L'Auberge des Iles - Montreuil Bellay - Team Vigneron

Many of you that have stayed at La Grande Maison in the past will be familiar with the wonderful cuisine of David Beaufreton the chef at Le Puy A Vins and will have undoubtedly enjoyed the wines of Guillaume & Adrien of Chateau de Fosse Seche and Aymeric Hillaire of Domaine Melaric. Well now the team have come together along with Romain Amblard of Le Puy A Vins to bring you a new restaurant in Montreuil Bellay - L'Auberge des Iles. Only 10 minutes from La Grande Maison.

The terrace is on the banks of the River Thouet in a stunning location at the foot of the magnificent Chateau of Montreuil Bellay. "Cuisine à l'ancienne" and a large wine list not only featuring many local Loire organic wines but also some very fine wines from other regions of France along with a few surprises from Spain, Germany and Swtizerland.

I'm sure it is going to become a winemakers hang out too. We popped in this luch time, after the inaugaration last night it was hard not to return to try the food and enjoyed a glass of sparkling at the bar with Matthieu Vallée of Chateau Yvonne.

Food is simple but fresh and delicious with a series of 'formules' to suit any pocket. Enjoy "Le plat du jour" from only 12 euros. Needless to say there are wines by the glass and very good prices too if you want to sample some of the different producers. 

Bravo Romain, David, Aymeric, Guillaume and Adrien wishing you all the best for your first season in Montreuil Bellay. We will be back and recommending to our guests at La Grande Maison too!

http://www.auberge-des-isles.fr/

Great Events in the Loire Valley 2014

Here are some events that you might want to see during your visit to the Loire Valley this year. I'll add to the list as the season progresses but for the time being here are a few of our favourites :

Livre et Vin - Bouvet Ladubay 13th April

Fete du Thoureil - 27th April Annual boat festival along the Loire and the first of the season is held in Le Thoureil

On the water in Le Thoureil for the Fete

Fete de la Batellerie - 24th May Chinon

La Sterne moored up in front of the Chinon Chateau

Anjou Velo Vintage -  28-29th June Saumur Come and join the fun you can hire a vintage bike and enter the circuit in vintage costume. It's great fun!

Pushing the bikes up hill !

Zaz plays at Avoine Blues - 6th July Local to the area and fabulous in concert Zaz returns to play this year at the Blues Festival in Avoine near Chinon

Zaz in Concert

Bastille Day - 14th July Fireworks and Celebrations in Saumur


Carrousel de Saumur - 19-20th July Cadre Noir Performance of the wonderful horses

Le Puy Notre Dame Retro Grand Prix - 26- 27th July 

Vintage cars on their drive past La Grande Maison

Grande Table de Saumur Champigny - 6-7th August For two nights in Saumur we have the largest restaurant in the world. With wine supplied courteousy of the winemakers of the Saumur Champigny region.

The largest table in the world in Saumur

Aubigné sur Layon - Fete du Vin Art Music and Gastronomy - 31st August Serving the first sampling of the Coteaux du Layon in this pretty Layon village. Music, art, literature plus great food and wine.

Serving the Coteaux Du Layon

Fete de Vins Festivin - Saumur 6-14th September

Jacky Ripoche of Les Noades at Festivini

Fete de Vendanges - 28th September The annual hand harvest at the Chateau of Saumur

Olivier Coussin brought his horse and cart to help the harvest

Ar(t) Cheval -  26th October to the 9th November at the Centre Contemporain Bouvet Ladubay

Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side....

Wine features pretty highly on our agenda here at La Grande Maison but luckily we do have time to appreciate a few other things too. So we thought it time to share with you the delights of one of our favorite artists that we exhibit at the house.

Jo Watters-Pawlowski has a unique quality to her paintings. Born in Ghana in 1960 she studied at Worthing College of Art and Design in Sussex and Winchester School of Art in Hampshire, England from 1979 – 1983. From her studio in Sussex, during 1985-1994 she produced original, limited edition textiles for interiors, exhibiting in London she gained commissions worldwide.

Her transition from fabric to canvas evolved naturally and has enabled Jo to develop her creative skills using an alternative medium.

Her pictorial vocabulary was from the outset distinctive, a form of abstaction arranged to represent personal images and sounds. As a colourist, her work contextualises colour with movement, allowing the observer to explore their own emotions. Jo’s paintings are usually formed by a gradual build-up of successive layers of paint, a process that allows selecting areas of the painting to be masked and later, peeled back to expose colour and shape beneath.

Biography of paintings: (Indigo), Red, Purple, Orange, Pink and Brown: By Jo

A series of six small paintings resulted from a larger painting entitled Metamorphosis. The original painting was based on the classical instumental music composition ‘Metamorphosen’ written in 1945 by Richard Strauss (1864-1949).

In 2004 Herbie Flowers, musician, original member of the band Sky and famous for the base line in Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ commissioned me to create a painting based on this classical piece. Initially, visually interpreting the compostion was difficult, as I stuggled to bond with the music emotionally. A turbulent process ensued before I could finally complete the commission. Stauss had composed the piece for twenty-three strings and it was documented that various conductors had difficulty in interpreting the original score.

Certainly this group of paintings enabled me to extend my emotions towards the music. By identifying the aspects of sound and instrument in separate sequences. I was able to communicate feelings in moods of colour. The process helped me to understand and learn about the power behind Metamorphosen.

You now have the rare opportunity to view part of this collection at La Grande Maison. Those of you who have stayed before will already recognise Jo's work from the magnificent 'Blue' abstract displayed in the Great Hall.

If you are in the UK during the month of May don't miss out on the chance to go and see Jo's work exhibited as part of the Brighton Festival Artists Open Houses. Jo has grouped together with Niyati, Ruth & Bryony to form The Easelles a talented female group of artists based in the Ditchling area of Sussex.

The Blue Abstract in the Hall at La Grande Maison

Pink Abstract at La Grande Maison

Jo's latest work is on show in Ditchling during May and has evolved into still life representation of Fruits and Vegetables an example of which this beautiful Onion & Beetroot shows.

Jo Watters-Pawlowski is pleased to accept commissions or provide further information. Contact can be made through Micaela and Sue at La Grande Maison d’Arthenay or by email to jowp.ditchling@hotmail.co.uk

Pyramids Are not Easy to Clean

We have a pyramid in our house....

....unusual I know but a necessary precaution to stop small children and dogs disappearing through a large hole and into the kitchen sink!

The story goes that before the staircase in the hall was constructed (from the wood of an ancient winepress) the previous owner of La Grande Maison used to descend into the kitchen on a rope!

This pyramid was inspired by the Louvre pyramid, however, it does not contain 666 panes of glass, holds no satanic significance and has not featured in a Dan Brown novel.

Nowadays the pyramid is a good source of light into the kitchen and also a good spot to watch our sous chef ‘Sue’ at work, but don’t let her know I told you that.

So yesterday was my day to clean the pyramid and in doing so I got to wondering about the symbolism of the pyramid and it’s ancient powers. Here is what I found.

Pyramids are handy for :

Preserving food
Sharpening razor blades or knives
Improving heath
Functioning as a thought-form incubator
Triggering sexual urges
Relieving stress
Improving quality of drinking water
Restoring the lustre to tarnished jewellery or coins

Now here is the really interesting one :

Improving the taste of coffee, wine and fruit juices:

Apparently pyramid energy alters the hydrogen bond in water. A general effect is an increase in the "smoothness" of a drink. It takes the sharp "edge" off drinks like coffee and works well with wine too.

So here is the experiment : a comparative tasting between wine decanted and placed under the pyramid and the same wine decanted and placed elsewhere. Chosen wine? Domaine de Grand Maison from Langlois Chateau of course. Can we decrease the acidity of this marvellous Muscadet using the power of the pyramid?

Come back in a couple of weeks to discover the results! In the meantime we will be relaxed, shining jewels, having loads of ideas and well....I’ll leave the rest to your imagination ;-)

Strawhouse Players Summer Production 2009

Huge applause goes this year to Frank, Ned, Luc, Beth and of course Steve (scriptwriter extraordinaire) for their traditional summer production. This year "King Arthur & His Trusty Knights on the Quest of the Holy Grail" Maybe a tad pythonesque me thinks?

Posters are painted, costumes are made, tickets are designed, props are propped and the scene is set on the lawns of Plantagent Plantes in Argentay.

The Knights of the Round Table

King Arthur's Knights in search of clues to the Holy Grail

Knights of Camelot: [singing] We're knights of the Round Table, we dance whene'er we're able. We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impec-cable, We dine well here in Camelot, we eat ham and jam and Spam a lot. / We're knights of the Round Table, our shows are for-mi-dable. But many times we're given rhymes that are quite un-sing-able, We're opera mad in Camelot, we sing from the diaphragm a lot. / In war we're tough and able, Quite in-de-fa-ti-gable. Between our quests we sequin vests and impersonate Clark Gable / It's a busy life in Camelot
[solo]
Knights of Camelot: I have to push the pram a lot.

A snack during the interval? Escargot au Chocolate - hmm delicious.

Tickets are in high demand!

Bravo the Strawhouse Players
il était for-mid-able!

Retro Grand Prix Grande Maison Drive Past

The cars have now arrived in Le Puy Notre Dame for the Retro Grand Prix tomorrow and there is a buzz of excitement in the air. The arrival heralds the start of a weekend of festivities and first off comes the drive through the vines and past La Grande Maison.

So every year we rush outside the gates and wave everyone on their way. There are always a few that take the wrong turning so we are there to put them right back on track. Or even push them up the hill if necessary!


Here they come arriving at the bottom of Rue de la Cerisaie....

....they pass the house.

....and then continue on up the hill and through the vines behind La Grande Maison.

.....the last in line being safely followed by the 'depannage' truck in case of breakdown.

The Le Puy Notre Dame Retro Grand Prix is always held on the last weekend in July so book early for next year's weekend of fun and frivolity Arrive on Friday evening for a delicious La Grande Maison Wine Sampling Supper, take Wine Tour through the vines on Saturday and finish off at the Retro Grand Prix on Sunday for a BBQ and glass of local Le Puy wine. No better way to spend a sunny July weekend. Hope to see you in 2010!

Le Puy Notre Dame Retro Grand Prix

26th July sees the Retro Grand Prix in our local village of Le Puy Notre Dame. This normally quiet corner of France comes alive to the sounds of convertible Morgans, Bugattis, Amilcars and the odd vintage Rolls Royce. Here are a few photos from last years event to whet your appetite.

Cordoned off by bales of hay, the entire village becomes a race track for the day. The local vignerons sell their wines by the glass and the BBQ's spring into action.

More to follow soon......opps mid-blog and got a phone call to say that our dog Willow had escaped and had made his way down to the local nursery. Quick diversion whilst I jump in the car and go to collect him!

Now back to the grand prix....


Vintage motorbikes are allowed compete too. This includes a side-car race and the opportunity to wear old leather helmets with ear flaps - very alluring. Here Olivier from Le Puy au Vin checks out a problem on his old vintage some thing or other.



Along with a few more photos of noisy engines....


.....and shiny badges of desirability.



...see how they shine!


...and to make our day there is even a convertible rainbow Amilcar.

Missing a very Vine Dog?

Just about to sit down for my lunch today when this little fellow pitched up at the gate. We often rescue dogs from the vineyards and if they have no identification we take them off to the vet and they read the chip so that we can then deliver them to their rightful owners.

I put this friendly pup on a lead and took him off to our vets in Doue La Fontaine. By this time I was growing very fond of him and a bond was beginning to grow. He seemed so timid and thin I don't think he had eaten for a while and was certainly ready for a drink.

Sadly he had no chip, tattoo or collar. So the vet told me I must go directly to the Dog Refuge; as if I must not stop off and do anything else en-route but deliver this dog to it's fate. I bundled him back into the car. The refuge was really the last place I wanted him to go and I felt sad about his future. At the 'accueil' I was met by Madame who asked me where I had found him. No we cannot take this dog, we do not have space and anyway you did not find him in this commune, she explained pointing to the list of communes from which they do take dogs, if only they had the space. Alors you must go to your Maire (the Mayor) and declare that you have found a dog.

Once again Chips (he now has a name) and I got back into the car, direction Les Verchers Sur Layon. I hoped the 'Maire' would be open as I had just seen Madame the Mayoress only hours earlier with a carpenter being measured up for new windows! Luckily Catherine her secretary was there and to the rescue. Within seconds she drew up an 'Annonce' to mail out to all the other communes and vets with a description of Chips. A quick phone call later and a chap called Carl turned up with a bag of croquettes and took Chips off to a little kennel (apparently all the best Maires have them!). Ah he is for the 'chasse' he declared (a highly prized hunting dog) . I have a glimmer of hope that if he is not claimed someone locally will take him in. Otherwise he will stay 8 days at the Hotel de le Maire before being sent off to the refuge in Angers. I have a feeling we might just be going to see him before the week is out.

Now about this cat we just found on the roof of the Bakehouse......

The Visitation of the Miraculous Rainbow Ceiling

It appeared as if from no where. There it was this most amazing rainbow on the ceiling of our living room.

So I checked it out on Wikipedia- A rainbow is phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture They take the form of a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and violet on the inner section of the arch.

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours. Traditionally, however, the sequence is quantised. The most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. "Roy G. Biv" and "Richard Of York Gave/Gained Battle In Vain" are popular mnemonics. Another one is "Read Out Your Green Book In Verse".

Rainbows can be caused by other forms of water than rain, including mist, spray, and dew.

This one lasted only two minutes and then vanished as quickly as it came. There were no droplets of moisture, rain, mist or spray in the room. So how on earth did it get there? My search led me to a CD lying discarded from it's case on the table. Clare Teal - "Get Happy". Our true rainbow girl!