ANZAC biscuits are so named because of their association with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) from the First World War. They must contain rolled oats, sugar, butter and Golden Syrup. Usually they have dessicated coconut too. It is widely believed that Australian wives, mothers and women's groups sent the biscuits to troops fighting abroad in Europe and the Middle East because they were robust and didn't spoil on the long sea voyage to deliver them. ANZAC is a protected term and manufacturers wishing to produce and sell these biscuits must apply to the Australian Department of ..read more

We did our first day of work with Claudette on Sunday. It was cold but clear, and Claudette responded beautifully, even if she never really warmed up. Here are some pics. Tours at 08:30 Parked at Azay le Rideau Wisteria The gardens at Villandry Merrill and Verena with Claudette at the end of the day ..read more

On the old N10 highway south of Ste Maure de Touraine was a service station and restaurant that holds a special place in the hearts of many locals, and a lot of people who travelled to the beaches and islands on the Atlantic coast in the 1970s. Of late it has looked very sad - the restaurant is now a private club and looks tatty from the outside, and the petrol station has looked derelict, even though it is a regular meeting place for car events. We went to a coffee morning there in 2021, the first car event after lockdown. On Saturday we drove past and noticed that work on improving the vie ..read more

The Barbegal aqueduct and mills are situated in Fontvieille, Bouches-du-Rhône, near Arles. Often hailed as "the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world," it has 16 overshot water wheels, where the outflow of one wheel propells the successive wheel, making it the largest ancient mill complex on record. The mills are at a junction of two aqueducts that were integral to Arles' water supply. The aqueducts merge just north of the mill complex, and were regulated by a sluice controlling the water's flow to the mills. The aqueducts where they cross the D82. You can see ..read more

Etableau is a hamlet with a very large ruined chateau, close to le Grand Pressigny. The road from Preuilly to le Grand Pressigny passing through Etableau is narrow, lined with houses on both sides, and always has cars parked on one side. Not long after we moved to France a 30km/h speed limit was introduced where the road passes the houses, and a year or two later an electronic speed sign was erected. It can feel a bit sketchy driving through the hamlet because people still drive too fast for the view they have of the road ahead. Yesterday I was driving to le Grand Pressigny and noticed that ..read more

That's not it's official title - officially it's gosht anna palak nu shaak.  It's a recipe I found in The Guardian a couple of years ago but hadn't cooked before now. I followed the recipe faithfully except for a couple of things: I didn't add salt to the curry sauce, I used chard instead of baby spinach (didn't have any) and I used ordinary white rice, not basmati. The lamb was a couple of bags of trimmings that came with the side of lamb we buy every year, and is perfect for this sort of dish. It's a super easy recipe, even if it reads a bit complicated. The level of spice was sp ..read more

Adder's Tongue Fern Ophioglossum vulgatum (Fr. Langue de serpent).  Five years ago I could hardly believe my eyes! A rare and protected fern suddenly appeared in the orchard. I had no idea where it had come from and I'd never seen it before anywhere, despite spending lots of time with botanists and seeing many rare and protected plants here.  This year I'm thrilled to see that the Adder's Tongue is everywhere in the orchard, stretching in a broad band from north-east, where the original station is, to south-west, up under the sour cherries. I've never seen so many individual plants ..read more

Here are some photos from the Botamyco37 outing to the Chateau de Brou yesterday. We were focusing on lichen, but there were some interesting insects too. As ever, Marie-Claude did a great job of organising and providing expert field teaching. Patrick, Marie-Christine and me in action. Photo courtesy of Louisette Chaslon. Violet Oil Beetle Meloe violaceus (Fr. Meloe violet), mating. Male is below, female above. He is eating a buttercup stem, one of their favourite foods. These beetles are the object of some conservation concern as their numbers are declining.   Marie-Claude ..read more

Steamed green asparagus. At the end of April and the beginning of May, asparagus is the flagship product on people's plates at home and in restaurants. This year, because of the weather, producers are expecting a bumper crop. Locally produced white asparagus at the market. The epitome of seasonal produce, asparagus features on the shelves between April and June. In Indre et Loire one finds Touraine asparagus, especially grown around Bourgueil and Richelieu. The label 'Coeur de Touraine' is the most prized, only held by 17 producers around Richelieu, who produce between 200 ..read more

The Touraine Loire Valley is home to some impressively large land snails and slugs. This Yellow Cellar Slug Limacus flavus (Fr. Limace des caves) and its family live in our kitchen. They are nocturnal, so we rarely see them. For scale, the tiles are 20 cm². I encounter Ash-black Slugs Limax cinereoniger (Fr. Grande limace) in the larger well established forests. They can be pale and stripey like this one...  ...or they can be charcoal grey with a pale grey dorsal ridge. Red Slugs Arion rufus (Fr. Grande loche) can be encountered anywhere -- in the forest, on waste ground, in gardens ..read more