Blog La Jonchere

Joyeuses Fêtes

blog la jonchere — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:25:16 +0000

Wishing all our guests, readers, friends and family a

Merry Festive Season and Joyous New Year.

– o — o — o –

ps. Apologies for the lack of posts lately, normal service will resume in 2012!

Confession – I didn’t grow these magnificent sprouts, my Mum did!

They are called ‘Green Marble’ for those gardeners among you….

Septembre

blog la jonchere — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:44:11 +0000

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We love this time of year.

After the intensity of summer the weather has mellowed into misty mornings and warm, calm days.

We’re hauling in produce from the garden and the hedgerows – the stars of this year are the tomatoes, borlotti beans, raspberries, sloes and walnuts.

The woodstack is getting bigger in preparation for colder days.

The faint smell of woodsmoke is in the air and the sound of the Chasse is in the distance.

Bonfire

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Fête de la Gastronomie

blog la jonchere — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:14:07 +0000

The Fête de la Gastronomie on Friday 23rd September 2011 and into the weekend is France’s first nationwide feast with more than 3000 events across the country.

The official list of events in the Auvergne can be found here

La Haie

blog la jonchere — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:05:47 +0000

haie nf hedge

We seem to be spending a lot of time in the hedges at the moment, it’s that time of year…

Eventually we would like to do some hedge-laying, but we’ve got a bit of tidying up to do first. In the meantime we’re making the most of the wild produce which seems to be abundant this year.

On the menu:

Sloe Gin (My favourite!)
Damson Vodka
Sloe, Bullace and Crab Apple Jelly (lovely with cured meat)
Crab Apple and Mint jelly (for roast lamb)
Hawthorn Berry Ketchup
Bramble Jelly

It always amazes me how free (and lets face it, pretty inedible) hedgerow finds can be turned into such sublime treats.

Estivale

blog la jonchere — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:34:48 +0000

estivale adj (période estivale) summertime

Summertime in the garden

Allium

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Allium christophii

Vitis vinifera

blog la jonchere — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:44:05 +0000

We’ve planted the grape vine, we’ve got the demijohns.

Now we just have to wait a couple of years for a decent crop of grapes, then we can have a go at making our first homebrew wine ‘Chateau Jonchere’….

Fête de la Myrtille

blog la jonchere — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:17:48 +0000

It’s that time of year again where villages across France hold their annual themed Fêtes, a local get together and all round knees-up.
The little village of St Julien La Geneste (2.5km from Gite La Jonchere) celebrates the Myrtille with stalls selling local artisan cheeses, wines and punnets of wild blueberries, wood fired bread baked on the day, tales of folklore and this year a Mexican song and dance group (yes, you did read that right…)

Coming soon -
Fête du Bois at Sainte Christine (23-24 July 2011)
Fête au Pays de Desaix in Ayat sur Sioule (6 August 2011)

Tour de France

blog la jonchere — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:04:13 +0000

Some images from stage 8 of the 98th Tour de France.

Taken in Evaux les Bains , a lovely spa town 38km from Gite La Jonchere.

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Vichy

blog la jonchere — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:14:21 +0000

The elegant city of Vichy is a very scenic 67km drive from Gite La Jonchere
It has a fascinating past as a historic spa town and the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation, and has an air of glamour reminiscent of Paris.

La Grande Boucle

blog la jonchere — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 11:33:33 +0000

La Grande Boucle (The Big Loop) is the nickname given to France’s biggest sporting event, the Tour de France. And guess what – in 2011 the Tour de France is coming our way!

Every now and then a stage through the Auvergne is included in the route, this year on Saturday 9th July part of stage 8 is just down the road from us.