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The "Green Fairy" on parole  It was in front of the Hotel des Six Communes, in Môtiers, on March 1st, 2005, that the green fairy, confined in a cage and escorted by a police force and a brass band, was liberated after almost one hundred years of captivity. The sulphurous green (or blue) lady whose therapeutic properties are recognized - the formula was first created by a doctor from Val-de-Travers before it was taken over by Henri-Louis Pernod - was accused of driving crazy those who yielded too often to its charms. The party presumed guilty of damaging neurons: thuyon, a substance released by the absinthe's immune system.
A century of clandestine production later (production estimated at 10,000 liters per year), the green fairy is liberated. The only condition: it must limit its thuyon level to 35 mg. per liter. One should note that the accused substance is not forbidden everywhere and that it is even used as a food additive in the USA. Moreover, in its October 8th, 1999 edition, the highly respected American magazine "Fortune" reported on the habit adopted by some Americans to get supplied, through Czech websites, with absinthe in versions that are known to be noticeably more potent than those of the beautiful neuchâteloise. Today, if it is very fashionable to enjoy an absinthe in Manhattan, one fears in Val-de-Travers that the more or less successful imitations of the beverage and its widespread use through liberalization will damage its quality. But for the moment, it is mostly the tiny scent of prohibition of the delicious sorceress that could get lost. So, do not hesitate to let yourself be seduced, in moderation, by its green fragrance, if this has not already happened, so as not to confirm the destructive reputation of the one who is sometimes called "the beauty with the pale green eyes". The secrets of the "muse with the green eyes":A dozen plants make up the recipe of the true "green fairy", five of which were cultivated intensively in the 19th century in Val-de-Travers: the small and the big absinthe, hyssop, balm and peppermint. Absinthe is part of the mugwort family. Also called "sacred grass", it was already used in the time of Hippocrates. Always ambiguous, the essence of absinthe is a convulsive poison, but the plant has digestive properties and is an excellent vermifuge. Preparing absinthe demands skill that one cannot acquire on the first try. One must "surprise one's absinthe". While letting the water flow drop by drop on the sugar placed in the carved spoon, the sugar disintegrates and the water comes "to beat the Absinthe", to cloud it and liberate its perfume. From the Latin Quarter to Montmartre, the green fairy inspired the greatest: Verlaine and Rimbaud, Van Gogh, Degas and Picasso. Oscar Wilde has reportedly said: "Absinthe brings forgetfulness, but makes you pay in migraines. The first glass shows you things as you want to see them, the second one as they are not; after the third one, you see them as they really are. And there is nothing worse". |
Switzerland, french part 
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