Back on the Trail - June 12, 2011

Well, it has been a while, I have been quite busy completing all of my classwork for the masters degree, but that is now done, and I will soon begin the internship.  In the interim, we are taking it easy and trying to get out to enjoy the country. Today we took a 3 hour hike in the hills around Clermont Ferrand.  Here is the story:
Took the tram from Carmes to Croix de Neyrat, then switched to the #3 bus to the terminus at CHU Nord (hospital).  Then we began the walk uphill to Chateaugay on the paved road D21.  


Chateaugay is a wonderful small town with a couple of nice restaurants overlooking the valley below, and a 12th century chateau.  It is also a wine producing area and has many wine caves in the hill sides.  Here is a link to a satellite view of the area: http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ch%C3%A2teaugay&aq=0&sll=46.75984,1.738281&sspn=7.963228,13.754883&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ch%C3%A2teaugay,+Puy-de-D%C3%B4me,+Auvergne&ll=45.861444,3.103037&spn=0.031619,0.051155&t=h&z=14   We started below the lower right corner of the map, went up the hill, and followed a trail around the right side of the highest part of the hill (hear the D2009). This is a view from Chateaugay of the hillsides with grapes and the valley below:

Valley below Chateaugay, France, near Clermont Ferrand

Here you see a typical farm style home of the area.  The photo on the right is a row of wine caves in the hillside.

Home in Chateaugay, France

Wine caves, Rue des Caves, Chateaugay, France

A couple of minutes later, we found the signpost, showing the way to Riom and the distance as 10.5 Km.  The photo below is Puy de Dome from the trail between Chateaugay and Riom.

Puy de Dome from the trail between Chateaugay and Riom, France

Here are several more photos showing how nice the trails are - they are marked with blazes to show which trail you are on, sometimes multiple trails follow one path for a ways.

In this next one, we walked under bees on a tree limb - not sure what happened, someone had hives just around the corner.  There were lots of fruit trees as well as grapes in the area.

After that we came to a clearing where another trail crossed our path and stopped for a snack, overlooking the town of Ménétrol and the Michelin tire test track.  Riom would be to the left.

Grape vines near the trail

Michelin test track

Looking for lunch on the trail

Soon we reached the end of the marked path near a paved road, then walked into Riom and found the trainstation.  The train home was 3.1 Euro per person for the 10 minute ride.  What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

16 January - Walk in the Woods

Today, I met a couple of classmates and we went to an exhibition as research for a project we are working on.  It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, so when I got home, just after noon, I had a bite to eat, then looked at my maps for a place to walk. 

I found a place on a bus route that runs on Sunday, so packed my camera and water and headed out.  I took the #4 bus from the Gare SNCF toward Ceyrat, getting off at Ceyrat Boissejour Monument. 
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Avenue+de+Clermont,+Ceyrat,+France+and+Avenue+Jean+Baptiste+Marrou&sll=45.745306,3.062525&sspn=0.012369,0.024462&g=Avenue+de+Clermont,+Ceyrat,+France&doflg=ptk&ie=UTF8&hq=and+Avenue+Jean+Baptiste+Marrou&hnear=Avenue+de+Clermont,+63122+Ceyrat,+Puy-de-D%C3%B4me,+Auvergne,+France&ll=45.744506,3.058247&spn=0.000719,0.001529&t=h&z=19

To find the start of the hike, turn left as you exit the bus, cross Avenue de Royat (D944), then turn right and walk to the next block, Rue Pierre Curie.  Take a left, then left again and around a horseshoe shaped curve on Chemin de Preguille.  The path up is on the right - it is marked in red on the map below, to the left of Beaumont and north of Ceyrat. 

Parcours de Sante Ceyrat, France

This is what the path looks like after a few minutes.

Walking Trail Ceyrat, France

Then it starts to rise - I knew it would as I was following the contour lines on the map.  Here is another photo, showing the drop off on the right.

Walking Train Ceyrat, France

 The rock formation below indicates we are about up to the larger path, the Parcours de Sante. 

Ceyrat, France

This is a very nice, wide almost paved path with "health" stations from time to time for various exercises.  There were a number of people, including families out for a walk this nice Sunday afternoon.

Parcours de Sante, Ceyrat, France

This is looking down on the city of Clermont-Ferrand.

Looking across the Allier Valley

There is a "typical" craft here in the Auvergne of painting with enamel on the dark lava stone.  There are several places along this path where you can step just off the path to view a small "field" of enameled stones, pertaining to the area.  This is one of the first I saw:

It is demonstrating the Chataignier or Chestnut tree in both summer and winter.    This next one lists the trees that are the choice of carvers:  Spruce, Scotch Pine and Basswood.

The next one is the game Snakes (or Chutes) and Ladders in the forest context:

Toward the end of the Parcours de Sante, I crossed this small stream:

I will include a few more photos I took on the walk back down to the bus stop, so you get an idea of what the arrounding Clermont is like.

20 November - Choucroute

You be noticing a trend here.  This series of postings is all about food.  We don't get out very much, Fred and I are both very busy, but we do make time to get to the markets and shop for food.  I am not sure if I have said this before or not, but here in France, it is often quicker to cook at home than to go out to eat.  Especially if we can put something on the stove, then study or work while it cooks. 

We invited friends for italian dinner last weekend.  Fred made a very nice antipasto with veggies, cheese, and italian ham/sausages.  OK, I get some credit, I shopped for the ingredients and I thought I got fairly creative, as well as authentic.  We found an italian shop in the Marche St Pierre, that carries pasta, ham, sausage, and italian cheeses.  Anyway, here is a look at Fred's masterpiece.  He is so patient, and likes arranging items on the plates just so. 

Antipasto

The main dish was fish piccata.  Making fish that way was an experiment we should have tried before making it for company.  I had made chicken piccata earlier and it was fantastic, but the fish dish was not as good.  However, we accompanied it with a nice wine, and followed it with fresh strawberries and ice cream - not a bad meal overall. 

Our next dish was choucroute.  This is an Alsatian dish with sauerkraut, onions, potatoes, ham, and sausage, seasoned with black peppercorns, cloves, garlic, juniper berries, and bay leaves.  The French region of Alsace included the city of Strasbourg, a very German city on the German border.  We were able to find a "mix" in one of the meat shops in Marche St Pierre.  By mix, I mean sauerkraut (packaged separately), ham, and two kinds of sausages.   We just had to add the wine and the seasonings and cook.  Here is the result:

Choucroute

 While at the market, we stopped at the bakery and found this pain de compagne - country style bread.  Now THIS is bread:

Pain de Compagne

 The nice thing is that the baker will cut off a piece of a huge round so you don't have to purchase the entire piece. 

6 November - Cassoulet

Fred cooked again today - the dish was Cassoulet.  Cassoulet has a long history in France.  It is a typical country dish of the Languedoc region, in southern France.  Some sources say it dates back to 1335.  It is prepared with white beans and various sausages, and usually includes duck (confit de canard), which is slow roasted duck preserved in it's own fat.  


Fred had cassoulet one day in Albi 10 years ago and quickly became a convert.  He has learned to make it at home, substituting dark meat chicken or turkey for the confit de canard, which we cannot buy at home. The history I read today says the "stew" is cooked for hours in a  cone-shaped pottery vessel.  The recipe Fred has adapted says cook it all together, then put break crumbs on top and set in the oven at very low heat, then go for a very long walk.  One french cookbook says a film develops over the cassoulet while it cooks and that film must be "broken" seven times.  Other "requirements":  The water used to cook the beans should be hard, allowing the beans to hold their shape. 


There are as many ways to make cassoulet as there are small villages in France.  Some of the legendary cassoulets are said to originate in Carcassonne, Castelnaudary, and Toulouse.  This is a photo of the "real" cassoulet dish:

Cassoulet Dish with Cassoulet

At home we make cassoulet in a small iron skillet, cooking it first on top of the stove, then in the oven in the same skillet.  Here we don't have either a "real" cassoulet dish, nor an iron skillet, so we gave it our best shot in a glass casserole.  We did not cook it quite as long either, so it was a bit soupy, but the taste was great!  These photos are our version here in our rented kitchen in France.  Sorry, forgot to get the camera out until we had dished up our first portions.

Cassoulet at home

Duck from the cassoulet