Category: France

France

A City In The Clouds

After New York we hopped a Delta flight to Madrid Spain, where we will be doing another language school, more about that later. As we had a few days before the start of the school we organized a house sit across the border in Southern France.

With a rental car organized in Madrid, we drove 8.5 hours northwast to Cordes Su Ciel, France. The drive was a lovely mix of mountains (the Pyrenees), fields and tunnels. Huge fields of sun flowers were everywhere. We also noticed an amazing amount of hay being grown and harvested; but a surprising lack of farm animals to consume it.  If anyone has clues to this mystery, please let us know.

Nico, proprietor
On our first night in Cordes (as the locals call it) we met with the family were we sitting for and then proceeded to beautiful guest house called La Maison au Puits. Despite out late arrival, the owner Nico organized a glass of wine and some amazing local ham and fruits for us to enjoy while we visited until well past midnight. Later in the week Bonnie and I returned to the hotel when Nico and his wifeLa Maison au Puits outdoor Christiane prepared a three-course dinner for us that would impress any gourmet chef.

About an hour from Toulouse, the village of Cordes-su-ciel is a bastide. To say that the village is charming would be an understatement. Around every corner of the hilly cobble stone paved streets was another surprise. We shopped in the local Saturday market. We dined on fresh bread, fois gras and local wine (they specialize in rosé). We lingered over coffee at the café in town square.

CordesWe found we had much in common with Eve and Tom, the couple we sat for. Like us, they sold their home and possessions in California and set off for international adventure. In their case, this meant purchasing and renovating a delightful home set into the hillside of Cordes with an amazing view. Together with their dog and cat (Mocha and Ella), these two really seem to be enjoying their retirement in France.

Mocha  Ella

The week flew by and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to France and our new friends and head back to Madrid. More adventures await us there!

France

A Rising Tide Floats All Boats

We were lucky enough to visit friends and stay in their lovely new home in Brittany, their hospitality was amazing. Brittany is in Western France, it is bordered by the English Channel to the North and Normandy to the Northeast. It was especially poignant for us to be in this region on D-day, the anniversary of the day on which the allied forces landed in France to push back the Germans during World War II.

Our friends house is in a small village called Locmariaquer, which is situated on the shores of the Golfe of Morbihan. One of the first, and most noticeable, things about this area is the dramatic change of tides. Most areas are used to a tidal change of 3 to 4 feet (one meter or so). In the area around Locmariaquer the tidal changes can be up to 18 feet (6 meters). As a result, at high tide the water is lapping at the sea walls and the boats bob happily on their mooring balls. But at low tide there are many kilometers of exposed sea floor and the boats end up resting in the mud, waiting to be floated again as the tide flows in.

  In addition to the boats in the mud, at low tide you can also see row after row of oyster beds, (more about the amazing oysters later). This scene is surreal no matter how many times you see it.

The small village had two bread shops, or boulangeries as they are called in France. Each morning, we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the “customs walk” (a small path previously used by customs inspectors to review the contents of incoming boats) into the village. In the bread shop we would purchase fresh baguettes, croissants and, George’s favorite, pan du chocolate. The village also has a small convenience store, several gift shops, restaurants, creperies, a library and a small neighborhood bar. We visited the bar which included several different types of musical instruments: guitars, a piano, hand drums, a fiddle and an accordion. Guest were invited to pick up any of them and start playing or join into whatever music was happening. George had fun playing guitar with a local piano player, the only language they had in common was music, but they had lot of fun with it.

Just around the corner from the house was a small shellfish store. In this store you could purchase oysters or many different types, muscles (moules), lobster, crabs and other shellfish. All were extremely fresh, clean and very much alive. Oysters were €4.50 per kilo with about a dozen per kilo. That works out to about forty cents (U.S.) per fresh delicious oyster. You can be sure we ate a LOT of them!

Brittany, or Little Britain (as opposed to great Britain) was once an independent nation with its own Duke. We visited the Domaine de Suscinio that was previously home to the Duke of Brittany from the Middle Ages to the 1800’s. In the 1960’s it was declared a historical site and has been painstakingly restored to an amazing showpiece with lots of interesting displays and educational areas. This castle is well worth a visit if you get to the area.

We thoroughly enjoyed our relaxing visit to this charming coastal town, so much so that we were sad to leave. But we took heart in knowing that we had a great adventures ahead, so we packed up and headed off to Israel to attend the wedding of one of Bonnie’s students from the Hansen Summer Institute.

France

Drinking ‘Ti-punch in Vidauban

It’s great to explore new places, and it is wonderful to get to see old friends around the world, but it is extra special when you are invited to stay in the homes of friends while you travel. We were lucky enough to be hosted by a lovely couple, Charline and Julien, in Vidauban – Cote d’Azure, France. The bonus was that Charline’s parents are good friends from San Diego, who were also visiting at the time.

As a result, we got to visit and eat and drink and explore with our good friends Fred & Pascal along with their younger daughter Samantha, as well as Fred’s sister Mag (who came in from Antibe). Needless to say; the house was full of laughter, song, amazing food and a few cocktails.

Vidauban is a small town and the house we were in was a small country home, complete with chickens in the coop out back that provided fresh eggs. The house is bordered on three sides by vineyards, as a matter of fact the whole area is mostly rows and rows of grape vines.  The weather was lovely, we took most of our meals outside in the backyard where we could watch folks play in the swimming pool, cook on the bar-b-q, play guitar and sing and in general, just enjoy life. Fred demonstrated his bar-tending skills with a local specialty cocktail called ti-punch, which is made with fresh lime, rum agricole and demerrera sugar. Fred never did share the exact proportions for the perfect drink, he only commented about how most people get it wrong.

There were a couple of grand outings, one day we all visited Port Grimaud, which we called the Venice of France. A great area with beautiful homes interconnected by canals. We had a excellent lunch of local specialties there and then jumped on a ferry boat to cross the harbor to Saint Tropez where we wandered the town and had Carte Tropezienne which is a sweet cake with custard in the middle.

George got a to join a game of pentanque, which is played by throwing heavy steel balls, or boules, down a long hard dirt court. Game play starts by a member of one of the two teams throwing a small ball, called a jack, to the far end of the field (or terrain). The rest of game is all about trying to get your boules closest to the jack, and/or knocking other’s players boules away from the jack. It is good fun!

On another day Fred organized a “small hike” down to a cove close to Cassis, which could only be accessed by hiking or by boat. Well the small hike ended up being a little over eleven miles in total with the equivalent of more than 40 floors. But the cove, at Calanque d’en Vau was well worth the trek.

 

We had such a great time with the Hayem crew that really hated to pack up a rental car and leave, but we were excited about our upcoming visit to Brittany in Northwest France. Check back soon for our post about this next adventure…

France

Southern France

It’s great when you get to travel to new parts of the world and explore the location, the food and the culture. It’s even better when you get to reconnect with old friends and explore it with them. That’s what we did last week, and we have several more adventures coming up. Believe or not, over the next 8 weeks, we will be lucky enough to meet with old friends in Nice France, Naples Italy, Vidauban France, Brittany France, Tel Aviv Israel and Transylvania Romania. But before we get too far out in the future, let’s talk about out most recent reunion.

We’ve been planning this surprise for several months, and working very hard to keep it secret, so it was kind of a relief when we strolled into the Metropolitan cafe in Nice to surprise our friend Tom for his birthday. He had no idea we were even in France, and we spent the next several days exploring Nice and the surrounding towns.

Listed below are just some random thoughts; in no particular order:

      • We typically stay in AirBnB apartments; this gives us the advantage of having a kitchen and regular living space. As easy as it is to forget, we are not actually on summer vacation, this is our normal life. And just like most peoples regular lives, we eat a lot of meals at home, we watch TV some evenings, we do laundry, we take naps and we clean the house. Having said that:
        • every flat has a limited assortment of cooking stuff – it’s always interesting to see what kitchen tools are supplied in each place (this is why Bonnie travels with her knife set!)
        • just going to the grocery store is an experience in itself. It is different in every country and everything has a different name.
        • we try and plan at least one “adventure” every day, this might be visiting a museum, exploring a beach we haven’t to been to before, looking at boats in a marina or visiting a local fish and/or vegetable market.
        • Of course we eat out from time to time (like everyone does) and we revel in the experience.
      • We usually do not rent (or hire as they say in Europe) a car, but since the friends we met in Nice had one already, we got do do a couple of amazing day trips.
        • One day we left Nice and drove to Monaco, it was just few days before the Gran Prix, so we actually drove (kind of by accident) a section of the race course. Pretty darn cool.
        • That same day, we drove by Cannes, but the film festival was wrapping up so we figured we missed out on seeing most of the big stars. George really wanted to go see the premier of “Rocket Man” especially since Sir Elton John was on hand for the event.
        • Another day we drove up to the Verdun region, we had lunch in Sainte Croix du Verdun on the shore of the lake, the view was stunning.
      • If you are a fan of oysters, and other shellfish, then Southern France is the place to be (although our friends in Brittany tell us we will be in oyster heaven when we get there.) We had oysters with dinner at home twice and once again at an amazing shellfish lunch.
        • If you are still learning to love oysters, or even if you are a fan already: give George’s oyster preparation below a try.

 

“Oysters Orleans”

          • Shuck 1 dozen very fresh medium sized oysters, putting the oysters and the juice into a medium glass bowl.
          • Clean the bottom half of the shells, put into a plastic bag and pop into the freezer to chill.
          • To the bowl of oysters and juice add: 1 tablespoon on white sugar, 1.5 ounces (25 mils) of white vinegar, 2 small spring onions (green tops of the whites) chopped fine, ½ of a green bell pepper chopped fine, 1 0z fresh lime juice (30 mils), and 4 or 5 dashes or Tabasco. Stir together ingredients a cover bowl with cling wrap and place in fridge for at least two hours (overnight is even better).
          • Just prior to serving, arrange shells on a large platter (using coarse salt to help balance shells). Place one oyster into each shell and then divide the rest of the mixture every between the dozen.
          • Serve with chilled white wine or prosecco and bask in the adoration of your guest.