TALKINTRAVEL™

At a certain point in a European vacation the medieval villages all start to look the same. The tiny town of Hérisson France had all the usual tourist stops: castle, check, remnants of old wall, check, cobblestone streets, check, cathedral, check...distillery?? That sign got our attention but my husband Rich and I didn’t have time to investigate. We were already late for a reservation at the Auberge la Quecoule, an Inn where the farmer and his wife prepare all organic dishes using food from their land. Perched on the hearth of a mudwall fireplace sipping a glass of robust red wine and nibbling on a plate of smoked trout, I asked the farmhouse owner, Monsieur Ludovic Bénard, about that curious distillery sign. He told us «the moonshine shop » just opened a few months ago and was already so popular with locals they lined up on weekends to buy the whiskey. This was a Monday so the tasting room was closed. Our faces looked so crestfallen that Monsieur Bénard immediately phoned his neighbor, Oliver Perrier, owner of the Hedgehog distillery, who agreed to come over and see us. In the small towns of France it appears everyone knows their neighbors and their home phone numbers. With his chapeau, country gentleman’s suit of cordouroy jacket, bulbous nose and easy smile, M. Perrier was straight out of central casting. Over a lunch of salmon mousse, and duck with vegetables and potato au gratin, he told us his story. Oliver grew up in Hérisson and 30 years ago he and a group of friends formed a traveling actor troupe. During their journeys across Europe a musician from North Carolina joined up with them. The newcomer shared his moonshine with the actors and eventually, after much coaxing, his recipe. When Oliver retired from the theater, he returned to his hometown, population 721, and decided that homemade hooch could fund his retirement. As I plunged my spoon into the pistachio ice cream and a chocolate cupcake with a hot, melted, center, (in honor of the Auvergne area’s 80+ dormant volcanoes), Perrier declared that he would open his store, just for us. When the locals saw him turning his skeleton key in the door, several asked him what was going on. “The Americans are here!” he exclaimed as they examined us curiously. Next door his girlfriend, whom he also called to open her shop, sells liquor she creates from the bourbon and fruit grown on Perrier’s farm. You can barely turn around in the Hedgehog store, it’s so tiny, but a rounded bar with two stools allows you to sample his brew. The distillery’s best sellers are tiny pharmacy screw top bottles that Perrier jokingly calls “pee-pee” jars. Running a close second with customers are larger bottles in the shape of a voluptuous woman. To call this moonshine is really an injustice. Yes, he uses a copper handmade still and corn from his own fields, but Perrier ages the whiskey for three years in casks made from oak trees in the nearby region of Troncais, renowned for providing the most sought-after wood in the world for Cognac barrels. The brew’s water is also from the same well royalty used in the 6th century A.D. “I’m the smallest distiller in Europe,” proudly proclaimed Perrier, who produces 1,000 bottles of the nectar a year. Hedgehog is so successful that it had to establish a quota system: only the first fifteen customers of the day are served! On his wall he displays an old W.C. Fields joke: "One should always carry a little bottle of moonshine in case of snakebites. And one should always carry a small snake." Now for the important part after that big build up-how did it taste? Smooth and soothing like a fine brandy and as far from a holler’s unlicensed swill in the southern hinterlands as France. As for the shop’s unusual name, Hedgehog, it is the American word for Herrison, also the town’s name. In the 11th century, legend has it a Royal was hunting when his favorite dog came across a hedgehog, that had instinctively rolled up to protect itself, exposing it’s sharp quills. The Knight decided this was a sign to build a fortress, protecting the town like a hedgehog, so he named the town Herrison. There are only remnant lefts of the Vallée de l'Aumance, the medieval castle, but the town is currently renovating this historic site high above the town with views of the river and stucco cottages with brightly painted doors. After you see the Castle, be sure and walk downtown through the round entrance of “Hell Street,” so named because enemies who visited the town were supposedly killed there before they even made it to the fortress. Herrisson is a popular because its small town atmosphere never changes, but there are a few new activities. A permanent exhibit of antique pottery is on display at rue Gambetta (Gambetta street). “Two elderly women, madams Racailleux and Bocher look after the place but they do not have a telephone there,” says Vanessa Michy, with the Auvergne government tourism board. ‘You just have to knock on the door, that’s how it is in small towns in France. And don’t even think about a website!,” she laughs. Michy says the other big event in Herrison is a new flea market, L’intemporel, which she often visits. (Call 011-33-4 70 06 84 56 for more information). The village is quiet in the winter because it’s a vacation spot for many homeowners who only open their cottages in the summer during the annual classical music festival along the riverbanks, no doubt capping the evening off with Hedgehog brandy. -END-La Distillerie de Monsieur Balthazar, 8, place de la République, Hérisson (Allier), 04-70-06-85-57. Auvergene, France Government Tourism Office www.auvergne-tourisme.info French Government Tourism Officeus.franceguide.com

Undiscovered France
by Ruth Wertzberger Carlson
 www.talkintravel.com

Auvergne, the oldest part of France, has something new to teach us: how to relax.
 Just a few hours south of Paris, the surroundings feels as though you?ve
 time-traveled to the past. Here in these fabled hills, a traffic jam means
 waiting for a cow to cross the road, dinners are served on long wooden tables
 with food fresh from the farm, and moonshine is the elixir of choice. 
 
French government representative Vanessa Michy rhapsodizes about Auvergne?s
 chain of 80 volcanoes, (fortunately extinct), the area?s many varieties of
 cheese, and the famous spring waters. But the real reasons to visit this
 mountainous region are the natural beauty, slower pace and friendly residents
 like Pierre Tissier le Mont.

At his Ch?teau d?Ygrande (the grand castle), which doubles as an equestrian
 center, guests are welcome to roam the 100 acres. Activities include watching
 trainers put racehorses through their paces, hiking, horseback riding, rowing
 in the lake or reading a book on the porch. While I was trying to find out
 where I could buy the cool jodhpurs and tall black boots worn by the equestrian
 staff, my husband was busy starting a new bovine religion. The rest of the
 hotel guests walked by the field of cows to no reaction but when Rich appeared,
 the cattle all came running to the fence. We joked that he was the long lost
 leader of a French cow cult. 
 
Although the Chateau is Pierre?s home, it is run like a fine hotel, not a bed
 and breakfast, so you have the best of both worlds. Professional waiters, not
 the owner, serve gourmet meals and while you are welcome to relax in the living
 room at any time, there is thankfully no forced conversation at happy hour while
 you sip cheap wine. The charming proprietor even kept his sense of humor when
 Rich accidentally broke a frame on the wall with his suitcase. Perhaps Pierre
 he was afraid of the cows revolting if he got angry. 
 
The next day Vanessa took us to Herisson. This tiny town is known for its remnants
 of a castle (called the Castle of Herisson) and summer music festivals along the
 riverbank. During our visit it was an unseasonably cold spring day and our
 primary consideration was staying warm. To our delight, my husband Rich spotted
 a distillery sign that seemed the perfect antidote to our chilly bones. 
 
Little did we know that we would find not just great whisky but a great storyteller
 as well. Olivier Perrier is an actor who owns the Hedgehog Distillery, and
 Hollywood?s central casting could not have found a better proprietor. Cocking
 his chapeau, he gamely pretended to be drunk for photos and told us how he made
 moonshine popular in the land of champagne.
 
Many years ago, on one of his traveling tours for a play, Perrier became friends
 with a musician from North Carolina who concocted homemade hooch. The charming
 Perrier managed to wheedle the recipe from his musician friend (perhaps after
 one too many samples?) and decided to create the tonic in his hometown of Herisson.
 The Hedgehog Distillery has been such a success from day one that Perrier has a
 hard time producing enough liquor for the demand. Although he refers to it as
 moonshine, it actually tastes more like brandy; in fact, his brewer uses a cognac
 method. He ages the whisky in casks rather than stills.
 
For a few euros we bought a small bottle with a black screw top. Perrier joked
 to me that he got the bottles from a pharmacy and saved money because they were
 aftermarket "pee-pee" jars. If your taste buds yearn for flavored brandy, you
 can purchase some from the shop next door, run by his girlfriend.
 
We took home bottles of moonshine in the shape of a voluptuous woman, lots of
 memories, new friends and plans to return. The volcanoes are extinct in Auvergne,
 (pronounced oh-Vern), but the place is still shaking from the influx of tourists.
 To beat the crowds, book an early spring flight to the Clermont-Ferrand airport.
 Then simply sit back, relax and allow the Auvergne effect to take over.

Official government tourism sites for free information:
www.auvergne-tourisme.info 
www.franceguide.com
(http://www.chateauygrande.fr