Café Gourmand

Café gourmand is one of my absolute favorite things about France.  Before I was enlightened, I assumed it was just some sort of fancy cup of coffee, maybe with some chocolate melted in it or something.  Then my veil of ignorance was lifted and my whole life changed. 

French desserts are all so wonderfully delicious that it can be difficult to decide which to order.  Café gourmand solves this problem.  It consists of un express (or café crème if you request it) on a plate surrounded by tiny (or sometimes not-so-tiny) samples of a variety of desserts.  A silver dollar-sized crème brulée, a baby moelleux au chocolat, bite-size squares of various tartes, maybe even some petits macarons if you're lucky.  You never really know exactly what you're going to get, which I like even more than the variety aspect of the dessert.  But you can be sure that it will be delicious.

By request - fat Coco pictures

First, I would like to say for the millionth time:  Coco is actually not really that fat.  She is a large cat, with a large skeleton.  Which is a fancy way of saying she's "big-boned."  Now here she is, in all her glory.

Her cup runneth over:

Bourgogne trip

We've been on a few little trips lately.  Here's a recap of one of them...

In early October we spent a weekend in Bourgogne (aka Burgundy).  We meandered toward our b&b via back roads, stopping to see Pontigny Abbey, eat lunch and drink Chablis in Chablis, and visit Vézelay - a hilltop village that is a UNESCO world heritage site. After staying one night at Le Domaine de Drémont bed and breakfast, we stopped at an archaeological bath/mineral springs site on our way home.

Pontigny Abbey was founded in 1114.  It's very old.  This colored writing was painted on one of the walls.  There wasn't much information posted in the abbey, so I'm not sure when it dates from or what it's significance is.  But it's interesting to look at!

In Chablis I ate a snail.  It wasn't gross or anything, but it's still not something I would order for myself.  It's the idea of it that gets me.  However, I did get a kick out of the special device made specifically for holding the shell while you dig out the snail.  We also drank some very good Grand Cru Chablis with our lunch and then went for a little stroll around the town.  The weather wasn't so hot, but we got a few moments of sun during our walk.

Vézelay was quite nice.  There is one shop and restaurant-lined cobblestone street leading up the hill towards Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, which is the main attraction of the town.  It always seems wrong to see people dressed in modern clothes strolling around on medieval streets like that.  We browsed the shops, visited the basilica, and ate dinner in one of the restaurants.  The view from the grounds of the basilica at the top of the hill is really lovely.  No matter where we go, the views over the French countryside are always my favorite part of the trip.

The bed and breakfast that we stayed at is located on a working farm.  There were sheep and horses that I could see, and these two amazing dogs that just sort of trotted around like they owned the place.  The walls of the living/dining room in the b&b were upholstered in a really lovely fabric.  I am a sucker for upholstered walls.

At the archaeological site on the way back, we sampled some of the salty mineral water.  It didn't taste very good, but we got the full experience.  We browsed around the foundations of the different rooms of the ancient bath house.  It was quite cold outside that day, and I took a moment to be grateful for indoor plumbing and the fact that I don't have to hike across a field and take a bath with 50 of my neighbors in a slimy stone pool.

Une deuxième langue

It's been a while since I've blogged. Hello again!

My French is getting so much better.  I am starting to feel like I am in on the action - a real, functioning member of society.  When announcements are made in public places, I can understand them and react accordingly.  Yesterday, when my the train conductor announced that the train for my commute home était en retard indéterminé I was able to hop off and go catch the other train that stops in Fontainebleau.  When I walk by a group of people I can often understand the snippets of conversation I hear.  It amazes me to no end.  If I am searching for something specific in a store, I can ask the shop assistant about it.  I got a haircut and was able to communicate what I wanted in French, and afterward I gave directions to a French couple looking for parking in Fonty!  And they understood me!  It was beautiful!   I can't even describe how wonderful it feels to speak and understand these foreign words!  It. Feels. Amazing! AMAZING!  I could skip down the sidewalks, cheering in celebration.  Just a few months ago I was fearing all French language interaction and becoming instantly blocked when someone approached me on the street asking for directions, always giving the "je ne parle pas le français" response, but something has recently clicked in me, and now I see every little interaction as a chance to practice speaking and understanding the language.  It's as much due to the realization that "I have to just dive in - I am going to make mistakes but I can't care about it - I have to at least try" as it is to actual language improvement. 

I also now have great empathy for people who are learning to speak English.  Most of the time if someone asks me for directions, I can't help them, or ask them to repeat what they said, and usually they hear my halting speech and accent and ask if I speak French.  "Un peu" is not enough for them, so they say nevermind and look for the next person for help.  But these people aren't being rude, I have to believe that they aren't "neverminding" me because they are annoyed I don't speak French.  They just have a place they are looking for, and they don't have time to wait for me to put together a response.  It's nothing personal.  I know that it's probably what I would have done in their situation.  But now, I hope that if I ever find myself in their situation I will remember to have patience and let the other person try to formulate a response.  Because I know it will make them feel good.  And even if it isn't really a helpful response, I will smile and thank them very graciously anyway.  Because I know that it will make them feel great.

DIY fall flower arrangement

This post is specially dedicated to Greg, who loves flower arrangements.

In the mornings I've been driving by this field of wildflowers and grasses. I'm really into the way they've been looking lately, as they start to dry out and die. The colors look so perfectly "autumn."  Muted and neutral, with clusters of red/purple scattered into the mix. I took a pair of scissors with me the other day and cut a bunch of them.

Holy disco ball!

Rite of passage: First train strike

It was only a matter of time. Fortunately the trains are running "un sur deux (every other)" during rush hour ("heure de pointe") so I didn't have to wait too long. And I learned two new phrases because of it!