“I Can’t Stop Smiling” (Love and Theft)

We arrived at our apartment in France last week. A friend from Aix en Provence came to the airport to greet us. Our neighbor had driven from Vaison la Romaine to pick us up and bring us back to our “pied à terre” (“pied à terre” is our term to describe our 400 sf villa <]; > ).

The next day, we were sorting clothes and organizing things at the apartment for our séjour here. Since we rent out our apartment when we are in the states, our return often includes the exercise of finding objects and returning them to where they belong (where I think they belong.) There have been times when I have found a kitchen utensil at a spot different from the one I had chosen and then decided that whoever moved it had made an improvement in our kitchen arrangement.

As I was working at nesting, I found that I was smiling. At one point Ellen looked at me and asked: “What?” to which I replied: “I can’t stop smiling.”

I know that part of the curve in my smile comes from recognizing how lucky I am to be able to live this dream. Another part of the smile comes from how much I enjoy the French language and things French. Being here makes me happy.

Looking at the differences between here and there is pronounced this year. I smiled when I saw that diesel fuel costs less than a Euro per liter! That translates into almost $4 per gallon in the states but I have never seen fuel prices as low as they are now.

The taste of a French baguette is something I miss during our time stateside. I don’t know whether it is the flour or the climate or the way they bake them but I take a bite of a baguette from one of the local bakeries (there are six in our village) and it makes me smile.

“Exotic” foods are not so exotic in France and thus a whole lot cheaper (and that makes me smile). Lamb is affordable and fresh and local but one can also find rabbit and duck and fresh mussels and… and I won’t even discuss the differences in cheese selections.

We have the good fortune of having wonderful friends in the states as well as in France. I am probably being repetitive given other blog post that I have written but friends enrich life and make me thankful and make me smile. In fact, I can’t stop smiling.

Nesting (Nidification)

We have been back in the US for about 18 hours now. We have spent most of that time “nesting” – taking clothing items out of our storage bins and putting them back in the dressers and closets where they will remain until the next round of house-sitters arrives.

We have done this enough times that it is a fairly routine activity. “Nesting” is a whole lot less stressful that getting the apartment ready for renters. It is an activity that we can perform at our leisure. Except for the occasional item that I NEED RIGHT NOW, most of it can take place over the days and weeks ahead. Leaving the apartment and France is stressful because: a) we are leaving France and I drag my feet on getting things packed and put away and b) a renter arrived the same day we left, so we had a specific window of time to get everything ready for renters.

Our house and lawn (British “garden”) are in great shape. Our house-sitters took wonderful and meticulous care of our house while we were away. They even prepared (tilled) the vegetable plot and planted garlic last winter!

After noticing and admiring the house/garden/vegetable plot, the next thing I noted was how much earlier darkness arrives in Lansing when compared with our village in Provence. When one follows the latitude lines, Vaison la Romaine, FR is on a par with Traverse City, MI, 200 miles north of Lansing. The further north one goes, the longer the summer daylight hours become. This morning when we woke at 6:00 (after an early night of jet-lagged sleep), the sun had not yet risen. Provence can support tropical plants and long growing seasons thanks to the Gulf Stream and the trade winds that bring warm air to southern Europe (until climate change shuts down the Gulf Stream and Provence becomes cold like Traverse City in the winter…)

There is a real comfort from being back in our neighborhood. One of my French friends wanted to know why we continue to split our time between Vaison la Romaine and Lansing. The easy and honest answer is friends. We have wonderful friends – many of whom are also our neighbors. Hearing the description of the circle of wonderful friends and family, my French friend had to admit that he admired the American style of open front yards and porches where one can easily encounter neighbors. (The French usually construct high – 8-10 ft. – walls around their properties.)

Now that we have put away enough things to feel comfortable, it is time to go to see/talk with neighbors and friends.

Christmas dinner in St. Remy de Provence

On Christmas day, the four of us went to a restaurant called “Le Mas de l’Amarine”. “Mas” means ‘Provencal farmhouse’ but Le Mas de l’Amarine had been converted into a gorgeous restaurant and gîte. I don’t know how Daniel chooses the restaurants where we eat but he is 2/2 on the ‘excellent restaurant rating scale’. Last year, we ate at “Le Vivier” in L’Isle sur la Sorgue and I thought that it couldn’t get much better than that. ‘Au contraire, Mark!’

The sun was bright making the day warm enough that we had our “Amuse bouche” (hors d’oeuvres) outside on the veranda. The service was perfect: the staff was engaging and informative and always appropriate. They clearly enjoyed their work and enjoyed making us feel welcome.

As we made our decisions about Entrées (first course) and Plats (main course), Daniel decided that a Burgundy-style wine would work for the four of us, two of whom had ordered fish; two had ordered meat. The woman with whom Daniel consulted on the wine was a knowledgeable sommelier. Daniel chose a pinot noir from Domaine St. Nicolas. Daniel knew of the winery and their wines and recommended them highly as did the sommelier. I thought that Christmas was the perfect day to drink a wine that came from St. Nicolas.

The Amuse-bouche included oysters, shrimp in phyllo and bread sticks wrapped with prosciutto.

The server came and announced that she could begin serving the entrées as soon as we were ready to follow her to our table. We were seated at our table and next to a family celebrating their Christmas with the family matriarch – who was 104 years old. (We later learned that the matriarch had been a French teacher in England. A relative told us that she loved to speak English and she clearly enjoyed our in-English Christmas wishes.)

Among the four of us, we had chosen three different entrées. I wished that Ellen’s habit of sharing bites of each plate had ruled because the presentations were so beautiful and inviting, I wanted to try everything. The dishes were prepared so that every bite was filled with the flavors that the chef had melded so well. The wine worked well as a complement to the dishes we had chosen.

Ellen and Irène had ordered the langoustine roasted with ginger. Daniel had the scallops with beet salad and I ordered the duck broth with truffles and foie gras. Wow!

Langoustines

Scallops with beet salad

Duck broth with truffles and foie gras

As one might guess, the plats were just as beautiful and inviting as the entrées. For the main course, Ellen chose “loup sauvage” (sea-bass), Irène chose turbot, Daniel had chicken that was roasted on the spit in the main fireplace and I chose the T-Bone – which was a substitution for the boeuf on the menu. I know I am repeating myself but the melding of flavors was accomplished so perfectly.

Sea Bass

Turbot

Spit-roasted chicken

T-Bone

The main course was followed by cheese and then dessert and café/tea. When they served the tea/café, they also brought a tray of sweets – chocolate truffles and a variety of sweet pastries.

After the meal, Daniel told me that he had called the restaurant to ask for the menu for Christmas several weeks ago. They transferred the call to the chef who said the menu was not ready but he gave Daniel an idea of what he was planning/thinking he might do. Daniel said that when he heard the chef’s ideas, he knew that we were in for a real treat. – He was SO right.

In France, we rarely encounter a bad meal. The cafés offer nice bistro foods and the restaurants compete for your return visit. Eating at Le Mas de l'Amarine was a wonderful and different from normal experience. I can still taste (or wish I could still taste) the wonderful flavors that we enjoyed.

Christmas Eve in St. Remy de Provence

We joined our French friends again this year for Christmas. They had chosen St. Remy de Provence as our destination, so we were happy to go to the village famous because Van Gogh had admitted himself to an asylum in the village and stayed there for a year near the end of the 19^th century.

We stayed at a lovely “gîte” (vacation apartment) in a renovated old home at the edge of the town where one could see Mt. Ventoux as well as “les Alpilles” – a part of the Luberon mountain range.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the cathedral in St. Remy for the midnight mass service. The service began before 11:00 PM when women and men wearing traditional costumes handed out candles to all who had assembled at the church. 

Once the candles were lit, there was a procession through the old part of the town ending inside the cathedral where the mass was held.

(There is a humorous story about Christmas midnight mass written by Alphonse Daudet called “Les Trois Messes Basses” (the three low masses) about a priest who was so much more interested in the meal at the end of the service that he raced through the liturgy so that he could enjoy the wonderful meal planned for the end of the service. In doing so, he committed the sin of gluttony – le péché de gourmandise.)

The mass we attended was no parallel. The service was reverent and included singing and a procession around the interior of the cathedral with live sheep (The sheep were provided by the son of the owner of the “gîte” where we stayed.) At the end of the mass, a child dressed in traditional garb took the baby Jesus figurine from its stand in front of the altar and placed it in the stable (crèche).

Belle Provence or Beautiful Michigan?

We’ve been in Lansing for two weeks. The vegetable garden is planted, most of the home maintenance chores are finished and I am back on my volunteer schedule at the two nearby child care centers. Clearly, we are settling into our state-side routines.

As we encounter people we have not seen for six or more months, we are often asked about what we missed while we were away or what strikes us as a source of differences between Lansing life and life in Vaison la Romaine.

From the get-go, I turn around the first question and reply that I miss living in the center of a village where a car is not necessary. I miss the walking to – everywhere! Not just in steps logged but in people encountered who smile or stop to talk or simply offer “Bonjour Monsieur” as I pass. (At some point in time though it must have been recently, I stopped being middle-aged and became old. People say “Bonjour Monsieur” as a respectful way of greeting someone older – and to most of the world, the someone older is I.) In France, I averaged 12,000 steps a day. In Lansing, I may get to 12,000 steps once a week. In Lansing, one can’t walk to any grocery or butcher shop or bakery… - did I say ‘butcher shop’? I am not sure where there is a butcher shop outside of a grocery.

I have missed the camaraderie of people with whom we have forged friendships over the past 30 years. I have missed our neighborhood and the special connections/supports that our neighbors offer.

I have missed NPR and the Sunday word puzzle with Will Short on Weekend Edition. And John Stewart, and Steve Colbert and John Oliver. (I have missed understanding subtle humor and political comedy.)

In general, people speak louder here than in France and we Americans laugh louder than the French.

I like the pervasiveness of “the customer is always right” attitude in stores here. It may also be true in France but you might have to do penance before your shopping error is absolved and the item is taken back…

I miss good, cheap wine. In the US, food is less expensive – even though the produce in the grocery stores comes from three different continents – but wine here is more expensive. Similarly, a baguette in France is only a dollar. In Lansing, a baguette costs three to five times as much.

On balance, there are so many things to make each “home” attractive. We are fortunate to have such wonderful options.

Missing You! Missing France! 2

A week from today, we leave our apartment to go to Marseille. Our flight to Lansing is at 0 dark thirty on Tuesday morning and it is a whole lot easier to deal with the early departure from a hotel at the airport.

Given our departure, we are working on turning our apartment into a rental property for the summer/fall. The focus on work helps me not think about leaving here but I nonetheless do think about leaving and what I will miss most. (I looked back through my old blogs to the one I wrote as we prepared to leave in 2009 after our first six months here. My list of things I will miss has not changed a lot. For the sake of redundancy, I offer my 2014 edition of “Missing You! Missing France!)

·         FRIENDS! We have developed wonderful friendships here in Vaison la Romaine. The village is ‘just the right size’ for encountering friends on a regular basis. I realize that the village is also large enough that it could feel isolating without friends.

·         The “Bonjour, monsieur” greeting as I walk into almost any store (followed by: “Au revoir, monsieur. Bonne journée” as I leave a store – even if I didn’t buy anything.

·         The plethora of wineries and all of the wonderful wines of the Rhone Valley. We are fortunate to live amongst some of the best wine-producing villages of the southern Rhone Valley: Cairanne, Chateauneuf du Papes, Gigondas, Rasteau, Roaix, Sablet, Vacqueyras, Vinsobres, Visan. An American friend once asked if one could drink the water in France. I replied: “Of course! But wine is cheaper!”

·         The emphasis that the French put on good (and fresh!) produce, meat and fish. Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, underscored the importance of buying fresh/buying locally produced. Right now, asparagus, strawberries (from the next big town – Carpentras), spring melons make shopping more fun and cooking easier. I learned from the fish monger that the best mussels are from Brittany but the ‘moules de Bouchot’ have a season – July to March.

French grocery stores and shops as well as the Tuesday market vendors always display the country of origin of the produce, meat, fish and cheese they are selling. As I have tried to become more of a “locavore”, I have started paying careful attention to the country of origin of my foods.

·         Our world-class cheese store and the choices of cheeses. I am pleased that our market in Lansing has a very good cheese shop but in Lansing, the choice is usually binary: ‘Do you have Roquefort?’ Yes! (or no!) Here in our village, if I ask for Roquefort, I have to clarify what style of Roquefort I want. The same is true for Gruyere, goat cheese, brie, etc…

·         The varieties of meats and poultries

·         The View! from our small but viewalicious balcony on the 3ème étage (4th floor) The spectacular views as one drives/walks around the area.

·         Our daily bread (baguette)

·         Being able to clean the WHOLE apartment while standing in one spot (almost) – in about 12 minutes

·         Leaving the apartment at 5:25 for a 5:30 movie and being on time

·         Playing with the kids at the crèche.

Luckily, the sadness of leaving here is replaced by the joy of returning to Lansing and our wonderful friends there. Life is good!

Sibling visit

We met Sue and Bob as they arrived in Paris. They had come to visit us, to celebrate their anniversary and to do some genealogy research in the eastern part of France. (Bob DuVernois’ family is from Franche-Comte – at least that is where most of the villages named Vernois are located.)

Paris is always a wonderful city to visit. The city has so much to offer and is filled with so many interesting people. We ate well, walked a lot and enjoyed three days of warm, sunny weather. We went to see: “How to Become Parisian in One Hour” and now know: wear black, never smile, never make eye contact… - a fun-filled one-man show that mocks the French as well as every other nationality in the theater. We went to “A la Biche au Bois” restaurant – as we do on every visit to Paris and again were pleased to share this restaurant with my sister and her husband. We also did the ‘tourist thing’ and took the ‘Bateau Mouche’ (river tour boat) tour of the Seine. The day was clear and warm and we enjoyed seeing several of the major sites of Paris from the river.

We left Paris and drove southeast towards Besançon where we got to see an old friend. She invited us to stay with her and asked us to go to her classes and speak to her students (in English). After our “English classes”, we started visiting the Vernois villages. Google maps had identified four of them; the Garmin GPS had found a fifth… All of the villages were small – I would guess about 400-500 people. After we arrived in each one of the villages, we took pictures of the town sign and then went to visit the cemetery to see if there were any ‘Vernois’ buried there. Two days of visits (and about five hundred kilometers on the car) but no luck.

Franche-Comte is very different from Provence. The architecture is different. The houses use a lot more wood in the construction. The outside of houses look like what I call Tudor style with exposed beams and stucco. Add to that long, steep-sloping roofs and a different tile used for the roofs and you start to get an idea of the architecture of Franche-Comte. In Provence – at least our corner of Provence – there are a plethora of vineyards and wine tasting rooms. In Franche-Comte, the wine tasting rooms are few but the cheese tasting rooms are ubiquitous. (Franch-Comte cheeses are renowned: Comte, Morbier and Mont d’Or, to name a few. – though I have never seen Mont d’Or for sale in the States…)

We stayed in Ornans while we did our genealogy research. A lovely village. A lovely hotel (La Table de Gustave). Before leaving, we went through the museum dedicated to Gustave Courbet, an artist born in Ornans and a major influence (my perspective) on the development of the impressionist style.

Ornans

 …And then to Vaison la Romaine!

"Only Lyon"

About a month ago, we went to Lyon to pick up friends at the airport. Since Lyon is the “gastronomic” capitol of France, we decided to go early and enjoy a meal at one of Lyon’s restaurants. We got miserably lost and almost forfeited our reservation. Despite a WONDERFUL meal at 126, we decided that the city was too large and too easy to get lost and thus took Lyon off of our “must visit” list.

When we told Jane of our experiences and resulting decision, she countered with: “Lyon is beautiful. Let’s give it another try.”

We found a nice apartment in the Croix Rousse section of the city via VRBO and made our plans to visit. Between Jane’s good driving and Ellen’s Google maps, we made our way directly to the apartment without problem. It was a two bedroom apartment furnished in IKEA modern. It also had a garage – a big plus!

The owner explained that the apartment was originally a silk shop – many of the old buildings in the Croix Rousse section were. The area of the kitchen/living room was where they had their loom thus explaining the extremely high ceiling. The bedrooms were used for storage and a small door – where there is now a wall adorned with a huge mirror led to the sleeping space.

Lyon is located at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône rivers. It has been an important city since Roman times. The old town is located between the rivers on the ‘Presque Isle’. The Croix Rousse neighborhood sits above the old town offering wonderful views of the city. Lyon became the silk-weaving capitol of Europe during the Renaissance. The silk workers – les Canuts – made silk and wove it into fabric. They built covered passages – called Les Traboules – to move the silk protected from the rain from Croix Rousse to the merchants in the lower parts of the city. Many of these passageways still exist.

Ellen and Jane check out one of the Traboules

Despite the decline of the silk industry in Lyon, the city remains vital. It is now called the gastronomic capitol of France. Paul Bocuse, who is one of the proponents of Nouvelle Cuisine, is from Lyon. It is therefore easy to find excellent restaurants. Three days, three wonderful restaurants. Some Lyonais restaurants are called Bouchon which normally means cork or blockage but in Lyon it stands for restaurants that serve local favorites – from local sources. We chose – Le Bouchon des Filles – and selected from the menu du jour from which we chose: rognons de veau (veal kidney), quenelles (shredded fish incorporated into a dumpling and saucisse (sausage). The meal was excellent. Even their pichet de vin was better than most table wines. (Lyon is situated between Burgundy to the north and the Northern Rhône Valley so finding excellent wines is easy.)

Another facet of Lyon is the “trompe l’oeil” murals found around the city. We found two while we were walking but saw another four as we were leaving and driving along the Saône.

Look closely. I am standing in front of the mural!

A major ad from the Tourist Bureau is “Only Lyon”. We appreciated the anagram. It is a wonderful city.

Happy Valentine's Day

The evening started with a note from Dan reminding me of a wonderful lunch on St. Valentine’s Day at Les Abeilles in Sablet eight years ago with a group of friends. It ended with an espresso after another wonderful meal at La Lyriste in Vaison. 

Benoit, chef at La Lyriste, mentioned that he was planning the menu for St. Valentine’s Day when we were having dinner with them last week. I asked Marie to make reservations for us. (Good idea!)

The meal started with a glass of champagne and Amuse bouche.

The entrée was: Queues de Gambas Laquées au Sirop de Liège, Huile Basilic.

 Shrimp tails painted with fruit syrup and served with Basil oil 

  (on a bed of fennel, leeks and potatoes).

We chose a wine from one of the local (Vaison) vintners whom Dan and I met last spring. It was a nice CdR that paired well with the veal and the cheese. The young vintner and his wife have only three hectar of vines but they make nice, old-world style wines.

Terre de Gaulhem, 2010

The main course was:  Pavé de Veau Blanc Roti au Thym, Sauce Champignon, Pomme de Terre éecrasée au curry; a perfectly prepared piece of veal served on a bed of smashed potatoes gently flavored with curry. The mushroom sauce added a nice touch. (I let my appetite get ahead of my camera and ate too much of the main course before I remembered to get a picture.)

The cheese course – Camembert Pané was a lightly breaded piece of Camembert served on lettuce.

The dessert, oh the dessert: Ananas/Crème Tendre au Chocolat. I thought it was chocolate mousse served on thin slices of pineapple. Ellen thought it was ganache served on thin slices of pineapple. Either way, it was great.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Chateau de Grignan

About a half hour north of Vaison la Romaine is the village of Grignan. The most prominent aspect of the village is the restored castle that sits at the top of a rocky promontory.

Chateau de Grignan

Street in the village of Grignan

The gardens of the castle, below.

The history of the castle indicates that the first home was built in the 11^th century then expanded in the 13^th century and was the fortress around which the medieval village developed. The castle was rebuilt in 1479-1495 during the Renaissance and then destroyed during the French Revolution because it was one of the « monuments qui insultent l'égalité en rappelant ces temps de servitude, de féodalité et de superstition, dont le fardeau a trop longtemps pesé sur un peuple rendu à la liberté » “one of the monuments that insults equality by making one remember the times of servitude, feudalism and superstition for which the burden has rested too long on the people who have now acquired liberty.” In the early 20^th century, the castle was purchased by a woman who worked with an architect and restored the chateau to its original beauty. The work continued from 1913 until 1931. Ultimately, the chateau was sold to the Department of Drome in 1979 and became an historic monument in 1987.

While the history of the building is noteworthy, there is an equally interesting about one of its inhabitants and her mother. It is the story of the letters from Madame de Sévigné to her daughter Françoise-Marguerite. Madame de Sévigné lived in Paris and her daughter married and moved to the castle to become the Countess of Grignan. Madame de Sévigné wrote over 1,000 letters most of which were to her daughter whom she missed very much. As a wealthy woman in Paris, she visited the court of Louis XIV and met the king as well as the high-society women of Paris. Her letters offered insights into the lives of Parisian aristocracy: what people were talking about, what people were seeing at the theatre, what books were popular, etc. Her descriptions were lively and heart-felt. She became widely known as a letter writer (une épistoliere) who offered wonderful descriptions of daily life among the aristocracy. Many of her letters were copied and distributed even before they were sent. She wrote not only to her daughter but to the wider audience of readers that she knew were waiting for her next letter. 

Madame de Sévigné is considered one of the icons of French literature. L'absence de la comtesse a fait d'une femme sans ambition littéraire un auteur par la volonté de combler son manque affectif et de consoler sa douleur... Parce qu'elles sont une recomposition de la réalité à travers le prisme de l'amour maternel, elles deviennent littérature. The absence of the countess turned a woman without literary ambition into an author by the will to fill her emotional void and to comfort her pain… Because they (her letters) are a restructuring of reality through the prism of the maternal love, they become literature; (Hélène Bernard, editor, Madame de Sévigné: Letters. Flammarion, Paris, 2003.)

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.

More wines (and so little time)

Last spring (April 28, 2012), I wrote about three wineries that I thought were worth visiting when in Provence or seeing if an importer brings their wines to your area. One of the wineries about which I wrote was Domaine des Escaravailles (www.domaine-escaravailles.com). Thanks to Philip Reddaway and his Facebook page La Madelene Rhone Wine Holidays, there is more to report on this winery. Phil made two entries in Facebook about Domaine des Escaravailles.

By the way, the name of the winery is Occitan for Scarab beetle. The winery chose the name because, in the 17^th century, monks tended the vines and, in the heat of the day, they would pull the hoods of their dark robes over their heads to protect themselves from the sun. From a distance, they looked like scarab beetles moving through the rows of grape vines.

When we were getting ready to leave Vaison la Romaine last spring, we made a final visit to Domaine des Escaravailles and I asked the pourer in the tasting room about the single-varietal (Grenache) and when it might be available. She said that they planned to bottle it in November. I said that we planned to return in December to which she suggested that I might want to call and reserve a case or two because it was going to go fast.

A torn meniscus distracted me for the remaining time in the US, so I did not call but was relieved to learn, when we visited the winery after our return to France, that they still had some. The wine is called “Heritage.”

(“1924” refers to the age of some of the grapevines.)

On February 18, Philip Reddaway wrote the following for La Madelene Rhone Wine Holidays in Facebook:

“In the March issue of "Decanter" JLL reviews the aoc of Rasteau: "how is this new Cru shaping up and who are the star performers?". Delighted to see that Domaine des Escaravailles, a favorite tour visit, came out on top of their blind tasting - the specific winning wine = their old vine Grenache "1924". Chapeau Giles!” (Gilles Ferran is the owner/winemaker at Domaine des Escaravailles.)

A week earlier, La Madelene Rhone Wine Holidays included another reference to Domaine des Escaravailles with a new wine venture. Philip Reddaway posted the following from a review by Lincoln Silakus:

“So, what can I say about the standout wine of the day, the Calendal, a joint venture of Gilles Ferran (Domaine Escaravailles, Rasteau) and Philippe Cambie? I suspect that, for Gilles, it's a bit of fun, as this is quite unlike his more elegant Escaravailles wines. Cambie, the larger-than-life Rhone guru-oenologist, makes wines with an equivalent girth; big enough, in other words to be seen by Robert Parker. The Calendal, from 4.4 hectares of bush vines of old Grenache and Mourvedre (30% – yum!) is huge, fruity and succulent. It ages in barrels that have been used only once for over a year. The 14,000 bottles sell out despite the hefty 16.50€ price (twice the average for this appellation). A myth in the making.” Lincoln Siliakus, Vino Solex, Feb. 12, 2013.

When our Lansing neighbors were visiting last week, they bought me some of the Calendal. We opened a bottle last evening when friends were visiting and it is everything that Mr. Siliakus suggests. Another great wine from Domaine des Escaravailles.

Reunions

This has been a summer to visit old friends. Starting with our nephew’s wedding in May, we have had the opportunity to see and spend time with family, former Peace Corps volunteers, my high school classmates and old friends.

In June, we went to the Boston area for a reunion of Peace Corps volunteers who had served in Chad. It is amazing that after 40 years, it was so easy to exchange ideas and news with fellow RPCVs. Many of the returned volunteers who were in Chad had served at times different from my years there, but the crucible called Peace Corps Chad created similar life experiences and memories. We had the good fortune of staying with a former Chad volunteer and her husband, so the whole weekend was filled with stories and news and a shared perspective on the world and world politics.

We drove to Pennsylvania to attend a class 65^th birthday party. We got to see my classmates – some of whom had had the good fortune (misfortune?) of having me in their class for all 12 years of education in Sharpsville. It was fun to exchange stories and reminiscences and, as at the Peace Corps reunion, the only problem was that there was not enough time to talk with everyone or as long as desired. At one point, I thought: “My, are these folks old!” – and then I looked in a mirror and realized that I fit in perfectly. Returning to one’s birthplace can evoke a variety of feelings. Mostly, it felt odd. For instance, when we went shopping, I looked carefully at every person I saw expecting that I would recognize him or her (didn’t happen).

We stayed with Lynne and Harold; Lynne is one of my oldest friends (though she is five months younger than I am). Lynne grew up only one block away from my parents’ house.

Harold and Lynne at "Falling Water

I was able to walk around the old neighborhood and note the changes and similarities. As a test of memory, I tried to list the names of the neighbors to whom I had delivered newspapers when I was a teen. (The long-term memory works!) My parents’ house looks the same though the trees in the front yard – including the spruce that we used to jump over – are now mature/out of control. At the end of our street is a huge park that was created by the Buhl family. The “casino” is still there and recently renovated. (The casino was the place to go for summer dances when we were in high school. With a pond bordering two sides of the casino, it was such a romantic place to dance to “Sherry” by Frankie Valli, songs by the Shirelles and other sounds of the ‘60’s.) As teens, the Casino was also the place to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate in the winter after spending hours skating on the frozen pond. The walking trails are in good shape and the pool – the place where I spent most of my summer days – is still operating and very popular. Lynne and I shared memories of favorite and not-so-favorite teachers and how they had an impact on who we became. We had fun remembering teachers and their foibles. Lynne’s recollections were more academic/more substantive than mine though she was sure that the school had not provided a career advisor to female students. (The student advisor for the boys was the football coach. The student advisor for girls was the girls’ basketball coach.)

I got to talk with a woman from my high school class who also writes a blog, It is called: “Yo Jo What’s for Dinner?” at http://jolallycooking.blogspot.com/. Jo’s blog is about menus and great recipes she learned while in Italy. (I wonder if Miss Sarcinella ever thought that some of her journalism students would become writers.)

We spent Labor Day weekend with my sisters in Philadelphia. Great conversations, reminiscences, wonderful food, French wine (mostly) – it doesn’t get much better than that.

People always want to know: 1) why we chose to go to France and 2) what are the most striking differences between the two places. The answers to both questions are the people. We have wonderful friends here – many of whom have been friends for our lifetimes. We have made wonderful friends in France – many of whom seem to have been our friends for our lifetimes. As here, the inhabitants are the embodiment of the customs and language which ARE different. The best part is that we find that kindness and the joy of humanity are universal.

Spring

We have been watching for spring since the beginning of February. When Ellen was at the Institut de Français in Villefranche sur mer, hints of spring were already evident. The almond trees with their pinkish-white (or whitish-pink blossoms) were first to welcome the sun. Then, being close to the Mediterranean, the mimosas bloomed and there were hillsides covered with the yellow mimosa blossoms.

I once heard that spring travels north at a rate of 50 miles per week. It has been six weeks since Ellen left Villefranche sur mer so we have had the time to see the same hints of spring pass us here and see the real thing arrive. New leaves are coming out on the deciduous trees and the blossoms are on the fruit trees (cherry and apricot). The temperatures have hit 20 Celsius (about 70°) for the last couple of days and we have not had a frost since the Ides of March.

Another, man-made sign of spring is that the grape vines have been pruned and are ready for a new season of buds and branches to fill in with grapes. Between November and the end of the frost season, vintners and their helpers go into the vineyards are cut back all of the branches that produced grapes the previous summer. As winter progresses, one can see more and more fields of pruned grape vines. One vintner explained that they cut back all of the branches but leave enough so that the roots can produce another four to six buds. As these develop during the spring and early summer, the workers go back into the fields and remove half of the new growth thus concentrating the flow of earthly riches to a few remaining branches. This gives the wines more body and thus flavor.

Although folks sit outside in the café all winter long, the café terraces are now filled with people enjoying their coffee or glass of wine (or pastis) as they enjoy spring and watch the world walk by. We are off to join them!  Wave if you walk by, better yet, come and join us!

BTW, since we just celebrated April Fool’s day (my favorite day) I wanted you to know that it is celebrated in France as “Poisson d’avril” (Fish of April) when the French try to attach a paper fish to one’s back. Although the original celebration of fool’s day did not come from France, it has been celebrated here since the 1500s.

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