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Angel Falls, Wonder of nature

Angel Falls, wonder of nature

Today we take a walk to Venezuela, where the largest waterfall in the world is located, Angel Falls (Kerepakupai Merú, which in Pemón means “Jump of the deepest place), with a height of 980 m (807 m of uninterrupted fall ), generated from the Auyantepuy (in pemón, “Mountain of evil spirits”). The Auyantepuy is one of the largest tepuis in the Guiana mountains, a giant among the large plateaus. It covers 650 square kilometers and has a peak almost 3,000 meters high. This plateau has an area of 700 km². The tepuis are those flat mountains so typical of this region that end with immense vertical walls.

This magical place is located in the territory protected by the Canaima National Park, and is located in the Gran Sabana region, in the Bolívar state, Venezuela. This natural reserve was established as a National Park on June 12, 1962 and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994. This Park covers an area of more than 30,000 km² (a territory larger than Belgium), up to the borders with Guyana and Brazil, and due to its size it is considered the largest in the world.

Angel Falls receives its name from the American aviator who made its existence known in 1937, Jimmy Angel. It is true that the authorship of the discovery of the famous waterfall is still a matter of discussion. Some people attribute it to Ernesto Sánchez, an explorer who in 1910 reported his discovery to the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons in Caracas. Others give this merit to the Spanish-born Venezuelan Navy captain Félix Cardona Puig, who spotted the great waterfall in 1927 together with Mundó Freixas, also of Spanish origin. In what does seem to be agreement is that Cardona’s maps and articles attracted the curiosity of Jimmy Angel, who contacted him to make several visits to the waterfall during 1937. In September of that same year Jimmy Angel insisted on landing on the top of Auyantepuy, which he practically achieved in the form of an accident. Since then the great waterfall has been known by his name. What does seem evident is that the Pemones, the natives of the place, knew this place which they baptized as Kerepakupai-merú.

The river that feeds the falls is the Gauja. It received this name from Aleksandrs Laime, the first known man to reach it. Laime named it after one of the most beautiful rivers in his home country, Latvia. The original name of the river in Pemón, according to the natives, is Kerep, a name that is still used regularly. Laime was also the first European to reach from the Churun River, where the waterfall empties, to the base of Angel Falls. Today, in his honor, the Laime Viewpoint is located on this path that he traveled, one of the places where today the waterfall is usually photographed. This road is used today by tourists who visit the jump from Isla Ratón.

In a common mistake, there are those who confuse Angel Falls with Churún Merú, a Pemón name that corresponds to another waterfall that is located on the same tepuy and that is about 400 meters high.

Angel Falls is one of the main tourist attractions in Venezuela, but due to its geographical location it is not so easy to access. It is isolated in the middle of the Venezuelan jungle and it is necessary to take a flight from Caracas or Ciudad Bolívar to get to Canaima, from where it departs towards the base river of the falls.

Excursions can be made by land, sea and air. From Canaima, Santa Elena de Uairén and Ciudad Bolívar there are tour operators to see the Auyantepuy and its many waterfalls. The excursions by land and water are carried out from the Canaima camp and last about 13 hours.

Trips to Angel Falls take place from June to December, when the rivers are deep enough for the wooden curiaras used by the Pemón Indians. During the dry season (December to March) there is less water than what is seen in some photos. Although the Falls cannot be seen on cloudy days, and visitors have no guarantee of seeing them.

The Yangtze River, the longest in China, woke up dyed red. (Video)

The Yangtze River, the longest in China, woke up dyed red

The Yangtze River stunned residents of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing when it woke up last Wednesday dyed blood red. Confusion reigns and it is not yet known what is the cause of this color in the longest river in China and there is no shortage of the most disparate hypotheses.

Many of the inhabitants attributed it to the effects of contamination from the enormous industrial activity in which the region lives. The authorities, through the NTD television network, ruled out the finding of evidence of toxic spills, although different groups of citizens question the veracity of the investigation.

According to the Chongqing Environmental Protection Office, the explanation would lie in the sand. Official reports say that the floods suffered in various sections of the river have removed an excess of sand, which for them would explain the bright red color of its waters.

Other inhabitants related it in the first place to a recent earthquake in Yunan that caused nearly 100 deaths. Nor is there a lack of those who link this phenomenon to apocalyptic messages.

It should be borne in mind that it is not the first time that the waters of a river in China have turned red. In 2011 it happened in the Jian River, but on that occasion it was shown that it was pollution produced by the dumping of illegal dyes into the water.

The longest river in China, the Yangtze, woke up a few days ago tinged with a bright red color in the section that crosses the city of Chongqin, in the southwest of the eastern country. The authorities informed that the strange phenomenon is due to the fact that, due to recent floods, excess sand was removed. However, some citizens associate it with an earthquake in Yunan while others associate it with the pollution produced by the great industrial activity. Another group goes a little further and links it to the Apocalypse.

Meanwhile, in Chongqing, fishermen continue to fish in the red waters without really finding a scientific explanation for the reason for this color.

Passion Dessert: welcome to the 2020 promotion!

For the second consecutive year, the MICHELIN Guide, in partnership with Valrhona, wanted to highlight the profession of pastry chef. Selected by our inspectors, the Passion Dessert 2020 promotion highlights highly talented pastry chefs of all generations.



Our era sees an incredible number of talents in baking. Today, the star pastry chefs are followed by thousands of subscribers on social networks. To the delight of gourmets, the pastry chef has accomplished a brilliant metamorphosis: now, his profession is a dream. His name appears on restaurant cards. Dessert has become an essential landmark in the experience of haute cuisine and the French meal – especially since it is the end point …

The modern pastry chef, like the chef, has made a decisive return to nature and taste. Locavorism and seasonality oblige, producers are among its interlocutors. Like the new kitchen of the 1970s, today’s pastry drives out (bad) sugar, calories and fat. This quest for meaning is accompanied by a return to taste. The pastry chef “cooks” his desserts, seasoning them and working to balance the flavors, like the best chefs. Saffron, chili or specific peppers, such as citrus scent sansho, are part of his pantry.

Produced in partnership with Valrhona, the Passion Dessert 2020 promotion aims to highlight these pastry chefs who combine technical excellence and awareness of their environment on a daily basis. A local and seasonal fruit will always be tastier, the products used in cooking are not independent of the producers who produce them, nor of the consumers. In 2020, haute cuisine must be ethical, taking into account its social, economic and human impacts; the MICHELIN Guide and Valrhona share the conviction that pastry has an important role to play in this development.

The Passion Dessert 2020 promotion:

François Josse, Taillevent (Paris)
Virginie Apparé, La Table de la Butte (Plouider)
Aurelien Rivoire, Alléno Paris at the Pavillon Ledoyen (Paris)
Alexandre Blay, Skiff Club (La-Teste-de-Buch)
Adrien Salavert, Le Gabriel (Paris)
Eric Raynal, The Garden of Benjamin (Lorgues)
Pascal Basso, Le Colombier (Bartenheim-la-Chaussée)
Sylvain Mathy, La Villa Archange (Le Cannet)
Julien Ochando, La Palme d’Or (Cannes)
The Passion Dessert 2019 promotion:

Eric Verbauwhede, Pic (Valence)
Jérémie Bousseau, Anne de Bretagne (La Plaine-sur-Mer)
Julien Dugourd, La Chèvre d’Or (Èze)
Sébastien Vauxion, Le Montgomerie (Courchevel 1850)
Ludovic Soufflet, Meurin (Busnes)
Patrice Ibarboure, Table of the Ibarboure Brothers (Bidart)
Jessica Prealpato, Alain Ducasse at Plaza Athénée (Paris)
Julien Alvarez, Épicure (Paris)
Jordane Stiee, La Grand-Vigne (Martillac)
François Perret, La Table de l’Espadon (Paris)
Cédric Grolet, Le Meurice Alain Ducasse (Paris)
Michaël Bartocetti, George V (Paris)
Yoann Normand, Le Parc Les Crayères (Reims)
Rodolphe Tronc, Mother Brazier (Lyon)
Nicolas Multon, Villa René Lalique (Wingen-sur-Moder)
Jonathan Wahid, Fanny Rey and Jonathan Wahid (Saint-Rémy-de-Provence)
Lucile Darosey, Loiseau des Ducs (Dijon)
Loic Colliau, Christophe Bacquié (Le Castellet)
Anthony Fresnay, René and Maxime Meilleur (Saint-Martin-de-Belleville)
Jessy Rhinn-Auvray, La Fourchette des Ducs (Obernai)
Toshyiya takatsuka, Kei (Paris)
Brandon Dehan, L’Oustau de Baumanière (Les Baux-de-Provence)

Chefs mobilized for caregivers

Everywhere in France, chefs and producers, but also distribution channels, join forces to feed caregivers.

The initiative launched by the journalist Stéphane Méjanès and combined with that of the chef at the Élysée kitchens, Guillaume Gomez, has been successful (“the chefs with the carers”). For the past 15 days now, chefs and cooks have been struggling to serve meals to hospital services all over France. All safety instructions and barrier gestures are obviously applied to the letter.

Our list is far from exhaustive. Numerous collectives, associating markets, halls and chefs, also work anonymously, such as in Rennes (with the help of the association Les P’tits Doudous of the CHU de Rennes) or in Nîmes (CHU Carémeau).

Let us cite some of these chiefs and some of their initiatives.

  • We saw Michel Sarran (Toulouse) distributing croque-monsieur at the CHU in Toulouse.
  • Simone Zanoni, chef at Le George (Paris), cooks for the children of caregivers in Versailles (he has long worked as a chef at the Trianon Palace) in collaboration with many craftsmen and suppliers.
  • In Giverny, David Gallienne, the chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Jardin des Plumes and Top Chef candidate, cooks for the hospitals located in Mantes-La-Jolie, Evreux and Vernon. He mobilized all of his suppliers and producers, and even a mill that grinds the fresh flours he needs every night to make his pastries.
  • No gluten for Nadia Sammut (Auberge La Fenière, in Cadenet) but pastries (gluten-free, because the manager suffers from celiac disease) for the caregivers of Marseille hospitals, made thanks to crowdfunding.
  • Christophe Aribert (Maison Aribert, 2 stars in Uriage) wanted to bring his “little stone to the building” by preparing dishes for the care team of the Grenoble-Alpes University Hospital (Chuga).
  • Thirty chefs from the Nantes region provide 300 meals a day to caregivers at the Nantes University Hospital, in partnership with the Nantes national interest market (MIN).
  • In Grignan, the Michelin-starred chef of Clair de la Plume, Julien Allano started to deliver meals to the CHU de Montélimar.
  • In Annecy, a group of chefs – Laurent Petit (Le Clos des Sens, 3 stars), Yoann Conte (Restaurant Yoann Conte, 2 stars), Jean Sulpice (Restaurant Jean Sulpice, 2 stars) or Stéphane Dattrino (L’Esquisse, 1 star) and Florian Favario (L’Auberge de Montmin, 1 star) – will deliver meals to Annecy hospital. All menus will be cooked with local products from local producers.

The Daily Chefs confined Julien Allano

Impacted by the confinement orders, the chiefs, used to living at full speed, find themselves unemployed. We asked them how they spent their free time. Today, Julien Allano, chef of Clair de la Plume, in Grignan.

“I was in full service and Jean-Luc, the owner, called me to warn me. Even if I expected after the schools closed, this announcement was both bizarre and extremely violent. Bizarre because we had to look good in front of the clients, try to keep smiling until the end. I must say that at the beginning there was a form of disbelief within the brigade. That did not last very long : the following events, very violent, showed how serious it was and how very complicated it was going to be.

“We managed to throw nothing away”

I had placed all of my orders the previous week. However, I am quite proud to say that we managed to throw nothing away. I received a big delivery from my goat cheese producer (which was going to close). We will sell these cheeses at cost price to customers, in the form of trays. Today, I go to the restaurant every two days to prepare sous-vide cooked dishes for our foreign employees, interns and interns, Argentinian and Ukrainian. They are housed and confined to Clair de la Plume. All this is done in strict compliance with the safety instructions.

“Every two days, I publish a recipe video to make at home”

At home, I’m with family. I admit that I delegated education to my wife … who is more patient than me. For my part, I run the restaurant’s social media. Every two days I publish a recipe video step by step, to make at home. I’m also going to do a contest with internet users: I’ll offer the winner a cooking lesson on the theme “I cook the leftovers from my closet”. Clair de la Plume also approached Montélimar hospital to see how we could help them … ”

Julien Allano is the chef of Clair de la Plume, in Grignan (26).

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