A typical little French country bar & restaurant,with typical Sologne brickwork trim
The pictures here are some that I took that same day in La Ferté-Imbault in Sologne when I took the pictures of the château there.
L'Auberge à la Tête de Lard is a hotel & restaurantthat's part of the Logis de France association
I told Walt that the next time we go out for a nice restaurant meal, I'd like to go over to La Ferté-Imbault and try out the Auberge à la Tête de Lard. Maybe it'll be for my birthday, which is coming right up. I've nearly always enjoyed lunches and dinners at Logis de France establishments.
Lard in French means bacon or pork belly,not lard as in American English.
By the way, I don't know why the hotel/restaurant is called « à la tête de lard ». Maybe somebody can explain it to me. When you call a person a tête de lard, I think it's the same as calling the person a tête de cochon. That means pretty much the same thing as "pig-headed" in English.
I'm a sucker for a nice 2CV picture, so here's one.I've joked that I'll soon have a picture of every window and door in the Loire Valley and the Sologne. And the Berry region too — why not? So here are some windows I photographed in La Ferté-Imbault.
Again, typical Sologne-style trim work in brick
This is one that has been entirely bricked in.
A nice front stoop and door, with good flowers
This decoration is a little over the top, I think.
A Sologne brick building with white shutters in need of paint
Maybe this one would look better with the shutters open.On our afternoon excursion to the Sologne, we sat down in a little café, late in the day, for an apéritif together. While we were there, a truck delivering wine pulled up. I took a picture of the business logo painted on the side of the van.
Wines of France from Willis HowardWillis Howard is an English name, and it's funny to see it on a French truck. You can tell that Willis is the first name and Howard is the last name because HOWARD is written in all capital letters. The reason this name is especially funny to me is that one of my ancestors was named Howard Willis — WILLIS was his last name. He had a grocery store in North Carolina, but I bet he didn't sell wine.
P.S. I talked to my mother today. Howard Willis was her grandfather. She said he might not have sold wine in his grocery store, but he might well have been selling moonshine!
Just a pun on le lard and les lardons, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember one place, which was called La Tête de l'Art, a double pun ;)
Anyway, for some reason, the French have lots of interesting expressions, using different parts of the pig or pork, like lardons, when talking about your children, or rather other people's children. Slang of course.
I love the detail photos of the brickwork. I didn't know Sologne was known for brick.
ReplyDeleteWhen we drive from here to Brive, we always drive by 'L'Auberge de l'Oie qui Fume" -- another funny inn name. Sometimes we joke about what it's smoking...
I don't have an answer about your inn name. But there is a restaurant in Albi called La Tête de l'Art -- I wonder if that is the one Claude is talking about.
There's a well known sign for a "Hôtel du Lion d'Or" that shows somebody sleeping in a bed. That's a visual pun meaning "au lit on dort." Ha! Ha!
ReplyDeleteI love les lucarnes de l'Auberge. We see them dans la ville de Québec (Canada) which is very 17th century French in architecture. Also in Le Vieux Montréal.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's why, when I see some of your photos, I have the feeling of déjà vu. I grew up in that atmosphere.
No castles, alas! Mostly little people in the colonies...
Tête de lard: personne entêtée et d'humeur peu accommodante.
ReplyDeleteLes exclamations et insultes du Capitaine Haddock ( TinTin) :-)
@The Beaver et al., Maybe there is a TinTin connection with the name of this restaurant in La Ferté-Imbault. The château de Cheverny, which definitely has a TinTin connection, is also in the Sologne and really not far from this village.
ReplyDelete