Eclade de moules in Epargnes

ECLADE DE MOULES IN EPARGNES - A BIG SUCCESS - 330 KILOS OF MUSSELS EATEN IN ONE NIGHT!!!

On Saturday 21st July Epargnes was the home of a yearly event " Eclade and Papillotes de moules" ( two methods of cooking mussels). Epargnes is situated in the heart of Saintonge region lying close from the beaches of Meschers ( Atlantic coast ). It is mainly an agricultural and wine-growing land. Epargnes is also a dynamic village thanks to some of its members who are involved in various associations providing festivals like the "Foire au Pineau" in August which attracts crowds of people and the Eclade in July.

It was about 8.45 when we arrived in Epargnes and most of the tables were already taken by people who had come much earlier. So we had to find room in the barn. After a while we came across a free table with six chairs so we asked the people next to our table to keep an eye on it while a part of our group was in the queue to get some chips, salads, cheese , cakes and wine. The others were in charge of preparing the mussels.The mussels were FREE but for the Eclade which is a regional speciality we had to place them on a piece of wood . The aim is to create a large rosette and the hardest part of the work is to stand the mussels on the board stacked tightly together with the pointed part of the shell facing upwards. There are four nails in the centre of the board to hold the first mussels upright ( and it facilitates the construction of the rosette!)When the board is covered with mussels which takes some time and lots of fun, they are ready to be cooked. Now we must cover them with pine needles ( about 30 cm) Forests in Charente Maritime abound with pine needles) and then set fire to the mussels!It is lovely to look at especially at night and it is delicious because the mussels cook in their shell and their juice.Then we left them to burn for a few minutes until the flames died down and we blew the ashes off the mussels. As they were placed opening edge facing down, they were protected from falling ash.To accompany this meal we had some slices of buttered bread and a local "vin Charentais"

Eclade is the simplest dish imaginable!

We also had some "papillotes" for dinner , it is very easy to prepare. The mussels are placed in a sheet of foil with a leaf of laurel and thyme over them and before cooking them we make a sort of bag. It was delightful to eat! And mussels in charente Maritime are the best and the fattest because the water is warmer than in Brittany and Normandy.

We also had a chat with the people next to us who were from Meurthe et Moselle ( East of France) and were staying in a camping site nearby. They also enjoyed " the mussels party" The majority of people who came had fun eating with their fingers and talking to people they never met before. For the " Eclade" appropriate clothes are necessary, don't wear white t-shirts or shirts!!!

Last Saturday 330kilos of mussels were eaten in one night and there were not any left for those who arrived too late. What a pity!!

But this kind of event is becoming more and more popular. We really enjoyed ourselves and I'm sure we were not the only ones. I've received a nice e-mail from Lyn who thanked me for recommending this kind of village parties which are good places to leave the world behind and chill out for a while!

Great holidays in Italy

Ludivine ( 16 ) has just returned from Italy , in this article she describes her wonderful holiday.

I've just come back from Italy where I had a great holiday. I was with my aunt and uncle who drove all the way to Italy and back to Paris!

On the first day we visited Parma, we walked through narrow streets where there were lots of shops and restaurants. We decided to have dinner in one of them and the local food was delicious!

On the following day we got up early and headed off up Verona. Verona is situated on both sides of the Adige river and has a picturesque Old town with numerous historical buildings. We went window-shopping in the narrow streets which looked like Palma.

We also visited the Arena, the most famous sight in Verona. It is one of the largest amphitheatre in the world and one of the best-preserved in Italy. On the top of the arena we had a spendid view over the city.

Later in the afternoon, we visited the House of Juliet ( Casa di Giulietta). It is a small building with lots of windows and a balcony which is in a small inner court, where Romeo and Juliet promised each other eternal love. There were a lot of tourists visiting this sight.

We had planned to see the Italian lakes in our itinerary so we started with Lake Como which is a beautiful lake surrounded by villages and it is half an hour from Milan. Lake Como is renowed for its exquisite villas and probably the most famous one is " Villa Carlotta" We visited it.

After leaving Lake Como we took the direction of Lake Garda ,we looked round the old villages which are characterized by stone houses decorated with flowers.

After leaving Lake Garda we set off for Major lake ( Lake Maggiore) a large lake extending to Swiss territory and we stopped at Stresa. The Major Lake is composed of three islands. Each island has got its own features. The first island I visited was characterized by shops and restaurants, the second island was attractive because there was a variety of flowers.The third island was famous for its castle and the owner of the castle still live there.

I really enjoyed my trip to Italy and I would like to return and visit other parts of this beautiful country.

Acknowledgements : Photos provided under Creative Commons Licence by Slithysteads ( Palma), arena Melork ( Arena Verona), MicMacPics1 ( Verona) Sky Eckstrom ( Juliet's house), RoCam ( Lake Garda), Casaverese ( Lake Maggiore) Pi production ( Castle) via Flickr.

A cruise on the river Charente.

Last year, in late September we decided to rent a houseboat for a week and cruised from Cognac to Angoulème. The Charente is one of France's most beautiful river navigations.

After checking the boat equipment and technical points we set off on a peaceful cruise. We went past Hennessy cellars, the old town, and the Chateau where François Ier was born. As we followed the course of the river, we stopped at our first lock. Operating locks is very easy and it makes it a pleasant break in the trip. On the Charente the locks are manual, and from Cognac to Angoulème there aren't any lock-keepers so we operated them ourselves and were not restricted by timings.
At the beginning of our cruise there were four of us. Our daughter and her boyfriend were a great help to us in operating the locks until we got to Angoulème ( 17 locks!)

Then further upstream of Cognac ,we passed the magnificent facade of the chateau of St Brice and decided to moor at a mooring point with a post to tie the boat up to. Some mooring points are not in good condition so you have to be careful when you get off the boat. From where we were, we had a spendid view of the chateau dominating the river banks.

We decided to have dinner on the terrace and sipped a glass of pineau while we were watching the sunset. We enjoyed the quietness of the place only interrupted by some ducks quacking! Feeding the ducks was also part of our ritual of being on the water.

After a good night's rest, and after taking a few photos of the sunrise, we continued our cruise at 10km per hour. The Charente meanders through picturesque towns and sleepy villages. Jarnac came to view. Jarnac is François Mitterrand's birth place and it is also famous for its old buildings and distilleries. The Courvoisier factory is one of the best-known. We didn't make a stop at Jarnac but we could see parts of the town that can't be seen from the road. Then we passed through some locks. We all liked going through locks where we met interesting people from other boats and enjoyed having a chat with them.

We could go for a stroll along the tow path on one side of the canal. Then upstream of Jarnac, we made a stop at Bassac Abbaye. At the start of the 11th century Lord of Jarnac and his wife decided to found a monastery on a branch of the Charente. The abbey church has a high facade in the Saintonge style. The monastery suffered the hardship of the 100th years War and the Wars of Religion but the church and the abbey were rebuilt in the 17th and 18th century and monks still live in the abbey .

Then after leaving Bassac, the river curves around St Simeux which is a magnificent village at 50 metres above the Charente surrounded by splendid scenery. There we watched a grey heron fishing on top of a waterfall. The surroundings of the Charente provide a chance to observe a wide variety of aquatic flora and fauna. Then we went through a lock again and met Belgian people who were stopped in their cruise by an engine breakdown!! We had a chat with them and continued our cruise .As we were drifting gently through the countryside we passed under some humpback bridges. Then the river spreads into multiple waterways embracing green islets.

We stopped at one of them to visit the Fleurac paper mill and discovered how paper was made. It still uses the process of the 18th century. Hemp, flax, cotton are crushed and transformed into pulp. The sheets are laid out one by one, pressed and hung up in the air in a special room to dry. It was a very interesting guided tour.

Then back again on board now we headed off up Angoulème where an unexpected event occured. Before mooring along the quay we got stuck in a pile of chippings just in the middle of the Charente and we couldn't get the boat to move.

Fortunately for us the owner of a " Péniche restaurant" nearby helped us using our rope and after some attempts at trying to reverse out we managed to get it to move and our daughter and her boyfriend disembarked. Of course they missed the 7.00pm train for Royan they were supposed to take! Then as time was getting on we decided to spend the night in a quiet place in Angoulème near a lock.Angoulème is a historic city with ramparts set on a hill above the Charente . It is also famous for its strip cartoon festival. The following day we got up early because we had tied up too close to the lock impeding traffic. We continued our cruise back to Cognac and made a stop at Trois Palice. There, we visited Letuffe factory which is famous for its chocolates. The visit ended up with chocolate tasting of course! Downstream of Trois Palice the silhouette of St Simeux came up. This time we decided to moor along the canal tow path and tied the boat up to a tree. We had a walk to the village with houses decorated with flowers and when we returned to the boat we had company, the dog of the pub " Le Gabarier". We walked together to the boat and the dog had a rest on the gangplank for a while.

After leaving our guest and further downstream of St Simeux a sleepy hamlet attracted us ashore. There, we wandered around and took some photos of the Roman church.

On our way back to Cognac we went through a lock followed closely behind by a Gabarre full of tourists. A gabarre is a flat-bottomed boat that used to be loaded with cereals, stone, eaux de vie, wood, metals, paper and felts. The boats were pulled by oxen or horses along the tow path. The gabarres gradually disappeared when the railway arrived, and today they are rebuilt for boat trips.We ended up our cruise mooring at the same pontoon we had used on the first day of our cruise, just in front of the Chateau of St Brice, sipping a glass of wine on the terrace, raising our glass to the people on other boats which went past, feeding the ducks and we enjoyed having dinner to the sound of water lapping against the boat.

PS: Click on the thumbnail to see the full size picture.

A school trip to Ardèche

In this article Vincent tells us about his trip to Ardèche.

I went to Ardèche on a school trip a few months ago. We left Paris early in the morning to Ardèche

( near les Vans). We travelled by train.

On the first day we went rock climbing. The first route was called " The Parisians". I dropped my camera but we managed to get the parts together. Fortunately for me it wasn't a digital camera!

On the second day we went canoeing it was very dangerous because we shot the rapids.

On the third day we went hiking and walked through a forest, and through fields and finally walked along the river. At that time the weather was gorgeous, a bit too hot for me. We got lost in the middle of the forest. We had a compass but we couldn't take any directions because we were surrounded by cliffs. We walked eight kilometres too many!! In the evening we had a party.

On the last day, in the morning , we climbed a 115m cliff. After lunch, we returned to Paris. I really enjoyed my shool trip to Ardèche.

Acknowledgements: Photos provided under Creative Commons Licence by : GOC53 ( Les Vans and forest), TimBrighton ( canoeing), chericbaker ( Ardèche views) Jacksim ( Ardèche) Andrize traveller ( rapids), olly Farrell ( rock climbing)