steve found this wild hop vine while trout fishing with our son joseph today on the river orb, which is one of the most beautiful rivers in southern france. they were looking for a new fishing spot, walking along the edge of a vineyard, when they ran into a tangle of wild hops. grapes for wine. hops for beer. mother nature clearly had a plan for this part of the world.

hops with flower cones (humulus lupulus )

bouscet d’orb, languedoc, france

Save

The most dramatic and thrilling plant here right now is probably wild fennel, which is about 4 or 5 feet tall along almost every rural roadside. it is a potent symbol of this place, and in our case, a potent reminder that we are no longer in minnesota. but it has competition for most common and striking roadside plant. the challenger is this “carotte sauvage,” which displays a mass of white flowers while it blooms, and a complicated broom head of seeds afterwards, and which is, in fact, the very familiar queen anne’s lace. unlike fennel, it grows along almost every minnesota highway in summer, the only difference being that in minnesota it rarely if ever looks out over rolling hills of vines.

carrotte sauvage (daucus carota)

autignac, languedoc, france

Save

not technically a thistle i’m told, but that strikes me as a distinction without a difference. lots of people think of southern france as crowded beaches, sunny warmth, lavender fields, sunflowers, and the casinos of monte carlo. but we’re on the west side of the rhone, and here southern france means mostly thorns. ok, there are lots of fish, yes. the mediterranean, sure. tomatoes and garlic. of course. but if you’re out foraging for still blog samples, our corner  of southern france is made up of  thorns first, and everything else second.

le chardon roulant, ou le panicaut champêtre

autignac, france

Save

Save

this creeping vine was growing along the edge of a vineyard today, where steve was harvesting some wild fennel for our baked fish dinner. we showed our find to our next door neighbor, jean-luc, to confirm that the flower in question was, indeed, wild mauve. he confirmed our identification, and then observed that, “elle fait la gueule.” in other words, “she’s pouting,” due to a stretch of excessive heat, and a lack of rainfall. and in fact you can see that, despite her brave flowers, her leaves are looking a little pouty. we forgive her. she’s doing her best. and she smells a lot better than the hoffman family after several days of this kind of heat. believe me.

wild mauve/mauve sauvage (malva sylvestris)

autignac, languedoc, france

Save

wild fennel stalks wave in the breeze along most roadsides at this time of the year in southern Languedoc. As a consistent storer of moisture, and an occasional condenser of morning dew, these stalks also serve as gathering places for local snails, who, as good french residents, know all the tasty lunch spots in their respective quartiers.

wild fennel and land snails

along the D909 between autignac and laurens, languedoc, france

Save