| Pontarlier Absinthiades |
| The 5th annual Pontarlier Absinthiades was held from 30th September to 2nd October 2005. As before the program comprised an antique dealers' bourse, a competition for the best absinthe sold in France, an exhibition at the museum, and presentations by various authors and historians. Click on the images to see enlarged versions. |
Thursday: In Paris, en route.
Lunch at Le Train Bleu, the buffet at the Gare de Lyon. Situated in the station concourse, from the outside it looks like just another
dreary station café - inside however you are greeted by an explosion of gilt, colour and rococo decoration in a vast chandelier-hung
space. Built at the height of the absinthe era for the Paris Exhibition in 1900, it's one of the most visually spectacular restaurants in
Paris. The service is expert, in the style of a pre-war grand hotel, and the food excellent - we had roast suckling lamb, carved at the
table. Avoid the wine list though, it's overpriced and filled with dubious vintages.
Top middle: Peter, Sabine, Ian. Right: Zman, with a glass of smuggled in pre-ban Pernod Fils, probably the first time it's been
drunk there since 1914...
Lunch at Le Train Bleu, the buffet at the Gare de Lyon. Situated in the station concourse, from the outside it looks like just another
dreary station café - inside however you are greeted by an explosion of gilt, colour and rococo decoration in a vast chandelier-hung
space. Built at the height of the absinthe era for the Paris Exhibition in 1900, it's one of the most visually spectacular restaurants in
Paris. The service is expert, in the style of a pre-war grand hotel, and the food excellent - we had roast suckling lamb, carved at the
table. Avoid the wine list though, it's overpriced and filled with dubious vintages.
Top middle: Peter, Sabine, Ian. Right: Zman, with a glass of smuggled in pre-ban Pernod Fils, probably the first time it's been
drunk there since 1914...
The official program for
the Absinthiades.
Click on the thumbnails
to see full-sized versions.
the Absinthiades.
Click on the thumbnails
to see full-sized versions.
Friday and Saturday: Pontarlier.
Top row left: Gertz, Zman, Hartsmar and Bork in front of Porte St Pierre.
Middle and bottom rows: The dealer bourse, with a wide selection of absinthiana on show. As expected, prices for anything
remotely out of the ordinary were high, although many of the items displayed were in poor condition. A few great rarities were on
offer at staggering prices, including this gorgeous Vichet tole (middle row, right). Really rare items are getting harder and harder to
find, and when dealers do find something exceptional, they are increasingly reluctant to let it go, knowing as they do how hard it will
be to replace.
Bottom row, middle: Being France of course, commercial imperatives are never allowed to get in the way of a good lunch, even if it
has to be eaten at the exhibition stand...
Bottom row, left: The jury judging the tasting competiton. In a slap to Gallic pride, the top Gold awards went to two Swiss La Bleue's
- Kubler 45% and La Bleue Clandestine.
Top row left: Gertz, Zman, Hartsmar and Bork in front of Porte St Pierre.
Middle and bottom rows: The dealer bourse, with a wide selection of absinthiana on show. As expected, prices for anything
remotely out of the ordinary were high, although many of the items displayed were in poor condition. A few great rarities were on
offer at staggering prices, including this gorgeous Vichet tole (middle row, right). Really rare items are getting harder and harder to
find, and when dealers do find something exceptional, they are increasingly reluctant to let it go, knowing as they do how hard it will
be to replace.
Bottom row, middle: Being France of course, commercial imperatives are never allowed to get in the way of a good lunch, even if it
has to be eaten at the exhibition stand...
Bottom row, left: The jury judging the tasting competiton. In a slap to Gallic pride, the top Gold awards went to two Swiss La Bleue's
- Kubler 45% and La Bleue Clandestine.
We stayed at Le Crêt l'Agneau, a wonderful mountain-side chalet set in idyllic scenery about 10 miles outside Pontarlier. The
owners Lili and Yves Jacquet-Pierroulet have run Le Crêt for 27 years - she's an expert cook, renowned authority on jam-making
(she's written a book), and a keen absinthiana collector, he's a genial host, hunter of wild mushrooms, and producer of delicious
home-smoked hams and sausages. Everything we ate at the chalet had been grown or made by the Jacquet-Pierroulet' s
themselves. If you're visiting Pontarlier or the Doubs region, there's simply no better place to stay.
owners Lili and Yves Jacquet-Pierroulet have run Le Crêt for 27 years - she's an expert cook, renowned authority on jam-making
(she's written a book), and a keen absinthiana collector, he's a genial host, hunter of wild mushrooms, and producer of delicious
home-smoked hams and sausages. Everything we ate at the chalet had been grown or made by the Jacquet-Pierroulet' s
themselves. If you're visiting Pontarlier or the Doubs region, there's simply no better place to stay.
Sunday: The Val de Travers.
Top row: View over Fleurier at the entrance to the valley, the Sechoir at Boveresse, wormwood drying racks.
Bottom row: Famous street names in Couvet, a new distillery in Motiers.
Top row: View over Fleurier at the entrance to the valley, the Sechoir at Boveresse, wormwood drying racks.
Bottom row: Famous street names in Couvet, a new distillery in Motiers.
Left: The old Val de Travers asphalt mines are now open to the public.
Centre: The Village People go underground, or if you prefer Bork, Steve, Hartsmar, Gertz, Peter, Zman.
Right: The speciality of the mine café - ham cooked in asphalt! The ham is floured, wrapped in six layers of wrapping paper, and
submerged for 4 hours in a vat of boiling asphalt, which cooks it at a constant 170C. It was pronounced "roadkillicious!" by our party.
Centre: The Village People go underground, or if you prefer Bork, Steve, Hartsmar, Gertz, Peter, Zman.
Right: The speciality of the mine café - ham cooked in asphalt! The ham is floured, wrapped in six layers of wrapping paper, and
submerged for 4 hours in a vat of boiling asphalt, which cooks it at a constant 170C. It was pronounced "roadkillicious!" by our party.
Our last night in the valley of the Green Fairy, and where better to celebrate than at Le Creux-du-Van, the remote mountain top
precipice, and home to a small smoke-stained chalet serving the best fondue in all Switzerland. A riotously good time was had by all,
prodigious quantities of the local rosé were consumed, but the real damage was done by the owner's home-made Calvados, a
bottle of which can be seen above in front of our guide Steve Rosat, looking rather somber - perhaps because he was the
designated driver for the evening.....
precipice, and home to a small smoke-stained chalet serving the best fondue in all Switzerland. A riotously good time was had by all,
prodigious quantities of the local rosé were consumed, but the real damage was done by the owner's home-made Calvados, a
bottle of which can be seen above in front of our guide Steve Rosat, looking rather somber - perhaps because he was the
designated driver for the evening.....
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |