Author Archives: Julianne

Le Vignaud on Fire

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Julianne

Last September Jason got an email from an old friend about a little stone house in France. Wearing his blue suit and with two suitcases he set off on an adventure. A year later, none of us really know what’s going to happen to that house. We usually don’t even know what’s happening with Jason…

Jason’s decision set off a series of events and adventures in my own life, which most recently took to me to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. Burning Man was my own experience, but I still paid homage to its origin in my life. Continue reading →

Posted in The House | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Haricots Rouges

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Julianne

This doesn’t have so much specifically to do with Le Vignaud, but somehow I feel it’s appropriate. There have been so many struggles in the past year–the difficulty of Jason and I separating, his move to France and ongoing complications with the house, and my six month odyssey that, at first, orbited around him. It’s been a year now since that fateful trip to the desert. Jason is in Europe with a car and possibly a house. I’m back on Wilson Drive and preparing for my own Burning Man adventure. But through it all we’ve had redbeans. Continue reading →

Posted in The Food | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dandewine

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Julianne

One day late in April we decided to drive up to Malval, where there is an old mill as well as ruins of a millennium-old castle. The fields on either side of the rural road were bright yellow, completely filled with dandelions. It was a beautiful sight: the sunny flowers are not really considered much of a weed in France and are allowed to grow sans herbicide. Penelope made a casual comment about making dandelion wine, but it really fired up Jason’s imagination. He’d never even heard of it before, but suddenly he had a new project. Continue reading →

Posted in The Food, The Land | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Le Creusois

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Julianne

For weeks after my first arrival to Le Creuse, way back in February, I had been hearing about the fabled Creusois cake (which shares its name with the region). The flour used is made of ground hazelnuts and the concoction is advertised with the momentous “Once upon a time, there was a cake…” The recipe was developed by monks and is kept secret, known only to about 30 local bakers. Continue reading →

Posted in The Food | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Real French Bread

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Julianne

The boulangeries are wonderful all over France, but the Le Vignaud experience was special. There is no boulangerie in the village, so the bread is delivered several times a week in a bread truck. The driver would blast his horn and park a few houses away, and after running upstairs for my wallet I would trot down the street and stand with the other villagers as we bought our bread for the day. Continue reading →

Posted in The Food, The People | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments