The joy of kites at the Rimini Kite Festival

In April we drove over to Rimini on the East coast of Italy to visit some friends.  We were incredibly lucky to hit town on the weekend that the once a year kite festival was on; and not only that, there was a perfect strong and steady wind blowing off the sea that lifted all the enormous kites high into the sky. Rain showers keep passing over, and the sun umbrellas and lounge chairs were still locked away so we walkers, and many very excited dogs, could enjoy the entire beach.

How do they make their kites fly so well?

Most of the kites were not the traditional diamond-type that I used to make as a kid, but were almost like balloons made in all sorts of fantastical shapes. What makes these crabs, pink dragons, telephones, and caterpillars into  kites is that they fill with air and lift off the ground purely using the force of the wind. My kites never flew as well as these, even in the wind we sometimes get on the farm that is so strong you can lie back in it and not fall over.

It was very difficult to choose which photos to put up as there were so many weird and wonderful kite shapes. The pink dragon above didn’t seem to really want to lift off.  He seemed more interested in keeping his feet on the ground and watching how the others did it.

Kite flying always whisks me back in time

There’s something very soothing about the rustling and swooping noise the kites make when they’re flying. It always takes me back to my childhood: running along as fast as I could with a kite trailing behind me, and the magical feeling I got when it stopped bumping along the ground and suddenly lifted high into the sky. I can understand why people are so passionate about making and flying kites!  At the Rimini festival this year, there were around 200 “kiters” from over 30 different countries that gathered for the long weekend of wind-hustling.  How do they check these kites in on the plane?  Some of them would definitely rate as over-sized luggage!

It’s worth going to Rimini to see the old town too!

Although I am not showing you photos of Rimini’s old town in this post (the kites are just too spectacular!), it is definitely worth tearing yourself away from the beach to go wandering around the old town.  I had no idea that it was so pretty!  It’s easy to spend a day exploring the town, and stopping every now and then for a delicious piadina, a delectable coffee, or a creamy gelato.  I’ll be telling you all about the specialty of Rimini, the piadina, in a post coming your way very soon!

Kites galore!

There was a kite to suit every taste, and every preference that a person could have.  You like squid?  Here they were in quantity, fluttering their tentacles around;

You are more into space (or starfish?)?  Here, were startled-looking stars rotating and whipping around as though they were trying to escape their tethers and take off into space;

Or are you more into ghosts, or even old telephones?  Well, here were the kites for you to admire!

Hats off to the kite masterminds!

In the photo below, you can see the ballast that is needed to keep these giants from flying away. It seems to be a lot of work to set one of these kites up and make it fly.  I can’t even imagine the work that goes into making these huge kites, and getting them to a point that they fly perfectly.  No wonder the kiters want to show off their creations!  I did feel a little sorry for the wife of one of these men (they all seemed to be men, which was another puzzle for me. why do you think that is?).  She was sitting in a deckchair with her Yorkshire terrier on her lap for the whole windy afternoon, while her husband flew a number of these large animals.  I bet that’s what she spends most of her weekends doing.

Almost like being there!

You can get a real feel for how cool the festival was in the video below.  Watch out for the pointy-headed man.  I have so many questions that I’d like to ask him, the first being, “Why?”.

By Lisa Watson

Discovering the bubbly beauty of Clairette wine

Last week I introduced you to an incredible area of France called The Drôme. If you missed it, you can read all about it here.  When we were there, we discovered a wonderfully bubbly wine called Clairette that’s produced in the region. I’d never heard of Clairette before we went to The Drôme, and I can’t believe that I was missing out on something that tastes so good and has such a long history!  The first mentions of Clairette dates back to Roman times when people were charging around the Drôme in metal breast-plates and speaking Latin. Dress sense and language have changed a lot since then, but the wine has stayed faithfully the same.

Stumbling on a Clairette festival in Die

To my delight, during the weekend we were staying there,  there was a full-blown Clairette festival going on in the town of Die (pronounced “Dee” thank goodness, otherwise it’d be a very aggressive name for a town).  Isn’t it amazing how you suddenly MUST try or see something otherwise your life just isn’t worth living, even though you had never heard of the thing just one day before? We decided that we absolutely HAD to try some Clairette.

All about Clairette

The festival was strung out along the picturesque main street of Die.  At the beginning of the street, you could buy a tasting glass for 3 euros, then use it to taste as much Clairette as you liked from the many, many stands set up along your path.  You can see how this could degenerate very quickly if you’re not careful!  The producers ranged from small organic vineyards to larger commercial enterprises, and each of them, of course, had more than one type of Clairette to taste.  Like champagne and prosecco, the wine can be dry or sweet, depending on the mixture of grapes used. The Clairette de Die is made using about 75% muscat blanc à  petits graines grapes and the rest with clairette grapes.  there was also many bottles of Crémant de Die on offer…..just incase you were tired of just drinking Clairette.  The Crémant de Die is also bubbly, but much drier in taste than the sweeter Clairette.

Once we’d wobbled our way to the end of the tasting line, we spent a little time trying not to knock over pottery at the Pottery Festival that was going on in Die on the same day.

What to do with random pottery made by your children

We were finally able to relax in the shade while the kids busied themselves at a pottery activity that was set up in a side square.  The interesting part was trying to figure out how to get all their still soft and wet pottery creations back to the car with us.  Luckily a vegetable seller nearby took pity on us when he was the kids’ faces after we’d told them that we’d have to leave all their igloos, baskets and rockets behind.  He gave us a wooden box to carry them in, and all was right with the world again.  Of course, on the way back, we also bought a few boxes of Clairette, so barely managed to stagger back to the car. If you’re ever in The Drôme in April, make sure you check these festivals out!  Get me some more Clairette while you’re there!

By Lisa Watson

Visiting Spitalfields Market in London

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in London with some friends.  We saw a show (Bollywood!), ate at a few fabulous restaurants and visited a couple of markets. You may remember the walk I took you on, back in July, through the incredible Borough Food Market, where we stuffed ourselves silly with all kinds of delicious dishes!  On the Sunday we were there , the skies were throwing buckets of rain at us, so we decided it would be extremely prudent to do something indoors.  We pulled out our umbrellas and off we ran to see what the Old Spitalfields Market near the Liverpool Street Tube Station was like.

If you get to the market early, you’ll have it all to yourself

As you can see from the photos, there was nobody there.  I guess Londoners get up late on Sunday mornings.  By the time we left around lunchtime, the market was starting to get busy. The lack of people enabled us to roam around at will and pry into all the fascinating stalls that were spread under the stunning wrought-iron and glass roof (that kept the rain off us nicely). Spitalfields is open four days a week and has different themes each day.  On the Sunday it’s “Random Day” (that’s my title, not theirs!).  The stalls sold a little of everything from posters to hats (strange but compelling combination!),

to clothing that was often very original and unusual,

to stalls like this one below that sold old cameras. I also saw a stand selling jewelry made out of lego.  As, I said, there was a little of everything that you could imagine, and a lot of things you couldn’t imagine existed until you saw it there!

Go to Spitalfields Market with an appetite

Then of course, Spitalfields had an amazing food section, as what is a London market without an array of stunning good food? I wished that I had a larger stomach or at least a bigger carry-on bag so that I could take everything back to France with me.  Though even with a bigger carry-on, I don’t think I could’ve fitted a whole food-truck in…..

I loved Spitalfields as you’re never quite sure what you’ll see as you wander on to the next stall. It’s like rummaging through an attic that hasn’t been touched for fifty years: there are all sorts of unexpected treasures to be found if you look around! For all you foodiephiles, don’t miss my post on the Borough Market in London to get a glimpse of food from all around the world crammed into one place!

By Lisa Watson

St Jean: a not-to-be-missed festival in the South of France

This week, it’s all about the festival of St Jean: one of the most spectacular festivals of the year in Valbonne, where I live.  All around France around this time of the year there are festivals celebrating St Jean, or as the saint is known in English, Saint John the Baptist.  The celebrating of St Jean is the story behind the fire nowadays, but apparently the festival goes waaaaay back to before Christianity raised its head, and was a celebration to commemorate the Summer solstice. Whatever its origins, I’m glad it has continued!  The religious part also seems to have been set aside in Valbonne.  It’s all about carrying flaming torches and jumping the fire for luck (that is: you’re lucky if you don’t fall in the bonfire).

Flaming torches in the hands of small children

The procession starts with flaming torches being handed out to everyone in the small main square in the middle of the village, just as it is starting to get dark.  This is always an exciting part of the festival as there are many small children waving around large fire-y sticks in a small crowded area.  This adds a little adrenaline rush to the whole proceedings when you realise that your back or arm is starting to feel very hot.  This year they gave out 500 torches: not enough for everyone, but enough to make a beautifully lit procession which was led by a drumming band through the village and out to the bonfire. The darkness, fire and drumming gives the whole festival a very primitive feeling.  It is very stirring to think that around the same time every year for the last 1000 years or so, this parade, which is now called the festival of St Jean, has been taking place right here in Valbonne. We are somehow connected invisibly to all those people who came before us, stretching back through the centuries. I wonder if in another 1000 years, people will still be carrying the torches through Valbonne and wondering about us.

A few shoes get burnt in the process

Once you reach the bonfire, you throw your flaming torch into it.  This year a few people threw a little too hard and the torches ended up in the crowd on the other side of the bonfire, which was quite exciting for everyone, though maybe less exciting for those who nearly got hit.  Then the real fun starts.  The drummers drum harder and the firemen rake the bonfire to allow people to start jumping over it. The mayor is always the first to jump, which is a more interesting thing to do than the usual ribbon-cutting and hand-shaking he is involved with. After that, everyone (who is brave enough) lines up for their turn to jump the fire. The firemen run in constantly with equipment to put out sparking and burning shoes.  Many of the village kids go back to make the leap over the fire again and again. Everyone cheers and claps the St Jean jumpers.  The fire slowly begins to die down and people drift away home.  The next day at the village school, the kids sleep at their desks.  The festival of St Jean is over for another year.

Here’s a short video I took of the St Jean festival. It gives you an idea of the atmosphere.  It makes my spine tingle!

It was reassuring the see that the firemen had their truck at the bonfire, though I think it was more there so that they could stand on top of it and watch the show.

By Lisa Watson

Visiting Borough Food Market in London

I had the huge pleasure last week to spend the weekend in London with a group of very good friends.  We caught a musical (a Bollywood extravaganza in which the audience was just as spectacular as the show!), we rummaged through the stalls at Spitalfields Market, we ate at incredible restaurants (more about those another time), and we walked and walked until our feet ached and we had to collapse in chairs at various cafés along the way to rejuvenate ourselves with caffeine shots. I used to live in London years ago.  I’m always amazed that there is so much going on there that there are still places I didn’t see back then, even though I thought I’d explored the city throughly.  I discovered one of these this weekend when we walked around the Borough Market.

Find any food or ingredient you’ve ever wanted

Borough Market, on the South side of the river near the Tate Modern, is entirely dedicated to food. Stall after stall of high-quality ingredients and ready-made food from the U.K and all over the world greet you when you walk through the glass and iron pavillion that soars far over your head. As soon as I saw the market I knew I’d made a huge mistake by only bringing hand-luggage on the plane.  This is the kind of place where you can probably find any spice or vegetable you need for any recipe you’ve ever wanted to try.  I had to content myself with wandering around and tasting everything instead.

So difficult to choose where to eat lunch!

Borough Market was heaving with people at lunchtime on the Saturday we went.  In fact, the six of us got separated very quickly as, one by one, we stopped to admire stalls, try foods or take photos.  Thank goodness for the age of mobile phones! The Ethiopian and Indian stands had huge queues snaking along  beside them.  I was too hungry to wait after being bombarded with all these delicious smells coming from everywhere, so I contented myself with a freshly made lamb and mint burger (since the queue was smaller).  It was incredibly tender and tasty, so I had no regrets. 🙂

Fill up on the samples

The market has a big French section, so if you’re looking for good cheeses or truffles, you’ll find them there.  I nibbled my cheese-y way around the stalls there.  Yes, I know I can eat the same cheeses back at home in France, but they’re good and they had them out for the free tasting, so why not?!

I think the giant meringues in the photo below must be the fashion right now, as I saw them all over London during the weekend (you can tell I spent a lot of time frequenting cafés and bakeries while I was there!). Unfortunately, by the time I got to the bakery part of Borough Market, I was so full of all the samples I’d grabbed, that I couldn’t eat another bite.  Next time, I’ll go earlier so I can eat my way through the entire place! There will definitely be a next time.  In spite of the crowds, the market was incredible!  I saw that they also have a very cool-looking cooking school on the side of the building for learning to make bread and pastry.

Wash all that food down with a Spritzer

After we all found each other again, we wiped the smears of food from around the world off our chins, patted our bulging stomachs, and as a last hurrah, refreshed ourselves with a prosecco spritzer before stumbling out of the market in a food-haze. Next time I go to London, I’ll be going again and taking an extra empty bag to fill up with goodies from the market!

If you want to go, check out the hours first, as they’re not open every day.  It’s absolutely worth visiting if you are even remotely interested in food (which I imagine you are if you’re reading this blog!).  Watch this space!  I managed to recreate the spritzer at home. I feel it in my bones: it’s going to become THE drink of Summer 2015!

By Lisa Watson

All about the medieval village of Mouans-Sartoux

This week is not about a recipe, but about a local festival the kids and I visited recently in a neighbouring village, which celebrates bees and the honey they busily produce.  I have to say that I have never seen so many different types of honey, and different products made of honey all in one place!  The honey festival takes place every year in the town of Mouans-Sartoux (about 20 minutes from Cannes).  In case you’re interested, it has a double-barreled name because back in the Roman times, the village of Mouans was in one part, and the village of Sartoux was established in another.  Sartoux means “cultivate” in Occitan, as the village of Sartoux was down on the fertile plain, whereas Mouans was halfway up a hill.  Anyway, both villages were abandoned, possibly thanks to The Plague, and then repopulated and made into one town later on.  Whatever the history, we can be sure that it’s VERY old.  The old part of Mouans-Sartoux is very pretty to visit, even when there’s no honey festival, and there’s even a small chateau on the edge of the town that you can see.

Break out the bees!

So, as I was saying, every year they break out the bees and have a honey festival for a day.  I’d never been before (for various reasons….one big one being laziness), so decided it was time to get myself energized after only 10 years of living right next door.  I’m so glad I went, and the kids were delighted by all the bees on display everywhere, and by all the honey candy, honey cakes, honey ice-cream, and just plain honey that they were able to chow down on while they were there (they didn’t really need any lunch when we got home!). I was more interested in the honey wine, if the truth be told.

The world of the super bee-keepers

At many stands, they actually had glass boxes full of bees that you could watch, and the centre-piece of the honey festival was a big glassed-in box where actual beekeepers were pulling out racks of swarming bees and explaining all about the bees and how they live and make honey. It was difficult to understand what they were saying as they were talking into microphones through their beekeeping hoods, but it was fascinating to watch the sleepy bees buzzing around and to stand in awe as the beekeepers let bees land all over them and worked on the hives with bare hands. I know they were smoking the bees to keep them docile, but there’s no way you could have made me get into that glass box with thousands of bees!

A must at every village festival in France

As with every good french festival, there were street performers roaming around.  There always has to be one very artistic group at every festival, which you watch as you can’t figure out what or why they’re doing  what they’re doing, such as these interestingly pigment-daubed men in the photo below. They modern-danced their way through the crowds, dabbing coloured pigment of the faces of passing children.  I didn’t see them juggle while I was there, but they were interesting to watch as you really could not imagine what they might do next.

Finding our favourite honey

Then there were the more traditional roving bands of musicians, such as this group below who were playing lively jazz. The guy in the brown jacket was a Louis Armstrong sound-alike scat singer.  We hung around and listened to them for quite a while until the sugar-rush of the kids waned and they needed some honey replenishment. We went off to do some honey-tasting.  I discovered that my favourite honey of all time is bright-yellow sunflower honey, whereas my kids preferred the clear, runny acacia honey.  We bought two jars of each to make sure we wouldn’t run out.

So, we left the honey festival with our arms ladened with SIX different types of honey, and (of course) some honey wine…..and honey candy….and beeswax candles, and vowed that we will definitely go again next year.

After all, someone needs to find out if the pigment-covered guys are still flailing their arms around mystically next year too. (and we may need some more honey by then).

By Lisa Watson