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.