Lou Ann's EuroBlog

"If you actually look like your passport photo, you aren't well enough to travel."
- Sir Vivian Fuchs
Okay ... back to the chronological order. I'm going to go back to describing for you the week at the gite in the Southwest of France. Quiet countryside (which is what I need to focus on after a day of walking around London...)....

I'll start by talking a bit more about the food/drink there. First of all, I must be ashamed to admit that I did NOT partake in many of the local specialties. The one thing that I wanted to try was a truffle. Now ... you probably knew this, but it was news to me that truffles are NOT chocolate-covered-yumminess. Nope. They are things that grow in the ground and taste like things that grow in the ground. Yet they're considered to be delicacies, and are supposedly VERY expensive, especially when you buy them somewhere other than the Southwest of France. Interesting. Doina and I were going to search out a truffle omlette ... but we didn't stumble upon anything and didn't do too much searching. Another local delicacy that I didn't try was the prunes. Nope ... I had no need to try prunes. Enough said.

There are a few things that I DID try, though. Let me tell you about them. First of all, as did Jenny and Alyssa, I became addicted to crepes. Now ... Jenny and Alyssa were usually "good", and got sugar or honey crepes or something not so waistline threatening as my CHOCOLATE crepes. Even though the chocolate ones were usually made with Nutella (chocolate yuck in a jar?), they were still addictive. We were at so many street markets and went by so many pastery shops that I often had two or more in one day. But ... the last day (this past Friday), we hadn't yet had crepes (we actually turned the word "crepe" into a verb, and you can only imagine where that led...), and since there was no market that day, and we had dinner at home, Alyssa and I looked at each other after dinner and said, "Oh my! Our last day here and we didn't have any crepes!" So, along with Danny, we sought out a creperie in town. It turned out to be a sit-down restaurant, and the crepes were about twice as expensive as the ones we had been getting at the market. BUT ....... I got a "crepe au chocolat chaud et chantilly", which apparantly means hot fudge INSIDE the crepe and little snowballs of whipped cream on top. They then sprinkled chocolate powdery something all over the entire dish, and it was TO DIE FOR!!!!! I should have skipped ALL of the earlier crepes during the week and just had that one. MMMMMmmmmmm...........

Some other things that I tasted were escargot (in spite of my love of shellfish, I have never had escargot, and the ones we got at the street market were wonderful!), local lamb (a favorite of mine), pate (which I have always enjoyed) and even some cheese (I'm not normally a cheese-eater, but the cheese was mild and delicious with the fabulous bread!!) Of course, I've already mentioned the WONDERFUL coffee-flavored ice cream!!! I discovered a French dessert called Liegeois. It's coffee-flavored ice cream with coffe and chocolate sauce and whipped cream and ........ YUM!!!!! :-) I need to learn how to make some of that liegois!!!!!

I also enjoyed quite a bit of the local Bergerac Rouge (their red wine), and even found a vinyard from whom I hope to order from in the future (if I can figure out the customs stuff on it). Also, Danny introduced me to a drink that is made of white wine and cassis (red currant liquor). They served it to us in champaign glasses, and it was quite a treat. :-)

Now ... on with not-so-culinary descriptions. :-D I have mentioned the markets. They're like nothing I've ever experienced before, really. The closest thing that I can think of is that they're like "A taste of DC/Buffalo/Chicago", etc., but with many, many more things to offer. Or like the farmer's market that they have in Old Town Alexandria on Saturday mornings (which I've only been to once ... maybe a habit that I need to start up, though!)

Picture this. All of these little villages and most of the major cities have "squares" ... in fact, in the smaller towns and villages, there is only one main square. (Like in Villareal.) Somewhere, Danny found a list of all of the surrounding towns and their market days. There is literally a market in some town somewhere nearby every single day of the week. The first one we went to was in a town called Issigeac, which everyone called "Issy" for short. Not only is the main square packed with vendors, but they spill into the side streets as well. There are food vendors (breads, spices, meats, crepes, fruit & vegetables ... you name it!) There are clothing vendors (some with specialties, like scarves or hats, etc.) There are lots of miscellaneous vendors ... some are ethnically focused, like a booth that was at most of the markets that sold aboriginal items, like didgeridoos (a long bamboo pipe that is played as a musical instrument) and boomerangs, etc. There were wine vendors and basket vendors and quilt vendors (!!) and pottery vendors and leather vendors and wood vendors and lots of other sorts of things that aren't even coming to mind right now. Now, if you know me, I'm not very fond of shopping. I don't spend much time at malls, and don't really shop unless there's something specific that I need to buy. Then it's in, and out ... done. But for these markets, I loved to watch the people. They were SO much fun ... so packed and full on interesting characters. I swear that some people do all of their grocery shopping at the markets. Well, we went to a market every single day except Friday. What a blast!!

There was another type of market that I need to mention. It is definitely more like the "Taste of..." markets that you may have been to. We found two ... one in a town called Salles on Wednesday evening and one in Issy on Thursday evening. They were like dinner markets. The vendors would surround the main square with all of their tables ... and then there would be long picnic-type tables set in the center of the square. You could buy manageable portions of all sorts of foods for reasonable prices, and sample enough stuff to make meals for yourself. One night I had raw oysters and then some duck (canard) sausage. The next night I had escargot and then some pork chops. (Of course, both nights I had Bergerac Rouge and chocolate crepes as well!) The first of the two dinner markets was the best ... we ended up sitting with a couple who didn't speak any English, but did their best to have a conversation with us. Danny and Doina speak French, so we were chatting and translating and laughing and pointing and gesturing ... it was loads of fun!!

I also want to mention some of the towns that we visited. We typically went to a market in the morning, and then visited a town or two or three in the afternoons/evenings. First of all, every single village, no matter how small, had at least one cathedral. And, typically, the cathedral was the tallest building in the town (except sometimes if there was a chateax). Also, there were several of the "Beax Villages" in the area. They really were pretty. There were also many villages that were "bastides" (including Villereal). A bastide is a town that, at one point, was fortified. The walls of the bastide were usually intact and easy to spot. The walled towns all looked different, and were fun to explore. And, there were several "chateax", which I came to learn means "castle". Often times a chateax was surrouded by a town, and sometimes also a bastide. Some of our favorite towns to visit were: Monflanquin (a beaux village and a bastide), Monpazier (ditto), Biron (with a gorgeous chateax and also a bastide ... on our tour of the chateax, we saw BATS in one of the rooms!!) and Rocamadour (which is built on the side of a cliff, has a chateaux, and you have to park at the bottom and climb these streets to get to a gorgeous cathedral... it was rather amazing!)

Now, some other miscellaneous descriptions of individual events that I thought might be noteworthy. You will be really reading some random thoughts here ... very stream of conscious.....

First of all ... I had the opportunity to do my laundry that week, twice. It was wonderful to have clean clothes, as I haven't packed many (and still feel like I brought too much every time I lift the suitcase!) The thing to point out is that there was a washing machine at the gite, but no dryer. I don't think that I've ever used a clothes line outside to dry clothes. It was cool. :-)

On the first day that I arrived, I asked for someone to show me the main points of the village (I drove the road that goes around the village to get to the gite). At first, Doina was going to ride in my car with me, and point out things like the grocery, the phone, the post office, the ATM, etc. ... but when Danny heard that I wanted to go to town, she decided that, since she was "restless", we ought to walk. Doina was going to have nothing to do with that. So, Danny and Andrea and I walked to town. Yes, town is only 2 km from the gite. Yes, 2 km is not too terrible a distance to walk ... it's like 1.2 miles. I often walk 5 miles or more for exercize. But that afternoon it was BLAZING hot, and most of the walking is in the middle of paved roads ... rural, yes (that is to say, empty of much traffic), but paved with BLACK pitch! HOT!! By the time we got to the town (which, by the way, is at the top of a hill), I was exhausted. And then there was the walk back. Whew!! I teased Danny about that silly idea (to walk instead of drive to town on the hottest afternoon!) all the rest of the week!

Here's another interesting note. Take a look at a map of the world, noting the latitude of France, England, etc. compared to the United States. In fact, when I came to Europe a little over two weeks ago, I honestly thought that France was in line with, say, South Carolina. I packed clothes for that idea (lots of sleeveless tops, etc.) and never thought twice about it. Now ... when I got to France, I was going to bed early because I try to do that when I'm doing a lot of driving. But I was finding it weird that it was still light rather late ... like 10:00. I kept thinking it was neon lights outside the hotels or something, and would shut my eyes and MAKE myself go to sleep. But Danny told me that France is approximately as far north as Maine, and that's why it was light so late. I actually argued with her, and told her that no way is that possible. Her answer was scientific (having to do with the continental plates and vegetation, etc. that are only found on the coasts of Maine and France, yadda yadda), and I just looked and sure enough ... France and Maine ... sister regions!! Thus, in England, where I am now, it's very light out ... even after 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening. Really, truly fascinating!! Can't wait to get to Denmark ... even farther north!!

In many of the rural areas of France, the flowers are amazing. Yes, there are wild flowers, but those aren't the ones I'm talking about. I'm talking about potted plants and window boxes. Everyone has them, they are ALWAYS elaborate and in huge quantities, and it's just wonderful to walk around looking at all of the gorgeous flowers!! I took LOTS of pictures of them!! :-) Also - there are MANY, MANY, MANY fields of sunflowers. The way they're always pointing at the sun is wonderful ... and they're just so beautiful to look at, especially when grown in large fields like that!

Another thing that occurred to me was that every morning I woke to a cacophony of bird calls. Not just roosters (although, they were cockadoodledoing at the first hint of early dawn every morning), but lots and lots and lots of birds. It was actually a bit too loud. Much better than waking to the sounds of I-95!! ;-)

There was a swimming pool at the gite. It was really pretty ... set away from the main buildings by a bit, and had lots of lounge chairs, an umbrella, and crystal clear water. Interestingly ... there are French laws governing swimming pools in yards. They have the normal fence law. They also have a law about a security system that works like this: there is a monitor on the side of the pool. It monitors the movement in the water. You have to disarm the monitor when you want to swim. If you get in and then out, and don't re-arm the monitor, it will do so by itself after a little while. If you disarm, get in, and then float for a while, not making any waves, it will re-arm itself, and then when you try to get out, and make waves, it will squawk like someone has fallen in or something. I think it's brilliant ... and hope it saves the lives of little kids that get out of their parents' watchful eyes here and there!

One day, we had a very interesting conversation with Marcus (the owner of the gite). Remember that he's British. When he and Danny were e-mailing several months ago, and working out a deal, she mentioned that her neice would be with us, and asked if we could have a cot for her. He said, "no problem", and that was that. No one thought of it again. When we got to the gite, there was a baby's crib in the upstairs hallway, but since we all weren't there at the same time, it was mostly not necessary for Andrea to need a separate bed. But there was one night when it was ... and Danny reminded Marcus that she didn't have a cot. He told her that it was in the upstairs hallway ... but that he thought maybe Andrea was too tall for a cot (she's 6 feet tall). We all laughed. Brits use the word "cot" for "crib", and "fold out bed" for what we would call a "cot". Hahaha!! He asked us to verify this in case another American asks for a "cot" in the future! :-)

We spent a little bit of time in Bergerac. It's a bigger city than any of the others we went to together. It was not, contrary to popular belief, the home of Cyrano, of the large nosed fame. But, since so many people associate Bergerac with Cyrano de Bergerac, they have several statues of him throughout the town. Quite amusing, I must say!! :-)

One of Danny's favorite things to point out was the pigeonaries (spelling??). They were these little buildings that you found occasionally throughout the countryside. I have trouble describing them to you, but found a picture here. They have a really funny premise. You build these buildings, and leave them empty. They are perfect for pigeons. Pigeons then come and live in them in great numbers. You then take all of the pigeons and use them for food. I kept thinking of the movie line, "If you build it, they will come..." ... but I added, "and then we will eat them." LOL!!

Another interesting cultural difference. Picture a construction zone on a local road where they have one lane shut down, and the two directions of traffic have to take turns going through the one available lane. In France, they don't have workers at either end with "slow/stop" signs to let you know when to go. They have little, portable traffic lights that show you red/green to know when it's your turn to go. Fewer man-hours to pay? Interesting......

The London bombings happened while we were in the Southwest of France, as you know. We were in a small town (Eymet) for the market and for lunch. After lunch, we were looking at the little local shops for postcards. The shopkeeper was talking about it (in French) with the couple in line in front of Danny and I, and she asked him about it, and then translated for me. We were all horrified. There happened to be a reporter wandering the square, looking for people to interview. When he found out that Danny speaks French, he interviewed her for the local television news ... asked her all sorts of things about the bombings and if she thought they might be related to the Olympics, etc., etc. It was interesting watching Danny be interviewed in French for French television! It was also interesting being in a foreign country when this happened, and being with this particular group of people for the inevitable after-discussions ... as well as depending on Danny and Doina for the translations of the news reports.

That same afternoon, I had a chance to go to the internet cafe in Villereal. Danny and Doina told me that they would meet me in town later, and that they'd come to get me when they were done with their errands. So ... I'm sitting in this 2nd floor room typing. There were a few other people there and the room was deadly quiet except for the keyboards. Then, all of a sudden, I hear (from the street below), "Lou Ann, are you still up there??!!" Sure enough, Danny and Doina are standing in the street bellowing at me (not wanting to come through the office and up the stairs). So there I was ... leaning out the window and calling back at them. We had an entire conversation, and when I came back in the room, everyone else was looking at me funny. I apologized (in English), and they all kind of looked away. Hmmm... did I disturb them? ;-)

Another little mental picture to paint for you. On our final afternoon (Friday), Alyssa had made a 4:00 pedicure appointment in town. She wanted to meet us at the local restaurant, where we were having Kir (the wine/cassis). Danny told me to go find Alyssa (who had given me directions to the little shop, on a road off of the main square). There was a little old man sitting on a bench a few store fronts before I got to the shop. He was waiting for his wife to come out of a different shop. He asked (in VERY broken English) what I was looking for, and I made a "manicure" sign with my fingers. He got all excited and told me that he would show me. He grabbed his wife, and started walking up and down other streets, pointing and gesturing. He took me several blocks away from where I knew I needed to be ... but he was SO excited to be able to help me that I couldn't feel right stopping him!! So, I bade him goodbye (there was no such shop (or any shop) near where he took me), waited until he was way out of sight, and then went back to where I knew that Alyssa was. She was quite perplexed as to what had taken me so long. LOL, again!! :-D

Well ... that's that! The best of the week at the gite. I know ... a long post ... but now I can get on with D-Day beaches and then on to London. I might even catch up with myself (wanna make a bet that I don't!?) Haha!!

Until next time ... cheerio!! :-D