Sunday morning, October 26, 1986 we had breakfast and started packing up and left by 10:40 for our journey towards Paris, France.
Yep, in our cute Fiat Uno rental car...
Yep, in our cute Fiat Uno rental car...
We made it till Dourdan and spent the night there after driving 960 km that day or 596 miles.
We stayed at a four-star kind of castle; Hostellerie Blanche de Castille in Dourdan click through.
We had lovely weather with a little rain but good Interstates with high toll! It was expensive driving in France.
We ate a soup and went to bed.
Monday, October 27, after breakfast we started driving to Bordeaux with great weather and we made steady progress, covering another 540 km or 336 miles.
We easily found the Mercure Bordeaux Lac Hotel click it.
We did team up with François Falconnet and Jean & Marianne Laborde for a great dinner in our hotel at 20:30.
Tuesday October 28, we packed up and had breakfast with François Falconnet and we went with him by 8:15 to the Experimental Station where Jean Laborde was working.
Admiring Jacques Delmas' Pleurotus lactarius at their experimental station.
Yes, it was chilly when we went to look for some mushrooms and Pieter had lend me his jacket... Jean Laborde next to me and in the white jacket is another scientist colleague and then François Falconnet to the right.
We now proceed towards Châtellerault where we first have lunch en route.
The beautiful West of France!
What we covered that day. Departing from Bordeaux and lunch before Châtellerault and on to the compost place in Dangé-Saint-Romain, see below. End of day was our hotel in Tours...
Too bad we could not linger and explore... work related visits only.
After lunch we proceeded to a Compost Place:
Centrale de Compost du Chatelleraudais in 86220 Dangé-Saint-Romain
Me, overlooking the compost slab...
At the compost slab... You see the piles of raw material.
Now it's on to Tours where we stay for two nights at LOGIS HÔTEL DES CHÂTEAUX DE LA LOIRE in VIEUX TOURS, FRANCE just click through.
We have dinner with François Falconnet and his wife and Jeanne and Gilles d'Hardemare and walked through Vieux Tours together.
On Wednesday, October 29, Pieter joins François Falconnet after breakfast for a visit with Gilles d'Hardemare and seeing Old Tunnel and Caves.
Also new experiment tunnels, short composting.
Claude Desjouis in Mamers
François Falconnet in the white shirt inside the caves from Royal Champignon
Harvesters busy inside such caves for Royal Champignon in Bagneux
Brown mushrooms from the caves and harvested with their roots!
~
Pieter spent his day together with his scientist colleagues and I explored Vieux Tours, the Old City Center of Tours from 11-16:00 and enjoyed lunch in a 15th century restaurant.
Finding little gifts for daughter Liz, for Uncle Bo Whaley and a cute Limoges candleholder for in my letter box. See above next to a US penny... It is small!
Did write some letters, also to a French born lady that lives in Dublin, Georgia; Genevieve Alexander...
We had once more dinner in Vieux Tours with François Falconnet and walked home to our hotel...
Next day after breakfast we started the journey back to Horst aan de Maas and doing so we completed our total of 3,311 km or 2,057 miles in the little Fiat Uno rental car.
From Horst aan de Maas to the German Mushroom Conference in Regensburg and then on to Bordeaux etc.
That's how Pieter stayed in close touch with the international colleagues within the Mushroom Industry and gathered information and knowledge for his students.
It always worked mutual, by giving away knowledge, you also gain...
We did team up with François Falconnet and Jean & Marianne Laborde for a great dinner in our hotel at 20:30.
We now proceed towards Châtellerault where we first have lunch en route.
The beautiful West of France!
Too bad we could not linger and explore... work related visits only.
Centrale de Compost du Chatelleraudais in 86220 Dangé-Saint-Romain
Also new experiment tunnels, short composting.
~
Pieter spent his day together with his scientist colleagues and I explored Vieux Tours, the Old City Center of Tours from 11-16:00 and enjoyed lunch in a 15th century restaurant.
Did write some letters, also to a French born lady that lives in Dublin, Georgia; Genevieve Alexander...
We had once more dinner in Vieux Tours with François Falconnet and walked home to our hotel...
From Horst aan de Maas to the German Mushroom Conference in Regensburg and then on to Bordeaux etc.
That's how Pieter stayed in close touch with the international colleagues within the Mushroom Industry and gathered information and knowledge for his students.
It always worked mutual, by giving away knowledge, you also gain...
Fond memories!
Related posts:
Lecture by Pieter and Stay at UNESCO site Regensburg during German Mushroom Conference | previous post
{Vintage Religious Paper Lace from France and Immaculate Conception} | previous post
Hello Mariette, It's too bad that business trips often allow so little time for exploring--that is part of the point of going to interesting places. Once when I was in California I decided to extend my trip by a week for visiting and sightseeing, so I called my office and told them that I would check in for emergencies, but barring any I would see them a week later.
ReplyDeleteIn Taiwan, the daily garbage truck carries a compost barrel, so you can deposit vegetable peelings, outdated flour, etc. Considering the population of the city, they must make a lot of compost!
--Jim
Dearest Jim,
DeleteYes, business trips most often did not allow for any exploring; a sad side effect but still, we have been in places where most people never would end up and we worked with the people. That is different from being a tourist and not interacting.
That is a very good thing for having the people separate the vegetable peelings and all other food related 'waste'. You well know that fruites and vegetables consist of some 90% water, so the bulk is not huge but at least it is a good thing! We have a barrel near our greenhouse where we compost all fruit and vegetable waste. It does not yield much...
Hugs,
Mariette
Schöne Erinnerungen,liebe Mariette!
ReplyDeleteHab einen guten Start in die neue Woche!
♥️ Allerliebste Grüße, paß gut auf Euch auf und bleibt gesund,Claudia ♥️
Liebe Claudia,
DeleteJa die Arbeit hat immer viel interessantes gebracht.
Ihr auch die besten Wünschen und alles Liebe,
Mariette
Your work has been really interesting! Those mushroom farms in the caves are awesome. Are mushrooms still grown in caves?
ReplyDeleteDearest Anne,
DeleteYes, it always has been quite interesting and included many miles of travel and interacting with other countries and its people.
Yes, there still is a limited production inside the caves, my next post will show you that. Due to the hard labor involved, most have abandoned them. Nowadays people are no longer willing to do this and it is impossible to mechanize inside the caves...
Hugs,
Mariette
Liebe Mariette,
ReplyDeletedas sind schöne Erinnerungen.
Sonnige Grüße
Elisabeth
Liebe Elisabeth,
DeleteJa es sind wertvolle und besondere Erinnerungen!
Liebe Grüße,
Mariette
Dearest Agnes,
ReplyDeleteYes, visiting colleagues internationally is always interesting!
Hugs,
Mariette
That's a lot of driving, Mariette! But each hotel you stayed at looks very nice and must have given you a good night sleep :-) The experimental station, compost slab, the cave...all I probably won't have opportunity to see myself. You really have interesting experiences! You look stylish with your husband Pieter's jacket. He is such a gentleman to lend it to you :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy Monday, Mariette. Have a wonderful week!
Dearest Tamago,
DeleteWell, both of us never shied away from long distance driving and have done several here in the USA as well.
You bet that you sleep like a rose after such a full day. It is always interesting even if you're not quite a tourist and meeting with people you know for decades is always great.
Pieter still IS a gentleman, even though he's now easier feeling cold instead of me...
Hugs to you,
Mariette
Another enjoyable post
ReplyDeleteDearest Jo-Anne,
DeleteThank you, it makes for some unusual virtual traveling!
For us just 'work' and still one gets to see interesting sights.
Hugs,
Mariette
Thank you for all your lovely comments on my blog. Yes, strange times we live in! Looks like you had a wonderful trip in France. How interesting about the mushrooms. Never thought of them being made in a factory like setting or rather warehouse.
ReplyDeleteDearest Kelleyn,
DeleteYou're quite welcome and it is always interesting to read and also to admire you great photos!
Yes, commercially growing mushrooms is a high tech art and quite challenging as well.
Hugs,
Mariette
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteDearest Regine,
DeleteIt sure was very educational!
Hugs,
Mariette
A lot of driving, but as always good memories.
ReplyDeleteHope you and Pieter are keeping well.
Dearest Sami,
DeleteThat's what we did for Campbell Soup at the time...
Flying to Europe and then by rental car.
Hugs,
Mariette
Mariette a forza di vedere i tuoi fantastici post sui funghi sto diventando un esperto.!!!
ReplyDeleteSereno e felice fine settimana.
Caro Giancarlo,
DeleteSembra che tu sia un convertito facile nel diventare ben informato sui funghi. Sono contento che ti piaccia.
Abbracci,
Mariette