Travels with Forty Roses: On the Yonne

The week has flown by, although we are basically at walking speed, floating up the Yonne, on our way to Auxerre. Tonight, we are celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with champagne, some lovely stinky cheese and a La de Réve which is a little shaped loaf made with honey raisins and hazelnuts. Just delightful. Brie of Meaux and a morbier which we have fallen in love with. Morbier (meaning "small market-town") is produced in the village of Morez in the Jura mountains. Its creation dates from the 19th century. Its origin was for the personal consumption of the Comte cheese makers. Each night soot was sprinkled on the fresh curd that remained at the bottom of the barrel, which prevented a rind from forming and kept the insects away. The next day, left over pieces of cheese were put on top to make the Morbier. The cheese is uncooked and pressed, and allowed to mature for two months. It is then brushed with salty water. The shape is round with sides that bulge slightly; it has a horizontal black furrow of ash through the middle. The production of this cheese is protected by a special label from the Franche-Comte; it belongs to the AOC family.(Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée is a designation of provenance used in France.)

Its taste is savoury and fruity. During the maturing period, the cheese develops a natural fine rind. the pale yellow pâte is supple and soft,dry and sticky at the same time. And we love it!

You cannot pass a cheese shop or counter without checking it out. Everyone has a favourite and we are just trying them all as people we meet recommend them. Or we close our eyes and choose one...those seem to be the best of all. Maybe after a while we shall hone our taste buds, but right now they all seem delicious.

So, Thanksgiving dinner was lemon chicken…you can do anything to French chicken and it tastes good…and roasted vegetables. John created a dessert of sliced grapefruits and dark chocolate which was rather good! It was not Canadian pumpkin pie, which we sorely missed, but an acceptable alternate.

This week the photos are a pretty mixed lot. We have seen so much it is difficult to describe, so we feel photos are best. We visited Fontainebleau. There were very few tourists there so we felt like the former Kings and Queens of France roaming the Royal Apartments and gardens. The richness of the decoration is rather overwhelming and if we did up our homes like this today we would be viewed a bit oddly. The fashion was for pattern upon pattern and richness of design and material. It’s all there as it was. We often stop to ponder the cost of maintaining all these glorious ancient sites. Hats off to France as we are enjoying every one of the historical sites we visit.

The town is situated in the Forest of Fontainebleau, 2 miles from the left bank of the Seine. The famous château southeast of the town is one of the largest residences built by the kings of France. Originally a medieval royal hunting lodge enlarged by Louis IX, or St. Louis (1214–70), it was entirely rebuilt by the best French architects of the time in 1527; only one tower of the earlier building still stands. Famed craftsmen, including the Italian painter Francesco Primaticcio and the Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, were called to the court to further embellish the palace; these artists, collectively referred to as the School of Fontainebleau, blended Italian and French styles. Henry II (reigned 1547–59), Catherine de Médicis (1519–89), and Henry IV (reigned 1589–1610) enlarged the palace. The spacious gardens were redesigned by André Le Notre, the 17th-century French landscape architect, during the reign of Louis XIV. The château is a succession of five courtyards of different shapes. The Gallery of Francis I (reigned 1515–47), has spectacular carved panels of which we have a few pictures. The château is surrounded by pleasant gardens with a reflecting pool a kilometer in length, built in the reign of Henry IV. The château and its gardens were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981.

We have included photos from some of the rooms we visited. There are 1500 rooms in all, thankfully we did not have to see them all. What we enjoyed most of all was biking through the avenues of trees and the pleasant grounds. We were moored at St. Mammes on the Seine just before our turn-off to the Yonne. We took the train from Moret-sur- Loing (where the Impressionists loved to paint, especially Alfred Sisley) along with our bicycles and spent a lovely day exploring.