Just to tie up some loose ends before I pack up for the summer…
Prior to the sighting (or not) of the dead body on the rocks near my apartment, I have seen the Russian on multiple occasions in the vicinity of the alleged crime. And last week I saw him there again, just standing at the railing looking out towards the sea – JUST WHERE THE CRIME SCENE TAPE WAS. He can see the sea from his apartment and probably has a better view than at that railing. So…why? Duck.
I lucked into another mushroom experience in France near Tours. I was visiting some American friends who were over here on vacation. When scoping out things to do in the area, they learned about a local cave where mushrooms are grown, and they knew it would be right up my alley! The cave itself was quite interesting. Seventy-five miles of paths wind through seven levels of caves. On the tour, the guide warned that should anyone wander from the group, they could be lost for eternity, as there was no cell reception in the caves, and 75 miles!!! of interminable twists and turns. We were quite careful!
During the 15th century, long before the caves housed fungi, the labyrinth was a limestone quarry where laborers extracted Tuffeau stone, the signature white building material used to construct the region’s legendary Renaissance castles like the Chateaux of Chambord and Chenonceau. When the quarry was abandoned, the carved out spaces and rooms were discovered to have the perfect conditions to raise mushrooms. The tunnels maintain a constant, natural year-round temperature of 53.6º, the optimal growth environment for the mushrooms to develop an intense flavor prized by chefs. The commercial farming of mushrooms now produces 100 tons annually of four varieties of gourmet mushrooms: button mushrooms (Champignons de Paris), oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and 40% of the world’s blue foot mushrooms.
Today I was lucky enough to visit the Cherry Festival in Ceret, France, which is about an hour or an hour and a half from where I live. The cherries were beautiful and the market was lively!!
Susie's Senior Year Abroad 