Odyssey 2006: Chapter One
Heat wave, fireworks and the French countryside.
This year, the heat returned to France and summer was unbearably heavy, warm and surprisingly short because the second semester in the universities had been pushed forward by massive protests provoked by the introduction of a new labor law called CPE. Well, actually, summer begins as usual on the 21st of June like nature always wanted it to be, heralded in France by la fête de la musique BUT fell ‘short’ because exams were carried forward and so the holidays too. ²Where I am studying, the grève started in February just before the end of winter break and ended two months later…there were no winners, just new amendments and a political roller-coaster ride for an already very unpopular prime minister that came from a privileged class background. The general sentiment is that his privileged background distances him from the populist crowd. There were incredible rounds of marching protesting the government’s decision in most cities but violence were really isolated cases caught and amplified by the media. Nothing sells like violence and decadence! I am actually amazed by the exemplary patience shown by police units escorting the protest marches that seemed endless and trying at times, especially in a time where salaries earned don’t match up to the ever spiraling cost of living here in Europe and the social classes continue to divide wider and wider.
A scene of a grève in Poitiers, 2006. The protesters were said to total more than 10 000 participants from various unions, including those from the public services. Meanwhile, the political scene has been more animated than never as the presidential election draws closer in 2007, fired by heated debates on the interior minister’s proposal on selective immigration to tackle social problems among the sans papiers. Topped up with neighboring Germany’s Chancellor Merkel’s sweeping election victory, it has inspired a huge surge in Madame Segolène Royal’s appeal as a possible female candidate to emulate Germany’s success for a first Madame la Présidente. She is the current president of the Conseil Général of the Region of Poitou-Charente and surprises of surprises, the ³compagnon of the General Secretary of the main Opposition, the Socialist Party. It is collectively known as La Gauche (the Left) with other different opposition parties. If she desires to ride on the wave of her popularity, it would means sacrificing her companion’s long awaited chance to pose his candidature in a time where the governing Right is at the ebb of its popularity and the country is going on its knees with slumbering economies; deficits; education, social and immigration issues; and a soaring health bill that has a hole as deep as the Marianas Trench. Her posing as a legit presidential candidate will also confirm the role of women in this society. If the Socialists play their game well, it would be the pivoting moment to snatch back the government from the Right. Their capacity to govern, however, would remain to be tested for the French people for the next five years should they ever win the presidential election. One thing is sure, the heat heralds not only the changing of seasons but it also unravels a new political scene in France.
Well, neither the economy nor the social issues are going to improve in an instant, with or without the magic formula but summer was already here, and it was time to make some plans after a prolonged and uncertain semester affected by the political impasse. With exams worries tucked far away for the coming university year in mid September, it is time to explore the country a bit more. Every year, I am lucky to be invited to join my sister’s family to spend the summer holidays at the family’s holiday home in Dordogne. It is located in a tiny town dominated by a castle in a region called Périgueux vert, in a town called Jumilhac-Le-Grand. Getting there requires driving because the nearest train station is about 20 kilometers away in a tiny town that produces some of the best porcelain in France. It is called St. Yriex-la-Perché. No indications will tell you that the biggest luxury French Limoges porcelain like Havilland comes from factories here unless you know people who are from this region. Enough said. Since we are in the region of Dordogne, it is also worthy to know that this region has become the culinary powerhouse that inspired so many French Michelin-starred restaurants and cooking. The French, from my observations, had learned to use everything that nature has endowed upon for the kitchen, just like Chinese cooking and hence, the variety of flavor and aromas produced is astounding. In the rich vegetable gardens in the country sides of Dordogne, it is not surprising to discover that tradition has spawned the world famous French cuisine. Forget about the déjà démodé nouvelle cuisine. It is now time to savor la cuisine actuelle, a no-frills cuisine based on revived tradition.
Back to the little far-flung little town of less than a thousand inhabitants in the greenest part of France, it was total calm and bliss even though the heat wave was raging through Europe, soaring to 40 degrees in certain places but where we were, it was more agreeable because of the greeneries. In the fields, hay stacks were being rolled waiting to be transported to barns for winter stock. The hay stacks really impressed me as they reminded me of the impressionist paintings of Monet. They seemed to be frozen in time and the heat from the sun really made a lasting image on the drying fields in gold. Back at the house, lunches and dinners were taken under cherry tree shades and most meals were eaten cold, a custom that in my opinion would be difficult to adapt to for Asians who are accustomed to freshly cooked hot dishes. Meals usually begin with an entrée of rock melon served with dried sausages and some chilled rose wine. We had plenty of bergerac rose wine from a nearby area in the same region. It was a light and agreeable wine that’s marvelous for the heat. Sometimes, the entrée was ripe tomatoes with olive oil and clippings of chives or taboulé, a cold salad of Lebanese origin comprising of couscous, shrimp sticks, tomatoes, onions, mints, lemon juice and olive oil. These are ingredients of the season and I must agree that the simplest exploitation of the freshest ingredients make the best meals. No joke… OK, maybe the ambiance helped a bit.
Because of the heat, no heavy meaty meals were served but alternations were made between country pâté served with simple pasta and poached french beans called haricot in French, accompanied throughout the meal with baguette or pain. At times, rabbit cooked in oven with mustard and cream, cold boudin or cold chicken are served in place of the pâté. The French eat their salad with a selection of cheese, wine and bread AFTER the main dish. It is a custom that I’ve acquired over the few years I am living here and I now have strange pangs of ‘lacking’ something when meals are not terminated with a salad to wash things down. It helps too for the digestion. Finally, there’s the dessert of sweet cakes, fruit conserves, yoghurt or fresh fruits of the season and finally coffee. It is true that lunch is the heaviest meal of the day and don’t be surprised when you’re in France because lunch break is 2 hours from 12:30 to 14:30. Sometimes, Sunday lunches can stretch up to four o’clock in the afternoon, in between changes of wines, dishes and convivial conversations! However, dinner is always light for health reason, as far as it goes with the people I live with.
Haystacks on a harvested wheat field in Jumilhac-Le-Grand.
As la fête nationale approaches, preparations went underway and this year, as with all the other years, a firework display would be held in front of the château’s ground. A vide grenier was organized for the same day from the morning till noon where vendors sold all sorts of used things, called ‘occasion’ in French. I bargained off a dozen of wonderful vintage pins for 50 cents each for my collection. Later in the morning, there was a march to the town square from the town hall by ex-soldiers from the two world wars to pay homage to the fallen and to the liberty of the nation. The mayor later gave a short speech to inaugurate the function. The evening kicked off with folk dancing accompanied by a live band in the square and finally, one of the most spectacular fireworks that lighted up the château like a fairy tale. That week, the château opened its door to tourists for the night visits to its galleries and dungeons. One part of its private living quarters remains restricted while the rest is opened to the public as the château is still privately owned by the family of the duke of Jumilhac. The maintenance is sponsored by the state because the building is a classed historical monument. At nightfall, real torches were lighted to illuminate the castle and the sight was mesmerizing. Guides to the castle’s night visits can converse in English due to the numerous English tourist that frequent that region and they were dressed in medieval costumes that lend an air to the visit.
Sunset over the château seen from the dining of Puy-Reissex
Evenings and mornings were spent strolling in the country side, where routes are clearly indicated to ease hikers and cyclists. Sometimes, games of pétanque were played in the town square (most French towns have a square called terrain de pétanque to play the game); it is a game of aiming tennis ball sized metal balls at a target marked on the sand with a small marble sized ball called bouchon from a fixed spot. This game originates from the midi region of France. Incidentally, pétanqué means that one is stuck to a spot, the origin of the rule of the game. The rules are simple and the game is played in teams. I was initiated to the game some time back but had yet to really enjoy it on occasion until now. The next time, I will learn a more athletic version of it called ‘boule lyonnaise’ that originates from the region of Lyon. Elsewhere, it is surprising to note that the neighbors are becoming more and more international even in the heartland of France – a phenomenon of immigrating British and Dutch to this region for its lush landscape, lower and ‘correct’ cost of living and affordable land. Don’t rush to your real estate agent just yet as affordable means that a country home with four rooms and an attached piece of vegetable garden and an orchard would easily exceed a cool million ringgit after you make the conversion; and that also depends on if you’ll get waterways or splendid view to go with it as an added value! I revisited the nearby town of St. Yriex-la-Perché but this year, I have decided not to buy anymore porcelain that was usually on sale during National Day. I have six cartons of it sitting in my room with no ideas on how to ship them back to Malaysia without paying a fortune for the shipping while keeping them from turning into a million pieces on arrival. There goes the short-lived happiness of new found treasures...
For a few days down the week, we had lunches on the lawn of Puy-Reisseix, a family house on the hill on the other side of the town with the other members of the family who came for their holidays. This house was originally a barn being a part of a farm but it was sold off cheaply to the family who later converted it into two houses with separate apartments. The most fantastic feature of the main house is its dining which has a direct and unobstructed view through its very large French doors of the castle on the other side of the hill slope, divided by a stream and a patch of forest that is attached to the property. Today, the property is worth many times its original value, thanks partly to its unique position and to the invading British and Dutch neighbors who lend a hand to the soaring value in the real estate market in recent years. As the French succession law taxes heavily on the inheritors of a property, many were obliged to sell to cash rich foreigners and being a tourist frequented area makes it even more trying for the locals to hold on to their heritage.
Plans were made during lunch and it was decided that we will visit a museum that display ancient methods of producing iron from ore. After the morning adventure on the route to the museum, we were treated to the actual production in progress and later, we took refuge in a camping park with a wonderful clean and cool underground water spring that was once used as a washing area. Lunch was picnic beside a stream and it was marvelous to be able to observe fishes of all sizes swimming about in a small stream without any fear for human. I even spotted a large rainbow trout that surged out suddenly from its hiding but it did not remain long outside in the open with the other smaller fishes. This certainly brought back many fond memories of my childhood days spent playing in streams in my hometown in Raub. Another day was fully charged and the scorching midday heat made everything seemed so slow. I was glad that my panama hat gave me satisfying shade as I took a siesta under the shade of a tree by the stream.
One evening, a heavy summer tempest struck the region and it was the heaviest rain that I’ve observed since I came to France. The cold rain brought hails that littered the road with ice pebbles and some were actually quite big as a marble of 50 cents coin. It was an unforgettable experience as my room was flooded because the rain gutter was blocked by the sudden gush of debris and water. The next day, the air was a lot fresher and cool and I had a good night sleep in the garage because I did not want to hassle my host who offered to lodge me in Puy-Reissex. It would have been nice, but I do not want to sleep alone in a big house, especially in a storm like that.
The last days were spent quietly and I visited the nearby hometown of Jean-Paul (my brother-in-law’s father) known as La Coquille. There, I bought a small collection of some of the most delicious artisan pâté and rillette made from fried duck wings, goose, and pork, including some perfumed with truffles, the most expensive fresh ingredient in France. Artisan pâté are the only type of pâté to try if you must try them in France as they have nothing in common with the commercially made types commonly found in supermarkets as they don’t do any justice to its reputation. Later that morning, I was totally tempted to buy a set of vintage chocolate service porcelain signed Theodore Havilland when I accompanied Jean-Paul to an antiquarian shop to buy an antique piece of porcelain of Thivers for his already enormous collection. Like I mentioned earlier, old things are well appreciated here in France and the price was too steep for a student on scholarship. The next day, we headed for a three hours drive back to Toulouse and the second part of my summer adventure…
Well, neither the economy nor the social issues are going to improve in an instant, with or without the magic formula but summer was already here, and it was time to make some plans after a prolonged and uncertain semester affected by the political impasse. With exams worries tucked far away for the coming university year in mid September, it is time to explore the country a bit more. Every year, I am lucky to be invited to join my sister’s family to spend the summer holidays at the family’s holiday home in Dordogne. It is located in a tiny town dominated by a castle in a region called Périgueux vert, in a town called Jumilhac-Le-Grand. Getting there requires driving because the nearest train station is about 20 kilometers away in a tiny town that produces some of the best porcelain in France. It is called St. Yriex-la-Perché. No indications will tell you that the biggest luxury French Limoges porcelain like Havilland comes from factories here unless you know people who are from this region. Enough said. Since we are in the region of Dordogne, it is also worthy to know that this region has become the culinary powerhouse that inspired so many French Michelin-starred restaurants and cooking. The French, from my observations, had learned to use everything that nature has endowed upon for the kitchen, just like Chinese cooking and hence, the variety of flavor and aromas produced is astounding. In the rich vegetable gardens in the country sides of Dordogne, it is not surprising to discover that tradition has spawned the world famous French cuisine. Forget about the déjà démodé nouvelle cuisine. It is now time to savor la cuisine actuelle, a no-frills cuisine based on revived tradition.
Back to the little far-flung little town of less than a thousand inhabitants in the greenest part of France, it was total calm and bliss even though the heat wave was raging through Europe, soaring to 40 degrees in certain places but where we were, it was more agreeable because of the greeneries. In the fields, hay stacks were being rolled waiting to be transported to barns for winter stock. The hay stacks really impressed me as they reminded me of the impressionist paintings of Monet. They seemed to be frozen in time and the heat from the sun really made a lasting image on the drying fields in gold. Back at the house, lunches and dinners were taken under cherry tree shades and most meals were eaten cold, a custom that in my opinion would be difficult to adapt to for Asians who are accustomed to freshly cooked hot dishes. Meals usually begin with an entrée of rock melon served with dried sausages and some chilled rose wine. We had plenty of bergerac rose wine from a nearby area in the same region. It was a light and agreeable wine that’s marvelous for the heat. Sometimes, the entrée was ripe tomatoes with olive oil and clippings of chives or taboulé, a cold salad of Lebanese origin comprising of couscous, shrimp sticks, tomatoes, onions, mints, lemon juice and olive oil. These are ingredients of the season and I must agree that the simplest exploitation of the freshest ingredients make the best meals. No joke… OK, maybe the ambiance helped a bit.
Because of the heat, no heavy meaty meals were served but alternations were made between country pâté served with simple pasta and poached french beans called haricot in French, accompanied throughout the meal with baguette or pain. At times, rabbit cooked in oven with mustard and cream, cold boudin or cold chicken are served in place of the pâté. The French eat their salad with a selection of cheese, wine and bread AFTER the main dish. It is a custom that I’ve acquired over the few years I am living here and I now have strange pangs of ‘lacking’ something when meals are not terminated with a salad to wash things down. It helps too for the digestion. Finally, there’s the dessert of sweet cakes, fruit conserves, yoghurt or fresh fruits of the season and finally coffee. It is true that lunch is the heaviest meal of the day and don’t be surprised when you’re in France because lunch break is 2 hours from 12:30 to 14:30. Sometimes, Sunday lunches can stretch up to four o’clock in the afternoon, in between changes of wines, dishes and convivial conversations! However, dinner is always light for health reason, as far as it goes with the people I live with.
Haystacks on a harvested wheat field in Jumilhac-Le-Grand. As la fête nationale approaches, preparations went underway and this year, as with all the other years, a firework display would be held in front of the château’s ground. A vide grenier was organized for the same day from the morning till noon where vendors sold all sorts of used things, called ‘occasion’ in French. I bargained off a dozen of wonderful vintage pins for 50 cents each for my collection. Later in the morning, there was a march to the town square from the town hall by ex-soldiers from the two world wars to pay homage to the fallen and to the liberty of the nation. The mayor later gave a short speech to inaugurate the function. The evening kicked off with folk dancing accompanied by a live band in the square and finally, one of the most spectacular fireworks that lighted up the château like a fairy tale. That week, the château opened its door to tourists for the night visits to its galleries and dungeons. One part of its private living quarters remains restricted while the rest is opened to the public as the château is still privately owned by the family of the duke of Jumilhac. The maintenance is sponsored by the state because the building is a classed historical monument. At nightfall, real torches were lighted to illuminate the castle and the sight was mesmerizing. Guides to the castle’s night visits can converse in English due to the numerous English tourist that frequent that region and they were dressed in medieval costumes that lend an air to the visit.
Sunset over the château seen from the dining of Puy-Reissex Evenings and mornings were spent strolling in the country side, where routes are clearly indicated to ease hikers and cyclists. Sometimes, games of pétanque were played in the town square (most French towns have a square called terrain de pétanque to play the game); it is a game of aiming tennis ball sized metal balls at a target marked on the sand with a small marble sized ball called bouchon from a fixed spot. This game originates from the midi region of France. Incidentally, pétanqué means that one is stuck to a spot, the origin of the rule of the game. The rules are simple and the game is played in teams. I was initiated to the game some time back but had yet to really enjoy it on occasion until now. The next time, I will learn a more athletic version of it called ‘boule lyonnaise’ that originates from the region of Lyon. Elsewhere, it is surprising to note that the neighbors are becoming more and more international even in the heartland of France – a phenomenon of immigrating British and Dutch to this region for its lush landscape, lower and ‘correct’ cost of living and affordable land. Don’t rush to your real estate agent just yet as affordable means that a country home with four rooms and an attached piece of vegetable garden and an orchard would easily exceed a cool million ringgit after you make the conversion; and that also depends on if you’ll get waterways or splendid view to go with it as an added value! I revisited the nearby town of St. Yriex-la-Perché but this year, I have decided not to buy anymore porcelain that was usually on sale during National Day. I have six cartons of it sitting in my room with no ideas on how to ship them back to Malaysia without paying a fortune for the shipping while keeping them from turning into a million pieces on arrival. There goes the short-lived happiness of new found treasures...
For a few days down the week, we had lunches on the lawn of Puy-Reisseix, a family house on the hill on the other side of the town with the other members of the family who came for their holidays. This house was originally a barn being a part of a farm but it was sold off cheaply to the family who later converted it into two houses with separate apartments. The most fantastic feature of the main house is its dining which has a direct and unobstructed view through its very large French doors of the castle on the other side of the hill slope, divided by a stream and a patch of forest that is attached to the property. Today, the property is worth many times its original value, thanks partly to its unique position and to the invading British and Dutch neighbors who lend a hand to the soaring value in the real estate market in recent years. As the French succession law taxes heavily on the inheritors of a property, many were obliged to sell to cash rich foreigners and being a tourist frequented area makes it even more trying for the locals to hold on to their heritage.
Plans were made during lunch and it was decided that we will visit a museum that display ancient methods of producing iron from ore. After the morning adventure on the route to the museum, we were treated to the actual production in progress and later, we took refuge in a camping park with a wonderful clean and cool underground water spring that was once used as a washing area. Lunch was picnic beside a stream and it was marvelous to be able to observe fishes of all sizes swimming about in a small stream without any fear for human. I even spotted a large rainbow trout that surged out suddenly from its hiding but it did not remain long outside in the open with the other smaller fishes. This certainly brought back many fond memories of my childhood days spent playing in streams in my hometown in Raub. Another day was fully charged and the scorching midday heat made everything seemed so slow. I was glad that my panama hat gave me satisfying shade as I took a siesta under the shade of a tree by the stream.
One evening, a heavy summer tempest struck the region and it was the heaviest rain that I’ve observed since I came to France. The cold rain brought hails that littered the road with ice pebbles and some were actually quite big as a marble of 50 cents coin. It was an unforgettable experience as my room was flooded because the rain gutter was blocked by the sudden gush of debris and water. The next day, the air was a lot fresher and cool and I had a good night sleep in the garage because I did not want to hassle my host who offered to lodge me in Puy-Reissex. It would have been nice, but I do not want to sleep alone in a big house, especially in a storm like that.
The last days were spent quietly and I visited the nearby hometown of Jean-Paul (my brother-in-law’s father) known as La Coquille. There, I bought a small collection of some of the most delicious artisan pâté and rillette made from fried duck wings, goose, and pork, including some perfumed with truffles, the most expensive fresh ingredient in France. Artisan pâté are the only type of pâté to try if you must try them in France as they have nothing in common with the commercially made types commonly found in supermarkets as they don’t do any justice to its reputation. Later that morning, I was totally tempted to buy a set of vintage chocolate service porcelain signed Theodore Havilland when I accompanied Jean-Paul to an antiquarian shop to buy an antique piece of porcelain of Thivers for his already enormous collection. Like I mentioned earlier, old things are well appreciated here in France and the price was too steep for a student on scholarship. The next day, we headed for a three hours drive back to Toulouse and the second part of my summer adventure…
Cultural notes:
- CPE is the acronym in French for ‘Contrat Première Embauche’ meaning a set of regulations for the trial period when one starts a new job in the market.
- La fête de la Musique is celebrated to herald the arrival of summer with festivals of songs, lyrical arts and carnivals on the first day of summer, the 21st of June.
- Grève is French for protestation, or union strike
- 3.Couples who decide not to register their union as a marriage for various reasons but still want the benefits and the legality of staying together sign a pact called Pacte civil de solidarité (PACS)
- Sans papier means without document in French, aka illegal immigrants.
- 2.Poitiers is a university town of about 28 000 students and 80 000 inhabitants in the region of Poitou-Charente and it is one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1428. It has a long tradition of excellence in Philosophy, Liberal Arts and Sociology, boasting a list of famous philosophers on its alumni. Its new campuses excel in engineering in the fields of aero-spatial, informatics and chemistry. Check it out if you want to go and further your study in France at its official website: www.univ-poitiers.fr The University runs and independent foreign language department that deals exclusively with foreign students who only want to learn French as a second language.
- Havilland is a brand of very prestigious French Limoges bone china started by the Havilland brothers who came from the USA. It remains as THE brand of porcelain to offer to marriages and anniversaries and we often see it as heirlooms handed down from one generation to another. The vintage and antique lines are absolutely wonderful and they embody the true allure of the French finesse in the art of the table. Worth collecting if you can find them at reasonable prices in the flea market but be sure you know how to verify it first.
- Déjà démodé means already passed its fashionable shelf life.
- Pâté is spelled the same in English and is a culinary preparation of liver or other kinds of innards in gelatin to form a block and in most cases, canned or in glass jars. It is served chilled.
- Baguette is French for the long sandwich bread that is synonymous with the French culture. No Frenchmen can live without it and it is the only item that can be brought fresh on Sundays.
- Pain is simply bread and it exist bewildering types of bread according to its fabrication. Was a popular joke why Marie- Antoinette lost her head to the guillotine and is a must for the first timers to France (together with its cheese).
- Boudin noir is a bordeaux colored sausage made from blood and chestnut. The white variety, boudin blanc is made from innards and milk. Interesting but needs courage.
- National Day falls on the 14th of July to mark the forming of the Republic after the French Revolution in 1789. In France, it is known as La fête nationale or simply quatorze juillet.
- A château is a castle and should not be confused with the same term used by wineries to simply indicate the name of the house that produces the wine. However, a château can actually have some vineyard on its property that produces wines.
- Vide grenier is garage sales
- Truffles are known as truffe in French and they are actually a kind of fungus that grows on the roots of oak trees. At well over a thousand euros for a kilo of the premium quality truffles, it is only used sparingly to perfume dishes. If you use it on your dish, DON’T cook it or you’ll risk loosing its perfume! Just grate it over cooked pasta and enjoy the rich flavor. The épicerie fine (fine grocery store) sells them in vials, prepared and ready to use. If you chance by them on your visit, don’t hesitate to try. However, don’t confuse it with ‘truffes de chocolat’ – those are just simply chocolates shaped like grains of truffles.
- Rilette is a kind of meat floss pate(goose or pork) that is widely sold in supermarkets and also artisan's speciality shop. Nice with a fresh baguette.
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