Sweet victoriesOn 17

Sweet victoriesOn 17 June 1434, during the Hundred Years’War, the locals of Mont Saint-Michel sentthe besieging English troops of Thomas deScales packing so quickly they left behind twocannons nicknamed Michelettes. Their shapeand name is echoed in striped cigarettesrusses (Russia again!) stuffed with chocolateganache. The St Michel company sells themacross France.Good King René of Aix, whose confectioner is said to have invented‘cuddly’ calissons!You’ll need to go to Montauban, Tarnet-Garonne,however, to find Boulets deMontauban (chocolate-covered toastedhazelnuts). Frustrated by his long siege ofProtestant Montauban in 1610, Louis XIIIasked his astrologer what to do. He suggestedscaring the city into surrendering, so Louisordered 400 cannons to fire their boulets atMontauban at the same time. In the silencethat followed, the Montalbanais laughed sohard the king could hear them. Hence theCalissons © Anna Pustynnikova via Canvaexpression ‘Faire les quatre cents coups’(which literally means to give 400 blows butmeans – to live a wild life!)On the other hand, the Boulets de Metz, ballsof dark chocolate filled hazelnut pieces andalmond paste with a touch of Grand Marnierwere invented in the 1930s and named aftera very rude song, L’Artilleur de Metz (about asoldier who mooned at the enemy).Other bonbons evoke more tender feelings.Food historians may argue over the originof the name of Aix-en-Provence’s famousCalissons (candied melon, blanched almondsand orange zest) but the most charming has itthat Good King René’s confectioner inventedthem in 1454 for the King’s bride Jeanne onher wedding day, and she exclaimed ‘di calinsoun!’ – ‘they are cuddly!’ in Provençal.In Pau, seek out Coucougnettes (roastedalmonds coated in dark chocolate, then rolledin raspberry, ginger and Armagnac-flavouredmarzipan) at the Maison Francis Miot, whichwere awarded the Best Bonbon prize in 2000.The name comes from coucougner, thesouthwest French word ‘to pamper a beloved’,referring to Pau’s native son Henri IV, the ‘VertGalant’ who coucougné’d at least 57 knownmistresses and fathered an estimated 24children.58 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 59