Making My Own Chocolate, SNCF Weekend Card & Finding Good Eats in Paris

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A Random Road Trip in France

I'm quickly learning that a real "plan" is perhaps not necessary in order to see beautiful things in France - you can just pick a random place and go.

In this case, my only plan was "let's do something" and Alexis took charge!  He wanted a town that was new for both of us, so slightly south of La Rochelle, he made lunch reservations in Rochefort.  While prices are a little steep near the coast, the lunch was excellent.  I was jealous when his cake came out, but it turned out that my mascarpone was divine, absolutely divine!

We took a little walk around Rochefort, which I realized was the city where the Hermoine replica boat is.  The Hermoine was originally sent by France to help the Americans in the American Revolution (for those who've forgotten, the French originally helped us win a war).  A replica was built and it sailed to the US and back in 2015, but the ship remains in Rochefort and can be toured.  There was no tour for us, but I have a lovely photo with it!

After a brief walk around the town (and the purchase of two French books much more suitable for my current reading level), we decided that this wasn't ACTUALLY the beach, looked at the map, and decided that this tiny finger of land looked interesting to see.  We didn't see the island out in the water (or paid no attention to it) until we arrived at the end and people were walking out onto a raised "road" across the tidal flats.

When we first entered the town, I was surprised by the resemblance to other French coastal towns that I've seen - it reminded me a little of the outer portion of Biarritz (clearly, nothing like the main town there though).  As you can see from the location of the blue dot on the map, after arriving in the town and going to the very end of the tip, we decided to head out to see the fort.  The tide was out when we started, stranding this fisherman's hut far from the water!  I had no idea what it even was, so having a Frenchie along was quite useful.

Even though we were about halfway across when the tide clearly started coming in, we were on a mission to make it to the fort!  Despite the fact that all of the people with oyster buckets were clearly headed in the other direction, Alexis was confident that we wouldn't get trapped, so I took his word for it and kept going (to be fair, we had cell service, so it couldn't be THAT difficult to get a boat out there if needed).  It turns out, it's about a 30 minute walk out to the fort over a road that has disintegrated badly over the years; however, it's great exercise and lovely views all along the way.

I haven't really tried just picking a random spot on the map before and going there, but it turned out to be a fun idea.  I saw my first oyster farms, a random abandoned fort and the island had lovely views of the bridges from the coast out to the two big islands in the area . . . plus it was kind of cool to WALK out to a spot shown as an island in the middle of the ocean on a map.  To get a feel for the distance, in the photo below that white dot is a van - look past it on the horizon and you can see the buildings where the car park is.

And not a photo from the road trip, but rather just a typical Saturday afternoon in France from the day before.  There are certain parts of living in France that are EXACTLY what you expect.  The French cafe scene is one of those things!  People really do just sit (even on the same side of the table), chat and just watch the world go by.  Truly one of my favorite things about French culture!

Cooking French Food for a French Person

A strange thing happens when you live in another country long enough and start to build a life there - your blog quits being a story about this great adventure you're having and just becomes a story about your life . . . I'm learning that I'm not quite comfortable with that.

I simply don't want to publish details of private moments on a public blog.  When the highlight of your week was time spent with a friend or the low moment was having someone you trust really let you down, it doesn't feel like a "shareable" moment for me.  I know there are ex-pat bloggers who do it because I've read the blogs, but it doesn't work for me personally.

Having said that, I think there are plenty of broad cultural differences, weekend adventures and other topics that I can post on . . . but we'll see how it goes.  I'll be in Germany for work next week, so that will provide a fresh topic.

One upside of my knee feeling better is that my house is really coming together!  The downstairs is basically finished (living area, dining room and kitchen) and there are only a few non-critical furnishings to build still . . . except my armoire, but that's so large, I will certainly need help.  The other upside is that I've met a new friend since I started driving again, so my social circle is broadening even more.

I also had the bright idea of hosting a dinner again and making a classic French dish for a French person.  It sounded like a great idea when I first decided to do it; however, as I started following the recipe, the doubts began . . . "wow, that looks like a lot of onions.  Really, that much onion?!?  I swear there weren't so many onions at the restaurant."  Then, "there are seriously enough potatoes here to feed 10 people, not 2 people.  How many servings is this . . . I guess that explains the huge pile of onions . . . I swear there can't be enough cheese in that container for all of this."  Followed by, "Ugh, this is what I get for using a tartiflette recipe in English - why would I trust a French recipe that's in ENGLISH!  Merde!"

I did have a small win in managing not to overcook the potatoes, so they were easy to slice and didn't turn into mashed potatoes.  It still didn't quite look right to me . . . and go, "He's probably been eating his mother's authentic-absolutely-perfect tartiflette since he was a toddler.  What level of American arrogance made me think that cooking a traditional French dish for a French person was a GOOD IDEA . . . why didn't I cook something American, like . . . wait, what is actually American food?  Not spaghetti, that's Italian.  Umm, nothing Mexican.  I can cook Indian, but still not American . . . fried chicken?  Do I really have no "go-to" recipes that are originally American?  Screw it - I'm making this tartiflette and he's going to eat it and like it!"😈

In my defense, it must not have been too bad because, even with a starter and dessert to follow, he still ate two servings.  The recipe could use a few adjustments, but the leftovers have been even better - the cheese really melted down in and mixed with the cream & wine sauce, so I'm not too disappointed that I've been eating the leftovers all week.  BUT, it is heavy enough that I'm also not terribly disappointed that the season for making it is winding down and lighter fare is on the way!  Like, a chèvre salad I hope.  I miss my chèvre chaud salads!

Q&A: Do the French Drink All of the Time?

There are still random amusing things that happen during day-to-day life here, even when I'm mostly stuck at home with an injury.  For example, it took PB four weeks of me not driving before it occurred to him to ask how I was managing to keep food in my pantry.  Fortunately, he's not the main person in France who I turn to for help anymore or I *might* have starved.😂

I really have great co-workers in general though.  L’américaine provided work transportation most days, took me to pick up groceries and out to a few social activities.  PB provided the rest of my work transportation, plus took me for groceries & to the pharmacy; YV drove me to the doctor; SB called the doctor and nurses several times because the secretaries often don't speak English (even if the doctors or nurses do) and CB would have taken me to work every day this week, but my knee was finally healed enough to drive short distances!

And Alexis remains a great (and reliable) friend - I'm lucky to have met him.

Q&A on French Drinking
Since life with a knee injury hasn't been very exciting, I thought I'd post another Q&A.  I've been asked by several people if the French drink "all of the time" or a lot more than Americans.

The best I can say about total consumption is that I read something somewhere (really precise, right?) that said the French drink about the same amount as Americans, but spread out through the whole week, whereas Americans tend to drink their full consumption as "binge drinking" on Friday and Saturday night.

And again, when there aren't particular photos, you get examples of great French food.  Note: there technically *is* wine in the upper right corner.

From personal experience, here are the main differences that I've noticed:

• It is not a big deal to drink during lunch on a workday.  Most tables seem to have a bottle to share (4+ people) or a glass each.  My company seems to be a little more conservative, so the managers who eat out for lunch typically only drink on Fridays.  L’américaine and I have adopted this habit and we have a pineau per week on "fancy lunch" Fridays.
• It is nearly impossible to discipline or fire somebody for drinking, unless they are injured on the job or there is some other major incident that can be attributed to their drinking.  You can (and possibly will) have at least one co-worker who smells like they bathed in a bottle of booze, but if they're a functional alcoholic, nothing can be done about it.
• Most of the French I know do not drink every day.  If they do, it is a glass of wine with lunch or dinner.  The only time I've seen them have multiple drinks in one sitting is at a nice dinner out (pre-dinner cocktail, wine with the starter and wine with the meal usually) or a nice dinner at home with friends (same 2-3 drinks).
• Beer seems to be consumed only on rare occasions and not often with a meal, usually it's a pre-dinner drink or completely separate from eating.
• Hard liquor is also consumed much less than in the US.  Most of the stronger alcohol is consumed as a pre- or post-dinner drink, one small serving only and not as a mixed drink.  It is something like a pineau (local specialty), cognac or a good whiskey.  I don't recall seeing a French person have a mixed drink the entire time that I've been here (this is not to say that they don't drink them, just that it is uncommon in my experience).
• The French seem to be very conscientious about drinking and driving.  Too many people joke about it in the US and don't seem to take it seriously (unless they get caught).  Here, my French friends and colleagues very clearly drink less when they are the driver than if they are at home or not driving.

French vs. American Healthcare

Advantages of the French Medical System:

• There doesn't seem to be any cost-benefit analysis done.  If there is a risk, even minor, that you could die of a blood clot, they will treat you.  Update: they also do not wait for you to have a life-threatening reaction before prescribing an EpiPen equivalent.  If you have a food allergy that causes respiratory issues, they prescribe it - as the doctor noted, the reactions are often progressive and you could easily die before medical services reached you.
• Even uninsured medical costs are so low that I mistakenly thought they were my post-insurance rate.  Twice.  23 Euro for an uninsured doctor's visit?  88 Euro for DAILY injections at home by a nurse for two weeks?  Oh right - attending university is free here, so they don't need to pay college-educated people crazy high salaries just to afford their student loans . . . that's one way to keep the gap between "rich" and "poor" narrower for sure.  There is a premium paid for college-educated people (you still invest your time after all), but it isn't nearly as large as in the US.  This is also NOT a for-profit system, so every level of the medical industry doesn't need to carve out their profit at levels that satisfy shareholders.
• While I pay A LOT of taxes, the overall percentage for somebody like me is not actually that much different from what I paid in the US, plus my health care premiums, plus the FSA to be certain I could always foot the 20% that my insurance didn't cover, plus the higher amount I needed to save for retirement because health care costs are one of the big spend categories for US retirees . . . basically, the difference in France is that many people pay a little more in taxes, but then everyone is also covered if the worst happens.  You aren't likely to lose your house here because you get sick or injured.
• They prioritize your health.  I could have easily chosen to spend the last 3 weeks off work with nearly full pay.  Except, I didn't really feel it was necessary with my job and it would have hurt my plant to go through close and year-end adjustments without their only local finance person.
• The doctors actually explain stuff to you.  They tell you not only that they've determined you injured a ligament, then later, probably tore the meniscus, but also that it was this particular test where they moved your leg in this or that way which told them what the problem was.  It inspires a certain level of confidence in the diagnosis when the doctor openly tells you how they drew that conclusion.
• If you tell a French person that you're calling on Wednesday for an appointment the following Monday, they will be shocked because you're calling so EARLY.  Apparently, there must be a much better per-capita number of doctors here than the US if a few days notice gives you your choice of appointment times.
• Doctors will make house calls, if necessary.
• If you can't drive, there is an "ambulance" service that is made up of normal cars to provide medical transportation.  I will be using one of these for my trip to Poitiers for the IRM (MRI).  Or not - I decided to take the train and save a few Euro.

There are really no pictures that go with this post, so you get random French food.  This is a super tasty tartiflette

Disadvantages of the French Medical System:

• Daily injections?  Really?  This isn't really a "con" of the system, but I loathe needles and this was a special kind of torture for me.
• While I understand that there can be issues with people abusing painkillers, pain management is kind of important.  When somebody has torn a ligament, a week's worth of narcotics is not that big of an issue.  Especially when it eventually turns out to be a torn ligament and meniscus.
• Even though most French people aren't paying for them, I'm not sure what the point is in prescribing a full box of medication instead of just the number prescribed.  I guess the upside is that I can tally up my prior leftovers before filling a prescription, just to be sure I actually need it!  It also saves time at the pharmacy - they just grab the boxes and send you on your way.
• Again, probably because there is virtually no cost to the individual (and the gov pays either way), you are required to see a doctor if you miss even a single day of work.  Otherwise, you're taking vacation pay for it.  It comes across like your employer doesn't trust you, but actually the government won't reimburse their share without proof you were ill/injured.
• Due to the house call issue, your doctor really needs to be in your town.  You can't just pick the person in a town 20 minutes away who your friend recommended.
• There can be a little wait for certain non-emergency procedures.  Like, my MRI can't be done until February 28.  But, I've had to wait in the US for non-emergency MRIs also . . . and there is certainly a long wait for many specialists in the US.  It was over a month both for a dermatologist and a hand surgeon.

And . . . well, that's about it (other than dealing with CPAM initially).  Honestly, the disadvantages are more just nitpicky stuff and I can see why it is rated one of the best healthcare systems in the world.  Due to the low medical costs, I've still paid more in taxes than my medical treatment has cost, so it's still a net win for France, but I'm feeling pretty happy about the medical side of the experience.  There are certain specialties here with a wait due to too few doctors, but that's true in the US also (see above).

Update on my Knee:
For those who are interested, as mentioned above, it appears that I tore the meniscus.  I was allowed to try walking without the splint if I could tolerate the pain, but unfortunately it took less than two days of trying to walk around at work without it before my whole lower leg and foot swelled back up and every step was painful again . . . so I'm back in the splint until after the MRI and treatment is determined.

Of course, I had my own comedy routine on Monday and there really should have been video.  I had asked the doctor if I could drive with the splint off and she said, "if you can?"  I thought this was like the walking and referred to my pain level, so I was determined to tough it out and have my freedom back!  So, I tried to sit in the car and realized that I had to move the seat back.  I was quite proud of myself when I was in, foot on the gas pedal and ready to go . . . except I was so far back that I couldn't fully clutch.  "Ok, so I'll scoot the seat forward a bit. Yep, I can fully clutch now!"  Pushed the clutch in and went to press the brake to start the car.  And learned the doctor literally meant if I was actually physically CAPABLE of driving when I can only bend my knee unaided to the position shown below.

It's enough to sit my foot on the gas, but I tried, and failed, to bend my knee enough to actually raise it off the gas and onto the brake.  I yanked on my pant leg, moved my leg to the brake by hand and went to start the car before the less-stubborn, more-logical part of my brain suggested that perhaps it was not wise to drive, especially a manual, when I'd just had to use my HAND to transfer my foot from the gas to the brake.  This was proven quite true when an attempt to transfer my foot back over unaided resulted in my foot half on both peddles and a bit wedged between them.

So, there will be no driving for me through Feb 28.  Hopefully, there will be good news then and I'll only need a few weeks of physical therapy!  If not, I'll be facing surgery in a foreign country.  The period of time since I injured my knee is the first extended period when I've wanted to return to the US - at home, I know how to take care of myself.  Here, the forms are in French, the instructions are in French, many of the people only speak French.  Naturally, I'm in France, but it adds a level of complication that is really unpleasant when you're already hurt.

The Hunt for an Open Restaurant on a Monday Night in Rural France

Upon moving to rural France, you quickly become accustomed to the fact that you cannot count on things being open at all hours like in the US.  Most stores close by 7:30 PM each night and are closed all day on Sunday (or only open until 12:30 PM).  Same with the pharmacies, except there will be a sign indicating the rotating schedule for which pharmacy in the area has extended hours.

This also extends to restaurants.  While virtually every restaurant is open for weekday lunches, most of them are closed all day on Sunday.  Several restaurants will also close all day for one week day and, as I learned this week, very often that day is Monday.  Since Alexis has been helping me a lot, I offered to treat him to dinner (since I'm not really up to cooking).  This is sort of the American way, at least in my region - if somebody helps you move, assemble furniture, etc., you offer food and/or drink in return.  The last time he was over, he both assembled furniture AND provided the food, so it was certainly my turn to do something nice.  Of course, I offered to treat him to dinner on Monday . . . without a full realization of precisely what I had done.

Thus began the great search for an open restaurant.  As it turns out, the place that is reliably open for dinner is NOT open for dinner on Mondays (O'Napoli - picture above is a burger from there).  The other restaurant that I had in mind is only open for dinner Friday and Saturday (O City'ven - see picture below).  A quick search of the internet and a few phone calls established that virtually all restaurants in the area are closed for dinner on Mondays.  It also established that, during the winter, many of them are closed all day Sunday-Tuesday, many are open only for lunch during the week and many have random days they are closed.  One restaurant advertised a new take-out menu of 6 dishes "tout les jours" (all the days), but when I called, I was told that "all the days" apparently does not include Monday. 😒

This is not accounting for the fact that you either have to follow local places on Facebook, check their website (if they have one) or eat there weekly to learn when they will be closed for a week or two for their vacations, to completely revise the menu or to remodel.  In short, you become accustomed to the idea that you may want to make a reservation for lunch or dinner every time, just to be sure that the place will be open when you show up!

Finally, I checked one of my other favorite restaurants, Relais Pays de Civrasian.  I was in luck because their closing days are Wednesday night and all day Thursday!  I do think that I'm introducing Alexis to bad habits because the big social meal in France is normally lunch, but here I am dragging him out for dinners . . . and twice in one week at that!  You do realize why the restaurants aren't really open for dinner outside of the weekends though because they will be packed at lunch, but only two or three groups will come in for dinner - and both nights it was virtually all British people.

Once you're here for awhile, you also start to realize why they all have days they are closed and limited hours though - the people cooking and serving are usually the owners; several restaurants in the area are actually owned and operated by a married couple.  Due to some of France's laws, it can be cost-prohibitive or a regulatory nightmare to hire additional staff, so the owners have to limit the hours they are open, and have some days they are closed, simply to have a break!  Having said that, I think it is smart to be the only place in town open on a particular night . . . however, in my search for a restaurant open on Monday nights, I saw several Brits in my area with the same question, so it seems that the restaurant could have a lot more Monday night business if they got the word out that they are open!

Actually, you've heard it here folks - if you are looking for a restaurant in the Civray/Ruffec area that is open on Monday for dinner, Relais Pays de Civrasian is your place!  They have a menu of the day that is available for dinner, not just lunch, plus other fixed price menus. And the owners (and staff) have always been very nice to us, even with our awful French!

A Serious Injury in France - Part 2 and Great Friends

The differences in France and the US when it comes to healthcare are a little surprising.  I don't think that I've ever heard of somebody with an immobilized limb getting daily injections to prevent blood clots in the US, but PB has asked me multiple times about this and was acting like I was in grave danger of imminent "death by blood clot" because I went the whole first week without the injection (largely due to difficulty finding a nurse).  It's also weird that they just hand you these boxes of injections, so PB had a valid threat when he said if I didn't find a nurse, I would force him to inject them himself.

By the way, if I do die tragically from a blood clot - PB, you were right.  As always.  Postulate #1. 😁

Frankly, I would probably have went ahead and gotten the injections (why take an unnecessary risk, no matter how small?), except for two small problems.  The first is that I tried to register my social number and it wasn't valid - apparently, a "temporary number" is basically useless.  It wasn't until January 30th that I finally received a valid social number . . . which I registered and my information was promptly sent out.  To my old address.  Apparently, my HR folks forgot to update the address with CPAM (although the prefecture has my correct address).  Of course, governmental departments don't really share information in the US either, so this is no different.  Everything seems to be working smoothly now with my certificate of rights, even without the Carte Vitale.

The second problem is that, despite a large British ex-pat community in the area, I have had serious issues finding English-speaking medical care.  The doctor that I saw in the neighboring town won't drive to my town.  Unlike the US, you may not be able to call your doctor when they've, say, given you a prescription that you're allergic to - the doctor is too busy to return calls.  But they'll make a freaking house call . . . as long as you live in the same town basically.  So, no more doctor in the neighboring town (the nurse that was recommended in the same town also won't drive here for my injections).

So, I started the great quest to find more English-speaking medical people.  The next nurse I called also told me that their group is too far away and gave me the number of two groups that are closer.  I postponed calling the new places because I was a little concerned about daily nurse visits without confirmed insurance.  Once it was confirmed, the nurse's group in my area had inconsistent English ability, so PB gave them his number as my contact person.  He was thus able to arrange for my daily torture, which is probably good because I would have quit after the first two!  Check out the bruise from the first one - can you blame me for wanting to skip them!  The second one left a smaller bruise, about the size of a penny . . . and the third looks like it might be the best of all.  Which is good, because I was beginning to wonder how they'd possibly find room for 14 (let alone 21) of these.😱

I have to say that I'm happy I live in an area with a large British ex-pat community at the moment because they really came through on medical suggestions!  I now have the name of an English-speaking doctor and dentist, plus the nurses.  I'm only missing an eye doctor.  My new doctor is great, but sadly leaving the area in July.  She'll at least be able to get me through the rest of my knee treatment - at the one week mark, she determined I'd actually injured TWO ligaments and that the swelling was not down as much as it should have been.  I was lectured on being less active, but persuaded her that I could still work AND be less active.  PB persists in refusing to fetch my coffee though, which really undermines his assertion that he's become my highly-paid assistant.😂

In addition to PB looking after my medical care (and occasional transportation), l'américaine has been super helpful with driving me back and forth to work most days, taking me to get lunch and buying some of my groceries.  I'm super lucky that I picked a place that is close to work, so it's not SUPER inconvenient for people.  It is still a hassle though because they have to consider my schedule, such as me needing to eat in order to take my medication . . . so I have to be home by a certain time.  Another woman, YV, volunteered to drive me to my doctor's appointment, which was also really nice and a third co-worker has offered various forms of help too.  My team takes good care of me during the week, but I was a little concerned about the weekend.  It was pure luck that Alexis' knee had healed up and he'd arrived back in town the weekend before (I was actually getting him from Poitiers when I hurt myself), so he offered to come by on Saturday.  He ended up looking after me nearly the whole day and assembled my shelves, table and chairs for me (and cleaned up the packaging).  Plus, he took me to get groceries, helped unpack some of my stuff, hung my curtains, washed my dishes and cooked us dinner.  Yep, I've been very, very fortunate to meet some really great people in France!!!

A French Christmas Party

I'm sure it will come as a surprise to nobody that the French know how to throw a good party!  What may surprise some people is learning that I almost didn't go.  With L’américaine in the US and PB not expected to return from the US in time to attend, I was envisioning an entire night surrounded by people speaking exclusively in French.  It didn't sound fun. 😱

I decided to suck it up and go anyway and was pleasantly surprised when PB drove from Paris to attend the party after all (even though he had to turn right back around the next morning and go to Le Mans).  I was sure that at least PB would speak English with me; however, it turned out that I didn't need him for that after all!

I'd asked a little about what people wore and heard everything from jeans to "just wear what you normally do" to "a cocktail dress is good."  Since he generally doesn't lead me astray (and kept me from naming myself after a cow), I asked PB for the final word, "What do people normally wear to this dinner?"  PB looks at me frowning, like he isn't sure what I mean.  So, I clarify, "Should I wear something like I'd normally wear to work or a nice red Christmas dress I have from the US?"  There was a little back and forth, but the conclusion was that PB would be wearing a nice black suit and, if it wasn't too much trouble for me to find in my boxes, the red Christmas dress would be nice.

Yeah . . . about that.  My normal work attire is West Coast business casual, but most of my co-workers dress just casual because we're in the country.  Other than PB and GO, who were in suits, everyone else was basically in jeans with a nice shirt.  There were a couple of skirts with a blouse.  When I walked in and realized this, I debated just returning home to change, but people had already seen me and I decided I was just going to rock the Christmas dress!  Of course, when I told PB I wasn't happy with him, he just gave the typical Gallic shrug and said the dress was nice, so he didn't see the problem?  Really?!?

Things got much better from there though.  I ended up talking with one of my female co-workers, SB, and we had a very nice conversation.  She also realized that my emergency contact people consisted of two men (PB and Alexis) and gave me a look of wide-eyed horror at the thought that I could have a medical issue as a woman that I would NOT want translated by them.  She told me that she would be happy to help me with anything like that, so I didn't have to take a man.  I pointed out that this could include a 2 AM hospital visit one day and she assured me that she understood and it was no problem.  I'm not sure if this is an indication that my coworkers like me more than I realized or French people are just MUCH more generous with their time than Americans.

I'm really not used to my food still looking like a living animal, let alone looking like they're cuddling!  I still ate them though.😋

The party had started with gifts for the kids, then service awards.  This was followed by orange juice cocktails and champagne, plus various "finger foods" circulating on trays.  I had the opportunity to try my first escargot - it was blended up with spices and was really good!  Then, one of the chefs came out and was cooking up fresh seafood and turkey skewers.  It was around this time that I noticed that I always seemed to have an English-speaking coworker (or partner) standing with me, but it wasn't until we were getting ready to sit for dinner that I heard a few of them discussing the seating to be sure that people who spoke English well were sitting near me - it appears that it was intentional that I always had somebody nearby speaking English or helping translate!  I really do have great coworkers! 😃

Normally the dinner starts around 9 PM, but it was after 10 PM this year before we sat down and had the first course (shown above), which was a salad with foie gras (which I don't like and sat aside).  After the first course, the lights were suddenly turned off, music started and people got up and started dancing.  "Wait, that's it for dinner?"  Nope - they just dance or sing between each course!  Next up was the dish including shrimp, then karaoke, then a small sorbet with alcohol (to cleanse the palate) and then more karaoke.  Finally, the main dish came out.

We all thought it was beef, but I was suspicious after the first bite.  Sure enough, it turned out to be chevreuil, which is a type of small deer.  It was good, but definitely didn't taste like beef!  The little mold to the right was a mushroom dish and cheesy potatoes to the left.  Even though each course was on a small salad-sized plate, it was still a lot of food!  After dinner, it was back to dancing.  By now, people had a few more glasses of wine in them, so it was a larger crowd that hit the dance floor and I decided to join them.

The French do not dance like Americans, at least not at a Christmas party.  People moved to the music, but nobody looked like they were overtly trying to be "sexy" and when a French guy asked me to dance, we were just standing in front of each other dancing and talking - I didn't see anyone dancing super close, even couples!  It was definitely more comfortable for me than the parties you attend in the US where you're certain some people are going to regret their behavior the next morning (for the record, the US portion of my company has a Christmas lunch only, so this would not be in reference to my company).

The French man that I danced with also offered to help me with translation issues or shopping or whatever I might need help with, which was very nice!  So, I ended the night with two new people who have offered to help me in France.

In the end, I left just after 2 AM, but before dessert had been served.  My appliances were showing up the next morning and I needed to get some sleep!  I was told that it is common the party goes until around 3 AM - wow.

Making a French Home Livable (starting with no appliances, cupboards or closets)!

Last week was a very busy week!  PB was off to the US for a meeting, so I was able to leave work a little earlier and start unpacking my house, but I was immediately aware of the remaining furniture that I needed to get (like an armoire)!  It's difficult to set your house up for comfortable living when you have nowhere to hang your clothing . . . or store anything . . . or put your dishes!  My primary goal for the week was to be able to live at the house by the time my appliances showed up on Saturday.

I have an old wood armoire that I plan to refinish for the guest room, but it arrived full of webs (and a couple of spiders), so I've left it closed up for now!  Since there is really NO storage in older French homes, outside of the dirt-floored cave, I knew I'd need an area to store things that I don't want in the cave, such as off-season clothing (since armoires are generally smaller than a normal US closet).  So, I bought a small, inexpensive cloth armoire for the office . . . which is now serving as my only armoire since my nice wood one isn't going to show up until I'm back from vacation.

The left is for hanging clothes and the right for folded - this is a common layout here

For things you feel comfortable buying online, I'd recommend CDiscount.  I've purchased many items from them already and they've all been of good quality (at least of the quality I expected given the site information) with quick shipping.  Larger furniture will have a scheduled delivery date also (like my table & chairs).

I also received a very good recommendation from PB to use Darty for appliances.  Of course, his recommendation was under duress because I threatened to make him install my appliances if I had to find a place myself and ended up with them just dumped on my porch!  Darty was great about scheduling a time for delivery and installation, plus the men who installed my appliances were very nice, careful about not damaging my house and explained in very slow French (and a little English) what I needed to do before using my appliances.  I had realized that I was getting a French-sized fridge (I searched for one sized for 2-3 people - why cool empty space!), but I had not realized that I was buying a tiny oven!  The metric system still doesn't quite make sense to me, so I sometimes think I've figured out what the measurements mean only to find out that I'm very, very wrong.  I'm not sure my US baking pans will even fit!

For my American friends who are still worried about where my "kitchen" is, I've realized that my sink has the pipes for a dishwasher, so I'm still debating if I want to buy one and put it between the fridge and sink.  I'm not sure a dishwasher really makes sense for just one person - I often ran mine in the US only partly full because I'd run out of something.  More importantly, my cabinets will arrive shortly after I return from Austria . . . although, one will clearly fit next to my oven now, which I hadn't been expecting.

This photo is from Alinéa, which is where I bought the same blue cabinets!  No upper ones, just a selection of the lower free-standing cabinets.

I think that having a whole house to design (almost) from scratch has me doing some serious nesting because I have themes going everywhere!  Blue in the kitchen, teal in the attached laundry area (entry carpet and curtains for the slider door) and a mix of those colors in the adjacent bathroom.  Living room in black, white and green.  Dining area with black, silver and gray.  I've even finished my guest room . . . well, not the spidery furniture, but this part!  My guests will soon have a dresser next to the bed and a spider-free armoire also!

Bottom line is that my last apartment never felt like "home" and neither did the house I was just living in, but this place does!  Even though it's exhausting to assemble furniture, move boxes around, unpack and try to figure out where I want everything to go (often involving rearranging the furniture), I'm loving it!  I've went from grudgingly entering an Ikea once (and buying nothing) to making TWO visits to Alinéa in one week, plus making a third order online.

My new house even greeted me with a winter rose bloom!

Hosting an Ex-Pat Meetup and Wine Tasting

France goes all out for Christmas, even my local grocery store has blue lights up to match the blue part of its logo!  Every little town seems to have lights and decorations as well!  Even though I never liked traveling at this time of year, I'm enjoying the experience of seeing how the holidays are done in a different part of the world.

Meeting Ex-Pats
Since it will take some time to be fluent in French, I've decided that having a good mix of French and ex-pat friends is ideal!  Plus, with Rita in La Rochelle most of the time, L’américaine moving back to the US next year and Alexis gone at least one week a month, it will be good to broaden my circle.  L’américaine was still in town last weekend (before leaving for the holidays), so we went to the Christmas market together to meet up with a British man, a Turkish woman and a Frenchman, who wanted to practice his English. 

The market that I'd found was back near Angoulême and, after being there twice, I can say with certainty that I would never live there.  Even if I get tired of small town life and find myself in a larger city someday, it is definitely off my list.  The design of the streets is chaos, there was an area with TWO roundabouts looped together and nobody seemed sure how to intersect the second roundabout and there was SO MUCH TRAFFIC.  I'm glad I'm taking the train to Paris this coming weekend - driving in big cities is just not for me!

One advantage of a larger city was the opportunity to eat some ethnic food.  We ended up at a highly-rated Indian food place, which was REALLY good.  It was a little funny though because the French guy who joined us was, of course, worried it would be too spicy.  "Spicy" is not something the French are accustomed to, so they don't care for it.  The food had a lot of flavor, but it wasn't spicy at all, so the restaurant may be catering to French preferences?

JL met up with us first.  He's the French guy who wanted to join us to keep up on his English, which he became very fluent in while working in England.  We were almost done with lunch when BB arrived.  She's originally from Turkey, but speaks English fluently also.  One thing that is a little culturally different here is that if you're married in the US, it doesn't seem that people often go out to meet new friends separately.  Here, it appears to be normal.  BB is married to a Frenchman and JL has a baby due soon with his girlfriend, but both of their partners are French and weren't really interested in a group outing for English-speakers, so they came alone.

They were also from the area and were surprised that I'd learned of this market because they'd never heard of it.  My trick is that I always review all of the events for ALL of the nearby regions in the English-language Living Magazine, which is free, and make note of ones that sound like they could be interesting.  I don't often post links, but I really believe this magazine is incredibly useful for people who live in the area.  I learned about the literary festival, Vendée Globe, Gastronomades and the Christmas market from the magazine - it's the answer to PB's question of "how do you find anything to do in the country on weekends?" (http://www.livingmagazine.fr/) 

My favorite thing about the market was that nearly everything was handmade.  I tried my first vin chaude, which is a spiced hot wine, basically mulled wine.  The ladies selling it were concerned that I might need sugar in my wine, but it was plenty sweet and had great flavor - the spices used were quite nice!  To the best of my knowledge, I've never tried mulled wine . . . or if I did, it was different and I didn't care for it.  This was really good and I'll certainly enjoy another glass or two for the season.  I also bought another winter hat - this one is a little more French!  It's hard to tell in the photo, but it puffs out in the back (see the second photo for the style).  I'm also wearing my new winter scarf-blanket.  In the winter, the French pull out these giant half-blanket sized scarfs, which you certainly need!  It was below freezing every night last week and barely into the teens (in Celsius) during the day.  Due to the cultural obsession with accessorizing, I own more accessories living in France than I've had in my life!

JL and BB were both really nice and I'm glad that we met them!  The British man never made it, but the four of us had fun looking through the market and choosing a few items.  L’américaine and I also convinced them that taking photos of everything is "American" and that a group selfie was necessary to commemorate the outing.

I think when it comes to making new friends in a foreign country, you have to just continue putting yourself out there - meet up with people, hang out and see what "sticks."  It's entirely possible that you'll meet people and never see them again or somebody will fail to show up (like the Brit); however, eventually you'll find your tribe!

Wine Open House
At the food festival, the winery that Alexis and I bought our pineau from had told us they were having an open house on December 3.  After we said our good-byes to BB and JL, L’américaine and I headed to the open house so we could sample some wine and stock up.

Since having friends over for a meal is a common occurrence in France, and alcohol is virtually always served, I decided to take advantage of the "buy 6, get 1 free" offer that they had going on.  I now have a good mix of a sweet white sparkling wine, a rosé sparkling wine and I picked up a bottle of the "very special" sparkling wine, which had fruit flavors that a normal person could taste!  The very special bottle is, of course, the lovely blue one below.  I'll be saving that one for a special occasion!

It was really interesting that most people were not spitting anything out or dumping their glasses (although I had to because I was the driver).  There were trays of cheese, bread and mini desserts that were well-eaten by the guests though!  The winery staff seemed perfectly willing to let each person try all 10 sparkling wines and the regular and the pineau . . . even when I asked for a small pour, it was ~1/3 full!

So, all-in-all, another enjoyable weekend in the French countryside.  Next weekend, I have decided to take a little break from country life, so I'm headed to Paris for the weekend!  I didn't spend any time in Paris earlier in the year nor since I've returned, so seeing the large Christmas market there felt like a perfect excuse to visit again.

Hosting My First French Dinner and Les Gastronomades (aka The Food Festival)

Hosting my First French Dinner
It's hard to believe that I've been in France for two months already!  It feels like the time has flown by, but in other ways, it feels like I've been gone a REALLY long time.  In part, that's because I've established more of a life here this time than I did before - last time, I lived like a long-term tourist!  Along those lines, last weekend I stayed in the local area again and had a lot of fun doing so!  The plans started with inviting L’Américaine to join me at a food festival in Angoulême on Saturday.  Of course, I also invited Alexis and he wanted to go as well.  For the Anglos out there, Alexis is not pronounced like in English (uh-lex-sus) but rather uh-lex-ee (hard e, "s" is silent).

Additionally, there was the issue of me reading my new French book, so Alexis suggested he would come over on Thursday to help.  I thought it was a good opportunity to return the favor and make him dinner, although I warned him that my work schedule was crazy enough that he might get an American classic - takeout pizza.  He actually said he thought pizza sounded good, so it became a hybrid meal of takeout pizza with a French appetizer and dessert!  Pizza here is not like at home though, as I've posted about in my early blogs.  More high-quality toppings and a LOT less cheese.

Not the same pizza that I ordered, but from the same place!  I was too busy trying to coordinate my first French-style dinner to take photos!

Alexis ended up needing to reschedule for Friday and a group of co-workers were going to the beer bar on Friday for an early birthday drink for L’Américaine, so I joined them and Alexis met up with us there.  It was fun to have a drink with everyone and see people outside of work a little.  A lot of the conversation was in French though, which is one of the things that makes it challenging for me to meet new friends here; however, it was still a fun way to spend an hour before Alexis and I headed out.

I've never been a super domestic person, so I was half convinced my appetizer would be a disaster, but Alexis thought it was good and I enjoyed it.  I'd stuck with simple tartines (baguette slices) with chèvre that I blended with fresh ground pepper and thyme.  Once they were toasted and the cheese melted a bit, I topped them with a mixed berry jam and a drizzle of honey.  The pineau that my French co-worker, CB (resident wine expert), suggested was a hit as well!  We'd tried to keep the pizza warm while we had the appetizer, but the temperature was a little too high, so it cooked the pizza a bit - not great, but we just laughed it off.  I had delicious little desserts from my favorite bakery to end the meal with.  It might not have been perfect, but overall, my first French dinner went pretty well.

Learning to Read in French
It was during my reading lesson that Alexis learned that I have a blog and that he's in it, which he found amusing, except he didn't like his fake name!  As it turns out, he's less concerned about his privacy than he is about being stuck with a name he doesn't like.  This is probably for the best because I found myself accidentally referring to him as Pierre in real life. 😂

My reading lesson was, well, less humiliating than it could have been.  I made it through a whole 14 pages before I couldn't take anymore.  It reminds me of being in first grade again, when you're still coming across a lot of new words to sound out or guess at.  To his credit, Alexis is a good teacher - he might have laughed a couple of times, but he's really patient and helpful with the pronunciation and ensuring that I understand what I've read.  The book is about a green 2CV, an old European car, and a father-son road trip . . . I'm not entirely sure if he picked this book because he thought I'd like it or because he thought HE would like it.😏  Here is a picture of a 2CV that I borrowed from the internet:

I have no idea how long it took me to read 14 pages, but it felt like two years!  Poor Alexis was yawning, even though he tried to tell me he wasn't tired - maybe just bored given I was reading at a pace of about one page per 10 minutes!  I'm not sure that he really understood what he was getting himself into when he volunteered to read the book with me - at this rate, he'll still be helping me read it when my residence card expires four years from now!

Les Gastronomades
The next day, one of our other French co-workers, YV, joined us on our trip to the food festival.  The festival was a lot bigger than I'd been expecting and had a really good attendance, meaning it was a bit crowded.  There was a good selection of foods and wines to sample though and I left with a really lovely pineau rosé, which I've never seen before - I'm all set for future French dinner parties now!  I'm not a fan of tomatoes, but I purchased a tomato tapenade that was delicious and perfect for using up my remaining chèvre and bread slices.  Everyone purchased a few food or drink items, but most of the day was spent wandering around sampling everything!  We did stop off for a small lunch in an area that smelled like barbecue.  It wasn't, of course, but it was still delicious and quite different from anything I've eaten so far in France.

One of the other highlights of the day was trying the "Beaujolais nouveau."  I had seen the signs for it, but had no idea what the big deal was.  L’Américaine said it's an acquired taste and she didn't like it, but I did.  I've since learned that it is a very young wine, bottled right after harvest.  This leads to more fruity flavor and less tannin, which could be why I like it since I've already noticed that red wines mentioning "tannin" as a dominate flavor are ones that I usually don't like.  The young man is laughing in the photo below because the crazy American ladies told him that we wanted to take his photo to document our first tasting of this wine and that I planned to include it in my blog.  I really do prefer candid photos of people over staged smiles!

Apparently, taking photos of random smiling strangers is not common here because Alexis was teasing me about having found myself a new boyfriend!  Of course, my new "boyfriend" also looks like he's in his early 20s, which is a little on the young side for me!  I am beginning to think that French men grow up a little more quickly than American men though because it's rare that Alexis does or says something that reminds me that he's in his early 20s.  In contrast, some of the American men I know in their late 20s still do and say many things that remind me that they are younger and not really my "peer" in terms of life experience.

Sadly, we did learn that Alexis is not willing to carry all of our purchases for us 😢, but he does still live up to the reputation of French men being thoughtful.  He pointed out that we should take a short walk around the market area so that we had a view of the city.  Since it was my first time in the city, I enjoyed getting to see it.  I was pretty tired by the end of the day, so he also offered to drive, but I'd quit sampling any wine or alcohol several hours before we were going to leave, so it was logical that I'd remain the driver (I thought so anyway).😊

Since it was L’Américaine's birthday this week, and Alexis and I spend the most time with her, we decided that we should have a dinner for her on her actual birthday.  Monday's blog will be all about co-hosting my first French birthday dinner!