Provence, Camargue & the French Alps – by rail

Explore the breathtaking countryside and mellow stone villages of Provence, take in the exhilarating mountain panorama of the Alps and stand in awe of the sweeping plains of the Camargue on this superb two-centre holiday. With the option to travel by air or rail, getting to your destination has never been easier.

Call Page & Moy on 0845 358 2639 to find out more

Highlights
 - See the wild flamingoes and white horses of Camargue
 - Sample the world-famous Chartreuse liqueur

Included excursions
 - The Camargue, Arles & Les Baux
 - Chamonix

Optional excursions
 - Cassis
 - Chambery & the Chartreuse Distillery
 - Annecy

Meal arrangements
 - 4 nights half board and 3 nights bed and breakfast

Also included
 - The services of an experienced Page & Moy Tour Manager

Your Accommodation

AIX-EN-PROVENCE
Hotel St Christophe (2-star), 3 nights bed and breakfast.
This friendly hotel offers a bar, attractive Art Deco restaurant and stylish guest rooms with air-conditioning and TV.

ALLEVARD
Hotel les Pervenches (2-star), 4 nights half board.
The family-run les Pervenches has a beautiful garden and pool. A selection of local specialities are available in the restaurant and there is an outdoor swimming pool if you fancy a dip. The guest rooms offer lovely views over the countryside.

Your Itinerary

DAY 1 UK/Nice
Travel from London St Pancras or Ebbsfleet on the Eurostar service to Lille, connecting with the TGV service direct to Aix. We spend three nights at the superior 2-star Hotel St Christophe, right in the heart of Aix. There are several restaurants close to the hotel serving wonderful Provencal cuisine.

DAY 2 Aix-en-Provence & Cassis
Enjoy a leisurely morning exploring Aix at your own pace. A wealth of beautiful 17th and 18th-century buildings line the narrow mediaeval streets. This afternoon, don’t miss our optional excursion to the picturesque fishing village of Cassis, its port lined with cafes and bars. A lovely old town of pretty streets spreads out from the town hall, overlooking a shady square. Hemmed in by white cliffs and slopes of vineyards, Cassis has retained much of its charm. Visited by artists and writers including Derain and Virginia Woolf, it is the perfect spot to relax with a drink.

DAY 3 The Camargue, Arles & Les Baux
Today’s full-day excursion shows us the best of the Camargue, the hauntingly beautiful wilderness at the mouth of the Rhone. Stretching endlessly towards the horizon, the gently undulating plains are known for their white horses and prolific birdlife. We also visit charming Arles with its well-preserved amphitheatre and numerous other Roman and mediaeval monuments. It was here that a troubled Van Gogh painted such masterpieces as The Sunflowers and The Starry Night. Our final stop is the evocative mediaeval town of Les Baux, perched on a rocky outcrop above the Provencal landscape. Be sure to wander up through the winding streets to the ruined citadel, and take in the breathtaking views over the Camargue.

DAY 4 Allevard
Leave the gentle Provencal landscape behind and drive north towards Allevard and the French Alps, following the historic Route Napoleon, built to commemorate the leader’s journey north after his exile. Our base for the next four nights is the Hotel les Pervenches.

DAY 5 Chambery & the Chartreuse Distillery
Join our optional excursion to the alpine town of Chambery with its well-preserved fortress. The stunning scenery that we travel through en route is the perfect way to prepare yourself for the delights you will encounter. Contemporary architecture sits harmoniously alongside the town’s more historic buildings in the elegant old quarter, including the remarkably well-preserved fortress. We then have the chance to sample another of this beautiful region’s wonders as we visit the famous Chartreuse Distillery for a tasting of one of the world’s most acclaimed herbal liqueurs.

DAY 6 Chamonix & Mont Blanc
Prepare for a day of magnificent scenery as we visit Chamonix, a popular ski resort that retains a genteel Victorian ambience. You will be free to explore the town or perhaps take the funicular railway up into the mountains for a truly stunning view of Mont Blanc’s most famous glacier, the Mer de Glace.

DAY 7 Annecy
Discover the canals, flower-covered bridges and cobbled streets of Annecy today on an optional excursion. This is one of the most attractive old towns of the Alps, surrounded by rugged snowtipped peaks and standing on the shores of a crystalclear mountain lake, the Lac d’Annecy. A short cruise rounds off a delightful day.

DAY 8 Lyon/UK
A coach transfers us to Chambery station to join the TGV service to Lyon, then Lille and the onward Eurostar service to Ebbsfleet and London St Pancras.

Dates, Prices & Departure
holiday ref: EPEFPCF
11/06/2010  £899  
03/09/2010  £929  

Deposit £100 per person
Prices are based on the shared occupancy of twin or double rooms with private facilities.

Call Page & Moy on 0845 358 2639 to find out more

There are certain things, in a culinary sense, that you just should not fuck with. One of those is: Croque Monsieur.

Originally a beautiful accident, the story goes that French workers had left their sandwich on a radiator and by lunchtime the cheese had melted. As time moved on a chef in a Paris café, a genius no doubt, saw fit to sauté the sandwich in butter. Anyone who has any interest in the history of  ’Le Crouque’ will know that Proust makes reference to it in ‘À la recherche du temps perdu‘ – first published in 1918:

Or, en sortant du concert, comme, en reprenant le chemin qui va vers l’hôtel, nous nous étions arrêtés un instant sur la digue, ma grand’mère et moi, pour échanger quelques mots avec Mme de Villeparisis qui nous annonçait qu’elle avait commandé pour nous à l’hôtel des «Croque Monsieur» et des ufs à la crème…

The Croque has thought to been in Paris and on menus since 1910. There are many ‘Croques’ that appear on menus nowadays (list below) but the original is undoubtedly the best:

The addition of a fried egg served on top – a Croque Madame

The addition of tomatoes – a Croque Provençal

The substitution of  blue cheese for Gruyere – a Croque Auvergnat

The substitution of smoked salmon for the ham – a Croque Norvégien

Some of you may have bravely got to this point and be thinking ‘ seriously, what is this guy on – it is JUST a toasted sandwich’ it would be at this point that I kindly direct you to the back door of the internet and zap your hard-drive.

Along with Macaroni and Cheese the Croque Monsieur really gets me going. I had a conversation with @MathildeCuisine not too long ago about Béchamel Sauce, she like me knows that to be a true Croque you must have Béchamel. I have been to countless restaurants (in the UK) and ordered a Croque and have had to send back my order. The most memorable of which was some years ago in Café Bohéme in Soho, the Chef personally came to the table and I told him that if I had wanted a toasted cheese and ham sandwich I could have gone to a sandwich shop and not have had to pay £6.95 for the privilege. He proceeded to shout at me and I ordered something else. I am sure that they spat in my soup.

It is really simple to get correct – Cheese (gruyère), Ham (wet cured, thinly sliced), Béchamel Sauce (cold and thick), Bread (Pain de Mie) – that is it four items – You then sandwich the cheese, ham and a bit of Béchamel in the bread – butter and grill each side – take some more cheese and Bechamel and pop it under the grill till golden and bubbling , not that hard to get right is it?

I used to live in Chambèry for a year when I was younger. There was this little bar on a backstreet near the Palais de Justice that backed onto the river that made the best Croque that I have ever had. The bread was rectangular and not square, which automatically gave you about 50% more surface area for browned cheese and Béchamel. The best bit about it was that it cost 10 francs which at the time was £1, I ate far too many of them over that year and when I was leaving the owner’s wife who toiled out back showed me her process and how she did it. The secret was a little grill/oven that had elements both above and below. This meant that you did not have to get all technical and turn things over etc. They never had those in the UK and I took one home with me, it lasted about 10 years before I gave it a good send off.

Now, the observant, non vulgar readers who would not have approved of my earlier profanity, will now all probably never read my blog again. After whining on about my love and adoration for ‘Mr Crispy’ and how I think that it should be left alone to shine on a plate – unadorned, crispy, gently browned and tantalisingly silken – I have just, uh, well – gone and fucked with it.

After reading @MathildeCuisine post on Leek Bechamel Pasta I thought that maybe, just maybe it was time to try and improve upon perfection. There were some leeks in the fridge and I had found this little bakery in the middle of nowhere (Wembley) it is run by a very nice Japanese lady and it has great baked goods – the best of which is a white sandwich bread that is a cross between a Pain de Mie and a Pain au Beurre – PERFECT for a Croque. I had some regular Gruyère and some cave aged as well – after a bit of searching I found a Jambon de Paris that came up to scratch and that was thinly sliced.

Croque a Leekie (I know, I know!)

2 Slices of Great White Bread.

30g Gruyère (mild)

25g Aged Gruyère

2 Slices Jambon de Paris

6tbs cold Béchamel sauce (thick)

1/2 Medium Leek

Butter

Method

Thinly slice and soften the leeks in a pan for 25 mins. Season.

Grate both cheeses into a bowl.

Take half the Béchamel and mix with the leeks. Sandwich 1/2 the cheese, the ham and the leek Béchamel inbetween the slices of bread. Butter the outside of the bread and grill on each side until golden brown. if you have a good heavy based frying pan, fry on a medium heat in a little butter until golden.

When done, mix the remaining sauce and cheese and spread thickly over one side of the toasted sandwich and put under a very hot grill until golden.

Serve immediately and eat as quickly as the molten topping allows.

One of my favorite Bridget Jones expressions comes to mind when thinking over the past 48 hours’ travel-nightmare. There I was, in my Anna Karenina gray warm redingote coat and bottines. I knew it would be cold in Lyon, I had left Rome for my business meetings well equipped for urban snow. But not enough for the Campagne de Russie, transport Berezina,  which followed.

I tried to leave Lyon on Friday afternoon, after having completed my meetings in a Playtime Jacques-Tati-esque congress hall: very French, very technocratic and very full of sharp edges.

The Saint Exupéry Calatrava airport was like a winged mammoth skeleton emerging from snowy permafrost Siberian plains. Nothing to do with the light decorative smattering which covered the airport the day before, slightly decorating the grey, concrete-clad French technocratic grandeur.

Now it was a blancmanger. Sugar coating everywhere and no French sharp edges in sight. Everything looked organic and fluffy. I had to walk in the bigger steps of a German investor in order not to get snow into my boots while crossing the parking lot for reaching the departures area. Snow proof shoes appeared to be more useful than Blackberrys. Backpacks more dignified than Rimowas and second-tier trolleys.

It appeared immediately that the closing of the airport was imminent. As soon as my flight to Rome was canceled, I dashed to the taxi rank and got back into town before the road traffic would worsen (and the “tarif neige-verglas” would apply…). I got back my hotel room and went to buy a pair of trekking boots in Lyon’s unappealing La Defense-style “Centre Commercial”, it was icing and snowing at the same time. Later in the evening stranded passengers which had hoped for a reopening of the gates were mooring at the hotel desks, after hours spent waiting in the cold for a taxi with hundreds of other passengers and several attempts to find a hotel room.

On Saturday morning early, better equipped to face the much lower temperatures  – Paris was rumored to have hit -20 celsius during the night, the Air France crews had canceled their rooms at the hotel for the forthcoming 48hrs – I started my journey once more for the airport-cum-TGV station at St Exupéry. Air France flight at 8.40 or TGV to the French-Italian border at 8.46?

Snow outside and a general sense of numbness around. The airport was full of Ferrero Rocher sleepy passengers, wrapped in crushed golden tin-foil emergency blankets, who had spent the night at the terminal. No taxis nor trains had taken them back in town the night before, the airport hotels were full. Not promising.

Better catch the train, even if a dotted line of trains to the border first and then Milano, Roma did present risks anyway. After some back-and-forth from TGV to airport terminals, arbitraging human-generated newsflow (the digital one being unreliable), I put my bets on the train and boarded on the TGV heading to Chambéry. Plum velvet seats, soft conversation and no cell phone pollution. After the icy draughts of Lyon TGV terminal I felt more Queen and less Icy. Good good. Let’s dive into Vogue Paris and pretend it’s travel as usual, for an hour…

We’re in Europe, we’ve got the Euro, but to buy a ticket for a train crossing a border is still an almost impossible task. No agency – either in Rome or Lyon – had managed to book me on the Chambéry-Milano train, despite all the efforts by my colleague in Rome the day before. The French and the Italian tickets were no brainers, but for the cross-border one, digital solutions won’t apply and I had to find out by myself, analogic-style. Then what do we need travel agents for? and IT systems? So I had to find out physically, in Chambéry. Let’s enjoy the Vogue Paris for this hour in the warmth of the nosy train crossing French Siberia, and stock up heat.

Once at the Chambéry station, the train getting to Milano in time for my Mi-Ro Frecciarossa turned out to be full and no seats were available on Italy-bound trains until..Monday! Obviously, Paris was being evacuated by TGV. With a useless Milano-Roma ticket in hand for the afternoon, I had to switch to the “Poised” function and implement plan B. Exploiting Europe’s geography to my advantage, and head north-west rather than south-west. Get round the problem instead of forcing ahead. When the EU doesn’t deliver, go Swiss.

The Swiss surely do it better – than the Italians or the French – when it comes to snow. So I boarded the Chambéry-Geneva. From there, trains to Milano were running on time and still had seats available, even if the arrival in Milano was late at night. That meant finding an hotel in Milano and travelling to Rome on Sunday. Better than turning into a Ferrero Rocher in Chambéry or heading back to Lyon.

The mimosa-yellow velvet seats of the TER heading towards Lac Leman were fabulous, as the vineyards under the snow. The last time we boarded a TER train MeinMann and I were covered in sweat and dust, our bikes loaded with luggage, getting back from one of our Summer biking trips across Switzerland. Trust Swiss trains.

The positive side of it: coffee at Lipp in Geneva with my dear friend Christine! Who would have thought we would meet here for coffee, after our November brunch in Berlin? In the meantime, the negative results of my search for an hotel in Milano for the night and Christine’s online investigations led to another coup de theatre. Better not to continue towards Milan by train and try instead to board on a plane direct to Rome from Geneva airport, which was still open. Last resort solution: coach-surfing in Geneva at Christine’s avoiding the unappealing risk of Ferrero Rocher-ing at Geneva Airport, should it close.

At the terminal, Russian and Greek families freshly tanned on Swiss slopes, clad in designer ski outfits, were waiting at the airport since 7 am in order to get back home via South-of-the-Alps air routes. Eventually the miracle: the blinking of the Check-In icon, and the liquefying of the ice on the aircraft wings. San Gennaro miracle (or just San Gennaio).

After a long queue on the tarmac and an emergency landing which put the airport on stand-by for half an hour, we were authorized to take off with only 3 hours delay on our schedule. The snow storm hitting the aircraft during takeoff was shaking the aircraft, weather conditions were worsening fast, but we were so blase’/numb to worry about it, while the plane quickly reached cruising altitude.

For the majority of the Geneva-Rome plane passengers Fiumicino was yet another night in a stop-over airport hotel, but my logistic nightmare in French Siberia was over, a few magazines and a “The Reader” paperback edition later.

Several times during the past 48 hours I thought about Anna Karenina. In those years mighty locomotives crossed snowy Russia with higher efficiency than today’s Eurotunnel TGVs, Berlin S-bahns, FrecciaRossas or frail planes. Iron, coal, fire pushing ahead, across the snow.

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Mardi 17 novembre 2009

A Chambéry, le squat des Pilos, ouvert en août 2008, et où ont eu lieu de nombreuses choses, dont un dernier concert de soutien aux inculpés de Chambéry ce samedi 14, a été expulsé ce matin.

Une vidéo de l’expulsion ici :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb6gij_expulsion-des-ypilosy-centre-cultur_news
Plus d’infos à venir.

Quelques articles parus dans la presse bourgeoise:

http://juralibertaire.over-blog.com/article-chambery-explusion-des-pilos-39524097.html

Une   magnifique forêt de mélèzes, revêtus de leur parure or, parsemés de quelques touches rouges des sorbiers et se mirant dans les eaux du lac de Pramol …

[Note: This last month has been a challenging one for our family, and while we are not quite ready to share what has passed, we ensure that everyone is doing great and we are just about ready to get back to posting more things on this blog.  I'm particularly looking forward to getting things rolling with the series of post on Fighting for the Home.]

La Croix du Nivolet from downtown Chambery

by J.D.

As many of you know from previous posts, Traci and Eli had a short visit back to the States for the funeral of a close friend and to visit family.  That was a month ago, and the trip overlapped mine and Traci’s anniversary.  Our good friends and fellow missionaries, the Fay’s, held to their offer to watch the kids for a full day so Traci and I could hike a mountain together, and this past Saturday we finally got to go.  Many thanks to the Fay family!  You can see pictures of our kids hanging out with Sam Fay on their website.

La Croix du Nivolet is probably Chambéry’s most noticeable landmark, sitting at 1547 meters up.  There’s a very nice lookout around the cross (which is approximately 70 ft tall), and the view’s are incredible.  There are several ways to get to the top.  You can drive to within an hour’s easy walk and park in a nice parking lot.  You can also drive to a nearby ski resort, which would put you within an hour and a half.  Or, if you’re feeling up for a challenge, you can take a bus to a tiny town halfway up the mountain called Lovettaz, hike two hours and climb a nail-biting set of cliffs and ladders. 

Or…if you’re feeling absolutely out of your mind (and apparently we were), you can start at an altitude of about 200 meters at the very bottom of the mountain in a town called St. Alban-Leysse.  This made for what turned out to be the most enjoyably unenjoyable 8 1/2 hours of our lives!  Fortunately, our good friends were up for keeping our kids into the evening.  It was a great time of mutual reflection, meditation, and pondering the future.  I even made up a little tune on the way up, and after nearly turning back at the cliffs and ladders (I have a terrible fear of heights), my song had some real substance to it on the way back down.

Une marche dans les montagnes

Vers la Croix du Nivolet

N’arrêtez pas sur le chemin

Finissez au Nivolet!

 

Non-literal translation:

[A walk in the mountains

Towards the Cross of Nivolet

Don't stop on the path

Go all the way to Nivolet!]

En cliquant sur ce lien : automne2009 (doc PDF à télécharger)

Pignon, le con de la célèbre pièce “Le Dîner de cons”, refait surface au Chapiteau Théâtre Compagnie dans “L’Emmerdeur”, comédie de Francis Veber tirée du film culte d’Edouard Molinaro, avec Jacques Brel et Lino Ventura, sorti en 1973.

Voilà du comique de situation comme nous l’aimons ! Les portes claquent comme dans un vaudeville. Les dialogues sont drôles et subtiles. Pour le public, les dégâts provoqués par la rencontre entre ces deux personnages antagonistes est un bonheur jubilatoire.

Et pour la photographe, il est difficile de ne pas esquisser quelques sourires devant toute cette comédie !
Ne pas déranger le jeu des acteurs, choisir le bon moment pour déclencher afin de ne pas perturber la diction, saisir les bonnes expressions dans un Chapiteau aux conditions de lumière difficiles…

3 coups de bâton, chut… Rideau…

1h30 de marche aller-retour+ restaurant

Départ et arrêts du minicar : 10h30 Parking Super U, Hauts de Chambéry / 10h45 Fontaine des Eléphants, Chambéry

Participation au transport : enfant < 12 ans = 2 euros / jeunes > 18 ans = 7 euros / adultes = 9 euros

Restaurant = 11.50 euros / Ticket d’entrée du musée = 2.50 euros

Dénivelé de 350m, 4h de marche aller-retour.

Départ et arrêts du minicar : 8h00 Grand rond point de Technolac (parking la Panière) Bourget du Lac / 8h15 Parking Super U, Hauts de Chambéry / 8h30 Fontaine des Eléphants, Chambéry

Participation au transport : enfant < 12 ans =  2 euros / jeune jusqu’à 18 ans = 6 euros / adultes = 8 euros

Az első fordulóbeli vereség után vasárnap Chambéryben könnyedén nyert 29-19-re az MKB Veszprém a férfi kézilabda Bajnokok Ligájában.

Az első félidő ugyan rosszul kezdte a Veszprém, min múlt héten a német Löwen ellen, akkor 6-2-re, itt 6-3-as francia vezetés volt. A 8. percben már 7-3-re vezettek a Császár Gáborral felálló francia csapat, aztán feltámadt a Veszprém, előbb 7-7-re, majd beindult a veszprémi henger. A félidő befejezésig már több gólos vezetéssel játszott a magyar bajnok, így hat gólos előnnyel pihentek a csapatok.

A második játékrészben is folytatódott a remek veszprémi játék. Annyira, hogy tovább nőtt a különbség a két csapat között. A mérkőzés egyes időszakaiban már tíz góllal is vezetett a vendégcsapat. Végül 29-19-re megnyerte a BL-találkozót az MKB Veszprém, ezzel megszerezte első BL-győzelmét ebben a szezonban.

A Veszprém jövő szombaton fogadja a német Rhein-Neckar Löwen otthonában bravúrral pontot szerző lengyel Kielcét.

MKB Veszprém: Vujin 6/2, Iváncsik G. 4, Pérez 4, Eklemovics 3, Iváncsik T. 3, Terzics 2, Sesum 2, Vilovszki 2, Gulyás 2, Korazija 1
Kiállítások: 10 perc ill. 10 perc
Hétméteresek: 5/5 ill. 2/2

A csoport további mérkőzésein:
Rhein-Neckar Löwen-Vive Kielce 29-29, később: Boszna Szarajevo-Velenje

Peu avant la trêve d’hiver, comme il est de coutume, les procédures municipales et préfectorales s’accélèrent en vue de l’expulsion des squats. Pour les Pilos, ouverts depuis plus d’un an déjà, le semblant de statu quo vient de céder la place à une nouvelle procédure ouverte devant leur “justice”.
Tout laisse croire à une procédure et à une expulsion rapide.

Aussi, pour que les Pilos et tout ce qui s’est développé autour vivent, nous appelons à une manif à Chambéry contre leur expulsion. Car avec la fin des Pilos, c’est 15 personnes qui se retrouvent à la rue, et le dernier lieu à Chambéry où se déroulent des activités alternatives qui périt : des concerts, projections de films, un infokiosque avec son freeshop, un mur de graffiti en centre-ville, un atelier vélos, etc.
Tout ça risque de disparaître d’ici peu, ce qui serait une perte notable pour Chambéry, qui n’est pas foncièrement connue comme étant une ville débordante d’activités.

Vendredi 09 octobre :
- 20 h : Resto vegan (prix libre)

Samedi 10 octobre :
- 15 h : “Pilos-Pride” (manif de soutien aux Pilos)
- soirée : concert (prix libre)

Les bénefs seront utilisés en soutien aux personnes inculpées dans “l’affaire” de Chambéry.

http://infokiosques.net/spip.php?article709

Il y a de la place pour dormir si il le faut.

Les Pilos
132 Avenue des Bernardines (à 400 mètres en dessous de l’hôpital)
73.000 Chambéry

eatthecanap738 at gmail point com

Comme le lac des Evettes ou de Chasseforêt, ce lac est apparu récemment à l’échelle du temps, il y a une cinquantaine d’années par suite du recul du glacier. Il présente une ambiance polaire car, lorsqu’on le regarde de face, surplombé par son glacier, nous avons le sentiment d’être en terre Artique. Autre centre d’intétêt, le recul du glacier a balafré les roches comme si un monstre s’était fait les griffes dessus ! Une gigantesque moraine dévoile plusieurs millions d’années grâce aux différentes strates déposées les unes sur les autres: un paradis pour les nombreux géologues venus du monde entier en ces lieux chaque année. Un site vraiment exceptionnel !!!

Départ du pont du chatelard, alt 1350m TERMIGNON. Montée assez raide dans la forêt jusqu’aux chalets d’Esseillon, puis jusqu’au Mont, alt 2090m qui est la jonction avec le GR5 reliant le tour de la Haute Maurienne. Pique nique à Montafia, au pied de la Dent Parrachée. En après-midi, nous rejoindrons le refuge de l’Arpont par un sentier balcon laissant au passage  l’oratoire et la chapelle Saint Laurent, un ancien hameau de bergers aujourd’hui en ruine.

• Le refuge est en vue ! dénivelé de 960 m en marche lente  cotation C3 (bon niveau)
• Gestion libre du repas et nuitée sympathique
• Le lendemain matin … une bonne heure de marche pour arriver au lac et son glacier, alt 2666 m
• Terrain sec donc pas de nécessité d’utiliser crampons et de piolet

Départ et arrêts du minicar :

• 7h30 entrée cinéma les Toiles du lac, Aix les Bains
• 7h45 Grand rond point de Technolac (parking la Panière) Bourget du Lac
• 8h00 Parking Super U, Hauts de Chambéry
• 8h15 Fontaine des Eléphants, Chambéry
• 8h25 Sortie n°19 de la VRU au panneau d’agglomération la Ravoire

Participation au transport, péages et vivres :

• jeune de 12 à 18 ans  :  18 euros + 8 euros*
• adulte : 22 euros +  8 euros*

*redevance refuge hivers CAF

Mise à disposition d’équipement montagne : chaussure de marche toutes tailles, sacs à dos, porte bébé … se renseigner.

Le cuisinier, la sauce et le pur esprit.

Fabulette sans conséquence

Un pur esprit (ne cherchez pas, ça n’existe pas : c’est une image) se promenant de par le monde à la recherche d’une bauge où brasser sa vindicte, entra par mégarde en cuisine.
Un marmiton s’y affairait sur une sauce. Tous ceux qui ont un peu de goût savent quelle en est l’importance : les pires rogatons prennent un tour princier dès qu’on les accommode. Or donc ce marmiton, un œil sur le grand livre et l’autre en casserole, prenait soin de veiller à respecter scrupuleusement les mesures, le tempo et le degré de tout ce qu’il mettait à cuire.
Le pur esprit s’en amusa. Quel idiot, se disait-il, pourquoi suivre le livre et n’en tirer que la poussière, au lieu de faire confiance au vrai talent et laisser l’impulsion faire naître sa magie !

D’une bourrade bien ajustée, il envoya le cuisinier dans les cuivres et pris sa place au piano.
« De la chaleur, de la liberté, de la folie s’il en faut, voilà à quelle sauce je vois ce plat paré ! »

Sans même s’intéresser à la pièce à saucer, il vira dans la gamelle tout ce que l’instinct lui dictait. Sa main fébrile puisait dans les épices, jetant les plus rouges à poignées. « Je fais comme je le sens ! » criait-il en battant le brouet, « et je défie quiconque de me dire que j’ai tort ! »
Sa sauce en effet avait une fière allure, bouillonnant d’esprit et d’inattendues saveurs. Il fallait parachever l’œuvre, ne rien céder sur la puissance de l’esprit sans limite. De l’étagère aux liqueurs il tira une bouteille incendiaire dont il flamba le tout.

Si vous croyez parfois entendre le tonnerre, ce n’est que le petit écho de la déflagration.
Il ne resta rien, ni de l’artiste ni de l’œuvre.

Le marmiton, qui avait eu l’esprit de sauver son livre avant l’autodafé, reprit son artisanat, pour le bonheur des convives. Mais, touché par la grandeur, il se laissait aller parfois à avoir une idée. En cela, le pur esprit sera à jamais remercié.

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Voilà, c’est tout. N’y voyez aucun lien avec une quelconque actualité, ou alors vous avez l’esprit à la fois large et mal tourné.

Sinon, l’actualité est la suivante :

Marc Simonetti (illustrateur de la couverture) m’accompagnera pour dédicacer Djeeb à la librairie Decitre d’Annecy samedi 19 septembre prochain, de 15h à 19h.

Et le samedi d’après (soit le 26 septembre) on s’y remet à la librairie Decitre de Chambéry, mêmes horaires.

La preuve ? Le Dauphiné Libéré lui-même en a parlé.

Découvrez en quelques photos les merveilles de la nature sur ce sentier de Vanoise où nous avons cheminé jusqu’à la chapelle des Glières.

ça peut être intéressant …

A Chambéry, au centre de congrès le Manège, Mardi 29 septembre 2009, 20h30  / Entrée libre mais inscription souhaitée au 04 79 60 21 01

Une soirée très attendue , consacrée à l’ environnement , dans le cadre du lancement national du baromètre nature , appliqué à cette occasion – et ce sera une première – aux Pays de Savoie .

Grand Témoin de la soirée: François LETOURNEUX , Président de l’Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature (UICN) en France.

Au programme:

• Pourquoi un baromètre de la nature en Savoie et Haute-Savoie ?

Eric DE KERMEL , Président du CPNS (Conservatoire du Patrimoine Naturel de la Savoie) et Directeur de Terre Sauvage.

• Présentation des résultats du baromètre de la nature des Pays de Savoie

Xavier GAYTE, Directeur du CPNS , et les partenaires qui ont participé à l’élaboration du baromètre : Parc National de la Vanoise, Parcs Naturels Régionaux, Conservatoire de l’Espace littoral et des Rivages Lacustres (CERL), Conservatoire Ornithologique Rhône-Alpes (CORA), Conservatoire National Botanique Alpin (CNBA)

• Les résultats du baromètre national Terre Sauvage
  

Jean-Jacques FRESKO , Rédacteur en chef de Terre Sauvage

• Quel est l’état de la biodiversité dans les Pays de Savoie ?  les grands enjeux et les menaces

François LETOURNEUX , Président de l’UICN, Jean-Jacques FRESKO , Rédacteur en chef de Terre Sauvage

Evénement organisé par l’association Montanea, Alpes Magazine, Terre Sauvage, en partenariat avec Chambéry Promotion.

La calendrier des sorties de l’automne est en cours d’élaboration (ça arrive, ça arrive !). Mais d’ores et déjà vous pouvez noter :

> samedi 26 et dimanche 27 septembre : le lac et le glacier de l’Harpont dans le massif de la Vanoise De Termignon, alt 1350m dénivelé de 960 m. Pique-nique à Montafia, un ancien hameau de bergers au pied de la Dent Parrachée nuitée dans le refuge hiver (à gestion libre, 8 euros de redevance, 28 places dispo). Accès au lac et au glacier le lendemain matin dénivelé de 350 m.
Participation au transport, péages et coût des vivres :

• 22 euros/adulte
• 18 euros/jeune de 12 à 18 ans
• prendre le déjeuner du samedi midi et un “sac à viande”

> la sortie  “huttes de sudation dans le Jura” devrait être reprogrammée en octobre (le 10/11 ou 17/18)

L’association CEPHEE vous propose ce vendredi 23 octobre une rencontre avec les étoiles du ciel d’hiver. Rendez-vous à 21 h à la station du Margériaz. Renseignements Jacques Beauropert 06 78 30 87 00

Pour celles et ceux qui le souhaitent, une navette effectuera un départ : des Hauts de Chambéry Parking Super U à 20h / un arrêt à la Fontaine des Eléphants à 20h15 / un arrêt à La Ravoire à 20h25 sortie VRU N°19 au panneau d’agglomération. Retour prévu à 23h

Participation au transport :  adultes = 7 euros / jeunes de 12 à 18 ans = 5 euros / enfants < 12 ans = 2 euros

N’oubliez pas d’emporter une veste chaude, des gants, un bonnet. Une soupe au feu de bois sera bienvenue et réchauffera l’atmosphère. Un N° de réservation, celui de l’association Randoleo 04 56 75 13 78 ! Bien nous laisser votre numéro de portable. A 18h30 EN CAS DE METEO CHARGEE, PROJECTION ET CONFERENCE AU LOCAL DE L ASSOCIATION CEPHEE A LA FERME MITHIEUX AU QUARTIER DU BIOLLAY.

Le Club Céphée 73 : une toute nouvelle association déja bien implantée dans le bassin Chambérien qui se propose de promouvoir l’astronomie amateur auprès du grand public. Partage des connaissances et manipulation des instruments,visite des observatoires et animation dans les écoles, venez rejoindre ces “astropotes” cinglés du ciel comme le furent les premiers aviateurs, aujourd’hui résolument émerveillés. Un e-mail : cephee73[arobase]orange.fr leur siège social : Ferme Mithieux, 353 rue des Salins (quartier du Biollay) 73000 Chambéry

Départ et arrêts du minicar : 7h30 entrée cinéma les Toiles du lac, Aix les Bains / 7h45 Grand rond point de Technolac (parking la Panière) Bourget du Lac / 8h00 Parking Super U, Hauts de Chambéry /8h15 Fontaine des Eléphants, Chambéry / 8h25 Sortie n°19 de la VRU au panneau d’agglomération La Ravoire

Participation au transport : enfant <12 ans = 2 euros / jeunes de 12/18 ans = 7 euros  / adultes = 9 euros