Au revoir France!

With only hours left before I leave, it's hard to sum up all the experiences, emotions, thoughts I've had over these past [almost] 6 months.  I want to say something clever, like a poem, or funny, like Oscar Wilde, but the only words that come are these:  Thank you France! For giving me an extraordinary experience. For being patient with me as I struggled to say the simplest of phrases. For providing me with fodder for my blogs and stories to be told to friends over a glass of wine [or champagne!] and a good meal. And for wining, dining and romancing me......viva la France :)

Eiffel Tower, Champagne, Carousel Rides

Eiffel Tower is behind me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad way to end my sojourn in France.  I had a belated b-day celebration for the beautiful and talented Katie Hayward with champagne and sushi on the river.  And then a carousel ride with candy floss [or as us Americans say cotton candy!] and a walk around the Tower to cap off the night.

Champagne & The Eiffel Tower

Katie & Molly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While most people will say I'm mad for saying this, Paris has not always been one of my favorite places. In fact, I was not all that fond of it the first few times I was here.  Now I can say, it's growing on  me :)  I think the champagne has something....ok, a lot....ok, almost everything....to do with that!   I love the French lunch hour where everything closes for 2 1/2 -3 hours. I hate that everything's closed on Mondays and one other random day throughout the week.  I will definitely miss all the kissing when greeting and departing --- I think this is a custom that must follow me home :)   I still have a lot of things to see and places to visit, but I am always thankful I get to return to the USA :) & just in time for the World Series!

Fun on the Carousel!

Another Room with a View

Room w/ a View

 
What can I say about Monaco.  First, a semi-private helicopter ride from Nice to Monaco was amazing. Second, as I pulled in to the hotel I was greeted by a trio of the hottest bell hops I have ever seen. Third, it was sunny and gorgeous the entire time I was there and I could not get enough of the view from the room.  

The Palais

This will sound strange but Monaco smelled good.  I mean everywhere you went, there was this "just febreezed" smell to it.  However, I am embarrassed to admit that I paid 18 euros for a bloody mary at my  hotel...yikes!! It is tre expensive :))

Molly & the Cannonballs

And, while the sand on the beach was more like cat litter on steroids, the water was brilliant blue with a sky to match.  After so many rainy days in September, it was nice to soak up some vitamin D.  I also enjoyed crashing the Sportel Convention and meeting so many fun people.  Unfortunately, my plan to go to San Remo, Italy was foiled due to a transit strike.  I think there is some conspiracy to keep me out of Italy, but, one of these days, I will make it there :)  For now, on to Paris!!                

Chenonceau, Ambois, Montresor!!

Montresor

Chenonceau

                                                                             
This was the trifecta of towns to visit --- absolutely amazing!!! Chenonceau on the left and Montressor above.  I think Montressor IS one of the most beautiful villages in France, and they say so on a sign in the way in to the village.  It is not false advertising.  Then we took a boat cruise to Chenonceau which was incredibly beautiful, and as you can see the perfect day.  I'm constantly amazed with the beauty and architecture of France.  We also visited the final home of Da Vinci in Ambois - Clos de Luce.  Wonderful village as well...lots of places for sale :)  Da Vinci was truly the renaissance man.  The day was topped off by dinner at a pizzeria in a troglodyte cave in Loche - also a great city with an unbelievable march every Wednesday morning

"What can stop hate except love"

 Food, vin, champagne, bier and the excellent company of a young couple, Danielle & Eric from San Diego, and my good friend Nick from St. Pierre.  You really couldn't ask for a more fun-filled day.  Oh, and the wine tree. How do I get one of those for my apt. in Harlem!!!

I also learned quite a bit about Da Vinci visiting his final home Clos de Luce in Ambois....he was quite the renaissance man.

We ended the day eating pizza in a troglodyte cave restaurant....cool!

The Vin Tree

The Monks

Forgive me as I have been delinquent in my blogging.  One of my favorite things this season has been to go to vespers at the Abbaye @ Fontgombault to hear the Benedictine monks chant.  Last time I was there, I bought a few rings and one of the monks blessed them.  I shall NEVER take them off :)  For some reason, being there was peaceful, calming, serene.  I will miss them but they shall be forever remember in my memory!

I Must Confess.......

Wait, I'm not Catholic, whew!  I will confess I'm more fond of France now than I used to be - it must be the wine and champagne and more wine!!  I don't think I need to say any more about that.

I am enamored by the magnificent churches, cathedrals, crosses and abbayes that stand out like beacons along the French countryside.  I especially love my Benedictine monks at Fontgombault and their chanting.  Last time I went to vespers, I bought a couple of rings [made by the monks] and one of the monks blessed them for me.  Now I never want to take them off.
       
I have possibly eaten more bread and cheese since I've been here than I have in an entire year at home.  Luckily, the pastry phase only lasted so long - although brioche w/ chocolate chips fresh from the oven are to die for.  I did learn to cook a French dessert called "cafloutis" and had a chance to "experiment" in the kitchen.....some successes and some that need to go back to the drawing board, but for those of you who know me, and my refrigerator, you will know this is a great achievement for someone who has never been a "Becky-Home-Ecky!".

Coffee....love it and have started to drink mine black w/ a little raw brown sugar.  That will shock my cute coffee kioske guy in NYC who always had my "large coffee light & sweet" waiting for me every morning before work.  Love that guy!  I wonder if he will remember me when I'm back?  Change is good though and can be seen in the amount of fresh produce I've consumed.  I am a machine....faster, stronger, able to jump tomato plants in a single bound - okay not really, but it sounded good.   I've eaten more tomatoes, zucchini [or courgettes], cucumbers, eggplants and beets than I ever have.  I pick them fresh from the garden and I will miss them terribly.  Come to think of it there is an empty lot next to my building in Harlem....do you think they would welcome a garden?                  

Lanterns of Death  [lanternes des Morts] were funeral beacons.  They have small holes in the tops where a light was exhibited at night to point towards the direction of the cemetery.  Eeerie, but kinda cool too!

That ends my confessional for the week.  Well, it is Monday after all so I'm sure I'll be back next week :)

Meet Cinderella & Dexter

Ella & Dex

Brother & Sisterly Love

Ella & Dex for short.  They are the adorable French kittens I was babysitting for 2 weeks. I miss them :(  It's amazing how such tiny little creatures can sneak in to your heart and make it melt.  There are so many stray & unwanted cats in France, I dare not tell you some of the stories I've heard to keep the population down.  However, these 2 are in a great home and will be well taken care of, dare I say, spoiled!  I can't wait to see my Izzy who became my dad's cat when I moved to NYC.  She is the best!

Bier & Chocolate

I can't think of any way to start the month of September than to talk about bier and chocolate: two of my favorite things.  While nowadays I usually only drink beer on a hot summer day at the ballpark or have a lambic at an outdoor cafe, I can always eat [dark] chocolate!  Funny how similar these two machines look to me and they create such delectable items of pure pleasure.  I could easily dive in to a vat of either chocolate or beer and eat/drink my way out!  Happy September to all - and please, you have my permission - to indulge heavily in both. Cheers!

Channeling Sarah Bernhardt

Me & Sarah

When I was little, I was a big ham! Okay, so I still am.  Always talking, performing, singing into my curling iron in front of the mirror or into some Howard Johnson's mints in the car on the way to our family vacation.  My grandfather used to call me "Sarah Bernhardt" after the famous French actress.  I first visited the Sarah Bernhardt cafe when I was in Paris many, many years ago.  I recently went back to enjoy an apertif and people watch - some things just make you smile :)

Richelieu & Chinon

While my friend, Costi, was here, we went to Richelieu & Chinon.  Basically, he's seen everything else in France so we opted for a walk in the gardens followed by wine tasting/buying!  The gardens at Richelieu were amazing, not to mention, it's one of the first examples of urban planning [a walled town built on a grid system]. Unfortunately, the palace was dismantled and sold piece by piece.  But enough of the history lesson, it was cool.

Then we were off to Chinon. Such a cute town right on the Vienne river and Henry II hung out there [his castle is the setting for The Lion in Winter].  Besides drinking some great wine, we also discovered that this is where Joan of Arc made her transformation from peasant girl to warrior saint!! Woo hoo....you go girl! She cut her hair and dressed in like a boy in armour.  We bought some amazing rose champagne, Nicholas Feuillate, and a bottle of red and white to round out our purchases.  All in all a good day was had!

Brussels

Manneken Pis

I took a little side trip to Brussels.  Just for the day, but enough to see some of the sights, sounds & smells of the City.  Manneken Pis is a famous Brussels landmark - a little boy peeing in a fountain.  The pic on the left is from the chocolate museum and the one on the right is the real deal - actually a copy since the statue has been repeatedly stolen, the original lives in the City   Museum on the Grand Place.

While I enjoyed my day in Brussels, I didn't find it to be particularly captivating.  Case in point, the lovely urinals you can find while walking along the major streets.  I guess they don't have the NYC public WC otherwise known as Starbucks!!  When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Even though I wasn't feeling the Brussels vibe, I cannot deny the chocolate and waffles and waffles and chocolate and more chocolate, oh, and bier.  There was chocolate on every corner........heavenly! 

NYC Pizza in Brussels!!

Tour de France

Bike race thru St. Pierre de Maille

#1 I did go see the Tour de France pass by Nouans-les-Fontaines
#2 It was the 7th Stage of the race on July 8th, 2011
#3 I stood for about 3 hours watching the Gendarmerie and Caravan [sponsors] go by until finally the cyclists came swooshing by which took all of about 20 seconds
#4 I wish I hadn't dropped my camera in the l 'Anglin river on the 4th of July and that I'd actually gotten a photo of it, but, alas, I didn't!  This is a reasonable facsimile, but is actually another race that came through St. Pierre recently! 
*note the guy about half way down mugging for the camera :) Love him!

Fireworks in our front yard

Fireworks in St. Pierre de Maille

We had an amazing fireworks display in St. Pierre last weekend.  For a small village [that isn't even on a BMW GPS], I couldn't believe the great choreographed pyrotechnics.  While there were more spectacular pics, for some reason this one just called to me.  Whenever I see fireworks, I always think of my grandparents and how we used to go to a small golf course in Jerseyville, IL to watch them on the 4th of July.  My cousin would hold his ears cuz they were too loud for him, but I loved every sight, sound & smell [hmmm, sulphur!].  I've seen more fireworks in the 3 1/2 months I've been in France than I see all year in The States - 4th of July & after a Cards win :)  You are never too old to enjoy !

Bubbles y Bubbles

Ok, so I have had blog block, broken cameras, visiting friends and now what better way to come back to blogging than with champagne and bubble baths!  I am by no means a connoisseur [in fact I still have trouble spelling that darn word] of wine &/or champagne, but I know what tickles my fancy and Tsarine is the BEST champagne ever :) I am, however, a connoisseur of bubble baths! Combine the two with a castle view and you can't get much closer to heaven than that!  I am embarrassed to say that I bought this bottle at Super U - our local huge grocery/wal-mart type marche, but I guess you can get the good stuff practically anywhere in France.  And while some of their customs may seem odd, this one I am a huge fan of.

My 1st French ala Mexican Dinner Party

Disclaimer:  In no way should this be misconstrued by those of you who know me and have seen the inside of my refrigerator, as an invitation for me to cook for you, invite you to dinner or throw a dinner party in The States.  It was simply an experiment I made these poor French people endure.......otherwise known as my cooking!!  But seriously, I actually have gotten more patient with the culinary arts since I've been here.  Maybe that's what a garden does....inspires you to cook all the yummy things growing in it.  Anywho, considering I will never have a garden in Harlem, I'm sure I will revert back to my old ways of condiments, peanut butter and beer [for guests] being the only staples in my lonely fridge.  But, who knows, maybe it'll stick and I'll become a master chef.  Hmmm, let's not get carried away.  I'd settle for knowing how to do more than boil water [& eggs] & make pasta which is kind of like boiling water.  Bon Appetit  
Side bar: the only "Mexican" ingredients they had at the store were chips, salsa & guacamole mix.  We made burritos, how can you go wrong, and with a little creme fraiche [aka sour cream] on top of savory cannoli's that I passed off, successfully, as tamales....viola! A Mexican meal.

Aout = de Vacances

Ah, after more than 2 weeks without internet, we are back on-line!  And now it's August in Europe and that means hundreds of thousands of people are on holiday.  You can already see it even in my small town....those suspicious joggers, people speaking English, cameras galore!  On the upside there are fetes everywhere and fireworks - Ooh, Ah! I hope to be in Paris this weekend which should be sans Parisiens so I should fit right in.  Hope everyone in The States is enduring the heat. I'm still wearing my fleece at night here.

Georges!

I finally snapped a photo of our bat, Georges!! He tried to hide from me but was gracious enough to pose for this pic :)  I'm kind of growing a bit attached to him in a way.  Let's put it this way, I like him much better than our resident spiders.

8 a Huit

In St. Pierre de Maille, where I live, there's a mini-market called 8 a Huit [sounds like wheat a wheat....literally meaning 8 to 8]. However, it does not open until 9am and it closes at 7:30pm and sometimes it's closed for several hours in the middle of the day.  Therefore, it is not really open from 8 to 8, ah, but this is France so it's totally normal :)  I only go there to pick up emergency items like if I'm desperate for a red bull or a biscuit. The veggies in the pic are all from our garden, and, with a little homemade dressing, viola! dinner :)  You just can't beat the fresh veggies around here, luckily or should I say, hopefully, they off-set the pastries. Wishful thinking? Maybe!

The Hippodrome

Hippodrome Races

Cute Jockey

I went to the Hippodrome to watch the horse races last weekend.  There were 4 steeplechase and 3 trotting races.  I must say even though it was 90 some odd degrees, what fun!  I dressed up, just for the fun of it, but didn't have a hat.....I really think I should have had a hat.  Well, maybe next time :)

My Nemesis!

Old Man's Beard

This is my nemesis, otherwise known as old man's beard.  Now I call it dead man's beard.  It is a wicked, evil vine that wraps itself in brambles and nettles [another wicked weed!] and crawls up trees etc and overtakes them.  After being scratched, pricked, nettled and bleeding.....let me tell you, I was serious about getting this out of our trees....I finally managed to get most, not all because it is evil, but most of it out of our trees.  Ok, I admit I was obsessed!  But since I've been here, I've honed a whole new skill set as gardener, dead animal disposer and chicken wrangler.  Could come in handy some day, oh I don't know, say if I marry a farmer from Montana :)

St. Hilarius & Other Funny Men!

While I've done some research, I cannot seem to find the answer as to what St. Hilarius is the saint of besides the fact that he was the Pope of the Roman Catholic church from 461-468.  Maybe that was enough to make him a saint!  Regardless, I find him, well, hilarious!  I also find some other men in my life fairly hilarious and recently I've noticed some universal similarities in men such as there must be a "funny man gene!"  By that I mean, they are very funny about certain things like asking for directions, I think we all know that one.  Or for example, we were in the grocery store the other day and John could not find the anchovies.  He didn't want to ask anyone because if he couldn't find them himself than he didn't want them, yet he spent quite a while looking for them.......funny!  I finally asked someone, at this point my French was almost completely nonexistent, and I managed to find the "anchois". I could go on, but suffice it to say maybe women aren't as concerned about being embarrassed as men? I don't know and don't even care to venture a guess, but, whatever the reason, I love them dearly......funny gene and all!! Bisous

Intoxicated by the night

I can't adequately describe what I'm feeling at this moment.  It's late but the stars were calling me to come and have one more look so how could I deny them.  With the moon gone, they are intoxicating and thanks to my headlamp [gift from my mom!] I am able to walk out in to the darkness, turn off the artificial light and be amazed and awed at the vastness of the stars.  Not quite sure what has possessed me this evening but I feel like staying up all night and watching the sunrise.  It's been quite a while since I've done that.  It's one of those "Ah!" moments, you know the ones.  They come along when you least expect it.  After being plagued by allergies [it is the country after all] and mini-migraines all week, this is the best feeling ever.....recharged, rejuvenated and, dare I say, relaxed?!! I thank my lucky stars for this opportunity.  Bonne nuit etoiles!

French or Foe?

Not the people, but the language.  While the language is very musical and the locals speak "allegro", it has been a bit of a "foe" to me!  I am still listening to my French CD's but am not consistent with them so I will work on that. So far I've gotten pretty good at road signs and menus and managed to have a brief, very brief "conversation" with a nice old French lady one morning, as well as, the guy in the grocery store who helped me find anchovies.  Although there were more charades going during the grocery store dialogue than actual speaking, I'm still proud of the attempt :)

           ps Google translate is my new best friend!

City Girl or Country Girl?

I think that question is pretty obvious!  You can take the girl out of the city....... :)  We picked up our 4 new baby chickens today AND visited a goat farm to buy some cheese and to watch them being milked.  And that pretty much sums up an average day in the life for this "country girl" at the moment.  Not to mention baby chicks and goats are pretty darn cute, even if they do try to eat your pants and your hair [the goats that is!].  And despite all that I can't imagine being anywhere else right now.  Oh, and did I mention that visiting the goat farm was research for my job so it's all in a days work!

Things I never contemplated doing yet....

......I'm doing them!  Here we go:

1. Having a morning buriel for Henrietta, one of our chickens, after I found her deceased.
2. Retrieving 2 dead mice out of the pool trap w/ a pair of pliers and disposing of them. 
*** I know what you're thinking, there seems to be a dead animal theme here but besides rats and pigeon, I don't have to deal w/ too many dead animals in NYC!  
3. Raking a garden w/ manuer - ok not a dead animal but close.
4. Successfully navigating French highways & bi-ways when I'm only sure what 70% positive of what the roadsigns are for but I'm getting better.  Going through the tollbooth was fun!  AND, since I don't drive anyway and when I do, once or twice a year, am not that great at it, this is quite the accomplishment.

More to come!

From Tower to Tower

Alogny from below

Alogny - view from a window

From working in the "Tower" of the Muni building to sleeping in the "Tower" of a 900+ yr old castle, who would have thought it!  Yet here I am sleeping in my tower, Queen of the Castle.  I must say I kind of like the sound of that.  My friends who have lived overseas say I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase and that when that wears off, I'll be lonely especially not knowing the language.  If I can understand some of my LI & Brooklyn friends I should be able to understand these darn French :)  But, alas, it's tougher than it seems.  I'm not sure how I'll be lonely since I'm never alone but time will tell all.  We shall get back to this topic in 3 months.

Hallelujah!

Pear Tart.....yummy!

Pastries, doughy pieces of heaven, iced masterpieces, fruit, creme and nutella filled wonders.  That is France!  Well, at least part of it.   And I have to admire the French for truly savoring their food.  Maybe that's why the stores are closed from noon to 3pm for lunch. Sometimes I forget to savor when I'm in NYC rushing along the street trying to eat on the run or worse eating at my desk.  Heck, who am I kidding, that is an all too familiar scene that just became "normal".  Only time will tell if I can master the French love of food but I'm all about experiencing as much of it as I can while I'm here.