Jeannine & Roger's French Cheese Odyssey

The Adour River, Bayonne 10th June

Saturday is market day, so by time you walk to town, fight your way through the crowds, buy lunch, eat lunch and make your whole trip worthwhile by trying to figure on something else to buy from the market, nearly 2 hours of heat exhaustion has taken place and you have to go home and have a siesta for 4 hours.

Lunch today: Chorizo galette for Roger and an Afghan-styled Saagwala for me. Afghan spinach curry has little red beans in it and isn’t pureed or creamed like the Indian version.

Cheese Experience No.50 - Valençay An unpasteurised goat-milk cheese; its rustic grey colour is made by the natural moulds that form its rind, darkened with a dusting of charcoal. It is distinctive in its truncated pyramidal shape; one such tale of how it got its shape is that Napoleon having returned from his disastrous campaigns in Egypt stopped at the castle at Valençay. Their local pyramidal cheese apparently aroused unpleasant memories he alleged, then cut the top off in fury, with his sword, leaving the shape that survives to the present day.

Our late afternoon adventures took us on an unsuccessful 8km trail from Bayonne, along the Adour River, to the coast of Anglet. We discovered an open fish market, which looked like you could also use it to wash and scale the fish you caught from the dirty river.

There were no doors, just lots of flies living off the scales and ice left from the Saturday market.
We also found the river port, the marina and the giant car park and complex where the Bayonnaise go to surf, sunbathe and eat sand with their picnics; it’s pretty windy (being the Atlantic Coast).

So, all in all, not a very exciting day.

Therefore time for an Essence of France Photo Challenge No.20 - Joan of Arc Jeanne d’Arc is the Patron Saint of France. Claiming to be acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as a saviour of France. She went from peasant to saint, but was eventually put to death for heresy, witchcraft and violating divine law for dressing like a man.

Statues of Joan of Arc can be found in most cities and churches, here are a few we have found on our travels...