What??? £10 for a custard tart !!!

We were wandering in western France, vaguely heading somewhere in the direction of Brittany but the weather forecast was wet as it usually is when we plan to go there.  The fact that we had never visited the Ile de Noirmoutier came up in conversation so we decided to head a little further south instead.  Being the penultimate weekend in August and travelling on the very narrow country lanes we anticipated major traffic jams in the area.  We found a beauty, over 30 miles long – fortunately for us it was heading in the opposite direction away from the island.  Having seen this huge jam we anticipated that the island would be deserted when we got there - we were wrong.  The families heading home were being replaced by an army of pensioners in their motorhomes – just like us.  On the journey we had decided to spend 3 nights on the island staying on three Aires across it.  When we got there we found the local council had updated its many Aires and were charging €8 per night and €3 to empty and fill, whilst the ACSI campsite, 'Les Moulins' at La Gueriniere , next door to our first target was €11 per night and had a swimming pool, a fabulous new shower block and direct access to the beach.  Needless to say we decided to stay on the site for 3 nights and explore the island on our scooter. The site is in the dunes next to a beautiful beach over 10 miles long.

On market day we walked into the village to explore and buy a few provisions.  At the market there was a long queue at the fish stall and a very long queue at another stall.  From a distance we could not see what was on sale.  On closer inspection we found that the stall sold only two items; a savoury tart similar to “quiche lorraine” and flan of the marshes (a custard tart either called “flan maraîchin”  or “flan vendeen”).

The custard tarts, about the size of a side plate, cost almost £10 or you could buy a half.  After a sharp intake of breath and the application of a crowbar to my wallet this was what we did, to see what all the fuss was about.

Fantastic!!!!!  Worth every penny, even to this “careful” Yorkshireman who is married to a Scot.  The best custard tart I have ever eaten. Sorry mum, your duck egg custard tarts from my youth were sensational but this was on another plane.

We went back for more on other market days as our 3 day stay became a wonderfully relaxing 17 days.  We did try flan from other pâtisseries but none came close to those of this artisan who toured the markets on the island.

Carl

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