Autumn mists, golden leaves, sunshine, storms and a harvest moon....the change of season in Le Morvan is glorious!
This weekend on a sunny Saturday, I decided to move the geraniums from pride of place on the windowsills to indoors for the winter. During the week I went bargain hunting with a friend who enjoys poking around brocantes and vide-greniers looking for treasure as much as I do! Now that the brocanting season is just about over, we found these planters in the "last chance saloon" at Emmaus, the huge charity shop at Etang-sur-Arroux in Saone et Loire. Only a couple of euros and the planters are covered in some kind of plush, velvety fabric, very 1970's! The bargain of the day was the fab steamer style deckchair I grabbed for just 4 euros!
It's harvesting and foraging time....the freezer is full of kilos of blackberries and windfall apples...so I decided to try a delicious new recipe Blackberry, Apple and Cobnut Crumble cake from Seasonal Baking by Fiona Cairns, published by Weidenfield & Nicholson. Served warm with creme fraiche it makes a good pudding too.
The flavour of fresh, fruit from the hedgerows and the garden, grown naturally is just a joy.
Yesterday we went with friends to Flavigny sur Ozerain, in the Cote d'Or, it's a member of the Les Plus Beux Villages, special places across France selected for their beauty and charm. Flavigny oozes history, dating from 719 when a Benedictine abbey was founded there.
The medieval abbey now houses the factory for Les Anis de Flavigny, small aniseed flavoured sweets, that are made in amazing flavours. And the other claim to fame is that Chocolat, the Johnny Depp film was partly filmed in Flavigny.
It's always a favourite place of mine to visit but the reason to go yesterday was the marche de Saint Simon, an annual market full of artisans, foodie delights and vide-grenier bargains. We ignored the weather forecast of rain and storms and had a very happy time in great company eating from the food stalls, finding the bargains and exploring the town in the warm sunshine.
