Here we are !

Willkommen, Hallo, Hello, Salut !

Wie geht’s ? Blablabla…

« Frenglish », « Germançais », sometimes even «  Esperanto revisité »… Since Le Bazar Roulant started, languages have fused and we’re well on our way to creating a whole new one. We make ourselves understood in a mixture of German, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese ; the mariner’s way. It’s brainstorming 101. It’s charming, too ; since early May we’ve been roughly a group of 25 : French, German, an Australian, an American, Polish, Portuguese, Belge, Italian… we’ve well and truly crossed the frontiers of a Franco-German partnership.

At the moment, we’re based in Mas de L’Espinas – a tiny French village far from most places. It’s a meeting point and community centre for members of the district ; Relais (collective restaurant run by the association Epi de Mains. Between Montvert et Chamborigaud, we stopped the caravan for our sixth event in a context that’s even more rural then our other stops. With dramatic views of the Cevennes mountains, the green is rich, the air crisp. Especially in the evening. We arrived yesterday and were welcomed by The Epi de Main association, with whom we are partnering for this event.

Today, we constructed a Givebox which will be a permanent installation in front of the bistro. There is a free market, upcycling workshops, and a handful of performances, namely « Les Entarter » by Turbul’, « Soup’Populi », Alain, acrobatic performance, the inauguration of the Givebox by our local representatives and, following the short film screenings, concerts with Elenat Glamurat, Lucien la Movaiz Graine. And then – in case it wasn’t enough – open turntables.

Last week, we were in Sainte Croix Vallée Française. Hosted by the association « l’Oeil du Vent » within their documentary film festival « Terra Nostra », we set up the programs at event space Mic Mac on Saturday and Sunday night. Once again, a beautiful space, friendly community. A little smaller than Lasalle given the weather and Monday was the back-to-school date, we received around 200 visitors across the two days, who enjoyed workshops, concerts, performances, film screenings, home made pizza and crêpes… We were graced by the presence of Thomas Plassard, who taught children how to make a moving windmill dog using old plastic bottles. We were also lucky enough to be welcomed into his magnificent home, atop the highest point in the Cevennes region, overlooking the largest plains in France. The people, the places, the events… we couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the project. While the melange of languages makes it sometimes difficult to communicate with ease, there’s something in this group – its energy, openness, aspiations – that is defining the tour in a way we’d never imagined.

The tour continues Friday and Saturday in La Grande Combe. Hope you can make it.

Yours,

Le Bazar Roulant team

Photos: Matthias Laminski, Nadja Bülow

How to tell the story of an upcycling project in rural France? With puppets of course! Upcycled from the best socks around.

From left: Carotine Salat, Vinaigrette Salat, Le Directeur.

We are Vinaigrette and Carotine. She has always dreamed of being a star, and she has the looks for it. I think she is just the best.

I am so excited that I have been given the opportunity to share with the world this amazing Give-Box project. You can follow me and my co-host all along the way. We will take part in all of the workshops and show you how to upcycle. Turn your trash to treasure!

Our good friends Janosch and Thomas have prepared so many things for us to try:

- Boots for flowers

- Jar lamps

- Paper beads (I will put some in my hair, so keep an eye out for my new look…!)

- Waste paper to treasure-keeping notebooks

- Pimp your dress (this one sounds great to me)

- Sewing kit for the dress-pimpers in your life

and so much more! All kinds of improvised workshops and fun stuff for kids of all ages.

The Director is also having me prepare for the open mic night. I have tried to tell him that I can’t sing. That only Carotine has the vocal cords in the Salat family, but he has his ‘vision’. So let’s see how that goes.

Of course it is not all about me. There will be so many performers along the way. I can’t wait to interview them! We will let you know when the show is ready.

Photos: Nadja Bülow, Matthias Laminski

In our last blog post, we talked about how fresh produce sellers throw away food that is too old to sell. It may not seem ideal to use older produce for cooking, so we thought we would share a little recipe that we created, and which produced delicious strawberry jam.

1.     Separate the god fruit from the spoilt, and throw away. This can be as much as half of what you collect.

2.       Wash the good strawberries thoroughly and slice them in halves or quarters – depending on how big you like the strawberry chunks

3.       Add 3 parts good quality sugar (we used a bio variety) to 7 parts strawberries in a large pot

4.       Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (the citric acid provides the tartness needed to set off the sweetness, as well as the pectin content, which does not occur naturally in strawberries

5.       Let the strawberry-sugar mixture stand overnight

6.       The next day, remove most of liquid (leave enough so that half of the strawberries are covered. Simmer in a large pot, preferably out of doors in the sunshine!

7.       Simmer the strawberry mixture for around 5-7 minutes

8.       Once thickened slightly, place the jam in sterilized jars (you can do this by placing them in a hot oven for 5 minutes)

9.       Serve and enjoy!