions and fundraising dinners.

At our taichi AGM we managed to have about 15 minutes of discussion and voting and then 2 hours worth of wine, food and dancing, that seems to be the right balance to me.

Choucroute photo from www.seriouseats.com

The Tourist Office in St-Gengoux-le-National on the other hand had an extraordinary GM to discuss its future, now that the local government has taken over control of the office. A very lively, but mostly off-topic, debate was had by all then the vote was cast. Contrary to northern European logic, the majority voted to merge with another association and to do something that was not entirely clear to me, but if they are happy that way, so be it. All the arguing and discussions took over 2 hours which didn’t leave us an enormous amount of time to enjoy the very good wine on offer and to have farewell chats with those we have worked with over the last 10 or so years.

After the “salon” of Zen in Sennecey-le-Grand and “salon” of well being in Cluny there was an exhibition of the Cluny photo club which was of a very high standard. The club was touting for new members, so we signed up and have started going to their meetings. We missed out on the light painting night and the mushroom excursion but we are looking forward to next club outings to practise a bit of photography with the group.

Aligot photo from www.marieclaire.fr

And last but not least there are numerous dinners offering autumn/winter delights such as tartiflette which is potatoes cooked in the oven with lardons and onions topped off with Reblochon a special cheese from the French Alps (Savoy) region baked to crispy perfection, aligot an Auvergne delight of melted Tomme (a cheese from the Auvergne), butter, cream and garlic blended into mashed potato, a gooey, elasticy mix of yum often served with just bread, but you can also serve it with sausages. Not to mention Boeuf Bourginon not always that well done and rather a cliché, but what the heck it’s named after our region. Often these meals are an excuse to eat and drink well into the night with the obligatory dancing in between courses so that you do not feel as though you are just pigging out.

Dancing choucroute available in Cluny?

But the best event we have seen advertised this year is the Cluny rugby club’s annual choucroute evening - choucroute being a speciality from the Alsace of sauerkraut topped with heaps and heaps of sausages and chunks of gammon and other meats.

I have a slight suspicion that someone has reworded the poster this year making it sound a little more special than normal. It tickled my sense of humour and if it were to be true, it would be almost worth the 18 Euros to see the choucroute dancing to the Madison - I suspect though that the lump of acidic, fermented cabbage will stubbornly sit on the plate, so I don’t think I’ll be going.

Return to blogging

I haven’t blogged for, what seems to be, an absolute age, I guess I was all blogged out there for a while. Spring turned into a glorious summer, one of the best and driest since we have been here and now, even though the temperature is still tipping 20 degrees, autumn is most definitely in full swing.


It doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy this summer, our days and evenings have been packed with all the usual summer stuff, picnics, visiting the sites to see (eternal tourists that we are) and of course many, many quite superb concerts. All of that will give me loads to write about in the coming weeks of course.

So what are we up to at the moment? With this splendid autumn weather, cool mornings and warm afternoons, we have had a great chance to get on top of some big garden jobs. Cees has been clearing brambles – he is a man with a mission at the moment and I have managed to get ahead with trimming hedges and clearing the lower reed bed which is always a huge task that normally gets left until it is too late. So for once in a long time, our garden is looking very neat indeed. But mostly we have been enjoying going out and about, photographing the tremendous colours that this season brings, taking the opportunity to practise taichi in the garden before it gets too cold to be enjoyable and just generally enjoying life the universe and everything.

The gites are wrapped up for the winter now and the campsite is closed – more on that another time – and the tourists are fewer on the roads, so we are slipping into winter mode, wood fires and mulled wine aah la vie est belle!

Celebrations

Click for more details

This year is an important year for the byways and highways of our region. We are celebrating 20 years of the Voie Verte – an old railway line turned into a cycle track that spans the whole of Burgundy – one for the fit and healthy amongst our visitors and 80 years of the Route des Grands Crus – a route that enables you to visit all of the big wines chateaux of Burgundy - one for the connoisseurs.

Unsurprisingly the first event we have been to was for the Route des Grands Crus.

A week or so ago we saw a note in the newspaper that Château du Clos de Vougeot was open free of charge to celebrate the event and as it is a chateau that we had long been planning to visit, we headed off to just north of Beaune, on a thundery Sunday afternoon, to see what the place had to offer.

Château du Clos de Vougeot under thundery skies

Opening time was 14.00 so being chronically early, even after an en-route picnic, we arrived at 13.00. The town was already packed with cars and no one was allowed to drive up anywhere near the chateau itself unless they had a disabled badge. We parked in town and looking at the sky we did wonder just how wet we were going to get, but we headed off none the less. The walk turned out to be shorter than we had thought and arriving at the chateau we were greeted by a wonderful array of vintage cars lining the approach to the man entrance.

We entered the chateau at about 13.30 and were amazed to learn that we could go in and have a look around.

Part of the wine press

Parts of the chateau are Mediaeval in which you can find some interesting wine making equipment. There was the biggest wine press I have ever seen which I couldn’t photograph as it was just too big! At 14.00 there were supposed to be speeches and the opening of a photo exhibition, but we managed to sneak in before the doors were really open and look at the photos which were very good indeed. Having been to enough of these types of events, we managed to get out in time before the room flooded and we had to listen to endless speeches consisting mainly of thank you for coming Mr the Mayor, thank you for coming Mr the MOP, thank you etc etc…… (fill it in yourself, but make sure you have enough names to last at least 15 minutes) then another half hour of drivel before you get to the one or two interesting sentences about why we are actually there and then of course a glass or two of wine. We didn’t think it was worth the wait, well actually we had guests coming round for drinks late that afternoon and we had to get back, so we headed off just as the guests were filtering in.

Enjoying a picnic amongst the vines

We had seen what we had come to see and we hadn’t been disappointed. The living quarters of the château are interesting, but the real highlights are the winemaking buildings including the cellars. I would thoroughly recommend a visit to this château, to combine with a couple of other things on a trip out into the Cote-d’Or and of course a picnic amongst the vines is a must.

 
Just in case you are wondering, we even managed to get back to the car before the heavens opened.

Easter Morning

Gathered around the Easter fire

Our first visitors always arrive at Easter and yesterday while I was explaining to our new gite guests that the Easter morning service was at 10.00 and that they had to be well in time or the church would be barred, they told me that there was to be a fire on Saturday evening and the evening service was being held in a field. Intrigued, I went on to the Taizé website to discover that there was to be an all-night vigil around a fire and then the Eucharist was to be held at 06.30 and not at the usual 10.00.

Me and mornings do not go together, but even so this fire and early service intrigued me enough to get up at 05.00 (yes that is five o’clock in the morning!) and head up the hill. I knew where the field would be as there have been more open-air services in Taizé and so after parking amazingly close to the church (third parking space on the left would you believe) I walked to the field. As I turned the corner I could hear quiet singing voices and I could see the bonfire and two icons which had been lit. As I got closer I saw at least 200 youngsters sitting or lying on the grass, I am sure there would have been more had it not been drizzling with rain.

Lighting the lamp

After several songs and some Bible readings in English and French, one of the brothers announced that as dawn was at hand they would light a lantern from the fire to take to the church to light the Pascal candle and we were to lead the way. So off we went in procession to the church. The front doors of the church were already barred as that section was full and judging by the huge queues at the other doors, I wasn’t at all convinced that we would all get in. In fact in view of previous years’ overcrowding, I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to get in. But in I did get and there was quite a lot of space still available. Even though the flow of people kept coming right up to the start of the service, the church didn’t get to a dangerously overfull state and I decided to stay. I didn’t manage to lay my hands on a candle or a song book, but I know most of the songs anyway, so that wasn’t any hardship.

The service started in a normal sort of way, songs, Bible readings, more songs and then there was a lot of talking in French and I suddenly realised that a novice was taking his vows and being accepted into the community as a brother. This is something I have wanted to witness for a long time and here it was happening right in front of me! Just at the end of his vows I heard the sound of car tires on the gravel at the side of the church where no cars should be and, call me a wimp if you like, I got very nervous. The service was long from over, we hadn’t even got to the silence and the consecration of the bread and wine hadn’t been done, let alone handing out the communion, but I decided, as everyone stood up to applaud the new brother, it was time for my departure. Back at the car I saw that it was 07.30 so I had been there for more than two hours. After going to the baker, I headed for home and as I write this I can hear the bells ringing out to wish the world a happy Easter, it is now 08.30, so I am glad I left early, I don’t think I could have coped with another hour on the floor.

All in all it was a very interesting experience and it has solved the overcrowding problem of the 10.00 service, either many people didn’t know about the time change or 06.30 is too early for most. So a big well done to the brothers for this innovation and a happy Easter to everyone.

LED Lightbulbs

A real light bulb fading into history

Ever since the European Union passed one of the silliest and patronising laws banning the manufacture and sale of “normal” lightbulbs, we have struggled with lights in our house. I’m all for energy saving - just ask Cees how I follow him round the house switching off lights and I had energy saving bulbs long, long before they were compulsory, but I had them where I wanted them and where they were “safe”.

It is totally unsafe to have a system of lighting that you have to wait up to 2 minutes (I kid you not for the ones in our living room) before you can enter a space safely and can actually see where you are.

We have been relying on hand-me downs from Cees’ daughter and the one or two precious bulbs we still have left, to use in places where light is actually needed instantly.

Emergency rations

Finally LED lights have come of age and are available and affordable and wow… it is still a joy to walk into our living room and flip the switch and hey presto there was light. But their price is not a rock-bottom, giveaway prices and our old energy saving lights are still working, so we have only slowly started the replacement process.

One of  the recently removed light bulbs

This process was given a big boost last week when a money-off voucher arrived for our local DIY shop, finally we could replace the lights in the kitchen cum dining room.

At that moment we discovered another reason that you shouldn’t use these horrible energy-saving lights – wasps! We found a wasp’s nest in each of the four energy-saving light bulbs and none in the two proper light bulbs. Not only could we have been stung by these angry beasties, but those nests could have caught fire.

All four had the same problem

We are now "real light bulbs-less" in the house, and almost "energy-saving light bulb-less". I’ll keep the real ones for posterity, they might be worth some money in a few years but those ghastly things are going in the bin, it was almost worth voting Brexit to get rid of them – I said almost...

Discovering a New Restaurant in Cluny

Well it isn’t really a new discovery, we have seen this restaurant many times before, it is a pizza joint, just “the wrong side” of the market square, with a rather tatty terrace that projects into the road making driving up the main street a little tricky.

Now doesn’t that sound like a good recommendation of a restaurant? I think that explains why we had never been. For whatever reason (mainly because all our favourite restaurants were shut for their holidays) we decided to give it a go last weekend.

We arrived at La Calbrese at 12.00 and the place was empty – not a good sign I thought. The waiters were very friendly and we were shown to a nice table. The restaurant itself was very clean, modern and roomy; it had a really nice atmosphere about it.

Quick snap before the hoards of eaters turned up.

The menu looked interesting, a bit more than just pizzas and pasta, which is more than you can say for most French restaurants of this genre. We were so engrossed in the menu that we didn’t spot the other hungry lunchtime guests arriving and by the time we had made our choice, we looked up to find the restaurant was packed.

The lasagne I ordered came with salad at a price way below the competition in town and Cees’ spaghetti bolognaise looked very good as well. Both of us were very impressed with the quality of what we received. The pasta was al-dente, the balance between the pasta and sauce was just right, the parmesan was freshly grated, the wine was very good - in fact I can’t fault anything about the place.

Doesn't look worth the effort, but it is.

I am so glad we finally tried it, but I do have some reservations about recommending it to others, if too many more people start going there, we won’t be able to get in! They were turning people away before half past 12 which shows just how wrong our earlier impressions had been.

Summary - this is an absolute bijou of a restaurant, we will certainly be going back and we will try their other main meals next time, to see if they live up to the high standard they have set.

The Royal Monastery of Brou

Stunning roof tiles

Last week’s visit into the Bresse to see the cattle market allowed us to revisit one of the most impressive Gothic sites in this area - the monastery at Brou just outside Bourg-en-Bresse. Our first visit to this place was when we stayed on a camping à la ferme near Villefranche, which must have been 15 or more years ago, back in the days when we only dreamed of doing what we now do. Although we have visited it since, it is not one of our regular haunts. We were definitely not disappointed with this visit and we were both left wondering why we don’t come out this way more often, it’s less than an hour from home and well worth the detour.

The choir and the beautiful stained glass windows

The church is exquisitely decorated and is a perfect textbook example of Flamboyant Gothic. Amazingly the whole place was built in a record time of less than 20 years, but sadly the commissioner (Margaret of Austria) died in Belgium three months before it was completed and she never saw the buildings herself even though her remains are interred there. The monastery parts (three cloisters and surrounding buildings) are impressive in their size and decoration, and the roof is really something to behold. It is all a big difference to the simple style Romanesque style we are so used to visiting around here.

Bizarre detail of the back of a choir chair

This place is really well worth all the Michelin stars it gets and as a bonus, the entry ticket gives you a reduced price entry to the Abbey in Cluny – having said that, I think we’ll stick to the free Sunday visits during the winter period, which of course less fortunate visitors can’t do.

This was on a writing desk in one of the nuns cells..

After all that walking and absorbing the culture we were in need of some refreshment and the icing on the cake of the day was the array of restaurants directly opposite the church. They weren’t there when we first visited as I can remember spending hours, on a miserable Sunday, looking for something, looking for anything, to eat. All the restaurants looked good but we plumped for La Duchesse de Savoie which was superb value for money, excellent food and packed by 12.00 which is always a good sign. So we finished our day out in the Bresse with that excellent lunch.

What better way can you imagine to spend a leisurely day?