Anna

We have been taking care of a dog for the past three weeks. The owners (our friends) needed to go to Amsterdam for business and asked us if we would like to care for their “berger” (mostly German shepherd). Ellen jumped at the chance.

We have enjoyed having her here. She is well-behaved (mostly) and very quiet - except for loving to chase cats when I walk her. And Vaison has a lot of feral cats!

Since I always enjoyed the routine of walking our dogs, taking this berger out three/four times a day has been enjoyable. Walking her at night around 10:00, I realize how small our village is in winter. It is quiet and there is rarely anyone on the streets – except other dog-walkers and feral cats. This village is truly a “roll up the sidewalks” kind of town in winter. I know that the population will double in summer but in March it is VERY quiet at night.

A downside of the dog-walking routine is bad weather. In the past three weeks, there was one heavy rain day (pleuvoir comme une vache qui pisse) but when the north of France got all of the snow earlier this week, we got the Mistral and its 120 k/h COLD winds.

She adapted well to our little apartment and made herself quite “at home”. In a place this small, one might think that supervision would not be a problem but she managed to clean Ellen’s plate one evening when I was out and Ellen went to wash her hands before eating. Like the deerhounds we used to have, she loves butter and emptied the butter dish that was on the kitchen counter – twice! (we should have remembered that behavior!) 

The owners were supposed to return to pick her up last Sunday but their car broke down (requiring a rebuilt engine that had to be shipped from Spain) and once it was repaired and ready to go, the snow storm closed the roads. They managed to arrive here late yesterday afternoon.

Now that Anna has returned to her owners, our little apartment seems larger – but empty.

8 gr8 days

A (not so) quiet week in Lake Wobegon…

On “A Prairie Home Companion,” Garrison Keiller begins his news stories of Lake Wobegon with: “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon…” Our week was just the opposite – filled with fun, friends and excitement.

We met Bruce and Judy at the TGV station in Avignon last Friday morning and then drove to Uzès, about 30 km west of Avignon. It is a beautiful little village with wonderful medieval alleys and architecture, an imposing cathedral with a fenestrelle tower

and the castle of the first duchy of France. The castle was built on the site of a Roman camp. (The pictures are from the Uzès website: www.uzes.fr.) We had lunch, walked around the village admiring the shops (closed during lunch time) and the architecture and then drove back to Vaison la Romaine.

Our neighbor Jane had made a lovely chicken stew so we had a wonderful dinner across the street at her house. Saturday, we went to the truffle market at Richerenches and Judy bought some truffles to take back to their friends in Paris. 

Richerenches

As we did with Margaret and Phil last year, we ate at the town hall. The menu was the same: truffle omelets, salad, cheese, dessert and coffee. There were bottles of local rose and red wine on the tables to go with the meal. The long tables seat 16, so we got to rub elbows and converse with the truffle mavens on either side. We drove back to Vaison and then followed Jane to Mirabelle aux Baronnies to see the house that her friend owns there. It is situated in the center of the village and includes five or six different levels. (I got confused after walking from one area to the next, then through a passage way, an OLD circular staircase…)

We were back in time to make dinner for the four of us plus Terry who had come to claim his sweet dog, Cesar. Cesar had been staying with us for a week while Terry was in the UK. It was Ellen's (and my) opportunity for a dog fix, since our own deerhounds are back home in Lansing with our wonderful dog/house sitters.

The lovely Cesar!

I made lasagna but with a few twists: Greek yogurt instead of ricotta, Scamorza instead of mozzarella, fresh pasta (as in rolled out in front of us), and with each layer of pasta, I added a layer of zucchini slices. Ellen and Judy made salad and Bruce and I had gone to the cheese store to get Roquefort and goat cheese (chevre). Terry brought dessert. (French language error: When the merchant showed me the rolled out pasta, I said it looked like twice as much as I would need. He understood me to say that I wanted twice as much and rolled out another sheet of pasta… I tried using the extra pasta dough as a crust for a pie, but it doesn’t work too well!)

Bruce has become a discriminating connoisseur of “pain au chocolat” for breakfast. He has honed his skills in the bakeries in Paris near where they live. We asked him to continue his research in Vaison la Romaine so that we would know to which bakery we should go whenever we wanted “pain au chocolat.” Between Saturday and Sunday, we stopped at five bakeries and, at each one, asked for one croissant and one “pain au chocolat.” Tastes vary, but there seemed to be general agreement that the “pain au chocolat” from Emile Bec was tops. (The croissant from the bakery on Cours Taulignan got the highest marks.) For lunch, we went to La Lyriste, our favorite restaurant in Vaison and run by our dear friends Ben and Marie Joulain. We had a lovely Sunday lunch with good friends. Later that afternoon, we took Bruce and Judy back to Avignon to catch their evening train to Paris.

Tuesday, Père Noel (Father Christmas) visited the crèche (it was not I this year as the kids know me too well). He talked with the kids and gave out candy. The kids ate way too much candy and as one can guess, they were still on sugar highs three hours later when their parents came to take them home.

On Wednesday, we left early in the morning to drive to Villefranche sur mer to visit the village and the language school where Ellen will spend February as she has enrolled in the “Institut de Français” (www.institutdefrancais.com/). The village is located between Nice and Monaco and is built on the cliffs rising out of the Mediterranean.

When I first looked at the map, I noticed a lot of hairpin turns – they are switch-backs – as one climbs or descends from the main road through town. The hills made us both think of Greensburg, PA – though the PA hills seem almost flat when compared to those in Villefranche sur mer. We are both excited about the school because of reports that we have heard from former students. Ellen will spend a month immersed in French. Once the program begins, the students are allowed to speak only French. The emphasis is on developing oral skills. I plan to visit Ellen on the weekends and of course we will speak only French.

For the last week of our French class before the holidays, we had a combined Thursday/Friday class “apero” that included all of the students of the Vaison French classes. We shared wonderful foods and wine/champagne and good conversation (mostly in French but there were side conversations in Dutch, German, English…)

The holidays are upon us. The towns and villages are all decorated with holiday lights and people are wishing one another happy holidays. There will be parties and “aperos” and more good times with friends and neighbors. The opportunities to over-eat abound… (It’s time to clean some carrots to put in a bag to eat before starting the next food fest.)

May your holidays be filled with good friends, good times, good foods and the joy of sharing them.

Meilleurs vœux et bonne année !

Town square, Villefranche sur mer

Eyewitness Comments

Our dear friend Eliane was not able to send the following paragraphs via "Comments." She wrote such a nice description, I wanted to share it with all of you. I have added my translation at the end. (Kristin and many of the rest of you might want to provide a better translation.)

C’est toujours avec le même plaisir que je lis le blog de Mark et Ellen. Pour plusieurs raisons : ce sont devenus de très bons amis, j’améliore mon anglais toujours déficitaire et surtout j’apprécie le style de Mark, plein d’humour. J’apprends à voir la vie française et en particulier provençale sous un autre jour et j’apprends ainsi beaucoup de choses qui me sont trop familières pour en être consciente.


Je souris souvent toute seule, notamment lorsqu’il écrit que Smokey, l’adorable « Golden Boy » éprouve son courage en attaquant « chaussures, livres et tout ce qui se présente à sa hauteur ». L’occasion de s’occuper de Braise et Smokey, son chiot, est tombe a point pour Ellen et Mark. Cela les a distraits des soucis a propos de Nellie, leur chienne malade aux Etats-Unis.

Kristin (j’ai lu avec le plus grand intérêt son blog FWAD) a eu beaucoup de chance en confiant ses chiens bien-aimés a mes amis car ils s’en sont occupes d’une manière exemplaire, je peux en témoigner !

En effet, nous sommes allés nous promener et pique-niquer, accompagnes (of course) de Braise et Smokey, au bord de l’Ouveze et du Toulourenc, les deux rivières à proximité de Vaison. Smokey n’arrêtait pas de boire l’eau de la rivière. Mark a alors fait remarquer avec son humour habituel que « Smokey allait transporter tout le Toulourenc dans l’appartement »… Je n’ai pas osé demander si les pompiers étaient intervenus dans la nuit…

Eliane

I am always happy to read Mark & Ellen's blog. There are several reasons: they have become very good friends, I get to improve my limited English and most of all, I like Mark's writing style which is always humorous. I get to look at life in France and especially in Provence from a different perspective and thus get to see things that I would have overlooked because they had become too familiar.
 
I smiled a lot when he wrote about Smokey, the adorable "Golden Boy" who showed his courage by attacking shoes, books and anything at eye level. The opportunity to take care of Braise and Smokey came at a perfect time for Ellen and Mark. It distracted them from the worries about Nellie, their sick dog in the States.
 
Kristin,(I am really interested in your FWAD blog) had the good fortune of trusting the care of her dogs to my good friends because I can assure that they took good care of your dogs.
 
As you know, we went for a hike and a picnic accompanied by (of course) Braise and Smokey to the river banks of the Ouveze and the Toulourenc - the two rivers close to Vaison. Smokey drank from the rivers without stopping which caused Mark to say in his usual humorous style: "Smokey is going to bring the whole river back to the apartment..." I didn't dare ask if they had to call the fire department to pump out the apartment that night.
 

Eliane

Les Feuilles Mortes (Jacques Prévert)

Fall has arrived in Provence. The trees are changing from green to yellow and brown. The vines are bright red and yellow. We have been caressed by falling leaves as we walked Smokey and Braise. The season always makes me think of the tune Autumn Leaves which was originally written as a poem Les Feuilles Mortes by Jacques Prévert.

It is hard to go through fall without thinking about or humming Autumn Leaves. Now, when I think of the song, I also think about Jacques Prévert and his contribution to music, writing and film. (It is equally hard to acknowledge that two years ago, I wouldn’t have known his name if it was the only choice on a multiple choice question.) I thought that Autumn Leaves was written by Nat King Cole – and this is from the son of a musician!

When I realize that the center-of-the-world-view that I have lived with for so long might not be the true center, it makes me pause. Could there be intelligent life forms outside of the US?

Since we have been here in Vaison la Romaine, we have learned so much about the French. My world view has become binocular. I see things through the US lens or through a French lens. If I use my binoculars to search for intelligent life forms, in many categories France comes out head and shoulders above the US-- though France is not even as large as New England.

• Where but in France would a “Charlie Rose”-style program be the # 1 television program and on Friday evening for almost 20 years? I am referring to “Apostrophe” and as a French friend predicted, I have yet to find anyone who did not watch it regularly. (I have never seen it and since it has been gone almost 20 years, it is not available on YouTube. Dommage.)

• We have heard a lot about French health care as elected leaders in the US grapple with trying to bring universal health care to the States (French health care: top 10; US health care: 47th.)

• France is also one of the top-rated “green” countries as they have worked hard to increase recycling, reduce pollution, and save the environment.

But, more important than “Who’s first” or “Who’s on first?” is la vie quotidienne (daily life) and news from the canine front. Smokey (the puppy) continues to grow healthier and thus more active and assertive. Braise (his mother) has shown a depth of patience that seems limitless – except at feeding time. Both dogs have now returned to the familiar surroundings of the vineyard as Kristin, Jean-Marc, Jacqui and Max have returned from their trip. Even more fun than the news about the dogs being here was the evening when two friends came for dinner and were joined by a third friend – with Braise and Smokey sitting in their bed watching five adults trying to eat a meal in this small apartment. C’est la vie!

Une Vie de Chien

If you use Microsoft Vista on your computer, you had the option of choosing among several images when you set up your user account. I swear that one of the pictures – a smiling Golden Retriever – is a picture of Braise, who is staying with us while her family travels.


Braise and her 12-week old puppy Smokey came to stay with us earlier this week. Ellen read a request at “French Word A Day” (http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/) for someone who would watch the dogs. Ellen was excited about the opportunity of having dogs underfoot and immediately replied. The owners were pleased that we lived so close to them and that we were willing to provide animal supervision for a week.

“A Dog’s Life” does not apply to the two visitors. Ellen walks them every two or three hours, mainly to prevent the accidents that come with puppies. They may not be used to city life or apartment life but they seem to enjoy their temporary accommodations. It is not because they are Golden Retrievers that they have received golden treatment. It is because they had the good fortune of finding Ellen.

Ellen is in her element even though she has been distracted by needing to care for one of our Deerhounds at home in Lansing; our dog has been in the local university veterinary hospital in Michigan. Our sweet older Deerhound developed pneumonia but luckily our dog caretaker noticed the symptoms and took her to the vet hospital. Since last Saturday night – why do dogs have emergencies outside of regular vet office hours? – Ellen has been in regular contact with the vet and the caretaker. I can report that Nellie’s temperature has dropped, she is eating again and will be released on Friday evening.) When we lived full-time in the states, Ellen and other volunteers worked for several years to raise funds to create a “dog park” – a place where people could walk their dogs off-leash. She has yet to organize a group here to do the same, but living in a country where people take their dogs to restaurants, stores, etc. it is unlikely that the idea would catch on here.

Braise is a perfect dog. She follows commands well and seems to live to please humans. Smokey has yet to find his identity but is very willing to show his power and courage by attacking shoes, books and anything else left close to his eye level. Smokey is also recovering from a serious, almost fatal, attack by other dogs but his recovery seems to be progressing well.

As soon as our friend Eliane learned that we were going to be caring for Braise and Smokey, she proposed that we bring the dogs to her house and stay there. Instead, we planned a picnic along the Ouveze River. Later, she took us to another river, the Toulourenc, where the dogs got to wade in the slower currents there. Eliane has called daily to get updates on our two visitors as well as to get updates on Nellie. I wish I could report to Eliane that the number of accidents per day has decreased for Smokey but c’est pas vrai (It’s not true). The dogs are a wonderful present for Ellen and their presence has caused Ellen’s French to improve by many more than a “…Word-A-Day.”