Summer Diversions

They're calling it "autumn in July." It's true that our weather this year has not followed normal, expected patterns. We've broken a few records at both ends of the thermometer's scale. Last November we had full on winter, with a massive snow storm and the mercury plummeting, fully six weeks earlier than normal and quite a bit colder than usual. In April, when one would imagine mild spring weather, we had scorching summery temperatures that went on for weeks. This is virtually unheard of. Our hills turned brown, reminding me of California, such an unusual sight over here. Now we're in the middle of a low pressure system, bringing driving rain with chilly days and nights. The Virginia Creeper on the house is already turning red. The natural world around us is very confused indeed! Apparently the earth's axis shifted slightly with the huge earthquake in Chile last year and of course our protective atmospheric cover is being eroded at a tremendous clip, leaving us much more vulnerable to the vagaries and intensity of weather systems. I don't think there is yet a new normal, but old forms have been flung out the window, that is fairly clear.

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We met one of our local aristocrats lately. Last weekend we hosted a couple who were attending a nearby wedding. They announced to us that the wife's sister, who is a widow living not far from us, would like to meet us and show us her manoir. Sure enough, she arrived at the door a few days later to extend her personal invitation for tea. What an adventure! Firstly, discovering her house was a revelation. From the public road you see only this:

The hills around are farm land and there is no reason to think that this inconspicuous grassy pathway would lead anywhere other than to a humble farm house. Far from it. I couldn't take photos of the house without being incredibly obnoxious and gauche, although I longed to do so. I snapped a portion of the front of the house quickly as we were driving away. You can perhaps get a small concept of how pretty and grand it is. What you don't have is a sense of the complex of buildings or the gorgeous parkland surrounding the house.

In back is a breathtaking view over rolling hills, a forest and a large lake with a resident pair of herons. Quite extraordinary! The amazing part of Madame's story is that a part of her family immigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century and made a big name for themselves over there. Her great-great grandfather opened Sloanes Department Store in New York, another relative had one of the largest gold mines in California. One of her cousins, William Sloane Coffin, was a famous peace activist during the Vietnam War and still another is the current prosecutor for New York City (the one heading up the Strauss-Kahn case).

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Big things went on in town this weekend. First there was an exposition of antique cars. All built before 1915. They still function, as later in the day their drivers got into them and motored off.

One of our favorites was the Ford, with all those beautiful brass fittings, leather upholstery and simplicity of design.

Take a look at those incredible wooden spokes:

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In the afternoon we had a horse race at the local track. This is its third year of operation.

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We have farmers markets nearby three times a week. Frankly, we don't always go, as it is a drive and it must be planned for. Besides, the supermarket has very high quality, locally grown produce. When we do go, however, it is always a sensuous treat. There are certain specialty items not available at the big store.

You can't get fresh butter or some of those handmade cheeses at the supermarket. The fresh butter is one of those things that is beyond description. What a treat.

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Week 21: Wonder Wander

Journal of Possibilities by Gail Rieke, made from cards and recycled bits of paper

It's been a bee hive of activity at Maison Conti this week. Gail Rieke, collage-assemblage artist and journal maker extraordinaire was in residence, giving her workshop: Wonder Wander, a Journal of Possibilities. 

I met Gail several years ago at The San Francisco Center for the Book. Not only did I find her extremely talented and creative, but warm and friendly as well. I started dreaming about how to entice her to France. It took us a couple of years and many emails winging back and forth across oceans to organize and finally realize our plan to present one of her journal making courses here in Montmirail. 

It was a lively and intimate week. There were four participants: 

Nathalie, from Belgium, in her professional life is a doctor. She is in every other available waking hour a committed journal maker. She considers her journaling essential to her well being. She brought her daughter Margot and husband Fabricio along with her to the workshop.

Paula, from England, has just completed her Masters degree in fine book making. She is a very talented assemblage and book works artist, paper maker and seamstress. Be sure to visit her website (linked to her name.) She brought her husband Peter, who is a naturalist.

Janine lives and works in Singapore, although she was born in South Africa. She was at Maison Conti in January for a printmaking workshop. She travels to France frequently for her job as a publisher. She had not done much book making before this week.

Babette is a novelist from Houston, Texas. She was in France doing research for her next book about concentration camps in France during WWII. Who knew there had been any? She had never done any bookmaking at all before and considers herself a word person. She brought her husband Hale.

Margot was a wonderful addition to the week. This was her first big adventure, as she was born in June! She allowed her mother lots of time for work and very rarely cried. She has been sleeping twelve hours a night since the second week of her life. I've never even heard of that! Fabricio took her on walks and entertained her all day while mom was busy.

I had a slightly insane idea before the week began that I might be able to participate in the workshop. However with nine guests and three meals a day to provide, cooking and clean-up became the primary activities. I must say, however, that Rick was a huge help in getting food on the table. 

Lunch is my favorite meal to put together, and I only make it when we host a workshop here.

The wandering part of the workshop involved daily strolls around the village and countryside. The weather was cooperative, staying bright and sunny the entire time. Rick led the first walk and was surprised to discover that the goal wasn't exercise so much as observation. He turned around and discovered that all his charges were lost in various contemplations. They collected leaves and scraps of paper, seeds, interesting stones and any other bits and pieces which they incorporated into their journals. They took rubbings, photographs and sketched. Rick had to adjust to a different pace than his usual full speed ahead.

Once back in the studio the mementos were incorporated into the journal in various ways. The book which Gail proposed is a very flexible form. It allows for pages to go in and out without rebinding. There are pockets and envelopes to stash various treasures. Papers can be of different sizes, shapes and weights. The more variety, the better.

 

One of Gail's beautiful travel journals

 Janine brought lovely Asian papers to use in her journal

A half page with a quote tucked into a bottom pocket which obscures part of a page of found seed pods

 Paula's title page created by layering handmade papers and held in place with a button

 Maps and sketches are incorporated into the journal

Work went on in the studio for three days, punctuated by our walks and meals. People always tend to become bonded during the time we're together, adding to the pleasure of the adventure. We had many good talks, travel stories and jokes.

I took the group on what was known as "the rust walk." We photographed one another from either side of the street down by the boulangerie. Zack amazed and impressed me when he was able to find a most beautiful piece of very thin rusted metal, which he took back home to mount on his "rust wall." He knows how to see these items that I have probably walked right past day after day. In his studio in New Mexico he is patiently creating an entire wall of various found rusted pieces. I can only imagine how gorgeous that must be!

Gail loves reflections and often incorporates them into her work. This is one she pointed out to us. We all snapped away. It does make a beautiful abstract design.

Some of my favorite patterns are created by fallen leaves and bits of forest detritus.

The husbands joined us for meals, which were very convivial. During the workshop they took walks, read or did writing of their own. Peter took several tours of the village and met many of the locals, as he is a very friendly and warm character. He also identified many of our local birds for me. I love our wildlife but frankly don't have much knowledge about it, so I particularly enjoyed having some bird wisdom imparted to me. 

Peter pointed out a couple of juvenile morning doves. They were sitting in the tree outside the house. I would not have known that they were young ones, but once I did, I was able to understand a poignant drama that was unfolding before my eyes. The two young birds were born earlier in the season in the wisteria vine which climbs up our front wall. We heard and saw the family nesting there during warm months. Now the parents have gone on, leaving the two children by themselves. The two flew back and forth between the tree and wisteria for several days waiting for their parent's return. They walked along the rain gutters peering into our house in hopes of getting a glimpse of mom and dad. In the end, of course, they will have to fly off and fend for themselves.

The workshop ended too soon and all the participants left for the four corners. I was able to take away a lot of wonderful ideas and inspirations which will last through the coming cold months. I have lots of ideas cooking on the back burner. Thank you Gail!

Le Perche, a very well kept secret!

People ask us if we have any horror stories associated with buying our house in Montmirail, or if our workmen abandoned us in the middle of our remodeling job. Friends and clients are curious to know if we’re treated like outsiders in our village or if the local people resent our presence. We’ve heard a lot of uncomfortable stories of Americans being the targets of unscrupulous contractors or passive aggressive neighbors. Invariably, these cautionary tales happen to Anglophones who settle in the south of France. There are entire towns in the south where the population is primarily either English or American. We’ve met people who’ve lived in France for 8 or 10 years and have never had the occasion to learn the language. They work with and for expatriates like themselves. Of course they also pay more for the real estate and drive up the prices. In a sense, one can’t blame the locals for being a bit annoyed. We have never had any kind of problem in France based on being American. In fact we’ve had the really good fortune to have nothing but delightful and helpful neighbors and extremely competent and very reasonable contractors. Northern France is a wonderful place to live and we are some of the very few Americans in our area. The villagers of Montmirail are happy to have us inhabit the beautiful house they all take pride in, and we have never experienced any negative feelings directed at us. People are open, very polite and patient with our less-than-perfect French language skills. In our region, one seldom sees tour buses and there aren’t long lines of foreign visitors queued up in the heat to catch a glimpse of some famous object or landscape. You see few people clutching guides books to their chests; traffic jams are few and far between. When we sent Rick Steves our web site address last year, he liked what he saw but couldn’t locate us on a map. When we told him we were in Le Perche, he had never heard of it. He was unwilling to come visit us because, he said, he can only keep current on the sites already in their guide books. In other words, guide books tend to replay the same old sites over and over again. This is one reason that, to foreigners, our area is almost unknown. On the other hand, to Parisians, the name Le Perche has a magical ring. It conjures up rolling green hills, deep forests, gently flowing rivers and always the idea of good food and relaxation. One city nearby, Bellême, is jokingly referred to as the 22nd arrondissement of Paris because so many Parisians have country homes. This Parisian influence on the area is fortuitous since it means there are great restaurants, charming shops and healthy economies which keep the villages vibrant. Someone once said of president Eisenhower’s project to create a freeway system from the east to the west coast of the U.S., after the war, that it was an accomplishment which allowed one to travel the entire width of the country without actually ever seeing anything. Much the same happened in France, when the autoroute system was completed during the early 70s, the Perche was passed by and it fell into a sleepy obscurity. This area was always on the frontier between English Normandy and the French Loire Valley, so its history is one of neutrality. There is a genuine peacefulness one feels in the gentle landscape. Its greatest claim to fame had always been the development of those large, gorgeous Percheron horses, bred for the crusades and for knights with their heavy metal armor. Now the Perche has become a kind of haven for back-to-the-land, city weary but very well-educated Parisian entrepreneurs. The organic food movement here is smart and enthusiastic. Cheese, lamb, produce, even snails, are all local specialties, but the most renowned product is the Baguette du Perche. One of our clients, a French businessman who lives in Singapore but who has friends in the area and stays with us frequently, remarked at breakfast the last morning we saw him that there is nothing like a baguette in any other part of the world. It cannot be duplicated. The famous Perche baguette is made with organic wheat, grown and milled locally. One of our favorite local producers bakes hundreds of loaves of bread at a time in his traditional wood-fired oven, using all the techniques and tools that have existed for hundreds of years. The recipe really can’t be improved upon. Gourmet magazine did an article about the Baguette du Perche last May and the New York times published a really nice article about the region in March 2007. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/travel/tmagazine/03well.perche.t.html