« The Man from Chert - Visiting with Julian Segarra | Main | Welcome »
October 01, 2004
Pontarlier Visit 2003
Posted by Oxygenee at October 1, 2004 11:07 PM
Vera's Note: Oxygenne is the proprietor of The Virtual Absinthe Museum - The World of Absinthe & Absinthe Antiques (formerly Oxygénée's Absinthiana).
I was recently able to spend an absinthe-soaked few days in France, mainly in the company of that prince amongst absintheurs, Pierreverte. A few very brief notes
Friday:
Peter is something of a local celebrity in Paris, being greeted with effusive cries and kisses on both cheeks by almost every bistrot proprietor and cavist we met. His French is astonishingly good. Visited a local brocante fair – was offered an “unrecorded absinthe spoon” – actually a broken sugar tongs - for around a thousand euros. Dinner at Peter’s flat in Montmartre, where the charming Sabine cooked us a superb Magret a canard.
Saturday:
The market at St Ouen – a huge rabbit warren - very little absinthiana, and what there was of poor quality and overpriced. Some fascinating stalls though, including one selling 19th century erotica with a range of extraordinarily life-like and…er..lifesize antique carved ivory dildos….perhaps…Queen Victoria’s Secret?
Sunday:
Off to Auvers sur Oise and the museum – some mouthwatering spoons and wonderful prints and paintings. Madame Delahaye is petite, immaculately dressed, very charming, but tough and certainly no pushover (except apparently for Ted…). Showed us her Toulouse Lautrec spoon (not on public display) with great ceremony. The other visitor to the museum turned out to be a well-known French collector with whom I’d corresponded but never met – off we went to his house nearby, where we saw another Lautrec spoon, the 1900 Tour Eiffel, and an amazing assembly of fountains and carafes. Spent an animated two hours discussing the possible genuineness of the Lautrec spoons (nerdy…I know, I know, but fun). The consensus: the spoon itself may be genuine, but under the loupe one can clearly see that the TL logo has been individually hand-cut later from each spoon and is definitely faked.
Tuesday:
TGV early in the morning to Pontarlier. Checked into the St Pierre, directly opposite the arch at the top of Rue de la Republique. Visited the local antique shop (whose proprietor is to honest and ethical dealing roughly what Michael Jackson is to responsible child care). Lunch with the deputy mayor of Pontarlier. On to the Francois Guy distillery – very friendly, but their copper absinthe still is rather disappointingly simple. Tasted their newly reformulated product, using their own “genetically modified” plants – IMO, less good than their original blend. Bought some of the local gentiane eau de vie – stunning in a head-snapping kinda way. Next the Pernot distillery – met the charming Madame Pernot, who runs the show, and saw their original Egrot specialized absinthe still – identical to the illustrations in Duplais and other early books. Tasted their excellent Sapin, which is light-years better than Guy’s. Dinner that night at Villers le Lac, a fabulous Michelin-starred restaurant about 40km from Pontarlier (the Feuillantine de Homard aux Noix, Jus d’Ecailleux a la Chicorée, was, and I don’t say this lightly, a religious experience). Decided not to order the 1895 Chateau Chalon at 5300 euros on the winelist.
Wednesday:
The Pontarlier Museum – several unique items, including sealed bottles from as early as 1820, cartons, posters, paintings etc. Then off to the Val de Travers with a mutual Swiss friend who’d dedicated the day to showing us around – Fleurier, Motiers, the sechoir at Boveresse, Couvet, Travers and to Neuchatel for lunch at the Gault Millau rated Villa Peyrou – another superb 6 course meal…. Home via Fleurier and the Jacot chocolate shop (the finest handmade chocolates in Switzerland). Acquired a bottle of the local Boveresse La Bleue – excellent. Back to Pontarlier, stumble on TGV, home to Paris. Decided to skip dinner.