It’s getting colder and colder in Europe. Mr. Winter arrived. The next couple of months are dark, cold and wet. Yet in Tourteron we’re looking forward to Spring and Summer 2010. It’ll be the first time you can enjoy the peace of the valley, the shades of the fruit trees, the smell of the flower garden, the quality of the house.
To be sure those weeks off are yours, you should send me an email here with your desired dates and I’ll reply with all necessary information.
We know the water mill is ancient. In 2013 it’ll reach its 200 year anniversary. Everything about the mill feels old. The thick stone walls are at some parts of the house over some 100 cm thick. The wooden structure of the roof has more joints than a wooden ship. There are windows that are long gone but left a mark on the outside for good. There are engravings with names of people who are old enough be the village grandparents.
three fishes in a bottle behind stone
Restoring the mill we’ve found an old custom that we’ve left behind a long long time ago and forgotten all about the meaning. Digging in a wall to reopen a door that was blocked our constructor discovered a glass bottle with three dried fishes.
How freaky superstitious was the miller and his wife when they moved in? Was it witchcraft? Black ceremonies? Maybe they were following some weird local religion and held gatherings around an open fire in the garden?
No …
Some quick research learned us that the hiding of three fishes in a bottle has a Christian background. It might sound pagan to keep dried fish in a wall but it’s explanation has in either way a deep religious meaning. One tells the story of the three fishes symbolizing the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Another tells the story of the three fishes being a symbol of Saint Peter, who was originally a fisherman. He’s closely related to stories from the New Testament about harvesting fish and the dividing of the Fish and the Bread. This dividing is a sign of God’s endless care for human kind.
In any explanation the three fishes are meant to protect the house and its owners in general and to ward them off hunger and poverty. So we’ve asked the constructor to put it back in the wall where it came from.
One never knows.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c82843b0-3ec6-40d0-977a-d0d6992eb25a)
I must say it’s quite a lot of work starting your own real holiday home rental. Going by my Second Life experience in rentals it looked all too easy – big LOL! Yet in fact, we’re still working on the official SuperGites.com and its reservation/payment system. Until that one is up and running, we’ll have to do it manually for friends and family.
You can rent the Water Mill of Tourteron starting April 1, 2010. Renting the mill includes a double fireplace, four bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), a 90-square meter living room, designer kitchen, and a warm welcome. It does not include electricity, wood for the fireplace, or cleaning.
Description
8 people
4 bedrooms; 2 double beds, 4 single beds
4 bathrooms
Pets and children allowed 
400-square meter living space
5,700-square meter terrain
Garage for 2 cars
3 fireplaces
Fully-equipped designer kitchen
Linens available on request
TV
iPod dock stereo set
Costs
A full week’s stay (Saturday 14.00 hours to the next Saturday 10.00 hours) will be 1200 euro in high season and 800 euro in low season.
Seasons
High season is the the last week of June, the full month of July and August, the first week of September and three weeks around Christmas. The rest of the year is low season.
Long Weekends
In low season there’s the option to come and enjoy the mill for a long weekend stay (Thursday 14.00 hours to Monday 10.00 hours) for only 600 euro.
*Special WordPress Offer!!
Some people just can’t wait to get their 2010 vacations booked. To those who want to be the first to rent, we have an exclusive WordPress/Twitter/Friends offer! You early birds: When you pay before January 2010, you’ll get a 25% reduction.
Booking
You should check the calendar below to see if your week is still available and make a booking here. You will receive all further information by e-mail.
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The winter is coming, and that means it’s prime time to clear the fields. The past summer we’ve been fighting the nettles and wild berries. Over two-thirds of the garden was nothing but thorns and stingy things. Not a place where you can play a nice game of football or sit and relax to read a magazine.
We tried to destroy them manually and chemically. But nature is just so strong-willed. The weeds kept on returning. Of course, that’s no surprise if you keep in mind that the previous owners left the fields unused for 30 years.
At the end of autumn we came up with the final plans for the 5700 square meters of garden. The first part, the orchard, will more or less remain the same. The second part will be turned into a flower garden. The third and biggest part will become grassland which is good for football, soccer, running, playing…whatever kids do when they go wild. The second and the third part have been wild terrain for a long time. We could not do it with just our bare hands so we bought –back to basics– a plough!
Let us introduce our new hero by the French description: “La motobineuse SARP S55B2 est équipée d’un moteur Briggs & Stratton de 190cc développant 5.5cv, ses commandes sont par cables et bénéficie d’un guidon réglable en hauteur. La largeur de travail d’origine est de 60 cm mais peut en option (FL) être portée 90 cm. Puissance, simplicité et robustesse pour cette machine de fabrication française. Conforme aux normes C.E.”
I must say: It’s a Killer Machine
I know we promised ourselves in March we’d have our first Christmas in front of this fireplace this year. Well, we’re frowning today because we know for sure we won’t make it. No hard feelings though.
Just looking at the fire makes me dream away: the scent of burning logs, the picture of a huge 12-f00t-tall tree full of decorations (and we have enough, since I started collecting Christmas decorations when I was 18). I imagine our best friends drinking wine and eating petit fours or some other sweet treats. The table will be set in white linen with our best crystal. The huge living room will be full of warmth, laughter, and our energy. On the menu are my îles flottantes in lobster soup, a light salad with Peking duck, a bitter ice, some roasted meat with turnip, a plateau of French cheeses, and a minty honey sabayon.
So, who wants to opt in for 2010?
Only 8km away, we’ve found this sweet restaurant next to the canal and locks at Neuville-Day. It’s cozy, humble, and simple with not too complicated but well-presented food that is quite tasty. It’s the perfect place to walk to and back from if you enjoy hiking. Their homemade goose liver paté is really great–and they do serve a lot!
We haven’t tried it in winter yet, but in summer the setting–a terrace along the canal– is superb.
Restaurant ‘AU SANS SOUCI’
La Coquée
08130 NEUVILLE-DAYTéléphone : 03 24 30 19 58
Fax : 03 24 71 72 42norbert.uberschlag@wanadoo.fr
Menus ardennais. ‘Ravioles du sans-souci’, ‘Minerai ardennais’ foie gras maison, décors en sucre. Vente sur place de produits du terroir.
These last two weeks were a bit –I don’t know– scary? The work is progressing, but there’s still no official news from any government, either about the building permit or the septic tank. So, we guess we can continue what we’re doing without a permit. Even though they cannot do us any more harm, it still feels a bit odd.
The exciting news is Stephane has started working on the concrete floors all around the house. There will be new floors in the restrooms downstairs and in the laundry room in the basement, plus three bathroom units on the first floor.
The sad news is Jamal gave up and is breaking his contract, leaving the plant way too early and leaving his work unfinished. Apparently Stephane found Greg and has hired him to be Jamal’s replacement.
Base for the Restrooms
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f4d78b62-ca81-488b-8b56-cea2f1506ef7)
This Saturday we went to see the progress in Tourteron. Although we were kept informed by Stepháne on a regular basis, we were not sure what to expect. In the end, even the three-and-a-half-hour drive does make us feel a bit helpless. It’s the same with any construction project: being there at least speeds the workmen.
Sanding Mess
When we arrived, the whole place was barricaded with hardboard. All the windows were closed and covered with black plastic. The larger ones were even covered with wooden panels. We couldn’t enter the house by the front door. We had to take the second door uphill. Entering bedroom 3, we stepped into one big, dirty cloud of grey dust. It instantly grabbed our throats. What happened here? Throughout the house the floor was covered with a 5 cm-thick layer of black crystal sand. OK, they have been sanding the wood. In the bare light coming through some holes in the roof and windows we could see the result. All of the wooden beams had become this beautiful light-brown, rough oak colour. Fantastic!
The second fantastic thing that happened was this: the water meter had been moved from the inside of the house to the outside. As strange as it sounds, the meter was originally installed in the middle of bedroom 3. That can be quite unhandy when you need to check something while people are renting. So Monsieur de l’Eau Official came, dug a hole, and placed the meter outside of the house. This resulted in a completely hidden water system. I love it!
The third thing I love about this update is the letters from the officials. The first letter came from S.P.A.N.C.; it’s the official note telling us we have to wait another two weeks before we’ll know if we can install the new 4000-liter eco-friendly septic tank where we want it. Why does that make me happy? Because it means they have at least approved it! There’s another bureau involved who’ll have a final say, but this is a good start.
The second letter has not arrived yet. Why does that make me happy? It means we have to wait one more week. No news here means the complete building permit has been approved and we can start on the roofs and windows in one week.
Our plan is to open for rental guests the third week of March. Saturday March 20 will be the first time somebody can rent the first Super Gîte. That’s right before the Easter holidays.
In the next weeks we’ll have a reservation module online at the official supergites.com site, but any early birds who really can’t wait should contact us here: marco AT artmiks . nl . Because we would appreciate the risk you’d take by making a reservation on a project that isn’t even finished, we’ll have a very nice proposal waiting for you.
And you probably wonder what rent costs at the mill. A full week’s stay–Saturday 14.00 hours to Saturday 10.00 hours–will be 1200 euro in high season and 800 euro in low season. This includes double fireplace, four bedrooms each with its own bathroom, a 90-square meter living room, designer kitchen, and a warm welcome. It does not include electricity, wood for the fireplace, or cleaning. So, who’ll be our first guests?
Related articles by Zemanta
- What Does Septic Mean? (healthhype.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0d326796-7284-4f07-a616-027d304e6b3a)
Here are 10 ’sweet’ recipes from the famous French kitchen. I consider myself a ’chef’, although I only cook when we have guests. Call me lazy, but it’s true! These 10 recipes represent some of the easiest ways to impress your guests. They are simple and fast and – with one exception– sweet. The recipes have been picked randomly; I hope they are all as good when you make them as I have written here! 
Tarte Tatin is probably the most famous apple pie there is. Besides that it’s easy to make, it looks good, smells perfect, and tastes like heaven. For a guy like me who’s not that much into sugar, it’s great. If you have a sister, make one when she’s coming. She’ll forever love you - unless her name is Suzette.
Crêpes (pancakes) are eaten all over the world. There are Dutch ones, American ones, even Korean ones. But in France they are the best. They are thin and sweet. You can get them on almost every corner of the bigger city centres. You can have them with any sweet topping you’d like. I prefer these Suzettes with Grand Marnier.
It’s just a miracle to see those foamy balls of beaten egg white in the yellow vanilla soup. As a child I was a huge fan. Now it’s just toooooo sweet. Another warning: Don’t try this at home after a few courses.
This sweet cake-kinda-bread matches perfectly with foie gras. It’s really good when you make it yourself and eat it while it’s still slightly warm.
Macarons are a traditional French pastry, made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. No wonder they’re sweet. This chocolate recipe is mouthwatering… A MUST TRY! This is a good thing to prepare with kids, if you can manage to keep some around to eat after the preparation.
This is the thing to eat in France at Christmas…NOT my taste but it is sooo French that it simply has to be in this list. I think these heavy logs are just made of too much butter: it’s all FAT. Brrr.
The croissant is named for its distinctive crescent shape and it’s my every-Sunday starter. I eat them the Dutch way: cut open and filled with either cheese or homemade jam and accompanied by fresh orange juice and coffee. Done.
The only salty recipe in here, but since I love them I thought they couldn’t be left out. A galette is a salty crêpe with toppings like meat, cheese, veggies or eggs. Love ‘em!
Possible in any taste thinkable, from sweet to salty. There’s even a great recipe for chicken liver soufflé. Just try a new one every day!
The simplest recipe here, and believe me – it’s tastier than you could ever imagine!
Related articles by Zemanta
- The French cooking bible is back and bigger than ever (telegraph.co.uk)
- Chicken Pot Pie with a Biscuit Topping (crazyadventuresinparenting.com)
- Cheap Eats: Mr. Crepe (bostonist.com)
- The Simple Woman’s Daybook: October 19, 2009 (wmljshewbridge.blogspot.com)
- France’s favourite dishes (telegraph.co.uk)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4b637439-1074-4036-b8c5-27245a05e89b)
First step to the Perfect Tarte Tatin: 'melting' the apples
Tarte Tatin is an upside-down apple tart in which the apples are caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked.
Tradition says that the Tarte Tatin was first created by accident at the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France, in 1898. The hotel was run by two sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin.
Wikipedia
But who cares about the origin if it’s simply the richest type of apple pie on earth. It’s famous all over the world, and it can be made with a zillion variations.
I’ve found a great recipe from BBC Food that I tried the other day with my own apples harvested from the mill’s orchard. :-)
And, if you prefer Dutch: Probeer dit recept.
