French Travel Secret Revealed  is where I reveal the down side of being DA BG.  Yes, Virginia, there IS  a negative smiley face in my otherwise blissful existence. A subtle frown that creases the face of carefree revelry.

Like a wine that is almost perfect, My French Life has a touch of tannin. The bitter flavor of (ugh) responsibility. Which means that the French Cycling Gourmet is NEVER on a carefree holiday. Because dear reader, he’s always thinking of you.  Thinking of how much you would enjoy what he is enjoying. And is therefore obliged to hip you to whatever trip he happens to be on.

This one is to a region of la Belle France that doesn’t get a lot of press. And for me, and the folks who dwell therein, that’s just fine.

It’s above the too famed Provence and borders the Haute Alps and the Alps Maritime. Folks, meet la Drome Provencal. The southernmost part of la Drome proper.

Like it’s southern neighbour, la Drome Provencal has an equally agreeable climate. Allowing it to produce wine, fruits and herbs in massive quantities. Sharing a big slice of Mt. Ventoux, means that it’s some serious sport candy for cyclists of the lycra clad “speed thrills” variety. (My cycling opposites, as you are no doubt well aware.)

Other than the ubiquitous tourism, Lavender and herbs are La Drome Provencal’s main exports.

What floats my boat about this region is that it’s “the road less travelled.” (With virtually the same climate as the road too often travelled) There’s NO industry, (so, no pollution) and, with more villages than cities, plus mountains all around, you can get lost here.

With your camera, bien sur.

THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!

What are ya thinkin’?

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.

French cycling is as good as it gets. The cream (or more accurately, “crème” ) ‘o the crop. The top of the adventure mountain. And I’m not just saying that because French cycling is what I’m(almost) famous for.

Leader of the Pack

France has three big cycling advantages. First, and most important,it has more beauty and variety than any other European country. Italy, Spain, Southern Germany, Luxembourg-been there/done that/got the tee-shirt. If you have’nt –you need to! Each has something unique and exceptional to offer. But not variety “a la Francaise.”

Variety

French cycling’s second attraction is the abundance of bike trails throughout the country. You’ll notice I said “throughout” as opposed to “all over.” Some regions are more “cycle progressive” than others.

Options

But – Don’t despair! Because all over the country you will find at least two alternatives to the main filled-with-traffic-noise-exhaust fumes route. Country roads. Plain and simple. The highways of the country people. Dotted with –surprise, surprise – Them. Their houses. Their land. Their lifestyles. Now, isn’t that what really what French cycling is all about?

So,what about your French Cycling adventure? Whaddaya need to follow in my tire tracks?

Gonna spill all da beans in part two!

THROW  ME  A  BONE  HERE  PEOPLE!

What are ya thinkin’?

Christopher Strong Bicycle Gourmets Tour de France

The Bicycle Gourmet’s Tour de France…

is different than the televised Tour de France.

In fact, The Bicycle Gourmet’s Tour de France is better. Not just for DA BG,but for you as well.
Here’s why:

1. Bicycle Gourmet’s Tour de France is longer. WWWay longer. Starting in late Spring and continuing until Early Autumn. (or whenever the weather stops playing nice.)

2. The Bicycle Gourmet’s Tour de France is sssssslower. (Yes, DA BG is the poster boy for the “slow bike movement.”) Slower means I actually see/enjoy the countryside, memorable moments with the locals, that my heads down mile-a-minute lycra clad cousins can’t.

3. The Bicycle Gourmet’s Tour de France is all about discovery and adventure. As my motto says : “Tasting the land and the people as well as the food and wine.” The speed crazed Tour de France is all about applause, medals and after shave/shaving foam/razor endorsements.

Remember I said at the start that The Bicycle Gourmet’s Tour de France is better than the classic one? for you also?

That’s because when DA BG glides down those sun dappled country roads – he records the beauty of it all -for you. In videos like this:

Chenonceau The Dream French Chateau  is the one, of all I have known and seen – that I would like to be the owner of.

While it’s a cliche to say Chenonceau is “steeped in History” (and what French Chetau isn’t?) it is a history basically of rivalry and romance. The rivalry being between the Queen of that moment – Catherine de Medici, and Diane de Poitiers. The tutor, and later mistress of King Henri 2. My faithful readers ( all three of them) will recall I told this tale in THIS POST.

As the visual aspect of Chenonceau is it’s most distinctive and unique exterior feature, here are three videos that will give you -as you would imagine – three different flavors of this very large slice of French History:

Authors note: Chenonceau, although a classified Historical monument is owned by the Menier Family. (They of – at least in france – chocolate fame)

More Info HERE.

THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!

What are ya thinkin’?

Edgar Degas had never concerned himself with earning a living from his art because  he had family money and sold his works as it suited him. But all that changed in 1878 when his father died. After the estate was finally settled Degas learned that he was no longer a wealthy man. And worse, when his father died there were enormous debts. And the only way he knew to pay off was to make art and sell art.

Degas increased his production and concentrated on ballet dancers. He spent hours watching the young dancers then returned to his studio to paint from memory.

The dance images sold well from the beginning. Accordingly, the general public thought of Degas only as a painter of a ballet dancers. Although he painted other subjects, and was also a sculptor, the majority of art he would create over the next 40 years would be of ballet dancers.

Degas never married and had no children. Probably because never he could have ever made the kind of personal sacrifice for his art that was necessary in order to sustain a relationship.

When he wasn’t painting he was at the Opera ,holding court at a cafe or visiting friends. Degas also threw himself into organizing the impressionist exhibitions but he was abrasive, combative and only interested in his own opinion.

Obviously he was a bit of a control freak and tried to mold the Impressionists in his direction.

For the 1879 exhibition degas issued an ultimatum that members of the group could no longer choose to submit works to the salon and still exhibit with the Impressionists.

Renoir was was the first who decided to do both. Much to the anger of Degas who maintained that you’re either with us or against us.

Renoir had made a wise business decision. His 1879 salon submission Madame Charpentier and her children was a huge success and Renoir was on his way to becoming a sought-after portrait painter when was in his mid-30s.

In the summer of 1888 began a large-scale work he would call: “The luncheon of the boating party.”

Renoir’s dealer was so pleased with this painting that he purchased it right away. Renoir was now selling on two fronts. Impressionists to his dealer and portraits to the clients he won through his good showing at the salon.

For Renoir it seemed that after nearly two decades of struggle he had finally made it.

In the Spring Monet submitted two of his canvases to the salon after seeing Renoir’s success there. But this meant that Monet couldn’t exhibit with the Impressionists in 1880 as Degas anti- salon rule kept him out.

But, sadly,the impressionist group after years of fighting for recognition now appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

Degas fumed at Monet and Renoir. Monet thought he might fare better in solo exhibitions and Renoir a conservative,no longer wanted anything to do with the liberal Pissarro.

The art dealer Paul durand-ruel saw the group self-destructing before his eyes. He had been buying impressionist art since 1871 and had a large collection of it sitting unsold in his gallery.

He had put together an extraordinary collection of works by these artists. As durand-ruel felt his fate was tied to the success of the group, he decided it was time to take action

He stepped in and organized the 1882 show himself. When the exhibition opened on March 1st the Impressionists and Durand-Ruel were in for a surprise.The critics expressed less outrage and collectors were starting to express more interest.

But after the 1882 exhibition Durand-Ruel felt that the impressionist artists were simply too difficult to organize and he decided to hold solo exhibitions in his gallery.

These one-man shows marked the end of an era. Monet, Renoir Degas Morisotte and Pissaro would never again mount their own group exhibition. This caused the impressionist artists to think having their work shown at dealers might be a better idea, less trouble and they would make more money.

And that is the way the Impressionists split apart. They were no longer a working group. But the personal bonds they had forged over the years were so strong they could not be broken.

Author’s Note: If you missed Part One of the Impressionist story – IT’S HERE.

Renoir had been inspired by Claude Monet since the day they first met in 1862.With this renewed motivation, Renoir seemed to push himself to take more chances, work harder and never give up.

Renoir painted with Monet whenever he could and he loved to have Monet and his wife Camille pose for him, especially Camille.Over the course of a few years Renoir painted Camille no less than 15 times.In fact Renoir dropped by Monet’s home so often that a bed was always kept open for him.

Edouard Manet also showed up to paint with Monet. MANET had long been seen as the leader of the avant-garde but he had yet to experiment with the impressionist technique.

The turning point for Manet came because of the tremendous amount of press the first impressionist exhibition had generated.

This made it clear that these younger artists with their newer forms of expression were becoming the avant-garde. And MANET, the older man wanted to keep a pace with the forward movement of the impressionists.

MANET painted Monet not only in his studio boat, but in Monet’s garden.

One sunny afternoon he began to paint Camille and then Renoir showed up. their two paintings have exactly the same subject: Camille and Jean lying upon the grass in exactly the same location.

The Story goes that when Monet went o look at Renior’s painting, he said this boy just can’t paint Better tell him to pack it up.

This is something that was said absolutely as a joke because he recognized that the Renoir’s was the most devastatingly successful sketch. And indeed a sketch that makes Monet’s own work look slightly stayed.

While MANET was painting with Monet, his brother Eugene was vacationing on the Normandy coast.

Also on vacation in fake off were Berthe Morisot and Jean Monnet an amateur artist. The two spent days on end painting together.

In the spring of 1876 the Impressionists began organizing their second group exhibition. This time the group presented itself less as simply an association of independent artists and more as a movement.

The second exhibition had more works of art by each of the members who were thought to be central to the movement.

While only a few thousand would actually attend the show, newspapers Worldwide were quick to cover the story of these independent artists.

When the second impressionist exhibition closed in May of 1876 the group took solace in the fact that they did not lose money and were pleased the show had piqued the interest of a handful of new collectors.

But it was only a handful not enough to support the needy artists Pissarro Renoir and Monet.

In the fall of 1876 Claude Monet left Camille and their nine-year-old son to work in Mahjong on a series of paintings for his best patron Ernesto shidae a nest. He and his wife Elise were immensely wealthy. They not only had a chateau, but a private train to bring in their guests.

Ernest liked to spend money and he spent quite a bit of it on art and asked Monet to paint several large-scale works depicting scenes around his chateau.Monet set up a studio on the estate and moved in with Elise and her children.

Then, the dark clouds began to hover over this happy artistic scene.In the spring of 1877 Ernesto’s business went bankrupt and he lost everything. Including the Chateau.

Clearly, Monet was also in a difficult situation. He was broke and his creditors were out of patience. Monet and Camille began sharing a house with Elise and her six children hoping to save money by joining their families together.There were eleven people in this house.

To make matters even more difficult ,Camille was pregnant with her second child. She gave birth to a boy Michel in March 1878. But Camille seemed unable to recover after the delivery.

By the summer of 1879 she was alarmingly weak and in constant debilitating pain. Monet borrowed a thousand francs to pay for her doctors. But they were unable to help.Four days later Camille was dead at 32 years old.

Camille was buried in a simple plot in the corner of the Vettii graveyard.In the depths of his sorrow Monet stood for day after day in the brutal cold that came that winter and painted the Seine, churning with ice. While these paintings would soon spark new sales for the rest of the winter, Monet Elise and the eight children barely had enough to eat.

End of Part 2

Christopher Strong Bicycle Gourmet – Born at the Right Time – Part Four…

brings us to the inevitable conclusion of my French-Mexican adventure. Checking out Parts One, Two and/or Three may help you connect the dots more easily.

After two plus weeks of Ten hour “Mr. Fix-It-Up” days Paul returned to France for Christmas. DA BG had agreed(with no arms twisted) to stay on until the end of January to provide a “security presence.” (my greatest unhearlded talent.)

With Paul gone my routine remained basically the same. With one exception: Wine Rationing! I had only three bottles of White to last seven weeks! Which meant less than a quarter (tiny)verre per meal. And(shock horror) only once per day. This, dear reader was wine appreciations most challenging  hour. Why didn’t I just buy more from our tiny village “supermercado?” One word: “Undrinkable!”

Like all good things, my mission of “Mexican assistance” came too soon to an end. Again I was on the same bus. This time in the opposite direction. And this time – no Ramon . Wait – it gets worse. Yes, dear reader, this driver/DJ was into hard core Country Music. “Big eight wheeler rollin’ down the track means your lovin’ daddy ain’t comin’ back – I’m movin’ on” (sung with a closepeg on your nose for maximum fidelity)

After two weeks back in the land of drinkable wine(almost) everywhere, no “bon mots” from Paul or Denis. I was just about to phone when Denis appeared at my door. With a shoe box.
I sensed correctly from his uncharacteristically somber mood that a shoe-based joke would not be appropriate.

After a long pause Denis murmured softly: “It’s Paul……last night…..” He didn’t finish the sentence. Nor did he need to. “How” I asked. “In his sleep” Denis replied.

No further words were needed. As we each silently savored our connections to this treasure of a man.

Finally, Denis offered me the box. “He left this for you.” You know what was in the box, dear reader. Do you not? Inside the glass was this note. In Paul’s elegant calligraphic hand : “Whenever you drink from this I hope you’ll remember your time in Mexico with an old pal.” And I do, dear reader. I do.