RICHARD FRISBIE :: I Met A Man Who Loved His Bread

During a recent visit to France, which was planned more for viticulture than history, it became impossible to ignore all the military monuments and cemeteries set in the green fields and vineyards of the beautiful farmland north of Paris. 2008 is the 90th anniversary of the end of WWI. Everywhere I went was historically connected to America’s part in the war, and everyone I met had a story to connect them to the horrors that occurred during those long years of battle. Conversations about grape harvests, architecture, gastronomy, and even bread all led back to “The War”. . . .

I Met A Man Who Loved His Bread


     M. Boizard is a lifelong baker who collected bread related items as he baked his way into semi-retirement. Now, a new owner takes over his business while M. Boizard tends his collection, formally known as Musee du pain, but I think of it as the Bread Museum.





    We met on a bridge near his home in Fismes, France. I'd stopped to photograph the crabapple trees in bloom next to a picturesque little mill along the La Vesle river.  When he learned I was an American he pointed out that our 28th Division took the bridge in 1918 after a week-long fire-fight. "Hundreds of Americans were killed to liberate my village." he said. Then he invited me to his home.

    I found this happening all over France. 2008 is the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I. France has been commemorating the anniversaries of various battles for the last four years, but through this Summer and Fall many more take place until the culmination of ceremonies on November 11th. Everywhere I went the French people treated me as if I'd been in the Verdun trenches with them. Forget what you might have heard about the French. They remember the World Wars better than we do. After all, the fighting happened in their door yards! They haven't forgotten America's help winning them, either. I was received warmly wherever I went. And so, I accepted Mr Boizard's invitation.

    With his little English and my nonexistent French it is no wonder I misunderstood. It wasn't to his home we went, but down an alley next to the bridge, where I soon found myself in his bread museum. Outside he had a large German wood-burning oven on wheels which is still towed to events and used. There were also two antique tractors, one French c1957 and the other a 1955 English one. Both were once used to harvest wheat, and both still run! Inside is more difficult to describe.



    There was so much stuff packed into one large room that my eyes at first couldn't focus on just one thing. Gradually, though, I discerned a path to follow, beginning with early bread making implements and eventually leading up to the present time. Here was everything to do with bread under one roof! There were tools and machines for mixing, shaping, baking, twisting, rising, even for harvesting and reaping the wheat. Everything from animated displays to antique examples of bread making art. I even watched a video in English showing how French bread was made. With floor to ceiling displays it was obvious that bread was truly his passion.

    There were some models and images of local windmills where the grain was ground. He told me that in World War I the Germans machine-gunned the blades off the windmills because the French Resistance used them to point out where enemy bunkers were hidden and munitions stored. That meant the French were often without flour for bread until the American liberation. That explained why he also had three flour sacks on display labeled US FLOUR. The soldiers who saved the village brought the ingredients for the French staff of life - bread - and there's nothing more important to a Frenchman. No wonder they were treated like heroes!



    Over flutes of champagne he showed off his proudest memento. It was the newspaper account of his induction into La Commanderie de France des Talmeliers Bon Pain, the organization of French bread lovers. His homage to bread, his museum, earned him an honorary membership in this prestigious fraternity of bakers. It also earns him mention here as a man who followed his passion to create an incredible monument to bread.

Musee du pain 03 26 48 00 13
Admission 3.5 Euros
I also met A Man Who Loved His Willows
Official French Government Tourist Office website
www.franceguide.com

Air France www.airfrance.us
Meuse Department of Tourism
 www.tourisme-meuse.com
La Marne Tourism Office
 www.tourisme-en-champagne.com
Tourist Office of Reims
 www.reims-tourisme.com
   
Richard Frisbie, FOOD Correspondent:

RICHARD FRISBIE is published twice a month to Gather Essentials: Food
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