Saturday, May 14, 1983
Marsha and her parents left at 8:30 for a trip to Paris, the Cote
d’Azur. Florence, Venice, and through Switzerland.
Jan & Kirby picked me up at 11:00 to drive along the Bielersee/Lake
Biel to Neuchâtal, admiring the wisteria blossoms along the way. We headed up a
valley to Pontarlier, where we did a lot of driving through green, green woods
with spring flowers blooming everywhere. The view of the valley was not as
spectacular as at night with snow as seen when we went to Paris by night train.
But the landscape was typically Swiss: neat and clean. The hills of the Jura
are mostly covered with trees, but one stark rock cliff stretched between two
green hills looking like a dam. We also saw the edges of rock cliffs layered
vertically. A single rock layer looked like a funicular track up to some
buildings on a mountain top. It was getting cloudier the closer we got to
France. At Les Verrières at the border, we were waved through Swiss and French
customs. Upon entering France, we encountered buildings that looked like
barracks or migrant worker housing. The landscape suddenly seemed uglier with
barer trees and rock-strewn land. Junky areas could be seen around the towns.
We came to Pontarlier, and signs seemed to direct us around the town, then back
through it before leaving again to head to Dole. We saw the start of a bicycle
race, and at one end of the street we saw a magnificent church-like façade that
turned out to be a gate over the road. As we turned away, we passed by a
smaller gate through a huge wall.
Now the land was gently rolling hills, considerably flatter than
Switzerland. There were cows everywhere, most of them lying down. I saw a
couple chapels sitting on top of bared hills with cows all around. The streams
seemed to be overflowing their banks and some fields were flooded. Kirby began
telling me the sad story of his best friend who was separated from his wife and
it looked like it would end up in a divorce. Kirby somehow thought if I were to
become his friend’s pen pal, it would help his loneliness and his need for
“female companionship.” I would like to help, but I don’t think a pen pal is
the answer!
We came to a valley with a waterfall coming over a cliff on the far
side. We drove into the town of Salins-les-Bains and decided to stop. It was a
cute little French town. Jan bought three pastries from a patisserie and we sat
on a bench near the salt baths to try the croissant, the apricot tart, and the
rolled pastry with custard. The last one was voted the best. The salt baths had
tours only at certain times, and we would have to wait until 15:00 for the next
one. Jan translated a sign about the baths for us. Apparently there are saline
streams in the area and salt was produced here, as well as there being curative
salt baths. As we left town, we saw an old building that might still be in
business, with a sign for “Bains, Douches.”
We drove through flat open country. We saw a Loire valley-type château (Château
de Clairvans à Chamblay) sitting among trees in a raised area behind a field of
yellow rapeseed.
It looked out of place like a movie set, but also striking,
romantic, etc. As we continued on, we decided to follow signs to a “picturesque
village.” We were then taken several kilometers out of our way to enter a small
town with a couple buildings, one side road, and a restaurant with a few plants
and knick-knacks. The road then left civilization. We returned to the side road
and followed that past a few insignificant houses and a school. We were not
impressed if this was the picturesque village. We found our way back to the
main road, passing through a “newer” town which may have been the picturesque
one with its old farmhouses. We passed a lot of old men walking with canes and
farmers wearing berets. We also passed through a pine forest.
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| Château de Clairvans à Chamblay |
We drove into the city of Dole at 15:30 and it
was pouring rain. We found a parking space on a terrace over the river, looking
across at a château-like building that turned out to be a school. We looked
down to see a lone tree on a mini-peninsula with a half-sunken Monet boat (a
rowboat that is squared at both ends). We headed up Grand Rue into the old town
and immediately saw signs for the birthplace of Louis Pasteur. We turned onto the
narrow cobblestoned Rue Pasteur and first stopped at an antique shop before
visiting the Pasteur house. We paid the 8 FRF/$1 admission.
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| Pasteur House ticket |
The first room had
cases of books, reading glasses, a few test tubes, photos, etc. A front room
had a desk and a bassinet, more books, and photos. There was a taped commentary
playing over a loud speaker. We were actually in Pasteur’s father’s house. He
was a tanner.
We went out back to a terrace overlooking the
canalized river and saw a couple fishermen with their long poles. The tanner’s
workshop was off the terrace to the right with a display of tools and “cowboy”
boots. Back in the house, we were sent past a room with stairs into what seemed
to be the neighboring house. There in a room of chairs set up as if a lecture
room, we saw extensive memorabilia in cases along the walls. Medals, stamps,
news articles, photos, papers, nooks, cartoons, even ships named after Pasteur
were noted. Plus family trees and histories. Upstairs to see maps of the
Pasteur institutes around the world, and scientific articles, photos of his
luxurious Paris apartment, more test tubes and laboratory tools. Pasteur
apparently did more than come up with pasteurization! He studied sheep and
other animal diseases, developed the rabies vaccine, studied silkworm diseases,
and the process of beer and wine making.
We left and returned to the main street. Someone
asked directions to “la gare.” Jan & Kirby checked out a couple china
shops, but their china pattern was not available. They went into a department
store to look for pans and a Le Creuset cocotte/casserole
dish, but the store didn’t have any. Next we walked up an interesting alley
with new shops in old buildings, a cheese shop and a butcher, a fruit market
with great looking produce, and clothing boutiques. We came out on a large
square, Place Nationale, with the 16C Collégiale
Notre-Dame/Collegiate Church of Our Lady at one end and a building with a
copper roof at the other that reminded me of a covered market (Les Halles, Marché Couvert)
Inside the
church, children seemed to be preparing for confirmation. It was fairly dark
for seeing the paintings by Lawrence Pécheux along the aisles. The organ seemed
too fancy for this church, and it is supposed to be one of the finest in
France.
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| Dôle General view with church bell tower |
We continued to another square, Place Jules Grevy
facing a huge park of trees and landscaped gardens. We went to a tourist
information office where Jan & Kirby got directions to a Le Creuset shop.
We walked up the indicated street, but didn’t find the shop, although we did
pass the new post office and old city hall. We arrived at the train station to
use the restroom. At information at the station, Jan asked again about Le
Creuset. We returned down the same street and entered a hardware store. No Le
Creuset. The clerk explained there used to be a Le Creuset store there two
years ago! She gave us new directions.
We returned to the collegiate church and went
behind it to find a little lady’s shop on a little street. We ended up finding
a man in a good-sized but cute shop. He did not have the cocotte Jan &
Kirby wanted. We returned to the business district and walked up another main
street, ending up in Place
aux Fleurs with the little fountain (Baby
Bacchus by Claude François Attiret) you see in the postcards
with the tower of the church behind it.
There was also an interesting modern sculpture of three bronzed-over chairs holding a body with four heads and two pairs of legs (Les commères/The gossips by Jens Böettcher in 1982). We continued looking for cocottes and found a pan in a hardware store. It cost less than $10, so Jan & Kirby bought it, not necessarily because they needed it! We took the pan to the car, then crossed the river to the Hôtel Dieu/hospital to see the courtyard with a flowering pink chestnut tree. We returned to the car and drove off, making one more stop at a pot store.
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| Place aux Fleurs fountain |
There was also an interesting modern sculpture of three bronzed-over chairs holding a body with four heads and two pairs of legs (Les commères/The gossips by Jens Böettcher in 1982). We continued looking for cocottes and found a pan in a hardware store. It cost less than $10, so Jan & Kirby bought it, not necessarily because they needed it! We took the pan to the car, then crossed the river to the Hôtel Dieu/hospital to see the courtyard with a flowering pink chestnut tree. We returned to the car and drove off, making one more stop at a pot store.
Next we drove southwest to Arbois. In one village
we encountered several herds of cows on their way home. We had to stop to let
them pass to either side of us. The cows were all muddy and had runny noses! The
cowhereder rode bikes or velos, and the dogs kept the cows moving.
After entering Arbois, we passed the ivy-covered
house of Louis Pasteur. We parked in the square, Place de la Liberté, with the
four-lion fountain in the center. We went to a pot shop, then another down Rue
de Courcelles. Back at the square we went into Pâtisserie-Chocolaterie
Hirsinger. According to the Gourmet Magazine, we were to try the little
chocolates with a dab of gold leaf on top (le
Palet d’or). We bought 100 g/3.5 ounces of the nutty tasting chocolates. We
went to another pot shop, then back to the square, passing the Henri Maire wine
shop with its wine tasting rooms. We found the recommended restaurant of the Hôtel
de Paris. Although it was still early, we checked the menu. We explored some
more of the streets in town, seeing a mansion with an arbor-type greenhouse.
The 14-18C Collégiale Notre-Dame/Collegiate
Church of Our Lady had the typical church tower of the region, with a sort of
bell cap. Stopped at tourist information next to the church.
We returned to the car to get our bags, and went
to check in at the Hôtel de Paris. The receptionist checked the book for a
reservation for Bragg, and saw we had room #3. The girl got the key and led us
upstairs. She unlocked the door and was shocked to see suitcases and things
strewn all over the room. She took us back downstairs and found the hotel was
full. Jan & Kirby wondered why they didn’t evict the people in our room. They
were part of a wedding being held that day. The girl called several other
hotels before finding an available room. The room in Hôtel de Paris was to cost
126 FRF/$18 and the new one would be 160 FRF/$22.50. A chef, who turned out to
be the son Jean-Paul, came out to apologize. The father, the famous chef André Jeunet, came
out to see what was happening.
We decided to check out the other hotel before
eating. It was in the next town of Poligny. The Nouvel Hôtel was a sort of
modern hotel situated over a bar, but slightly shabby inside. We had room #8 in
the front over the bar with a balcony. Jan & Kirby closed the shutters
because it was noisy on the street. The toilet was down the hall and had no
toilet paper. We were missing some pillows. We changed in the bathroom that had
a tub, sink, and bidet. Sort of musty smelling, There were two double beds.
When we left, Jan requested toilet paper and pillows, and asked how long the
outside door would be open. The lady said, it depends! She would leave the side
door open and the key in our room door. Jan decided to take the room key.
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| Hôtel de Paris brochure front |
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| Hôtel de Paris brochure back |
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| Hôtel Restaurant de Paris card front |
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| Hôtel Restaurant de Paris card front |
We drove back to Arbois, and at the Hôtel de
Paris restaurant, we were welcomed back as “our three friends!” For our
troubles we were offered an apéritif, but none of us wanted one. The large
dining room had a lot of Germans! The room was decorated with stuffed birds and
deer heads, and copper utensils. Our waiter was a buck-toothed fellow who
smilingly answered all Jan’s questions. There was a 100FRF/$14 menu, a 150
FRF/$21 menu, and a 200FRF/$28 menu. Jan and I ordered the 150 FRF, and Kirby
the 200 FRF, and they ordered an asparagus dish. We started with hors d’oeuvre:
three little chicken legs with meat folded over on one end, breaded and fried.
We ordered an Arbois blanc wine that wasn’t any good, even to Jan & Kirby.
We only had a demi-liter, plus a liter of mineral water. Kirby wanted to try
the vin de paille/straw wine; made
from frost-nipped grapes that are dried on straw before being made into wine.
But one bottle cost 220 FRF/$31. Then Jan received the green-tipped asparagus.
White asparagus is grown with dirt around it so that it never sees the sun and
develops green chlorophyll. In Switzerland, they harvest the asparagus before
the tips emerge from the dirt, but here they harvest after the tip come through
and turn green. The sauce (a mousseline) was light and herb-y. I had 2/3 of one
spear, and Kirby had half of the total. Jan and I received our first course of
a soufflé of pike, a very light eggy ball with a slight fish taste, in a sauce.
Kirby got a very fine paté with toast. Kirby received his second course of
salmon with sorrel. Jan and I enjoyed tastes of Kirby’s menu! Jan and I got our
plates of thin slices of duck leg in a rich dark sauce, and potatoes Grandma’s
style. The potatoes were sliced and very subtlely au gratined. Kirby had a
highly liqueured sherbet as a palate cleanser before his main course of a whole
chicken leg with a morel mushroom sauce and rice. For the cheese course, Jan
and I had Normandie and an Emmentaler type cheese. Kirby had both of those plus
a goat cheese (?). Jan and I had nougat ice cream for dessert. Kirby traded in
his strawberry dessert for a slice of the celebrated gâteau au chocolat. I had
a taste, and although it was soaked in Cointreau, it was delicious! Very
chocolate with chocolate icing between the layers. We declined coffee. We voted
Kirby’s as the best all around meal. With the bill we received a plate of
goodies, a lacy fried pizzelles, sugared grapefruit rind, almond cookies, and
chocolate ganache rolled in cocoa powder. During dinner, I looked at Jan &
Kirby’s slides from the Netherlands.
My share of the bill was 200 FRF/$28. We were
given the wine and water for our troubles. The chef came to our table to
apologize again, and if we were ever in Arbois again, we should ask for him
personally and he would assure us a room, Gee, thanks! We left about 22:30 and
drove through pouring rain to the hotel. The hotel was completely dark, and the
key did not fit in either the side or front door. Fortunately the landlady
drove up, and her son jumped out and told us to come through the side door that
was unlocked! There was a giant roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, and one
more pillow in the room. I used a bolster as my pillow.
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