http://www.lost-in-france.com/ Recent Videos Video  Situated in the heart of Burgundy, the Côte d'Or is worthy of its name, the Golden Ridge. The autumn vineyards are rich with a myriad of colours. The Côte d'Or contains two distinguished regions: The Côte de Beaune for its excellent white wines and the Côte de Nuits for its famous red wines. There are 3 daily tours available by Wine & Voyages. For more information, please visit: http://wineandvoyages.com]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:39:13 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/354/travel/wine-a-voyages-burgundy-tour  The cathedral in Reims]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:37:30 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/353/travel/reims-an-800-year-old-cathedral  Maille is a French mustard and pickle company. Founded in 1747, it is famous for its Dijon mustard.]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:35:30 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/352/food-and-drink/maille-mustard-shop-in-dijon-france  Visit from 9:30am to 11:50am and from 2:00pm to 4:50pm. Taittinger recommend arriving a few minutes prior to the start of a tour and to wear warm clothes. The visit is a one hour walking tour followed by a tasting. Cellar entrance located at 9 Place Saint-Nicaise in Reims, France. Tel. : 33(0)3.26.85.84.33]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:33:13 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/351/travel/champagne-taittinger-cellar-tour  Host Richard Goodwin continues his adventure through France with a report from the La Drome area of France:

At the end of the 19th.Century, Ferdinand Cheval, a postman in Haut-Rives, constructed his ideal palace which was purely decorative. It took him 33 years and at the same time he was doing his postal round which was between 30-40 kms per day. Imagine coming back after walking all that way and then getting going on your passion. He said that while he was walking on the same route every day, it gave him the chance to dream. He had worked as a baker and was therefore used to working with dough so he knew how to make the shapes you see decoration his ideal palace. He really was a marathon man and had gotten used to people thinking he was quite mad. It is, however an extraordinary monument to one man's extraordinary vision and has become in own way a major work of art. He was a truly remarkable man and in his way a poet in stone.

Bernard Cathelin, who is another artist but of a much more conventional kind, had been a professor of art at the Beaux Art in Paris which is the top art school in the capital. He owes his artistic career entirely to his mother and the countryside of the Drome where he has this house and grounds. His simple paintings express the intercourse between man and nature. The countryside of the Drome keeps calling me back.

The countries that impressed him most were Mexico for the colour he saw there and Japan for its reflection. My roots are very strong from here. I had a beautiful mother who put me on the path to beauty. It talks moving about the mysterious properties of lavender.

The little village of Soyons is dominated by its castle and a beautiful Romanesque church. In the village is the egg museum created and run by Francoise She has minute eggs from the humming bird to giant dinosaur eggs 700 million years old. Of course I asked her whether the chicken or the eggs came first and she gives a very clear and definitive answer but you will have to watch the episode to hear her answer. Francoise shows the amazing things that you can do with an egg like making lace. Then she took me to her witches' garden where she has a number of strange herbs and other devices. This really is a beautiful place. She tries to convince me that these beans are the beans Jack used in Jack and the Beanstalk.

The castle of Aulan is a remarkable place because it has been entirely restored by the very amazing Count Aulan who told me that the castle had been in the since 1313 which is quite a hunk of time. The family nearly lost the castle in the First World War through some unscrupulous, dishonest lawyer. The robust octogenarian Count Aulan has many a good story to tell.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:41:17 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/350/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-17-la-drome  In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin visits Ardeche. Ardeche, lies on the west bank of the Rhone about halfway down the river. It is a very wild woolly place perched mostly on the side of hills. In a forgotten valley I meet Raul whose family have owned the water rights and the mill for 400 years. Raul told me about his mill and he said he could mill chestnuts, wheat and barley for animals. Millers mill anything but flour millers only mill flour. He told me that anyone who had water rights before the French Revolution (1789) had them in perpetuity. I asked him how he coped with rats. He said he'd solved his problem by mixing barley with poison and Pastis which is a favourite French aperitif.

Terracing was the only way the peasants could eek out a living off the land. They were often paid for their day's work in earth which they put on their terrace. I went to see the beautiful Agnes who has formed an eco museum to preserve the art of terracing. She runs courses for building dry stone walls. She says that building dry stone walls is a complex three dimensional puzzle. It is so absorbing it stops you thinking about anything else and therefore very therapeutic. I went to watch Christian and Jack build a serious wall nearby.

Jack took me to an unusual café on the first floor of an old noble's house where the woman who runs the establishment has a pourer's dead eye. She lives in her kitchen just off her café.

Jean Paul is a successful potato farmer but his potatoes are called rattes which are like small new potatoes and taste really delicious. We have chestnuts, raspberries, vines enough for the family's wine, coco beans and cherries. We get the early sun on the terraces at 08.10 in the morning and the little terraces get warmed and that's how we get the early crops. There was one chestnut tree that is alleged to be over 1000 years old.

Antreges is a pretty village in the heart of the Ardeche. I stayed at the village's only hotel the Angel and was introduced at once to the owners two chickens, Rosa and Maise. A very quiet little place with a few attractive guests.

The soil in the valleys around is very acid so blue hydrangeas abound. On a lonely mountain road a strange little group came round the bend. He told me that he couldn't ride the horse till its is four years old and now he has load only 10 kgs because it strengthens the back of the horse. The goat is to keep the horse company because otherwise the horse gets restless and bored.

Deeper into the Ardeche I watch Roland fix a local roof with the traditional loze, large thick flat slates. Each loze is nailed into place. He says the roof on this house would weigh upwards of two hundred tons. Nearby Ros, a pert little red head has taken on a large semi ruined house which she hopes to turn into a bed and breakfast. I asked her why there was so much moss in her attic. She said it was the old way of insulating the roof and in her opinion is much better that rockwool. Some others use clay.

At the top of a remote lies the tiny village of Tine. The Church is the jewel of the village. The stones were carried from 20 kms away. The church is constructed using the Golden Number, 1.618. Everything in the church is a multiple of 1.618.

The gorges in Ardeche are truly gorgeous. St Menton is a village in the south of Ardeche . Mrs Holt explains the village herb garden that she tends.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:40:19 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/349/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-16-ardeche  THE LIME FLOWER FAIR
In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin takes a trip down the Rhone tied to the barge of my friend whose barge is called L'Humanite. The Rhone is still a river for working boats and men. Before the river was canalised, men used to drag the barges up the river.

Richard reports:
My first stop was at the vineyard that produced St. Joseph wine. The proprietor graphically demonstrated his method for tasting wine.

In the Vercours, Mr Achard demonstrates his bee keeping technique. He convinces me that the bees he cultivates from Buckfast Abbey, in Devon never sting and produce a large amount of honey. When he presses a frame of the hive against my cheek fully populated with bees, I confess my heart was in my mouth. He tells of the many grafts that Father Adam had made to produce these amazing bees. Mr. Achard, a professor of Indian history, also told me many things about the history of bees which I found immensely interesting. The bee is 150 million years old. He says that his friend Father Adam was the best beekeeper since Aristotle 2400 years ago.

The Drome is a great place for growing lavender. Every year in a corner of the Drome in Baronies there is lime flower fair where dried lime flowers are sold by members of the public which is a joy to watch. I meet some amusing people on the way to the fair. Lime flower tea is a neuro sedative and not as my talkative friend claims an aphrodisiac. This is what is called La France profonde or truly in the stix.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:39:04 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/348/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-15-la-drome  In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin visits the rolling hills of the Monts Lyonnais where just to the South of Lyon, lives the remarkable Mr. Roland Dams. Mr Dams, a veterinarian, is known as the man who saved the 'coq Francais'.

"He has devoted his life to saving the ancient strains of French of poultry," Richard tell us. "Holding a sick looking hen with a pale comb in his arms , he explains that there is nothing wrong with the bird and in fact it is the best sort of chicken that you can get. Roland explained that these two bachelor geese had taken charge of these orphaned goslings. He then showed me the various eggs from the different species and I was amazed by the different sizes of the eggs of the ancient strains. Genetically it can't be explained he tells me. He shows me a Le Mans chicken that he has been developing for 20 years. A huge bird and he says with a great future. I believe he tells me over a glass of the very best Bordeaux red wine that there is movement towards quality food. The work that Roland Dams does will one day stand us all in good stead."

Richard moves on and describes his experiences:

Andre Sablier told me why St. Etienne was famous for cycles and guns. St. Etienne was a mining down which produced very fine coal which was used for smelting to produce very high quality steel. I started in 1964 and I think that I am considered one of the best cycle makers in the world. I lifted the bike he had brought and it seemed feather light for a bike. He told me that at 6.5 kilos it is one of the lightest bikes in the world and that he had made it 20 years before. I made that for my wife, Michelle and I make bikes for special people, professional cyclists like Raymond Polidor and Bernard Hinault. They don't have my name on them though, I am only a small man.

Marie-Pierre Vincent is a fine photographer of people. Marie --Pierre rents an allotment and has over the years taken some wonderful pictures of her fellow gardeners, so I thought I would go and have a look. The gardeners were very chatty and immensely proud of what they were growing. Each allotment takes on the character and nationality of its owner. This fig tree grew from a cutting that I brought from my home town in Syracuse in Sicily. This gentleman was a retired miner and he explains about the device the miners had for drying their clothes after a days work. He produced a big bunch of a herb called oregano which he says is very useful for people who suffer from constipation. A good tomato with olive oil and oregano and all will pass.

Next I went to a factory that makes guns. The boss showed me his collection of fine woods for the stocks of his rifle collection. A good rifle from this factory would cost over $2000. he showed me how the rifles were made.

I then went to see one of the best gun engravers in France. He started life as a jeweller and he still engraves jewellery but I fancy his love is in engraving these guns. The design that won him the badge of being one of the best workers in France his particular field took him 900 hours to complete. He tries to explain the details of his art.

When he finishes his engraving, his work goes for a process called bronzing and I went to see how this was done in a gloomy workshop nearby. Anyway it turned out to be a secret process which you could watch but not understand.

I went next to a really cheap restaurant that produces amazingly good food for little money. I had always thought that Paella was a Spanish dish but he told me that paella means the rests in Arabic.

Because of the very powerful coal in the St. Etienne area all the stoves are made with mostly sheet steel rather than cast iron which makes them a great deal easier to repair. This gentleman repairs the old stoves which are beautifully decorated and he sells them on. He shows us his masterpiece and huge stove that works on any kind of fuel, coal, wood, gas.

I then went to meet some ladies who make all kinds of embroidery for prestigious societies in France. Some of the front panels take 200 hours of work.

Next I went to see one of the best examples of Romanesque Art in France, in a neighbouring church, which has been there for a 1000 years.

Then I went to see a pencil factory. If you have ever wondered how they get the lead into the pencil you will find out here.

Then we see a beautiful chateau with a sculpture of the first artichoke in France.

Lastly I went to have a pair of wooden clogs made by a man who really knows his trade. They were wonderfully comfortable and warm but not much fun for those live under you.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:33:44 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/347/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-14-loire  My next exploration of the great city of Lyon was to go to the Croix Rousse district which had made the city rich with its silk weaving. Lyon has a tradition of painting scenes of its everyday life on the barren walls of buildings. The next person that I visted is painted on the wall, Mr. Matalon, who tells of his life as a weaver and the mysteries of the looms. After that I visited the amazing velvet who makes pasmenterie which is the gold braid that is sewn onto officers uniforms and churchmen's robes. She told me that she had been born is this very room on the other side of the loom. When her father had started here there had been no motor and he had to turn a handle all day long without stopping which would have been fatal for the weaving process. She said she was 89 years old one more she said proudly that Mr. Matalon who was 88 years old. She had worked for 20 years for the Russian Orthodox with gold thread but then they tried Japanese plastic gold tread which didn't work when you put it in the washing machine. Now all the thread is plastic with a good coating of gold that doesn't come off. She told me that she had worked for 54 years on these two looms here.

Here is where they make the real gold thread for the burnooses for the Arab sheikhs. Agnes makes her living making silk velvet. She explains the process of making silk velvet and the dangers. She says is working with 8000 threads and is lucky to weave half a yard a day.

Mr. Maire was the next person I visited. He does something called moiré which he explains in depth. I find this section extremely interesting. Apparently the ancient invented this method of patterning silk by strapping stones on the insides of their knees and then pressing their knees together.

In the heart of the Croix Rousse is a restaurant run by Geoff and his wife Janine. Janine, an excellent cook confessed that she had learnt all her cooking from cookery books. Geoff supplies the bonhomie in spades. Before I left I was kidnapped by La Grosse, a very large lady indeed, who told me that she had been a silk weaver for 45 years and that she was going to show me the silk weavers museum whether I liked it or not.

Round the corner Madame Riva shows me how she paints silk. She makes it all look so simple with the just a piece of cotton wool and some dyes. We then go a huge factory for silk scarves which is run Andre Canova. All the colours come from a carousel and prove popular.

The house of Prelle is one of the heavy weights of the silk weaving business. He talks of the dangers of leaving the threads taught over the weekend. He then tells a story of Gloria Vanderbilt who was one of the big spenders of her day and had order material for her newly built ballroom on Rhode Island in 1890. The years had passed and now the owners of the mansion wished to restore the ballroom to its former glory. Prelle had received a tiny sample of the original material from the Metropolitan Museum, New York. Do you know who wove this they wrote? Our archivist said I know this pattern and she produced the original order their sample, the name of the weaver, and even samples of the original threads. They were starting on the new order in a few days. The order was for 100 metres and they thought they would weave half a metre a day.

I thought I had seen just about everything in the silk velvet line but when I go to Tassnerie I realised that I hadn't. There are no modern machines in this workshop. We are weaving 19 metres of special material for Versailles with 27 colours and it will take two years if all goes well. There are 44,000 cards for one repeat of the design. He only manages to weave a few inches every day. This really blew my mind.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:31:31 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/346/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-11-lyon-silk-weavers  Down the Saone to France's second city Lyon is one of the great river trips in France. Lyon in the Middle Ages became the centre for European silk weaving. Weavers came from Italy and the beautiful Italianate buildings on the banks of the Saone as you arrive by river into the city, bear witness to this. To the North of Lyon there is a district called the Croix Rousse where all the weavers lived. But, more of that later.

As soon as I had tied up the Regina on the Rhone, there was an enormous flood. All the towpaths were inundated but luckily my neighbour had fixed up a way to get ashore.

The first place that I visited was Lyon's favourite place Le Halle. The people of Lyon have a passion and it is food. The reason that they have this passion is that they live in an area which really has all the best produce in France and that is saying something. My first call was tob the queen of the saucisson or salami. I complained to her that I had eaten something called a quenelle. She said her quenelles were divine which later I found out to be true. Her assistant in the prosperous business keeps all the addresses of all their clients in his head. He says he doesn't believe in computers.

I learnt about French cheese of which there are 385 different sorts in France. I learnt how to open oysters from Mr. Monastier the oldest man at 84 years in the market still working away. Then I sat down to a lovely plate of oysters from Omaha Beach where the Americans landed on D-Day. In Lyon the in-crowd go for a jog on Sunday mornings and then go to Le Halle and have a bottle of white wine and a dozen oysters. What they do on Sunday afternoons is up to them!

Colette Sybilia, proud of her Lyon was determined to show me the restaurants of Lyon of which there are many. The most famous are the old 'buchons' which literally meant somewhere where they would have a handful of straw to wipe down your hot horse while you had a meal. They are very popular and the food is very, very good. My favourite was chez Hugon, which is run by Mere Hugon who had been born and bred on a barge and so was very used to working in very cramped conditions. Her blood sausage and caramelised apples are worth crossing continents for. A New York Times reporter had praised her cooking and now the world beats a path to her tiny restaurant. Her chicken livers with cream sauce, still makes me salivate to think about them. The fountain in the main square just outside Mere Hugon's kitchen was designed by Bartoldi the same man who designed the Statue of Liberty.

The final restaurant Colette took me to was chez Tetedoie which is run by a young chef who is one of the elite band of 'meilleurs ouvriers de France' (the best workers in France in their particular metier'. It entitles those who have been thus honoured to have the French colours on the chef's collar. His restaurant is very deluxe and up market. He is a very inventive chef and one of his very popular dishes is calves head and lobster and very delicious it is too. He invites us into his kitchen to watch his new delight, snails cooked in pastry.

As we left he said we should take his son down to the cathedral where as a chorister he had a rehearsal. It was hard to believe that this little scamp in football trousers, could by simply slipping on a white robe, sound like an angel in the great cathedral. An extraordinary experience which I am very glad I did not miss.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:30:01 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/345/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-10-lyon  I arrived in Villaefranche, the capital of the Beaujolais on my old tug, the Regina to witness a very curious ceremony which I imagine must be unique. Conscription in France started in 1792 and the Wave or La Vague in French started in Villefranche 160 years ago. The men folk are split up into groups of conscripts for every ten years and they all get a different coloured ribbon to tie round their top hats. Recruits or first 10 years get green ribbons, yellow for guys between 30-40 years, red for between 50-60 yeas, blue 60-70 years, mauve 70-80 years, 80-90 years blue, white red and over 90 years you get to ride in a car.

The idea is that everyone carries a bunch of mimosa with red carnations in it and then they dance down the main street of Villefranche to commemorate their society and then they give their posies to the mothers, wives or girlfriends. Everybody has a good breakfast of lentils cooked with ham and Montbeliard sausage and lentils and washed down with litres of Beaujolais the wine of the terroir. Because everyone is well oiled before they start dancing down the street they all find it easy to form the endless wave. This society dedicates itself to doing good works and helping others when not dancing up and down the main drag.

Then we watch how the vines in the Beaujolais are pruned. A good pruner can do 800 metres of vines a day making 15,000 cuts. Vines are no good in damp ground I was told. Then I stayed with Isabelle at her bed and breakfast. She explained about terroir again and about how richly endowed the Beaujolais is with every kind of good produce. Isabelle's father had been a butcher and so she passed her exams to make all kinds of pate and sausages as a charcutiere. The famous Beaujolais Nouveau can be drunk at midnight on the third Wednesday of November. A very good marketing ploy, which works right around the world.

Madame Callow runs a village grocery and bar. She is famous for her omelettes. She told me she used three eggs per person but the trick was in the way you bear the eggs. All I can say is that her omelette was extremely good to eat.

The Chateau de la Chaise has the largest wine cellar in the Beaujolais. Then I visit Emmanuel, one of 6 brothers who farms the family farm where they have been for the last 150 years. Emmanuel has a special call for his cows and his horses which he demonstrates. He also lets his baby goats out of their pen for the first time. He explains that all the wine in the Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape but it tastes different depending on which terroir it is grown. He demonstrates the difference between Beaujolais Village and Beaujolais which grow on fields not 500 yards distant.

A stone cutter who repairs stone church windows around the place shows how he makes mullions. He tells us the stone quarries are getting fewer and fewer. The mayor of Marcy is quite a card and probably a very good mayor. Under the town hall he has what he calls his decision room and he explains that when there is difference been the councillors, they all retire to his decision room in the cellar where it is not long before a decision is reached. The mayor had another very good bit of information about wine. It is that if the winemaker is a nice kind man the wine will be sweeter.

A couple of days later the mayor of Marcy demonstrated the model of the Chappe semaphore which stands on the hill about his town. He told me that it was possible to send a message from Paris to Toulon, the length of France in twenty minutes.

I visit a gentleman who has built his own chateau. He proudly shows me over his pile and then he shows me how he tastes wine. After that we go to the Beaujolais museum where they have an enormous mechanical organ from the turn of the century which has one row of bottles filled to different levels with Beaujolais which are struck by hammers to make the sound of bells.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:28:31 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/344/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-9-beaujolais  In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin begins with a fishing competition which like most fishing competition is held in the rain. Fishing is incredibly popular in France and Theodore Zeldin has said that at any one time in the summer in France 70% of the male population are fishing. This fishing competition is on July 14, which is the day that the Bastille was stormed by the angry mobs. Afterwards there is always a party and this evening they had a really fine accordionist.

Then we go to visit a wine maker in the Chablis district, where allegedly the finest white wine in the world is grown or so they say in Chablis. After that there is a very interesting set of bottle sizes :
Magnum 2 bottles
Jeroboam 4 bottles
Rehoboam 6 bottles
Mathusalem 8 bottles
Salmanassar 12 bottles
Balthazar 16 bottles
Nebuchadnezzar 20 bottles

After that a general's daughter with 5 children shows me how to make ham in white wine sauce. Her father the general had always told her that you must give your instructions clearly and precisely. She certainly does that very well with this recipe. The result is good.

Then in Tonerre see the fosse which is where the village women used to wash their clothes. Unremarkable to look at but in fact two divers have descended to find where the water came from and neither of them ever resurfaced.

Then we go to a man who makes the horses for carousels. It is interesting to see how he makes up the volumes of wood to make the shape of the horse. Next door is the children's toy museum which is worth a look if you've ever had a teddy bear.

Then I go to Flavigny to the factory that makes the famous aniseed sweets. Catherine Trubart explains in great detail how this old fashioned sweet invented by the monks hundreds of years ago, is made.

The last section in Burgundy is about two old aristocrats who when they retired started to make delicious bottled fruits and preserved vegetables in salt and herbs in jars. They were an instant success with the discerning Japanese buyers at the most exclusive food shop in Paris, Fauchon.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:26:30 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/343/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-8-burgundy  In Part 7 of this video series about travelling the waterways of France on a tug boat, Richard Goodwin takes us to his favourite place on his favourite river in France, the Saone. Some film from an earlier trip illustrates the great charms of this river. In this area there are three great abbeys, Cluny in the south which had a bigger church than St Peter's in Rome until it was destroyed in the French Revolution because the abbey had become too big and too corrupt to be allowed to continue. Vezelay where many of the crusaders mounted their horses for their struggle to restore Jerusalem to the Christian faith. In this amazing abbey, there many beautifully carved capitols on the top of the columns. They are made of marble and each must weigh more than a man can lift but they look as though they are as light as a feather, so skilfully have they been carved. The last abbey in this area is Autun which has many treasures the best being the carved capitols which depict the Nativity story.

Not far away we visit the abbey of Fontenay which had been founded by St. Bernard. Here the monks had made everything that they needed. They specialised in metalwork and became famous for it. Sadly the British sacked the abbey but the Mongolfier family who had done so much to promote the hot air balloon restored it to its former glory.

Short of food on a Monday I went to an old abbey where they ran a communal table. On this Monday, there was a group of women who had gone on a retreat there. The noise in the stone hall was unbelievable with all these women talking at the tops of their voices. The best argument for the vow of silence! We then meet a monk who shows us his cheese which he sells to the public. I asked him whether the good Lord had had a hand in its manufacture. The monk replied very sharply that the Lord made the grass grow and the monks did the rest.

We gaze at a pillar dedicated to St. Nicolas the patron saint of mariners. On the top of the column is a statue of a weeping wolf. The wolf is weeping for all the children that he has eaten. Then my daughter, Sabine and her husband Caspar came to have a meal with some barge people by the side of the canal. Sabine made a good sauce from the rests in the galley which was good. A luxury barge passes and we see how the very rich live.

I visited next Louisa Besson, a woman of considerable confidence in her own prowess. Like Anne Baxter, I am sure she had stamped on her passport in the profession section the word 'Star'. She makes edible decorations for cakes etc, turtles, dogs, mother and child tableaux. She blows up a ball of green sugar which she confidently assures us that very few people in world besides herself can do.

Through the tunnel by boat at Pouilly en Auxois, which when it was built was considered to be an enormous achievement lies the town. In that little town is one of the most remarkable emporiums I have ever been into. Mr. Daird is the ancient proprietor and since it is clear that he has been in charge of this shop for many a year, there is a variety of goods, ancient and modern that defy description. Everything is done by hand and done by Mr. Daird himself so patience is essential. No computer bugs here.

We take a passage with some British tourists on a boat they have hired from one of the many boat hire companies along the canal. We tour some of the luscious markets of Burgundy. At Chez Meme I have a wonderful meal for $10 and do a bit of eavesdropping. At the table next door which has 5 men and one 80 year old woman who says loudly that she likes to eat with men (Godbless her) and that when she puts her makeup on she looks twenty years younger.

I go dancing at another riverside café and go off to the famous jambon persille competition. The first prize goes to an entry weighing 227.5 kgs of ham in aspic and parsley. Good luck to anyone who tries to eat it. Then Monique shows me her riverside shop and how she dries her sausages in cinders.

Finally Regina and I tie up for a blessing in the Grand Pardon at St Jean de Losne. An amazing annual ceremony, where the boat people are blessed by the river padre who arrives on his church barge.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:24:42 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/342/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-7-burgundy-3  In Part 6 of this video series about travelling the waterways of France on a tug boat, Richard Goodwin takes us to Dijon which has been the capital of the duchy of Burgundy for well over a thousand years. Dijon is famous for its mustard and its coloured roof tiles. We visit the factory that still makes the glazed coloured tiles that were used when the cathedral was built around 1100 AD. The thing that really impressed me was that the dimensions of the tiles they were making in this little factory are exactly the same dimensions of the tiles they made 1000 years ago. Then as some sort of reward, we visit the shop where they make pain d'epices, or spiced bread which is extremely delicious especially with butter but alas it goes straight on the hips.

Then we visit a family concern making very strong mustard of the most agreeable kind. After that I embarked on an extraordinary culinary adventure. I asked Chef Christian Buoy outside his restaurant in Dijon whether he would show me how to make coq au vin a l'ancienne. He told me that he would but first I had to find 3 cocks with suitable 'talons' the spurs on their legs. I made my way to Louhans where there have been markets selling the best produce in France for as long as they have been making tiles for the Dijon Cathedral. Once the birds had been selected and the wine for their cooking, the next step was that the great chef and his assistant made their way to perform their art on the aft of my old tug the Regina. Apart from confessing the recipe was illegal he made the most delicious coq au vin man has ever tasted, at least this one,

Then we go to a working watermill which was interesting and surprisingly silent. Next door was an interesting lockkeeper who has amassed a large number of bits and pieces all to do with his life on the canal. Then a vineyard where the owner explains his trade.

Finally we visit Christian Buoy's village, he of the coq au vin fame. He is organising the picking of the village grapes where everyone above the age of four years is expected to help and of course to join in the dancing and the party at the end. This is a very interesting section.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:18:09 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/341/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-6-burgundy  In Part 5 of this video series about travelling the waterways of France on a tug boat, Richard Goodwin first visits the giant flea market near Auxerre at a place called Ayonne . Here there is every kind junk and priceless antiques but you have to turn up on the day. Then we go to Auxerre which is the only town that has been beatified and made a saint. Auxerre became rich because all the wood that Paris needed was rafted down the river through Auxerre and a great of the wine it consumed as well. Then we visit a demolition man who had fallen in love with an ochre factory and decided to preserve it. Ochre was used throughout the middle ages for painting frescoes and houses. We watch a game of table football and then go to a gangette where there was an afternoon dance. The great American author, Henry Miller said that 'Auxerre was more French than Paris.'

We then pass a gondola rowed by intrepid gondoliers from Venice. They had started in Marseilles. Shortly afterwards we call on the Snail Queen who lives and breeds snails. This a very interesting interview with a beautiful woman. Then we go to a farmhouse kitchen and learn how to make the most delicious gratin potatoes. Then to a great patissier, Bruno Coeur at Semur en Auxois. He makes the most delicious chocolates and amazing cakes, the secrets of which he shares with no one, not even his wife.

A great recipe, boeuf bourginon demonstrated by an elderly Burgundian lady who had clearly done it before. It is a great recipe because it never fails to be quite the best recipe for this dish I have ever discovered. Then I discover the wild mushroom chef who not only cooks them like a dream he also tramps round the woods and picks them from his secret places in the Morvan.

Then we see how to cook the snails that we had bought from Natalie the snail queen. The cook is my friend Michelle who lives and works on a barge with her husband. These batelliers know how to cook.

Finally we visit one of the great bakers of this world. He had been away for the first holiday in his life. We arrived on the day of his return which meant the entire village had turned up with their tongues hanging, dying to taste his wonderful bread again. And his bread was all that it was cracked up to be.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:16:19 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/340/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-5-burgundy  In Part 4 of this video series about travelling the waterways of France on a tug boat, skipper Richard Goodwin first meets up with a young lawyer taking some time off from the office catching first an enormous eel and then what seemed to me to be a giant carp. Both fish were returned to the Seine. A few steps away lies the Place de la Concorde which is the biggest place in Paris and where the guillotine stood at the time of the Revolution. Now the statues and fountains have been beautifully restored.

Just below the steps of the famous church of the Madeleine lies the most luxurious public toilet I have ever seen. A few steps away in the old Les Halles district is the mecca of true French chefs, the cookshop, Dellherin. Here you can still find heavy copper pots and every kind of paring knives made in carbon steel which of course can be sharpened better than stainless steel. Next door is one of the most sophisticated patisserie shops in Paris.

Then we take a trip to the fan museum where we learn a bit of the language of the fan. Then on to a fabric repairer who never takes on body clothing.

Then we go to one of apparently only 4 hat block makers left in the world. Here they make the blocks for Stetsons for all those Texans etc. Then to a hat maker where we see how's its done and learn why you can become as mad as a hatter. A little lunch follows at a creaking old restaurant, Chartier. Then a a strange and interesting interview with Celia who makes coloured wedding dresses. A very fine grocer follows and then an antique scent bottleseller at the foot of Montmartre. Then a fascinating visit to a workshop where they make curved glass for ancient lanterns. Then to the lady who sells angels to customers and believes most of her customers actually are angels.

Then to a cello repairer who sows us how it's done and has a friend try it out for us.

Lastly the workshop that makes embroidered hat bands for doormen.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:13:29 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/339/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-4-paris-pot-pouri  In Part 3 of this video series about travelling the waterways of France on a tug boat, Richard Goodwin first stops at the Place de la Bastille. This is the traditional venue for all Parisian street protests ever since the storming of the notorious Bastille Prison which marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Whilst we were there the famous Tour de France rode past on the final stage of their race around France. Then we visit the Faubourg St. Antoine which is the centre of the French furniture business. Then we come to one of the most amazing timber stores in the world where they have amongst other logs some mahogany from Cuba which arrived before the French Revolution in 1789. We see how they make veneers here. We then see veneering in some of the many workshops of the area and also many of the brass fittings and decorations they make to decorate their furniture.

We then see my niece Elisabeth try on some fancy jewellery. My next visit in this extraordinary district was to a man who restored marble statues to their former glory. He also showed us a table top he was making with stones from all over the world, from South Africa and Oregon. One of the most famous French sons of the late 19th. century was Frou Frou, literally the sound of a woman's skirt as she walked along. Here we see a man making the folding sheets of cardboard which are pierced to allow through the air which feeds the pipes of his mechanical organ. Then on to the cheapest food market in Paris.

A gilders workshop, a pool hall and a very bizarre sculptor who works with leather. Then some some children visit my boat at the PORT Arsenal. A visit to a very sinister fellow who is a famous Doll Doctor and has some strange stories to tell. Two brothers just around the corner turn pewter pots on a lathe which must be one of the world's most unique trades.

We then see a French polisher at his metier and talk to one of the few pleasant concierge in Paris. Finally we see a famous bookbinder doing her thing with the biggest collection of embossing tools in Paris.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:08:15 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/338/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-3-paris-11th-arrondissement  In Part 2 of this video series about traveling the waterways of France on a tug boat, Richard Goodwin visits the magnificent cathedral of Notre Dame the centre of Parisian history for the last thousand years. We then go to the famous taxidermist Deyrolle and look at some of the stuffed animals which used to be part of the educational system of France; now these beasts are used for interior decoration and coat racks. Not far away is one of the very last blanchisseries in Paris.

This is the kind of shop that rich planters along the Amazon used to send their shirts to be laundered. They were the only places that could cope with all the frills that were in fashion in the 19th. Century.

We then see where they dye samples for Parisian couture houses. After that the annual waiters race, where the contestants have to run round the course balancing glasses and a bottle of mineral water.

Then we visit a lady who has become a specialist in straw marquetary, something that the prisoners of war in the Napoleonic period practised in England and elsewhere. We talk to a lamp maker and repairer and go to a picnic on the Pont des Arts and finally end up at a café with cabaret and which is run by a famous retired rugby player and listen to the girls singing to their evocative accordion.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 06:57:46 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/337/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-2-left-bank  In Part 1 of this video series about traveling the waterways of France on a tug boat, Richard Goodwin starts his voyage of discovery through France by river and canal from the Seine in Paris. He starts by showing us a haberdashery with thousands of different coloured ribbons and fringes.

Then we visit the extraordinary Marie Yvonne Herzog whose profession is making women feel really beautiful in her special lingerie. Shoemaker Mr. Massarro shows us some of the incredibly expensive shoes that he has made. Amongst some of his clients were Pope John II and Marlene Dietrich.

Then on to Goyard Trunks which is probably the most exclusive and expensive luggage manufacturer in the world. They have on show the trunk they made for Conan Doyle complete with typewriter and travelling desk (the modern equivalent would be the laptop).

Then on to the woman who supplies a good part of the feather boas to the Oh La La business. In the Place des Vosges, there is a man who was a butcher working with his father. The day his father died he chucked out all the butcher's equipment and hung his collection of ancient musical instruments on the meat hooks. He can play them all. We finish with Mistinguette singing her magnificent song about Paris.]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 06:47:29 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/336/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-1-paris-a-left-bank  In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin leaves the wonderful city of Lyon and heads down the Rhone as he recalls some of his experiences in Lyon. As Richard writes, "My memories of the still very active puppeteers who star is Gnaffron are very reminiscent of Punch of Punch and Judy. Then I made an investigation in the painted walls of Lyon."

"After that I had a chat with Mr. Barbier a motor bike specialist and cinema buff and I had my very first ride on a Harley Davidson. Then I visited the forge of Mr. Paitko, a magnificently moustached Hungarian blacksmith who made me a wonderful mooring spike."

"Gabriel is one of the very top patissier in France. He shows his moulds and some of the tricks he uses in his very specialised trade. I visited a couple of French designers called Vavro who design plates and crockery for big producers in France and Germany. They show me how they do their designs."

"Bronze caster George shows me how he cast statues of angels and oven knobs. These guys can cast just about anything. I must have been feeling hungry for I suddenly remembered my visit to Bernachons, the famous chocolate shop in Lyon. Here they make the chocolates and cakes. They make their own chocolate from the beans that come from all over the world. I is not at all simple to get all the ingredients just right and all the temperatures correct for those melt in the mouth chocolates. We learn about the sensitive Maurice Bernachon the founder of the firm. We see the mechanics of the President's cake."

I visit the last flag maker in Lyon. I found it extremely difficult to work the embroidery machine, it was like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. My last visit was to the oddest couple in Lyon who call themselves Mr and Mrs NineteenHundred. They dress entirely in 19th. Century clothes and they cook with 19th. Century equipment as well. He says he will stop his vice for collecting when he is sure that everything in his collection is from the 19th. Century and that he feels will take at least three lifetimes. I rather doubt this because he has already collected an enormous amount of stuff."

"I then hear a rendition of three jolly chaps from the puppet theatre who sing a song about Lyon and how they love the smile of Lyon. I think you will too. After a visit to the baker who makes the best bread in France, take a last look at Lyon from the bell tower over the town hall. The clarionneur was practising Verdi on his specially tuned 62 bells. Misted eyed I left this wonderful city."]]> Tue, 07 Jun 2011 06:45:28 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/335/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-13-lyon-memories  
In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin sails his boat about 18 kilometres north of Lyon to a small village called Les Collanges and this where Paul Bocuse was born and where now has his most famous restaurant. Paul Bocuse, a legend among French chefs agreed to show me round his restaurant at Les Collanges. He started off with his wall of honouring many international chefs who have made history in the culinary world.

Paul explains that Lyon is the larder of France and he gives the geographical details of the delights of the region. A little way down the river, Paul shows be his passion which he has housed in an old abbey. He has over the years amassed a large collection of mechanical organs, he also uses the hall for large dinners.

Paul shows us how to cook ham in the traditional method of the region. He cooks the ham in hay and a large cauldron. Paul says that the secret of Lyon's culinary fame comes entirely from the good produce that surrounds the city. He tells of the food in his father and grandfather's time and then he took me to his garden where he grows the vegetables for his restaurant. He says that a lettuce you have picked in the morning tastes completely different from anything you buy in the market.

We take a tour of Paul's kitchen which was an eye opener. Everything is spotless. We film the choreography that takes place when a kitchen caters for 148 diners with 19 sous chefs.

How truffles are used to stuff a chicken and what it feels like to eat a $50 bowl. We see the tricks he uses to get publicity and slow down the diners all arriving at once in the restaurant. He let me eat a meal in the kitchen which was one of the most wonderful things that I have done in my life.

The cuisine of Paul Bocuse is traditional French of the very highest standard. Discipline in the kitchen and restaurant was all important, he told me. Nothing is left in the fridge overnight, everything is reordered everyday. There are no good cooks, he says, just good work. A most remarkable man.]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:05:18 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/334/barging-through-france/barging-through-france-pt-12-paul-bocuse  Horse touring in France]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:02:56 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/333/travel/horse-touring-in-france  These ladies make the jackets for the most prestigious group in France.]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:00:55 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/332/general/french-embroidery  Madame Hugon is a great cook. Born on a working barge, she and her husband run a small restaurant in the capital of good food in France, Lyon. The food is out of this world.. chicken livers etc.]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:58:35 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/331/food-and-drink/chez-hugon-lyon  Olivier Sourdive and his brother run this very high class pottery. It is a very interesting place in the Drome and a film well worth watching.]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:56:48 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/330/general/pottery-france  An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. The Paris Region (Île-de-France) is France's foremost centre of economic activity. Paris is the most popular tourist destination in the world, with over 30 million foreign visitors per year. There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world famous institutions and popular parks.]]> Sat, 04 Jun 2011 22:16:46 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/329/travel/paris-in-france-amazing-city-part-2  The Mail on Sunday Travel Editor Frank Barrett explains how to see Paris in a day...]]> Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:43:14 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/328/travel/travelmails-perfect-day-in-paris  Andrea Pullen and family take the Eurostar to Paris before boarding another train to reach the Croix du Vieux Pont campsite at Berny Riviere. All was going swimmingly, until a French rail strike struck...]]> Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:42:12 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/327/travel/a-family-holiday-to-france-posh-camping-in-picard  TravelMail journalist Max Wooldridge hires a 2CV car in northern France...]]> Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:39:51 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/326/travel/max-wooldridge-hires-a-2cv-in-france  TravelMail editor Joanna Tweedy takes to the waters in Brittany on a riverboat with a group of friends.]]> Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:37:42 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/325/travel/brittany-boating-holiday  The abundant limestone in France's famed Loire Valley doesn't just lead to delightful wines -- it also makes up the building blocks for all those castles in the so-called "Valley of the Kings." But now that the kings and their courts are gone, who's living in their posh digs these days? Well, it could be you! Turns out you can actually stay in and explore the magnificent châteaux of the Loire Valley like modern-day royalty. Dan and Sheri will show you how!]]> Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:54:56 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/324/travel/living-like-kings-in-the-loire-valley  Come along as we discover the riches of the past right here in the present.]]> Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:50:03 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/323/travel/carcassonne-in-the-south-of-france  Take a tour of Cliffs of Étretat in France. The Cliffs of Etretat look like they belong on the Mediterranean or in the tropics. This beautiful locale, which has attracted painters like Monet, is actually found in the Seine-Maritime department of Upper Normandy.]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:05:10 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/319/travel/cliffs-of-etretat-normandy  Learn all about the French specialty - Steak Tartare.]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:03:45 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/318/food-and-drink/steak-tartare-paris  Emmanuelle shows you where the locals go to get away from the city life. (Paris, France)]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:01:50 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/317/travel/canal-st-martin-paris  Experience Provencal cuisine in Paris amidst a setting from South of France. (Paris, France)]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:01:06 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/316/food-and-drink/provencal-cuisine  Unlikely to be found in a guide book, the upcoming neighborhood is full of rough charm. (Paris, France)]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:59:35 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/314/travel/belleville-neighborhood-paris  Walk amidst the locals and experience the everyday Paris life at this produce market. (Paris, France)]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:58:25 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/313/travel/awesome-local-market-in-paris-france  Immerse in French Riviera as you walk on the famous Nice promenade.]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:56:56 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/312/travel/promenade-des-anglais-provence-france  Filmed for the Jura Department of Tourism, this video invites you to discover an outline of the most beautiful sites of the department of Franche-Comté, in all seasons. A voyage full with surprises!]]> Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:57:00 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/311/travel/the-jura-true-nature  A short film showing the beauty and highlights of Franche Comté]]> Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:51:25 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/310/travel/franche-comte  With its sea-front promenade, fine museums and sunny coastline, Nice is the enjoyable, big-city highlight of the Riviera. Much loved for its blues seas and blue skies, since the Nineteenth Century, Nice is the place for Europeans to socialize, gamble and escape the dreary weather.]]> Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:53:18 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/306/travel/nice-france-promenade-museums-and-coast  On the Tourist Wine Route of the Jura in Eastern France, visitors are invited to experience an 80km-long Jura wine route from Salinsles- Bains to Saint-Amour to best explore the region's rich natural habitat, traditions as well as its gastronomy.]]> Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:10:18 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/299/travel/the-tourist-wine-route-of-the-jura  Sandstone, hot springs and many water passages shape the Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park into an unparalleled oddity. Visitors can enjoy glassmakers creating multi-colored ornaments, avid cyclers speeding along dedicated bike paths and the unique taste of the local cuisine all year round.]]> Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:07:44 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/298/travel/northern-vosges-regional-natural-park-france  Tony gets up at the impossible hour necessary to watch traditional baguettes get made.]]> Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:02:06 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/296/food-and-drink/anthony-bourdain-baguettes  This region's breath-taking coastline is traversed by three coastal routes: the Low, Middle, and High Corniches. Sitting upon the Via Aurelia, the Grand, or High, Corniche caps the cliffs with staggering Mediterranean vistas. High above the sea, Èze, touristy yet magnificent, offers art and gastronomy in its medieval center.]]> Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:50:45 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/295/travel/french-riviera-the-corniches-and-eze  Shot on a beautiful, sunny day in April in the village of Fontaine de Vaucluse.]]> Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:42:12 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/294/travel/fontaine-de-vaucluse  Hidden in the Luberon in the heart of Provence is the charming village of Saignon. Visit this beautiful village with us in the south of France. Shot: July 2010]]> Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:37:28 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/293/travel/saignon-deep-in-the-south-of-france  A tour of the Medieval town of Dinan in North East Brittany.]]> Sun, 23 May 2010 22:05:28 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/292/travel/medieval-dinan  A visit to the Pompidou Centre in Metz a museum of modern and contemporary art.
More Information
Centre Pompidou-Metz
1, parvis des Droits de l’Homme
CS 90490
F-57020 Metz Cedex 1
+33(0) 3 87 15 39 39
http://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr]]> Sun, 16 May 2010 09:38:01 GMT http://www.lost-in-france.com/real-france/video/viewvideo/291/travel/the-pompidou-centre-in-metz