Featherbottom - 156

Baguette to die for

When we head out on our day trips, we pack the picnic hamper with stuff to stuff in the bread, but the bread itself we buy in one of the villages on the way. This can be a pretty hit-and-miss affair. Village boulangeries can range from mediocre to not-bad to exceptional. Nope, unlike the rosy-eyed visions of people who have never been to France (me included, in the past), you don't get baguette-to-die-for in any old boulangerie around the corner. This country has its share of crummy bakeries. The really good ones are a closely held secret.

This weekend, on our trip to Mont-Gerbier-de-Jonc (see previous post), we had a hit. Passing through an ordinary-ish village called Saint-Agrève in the department of Ardèche, we stopped at this plain-looking boulangerie called 'l'art des choix'. It did not look very promising, but this was the first boulangerie that we had found open. This was a public holiday. The bread too did not look exceptional.

But when we stopped to picnic at the foot of Mont-Gerbier-de-Jonc ... HOOO BOY!!! Yup. With every bite of that bread, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. And I wasn't particularly hungry, and all I had stuffed into it was garlic mousse and fresh avocado. By the way, I have been in France long enough to be blasé about good bread. So when I say that stuff was good, you can take it from me it was something special.
Is it worth driving 500km just to eat this bread? Nope. That privilege belongs to the official "Best Bread in France" - see my post from 2014 on the village Cucugnan. But it is certainly worth making a small detour, if you happen to be in the region.

Mont Gerbier-de-Jonc - source of the Loire

This long Ascension Weekend we took a day trip to Mont Gerbier-de-Jonc, about 150 km down South from where we live. It is the better known as the source of the river Loire. It is a volcanic mountain. It looks up close like a big heap of broken rock. It is a popular destination, I suppose, because of its nice cup shape.

It takes about an hour to climb. There is a marked route to scramble up the rocks and pieces of stout cord to hold on to where you might slip. Lovely view of the surrounding  Ardèche countryside from the top.

Nice Café at the bottom where you can have coffee or panaché (beer & lemonade) after the climb and take another dekko at the hill. 

The drive alone is worth the effort. You go through some lovely  Ardèche countryside as you drive down from Lyon through criss-crossing country roads. GPS essential, otherwise you can easily get lost.

Featherbottom - 155

OK, starting today, I'm bringing back one of my favorite characters from the single-pane version of Featherbottom: little Finola Finnegan and her baby Flowbert. If you've forgotten her, check the archives. Episode 63-65 and 97-91

Featherbottom - 154

Featherbottom - 153

Featherbottom Rebooted - 21

OK, final strip in this reboot series. This strip may also look familiar: I had posted it a couple of months back with a different text on Linked-In. It was actually drawing this strip that gave me the idea for redoing the entire "Shark" story arc. BUT, I have completely changed the text. So it is for all practical purposes a new strip. The previous text was not matching the story arc, and it is a lot funnier this way.

Featherbottom - 152

Featherbottom - 151

Poppy season!

Here in France it is poppy season! Wild poppies bursting out all over the place, even along railway lines. Here is a field of wild poppies not far from my home...