Days on the Claise

A Heart of Dough

2026-09-29T09:00:00.000+02:00

I know we have a world of opinion (and one or two facts) at our fingertips wherever we go, but sometimes you have to ask yourself "why?".

We know what they are, and what you do with them, but why?

And how do you ask for one without resorting to just pointing?

It's Raining

2026-09-28T09:00:00.000+02:00

We were woken up this morning by the most terrific clap of thunder.

The power then proceeded to go out (and come back on again) multiple times in rapid succession. I've never experienced anything like it before, with the power going off for up to a minute then coming back on again. In the 10 minutes leading up to 07:00h I'd say the lights went off about 30 times. It may be that now the house is lit exclusively by LED we'll never experience a brownout again: in the increasingly digital binary world lights will either be on or off.

Guess where we are

I don't know how much rain we'll end up getting, but we'll take anything, even though it's so dry at the moment there's the danger of fires. I think we'll accept that risk.

Autun at a Distance

2026-09-25T09:00:00.000+02:00

It's only when you photograph Autun from a distance and crop out the obviously "modern" 16th century Burgundian roof of the military school that you realise how médiéval the place looks.

These photos were taken right weeks apart: we just happened to be driving through Autun for a second time when I took the top photo. We'll have to go back, there's plenty more to see.

WMM Hotels

2026-09-24T09:00:00.000+02:00

When we were in Germany in June I booked us one night in a WMM Hotel near Eisenach. It appealled because I was looking for somewhere with a kitchen, and at a good price.

The business's method was new to me, and it didn't totally make sense at first. You book a room online, then on the day of your stay you'll receive an email asking you to check in. You'll need a photo of your ID to do so, but it's a simple process. You'll then get a second email with your room number and a big green button in it. When you arrive at the hotel you press the button to unlock the door. Don't press it before you arrive at the door to your room.

Ain't technology wonderful.

On our more recent trip to Germany we stayed in 3 WMM hotels, and they were all clean, comfortable, and well equipped. Rooms include a desk, a television and WiFi, as well as a mini kitchen. They're incredibly quiet even though they're inevitably in industrial areas or near the Autoroute - or both. The rooms are built as modules in Mindelheim and Illertissen, then assembled on site.

We like them. You know what you're getting, and although they're not exactly picturesque the rooms themselves are comfortable, and the bathrooms way bigger then you would find in most other budget hotels.

Back to Work

2026-09-23T09:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I actually worked at what I consider to be my main job, for the first time in three and a half years.

It wasn't the longest days work I've ever done, but it was still a long day: picking clients up at 9:00am and getting home at 7:00pm, driving 170km in the process. Claudette was misbehaving slightly: her gear shift still needs fine tuning, but I managed the day without embarassing myself, and the clients left happy.

One of the reasons the gear shift has been thrown out of whack is that I put a new sort of battery in. It's a smaller physical size, but it's actually much more modern and more reliable. Unfortunately, we didn't realise that moving the battery forward as we had done meant that the battery leads interfered with the gear change rods. Oops!

She still isn't perfectly dependable shifting from first to second, which can be embarrassing. I'll have to get in touch with the guru to find out what the solution is.

Panthercap or Franchet's Amanita?

2026-09-22T09:00:00.001+02:00

These two Amanita species are quite difficult to tell apart. Thanks to amanitamozart on iNaturalist I was given a few clues to help.

The main clue is that the flaky remains of the veil on the cap are subtley different. On Franchet's Amanita they are pale grey with a yellowish tinge. They are also less bobbly ie flatter, more attached and less projecting. The flakes on a Panthercap are pure white and more three dimensional, a bit like pearl sugar.

Franchet's Amanita Amanita franchetii (Fr. Amanite à voile jaune).

Franchet's Amanite is covered in a sulphur yellow veil and volva when young, and the scales on the cap, the 'skirt' around the upper stem and the 'sack' at the bottom of the stem are the remnants of that. With age these parts fade to dirty yellow.

Panthercap Amanita pantherina (Fr. Amanite panthère).

Panthercaps have a lightly striated cap margin and a series of 'beaded' rings around the volva. The stem ring is plain, not striated, and not yellow edged. The cap is 4 - 15 cm across, initially hemispherical, then convex and finally flat, maybe even a bit depressed in the centre. When it's damp the cap surface will be viscous, if the weather is dry it will be satiny. The brown colour will lighten at the edge as the mushroom ages.

Panthercap.

The 'snowflake' like 'warts' on the cap will wash off quite easily in rain. The gills are pure white and quite tightly packed. The spores are also white. The white stem is 5 - 15 cm tall and 1 - 2 cm thick. And the flesh is white and does not react to being bruised. The mushroom doesn't smell of anything in particular.

Panthercap.

Both species grow in small groups in deciduous forest on calcareous soil, in association with oak, chestnut and hornbeam as well as other trees and sometimes conifers if the soil is flinty.

Panthercap.

Panthercap. The volva ('sack' at the base of the stem, which most Amanita spp have in some form) is typical for this particular species.

As you can see by the number of photos I have, Franchet's Amanita is rare, whereas Panthercap is abundant in the Touraine. Both species are toxic, and can lead to convulsions, violent vomiting and psychodelic experiences but not believed to be normally fatal. Both species can be mistaken for the edible Blusher Amanita rubscens (Fr. Amanite rougissante), but it stains red when bruised.

My Favourite New Toy

2026-09-21T09:00:00.000+02:00

Three weeks ago I bought a bass. I didn't mean to buy a bass, in fact this was my shopping list.

All basic maintenance stuff, nothing too extreme.

Then I walked into this very small corner of the shop:

There's no way I could justify buying exactly the same sort of of bass that Paul McCartney played, but Thomann's make their own branded version (it doesn't hurt that they now own Hofner). Nestled behind the original Hofner bases was the in house copy. Who could resist?

It's a really fun instrument to play: very light compared to most basses, smaller, and therefore more comfortable whilst I relearn an instrument I spent 20 years playing.

And I still don't have any gaffa tape.

Passion Altarpiece, Ternant

2026-09-18T09:00:00.000+02:00

As a result of following a brown sign we found new treasure! The Route des Triptyques is well worth following should you be pootling along the Route du Fours-Luzy (D981) in the departement (county) of Nievre (the south-west of Burgundy). This will get you to the church in a tiny village called Ternant, population 300. It is home to two astonishing medieval altarpieces. This blog post concerns one of them.

The Entombment of Christ, on the left of the altarpiece, with Mary Magdalen kneeling in the foreground, Christ outstretched on the tomb, and Joseph of Arimathea, Saint John, the Virgin, Mary Salome and Mary of Cleophas.

The Passion Altarpiece was made in a Brabantine workshop (in what was at the time the Burgundian Netherlands) around 1460. With its iconography it represents a Passion cycle frequently depicted in works from the southern Low Countries. Its composition is a classic inverted T arrangement and is typical in its tripartite construction (with extending hinged panels), depiction of donors and a painting of the coronation of the Virgin on the back of a panel.

The theme of the central three dimensional panel is the Crucifixion, with scenes of Calvary, the fainting Virgin and the kneeling donors. The landscape painted on the background is Jerusalem. The Virgin has her hands clasped above her head, supported by Saint John and a female saint. In the background a second female saint in an attitude of prayer, and Mary Magdalen, wearing an extraordinary turban, her back turned, lifts her arms towards the Cross. Both donors are richly dressed and kneeling. Charles de Ternant clasps his hands, a dagger in his belt. Facing him, his wife Jehanne de Vienne-Pymont is holding an open book, wearing a remarkable henin (headdress) and a bejewelled necklace.

Mary Magdalen, in a gown decorated using the brocart applique technique, kneeling to kiss the hand of the dead Christ.

Above them, linking the donors to the Crucifixion scene are two grimacing soldiers and a high ranking priest. In the middle are two other groups of soldiers and priests, surrounding Christ. At the top, Christ is fixed to the Cross by his ankles, between two cherubs. Another character is collecting the blood of Christ at his feet.

The righthand side depicts the painted interior of a brick house, pierced by a window and an open door. The scene within is a Pieta. The seated Virgin carries Christ while his head is supported by Saint John. The drama is observed by two small passers by, through the ajar window.

Jehanne de Vienne-Pymont, one of the donor couple.

The lefthand side also shows an interior, representing the Entombment of Christ. This is the moment when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus place Christ's body in the tomb. A kneeling Mary Magdalen holds his hand. In the background the Virgin prays, while Saint John and two female saints (Mary Salome and Mary Cleophas) are also present.

The three scenes are topped by an interlaced decoration evoking the plant world and set under a dome of starry sky. The architrave is a high relief frieze of geometric motifs decorated with three coats of arms: Ternant and Isabeau de Roye (the parents of the donor), Ternant, and Burgundy.

One of the donor couple, Charles de Ternant.

The altarpiece measures 236 cm high x 550 cm wide (when open) x 44 cm deep. It is made of oak and painted walnut. Dendrodating shows that the oak was about 300 years old when it was felled in about 1450. The carcass is one single big plank with other elements such as a raised central compartment added using dowels and glue. This was then prepared by painting with a limewash base coat.

The sculptures are walnut, from pieces that have been split then sawn transversally and worked with a cleaver which was kept sharp with a honing stone and a flat edged file. The parts would have been held together in the workshop with nails which were replaced by beech dowels during restoration in the mid-20th century. The central figures are two pieces of walnut, held together with metallic supports. The ground is represented by wavy gouge marks.

The Fainting Virgin, in a gown painted in azurite blue, the central scene of the altarpiece.

The painted decoration on the sculpture uses a variety of techniques traditionally applied in the Brabantine workshops. There is gold on a base of Armenian bole (a type of red clay), a mixture of lacquers on silver leaf, a technique that created an embossed look called brocart applique, and azurite on a black undercoat. After the carving the work was painted white. Skin tones were painted on. Draperies were given a thicker base coat of white. Blue robes were painted in blue azurite over a black layer. Cloth of Gold was created by painting on red clay then covering with gold leaf and burnishing by rubbing with a smooth agate tool. The lacquered decoration was created by painting with the red clay then covering with silver leaf as a base. The lacquers themselves were made with cochineal for red and copper for green. Brocart applique was created by using a base of wax and pewter which was then gilded and lacquered.

The Passion altarpiece was a gift made by Charles Ternant, after his parents Philippe Ternant and Isabeau de Roye decided to build a new church in the village in 1448. Charles was born around 1433 and had been brought up with the future Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. He had spent a long time in the southern Low Countries, particularly in Brussels, where he was able to commission the altarpiece, probably after the death of his father in 1454. The altarpiece subsequently several times escaped destruction (pillaging, the Revolution, wars, incorporation into various collections, restoration).

Behind the Virgin is Mary Magdalen, in a turban, with her back turned to us, raising her arms in despair or supplication.

The style of the sculptures, the clothing and the iconography correspond to the Brabantine workshops of the second half of the 15th century. The altarpiece belongs to a style from around 1500, and which was already being produced by 1460. It has elements in common with a few other altarpieces from the period, and reflects a style associated with Rogier van der Weyden. He was working in Brussels from 1435 to 1450. So the altarpiece is thought to be slightly later than him, but by someone who is influenced by his style.

The monumental nature of the altarpiece also resembles several religious sculptures in other locations from the period. And finally, the use of the polychrome techniques typical of the Brabantine workshops such as brocart applique and lacquers on metallic leaf confirm the period in which the piece was made. It is interesting that the dendrodating indicates a date closer to 1450 than 1460.

Me trying desperately to get decent photos without reflections.

As an altarpiece the work was protected to some extent by being displayed with its back to the light. It has not been subjected to extensive repainting. Eighty percent of the paint is original, and retouches have respected the original colour scheme. The retouching can be picked up mainly by differences in tone and how the paint has aged.

The azurite blue and the ermine trim on the cloak and the clothes in red lacquer, especially, have been retouched numerous times. The polished gilding has been redone in a piecemeal fashion, presumably as and when wear or tarnishing occurred in the past.

The right panel of the altarpiece, a Pieta.

The first round of retouching was perhaps in 1881, coinciding with the altarpiece being classified as a Listed Monument. We know for sure that there was retouching done as part of a restoration that took place between 1938 and 1947. Some really poor quality and roughly executed retouching was done in 1971. This is likely when a vinyl varnish was abundantly slopped all over the altarpiece, coating all the sculpted figures in a thick and uneven layer, regardless of whether their original finish had been mat or shiny.

There has been fungal damage to the wood due to high humidity. The wood has been weakened and caused numerous small breakages. The introduction of beech dowels in 1947 allowed wood boring insects already present in the work to proliferate rapidly and to cross over into the walnut figures. Two different sized exit holes indicate that there must be several species present. One is probably a furniture beetle Anobium sp and the smaller holes may be one of its predators.

There is significant build up of encrusted dirt.

Doors of Fritzlar

2026-09-17T09:00:00.000+02:00

Some of the more interesting doors in Fritzlar.

Probably the most meaningful for to us: the door to the house my Great-grandfather was born in. My brother is claiming territorial rights - or something.

The Domstein

2026-09-16T09:00:00.000+02:00

Here's a "what's that thing".

The Domstein is the broken remains of one of four enormous granite columns that supported the 4th-century cathedral in Trier. Found beneath the cathedral in 1614, the fragments were placed outside. Legend says the Devil threw it at the cathedral in anger.

We'll be writing about the cathedral at some stage.

La Fosse Dionne

2026-09-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

One of the highlights of our recent trip was a visit to the Fosse Dionne in Tonnerre, Burgundy. I'd heard about this place but we had never previously visited. It wasn't on our itinerary, but when I realised how close we were going to be I requested a diversion. Luckily we also happened to have plenty of time.

The Fosse Dionne is a karstic spring which emerges right in the middle of the small town of Tonnerre, in the departement (county) of Yonne. It is fed by rain falling on the nearby Jurassic limestone plateau, and is connected to an underground river. The spring is remarkable for the quantity of water flowing through it (an average of 300 litres per second) and the extent of hydrological network, which reaches a distance of at least 40 kilometres.

The presence of this spring is the reason the town was established here. In the 18th century a public laundry (lavoir) was created around it.

The name is a corruption of the Old French phrase for 'divine spring'. It is thought likely that the name of the divinity associated with the spring in Celtic times was a goddess called Divona, who is associated with the watery underworld.

During floods the flow of water can be ten times the average, but in summer it can reduce to about a third.

In 1758 Louis d'Eon had the lavoir constructed around the spring. There is a 14 metre diameter pool surrounded by a semi-circular roof to protect the laundry women. A low wall separates the spring itself from the trough used for laundry, in order to prevent pollution. Nearby households were engaged to supply the ash needed in the laundering process.

The spring consists of a vast cistern with an opening onto a drowned gallery, which you can see from the surface. There have been a number of exploratory dives conducted in the 20th century, but access is now rarely granted because of how dangerous the site is, with very narrow passages. Two divers have died and the extent of the exploration is 400 metres. The most recent dive was in 2019, when a new guide line was laid down. The diver reached nearly 80 metres in depth and just a bit further than any previous exploration.

Beer for Simon!

2026-09-14T09:00:00.000+02:00

I present to you a bottle of Krombacher Alkoholfrei 0.0% Pils, labeled "isotonisch." I bought a six-pack whilst we were in Germany last month, and was intrigued that it labelled itself "isotonic" as I've only ever seen that on exercise drinks. I'd had an alcohol free pils in a restaurant the evening before and it tasted just like beer, so of course curiosity meant I had to buy it.

Isotonic means the drink has a similar concentration of dissolved particles (electrolytes and carbohydrates) as human blood plasma, so it more or less matches the body's fluid concentration. What this means is that because the fluid's osmotic pressure matches your blood, it passes through your stomach into your bloodstream quickly.

This appears to be a fairly common category in Germany, but I've never seen it anywhere else. Alcohol-free beers marketed this way typically contain added or naturally-occurring sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. All of these are minerals you lose through sweat during exercise. Apparently, alcohol-free "isotonic" pils is marketed almost like a sports drink alternative, often sold in gyms or after races, rather than purely as a beer substitute. This started in the 1990's, which means they've had plenty of time to get it tasting like beer, unlike some of the more recent efforts to come to market.

Krombacher wasn't the only alcohol free isotonic beer I drank as most restaurants and bierkellers also stock it. This is another bottle I remembered to photograph, although my original photo wasn't properly in focus and I AI corrected it.

The history of non-alcoholic beer in Germany goes back much further than 1990, but the modern version started in 1972 in East Germany. The brewer Ulrich Wappler developed Aubi, a motorist's beer, to give drivers a safe option in a country which had a 0.0% blood alcohol level since 1956.

Motorist's beer. Now there's a concept

The Devil's Bolete

2026-09-11T09:00:00.000+02:00

The Devil's Bolete Rubroboletus satanas (Fr. Bolet Satan) is a mushroom species related to that delicious and well known delicacy the cep (or as you might know it by its Italian name, porcini). Toxic and rather rare, the scary name is well known to foragers, but they can't necessarily correctly identify it when they find it. It is quite distinctive looking though, with a white cap, bulbous red stem, red spongey pores and if you cut it a sky blue stain emerges. Nothing else has that combination of characteristics, but it is true that there are a dozen or so species that do look superficially like the Devil's Bolete.

I spotted one in the Forest of Preuilly the other day and thought I'd snaffle it to take photos for my archive and for the blog and social media. It was not far off the track, partially hidden by fallen leaves. To be honest, it looked like a piece of limestone rock. But there was something about it which made me go over and take a look. As soon as I saw the red stem I knew what it was. The local fungi foraging group on Facebook is showing that a couple of other people have found them in the last few days too, in the Forest of Loches.

It's one of the relatively few toxic boletes or ceps, so that combined with its striking appearance and rarity has turned it into rather a legendary species. In some areas of France it has been Red Listed as Near Threatened.

There are several red pored boletes, and studies show that although they belong to the Boletaceae family, they are not all that closely related to 'true' ceps. Those red pores and the blue staining when cut are what distinguish the relatively new designation of the genus Rubroboletus.

As well as being well known for its toxicity, the Devil's Bolete is also the largest recorded bolete in France, and can grow a cap up to 30 cm in diameter. The one I found was a modest tennis ball sized specimen, much more typical in my experience. With age the cap tends to flatten out, and go greyish. If there is any sign of pink on the cap it almost certainly means it is another closely related species and not a Devil's Bolete.

Underneath the cap there are yellowish tubes (only visible if you cut the mushroom), ending in fine red pores so that it is like a sponge. The stem (called a stipe) resembles a large radish in both shape and colour. When you cut the mushroom you can see that the flesh is whitish, and slowly turns sky blue on exposure to the air. Take a good sniff and the mushroom smells unpleasantly of slightly off meat.

The Devil's Bolete likes warm calcareous habitat where it grows under beech, oak and hornbeam. It appears at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn in response to hot stormy weather.

Despite its name the Devil's Bolete isn't really dangerous to a healthy adult. Consuming it will cause nausea, repeated vomiting, and diarrhoea, sometimes with traces of blood. Poisonings are very rare though because the appearance and smell of the mushroom does not encourage one to eat it.

Although the name Devil's Bolete is well known amongst foragers it is not always applied to the correct species. There is a tendency to call any red pored bolete that turns blue when cut a Devil's Bolete.

One of the common lookalike species that is often passed over 'just in case' is the Scarletina Bolete Neoboletus luridiformus. See this blog post for a photo https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/10/fungi-foray-at-carrefour-de-linspecteur.html

Buildings of Fritzlar

2026-09-10T09:00:00.000+02:00

We have been to Fritzlar twice this year, and the takeaway is that it's really pretty and neat.

Our appartement from our most recent trip. It's on the first floor of the white building in the centre of the photo. Our rooftop terrace is to the right, above the brown wood shingles.

The view from our terrace

And a random selection of houses

The classic view of the Fritzlar market place. On our trip in June we stayed in the pointy building in the middle of the photo. This time my cousin was there.

Frizlar cathedral. It was here that my great great grandmother was killed when a tower collapsed during a service.

The Lady of Vix and Her Treasure

2026-09-09T09:00:00.000+02:00

The star attraction of the museum at Chatillon sur Seine, in Burgundy, where we had such a great time recently, is the collection of archaeological finds from a hilltop at the nearby hamlet of Vix. Around 465 BCE a woman was buried on the site, laid out on a four wheeled open wagon and surrounded by unimaginable treasures made of metal. Her gold torc was stolen exactly a month before we got there, but the most outstanding piece, a huge bronze krater used for mixing wine and water, is totally worth the visit.

The Vix Krater.

The hilltop settlement at Vix is strategically positioned to overlook the valley of the upper Seine. It was a staging post for shipments of tin coming from Britain and being sent to Italy and the community here could control a wide territory. The Celtic culture in the 5th and 6th centuries BCE at Vix appears to have been matriarchal, and in possession of immense wealth from the collection of taxes related to the tin trade passing through their territory.

Detail of the Vix krater.

A local farmer and keen amateur archaeologist noticed a slight anomaly on the lower slopes of the hillside at Vix in 1953. He told another local self taught archaeologist and the latter began excavations. Although he recorded each object found he did not always record in what position those artefacts were discovered.

Detail of the Vix krater.

The tomb was dug into the earth, creating a chamber of 4 x 4 metres. It had been covered with a 6 metre high, 40 metre diameter tumulus, but this had more or less disappeared by the time of the dig. A skeleton of an approximately 30 year old woman was found laid out on a four wheeled parade wagon with bronze fittings. Numerous jewels, bracelets, torcs, and bronze fibulae brooches were associated with the deceased. As a consequence the finds became known as the Treasure of Vix.

Reconstructed wheel of the vehicle the Lady was laid out on, with the original bronze elements in place.

The French State Archaeology Agency (INRAP) conducted a dig in 2019 designed to contextualise the previous amateur dig of nearly 70 years ago. The head of INRAP likened the situation to being a bit like if you opened a book and kept the pictures but no longer have the text which went with them. This new dig has recovered missing fragments of the krater which completes the frieze of warriors.

The bronze elements of the parade wagon the Lady of Vix was laid out on.

The krater is the largest metal vessel from classical antiquity in the world. It was made in Greek workshops based in the south of Italy around 535 BCE, and probably shipped to France in seven main pieces to be put together once it arrived in Burgundy. Its dimensions are exceptional -- 1.64 metres high (that's the same height as me!), weighing 208 kilograms and having a capacity of 1100 litres. The decoration features gorgons as volute handles, a lid, and a frieze of horses, chariots and hoplites (soldiers) around the neck. It is masterpiece of antique bronze working.

View of the upper Seine valley from the archaeological site on the hill at Vix.

This was absolutely the highlight of our recent trip and it was on the first day of travel!!

Road Noise

2026-09-08T09:00:00.000+02:00

Electric vehicles were supposed to make the world quieter. However, what they've done is expose a noise problem that's been hiding in plain sight: as engine noise fades away, rumble of tyres on asphalt becomes the dominant sound on the road.

The problem is a measurement gap. Current vehicle noise approval tests happen on a single, specially prepared stretch of asphalt under tightly controlled conditions but real roads are nothing like the test track. They're messy, a mix of surfaces with expansion joints and potholes. That mismatch means regulators and manufacturers don't have any data on how vehicles actually sound in everyday driving, even as noise limits keep tightening.

Because of this there's a project called**TyRoN (Tyre Road Noise)**, a research project led by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in partnership with RWTH Aachen University's Chair and Institute of Highway Engineering, along with the Federal Highway Research Institute, Continental, and several major carmakers.

We encountered the cars being used for the research outside our hotel in the Moselle area. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of the Porsche they were using, which was possibly the most beat up and still road legal electric car I have ever seen. It was properly ugly, especially with all the sensors Gaffa taped to it. This Audi is no beauty queen either.

The project runs from October 2023 to September 2026, so we were lucky to see them in action.

Kiki de Montparnasse

2026-09-07T09:00:00.000+02:00

Recently we visited the museum in Chatillon-sur-Seine in Burgundy. The temporary exhibition was about Kiki de Montparnasse (birth name Alice Prin). She was born in the town and lived there as a child. The exhibition was outstanding, a real credit to the museum. It evoked Kiki's time and place exceptionally well, with photographs, posters, paintings, a recreated Parisian cafe and several fascinating videos (one of interviews with people who knew her, one a wonderfully quirky animated biography - trailer is here).

Posters from Kiki's time.

Her mother was 19 and unmarried when Kiki was born in 1901. Her childhood was spent in poverty with her grandmother and it was not until she was 13 that she went to join her mother in Paris. Once Kiki had finished school at the age of 13 she was apprenticed to her mother, who was a linotype operator. This didn't last very long and she worked successively as a bookbinder, florist, bottlewasher and wielding a screwdriver manufacturing aeroplane wings. In 1917 she got a job working in a bakery. When she stood up for herself against her violent and bullying boss she was sacked.

Portraits of Kiki by Maurice Mendjizki.

Thus began her best known career, as a nude artists model. She wasn't entirely comfortable with it at first, and it caused a permanent rift with her mother, but it was a way she could put food on the table and be independent. She developed a close circle of friends, most of whom were artists and she blossomed into a marvellously self-assured and determinedly individualistic personality. One of those who supported her from very early on in this period of her life was the Belarusian painter Chaim Soutine (who has a connection to Champigny-sur-Veude, which is not far from where we live).

Posters from Kiki's time.

In 1918 she and the Polish painter Maurice Mendjizki* became lovers and she moved in with him. In the 1920s she posed for the Italian artist Modigliani and the Japanese artist Fujita. She was part of a group of creatives who were at their peak between the Wars. Her appearance was distinctive, with red painted lips, hair cut into a square bob, and copious kohl around her eyes. Her eyeshadow changed colour to match her dress and she shaved her eyebrows so she could redraw them in colours to suit her mood and outfit.

Kiki's portrait of Chaim Soutine.

In 1921 she and the American photographer Man Ray became a couple and she was his preferred model. He described her as 'irreproachable, from head to toe', and created the famous Violon d'Ingres image of her. Amongst their circle of friends were Louis Aragon, Andre Breton, Paul Eluard, Max Ernst, Ernest Hemmingway and Vaslav Nijinski. She herself became a portraitist and regularly exhibited.

In 1929 she became the mistress of the editor of Paris-Montparnasse magazine, Henri Broca, and wrote her memoirs. The book was banned in the United States, despite her excellent connections with influential Americans.

Le Violon d'Ingres by Man Ray, a photograph of Kiki's naked back, which has been developed with cutouts of violin f holes transforming her into the instrument.

By 1930 she was making her living as a singer in night clubs. There are those who say she was the only rival Edith Piaf was afraid of. But by this time she was drinking heavily and eating badly. Although she maintained a successful singing career throughout the decade her health was beginning to be compromised. When the Second World War broke out she fled Paris. On her return she was unrecognisable, a travesty of her former stylish self, overweight and wearing too much makeup. She died of complications from substance abuse in 1953.

It seems to me that she is the epitome of the dazzling star who burned bright then crashed to Earth. She was charismatic and much loved in her prime. Her friends really cared about her until the end. Having come from grinding rural poverty she had the strength and self belief to make a life for herself on her own terms and her use of makeup and fashion were the beginnings of a more general practice of adornment and self expression by women for decades. Her influence is much more widespread than people realise, and today she is all but forgotten.

*Mendjizki, who was Jewish, later married someone else and subsequently lost almost his entire family in the Holocaust. One of his sons was shot by the Nazis, but his other son lived until 2017, renowned as the youngest ever member of the French Resistance.

Autumn Lady's Tresses

2026-09-04T09:00:00.000+02:00

Autumn Lady's Tresses Spiranthes spiralis (Fr. Spiranthe d'automne) is a species of orchid. The scientific name translates as 'spiral flowered spiral'. Fair enough...

There are around 40 species of Spiranthes around the world, of which four are found in Europe. Most of them are native to the Americas, but there are a few in Australasia too.

Autumn Lady's Tresses grow on chalk and calcareous soil in open dry habitats. Typically you would find it in abandoned unimproved pasture, grassy slopes, stable former terraces on calcareous land, roadsides, old lawns (especially those that also host a wide range of fungi such as Hygrocybes), and lawn cemeteries. Although it generally prefers open areas, it can also be found on the edges of woodlands, like the ones in these photos.

This species is widespread in France but uncommon and localised. It flowers at the end of the growing season and this may limit how far north its distribution extends and at what altitude it can be found, as snow will inhibit the germination of seeds.

Because of its small size (at most 20 cm high) and discreet colouration it is often overlooked. If you do spot it though it is easy enough to identify, because of the distinctive spiral arrangement of the flowers. The leaves and the flowers appear at the same time, in late August and early September. A rosette of four or five leaves will be formed, and the flower stalk will appear from just beside the leaves (not from the middle of the rosette). The spiral of flowers can be clockwise or anticlockwise.

Ingrid aims her big lens at a tiny orchid.

The tiny flowers, if you can get down that far, are sweetly scented and provide nectar to attract diurnal insects. The visitor in my and Ingrid's photos is a Great Banded Furrow Bee Halictus scabiosae (Fr. Halicte de la scabieuse), easy to identify because of its two tone yellow abdominal bands. The white flowers of the orchid are only 5 mm in length and surrounded by bracts covered in dewy hairlike glands.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

Like most orchids it has a strong symbiotic association with a mycorhizal fungus for exchange of nutrients.

Photo courtesy of Ingrid de Winter.

These photos were taken last year in the commune of Bossay sur Claise.

Why was it a Surprise German Holiday?

2026-09-03T09:00:00.000+02:00

If you were paying attention, you'll have noticed we went to Germany last week.

It was all because my cousin Linda was doing a lecture on her genealogical research entitled "Did my Great Grandfather Live Next Door?" The research was impressive, the fact that the lecture was delivered in what I was assured was perfectly understandable German was just as impressive.

Linda rehearsing her speech and PowerPoint presentation

Because we don't speak German, we were given a printed version in english by her husband, Philip. It made following the action far easier for us non German speakers.

And why was it a surprise German Holiday? Until two weeks beforehand we weren't totally sure we were going, and once we were sure we decided not to let Linda know. The plan was for my brother to join us from London, and for us to appear with our Australian flag to surprise her. Much to my disappointment Linda realised something was up, so our plan was foiled at the last moment, but here we are with the flag anyway, making ourselves evident.

It was a great success, with more attendees than was expected (cue panicked setting out of extra seats) and an appreciative audience that laughed in all the right places. At the end of her speech Linda listed some of the surnames that occur on our family tree, and afterwards various members of the audience introduced themselves as distant - and previously unknown - cousins. Amazing!

Surprise German Holiday Day 10

2026-09-02T09:00:00.000+02:00

We spent last night in Luzy, on the edge of the Morvan, a town you've never heard of. Which is a pity, because they have a very rare thing : a set of early 18th century Aubusson tapestries in their original location.

Then we set off home, only to see a brown sign pointing towards the Ternant Triptychs. It was a 15km diversion well worth taking!

And THEN we set off home, stopping only for a picnic.

Surprise German Holiday Day 9

2026-09-01T09:00:00.000+02:00

We drove from near Nancy to near Autun. On the way I remembered to exit the Autoroute at midday to find a restaurant, and got lucky. A real workers effort, full of blokes having a hearty meal.

Then it was a famous hospice, and unfinished business in Autun.

Surprise German Holiday Day 8

2026-08-31T09:00:00.000+02:00

A short day yesterday, because we were expecting the roads to be busy because it was the last day of the school holiday. It was actually pretty quiet.

Yesterday's highlights were a thing that was en panne but we hadn't booked tickets, a thing that wasn't broken for which we did have tickets, and a chain restaurant we have never eaten at before (and although it wasn't a bad experience, will probably be only ever be an emergency meal).

Surprise German Holiday Day 7

2026-08-30T09:00:00.000+02:00

A music shop visit, and the mighty Rhine River.

This trip we have stayed in 3 WMM Hotels. Simple, clean, and with a kitchen, they are just what a weary traveller needs.

Surprise German Holiday Day 6

2026-08-29T09:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we left Fritzlar and drove to Eisenach. Our second visit to this apparently thriving town, but this time we went to Wartburg Castle.

The castle sits on a large hill dominating the town, and was selected as the badge for Wartburg cars. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament of the Bible into German, and the supposed setting for the possibly legendary Sängerkrieg, which inspired Wagner to write Tannhauser. It was also an important inspiration for Ludwig II when he decided to build Neuschwanstein Castle.

After that, Eisenach for a wander around, drinks, and dinner.

And after that we bid farewell to Linda and Philip as they head back to England, and we start heading towards Preuilly-sur-Claise.

Surprise German Holiday Day 5

2026-08-28T09:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I spent half a day in Fulda and half a day driving too and from Frankfurt airport. Then we enjoyed tea on our terrace.