1965 Pieter visiting French Mushroom Grower André Sarazin near Historic Compiègne

Together with Belgian Spawn representative Guy de Man, Pieter went to French mushroom grower André Sarazin in Cuts, near Compiègne.

Husband Pieter left and André Sarazin to the right who is holding his sunglasses as this was on a sunny day in France.
André Sarazin did organize the 3rd ISMS Congress in Paris in 1956

They also for the first time had simultaneous translation! 
Wearing a headphone and some professional translators did translate...

Guy de Man was quite a character for capturing Pieter this way and writing in the corner: How beautiful and signing off with Guy de Man...

One more of such photos by Guy de Man...

But Pieter truly was admiring the excellent quality of these brown and white 'Champignon de Couche' inside their wooden boxes!
See their broad stems?! 
Hard to find such quality nowadays.
The quality that is grown inside those marl caves always looks excellent!

Here Pieter is with André Sarrazin at his compost place in Cuts.
This was the first grower to also have some kind of tunnel. Pieter walks on the concrete edge of a kind of cellar that was aerated from below.
Nowadays we call it a bunker, not a tunnel...

Bottom left you see Paris and to the north east you see Compiègne and Cuts where the mushroom farm from André Sarrazin was located.
André Sarrazin's marl cave business at six locations, once was the largest private owned mushroom business in France... He started it in 1958.
Sadly, André Jr. and the successor, got killed in an accident and André Sr. succumbed to grief...
The company got sold but ceased to exist as it is very difficult for mechanizing inside those rather low ceiling caves... To continue growing in bags is hard physical labor!
~
André Sarrazin did take Pieter to Compiègne, the historic location where on November 11, 1918 the Armistice agreement was signed to end WWI.

But a nasty revenge by Adolf Hitler in June of 1940...

The untold story of the 1918 Armistice just click it for a 2 minute video right at the top.
~
One year while traveling in France, Pieter did show me the area as well.

History lessons we ought to all learn from!

French Claron Antique Postcards of Marl Cave Mushroom Growing

In the 1980s we did receive from Claron, Vendôme/France, for New Year, a package with Antique Postcards about French Marl Cave Mushroom Growing

This postcard shows the hard work of harvesting inside such Marl Caves in France.

They have made ridge beds on the floor from their compost... covered with crushed marl.

Preparing the substrate: composting, then making ridge beds inside the caves.

The support culture of fungi is the compost, which serves as a food substrate to fungi.

It must be prepared. Compost is a mixture of horse manure (75%) and straw (25%). Manure and straw are not directly assimilated by the Paris champignon (button mushroom), for insufficiently being decomposed; the operation is therefore to obtain a rich compost fermentation of these two ingredients. Just click for more photos and info on the short link and click through...

Here you see a Mushroom Grower at the entrance of the cave...

Now the men proudly pose with their harvested mushrooms...

Découvrez comment sont cultivés les champignons à Villers–Cotterêts ←click for short video where in the end the person shows this photo of his Grandfather!

Well, don't know if the above video is telling the truth...

Came upon this historic information with the same photo and more: The Delalande Family, La Cave des Roches. 4 centuries of history ←click link and see below image:

Showing off their harvest here and even a French kitty is posing in this picture!

This was the card: CLARON and its collaborators wish you all the best for the new year.
They were the producers of Mushroom Spawn at the time...

Some unique history that I wanted to share with my readers!

Related posts:
1958 Tragedy for Pieter's Mushroom Friends in Zichen-Zussen-Bolder in Belgium | previous post
Husband Pieter visiting Mushrooms in the Cave - Bradford-on-Avon in England | previous post

Blink TV Australia used our Marl Cave Mushroom Growing Image in Guillaume's Paris Episode 9 | later post where Pieter's Postcards got used by permission for TV series

Pieter's Mom in DEEP Thoughts While Penning Letter - Followed by Disaster!

You have read my blog posts about Pieter's older brothers being deployed in Indonesia for several years.

Pieter's Mom was the loyal writer and you have seen one photo where she is penning a letter...

This photo where she is in DEEP Thoughts while penning a letter... 
She also enclosed news paper clippings to send along with the letter, as well as some money...
Then, scooping up the leftover clippings, for throwing them into the stove - she ACCIDENTALLY grabbed her leather wallet instead! 
So Pieter recalls this incident very vividly. The bulging leather wallet inside the flames and by the time they tried to rescue it, with something - it was too late.

Engulfed in flames, wallet and household money went up in smoke...
SAD!

~
My Dear Mother-In-Law has been a loyal letter writer.
Till her death on November 21, 1989 she almost weekly wrote us a letter, just as I've done all those years.
She was 94.5 years old and a colon cancer survivor.
Below is her final letter to her family:

Zij die ik teleurstelde
Vergeef mij
Zij die mij teleurstelde is het vergeven
Zij die mij zoo dierbaar waren help mij door uw gebed
Dat mijn heengaan een blijde opgang moge zijn naar God.
Ik dank allen die mijn leven zoo mooi maakten.
Blijf elkaar genegen.
Moge mijn ziel met u in vrede rusten
Verder hoop ik dat de familie band sterk moogt bewaren.
Dit is mijn laatste wens, Moeder

~
The ones I let down
Forgive me
Those who let me down are forgiven
Those who loved me so much help me through your prayer
That my passing may be a happy onset to God.
I thank all who made my life so beautiful.
Keep affection for each other.
May my soul rest with you in peace
Further I hope that the family bond will be kept strong.
This is my last wish, Mother

My Mother-in-law also was very active for decades in the Elderly

Related posts:
1948 Gevaphone Record with Young Pieter Playing his Accordion for his Marine Brother | previous post
72 Years Later... Gevaphone Spoken Letters to Marine Brother Employed Overseas | previous post
1948 Gevaphone Record with Young Pieter Playing his Accordion for Brother in Uniform | previous post
72 Years Later... Gevaphone Spoken Letters to Military Brother Employed Overseas | previous post