MEMORIES OF FRANCE
A travel article by Pierre Mainguené, Circa Tours
La France est mon pays natal. I was born and raised in the ancient province of Brittany. My place of origin has no equal on earth - naturally. Centuries ago, my Celtic ancestors fled the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Great Britain and found refuge in this cool and verdant corner of the European continent (then called Armorica).
La Bretagne is a misty land of legends and druidic cults. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table still roam the forest of Broceliande in search of the Holy Grail. The enchantress Vivian inhabits those deep woods, too, and keeps Merlin the Sorcerer captive under their dense foliage for eternity. The chivalric games I played as a kid at "la Roche aux Fées" (the Fairies' Rock) - a mini-Stonehenge covered by a roof of gigantic stone slabs - are distant memories now, but the allure of all those magical and mythical places endures.
Les Vendanges
A glass of full-bodied St. Emilion is nice, no doubt. A Vouvray "moelleux" is altogether a different experience. And, as we all know, France is second to none in the wine department. Besides tasting it, there are more unusual ways to experience French wine.
My most vivid early encounter with the world of wine was during the "vendanges." As a teenager, I worked the harvest. That was hard, back-breaking work. We would get up at 4:00 a.m. to start in the vineyard as soon as daylight would allow. We picked grapes all day long. At times it felt like the rows went on forever, beyond the horizon, and never ended. Sundown and darkness marked the end of the day, more or less. (Back at the winery, we still had to load the press by hand with pitchforks.)
Yes, it was hard. But one short daily event called "breakfast" made it all worthwhile. Every morning, around 9:00 a.m., we would all stop for a break and some food. Some food! The freshest, crispiest "baguettes" covered with the most unctuous "rillettes" (pork paté) served with the coolest, driest Muscadet (while the larks were playfully chirping high above our heads). It tasted so good, it felt so wonderful and it sounded so melodious!
La plage
France is paradise for beach goers and sun bathers (la Côte d'Azur, Biarritz, La Baule, St. Malo and farther north, Deauville and Trouville). I have always had a good time by the water, but my preference goes beyond supine idleness on the hot sand. Take the island of Noirmoutier, off the Bay of Bourgneuf, for example. (I lived there for a few years.) The water is so shallow between the island and the mainland that, at low tide, the sandy ocean floor is completely "dry" - for miles and miles. You can actually walk across on a cobblestone causeway called "le Gois."
With such extreme tides twice a day, going to the beach can become a totally different experience. Shell fishing makes for a fun day. I particularly remember one kind of shellfish: the razor fish (about a half inch wide by four inches long). It buries itself vertically in the wet sand, leaving tiny holes at the surface. To catch it, you drop a pinch of sea salt (produced by the local "marais salants") into the hole. The concentrated salinity makes the razor fish pop its head out, and all you have to do is snatch it between your fingers and pull it out.
There are many more sea animals waiting to be caught at low tide, of course: cockles, mussels and limpets clinging to the rocks, plus various kinds of crabs, shrimp and other small fish. To say nothing of the olfactory sensations floating around you: wet seaweed, fresh fish and the salty air blowing vigorously from the Atlantic Ocean - a very different day at the beach, indeed!
La vie de château
The castles of France are a sight to see. Where to start? Versailles, Chantilly, Chenonceau, Chambord... The entire countryside is peppered with thousands of them: large, small, medieval, Renaissance, austere, ornate, hunting, palatial, small country retreats, hilltop towns defended by mighty ramparts, etc. (My hard drive doesn't have enough memory to list them all.) It must have been nice back then to call one of those your home - although nights must have been awfully cold in the winter.
And I speak from experience... I went to school in a medieval castle (photo on left). Nothing like the opulence and extravagance of those mentioned above, of course, but a "château" nonetheless. The classrooms had high cathedral ceilings. The stone walls measured between ten and twelve feet in thickness. Every morning we marched over the drawbridge to go to class. (No, it didn't work any more. It stayed down all the time.) At night, we went to bed by climbing narrow spiral stairs winding up one of the many watch towers guarding the compound. In brief, "la vie de château". Almost out of Harry Potter!
Bon voyage!
I have many more fond memories of France, from bygone days and from recent visits. Maybe I will write a book about them one day. I visit France frequently and never tire of the new discoveries I make every time. Naturally, every trip I take there feels like going home for me. So, I urge you to go there too and see for yourself. There is a lot more to explore. Let me just name a few of my favorite places: laid back Provence with its bright sunshine and deep blue sea, bucolic Dordogne with its rolling hills and lush green valleys, and let's not forget the "plat de résistance" - Paris, "la capitale." Where else?
So many places to discover! So much culture to absorb! And such great cuisine and wines to savor! Two obvious words come to mind: "Bon voyage!"
Circa Tours is a division of Circa Terras, Inc.
Temecula, California - CST 2081474-40
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