Moselle colours in early September: between Filstroff and Colmen

Its AGAIN mirabelles-prune-time... So today I am very trilled to share with you my latest reportage for the gourmet-travel page TravelGluttons! Enjoy the read below+if you want to see the second part of my article just clck here.

Even if the golden "mirabelle" plum is not bigger than a golf ball, it has already won, years ago, the reputation of the unmistakable symbol of the French region Lorraine. Located at the three-borders-area (Luxembourg-Germany-France) this northeast region of France with its capital city Metz is also the biggest producer of the aromatic plums. 80% of the whole world production takes place here – we are talking of some 15,000 tonnes annually! Holy fruit paradise…

You might start wondering what they are doing with all these plumes, right? This tiny fruit has a very versatile use. It is of course the main ingredient for making the famous local gourmet food (for the locals) and souvenirs (for the visitors): fruit jam (la confiture de mirabelles), plum brandy (eau de vie de mirabelle) and the not-really-transportable, but to-be-eaten-on-the-spot (or, if available, just-right-out-of-the-oven) queen of all pies: la tarte aux mirabelles.

 
Why queen of the pies? Because it's not just another pie with fruit inside, it's a real visual/ gastronomic/taste-buds-using masterpiece! The edges of the pies are the only way for you to know that there is something else on the plate other than fruit. The fresh mirabelle plums are cut in two and gorgeously arranged on the top. Nothing else, the rest of the work is for the oven: to turn some of the fruit sugar into a yummy caramel crust. Some of the best tarte aux mirabelles I have tried looked so beautiful that one does not want to start cutting them.
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But there is much more in Moselle/lorraine than mirabelle-prunes, have a look below for a colourful like a rainbow harvest in the garden as well as for some unusual and unexpected encounters...And in case you wonder: my first "tarte" with damson plums tasted A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! thanks for asking;-)

WISHING you all a good weekend with these perfectly imperfect potatoes, which make me smile every time I look at the picture:-)

Farmers market in Buding, Lorraine/ Marché fermier á la Ferme du Moulin á Buding

Today I would like you to meet the colourful inhabitants of the amazing Ferme du Moulin in the tiny village Buding, in Lorraine, France. The farm was holding a cozy market of local products such as home-made bread, sausages, jams. A honey producer and veggie-grower from the neighbourhood were present too...

 

I really enjoyed making a round and discovering the animals living there: the white peacocks were lazy in the green grass, the funny turkey cock was making weird noise all the time (being annoyed by the people watching him), the black baby pigs were sleeping (keeping each other warm by being one above the other)...

 

...the beautifully coloured cows were enjoying the shadow of the blooming apple trees...

 

Wild fox babys in the forest, Lorraine

It was such an incredible experience to meet the young fox babys in the French forest this Monday, that I have decided to post also the video of one of them too:-) and two more pictures...

 
There were 5 fluffy balls that rolled down the hill till they reach us, three nature-loving hikers...Then they stayed with us for few minutes:-)

Spring nature in Lorraine, France

 

This long weekend we have been enjoying the colours and beauty of spring nature in and around Filstroff, a cozy&tiny village in Lorraine, northeast of France...just some 5 km from the German and and a bit more (22km) from Luxembourg.

Next to the fresh and recharging green&yellow colours of the fields of rape seeds and dandelions, I have also encountered a baby horse (born just 15 days ago) and 4 very playful 1,5/2-months old baby foxes...The last ones rolled down to me on a small hill at the edge of a forest and looked at me with eyes saying "would you like to play with us"?

Did you see the two baby foxes in the pic below (check the left and right corner)...

Yep, spring, sunshine and colours are wonderful and make us all very happy!:-))) 

Autumn colours and quinces in Filstrof&Lorraine

 

Its again this colourful time of the year, when nature paints the world around us in all rainbow nuances and presents us with its treasures.

 

Orange pumpkins and golden apples, fresh pears and shiny yellow quinces-the autumn harvest is always a happy time...Quinces are really special nature gifts. Even if they resemble the apple and pear, their aroma and taste is completely different. I had enjoyed them in fresh pressed apple-quince-juice or in quince-gelee...Very exquisite fruit...some people even talk about it as the almost forgotten fruit...

 
I met also a cute field mouse...

Jardins Fruitiers de Laquenexy in Moselle

 

The fruit garden next to Metz, known as the "Jardins Fruitiers de Laquenexy in Moselle" is just one of the gardens in the project "Jardins sans limits". With the different sorts of apples in the garden the mosaique on the first picture was built the first weekend of October 2011.

 
Between the fruit trees and vegetable garden one may also enjoy some decoration based on recycled old metals (such as the elphant and hippo on the picture above). The garden also offer courses for people intesreting to start do gardening.

Flower and other decoration in villages in Lorraine

 

France and the cute and tiny villages there always surprise me and impress me with their lovely floral and other decoration. This blog entry is dedicated to the flower-villages in Lorraine.

Some of the flowers in the gardens are also eatable as the blue flower as a decoration in the glas of fresh pressed tomato juice (last shot)...

Mirabelles en Lorraine/ Season of mirabelles 2011

 

The symbol of Lorraine in France is a tiny aromatic fruit: la mirabelle. They are kind of plums from which the local make brandy, jams or very delicous cakes...The fruit is very yummy and I enjoyed collecting some mirabelles myself last weekend.

 

Almost at the same time another fruit, the blue plum is also getting ripe-this one is also used for desserts and tarts.

Summer landscapes from Filstroff, Lorraine

Today I would love to share some shots from the French countyside in Lorraine, close to the "Dreiländereck" (the triangle of 3 countries): Germany, France, Luxembourg.

Golden wheat fields, colourful and workoholic insects and some curious foxes I met over there.

For the rest enjoy the colours, the blue sky and yeeeeeeeeeeeeees, the cherries were extremely yummy:-))