Two Go Back For More Cheese

[MichaelT]

A longish drive north today has brought us to a little west of Tours to the Cher, a tributary of the Loire.

View attachment 808959

We are at the CCP aire at Villandry.

View attachment 808963

The main attraction here is the château.

View attachment 808961

The gardens, according to our Welsh neighbours on the aire, are excellent but the interior is a disappointment as it is all reproduction. At €13 a head and no discount for wrinklies we will give it a miss although entrance to the gardens only is €8.

I took Charlie for a paddle in the Cher instead.

View attachment 808962

View attachment 808960

Northwards a little tomorrow.

Villandry was one of our favourites, it did at least contain furniture and stuff unlike a lot of the chateaux.

 

[MichaelT]

A forty five minute drive north today took us to Le Lude where we found ourselves the sole occupants of the aire here.

View attachment 809501

Zoomed in.

View attachment 809499

A short walk takes you to the bridge over the Loir.

View attachment 809500

View attachment 809498

The Loir flows into the Loire but not directly. First it flows into the Sarthe north of Angers then the Sarthe after being joined by the Mayenne runs through Angers before inexplicably changing it's name to the Maine for a short distance before joining the Loire just south of Angers. France has a lot of rivers to keep us busy for a few years.

There is a château here which will admit you on payment of money. We just rubber-necked from the road outside.

View attachment 809503

View attachment 809502

The above are shots of the side. The front you can't see as it has a solid gate and high walls.

Le Lude is a sleepy place. We walked into the centre and restaurants were mostly closed which seems odd for a Friday evening although it was only half past six. The one with a sign saying it was open was empty and the plastic table cloths were not very inviting.

Perhaps we just caught it on a quiet day.

Isn't that most French villages though, closed?

 

[DBK]

Isn't that most French villages though, closed?

I've seen a lot of villages over say the last ten years where all that's left in the centre is the pharmacy, boulangerie and if you are lucky a bar or restaurant. A little grocers shop (or épicerie) has been very hard to find as the supermarkets built just outside the villages have killed them off.

But on this trip it is noticeable how many boulangeries we have seen closed and up for sale. Not just one or two but a lot.

I don't think it is financial hardship, just a change in buying habits. One town we drove through had a large Carrefour supermarket and it was packed, cars were almost queuing to get into the car park. Carrefour are not the cheapest supermarket yet a little further down the road was an Aldi and its car park was almost empty in comparison. The reverse of what you might see in the UK.

 

[Orion]

Carrefour are not the cheapest supermarket yet a little further down the road was an Aldi and its car park was almost empty in comparison. The reverse of what you might see in the UK.

That’s what we found as well. On the lookout for a supermarket as we skirted Saint Quentin last month we spotted an Aldi so went in. The place was deserted and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme nor reason to the layout of the produce. It was weird and not conducive to a return visit.

 

[DBK]

It took us a full fifteen minutes to drive to today's stop.

Starting from La Lude in the lower right we took a swerve via the Intermarché using my knew found skill of adding waypoint to a Google Maps route as explained in this thread.

Planning and Sharing Routes with Google Maps

Quite a few folk use Google Maps for navigation. It isn't perfect and won't know the size of your MH and will take you on obscure short cuts but it's free and will automatically re-route around traffic jams. I've been using it exclusively for the last few years but only in a very limited way in...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

After buying two carrots (see later in this post for why) we trundled to the aire at Luché-Pringlé (in the upper left) which I can't help thinking sounds a bit like "loose Pringles".

The aire was obviously once part of the small campsite next door which seems to be mostly statics. But the grassy terraces are pleasant in the sun. It will rain tomorrow so my opinion may need revision.

A walk of a few minutes takes you to the banks of the Loir, the river which would like to be the Loire but can't manage the final vowel. My shallow research suggests Loire and Loir are pronounced the same and the name may originate from the Gaulish word "Liga" meaning silt or sediment. Make of that what you want.

Not far down the river is the Moulin de Mervé.

I need to go back tomorrow with my camera and take a better photo but this sign was interesting. Who thought they had fortified mills? At least it has survived the castle although it now looks neglected and abandoned. Would be worth over a million in the UK.

And why two carrots? To eat Mrs DBK's home-made hummus.

Made with a stick blender with chick peas, garlic, tahinni, olive oil and lemon juice it was very smooth and tasty. A proper food processor would be better, the stick blender kept getting clogged in the early parts of the process but with perseverence Mrs DBK pulled it off.

By joint agreement the next batch will have more garlic though.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[scousebird]

We stayed on the campsite at Luche-Pringes many years ago. The village was shut and the lady in reception was most unhelpful.

 

[Grianan]

It took us a full fifteen minutes to drive to today's stop.

View attachment 810001

Starting from La Lude in the lower right we took a swerve via the Intermarché using my knew found skill of adding waypoint to a Google Maps route as explained in this thread.

Planning and Sharing Routes with Google Maps

Quite a few folk use Google Maps for navigation. It isn't perfect and won't know the size of your MH and will take you on obscure short cuts but it's free and will automatically re-route around traffic jams. I've been using it exclusively for the last few years but only in a very limited way in...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

After buying two carrots (see later in this post for why) we trundled to the aire at Luché-Pringlé (in the upper left) which I can't help thinking sounds a bit like "loose Pringles".

The aire was obviously once part of the small campsite next door which seems to be mostly statics. But the grassy terraces are pleasant in the sun. It will rain tomorrow so my opinion may need revision.

View attachment 810085

A walk of a few minutes takes you to the banks of the Loir, the river which would like to be the Loire but can't manage the final vowel. My shallow research suggests Loire and Loir are pronounced the same and the name may originate from the Gaulish word "Liga" meaning silt or sediment. Make of that what you want.

Not far down the river is the Moulin de Mervé.

View attachment 810000

View attachment 810013

I need to go back tomorrow with my camera and take a better photo but this sign was interesting. Who thought they had fortified mills? At least it has survived the castle although it now looks neglected and abandoned. Would be worth over a million in the UK.

View attachment 809999

And why two carrots? To eat Mrs DBK's home-made hummus.

View attachment 809986

Made with a stick blender with chick peas, garlic, tahinni, olive oil and lemon juice it was very smooth and tasty. A proper food processor would be better, the stick blender kept getting clogged in the early parts of the process but with perseverence Mrs DBK pulled it off.

By joint agreement the next batch will have more garlic though.

Never one to advocate new appliances … we bought my daughter a stick blender which can be used to power an included mini (ie PVC friendly) chopper. I’m almost convincing myself this is a necessity now we have an inverter. Not this exact one but similar https://www.johnlewis.com/bosch-ms6ca4150g-ergomixx-800w-hand-blender-white/p4879244

 

[DBK]

Never one to advocate new appliances … we bought my daughter a stick blender which can be used to power an included mini (ie PVC friendly) chopper. I’m almost convincing myself this is a necessity now we have an inverter. Not this exact one but similar https://www.johnlewis.com/bosch-ms6ca4150g-ergomixx-800w-hand-blender-white/p4879244

That looks good, the mini food processor would be perfect for hummus.

 

[scousebird]

I have similar to this at home but it's quite heavy

HAND BLENDER WITH ACCESSORIES - Matte black | KitchenAid UK

Hand blender with accessories 5KHBV83 lets you do more. Mix, chop, blend, mince, purée, whisk, froth or whip, quickly and effortlessly. Choose yours.

www.kitchenaid.co.uk

 

[Grianan]

I have similar to this at home but it's quite heavy

HAND BLENDER WITH ACCESSORIES - Matte black | KitchenAid UK

Hand blender with accessories 5KHBV83 lets you do more. Mix, chop, blend, mince, purée, whisk, froth or whip, quickly and effortlessly. Choose yours.

www.kitchenaid.co.uk

It will be - Kitchen Aid products are beautiful - and heavy!

The actual one we bought was this one …

Braun MultiQuick 5 Vario MQ5235 Hand Blender, Sauce Mixer, BPA-Free Plastic Beaker - White/Grey https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MWURBSK/?tag=mhf04-21

Thinking we need to up our fibre. Only thing is this one doesn’t great apples for Bircher Muesli …

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Poms_from_Adelaide]

Only thing is this one doesn’t great apples for Bircher Muesli …

#FirstWorldProblems

 

[DBK]

We walked into Luché-Pringé this morning which as scousebird observed above is a somewhat sleepy place and becoming sleepier with the local store now up for sale.

The church was interesting.

Note the darker stone along the bottom.

I'm not sure what it is but my guess the church has been rebuilt on top of the original foundations. Or it could just be an early version of a damp course.

It's always interesting to see the changes buildings have gone through.

Take this place.

Looking closer.

The tower is from a earlier date I suspect but look at the two arches suggesting an opening was closed a little first then closed completely and the window added.

But some evidence is hard to work out. I've no idea of the history of this which is on the side of the church. A home for an ornamental hermit perhaps?

But the river is easier to appreciate.

And you can't fault a town which puts flowers on the bridge.

 

[Just smiffy]

Is that a Bailey bridge…

 

[DBK]

Is that a Bailey bridge…

It does look like it but I don't think so. It's all riveted together.

 

[DBK]

A full twenty minutes of driving took us a little further down the Loir today to the town of La Flèche.

In the map above our weekend halt at Luché-Pringé is on the right with La Flèche in the middle.

The first place we headed to was the Carrefour supermarket where a search on Google Maps had revealed there were washing machines to be found. After starting the laundry going we then went into the shop which went well until we got to the checkout where the "hostesse" discovered we hadn't weighed the fruit. We have been using Intermarché supermarkets a lot and they weigh your produce at the checkout but many other shops insist you weigh it yourself and stick the price tag on the bag. Carrefour are one of these and we had just forgotten to check if there were weighing machines in the fruit and veg section. We will be more alert in future but will also be avoiding Carrefour supermarkets as they are not the cheapest places to shop.

Victuals purchased and laundry folded we then drove a short distance to the aire by the Lac de la Monnerie on the other side of the town. There are several flooded gravel pits here, a bit like you find in the Thames valley around Reading.

When we went for a walk in the afternoon, the start of which was delayed for half an hour to allow a shower to pass through I thought I recognised it but couldn't remember when we were last here. My memory must be getting bad as later I discovered we were here in May 2022 - less than 18 months ago! The aire is about 100m from the lake. You might just see the blue of the water between the bushes below.

We walked round the lake nearest the aire on a very smooth path.

Children were sailing in tiny pram dinghies. The orange safety boat, just visible on the far left below, was very busy shooting from one part of the flotilla to another rescuing sailors from reed beds etc. I didn't see any blue lights so I don't think anyone drowned.

Where I took the photo above was this curious installation.

Explained by this notice. The top bit (I think) says "Close your eyes and open wide your ears and listen to the inhabitants". I first thought the bird depicted (a Blongious nain) was a poorly drawn Bittern until I looked it up to discover it is a Little Bittern. These are a summer visitor and the description says (I think!) they can be heard calling at dusk in the early part of the year. Which would probably be in May when we were last here - and we didn't here them then or today even with the aid of the ear trumpets.

This is a glimpse of the Lac des Oiseaux or Bird Lake where you probably would stand the best chance of hearing the Blongious nain. It has at least one hide we could see and probably others but it is long walk around it so we diverted down the gravel spit which separates the two main lakes here.

In the photo above you may see some white dots on the right of the island. The white dots to the left are swans.

Here "Les yeux" are required or least one of them to take advantage of this useful addition to the path.

There is a technique used by bird watchers called "phone scoping" where you put your phone's camera to the eyepiece of a telescope.

It isn't easy to do as my results prove.

Cattle egrets I think and not the little egrets you might expect near water. Plus a few cormorants on the right.

By the water sports centre they have created a large artificial beach. No dogs allowed to Charlie's disappointment.

We will push north tomorrow with probably a longish drive into Normandy.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Shrimp]

But on this trip it is noticeable how many boulangeries we have seen closed and up for sale. Not just one or two but a lot.

I commented on this last time we were in France, it is a shame, you expect to spend money in the Villes so it offsets staying on a free Aire.

It's always interesting to see the changes buildings have gone through.

I love looking at old buildings to see the change of use, window & doors blocked up. Saw remains of a house in a town, some of the walls had been saved and some of the woodwork had been saved too.

 

[scousebird]

We tend to use the municipal site in La Fleche as we find the aire very unattractive and the gravel works next door can be noisy. It's a nice walk along the river back to town though.

 

[DBK]

We tend to use the municipal site in La Fleche as we find the aire very unattractive and the gravel works next door can be noisy. It's a nice walk along the river back to town though.

The town, what we saw of it, looked to have some interesting buildings and is within easy walking distance from the campsite. The aire is a much longer walk so I agree, the campsite is probably a better option, open to 6 November according to their website.

 

[MichaelT]

The town, what we saw of it, looked to have some interesting buildings and is within easy walking distance from the campsite. The aire is a much longer walk so I agree, the campsite is probably a better option, open to 6 November according to their website.

We use the vet there for worming.

 

[gus-lopez]

But on this trip it is noticeable how many boulangeries we have seen closed and up for sale. Not just one or two but a lot.

yes I noticed it before covid but it seems to have accelerated since?

yet a little further down the road was an Aldi and its car park was almost empty in comparison.

I think they all start like that ,certainly here they do. The Àguilas one was always reasonably busy due to the motorhomers but since a refit it is packed solid mainly with spaniards.
They built one up here ,saves me going to Águilas, & to start with back in 2019 you could fire a shotgun in there & wouldn't hit anyone. Now it is always a steady flow of people.

The reverse of what you might see in the UK.

Yes I came across a newly opened one in St.Maure de Touraine south of Tours. Popped in early morning only one woman doing everything . Did bag a bargain though .Saw a cordless jigsaw, complete with li-ion battery & charger, reduced from 89€ to 59€. Lady was quick to inform me at the till that there was an additional 30% off so 40€ in total

Carrefour are one of these and we had just forgotten to check if there were weighing machines in the fruit and veg section.

annoying isn't it. They do it up the road here. They now have a set of weigh scales at the tills to save the walk back or people just leaving the stuff.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Langtoftlad]

 

[DBK]

I'm too busy eating the stuff to find time to write about them! But sadly my note-taking isn't very good either. This cheese from the Pyrenees was nice but I can't remember what it's called.

 

[Langtoftlad]

I'm too busy eating the stuff to find time to write about them! But sadly my note-taking isn't very good either. This cheese from the Pyrenees was nice but I can't remember what it's called.

View attachment 811003

As long as you're finding some good & interesting ones to sample...

 

[DBK]

A full two hours driving north today brought us into Normandy.

We have come to Falaise south east of Caen which we visited in 2019 as described starting towards the end of post #8 in this thread.

Two Potter Around Northern France

After our trip to Corsica earlier this year I felt our next excursion should involve less distance and fewer sheer drops on the side of the road. Corsica was a delight and the scenery stunning but something less demanding will go down nicely over the next couple of months. And so yesterday we...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

The main feature here is the castle where William the Conquerer was brought up. We won't be visiting it on this trip but it is very well worth looking at if you haven't been here before. The thread above will give a taste of what to expect.

After lunch we visited the town. The last time we were here they were digging up the main street but that seems to have now been completed.

We spent some time at the Église Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais de Falaise, which is a church with a name nearly as long as itself.

It isn't actually curved, this was my attempt at a panoramic shot. I might not bother again.

This is a more conventional view.

Falaise is a little south of the D-Day beaches and was liberated by the Canadians supported by Polish and UK forces on the flanks.

The church got a bit of a battering.

The stonework still shows the marks of battle.

And the weather.

We will stay here two or three nights and explore our surroundings.

 

[cyberyacht]

William the Bastard's home town until he took a liking for London. As they say 'the rest is history'

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DBK]

This post is a bit cheese heavy but I make no apologies given the title of our trip.

Camembert is probably the most popular and well known French cheese. I confess I don't buy it often in the UK but in the distant past no camping trip to France as a youngster with my parents would have been complete without Camembert and a baguette for lunch.

On the map the village of Camembert isn't far from Falaise but the last part of the journey was on narrow roads which I took gently. There were big tractors about today and it took us forty minutes.

There's a car park on the south side of the village. You might be able to find space for a MH outside the Maire's office in the centre but the walk from the car park isn't far.

The signs below "Camembert" in the photo above point to other well known cheeses. There is a "Route des Fromages" to follow if you are a true cheese afficionado.

We headed first for the Musée de Camembert, well you would wouldn't you?

At €4.50 each it isn't the most expensive tourist attraction in France and unexpectedly it turned out to be a really enjoyable and interesting visit.

The museum has videos, exhibits and display boards. The main vidio had English sub-titles and all the displays were bi-lingual too.

Blame it all on this lady.

This is a recreation of the farmhouse of Marie Harel who in 1791 hosted a visit by a priest (or maybe he was a bishop) from Brie who saw Marie making cheese and offered some tips on how to improve the process.

Note the cow in the room beyond. The typical farmhouse had three rooms at the time: bedroom, kitchen and one for all the animals. It's a different arrangement to other countries I've been to where the animals would be on the ground floor and the family were on the floor, above benefitting from the heat rising from the animals.

On the subject of cows...

We did see some real ones but this lady was easier to photograph. It's a Vache Normande which provides the milk for Camembert and the famed (and very nice) Normandy butter.

A characteristic feature of Camembert is the wooden box it comes in. This was a major factor in Camembert's success as it allowed the cheese to be easily transported, particularly by rail to Paris, without being damaged.

The next phase in the Camembert success story took place in WW1 when the Camembert producers agreed to send one day's production each week to the French troops in the trenches. This exposed Camembert to a much wider audience and led to wider sales after the war.

But it wasn't until pasteurised milk was used to make the cheese that it achieved a global impact. Pasteurisation greatly extended the shelf life of the cheese so it could be easily exported.

Today about 95% of Camembert sold is made from pasteurised milk.

Here's an addition to your French vocabulary: "Tyrosémiophiles".

I haven't a clue what it means but they had a few labels on show.*

After the museum tour the same ticket allows entrance to the Fromagère next door where they were making the cheese.

The lady is ladling curds into the moulds which are used to form the cheese. It's a key stage with strict rules over the time between each ladle is added, the process taking about five hours to complete.

This close-up shows the white penicillin mould which is added to the outside of the cheese at a certain point in the maturing process.

After the Fromagère the same ticket gets you a cheese tasting in the Maison du Camembert a little further up the road.

I'd eaten my bit before I remembered to take the photo. The single bit is a President cheese which is pasteurised. President are a major producer you will find in every supermarket. The next one is from local farmers who pool their milk and the last one is from the Fromagère we had visited. Here it is in close-up.

The critical words are "Au lait cru" Which means made with unpasteurised milk. The next words "Moulage etc" says it is moulded with a traditional ladle.

The orange patch is also what to look for if you want to try an authentic Camembert.

The AOP mark which confirms the authenticity of the ingredients, method of manufacture and location.

We bought two cheeses, one ready to eat now and another which will last until we get back home.

This afternoon I wandered up a hill overlooking the castle to get some different views.

The campsite we are at is on the left in this photo.

Off to the coast tomorrow.

* Having looked at it again I think it means "label collectors".

 

[TheMachMan]

Fascinating! We’re heading up that way in a few days, may check out Camembert. Are you still staying in Falaise?

 

[DBK]

Fascinating! We’re heading up that way in a few days, may check out Camembert. Are you still staying in Falaise?

We're staying at Falaise tonight but moving on tomorrow. The towns a nightmare to drive through, lots of priorité à droite so be careful as no doubt which ever direction you come from your gps will want to see what the centre looks like and take you there.

Camembert village was surprisingly interesting.

 

[DBK]

We are having a relatively easy day as I've gone down with Man Flu. I've had headaches on and off for a couple of days plus sneezing but today I'm a bit lethargic. However, I'm not so bad we couldn't go shopping this morning at the LeClerc in Falaise. It was an upmarket shop, this is only a fraction of the bread on offer.

We didn't shop in this part of the wine section.

There was a pharmacy in the supermarket building which I visited to buy more paracetamol. I've been taking two 200mg tablets from a packet bought in Tesco. My request for "deux cent" tablets was met with puzzlement. Their paracetamol came in 500mg and 1000mg sized tablets! I bought two packets of 500mg as the safest option. Spain is the same, you can get ibuprofen there in huge doses.

Afterwards we drove north to the aire at Utah Beach.

We've been here before but it was a convenient place to stop in my delicate state.

It was cheese for lunch of course.

Both are from the Massif Central area. Rochebaron on the right was a mild blue cheese, a bit like Cambozola. The one on the left is St Nectaire which has an AOP label. Having learned of the significance of these yesterday we will be looking for it when we next buy cheese. The St Nectaire had a taste a bit like Brie but with a firmer texture.

We have curious neighbours next to the aire.

What happens tomorrow will depend to some extent on how I feel in the morning.

 

[Riverbankannie]

I hope you feel better soon.
It’s a timely reminder to those buying paracetamol abroad. Many are just used to taking 2 tablets and not taking note of the dose.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}