As smart as a pickle

Food and cuisine hold prominent places in French culture. As one might expect, food is the topic of many French idioms.

« Occupe-toi de tes oignons » or “Mind your own onions” is the French way of saying “Mind your own business”. One of the kids at the crèche was more interested in the puzzle that another child was working on so the teacher said: “Occupe-toi de tes oignons” and finish your own puzzle. The teacher was stereotypically French: « maigre comme un haricot, mince comme une asperge » (skinny as a string bean, an asparagus).

Our friend was taking his French friend to the store and driving slowly as they talked. The French passenger said: « Appuyez sur le champignon et allez plus vite ! » (push on the mushroom and go faster !) or “Step on the gas!”

We were at an apéro and our hostess was talking about her son-in-law and some of the stupid things he did and she referred to him as a « cornichon » (literally a pickle, figuratively a nitwit). The week following, I arrived at the crèche to see all of the children and teachers dressed up in costumes representing fruits or vegetables. I told one teacher that I did not have a costume and she smiled and said: “Then you can be the 

« cornichon ».” I decided that « le ver est dans le fruit » (the worm is in the fruit), i.e., it is too late to do anything about it. This is the truth. I am not about to « raconter des salades » (tell salads - stories).

My hair is « sel et poivre » (salt and pepper – the same as in English) though much more sel than poivre these days…

And don’t forget: « le poisson d’avril » (April fish – April Fool’s Day) will soon be here. Watch out for children who stick a paper fish on your back and then run away shouting “poisson d’avril.”

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.

Charge it.

A small observation: in France, purchases made by credit card are completed without the card ever leaving your sight. Be it in a restaurant or a shop, the system feels more secure than the ways we transact business with credit cards in the states. In France, all of the restaurant servers have hand-held credit card swipe machines. They bring you the bill and, when you are ready to pay, they return with a wireless credit card swipe machine. You watch the restaurant server swipe the card and generate the printout(s) which s/he gives to you along with your credit card. (Retail shops operate much as they do in the states with credit card swipe machines located at the check-out counter.)

Giving my credit card to a server in an American restaurant might explain my heretofore undefined discomfort as I watch the server disappear with my credit card only to return X minutes later with a print-out to review and sign.

As we grow more concerned about identify theft, it seems like we should have the same wireless credit card machines in the US. – Or, maybe my anxiety is misplaced and I should be more concerned about wireless data transmission and hackers???

Vaison's Tuesday Market

We have been back a week. Since we arrived on a Tuesday, that means that today, I get to shop at the Vaison market day.

“Vaison la Romaine has one of the best weekly markets in the Provence and perhaps in France. Its origin goes back to 1483, when Pope Sixtus IV granted a license. In 1532 Pope Clement VII stipulated that the market be held every Tuesday and this is observed to this day… It is one gigantic open air department store, offering everything here, from clothes and shoes to furniture, meat, fish, ham, and sausages, vegetables, fruits, cheese and wine and while you are doing your shopping you won’t need to stay hungry either. This is actually one of the best places to shop for Provençal items, like table linens, earthenware and toiletries. The market is held every Tuesday from 8 AM to around 1 PM in the town proper. Many streets are closed off. Parking is definitely a problem. The trick is to arrive either early (around 8:30 AM) or after 11 AM. If you see a group of Americans expertly shopping for vegetables, fruits, fish and meat, it is probably Patricia Wells and her cooking class.” (Provence Hideaway www.provence-hideaway.com)

I haven’t made a count, but my guess is that there are about a hundred vendors who load up their trucks and leave their homes at 0 dark 30 to get to our village to set up the displays of their wares. The description of an open-air department store (Provence Hideaway) is accurate but doesn’t include music (street musicians as well as music CD vendors), furniture repair, live plants, vendors of fabrics and the notions to sew items. You can get roasted chickens, paella, pizza, oriental dishes, soup and/or crêpes take-away, cookies and nougat, dried sausages (pork, wild boar, with herbs or plain…)

The Tuesday marché is not just a shopping destination, it is a social event. The vendors know their customers and exchange pleasantries/jokes while filling orders. One vendor surprised me when he said “Vous êtes de retour!” (You’ve come back.) I was impressed by his memory. I find it hard to remember my own name when I am not wearing a name tag. The village denizens spend time exchanging local news (and often blocking the traffic) but they (as I) are hoping to see friends and neighbors. French women always dress well but they seem to dress better for the occasion of shopping at the marché.

As my friend Margaret used to say about the Solstice: it only gets better from here. Every week from now until the summer solstice and beyond, the market will grow larger: more vendors, more customers, more gridlock to the point where the locals complain about the success of the Vaison marché day. They ‘doth protest too much methinks’ (Hamlet, III, ii, Shakespeare) Tuesday at the market in Vaison la Romaine is an event everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy.

At the movies

We have been in France for three days now. It was bittersweet leaving the states as we had had a wonderful (hot!) summer, a great garden harvest, we traveled and saw a lot of friends and missed seeing many other friends. Whoever coined the phrase: “So much to do; so little time” had a real insight into life.

We arrived in Vaison la Romaine for the beginning of the Telerama film festival – where one can go to a selection of wonderful films for only 3€ during a 10 day period. Last evening, we saw Amour. Tonight, we saw De Rouille et d’Os (Rust and Bone). Amour is on the short list of best films of 2012. It was amazing but was it better than Lincoln or The Sessions or Flight? (This was a year of some great films in the states as well.)

We have been members of a Westside Neighborhood Movie Group for about 20 years in Lansing. We so like the Westside Neighborhood Movie Group concept of viewing a specific film and then meeting to discuss it that we started a Ciné-Club in Vaison la Romaine. Our Ciné-Club meets less formally and less often and the business of discussing films is conducted in French. Some people in the club struggle to discuss films using the present tense and few adjectives. Others with more proficiency in French can discuss films and provide provocative insights similar to our Westside Neighborhood counterparts.

The Ciné-Club includes people from England, America and France. We did this so that the French presence keeps us “ex-pats” honest and speaking in French. I think that Ellen and I were surprised at how often one can spend a whole day ‘in English’. The English-speaking ex-pat community here is large and welcoming and that makes it easy to slip into an English-speaking ghetto.

We can’t take all of the credit for creating this affiliate of the Westside Neighborhood Movie Group. One day when we were having lunch with our former French teacher, we talked about searching for more opportunities to speak French and she encouraged us to create the Ciné-Club à la Westside Neighborhood Movie Group. Since then, it’s been off to the movies Allons au cinema! I have spoken about Michelle before because I so admire her capacity to figure out teaching a foreign language. She always met the needs of a diverse array of students. – and this was not her major career!

My mother used to say that we met to eat and maybe discuss a movie. I think her observation was correct both in Lansing and in Vaison la Romaine. Et pourquoi pas?

 

Visiting visitors

We have made a number of trips this summer. On the return trip from South Carolina and a visit to Margaret and Gary in Edisto Beach and Betty in Charleston, SC, I realized that our excursions have taken us to see people who have visited us in Vaison la Romaine.

We cherish the memories created by our visitors when they came to Vaison la Romaine and we now have new memories from being with them in the US. We were so well received I can only hope that our hospitality measured up to that which they bestowed on us.

Visiting different towns and regions highlights the differences we experience in the US. It is striking how similar shopping can be as chain stores and franchises seem to be the same whether in Chicago or Charleston.

Dining could fit in to the same pattern but we avoid franchise restaurants. Most of the time, we have been very pleased with the food and service of a local restaurant/diner. There were a few-less-than-wonderful spots but they became memorable in their own right. We had a wonderful lunch with Betty at a restaurant overlooking Shem Creek and Charleston Bay and a great “small plate” meal at Nia’s in Chicago with Jim, Taffy, Alex, MB and French neighbor Jane. – and don’t miss pizza buffet night at Pizza Pronto in Naubinway (in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) with Dusty and Tim. Mark and Dan took us to a new restaurant in Traverse City called Apache Trout Grill and we had a nice dinner at the Waterfront after taking a sunset boat tour of the Edisto River backwaters with Margaret, Gary, Dorene, Jackie and Norm.

Wonderful restaurants! Excellent company!

Groceries are more regional than retail stores. I don’t think we have a Piggly Wiggly in the Midwest, so when we were shopping at one in SC, we were amused when a special sale item was announced in aisle 3(?) followed by: “There’s something big at the Pig!” In fact, I am right now wearing my T-shirt from the Piggly Wiggly that Betty gave me. (The logo on the front of the shirt is a smiling pig wearing a butcher’s cap. The back says: “I dig the Pig!) I doubt that the local Kroger store could match that.

BTW, while in South Carolina, we got to see an alligator at a pond on a golf course (and signs warning residents and visitors: “Please do not feed or disturb the alligators.”) – I was amazed at how calmly people seemed to accept the presence of these creatures and thankful that I didn’t have a small dog to walk as it/I could have become a meal. 

BTW2, At the end of the sunset tour of Edisto Island, dolphins began swimming beside our boat as we returned to the dock – almost as if a film director had shouted: “Cue dolphins”. 

Cool!