Rain, rain went away... but not until after blessing us with three days of chill, drizzly weather - felt like Northern California! Of course, no place could be this lushly green without getting some serious rain, but we're glad it's over. Here's how we kept ourselves entertained:
As promised, we headed to the Snail Farm, which was charming as a snail farm can possibly be. Phillippe, the owner, couldn't have been more friendly and funny or more enthusiastic about his little gray charges. We learned so many interesting facts about snails, such as:
* Snail sex lasts six hours. Phillipe claims this is normal in France.
* Snails have thousands of tiny litle razor sharp tongues, so they can chew up practically anything - rocks, steel, plastic.
* Snail slime is so tough and thick that snails can literally walk on the edges of sharp knives without being cut.
* Snail slime is also used as a medicine - it's the main ingredient in a lung decongestant, and is being researched as a cancer cure - the slime seems to isolate the cancer cells and not allow them to grow.
P's snails are also a bit tastier than those from other parts of the world because he raises a medium size snail (as opposed to petit gris) that matures more quickly so it can be eaten while it's young and juicy. And because he raises his snails on natural food, you can be sure that you're not eating a snail that has grown up, say, in the Ukraine, eating Chernobyl-irradiated rocks. We truly enjoyed our afternoon, and it would have been perfect if only our crack photo staff had remembered to put a card in his camera... unforunately, no photos.
However, we do have photos of the Cidrerie where we went for a tour and tasting yesterday - another charming and beautiful place, where Cider and Calvados are made in the traditional way. The apples are all locally grown, some on the farm where the cidrerie is located, and some on adjoining farms. The apples are then pressed and held in stainless steel tanks for cider fermentation. To make Calvados (fire water!) they take the cider and perform alambic distillation, then ferment in oak barrels to create a smooth and award-winning Calva - perfect for a cold and rainy night.
But today, the sun is out - so off to market we go!
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