We seem to have scored with our hotel at last. It is well-located, right on the bike path, the room is spacious with a sofa, two chairs and a desk, the bed is comfortable (and there is even a double bed unlike most accommodation in Germany where two single beds are usually pushed together), it has black-out curtains, the floor doesn’t creak, the shower doesn’t have water spiking out every which way, it has real towels, the breakfast is excellent and the staff is friendly and accommodating. It’s called Martinshof in Rottenburg am Neckar and I can recommend it! We are staying four nights.
The Martinshof Hotel in Rottenburg am Neckar
The little town of Rottenburg am Neckar has a marktplatz with several historical buildings and a path along the Neckar where we go to have our picnic dinner each evening as we don’t have a terrace. The light is perfect the first time we go there and I manage to take several stunning photos. It also has one of the best ice-cream parlours we’ve been to in Germany. The dark chocolate is to die for.
Along the Neckar in Rottenburg
The weather prediction for the three days we are staying here is warm and sunny, even very hot the first day. We make the effort to get up early (8 am) and are on our way by 9.30.
The marktplatz in Rottenburg
The Neckartal-Radweg path takes us through pretty countryside and is mostly flat. We look for a café in the first village, Obernau, to no avail, so push on to Bieringen which has a seemingly non-descript bakery/open air café that is obviously known for miles around as people keep pulling up in their cars and dashing in to pick up boxes and packets.
Cycling country outside Rottenburg
We enjoy our cappuccino but aren’t hungry enough for cake. By now it must be about 28°C.
A golf course literally in the middle of nowhere
To our immense surprise, we go past a golf course. You’d wonder where the people come from. It’s getting hotter and hotter and we are positively sweltering by the time we reach Eutingen Im Gäu. From then on, we spend most of our time going up and down hills. When we see the motorway bridge above us, we’re not surprised.
The motorway bridge above the bike path
Fortunately, we then go through a wooded area or we may not have survived! We keep stopping to drink water which we keep chilled with our Aussie stubbie coolers.
The tower on the hill near Horb
Our destination, Horb, is not exactly what we expected. First, it is on top of a VERY HIGH HILL which we walk up, of course. At the top, we see the painted rathaus and church but no restaurants so we go back down the hill.
The painted rathaus in Horb am Neckar
I suggest we ride along the river in the opposite direction to see what we can find. Jean Michel is very dubious but I insist. Suddenly we come across an outdoor Italian restaurant under shady trees. It has a very basic menu but we don’t care.
The shady Italian eatery
There is a high school just behind and the students are all cooling themselves off in the river a hundred metres on. We order wiener schnitzel to be on the safe side with French fries and they are excellent. Jean Michel tells me everyone is calling them “pommice”. We later learn it is the German pronunciation of pommes short for pommes frites, which means French fries in French. I feel sorry for the Italian mamma who’s cooking today. We are reasonably cool in the shade.
Chilling out on the roadside bench
I am dreading the ride back because of all those hills but in fact, they are not so steep in this direction. After an hour, though, I am happy to stretch out on a conveniently located wooden bench to recuperate.
A vineyard on the way home
We call in again at the bakery in Bieringen. By now it is 32°C in the shade and we need to cool off again. Business continues to be brisk but we still don’t feel like eating cream cakes and my dictionary does not tell me what holzofen brot is.
The bakery in Bieringen
All we want when we get back after cycling 55 km in 4 hours is a cold shower. Our room does not have air-conditioning but we cool off along the river with an ice-cream. On the way home, we hear an impromptu concert in one of the squares.
It’s next morning and an intermittent fast day. Fortunately, it isn’t as hot and the temperature is only expected to get to 28°C. We shall have to drink a lot of water though.
The beautifully painted rathaus in Tübingen – unfortunately it’s delivery time
We pack our picnic lunch and set out at 9.30 am. Initially, the route is not very exciting, but at least it’s flat. Tübingen, our main destination, is only 12 km away. Since it was not bombed during World War II, most of the houses are very old, many are half-timbered and some are painted.
Marktplatz in Tübingen
The rathaus with its oriel window is particularly attractive.
Having coffee next to the canal
We have an espresso next to a little canal to the accompaniment of live music from Budapest and watch two enormous trucks try to get past each other.
Houses along the Neckar in Tübingen
After visiting the main sights in the upper part of the town, we cycle down to the tourist office just next to the Neckar Bridge. Tübingen has a population of 66,000 people, one third of whom are university students. They seem to be everywhere!
Punts on the Neckar
We see gondola-like boats on the river which apparently are the local tourist attraction.
A biergarten along the Neckar. What a pity it’s an intermittent fast day!
As we haven’t determined where we are going next, I ask the man in the tourist office to suggest something to visit within a radius of 10 km. He gives me a brochure on Bebenhausen monastery and castle which is 6 km out of town.
The bike café on the way to Bebenhausen
On the way, we come across a little café on the bike path and have an espresso. Dark rain clouds are threatening and I haven’t packed our rain capes. In the little wood just after the café, there are definite signs that a shower that has already taken place. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
One of the houses in the village of Bebenhausen
When we reach Bebenhausen, we are enchanted. I don’t understand why the brochure only shows the rather drab inside of the castle and church when the village itself is so pretty.
The clock on one side of the abbey
Although it is not teeming with tourists we are not on our own. There are two groups of schoolchildren and two groups of adults which makes it difficult to take photographs!
Another view of Bebenhausen
We stop off at Tübigen on the way back to visit the cathedral because it has a flamboyant gothic jubé. There are some interesting wooden statues at the end of some of the pews.
The jube in Tübingen cathedral
We’re back at our hotel by 4 pm, having cycled 42 km in 3 hours 20 minutes in near-perfect weather.
Traditional music in Rottenburg am Neckar
We have dinner along the river as usual, but no ice-cream because it’s an intermittent fast day. As we reach the marktplatz we can hear music. We’ve arrived at the tail end of some sort of organised event but it’s good to know that our little town is so active.
Imperia is four hours by car from our destination of Crema in Lombardy so we plan a lunch stop at Voghera along the way. As we go north, the sun disappears and the sky darkens. We arrive in the main piazza just before noon to find everything closed. It’s Monday. Note to self: never try to do anything on a Monday morning in Italy. Voghera has absolutely nothing to redeem it so we make a detour to the Po river to have our picnic (it’s an intermittent fast day). We find ourselves on a bench in the full sun in the middle of nowhere instead.
Lunch in the middle of nowhere
The Tom-Tom then sends us to Crema by a very devious route. Maybe it gets paid for staying on the motorway whenever it can instead of taking a more direct route. We go north to Pavia, famous for its beautiful Carthusian Monastery which we have visited in the past, and almost to Milan before taking a motorway that isn’t on any of our maps. Sigh. We reach Crema too early to check into our romantic B&B (called an agriturismo in Italy) for 3 nights so pick up some more fruit and vegetables and vino bianco while we’re waiting.
The beautiful entrance to our agriturismo
By now, the sun is scorching. We drive through the front building which is very beautiful and find ourselves in the courtyard of a working farm which is a little less charming. I look for an office but can only see a fitness club. The door opens and a very pleasant young lady asks me in Italian to come in. I give my name and she takes us to see the room. It looks like the photos and seems fine so we take it. Breakfast is a tray with everything an Italian might need for breakfast, all in cellophane packets. How anyone can eat those biscotti, I don’t know. There is an espresso machine outside the door.
Our first impression of Crema
We unpack, have a short rest and then set out to explore the town which is 1 ½ km away. I notice there is a bike path but Jean Michel prefers to drive. He is feeling a little frazzled after all the driving on the Italian motorway which is an experience in itself. We park the car and walk into the pedestrian centre and are completely charmed by the little town of Crema. There are bikes everywhere so we plan to come back and explore further the next day since the tourist office is closed on Mondays.
The Guelfo Tower with its Venetian lion
In the meantime, I take a photo of the map of the main sights and we create our own little circuit – the 13/14th century cathedral and Renaissance square with its Guelfo Tower bearing the lion of San Marco, witness to Venetian domination of the town from 1449 to 1794 and the Torrazzo originally built for defence purposes and the remains of the city walls. We see a very large covered market on the way which I can’t imagine could be filled every morning.
The bedroom in our agriturismo
Back in our room we discover its defects. The table is too high to eat at comfortably and there is very little light in the room, either natural or artificial. One of the chairs is very uncomfortable and the other is too low for the desk/bedside table. There are no extra pillows. The other bedside table is too high to use from the bed. The bathroom is fine, thank goodness, and the wifi works. We can hear the TV above us. There are no common areas we can use. We decide we’ll only stay two nights so cancel the third one with booking.com at no extra cost.
The walls of our agriturismo from the bike path
After a decent sleep, we make our coffee with a few fits and starts and begin taking our bikes off the car. A lady comes out of the Fitness Club and asks if everything is fine. She seems as though she might be in charge of the show. She offers to give us a map of Crema showing the bike paths (how come we weren’t given one yesterday, I wonder) but in the end she can’t find it. She does have a visitor’s map of Crema though. She confirms that we are staying two nights. All this in Italian.
Cyclists and pedestrians in the Renaissance square next to the tourist office
We ride into the town along the bike path and join all the other cyclists in the pedestrian area. Many are older people (like ourselves) but there doesn’t seem to be a fixed rule about what side of the road to use. You need to keep your wits about you. We start with the tourist office and get some other maps and brochures. I find a series of 5 cycling maps that seem to cover the area we will be visiting.
Our breakfast café
We go to a café for breakfast with a shady terrace that we noticed the day before. Jean Michel is hungry so chooses several pastries (I’m not that keen on Italian pastries so only choose a couple of small ones). We order fresh orange juice and cappuccino. The waiter congratulates me on my excellent Italian which is surprising because I mostly just string together the words I know without bothering about verbs.
The surprisingly busy market in Crema
During breakfast, we examine the maps and discover that only the first one in my series of five is useful. We have another one that gives you a general idea of where to go but needs to be backed up by good signage. Our destination is Soncino, about 20 km from Crema but first we are going to visit the basilica of Santa Maria delle Croce on the outskirts of Crema.
The Basilica of Santa Maria delle Croce
The building, representative of the Lombard Renaissance, is very impressive but what intrigues me most is a painting inside the crypt. I later learn that according to local legend, on 13 February 1489, a young woman from a well-to-do family in Crema called Caterina degli Uberti married Bartolomeo Pederbelli also known as Contaglio, a convicted felon from Bergamo and long-time resident of Crema.
The painting inside the basilica showing the Vrigin Mary appearing to
There were many quarrels between him and her family over payment of the dowry. On the pretext of taking her to see his family in Bergamo, he took her into a local wood where he cut off her right hand and part of her arm on 3 April 1490 before punching (and maybe stabbing) her in the back and leaving her for dead. She prayed to the Virgin Mary who is said to have taken her to a nearby farmhouse. She was then moved inside the city walls where she died, after receiving the last rites and pardoning her husband. You would wonder why. A wooden cross was placed in the woods where the murder took place but a series of miracles turned the site into a holy place and a sanctuary was built there and later became a basilica.
The hidden café
So far, so good. I mean the cycling of course. Now it’s time to find the bike path along the canal to Ginevolta then up to Soncino. It’s already 11.15 am even though we left the B&B at 9.15. We stop at a well-hidden café to ask directions. An over-enthusiastic puppy jumps all over us and we each have a plastic cup of cold melon pieces for the incredible price of 50 cents each. No one has ever heard of the bike path but they direct us to the canal.
The first canal path
We eventually find it but Jean Michel is not satisfied we are going in the right direction so I ask a passing fisherman. He tells us (in Italian of course) that we are on the wrong side of the fiume (it doesn’t sound like a word that could mean river does it?) and that we have to go back over the train tracks (Toot! Toot!), cross the bridge and turn left onto the tow-path. Which we do. The path is quite narrow and bumpy but improves after a while.
Where we should have continued along the canal (on the left) but took the bike path instead
Unfortunately the problem is with the signage or lack thereof. We see a tiny, faded sign that tells us to cross the canal, but gives no indications after that. We follow a small road until I see a sign that says “south canal”. Then I see a real bike path so we take it and end up in Offanengo which is not supposed to be on our route.
Our workers’ lunch restaurant
Jean Michel says we should find a place for lunch and check the directions afterwards. By now it’s 36°C. I have just seen a sign saying “pranzo di lavoro €11” which I assume means “workers’ lunch”, equivalent to the French “repas d’ouvrier” so we lock up our bikes and go in (it’s too hot to be sitting outside). A nice young man takes us to a table and gives us the menu. We can have a complete menu including a vegetable buffet with wine and coffee or just one or two courses for the same price which seems a bit strange. The waiter comes back and explains the menu to us (but doesn’t explain why all the prices are the same).
You can tell the World Soccer Cup is on at the moment
We choose different dishes at his suggestion with a carafe of frizzante and go and get our buffet. None of the food is outstanding but all seems to be fresh and it’s certainly filling. The tables around us fill and empty regularly. It’s obviously a local favourite. We’re pleased with the experience.
The canal cleaning machine
The sun is still shining brightly when we walk out of the air-conditioned restaurant. Jean Michel examines the maps again and we push on to Genivolta. After a couple of wrong turns, we seem to be going in the right direction (not that we have any proof – there are no signs). We come across the canal again just as a very large machine turns in front of us. A man on foot tells us to get out the way because it’s dangerous. It appears to be a canal-cleaning machine.
One of the prettier parts of the canal
We start to follow it along the tow-path so the man tells it to stop so we can get past. Fortunately, he wheels my bike for me as I think I might have ended up otherwise in another small canal on the other side. We are happy with our canal path, though, even if it isn’t very scenic. What we do see everywhere are signs of the agricultural wealth of the Po Valley.
A make-shift altar along the canal
Along the way, I see a small group of plastic garden chairs in front of an altar with Ave Maria written on it. Italy is still very religious.
The intersection at Taggio. You can see how uninteresting the countryside is.
We see a sign that sends us across the canal and onto a bitumen road. Once again we have no idea where we are going. We finally come to an intersection with a sign saying “Soncino 12”. We still don’t know where we are so ride into the town and discover we are in Trigolo. There is a sign saying “Crema 11”. I can’t believe it! We’ve been riding for hours and are still only 11 k from Crema. We follow the road to Soncino. It’s a beautiful little winding road with a good bitumen surface and no cars.
A typical Italian cemetary
It takes us through Cumignano sul Naviglio with its typical cemetery.
We then take a large, new, uninteresting road through an industrial park that takes us to Soncino. We arrive very hot and weary and very disappointed. It seems a rather miserable result after riding for 40 km! Jean Michel finds a café with gelato artigianale and orders some Coca Zero to go with it. We’re hot and thirsty! The ice cream has the strangest flavours – Kinder, cheesecake, etc. – so I choose stracciatella, bacio and fiore di latte as being the most innocuous. The cans of coke are warm so I take them back. They only have one small bottle of Coca Zero that is cold so we share that instead.
The main square in Soncino with our café on the left
After examining the tourist brochure we picked up in Crema, we discover there are several churches with frescoes as well as a castle. Maybe it was worth coming after all! We start with the closest, the parish church of Pieve Santa Maria Assunta, a large red brick building erected in the 12th and 13th centuries with stunning frescoes and a deep blue dome.
Santa Maria Asunta
Just round the corner, behind a very ordinary, unrestored 12th century façade are more beautiful frescoes, a sculpted wooden chancel, a descent from the cross and a cloister that leads back to Santa Maria Assunta.
Saint James the Apostle
We continue down the street and turn to the right and up a path to the castle. What a pity we arrived through the industrial estate. We would have had a very different initial view of the town! The present castle, the only one built entirely by the Sforza family, dates back to the second half of the 15th century. The extensive fortifications are 13th century.
The castle in Soncino with the restored spinning mill on the left
To the left is a former spinning mill containing a silk museum, open on Sundays only.
Down the hill to the right is a somewhat dilapidated water mill from which there is an excellent view of the castle.
The old water mill in Soncino
Our last stop is another church just outside the town, Santa Maria delle Grazie, which contains more frescoes and a most unusual modern wooden sculpture of the assumption. We leave just as a busload of teenage boys sing their way into the parking lot!
Santa Maria delle Grazie
We have now clocked up 45 km and are 13 km from Crema via the main road. Jean Michel tries to find some small roads but with little success. They seem to have disappeared. The cars and trucks whizz past at 90 kph (it’s 5.30 pm, obviously knock-off time) with only a white line between them and us. After 5 km, we come to Ticengo and take a left turn. We then follow a small, perfect road winding through relatively pretty countryside. We eventually come to Offanengo and take the bike path past our lunchtime restaurant and into Crema. We do not try to find the canal route again.
A good road at last!
At 7 pm, after riding a total of 5 hours and covering 63 K, we are sitting in a café next to the cathedral in Crema, with a cold glass of white and Italian aperitivo nibbles in front of us. Although we loved visiting Soncino, the stress from the lack of signposting for cyclists was exhausting. NEVER AGAIN!
Aperitivo in the cathedral piazza in Crema
Tomorrow we are off to Innsbruck in Austria to a hotel we’ve been to before.
Ce blog est normalement en anglais mais j’ai eu tellement de demandes concernant notre pratique du jeûne intermittent de la part de nos amis français que j’ai décidé de leur dédier un post. [This blog is usually in English but I have had so many requests for information on the 5:2 Fast Diet from our French friends that I am dedicating this post to them in French. You will find plenty of information on the subject in English if you click on the Category “Dieting” in the column on the right. You can start with “The 5:2 fast diet: fast and feast and still lose weight“.]
1/4 protéine, 1/4 féculents et 1/2 légumes
J’ai commencé le jeûne intermittent lorsque j’avais repris quelques kilos deux ou trois ans après avoir perdu 20 kilos en suivant un régime basé sur une assiette divisée en quatre: 1/4 de protéines, 1/4 de féculants et 1/2 de légumes. J’avais réduit ma consommation de vin à une ou deux fois par semaine à la place d’un verre ou deux à chaque repas. J’avais également éliminé les frites et autres mets très caloriques. Pendant les trois premières semaines du régime j’avais également éliminé tous les produits à base de blé les remplaçant par le quinoa, la polenta, etc.
Pendant la période du régime qui a duré 18 mois, je n’avais pas trop de mal, mais une fois que j’avais retrouvé la ligne, il était plus difficile de constamment “faire attention” et je n’arrivais plus à reperdre les trois ou quatre kilos que j’avais repris petit à petit pendant deux ans. C’est à ce moment-là que j’ai entendu parler du jeûne intermittent élaboré par le docteur Michael Mosley après ses recherches poussées sur les différents types de jeûne.
Sa méthode, appelée 5:2 (cinq jours “normaux” et deux jours de jeûne), a eu tellement de succès que la caisse d’assurance maladie en Grande Bretagne a lancé des études très sérieuses sur ce sujet. Cette méthode qui vise à perdre du poids et à ne pas en reprendre a désormais fait ses preuves.
Et ce n’est pas uniquement une question de poids. Le mauvais cholestérol s’en va, on a une meilleure santé et le facteur “cancer” est réduit, ce qui augmente l’espérance de vie.
Mon mari Jean Michel était hésitant au début mais maintenant c’est un grand adepte. Nous pratiquons le jeûne intermittent deux fois par semaine, le lundi et le jeudi (mais on peut moduler les jours comme on veut), depuis plus de deux ans. Il n’y a aucune restriction sur les activités pratiquées les jours de jeûne – nous faisons 70 km de vélo sans problème et Jean Michel a fait de gros travaux physiques cet été -, il faut juste boire beaucoup d’eau. C’est même bien de pratiquer un sport ou d’avoir une activité intensive le jour du jeune.
Attention: Si vous avez un problème de santé, comme le diabète, par exemple, il faut absolument consulter un médecin avant de démarrer.
Alors, comment faire les jours de jeûne ? C’est très simple: on prend 500 calories pour les femmes et 600 calories pour les hommes, répartis de préférence entre deux repas. J’ai essayé “petit déjeuner + dîner” mais j’avais mal à la tête dans l’après-midi. Je préfère donc ne pas prendre de petit déjeuner, ce qui favorise une plus longue période de jeûne (entre 21 heures le soir d’avant et 13 heures le lendemain = 16 heures) en prenant simplement un café noir non sucré le matin. Au début j’hésitais car j’avais appris à ne jamais sauter de repas mais finalement cela ne pose aucun problème.
Aux repas de jeûne, il faut prendre plutôt des protéines et légumes pour éviter la perte de muscle. Pour des raisons de simplicité, nous mangeons toujours la même chose les jours de jeûne. Comme ça, on n’a pas besoin de compter les calories chaque fois ni de réfléchir à ce que nous allons manger.
Repas typique un jour de jeûne intermittent (+ fruit)
A midi nous prenons deux oeufs (omelette sans matière grasse, oeufs durs, etc.), des crudités ou légumes cuits à la vapeur nature (juste sel et poivre) et un fruit. Jean Michel rajoute une tranche de pain équivalente à 100 calories.
Le soir, on mange un fromage blanc à 20%, un yaourt Activia nature, des légumes à la vapeur et un fruit.
Déjeuner typique: omelette à l’oseille accompagnée d’endives vapeur (+ fruit)
Il faut choisir des légumes basses calories : tomates, concombres, brocolis, haricots verts, courgettes, poivrons, carottes, choux-fleurs, endives, etc. Il faut tout peser la première fois pour s’assurer du nombre de calories.
Il faut savoir que la sensation de faim n’est jamais continue. On va avoir faim, puis on fait quelque chose pour se distraire, on boit un verre d’eau et la sensation disparaît.
Après quelque temps, on n’y pense même plus les jours de jeûne! C’est même agréable d’avoir une vraie sensation de faim de nouveau plutôt qu’une envie de manger ou de grignoter.
Et les autres jours, qu’est-ce qu’on fait ?
Eh bien, vous mangez comme vous voulez. D’abord, le fait de jeûner va sûrement réduire votre appétit. Ensuite, sans prendre les frites à tous les repas suivies de gros gâteaux, il n’y a pas de restrictions. Si vous constatez qu’il n’y a pas de perte de poids après plusieurs jours de jeûne, vous pouvez essayer de ne pas dépasser 1200 calories par jour (pour une femme de taille moyenne) ou bien faire une troisième jour de jeûne dans la semaine ou juste sauter le petit déjeuner une ou deux fois de plus.
Foie gras from time to time is no longer excluded
Puisqu’on a le “droit” de manger des petits gâteaux et du foie gras sans culpabiliser, l’envie de trop manger ou de grignoter est moins forte. Le cerveau semble s’adapter rapidement à cette nouvelle façon de manger.
Pour moi, le jeûne intermittent est la meilleure solution pour garder la ligne. L’idée d’être obligée de faire attention toute la vie me déprimait. Par contre, jeûner deux jours par semaine jusqu’à la fin de mes jours ne me pèse pas du tout. On est même content de jeûner, étonnant que cela puisse sembler. On a l’impression de mettre le corps au repos et de retrouver sa dynamique.
Alors, bon courage et n’oubliez pas de me tenir au courant de vos progrès !
We have already visited Burano, Murano and Tortello, the best known islands in the Venetian lagoon. We want to return to Burano and Murano but also go to Erasmo via the Lido and Treporti. The sun is shining when we depart from Fondamenta Nuove at 11.15 on line 14 and after an enjoyable one-hour ride seated at the back of the vaporetto, we arrive at Treporti.
Forte Massimiliano, on the way to Treporti
During the fifteen minutes we’re there, we admire the terrace of the only restaurant in sight and hope we’ll find something similar in Erasmo, which is Venice’s orchard and vegetable garden, according to Le Routard. As we haven’t been getting many vegetables apart from our 5:2 fast days, we’re hoping to make up for it.
The marshland between Treporti and Erasmo Chiesa
Our little vaporetto takes us past marshy land with decoy ducks on the posts instead of the usual seagulls, and Burano and the snow-capped peaks of the Dolomites in the distance.
The inviting terrace at Antica Dogana in Treporti
It takes us twenty minutes to get to Erasmo Chiesa and we are almost the only ones to alight. Apart from a couple of those little three-wheeled pick-ups they have in Italy and a few bikes, there’s no one in sight. We walk about 5 minutes along the water to the right and decide it doesn’t look like restaurant material so we start walking in the other direction.
The church on Erasmo
After the constant throng in Venice, we’re amazed at the tranquillity. We pass fields of artichokes, zucchini and rosemary and can smell a barbecue somewhere but no sign of a ristorante or a trattoria or even a bar. After a half an hour we reach the Punta Vela vaporetto stop just as the boat arrives and waive to the driver so he’ll wait for us.
Three-wheeled pick-up next to an artichoke field on Erasmo
By now it’s 1.15 and we’re wondering how long the Antica Dogana in Treporti will keep serving. A few sunny tables are occupied on the terrace but it’s windy and a little chilly. We find a spot at a small round bare table close to the wall and ask if we can eat there. The waiter looks askance and goes off to find his boss. Other people arrive at the same time and suddenly the two waiters are moving laid tables in every direction. Our round one is whisked away and replaced with a square one.
Waiting for our table at Antica Dogana
After a short time, the first waiter arrives with a cold bottle of water, one menu (they’re short today because there are a lot of people inside) and a basket of grissini (bread sticks) and bread. Fortunately, we have a great view with a lot of boating activity because we don’t get to order for another 30 minutes!
Lots of activity on the lagoon including kayaks
We choose an excellent soave wine and a house welcome turns up consisting of fried baby prawns and polenta.
Strozzapreti – priest stranglers!
We then share strozzapreti with Dublin Bay prawns, queen scallops and asparagus and fresh egg pasta with cuttlefish. I check my iPhone app to see what strozzapreti means and think I must have misunderstood but at home I learn that it does indeed mean priest stranglers, one explanation being that that gluttonous priests found the hand-rolled pasta so delicious that they ate too quickly and choked themselves, sometimes to death.
Antica Dogana from the vaporetto
By the time we are served it’s nearly 3 pm so we finally take the 3.44 boat to Burano after an excellent meal and very friendly (if not speedy) service – and no choking – promising ourselves desert in the form of a gelato on Burano, which turns out to be another interesting story!
It’s our second day in Blois and Susan and Simon from Days on the Claise have invited us to their local saffron fair. I know next to nothing about saffron except that it comes from the pistils ofcrocuses. Even that’s not right – it actually comes from the stigmas which are a part of the pistils.
Fields under water on the way to Preuilly sur Claise
The day’s not brilliant but at least it’s not raining. We’re amazed at the high water level in the fields as we get closer to Preuilly which is about an hour and a half from Blois through Montrichard and not far from Loches.
Saffron fair in the local gymnasium in Preuilly
After inspecting Simon’s recent staircase varnishing job, we walk down to the gymnasium. Inside it’s all hustle and bustle with lots of gaily decorated stalls, not all selling saffron, I’m surprised to see, but then, there’s only so much saffron you can use in a year, isn’t there?
Saffron-flavoured verrines
We pay for our saffron-themed lunch (18.50 euro) – Susan has already booked our table – and start sampling some little verrines but we can only remember one of them now: queen’s scallop in pumpkin soup flavoured with saffron.
Wrought-iron lamp stand
There are all sorts of goods on sale. The first stop is a wrought-iron craftsman. I wouldn’t mind having a lamp post like this one but it’s a little expensive …
Crocus plants
The next stand has some crocus plants on display. Although saffron crocuses have been cultivated in Touraine since the Middle Ages, no one really knows where they come from. Some think Tibet. You need 150 to 200 flowers to obtain 1 gram of saffron which explains why you should never buy powdered saffron – it’s probably something else altogether!
Pain d’épices
Several stands are selling pain d’épices flavoured with saffron. I learn that you always infuse the stigmas in a liquid such as water, milk, cream and wine and add them at the end of the cooking time. Too high a heat destroys the aromatic molecules.
Unusual fruit and vegetable stand
Another lady is selling unusual fruit and vegetable seeds so I buy some tubers called mashua (tropaeolum tuberosum) that were already being served up 5500 years in South America. I’ll let you know how they turn out!
Lots of little saffron-flavoured goodies
Next stop is a stand selling little bottles of saffron-flavoured vinegar, honey, jam, etc. I buy a few to keep as gifts and am given a neat little jute carry bag.
The basket-making pensioner
We are intrigued by a man selling baskets that he makes using local rushes and brambles. They start out green and gradually become brown. The basket-maker explains that it’s a pensioner’s hobby and that he only sells the baskets to make room for more. At 10 euro a basket, it’s a bargain. They are all beautifully finished. I choose one that turns out to be exactly the right size for our local pain aux céréales.
Nutcracker man
Another man is selling the same type of nutcracker we have at home that I think is perfectly useless so I get him to demonstrate. Obviously I’ve been using the wrong technique. I can’t wait to get back to Paris to see if I can crack perfect nuts without putting the shells all over the kitchen.
Saffron prawns
By now it’s lunchtime and my feet are killing me so we make our way to the dining area. We have a prawn-based entrée with saffron (which is often used to accompany mussels, scallops and fish), followed by guinea-fowl and saffron cream sauce.
Dessert is a local saffron-flavoured version of tiramisu which is one of my very favourite desserts. We choose a local crémant followed by a local sauvignon.
Saffron mortar and pestle with container
We don’t buy any saffron at the fair because Susan gives me a special little saffron container with a mortar and pestle on top made by friends in Preuilly. Jean Michel has picked up various brochures along the way, many of which contain saffron recipes. Since tomorrow is a fast day, I’m going to try an omelette au saffran.
Well, it’s going wonderfully! I’ve lost the 5 kilos I put back on after my initial diet three years ago when I lost 20 kilos, despite the fact that I am now eating a lot of foods I had thought I’d have to give up forever.
I actually look forward to our fast days, when I have 500 calories and Jean Michel has 600, and which we plan according to what’s going on that week but which are usually 3 or 4 days apart. Mondays and Thursdays or Fridays are typical choices, but the beauty of the 5:2 fast is that there are no fixed days. We continue to always eat the same thing on those days, as it suits us that way.
The amazing thing is that I am not hungry on fast days. I even forget it’s a fast day until lunch and dinner come around (we don’t have breakfast).
The day after a fast day, though, we’re usually pretty hungry. I’ve found that having a good breakfast is the most effective solution to feeling ravenous mid-morning. I’d really rather not get into the habit of snacking again.
After my initial diet, I had eliminated foods such as fresh ravioli, quiche and French fries. We had reduced our wine intake to about once or twice a week which was rather sad because we are both wine buffs. If we went out to dinner, I tried to be reasonable and only order low-calorie foods. I felt guilty if I indulged AND I STILL PUT THOSE FIVE KILOS BACK ON.
Biscuits made at the Chambord biscuit factory – I prefer the traditional “solognots”
Now I can order French fries, foie gras and fish with beurre nantais and enjoy them without compunction! If we do have a heavy lunch or dinner, we just skip the next meal. I can have those very moorish Chambord biscuits with afternoon tea and a glass of wine with my meal if I feel like it.
We do, however, continue to have well-balanced meals for health purposes. If we have ravioli, I serve it with a tossed salad, for example, followed by fresh fruit. We still more or less respect the “plate-divided-into-four” principle though I’m more likely to spread it out over two meals, with more protein at one and less carbs and vice versa.
Jean Michel was convinced that he would not be able to continue fasting when doing a lot of physical work such as heavy gardening and renovation. I didn’t insist even though I couldn’t see the problem. When we were cycling 50 to 60 kilometers a day along the Danube last summer, we had as much energy on fast days as we did on feast days. But he said it was not the same.
However, as it turns out, he has no trouble fasting when we’re in Blois, despite a much more active life style. He just has make sure he drinks a lot of water to prevent hydration.
The 5:2 fast diet doesn’t suit everyone of course. We have French friends who prefer to reduce the period of nutrition to 8 hours, skipping breakfast, having lunch around 1 pm and dinner before 9 pm, thus leaving a period of 16 hours between the last and first meal each day. Their reference is Le Fasting by JB Rives.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s experience.
You might be interested in my other posts on dieting:
This Wednesday’s Bloggers’ Round-up brings three completely different subjects. First, on the subject of fasting and dieting, Jacqueline Meldrum from Tinned Tomatoes, introduces the documentary behind the 5:2 fast diet I’ve been talking about recently. You’ll be interested in her recipes as well. Australian B&B website Petite Paris gives a very practical tutorial on how to use the metro for newcomers to Paris while Abby from Paris Weekender explains how to navigate the confusing French double giratoire roundabout, which I have yet to experience. Enjoy!
5:2 diet
by Jacqueline Meldrum, from Tinned Tomatoes, a self-taught cook and baker, who has been cooking and baking for over 24 years and whose interest in food really developed when she became a vegetarian 22 years ago.
If you live in the UK, you may have seen the Horizon documentary on BBC2, that aired on Monday night.
Eat, Fast and Live Longer.
If you haven’t seen it, then you may have heard people talking about it on twitter or facebook. It’s a hot topic right now.
The documentary featured medical journalist and tv exec Michael Mosley, as he set himself the challenge to live longer, stay younger and lose weight. Three things that I am sure we would all like to achieve. During the one hour documentary Mosley spoke to many people including scientists and found out that a low calorie diet is the secret to these three elusive goals. Read more
Back to Paris Basics – Navigating the Metro
by Petite Paris, an Australian-based service for Australian travellers and fellow Francophiles
With so many new ‘Petite’ friends and first timers heading to Paris we have to remember to re-cap the basic essentials and practicalities of Paris … to help you plan, prepare and book for a smooth arrival and overall experience. So…no better place to start or over than the Metro System!
The Paris Metro System – Becoming familiar with the Paris Metro and a Paris Metro map is essential to any Paris visitor. However the map of the Metro may as well be in Greek, if you don’t know basic facts about taking the Paris Metro. Read more
The Perplexing Phenomenon of the Double Giratoire
by Abby from Paris Weekender, an American living in Paris who offers suggestions for Paris weekends, either staying put or getting out of town
I was on my way to Nostang, a small town in the Morbihan north of the ria d’Etel, and I came across my second double giratoire.
As many of you know, I passed my French driver’s exam in the fall, and I’m proud. Ask me anything about the French rules of the road, and I can tell you. I was certain I had seen it all — either on the road or in the practice exams.
But there seems to be a new creature in the array of options for the French intersection. At least the two examples I have driven through (and survived) were clearly new constructions. Read more
You may remember I started the 5:2 fast diet about 2 weeks before we left on holidays, desperately hoping it would allow me to wear all my summer clothes again. Well, it worked but I wondered how it would go once we were actually on holiday particularly as I wasn’t sure whether or not Jean Michel would join me.
Picnic table and barbecue in Germany
We left on a Monday which was a fast day for me. Jean Michel had a regular breakfast whereas I decided to skip mine. We both had the same lunch with an extra 100 calories for Jean Michel because men are entitled to 600 calories and women to 500, and the same dinner. By then we were in Germany and with the long twilight, we were able to cycle for 2 hours (29 kilometers) afterwards. I was surprised to feel neither tired nor hungry.
Vegetable and fruit stalls in Germany
After that, we both fasted twice a week throughout our month’s holiday, with the exception of one day when it proved to be impossible for logistic reasons. When we could, we tried to make our fast day coincide with moving from one place to another, but even on those days, we still cycled in the evening. On other fast days, we cycled 40 or 50 kilometers without any problem, to Jean Michel’s surprise in particular.
Typical lunch in Germany
On the other days, we usually ate a bit more for breakfast than we normally do, especially Jean Michel who always has trouble resisting a buffet. We then had lunch in a local restaurant, eating high-calorie foods such as wiener schnitzel and knudels, accompanied by a glass of wine. We often had an ice-cream in the afternoon as well. In the evening, we had a glass or two of wine with pistachios, followed by a salad we made ourselves, often with bread and cheese. Sometimes we had a picnic at lunch time and ate out in the evening. A couple of times we skipped lunch or dinner because we’d had a big breakfast or lunch.
Diet coke and ice-cream when it’s very hot!
I would say that the only complicated part was planning ahead for fast days because the only time we were able to cook for ourselves was a short 4-day period during the second part of the trip. We did, however, have a car fridge, which helped considerably. To make things easier, we nearly always ate the same thing on fast days: black coffee for breakfast then 2 boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes and a piece of fruit for lunch (plus a slice of bread or tabouli for Jean Michel). In the evening, we ate yoghurt, fromage blanc, lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum and a piece of fruit.
Buffet breakfast in Austria
In Germany, Austria and Hungary, hard boiled eggs were nearly always available for breakfast at our hotel or gasthaus, so on fast days, we would just have our coffee and take two eggs and a piece of fruit with us as we left. I also kept a tin of tuna in the car in case we ran out of yoghurt and fromage blanc.
Not only did I not put any weight back on, but I lost another kilo!
Spinach pancakes and cheese in Hungary
I found it very liberating not to have to worry about what was going to be served in a restaurant, particularly as my knowledge of German did not allow me to know what I was getting most of the time, let alone negotiate vegetables instead of dumplings, for example, as I would have done in France or Australia. I was also able to have food I don’t usually eat because of its high calorie content, such as wiener schnitzel, apfel strudel and ice-cream, and taste the local dishes.
A glass of wine on the terrace in Austria
It was wonderful to be able to have a glass or two of wine in the evening with nuts. Skipping meals when not hungry, after a big breakfast or lunch, is something I’ve never done because I was always told it would make me put on weight. Well, it’s just not true.
Indulging in cake and hot chocolate in Bratislava
Only a couple of times during the entire month, and only on a fast day, did I feel hungry at any time and then, the feeling soon passed. Jean Michel found it harder, but he is also used to eating more than me because he is generally more active.
Crumbed fish in Budapest
So I shall continue to have fast two days a week until I have lost another two kilos then try fasting once a week. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go back to twice a week. I believe that it’s something I can envisage doing for the rest of my life and certainly much better than having to be careful about what I eat every day.
A total of 110 km, but it actually took two days. We’ve definitively adopted the train-in-one-direction system which means we can see more and not have to cycle up all those hills again on the way back. Jean Michel thought we should start with the source in Donau-Eshingen so we began day 2 by driving an hour to Tuttlingen and getting the train to Donau-Eshingen.
Donau-Eschingen, where the Danube begins
Although it was as sunny and hot as the day before (over 30°C in the afternoon), it was not nearly as pretty. Our first disappointment was that the source is undergoing renovation so is not open to the public. So after having lunch in Donau-Eshingen, we set out for Tuttlingen.
One of the canals along the Danube
The cycle route doesn’t always run along the Danube and we often rode through hay fields interspersed with flowers, which did, of course, have the advantage of mostly being flat. There were lots of irrigation canals, water irises, storks and covered bridges, but I missed the wonderful surprises of the day before. We didn’t see a single rococco church.
One of the many covewooden bridges over the Danube
On the way home from Tuttlingen, whose main attraction is its modern covered bridges, Jean Michel suggested we go to the lookout at Knopfmacherfelsen which is about 750 metres above the Danube.
View of Beuron Monastery from Knopfmacherfelsen
The view is absolutely breathtaking with the monastery in Beuron in the distance. We then drove down to Beuron to see the monastery up close. Access was through a covered bridge. It was a truly wonderful way to finish off the day.
Riedlingen
Fortunately, day 3 was not as hot (only 23° at 9 am), because was lucky because it was VERY hilly (and also an intermittent fast day). We drove to nearby Riedlingen and parked at the train station since we intended taking the train back from Ehingen. It’s a pretty little town, with lots of colourful half-timbered houses and painted façades.
Balcony in the church in Alstein
Before cycling along the Danube, we looped back to Altheim which our Gasthof owner had told us about. We found another beautiful rococco church with a painted balcony featuring bas-relief musical instruments. There was also a stunning vase of peonies which are very prevalent here and grow taller than they do in the Loire Valley.
A stork in a field
Back on the Danube we crossed a couple more wooden bridges and stopped for coffee in Riedlingen. We then passed several fields full of storks which obviously explains why there are so many shop signs and sculptures of storks in the villages.
Obermarchtal Abbey Church from the Danube
Our next stop was the Monastery Cathedral of Obermarchtel with more wonderful rococco and a balcony, but not as rich as Zwiefalter. As we came out, it was starting to spit which was a bit annoying as I had taken the rain capes out of the paniers. Fortunately, there were a few rumbles of thunder and nothing more.
The balcony at Obermarchtal Abbey Church
More hills and dales before we stopped at Munderkingen for a surprisingly good coffee. The sky was not looking very encouraging and we feared the worse. By the time we got to Rottenacker, about 7 or 8 K from our destination of Ehingen, fat drops were started to fall. We got a bit wet, but not soaked, and just made the train station in time.
Obermarchtal Abbey Church from the outside
When we got back to Andelfingen, where we’re not staying at Gasthof Sonne (that’s the next one!) but at Gasthof Swanen, Frau Smidt told us they had had golf-ball size hailstones! That was a lucky miss. Tomorrow I’m putting the rain capes back in the paniers.
And just for the record, despite our fast day (500 calories for me, 600 for Jean Michel), we cycled 61 kilometers including lots of hills. Tomorrow, we can have ice-cream and riesling again.
Success at last ! I can now wear most of my summer clothes again! I just love the 5:2 eat fast diet that I told you about last week. I’ve had two more fast days and lost a kilo in weight and 3 cm at the waist in 10 days. Also I am no longer getting headaches.
Celebrating our annivesary at Domaine des Hauts de Loire
After celebrating our wedding anniversary in style at Domaine des Hauts de Loire on Thursday night, we thought Friday would be a good day to fast. Not only did we have no problem skipping breakfast which we ate at 2 pm, but we also cycled 40 K in the afternoon.
Ok, it was flat ground but we still cycled for 2 ½ hours, drinking lots of water of course. We stopped at a little café in Muides for a cold drink but they didn’t have any zero Coke or zero anything, for that matter, so Jean Michel had a normal one and discovered how much sugar it contains while I drank an unsweetened expresse for the first time in my life – not great but no way was I going to use up 139 of my 500 calorie allowance on coke.
Poppies along the bike path
For dinner, we shared a small tin of tuna with a raw fennel and mushroom salad which, as Jean Michel pointed out, had the advantage of giving an impression of quantity. We finished off with an orange and, surprisingly, did not feel hungry.
I had no hunger pangs, even though I went to sleep quite late and, better still, NO HEADACHE like the first time. And the great thing is that next day, I didn’t feel particularly hungry and ate a normal breakfast and light lunch.
We cycled another 30 kilometers in the afternoon, with lots of hills this time and didn’t even have our usual (healthy) biscuit snack halfway through although Jean Michel claimed it when we got back in the car.
A wall of roses at Château de Cheverny on our bike route
For dinner, we ate côte de bœuf, baked potatoes and our favourite eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper bake plus a couple of glasses of wine each. On Sunday, we had oysters as usual and it was wonderful to be able to eat bread and butter and drink wine without having to worry about the calories.
I scheduled the next fast for Monday but Jean Michel is doing his roster this week, which entails a certain amount of stress and more physical activity than usual so he declined. I decided to try the no-breakfast system again as it seems to suit me better. The only thing I can’t do is drink tea because it always makes me feel nauseous on an empty stomach.
My overall impression was not of hunger but of a certain lightheadedness which first peaked around 11.45 am. I had my usual high-protein breakfast at 12.30 (280 calories) and began to feel seriously lightheaded again about 5 pm. I had a black coffee with sweetener and felt instantly better.
Oysters on Sunday in our little house
By 7.30 pm I was feeling hungry, but not inordinately so. We had dinner about 8 pm (220 calories – cucumber, white fish, spinach and cherries, which are still horrendously expensive but I reckon you should treat yourself on fast days!).
I started feeling slightly hungry around 11.30 pm, but not enough to bother me and went to sleep around 1 am.
I woke at 7 and couldn’t go back to sleep so got up and weighed and measured myself – down 400 grams and 2 cm at the waist since the day before. I had my usual breakfast, then fish, vegetables and some quinoa and more cherries at lunch. I had no desire to eat any more.
I joined a friend for an aperitif in the evening (a glass of white wine) then an Asian meal including dim sums, kebabs and rice. Once again, I didn’t have a very big appetite.
Next morning, I had lost another 300 grams! I’ve had several exchanges on Facebook concerning the 5:2 diet and have learnt that it is becoming increasingly popular and most people seem satisfied. So, who’s game?
