It's open now

The new passerelle is open! You might remember that a new pedestrian/bike bridge was built adjacent to the existing bridge this spring. The old bridge, still in service, of course, is the only link for crossing the Cher for many kilometers upstream and downstream of Saint-Aignan. Its two lanes and narrow sidewalks handle a large volume of cars, trucks, and buses in addition to pedestrians and bikes. Now the latter are removed to their own bridge, easing the danger a little bit for everyone.

The two bridges' left bank landing in St-Aignan with new bollards and fresh paving. There's a public parking lot behind where I'm standing.

It's interesting to me that we never saw any notification of the construction of a new bridge. Granted, we don't live in St-Aignan proper, but you'd think the neighboring towns would be in on the project, or at least just be informed of a major construction project like this. Our town council does a quarterly newsletter, but it's not frequent enough, nor informative enough, for that. Our administrative department does a nice glossy magazine every month or so. I usually glance through for local news, but I don't recall any items about the bridge. The newspaper in our area might have talked about it, but we don't subscribe, not even on line. Our bad. 

Sleepless in Saint-Aignan

I'm up at 05h00 this morning. Well, out of bed. I didn't sleep a wink all night. I was up and down, out on the deck watching the stars, and watching for the neighbor's lights to go off (they finally did at 03h00). I think it's a combination of Restless Legs Syndrome and a sprained muscle in my right leg. I took some paracetamol (acetaminophen) yesterday evening, and it helped a little. But no sleep. It may also be my tendency to fall asleep after lunch while watching tennis on tv. I'm sure that doesn't help things.

There should be a picture here. Maybe I'll find one, maybe not. 

I'm planning a trip to the market this morning. We're out of egg rolls. Ah, life in France. In other news, it Today is the Summer Solstice! And also la Fête de la Musique! Fa la la!

Les grappes se forment

A bunch of grapes is called une grappe. A single grape is called un raisin. A raisin is called un raisin sec, "a dried grape." The verb used up in the title is se former which means "to form." The verb fermenter means "to ferment." Confused? It won't matter after a few sips.

The vineyard workers are busy as bees spraying against fungus, weeding, trimming, and otherwise caring for the crop while the weather is hot and dry.

We woke up yesterday to no running water. It happens from time to time. Fortunately, we've learned to keep a few liters of still mineral water in the pantry for taking pills, brushing teeth, making tea or coffee and such. The water came back just before noon.

Oregano

It grows like a weed in the back yard. The original plant escaped from our garden plot and now grows wild in the vicinity of the apple trees. And it's spreading. When we tried our fresh garden oregano, we thought, "meh." It had no flavor whatsoever. But it kept growing and spreading, so we thought, "there must be a use for this." Then we tried it dried. Wow. What a difference.

Five levels of oregano in the dehydrator. Next step: removing the stems.

Now I pick and dry oregano every year and put it away for use all year long. Great stuff! We've also used the dehydrator for drying tomatoes and other things, but it's mostly for oregano. The plants are making flower buds right now, but they're quite edible and are fine dried with the leaves. 

Aromatics

Leeks and bay leaves, ready to go into... uh... something. I forget exactly what it was. But whatever it was, I'm sure it was delicious. The leeks are the green tops that Ken chopped off and froze for using in stocks; we eat the white parts as a salad (cold with vinaigrette), or as a side dish, warm. The bay leaves come from our bay laurel out back. They're the best bay leaves I've ever tasted.

Defrosting leeks on the left, dried bay leaves on the right.

Yesterday I harvested some oregano. It's already beginning to flower. I dried my harvest in the dehydrator. I hope to do another batch today. And maybe take some photos. 

Les asperges

Ken brought home some asparagus from a recent trip to the store. The season is winding down, I think, so it's good to enjoy them while we still can. These are white asparagus. Their spears are buried under soil and not allowed to get sun. That way they don't photosynthesize, preventing them from turning green. The one inconvenience is that the white spears develop a thick skin and need to be peeled before being cooked and eaten. But it's worth the trouble.

Asperges blanches.

I peeled these, of course, and then served them steamed and cooled as a first course salad dressed with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. They are also excellent with mayonnaise or a mayonnaise-based sauce (like Thousand Island). Yum! 

Now what?

I have no new photos. I guess I should get out more often. Here's one that I've posted several times over the years. Some of you have been there. Let me know if you recognize it.

A castle in France. Hmm...

The week ahead is looking like it will be hot. There's lots of outdoor work to do, including another pass with the weed killer. I may even need to mow again.