Braslou Bière

https://www.brasloubiere.com/

https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/actu/tommy-barnes-un-brasseur-au-pays-du-vin

Tarifs : 2,50 € l'unité de 33 centilitres ; 12 € le pack de 6. 
Contact : brasserie de Braslou, 
5, les Varennes, à Braslou, 
tél. 06.43.98.82.09, e-mail : tommy@brasloubiere.com

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The Caisse d'Épargne - 2

Around the newly restored market hall - la halle - are 4 pavilions, one on each corner of the compass. Although they have existed since the inception of the  town, they have been extended and enlarged in the manner of the 1830s.  This does not mean that they are any the less elegant, indeed they are very graceful.  Two of the four pavilions are under refurbishment; one as new offices for the Commune of Richelieu, and this one for the Caisse d'Épargne (The savings Bank) that has probably been there for quite a time, taking the monies from the market trading.  The ground floor premises are being refurbished and the timber infills of the semi-circular arches replaced in style.  The Abbé HP hopes that the two pavilions that face the market square will be fully restored, in particular the rather neglected façade of the PMU brasserie, with its rusty first floor balustrade, just waiting for a lick of paint!.

The re-opening of the Halle...

Restored for the first time since the 1640s, 371 years after the death of the original client, the 

cardinal duc Armand-Jean,

the town's market halle nears re-completion.

Modern regulations for food handling require a glass screen behind the restored railings,

but otherwise the structure is now historically impeccable - no expense has been spared.

A quality project - Bravo Hervé and his artisans!

Next restoration in 2384.

the official invitation to the opening

the gate to the place du Marché

Laying the new floor for la Halle

As spring 2013 finally arrives and the temperatures rise sufficiently to allow concrete laying, the new floor of the Halle has now been laid.  Originally(1640) this floor would have been of simple beaten earth, and with all those animals must have been quite 'picturesque'.  The 2013 solution is a modern version of beaten earth that is a bit stronger and more hygienic. 

A big expansion joint bisects the plan at half-way - is this enough? There were insufficient expansion joints placed in the layout of the place du Marché paving and it is already showing cracks.

The level of the floor has been dropped to a lower and more 'authentic' level - rather as in Ur of the Caldees or Babylon, floor levels always rise so that heavy material does not have to be removed...

...progress at la halle

Another blog, this time from Braye-sous-Faye, just outside the Parc walls

'Colin and Elisabeth' covered the Ascension day brocante on Thursday 2nd of June 2011 rather well on their own blog.  

CLICK HERE

The large market of interesting second-hand objects and antiques filled the place du marché and les halles. Abbé Henri Proust was sorely tempted, and finally purchased three things; a pewter plate, an old shotgun, a 'Lefaucheux', marked St. Etienne 16.8mm side-by-side pin-fire hunting piece - un fusil à broche - from about 1880 - HP's era - (but can this really be a man of the cloth, one asks?), and a small sea scene in oils in a gilt frame.

originally from Chatillion-sur-Indre in Berry to the East

All the town's other shops closed for the afternoon.

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The colours of Touraine - 2

The buildings are all made of whitish tuffeau limestone that has a faded yellow-grey tone.  Windows, shutters and doors are usually painted one of many mid-greys, and general lack of maintenence adds an antiquing effect that sludges these somber colours further.  Roofs are of grey slate. Rooflights - lucarnes - are built of untreated greyed-out oak. This shop front first floor, jammed up against the stone wall of the village church at Bourgeuil - famous for its AOC wine - exemplifies this grisaille* colour palette, the background to life in Touraine, precisely.

In the market place, the colours of the soap stall however do the opposite; a riot of waxy soapy tints.

*grisaille noun; in art, a method of painting in gray monochrome, typically to imitate sculpture; a painting or stained-glass window in this style.

ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: French, from gris ‘gray.’

Nocturne Gourmande du Cardinal - 8 August 2009

This year and for the first time (?) the town of Richelieu held a night market of gourmet products.  It was a nice evening and many people came to fill the place du marché and dance away the night to a Mexican band.

The Confrerie des amis du Truffle turned out for the occasion in their ceremonial gowns, led by Maire Hervé Novelli, Secretary of State for Commerce in the Sarkozy government.

Antiques - and period graphics

the closest big fair in Lencloître - first Monday of the month

An aerial view of the old place du Marché layout

This aerial view shows the old layout of the place du Marché as it was up to September 2006, before the recently completed re-ordering.  The layout seems bizarre now that we have become familiar with the newly changed space that removed the central crossing of tarmac streets to create the open spacious pedestrian square of today.  One can see here how the old lime trees had 'a few teeth missing'. 

In contrast to the other twin square, the place des Religieuses, the old layout of the place du Marché at least did not have a set of traffic lights at the intersection!  The tyranny of the motor-car!

One of the more curious effects of the new layout however concerns the sense of size of these two identically-dimensioned squares.  It is almost unbelievable that the as-yet-unchanged place des Religieuses and the place du marché are in fact the same size.  It seems to the viewer as if the place du Marché dimensions are at least 50% bigger.  

As the both the Cardinal and Archit. Lemercier meant the two squares to be conceptual and layout twins, 'one for the King and one for the Cardinal', we hope the Maire and Conseil Général of Indre-et-Loire will get a move on and change the other square to match the now ravishing place du Marché.

At present in the early days of spring 2008, we look forward to the first sight of green-leaved hornbeam trees ringing the new square layout. for the first time.

thanks to Marie-Pierre Terrien for the suggestion, and Jean-Louis Laurence for the aerial photo.

Markets in and around Richelieu

Shopping or just browsing in markets is part of the magic of being in France. 

Richelieu has a beautiful 1630 timber-roofed halle building which is host to most of the food stalls in the twice-weekly market. On Mondays, as well as meat, cheese, fish and fruit and vegetables in the market hall, the Market Square has a large selection of non-food stalls, which on a busy week can occupy the whole of the Square with varied goods on sale ranging from beds, fabrics, clothes and shoes to hardware. The Friday Market is mostly food, and there is usually a queue at the fish stalls where oysters sell 'like hot cakes'. There are also plant and flower stalls. I always watch what vegetable and salad plants are for sale, either to buy, or to give a good idea of what grows well in the area. If you buy flowers or house plants for a present, they will gift wrap them for you at no extra charge.

On the first Monday of each month there is a market in nearby Lencloître (24 km south).  This means that Richelieu's market is very small that day; all the traders go to Lencloître where the market is truely HUGE. You can buy virtually anything there, including live animals (chicks, geese, hamsters, sheep, goats, donkeys etc.), tractors and general merchandise. There are food and wine stalls dotted around, and we were amazed/amused/appalled(?) at one food stall selling barbecued eels, starting with the live items wriggling. This is definitely worth a visit, even if you don’t need to buy anything.

Other regular markets are at Chinon (21 km north), on Thursdays, and Châtellerault (30 km south), on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Les Halles at Châtellerault is the permanent market - a beautifully maintained building with a large variety of top quality foods. 

A more unusual local market is the nocturnal one held below ground level in caves near La-Tour-Saint-Gelin (9 km east). Held on a Friday evening (possibly the second Friday most months), and advertised widely by the roadsides around Richelieu, it is worth the effort to follow the signs and find this unusual setting.  There are plenty of stalls offering tastings, as well as a main bar and eating area where you can have a set meal. 

Of course, there are the seasonal markets, too. As well as the Christmas markets and the truffle market, look out for farms which open to sell asparagus in the season from mid-April to mid -June.  Some also sell their own honey, vegetables and even oil.

Happy shopping!

(thanks to Susie for this entry & pictures from Lencloître Monday Market)