The French wine region of Burgundy – Interview: Daisy de Plume of THATLou – Official Butterfly Report for 2012

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It’s Wednesday again already! Burgundy is a wonderful place to visit and Carolyn from Holidays to Europe gives us an excellent introduction to its charms. It has beautiful countryside, fantastic wine and amazing bike paths. Abby from Paris Weekender interviews Daisy de Plume of THATLou who organises treasure hunts in the Louvre. I haven’t had a chance to join her yet, but I certainly intend to. Susan from Days on the Claise tells us about surveying local butterflies in Touraine. That’s another thing I’d love to do. Her photos are bewitching. Enjoy!

The French wine region of Burgundy

by Carolyn, from Holidays to Europe, an Australian based business passionate about sharing their European travel expertise and helping travellers to experience the holiday in Europe they have always dreamed of

brancion-500I had heard many a travellers tale of France; of the beautiful green countryside, fields of blooming sunflowers and red poppies, depending on when you travel, medieval buildings and ancient ruins, and produce as fresh as you will find anywhere; but after a few wonderful days in Paris, I have to admit I wondered would the French countryside reach the bar? We were heading to Chaudenay, a little village not far from Beaune, the regional capital of Burgundy, and we were in for a very pleasant surprise.

It wasn’t long after leaving the urban sprawl of Paris that rural France began to take its hold on us!  Yes, the countryside was green; yes, there were plenty of medieval castles and ruins atop hills; but there was also plenty more. Read more

Interview: Daisy de Plume of THATLou

by Abby from Paris Weekender, an American living in Paris who offers suggestions for Paris weekends, either staying put or getting out of town

THATLou-2-3Many of you may already be familiar with Daisy de Plume from my post about the Treasure Hunt at the Louvre I enjoyed over the summer. Daisy is the creator of these amazing scavenger hunts, a unique and exciting way to visit this classic museum. But she has also been up to a whole lot more recently, including the launch of THATd’Or (Treasure Hunt at the Musée d’Orsay) and even the coming-soon THATMet – yes, you guessed it. Treasure Hunt at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art! So I asked Daisy to share with us an update on these exciting developments, as well as some background on her innovative creations. For more information on Daisy’s events, as well as the most current updates, I also invite you to visit her site: THATLOU.com.

The following is Part I of my interview with Daisy. Part II will follow next week! Read more

Official butterfly report for 2012

by Susan from Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history, and running Loire Valley Time Travel (remember Célestine?)

adonis_blueJust as I am gearing up to start surveying my local butterflies for 2013, waiting and watching for the weather to improve sufficiently to make it worthwhile, the official STERF report on last year’s national survey has landed in my email inbox…with a covering message from Luc Manil, who co-ordinates us STERFistes, saying ‘Don’t even think about going out and doing your first survey until the last 10 days of April. The weather forecast is awful and there will be nothing flying but those few species that hibernate as adults…’

The French national butterfly survey has been going since 2005. From an initial 14 survey sites it is now 215 sites. 44% are allocated randomly and can be anywhere within 10km of the surveyor’s home base, 56% are chosen by the surveyors (and are usually nature reserves). Last year both my survey sites were randomly allocated. Read more

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12 thoughts on “The French wine region of Burgundy – Interview: Daisy de Plume of THATLou – Official Butterfly Report for 2012”

  1. Dear Rosemary
    I follow your blog whenever I have time and am always amazed by your generosity in sharing such wonderful information and pictures. Particularly useful for me right now because I’ll be in Paris again from 10 May for about 10 days. Last year when I was there with my husband we went to a number of bistros/eateries you recommended and they were all wonderful. Also loved the piece on Treasure Hunts.
    The links into Paris Weekender are currently very useful for the latest info on eateries as this time I’m meeting up with a group of friends who want to try out a variety of places. Hope the weather warms up and we get a bit of sunshine, at least for a few days. Many thanks for all the great info you provide. Best wishes, Pamela

      1. Dear Daisy
        Many thanks for your reply. On this visit to Paris I’m joining up with a small Aussie group with an unofficial leader. She’s put together a super program for us. It’s very full so don’t think there’d be time to participate in your treasure hunt this time. But will let the others know about it.
        However, will be back again in June 2014 for three weeks with my husband – we’ll have more time then. Your THATLou sounds like a wonderful thing to do so will get in touch with you next year. Thank you again for contacting me through Rosemary’s blog. With best wishes, Pamela

    1. Hi Pamela, it’s lovely that you can come back again so soon! Perhaps we could meet up for coffee, if you have time. I’ll be in Paris from 13th onwards.

  2. Rosemary!
    You’re too generous to have picked this up. Thank you very much. I love it especially as it was Abby who introduced us in the first place, sipping our wine with the Louvre and Maillol as the back drop to the paparazzi cameras flashing our ‘fab’ smiles! (well ok, I think I may have exaggerated this a bit, but I love it that that’s how we met).

    Do hope the latest upgrades to your Loire empire are going well and look forward to seeing you whenever you’re back in Paris.
    xx
    Daisy

    1. Hi Daisy, Abby did a great job with your interview didn’t she? That was a lovely day. I’m looking forward to seeing the show! And thank you for the invitation to Pamela. Perhaps we could both do it at the same time.

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