Examples of Wonderful French Hospitality and Joie-de-Vivre I:

We like to go out for a light breakfast 3-4 times a week.  Across the street is a sandwich shop and bread-and-pastry shop owned and run by a delightful man-and-wife team.  They are open five days a week 7:30-6:30PM.  They have occasional counter help, but mostly either one or both are there all the time.  Plus they stay late to close up, come in early to prepare lunches, pastries, and sandwiches, and show up on weekends just to catch up.  PLUS, they have two small boys – we have NO idea how they juggle all this, but they do – always cheerful and positive.  We have spent a bit of time in their shop for our morning café, pastry, and fresh orange juice [David], or fresh fruit smoothie [Anna], plus we buy fresh bread there, occasional desserts, and occasional light lunches. 

Shop on Corner, our Apartment on Left w/Black Window Railings

L-R David, Angeline, Anna, Philippe

As time allows, we converse, in French, about the business, families, the government, etc.  They even laugh politely at David’s jokes, and make jokes back.  [The current running joke is who, Anna or David, gets their fruit drink served first.  Madam has begun to make sure Anna always gets served first, to much laughter all around.  I think it is feminine solidarity at work.]  You may also recall they invited us to their Christmas party, with Champagne, in December.  See Posting January 2, Christmas in Lyon 3.

Yesterday, July 13th they threw a small going-away party for us in their shop.  We brought them a bottle of Champagne and a jar of home-made jam as a thank-you for all their patience and kindnesses.  We thought it would be a short get-together but it turned out to be a two-hour affair with Champagne, pastrys, candy, etc., plus lots of laughter and conversation.  They gave Anna an elaborate boxed recipe set from many of the great French chefs and a box of her favorite tea.  David got a box of chocolates which he may share with Anna.  From a neighbor lady we received some decorative candles and a model of a vintage Michelin tire truck.  Others in attendance included Dominique, our landlady, and our mutual friend Teresa.  Our good-byes were emotional, with us stating that we hoped to return next spring.

Start of the Party

Party After a Few Glasses and Pastries

What is the common thread here?  It is this – people like this have made our French sojourn into a second home, so that we no longer only feel like tourists.

Lunch at Saisons Restaurant at the Institute Paul Bocuse

We’ve mentioned the celebrated Paul Bocuse, the local boy who became a 3 star chef, in an earlier blog.  Well, in addition to his restaurants, he has the Institute Paul Bocuse where students learn first-hand about the culinary arts and how to run a hotel or restaurant.  The Institute and the working restaurant that is a part of it are located in the 19^th century Château du Vivier.  Truly a lovely setting-and the dining room is nothing short of elegant!

Château du Vivier

The Dining Room

Dominique and Roger, our good friends and landlords, are quite familiar with the Institute because their son Marc has been a student there, and we were delighted when they asked us if we’d like to go to lunch at the Institute.  We found the students in the dining room, who looked very professional in their black and white uniforms, are closely supervised as they learn how to give the service one would expect in a first class restaurant.  They carefully explain  items on the menu and each course as they present it, their actions as they deliver each dish are carefully coordinated, and their observer doesn’t hesitate to  intervene to direct them or give them or the diners additional information.  At one point the chef in charge came out to greet us and make sure all was well.  We were VERY well taken care of!

We started with flutes of Champagne (with the exception of Roger, our driver) and an “amuse bouche” to get our taste buds ready for the delicious food to come.  David and Anna started with «Jarret de veau façon ravigote, Consommé pris en fine gelée, Caviar d’aubergine» (a veal-based dish) and Dominique and Roger chose « Féra du Lac Léman en tartare, Porette en vinaigrette et caviar de citron, Goujonnette en kadaïf au combawa» (fresh water fish-based dish).   These dishes were followed by small servings of a puree of fresh peas with something else that tasted wonderful. Then we all chose the «Faux filet charolais en tranche épaisse, Côtes et vert de blette aux girolles, Longs macaroni gratinés », perfectly done slices of Charolais beef with elegant and tasty macaroni au gratin. David chose a Savigny les Beaune for us to drink with this main course.  Then we moved on to a selection of cheeses for each of us to choose from; these were served with a variety of small savory pastries.  Next stop was desert – we don’t remember what Dominique and Roger chose, but we had a lemon parfait that tasted every bit as good as it looked.  We, of course, finished with small cups of the delicious, strong coffee the French serve. Everything was absolutely delicious!  So what was the tariff?  The meal for the four of us cost 161,60 € (~ $232) after our special “friends of Marc” discount. 

We can definitely report that the students are learning well and serving elegant meals in elegant surroundings!

Roger took this picture of Anna standing next to the sign while David and Dominique paid the bill.

Our Star-Spangled Fourth!

It was actually our friend Tom’s idea; his words were, “You are having a Fourth of July party, aren’t you?  You could use Dominique and Roger’s terrace.”  So we asked our friends (and landlords), Dominique and Roger if we could host the party on their terrace with the understanding that we would provide all the food, etc., and do the cleanup.  They graciously, generously, and enthusiastically agreed and the planning began.

L-R:  Tom (the man with the idea), Anna, David (Kalindi's), and Kalindi

Dominique found a flag for us on eBay, David found the perfect version of Stars and Stripes Forever on the web and started buying appropriate wines and beer, and Anna started planning the table and the menu.  Anna and Dominique sent out email invitations, and nine of us gathered to celebrate American Independence Day.  The nine were Dominique, Roger,Tom (who suggested the party), Christine, Christine’s Tom, Kalindi, Kalindi’s David, and David and Anna.  All together, we have lived on five continents and in too many countries to list here.  None of us knew all of the others before the party, but we had a great time getting acquainted.  There were lots of great, lively conversations on a wide variety of subjects - how appropriate for the Fourth of July!

L-R top row:  Dominique, Roger, Tom (American)
L-R bottom row:  Tom (British), David, David (Kalindi's), Kalindi, Christine

We started with deviled eggs and veggies and dip then moved on to barbecued hamburgers with all the trimmings and potato salad and green salad and finished with build-your-own ice cream sundaes.  (Christine brought some delicious petit fours to add to our dessert.)  The table had a blue runner down the middle, and we had red napkins and ate off of white paper plates.  Roger hung the flag in a prominent spot near the table on the terrace. David did the honors at the barbecue and even rebranded the 1664 beer to read 1776.  The party started around 4PM and ended around 11PM.  It was great fun – we can hardly wait to celebrate the Fête Nationale (aka Bastille Day)!

Amber, Dominique and Roger's dog and our "helper."  She was disappointed that no food was dropped during preparation or consumption, but she did get comte cheese rind from David and Roger before the festivities.

Anna and David (with barbecue tool in hand)

Yet Another Historic and Picturesque French Village.

Everyone who doesn’t want to hear about the above topic again may skip this one.  Warning! You will miss lots of actual historic information and gorgeous pictures.

For the final car trip of our stay, we picked the lovely village of Chatillon-sur-Chalarone.  We chose it because it has real historic significance, because it’s only about an hour away, and because it is extremely scenic.  The weather was again perfect – 75 degrees, light breeze, a few clouds to add interest.

Church and Town

We checked in at the central Tourist Office that most small towns have and picked up a map giving the locations and descriptions of the town’s attractions.  We should also mention that the office was staffed by the usual extremely competent and helpful women.

What makes this village historically significant?  It is the place where, early in his career, St Vincent DePaul [1581-1660] first began to dedicate his life and ministry to helping the poor.  The rooms where he lived are preserved here, there is a statute of him, and the village obviously is quite proud of its role in the saint’s spiritual mission.

Chatillon also has a gothic church from the 13^th century and a covered farmers’ market, still actively used, originally built in the 15^th century.  Additionally, it was a fortified village, with extensive walls and gates, and the ruins of an imposing walled château on the hill above the town.

Front of Church w/Street Market

Stained Glass and Altar

Covered Market and Church

Ruins of Hilltop Fortification

Old Village Gate

Chalarone River w/Flowers and Restaurant to Right

As an additional connection, one of the main streets is named for Owen Johnson, an American Army officer who lived with and assisted the local resistance for a year and was named an honorary citizen of the town.

Owen Johnson Memorial

Unusual for a small town like this, it has a huge central square, used for parking, and, the morning we were there, a huge sidewalk sale and flea market.  For a small town of about 5000 people, there exists an extremely lively commercial and social scene.

 

After taking in many of the sites, we opted for lunch outside at a small restaurant that appeared to focus mainly on grilled fare, influenced by both African and South American cuisine.   We both had beef brochettes, very nicely done, with a bottle of very good Givry from just down the Chalarone river in Bourgogne.

Lunch Restaurant

It's amazing how fast the year has gone - we're already planning a possible return visit next spring.

End of School Year - more Anna classes

With the same goal in mind (improving her French comprehension), Anna signed up for additional classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2-4 PM.  Anna found out about these classes through George, a friend she met at AVF.  George is also interested in improving her French (yes, George is female) and discovered these classes.   The classes are similar to the “Debutant French” gatherings at AVF in that all the students are women, we come from all over the world (although Africa and the Iberian Peninsula are dominant right now), the language we have in common is our varying degrees of French, and the teachers are incredibly patient.  The similarity ends there.  

6eme Arrondissement Mairie

The classes were held in a large room on the 4th floor (French style numbering) of the 6th Arrondissement Mairie.  (Official offices for the Mayor, etc. in that arrondissement or neighborhood, and also a lovely, grand old building.) Students are first put into groups reflecting our level of French language skills.  (Anna was, as usual, a “square peg in a round hole” and didn’t really fit any of the groups, but she was assigned to a group after a couple of one-on-one sessions to determine an appropriate level for her.)   She soon found that many of her fellow students found the basics of grammar, math, and penmanship a challenge; several had never been to school, and others had been to rudimentary schools and only for a few years.  Although the other students in her group could speak French, and did so on a day-to-day basis, their French was not always grammatically correct and they had difficulty with written exercises.   Anna, on the other hand, was a whiz at written assignments and grammar and often finished written exercises long before the others.  She soon found herself, with the teacher’s approval, helping others with the basics of grammar.  (i.e. what is a verb, what is a noun, how do subjects and predicates fit together in sentences, what is the difference between singular and plural nouns and why do the adjectives and verbs need to also be plural or singular, etc. etc.)  So her fellow students corrected her pronunciation (sometimes with laughter), and she helped them with the basic nuts and bolts of language. 

The classes ended up providing an education far beyond the French language.  Anna came to learn about life in a village in Senegal and life 30-40 years ago in rural Portugal.  She heard about the families, homes, plans, dreams, and challenges of the other women.  The other women all had one thing in common – they came to France in search of a better life for themselves and their families; Anna was in France for a year-long vacation.  Yet, in spite of this huge difference in lifestyles, they established a bond of respect and friendship.  On the last day of class, Anna and Benedicte, who often had turned to Anna for help, shared warm hugs and good wishes knowing they would likely never see each other again. All left richer for their experiences in class. Most of the women will return to class again in the Fall and go on with their lives – hopefully, successfully achieving their goals. 

A Day in Solutré - II

Solutré-Pouilly is a small but prosperous-appearing village of 375 people located in the middle of a sea of famous Chardonnay vineyards.  We drove the mile or so into town and located the one restaurant, attached to a small hotel, called La Courtille de Solutré.  Everyone was seated out under the trees, so we did likewise. 

Restaurant - our Table Back in Right Corner

To The Left, Across From Restaurant

Towards Restaurant From Small Parking Area

To The Right of Restaurant [Under Tree]

Church and Town Sign across from Restaurant

The menu was presented, as is often the case, on a chalk board.  The wine-list, on the other hand, was extensive, printed, and bound.  To start, we chose Crémant Royale, local sparkling wine that is often excellent, with the addition of a bit of Kir, a red cherry liqueur.  As we sipped our aperitifs, we both decided to have a lamb dish that came with leek and caramelized onion gateau and a wonderful sauce.  We selected a glass of the local wine, Pouilly-Solutré, to accompany our meals.  Naturally, there was a basket of excellent bread provided, to ensure that we did not miss any of the sauce.  After finishing our plats, we decided to end with Café Gourmand, a French treat introduced to us by our French daughter, Estelle.  This typically consists of a cup of espresso and some small pastries or other sweet dessert items.  The local variant included a small morsel of a sort of rice pudding, and our choice from several digestifs, such as brandies.  Anna had Calvados, an apple brandy from an area in Normandy; David selected a local product called marc, which is a generic French term for a type of straight, and very lethal, brandy made from the residues of wine fermentation.  All the while, we were enjoying the scenery, the other diners, all French, enjoying themselves, and the weather, so different from our own, soggy Northwest.  We took time between courses to shoot pictures, of course.  The setting, the food, the presentation – everything was as close to perfect as could be.  Anna, in fact, pronounced it THE best meal she has ever eaten, anywhere, anytime.  The cost for all this – 74 Euros!

Anna Enjoying the Local Wine

Ditto David

We Wish We Could Eat Like This All The Time!

After lunch, and nearly leaving our camera on the back of Anna’s chair, we walked around the small square where the restaurant and church are located, taking more pictures.  We noticed there were a dozen or so small family wineries located a few steps from the square; while this is most definitely a white wine area [chardonnay exclusively], David wanted to taste a red.  One house a block away advertised that they had red wine, so we walked over to the gate to the yard.  At this point a woman came out of the house in this very small village, dressed and coiffed as if for a walk on the Champs-Elysée in Paris, and said, that yes, they did make red wines for tasting and sale.  After some tasting, we left with three bottles each of one of the best Beaujolais crus, Moulin-a-Vent, and a red Bourgogne, Macon Serrières.

The Winery Tasting Room is in The House Below

Heading back to Lyon [about an hour], we even got lucky, and traffic was minimal the entire route – a perfect ending!

A Day in Solutré - I

The next two posts will be large - lots of words and pictures!  It was such a great experience, we wanted to get it all down.

David, as a geologist has long wanted to visit the famous Roche de Solutré.  This is a renowned and long-studied prehistoric hunting site that is also extremely scenic.  There are many artifacts and the bones of the prehistoric horses that were hunted in huge quantities.  As with many of our day-trips in France, we experienced so much more than what we had thought.

Anna & Vineyards Below the Famous Roche de Solutré

View From The Right Side of the Previous Picture

The site contains a recently refurbished and reopened underground museum relating events at the site to man’s development during the Stone Age.  Evidence of man’s activities at the site is pretty much continuous for the past 57,000 years.  The museum proved informative and well-done, with audio guides in English that provided detailed explanations for the exhibits.  Additionally, the primary excavated areas have been replanted with native plants designed to show how a site’s plant ecology develops over time to a stable condition involving the dominance of some species to the exclusion of others due to such things as the effects of shading by trees on the survival of many types of annual plant life.  The balance of plants in different areas is maintained in a state of arrested development so one can see the various stages of evolution from grassland to wooded area.  Depressions in the topography can still be seen where some of the early excavations took place about 130 years ago.

View From The Outside Part of the Museum Across The Saône River Valley To The Alps & Mont Blanc

Same Spot Towards Town of Solutré-Pouilly Below with Vineyards

To The Right of Town Showing Vineyards [Chardonnay]

Above The Sign are Depressions Left From 19th Century Excavations

  After our tour of the inside and outside museum areas, we pondered going to the top of the rock, a bit over a kilometer up a steep trail.  In the museum we learned to our surprise that there had once been a fortified castle atop Solutré, and extensive burials from about 1000 years ago.  Since it was after 1PM, we decided to forgo the climb in favor of a bit of lunch in the nearby village of Solutré-Pouilly.  And, are we ever glad we did!  [Did we mention the spectacular weather – 75 degrees, no clouds, and that Solutré is located in the vineyards of Poully, as in Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Mâcon, and Solutré-Pouilly?] 

More to come!