Product Placement

I started my first real economics class today, all in French! And might I say that I understood more than half of it! But major accomplishments aside, I also have been forced to go to two regional product placements in the past two days. Yesterday was a talk with the Head (I think?) of Michelin. He explained what he does at Michelin, the history of the company, the innovation of it, and his career history. Then he was presented an honorary diploma (I think?) from ESC (my university here). After this climactic "ending", we had another 45 minute long presentation about jobs at Michelin, and how to get one. They were literally offering jobs saying we just had to go to this website, set up an interview, and we can intern at Michelin, then when we (French students only I presume) graduate, we're guaranteed jobs. Weird huh? Then today we had more product placement with a talk from the head of Auvergne Cola (it's pretty much like faygo pop) He was really personable, but I felt it was a way for him to get more consumers and stopped paying attention half way through.
Besides these talks, everything is going very well. Tomorrow I'm meeting with the pastry owner to see when I can work for him. Also tomorrow, the American's are starting their English conversation times with the French students. It will be nice to have the tables turned on them, even if it's only for an hour and a half a day.
Finally, this Thursday, I have the opportunity to go to a vineyard and help harvest grapes for wine! It will be an awesome experience and I'm really looking forward to being out in the French country side, especially farm land, some more.
Finally, I made dinner for my host sister the other night, and I have the suspicion she didn't care for it. I was just simple pasta with a tomato cream sauce and some spinach. Oh well! I enjoyed it at least! I really need to locate this family's spice cabinet if I want to do more cooking here. . .
Peace, Love and AuWWWergne!
(P.S. this is a reference to a web-reality-TV show http://auwwwergne.com/ )

"That's what you get when you come to France, Wine and Sex!"

So I had the most amazing tour guide I've ever had for a tour of this 11th century castle. He started out by taking us up to the castle like we were trying to attack it. Pointing out all the impossibilities of this castle. It was built on rocks, its extremely high up, there's many places for people to dump hot sand/boiling water/chalk that reacts with water to create an exothermic reaction (whoa got all science-y!). But apparently they do not pour boiling oil like many myths said. It's too expensive! So this guy also plays the king of the castle when they have their reenactment days, so he lead us into this throne room, and was talking all about daily life in the middle ages, bathing, teeth brushing, prostitutes, that people in the middle ages drank about 3-4 liters of wine per person per day. His delivery was amazing. Anyway, then we got to walk on top of the high walls around the castle, and it was beautiful scenery, but I've come to expect that from France. While waiting for the other people on the tour to come down I got a chance to talk to the guide. He was telling me how he also does maintenance on the castle, like cleaning it up and such. Apparently they have a problem with flying ants mating above their castle, then dying and creating a huge mess. That's when the most wonderful quote came "That's what you get when you come to France! Wine and Sex!" and with his accent it was amazing. He was also able to deliver a sketch about Monty Python and the Holy Grail (in English!) about the swallows that nest in the castle. Needless to say, this guy was so cool, and made the tour extremely fun.
Let me explain why I was on this tour. All the international students at my university were able to go on this tour of the region, the bus left at 9 am and we didn't get back until 6 pm that night. On the bus ride all day we were forced to play get to know you games! The first being we had to introduce our neighbor either in French or English, then once he got through a couple Americans and realized that's too easy for us, he made us do it in several different languages (Chinese, Spanish, etc). Fortunately I got to speak in both french and English, but I had to explain Thanksgiving. It was quite interesting. Later on, we each had to sing our country's national anthem, and I no longer feel bad for not knowing a couple of the words, because a few other countries didn't know theirs either, and their anthems are much shorter than ours! Then the torture ended with visits. Our first stop was a church in the middle of nowhere, it was pretty, but we only had 15 minutes before we had to get back on the bus and go to our next stop. Along the way I felt like the bus was going to tumble down the steep cliffs at any moment as we wound through the mountains. The scenery was beautiful, and the geological rock formations were fantastic due to the volcanic activity in the region. After our tour at the chateau, we then went to lunch in this tiny restaurant where the kids filled up the entire restaurant. Everything was served family style. We started with a salad with bacon, eggs, cheese (of course!) and a bunch of other things. Then the vegetarians were served an over easy egg, and everyone else got a slice of Prosciutto type meat. Then the main course was brought out. There were HUGE pans of this too. The waitress kept joking that we had to finish it all before we left too. The main course was made just for me: Potatoes and cheese. They were the most delicious scalloped potatoes I've ever eaten! After the 8 of us cold barely finish one pan of this, dessert was brought out. A blueberry and raspberry tart. Fairly good, but I'm not sure about the jell-o that was on top of it. After eating and drinking to our hearts content, we piled into the bus again for another adventure.
The next stop was a cheese farm! Unfortunately, it was not as cool as expected. First we were shuttled from room to room, shown multimedia projects about the farm, it's history, the volcanic area, and St. Nectaire (whom this region is named after). After the 3d presentation I started to zone out. We didn't even get to see the cheese making process! However we did get to see the fermentation area, and was taught the difference between farm cheese and factory cheese in France. Finally we got to go see the cows and pet them! It was rather funny, they were in the barn to be milked, and some of them were feistier than others. I got to have my picture taken with one of them!
Then on the bus ride back I fell asleep, it was an amazing nap! We got back to the school at 6 pm, and because my family is in the countryside this weekend I didn't need to rush back home. But on the square near my home I found a rock climbing event! It was a boulder-ing competition. While I was there I was just watching the female competitors, and wow they were buff! They were climbing upside down, and there were very few handholds. It was pretty amazing. Finally I went home and had a pizza for dinner. Then later that night I had a movie night with other Americans.
All in all, yesterday was an amazing day. And today is filled with doing homework and working on projects. But real classes start on Monday, and I'm super excited for them! Hope everyone's weekend is going well.
Peace, Love and Wine!

Auditorium, Baking and Creeper

TGIF everyone! I hope that everyone has had a fabulous week, and hope to have a wonderful weekend too. After having 3 full days of working in French groups with French kids (who talk very fast with a lot of slang) I am starting to understand what they're talking about! I still cannot jump into the conversation, but I'm not a lost puppy anymore. On Thursday, we had a full day of language courses. Going over grammar that I've studied before, understand and can use is rather frustrating. But alas, such is my life. Today we had the entire morning of AUDITORIUM! Which means all 300 kids are piled into an auditorium and talked "at" by the French professors, none of which I understand unless I pay super close attention, and even then it doesn't relate to me. So I usually do homework! But today the finalists were chosen for Project ESC and they had to give a presentation. The goal of this project is to create an event that the school can put on. We had to budget everything, plan days, call people, the works! I felt bad for my french group that I couldn't contribute, but c'est la vie! On the final day my group finally warmed up to me and we spent the entire day (instead of working, hence why we didn't win) talking about American TV shows, slang in English and in French, and a guy hitting on me!
Now, French guys are very different than American guys. There is no subtly in their ways. This guy literally said to me "you know, your french will improve so much if you have a French boyfriend!". As I'm sitting there stunned at what is going on. Actually, he's a really nice guy, just wears a lot of hair gel and was a little overly friendly. But after that outburst, a girl in the group stepped in and conversation continued.
So besides being bored to death in an auditorium, I got the O.K. to start my job at the bakery, I just need to go and talk to them about my hours. I'm very nervous to go talk to someone who owns a bakery and be like "hi, can I help out?". Although my french mother says he's very nice and very welcoming, it's still intimidating! I am thinking about taking the 3 am until 8 am on Sundays shift. That way I can actually bake! But that also means that I only have to get up that early 8 times! (I only need 40 hours to complete my project, and with me going away some weekends it should work out perfectly)
Speaking of being away for the weekend, I have planned my first vacation here. I get one week off at the end of October. I was really stressed over what to do, when someone in my group said that she wanted to go to Finland. From that point on I was sold! We booked out plane tickets from Paris to Helsinki the other day. My plan is to take a train to Paris, a plane to Helsinki, stay there for a couple days then take a plane to Germany to visit a cousin finally taking the train all the way home. It will be my first big adventure, and I'm really excited and nervous for it all at the same time.
Finally the last portion of this post mentioned in the title, creeper. Apparently Clermont Ferrand is the safest town in France, but walking to school this morning I did not feel that way. When me and a friend (walking together) we about to cross a busy street, there was a bus in front of us, we waited for the half a second for it to move, and in that half a second a man (a very tall man, and for me to say this, he was most likely a foot taller than I am) came in between us and put his arms around both of us as we were starting to cross the street. Once I realized I didn't recognize the person I quickly bent back his fingers to get him off of my and my friend got away as well. We crossed the street when I suggested we take a turn to keep on a more busy road. He continued to follow us, him jogging behind us, and us walking. My friend stopped, and I did to and watched him pass us. He then kept going, but turned back to give us a quizzical look. We quickly checked for our wallets and kept a brisk pace all the way to school. It was a mildly terrifying experience, but I am glad that nothing happened because of it.
On a lighter note, my French mother has been gone for the week in Paris to help with the new baby, so my French father has tried cooking the past few nights, with his expertise being the microwave. If i felt more comfortable in their kitchen I might have taken over, but he doesn't mind to "cook" and I don't want to have to give him a grocery list (since we're getting to very little food in the house). I think that he just went to the store now for the weekend because I will be fending for my self. But I can never be too sure about what they said!
My plans for the weekend are very exciting, with an early morning bus tour of the region until 6 at night. Then Sunday I am going to relax and maybe start reading this french book I have for homework. But maybe I will find something better to do!
Peace, Love and yay for still having my wallet!

Lunettes

I am dedicating this post to lunettes, which have to be the greatest invention that any baker has ever come up with. It is a layer of french pastry dough followed by raspberry jam, another lay of dough and topped off with powdered sugar. These are the most delicious things I have ever tasted (dare I say it, better than pain au chocolat?!) Anyway, besides having one of these for dessert the other day, I have taken to eating at a local sandwich shop. They offer many different types of sandwiches including panini's and other delicious things for such a cheap price. It is always the same woman or man (I believe husband and wife team) that serve us, and I think they're starting to know us! Oh I love being a regular somewhere in France. Speaking of being a regular somewhere, I also have taken to having a "cafe" before class at a bar across the street from the school. Now you silly Americans and your "strong" coffee have nothing on this. A cafe is basically a shot of espresso, with the wonderful crema on top. Served on the side is a cube of sugar and a cookie. These cookies are delicious when dipped into the cafe. I might have restarted my caffeine addiction again since being here! Anyway, in my host home, the family has returned the other night from Paris (where to mom promptly left again this morning). I believe I was jokingly told that it's up to me to make dinner now. But you know how I am about French humor. I have no idea if they were joking or not. I hope they were, because I have no idea what I could cook for them! Anyway, last night we had an omelet for dinner. I've always enjoyed breakfast for dinner! Even though the french don't consider omelets breakfast food. So strange.
Peace, Love and Lunettes!

I less than 3 (<3) crepes!

This weekend my new host niece arrived! Being their first grand child, my host parents and host sister left promptly for Paris. But before they left we had a celebration dinner. It started with champagne (2 bottles for the 4 of us!) with these small finger sandwiches which were just wonderful (small ham and cheese things that were put in the oven to melt the cheese). Then for dinner we had pasta with scallops and a white wine sauce. Finally ending the meal with these chocolate lava cakes and ice cream. It was chocolate lovers dream! and I'm still dreaming about it now. But then the next morning my family left in the car before I was even awake.
Leaving me in the house by myself. I fended for myself most days, eating frozen food (I know, how very un-foodie of me, but I don't feel comfortable cooking myself up a whole big thing out of their food). Anyway, Saturday night was special though. Another American was out of a family that night too, so we decided to have a special date night. We went first to this Tex-Mex restaurant and when we went in there was no one in there. We started making our way to a table when the guy behind the bar said with a smile on his face that they were all booked up for the night and we had to leave. In America, the smile on their face and the blatant lack of people in the restaurant would be taken as sarcasm, so we laughed and continued looking for a place to sit. He then asked do you speak english? which I replied IN FRENCH "le deux" or both french and english. He then said in english "where are you from?" we replied in french USA. He continued in english "I just told you, we were all booked up for tonight and we have no room for you tonight, you must leave". I was utterly shell shocked by this. First of all, this could have been explained in french, as we were insisting on speaking french to him for all his questions. Secondly, I understand people trying to be friendly, but when the restaurant is obviously not full, then obviously we can't tell when there are reservations or not. Utterly pissed off at this point and very confused, we left to go find another restaurant for dinner. We found this very small creperie near the cathedral and sat down outside. I had wonderful cider and a chorizo and cheese crepe. I was craving something spicy and that helped so much! Then I had a chocolate and banana crepe. It was heaven on earth. After 2 hours of dining, we then left the restaurant, totally forgetting the horrible man and his "Tex-Mex".
Sunday was uneventful food wise, but I did visit two chateaus in the area thanks to another American's host family that brought me along. It was a lot of fun, and I was able to take a lot of really cool photos! Finally I came home and was relaxing on the computer watching a movie and my host family returns. It was a joyful return followed by lots of talk about the baby, about their weekend, about my weekend. Finally though everyone retreated to their respective places, with my host sister doing her homework, my host mother unpacking and doing laundry, and my host dad watching the news. Everything is back to normal, until next weekend when it seems I will be home alone again!
Peace, Love, and Crepes for All!

Doing the Wash

I learned today, after being in France for almost 2 weeks, how to wash my clothes! The machine is very old (probably as old as I am) and it takes the machine 2 hours per load of laundry, of which you can't put very much in. Then the dryer can only dry 3 to 4 pieces of clothing at a time, thus making it easier to line dry clothes in the bathroom. I have done one of the 2 loads of laundry, once the first load is dry I will attempt the second, wish me luck!
Also today, we were let out of class early, at 10 am. I unfortunately had to wait on my french project group to get there acts together and come up with a project idea. Which became too grandiose for the scale that can be feasibly done in 2 days of working. But after voicing my concern, I was written off and their ideas were put onto the paper. Oh well! Ce n'est pas grave!
I came home and had the house to myself for a while, it was wonderful. Then my host mother came home, we talked for a bit then she started dinner. We had a cauliflower soup that had so much cream in it you could hardly taste the vegetable. Then we had crepes for dinner. The crepes were pre-made just put onto the skillet, warmed, then an egg was fried on top of the crepe. Cheese was added as well as ham. Unfortunately I like my eggs well cooked, and some were slightly gelatinous on my crepe, oh well! I ate it anyway and it was yummy. Then raspberry yogurt for dessert.
I should explain how dinners are eaten in my family. The table is set with cloth napkins, a dinner plate with either an appetizer plate or soup plate on top, there is a knife with the blade pointing towards the plate on the right hand side and a fork tines down on the left hand side. This is normal every day table setting. Everyone is called to dinner as the main course is finishing cooking, nothing is every sauteed, so nothing needs to be tended to until we are finished with the first course. The first course usually consists of a soup or a salad, sometimes we have a palate teaser before dinner if dinner is especially late that evening. After the first course, the top plate/bowl are cleared along with any dirty utensils, which are then replaced. The main course is placed on the table, in a serve as much as you want fashion. This is not however from the same vessel that it was cooked in, it is placed in a decorative bowl or on a decorative plate. I, being the guest/newest addition to the family, am always told to serve myself first in anything, water, bread, food etc. After me is my host dad, then host mom and finally my host sister. After the main course, plates and utensils are cleared again, and a prepared dessert is brought out which respective plates/forks/knives, or dessert is chosen from the fridge. Usually these choices are yogurt in both plain and flavored varieties, chocolate mousse, coffee mousse, and chocolate pudding. After dessert is eaten, fruit is put on the table and all other dishes are cleared to the kitchen counters. Talking proceeds for another 20 minutes, or until the news begins. Then my host dad retreats to the TV, my host mom begins to put away the dishes and my and my host sister clean off the plates before handing them to my host mom to be put in a dishwasher. Wine is hardly ever opened, maybe once a week, and my host sister (who is 15) does not drink any. Water, usually still, but some times sparking is served at every meal. This night was an exception with cider being served!
This may not be the norm of French eating habits, but it's what I've experienced for the past 2 weeks, and I'm starting to get use to it!
Peace, Love, and Habits

I found my 3 am dream job!

So the past couple days have gone by quickly. With being in school from 8:30 am until about 6:30 at night. Returning home, eating dinner and trying to get homework done in there, it is almost impossible to sit and reflect. Anyway, I have obtained a volunteer position at a patisserie/boulangerie (pastry/bread) down the street from my apartment. I will be working the 3 am shift on the weekends in order to help the person who makes the cakes and the beautiful things! But that doesn't start for a while. Anyway, my culinary adventures have highlighted seafood recently! A couple dinners ago, we had clams in a cream sauce mixed with tuna, capers, onions, carrots, and a couple other things, then put back into the clam shells, covered in cheese and butter and baked. It seems this is how my french mother cooks. Cover it with enough cheese and butter and it will be good! Anyway, then we've also been eating a lot of salad recently, I'm not sure if that's due to a fresh supply in the market or my french mother's whims. Anyway, then last night for dinner we had calamari (steamed) and put in a cold salad, served over rice. It was very interesting texture wise, and I think the calamari (although fresh) were slightly over cooked. I think my host family has also realized my obsession for unpasteurized cheese. Because I'm too scared to say I'm full in french (said the wrong way it means that one is pregnant) I often say that I am waiting for the cheese course to signal that I am done eating the main course, otherwise they will keep telling me to serve myself (even before I'm done with my first helping!) They are very generous with their food, almost too much though. But they now joke that the cheese is my favorite course because I'm always waiting for it! Oh well. Then tonight for dinner we had this tart, I am not sure what was all in the tart. I know there was salmon and goat cheese, but beyond that I am unsure. Then for dessert we had chocolate mousse. It was more like chocolate jello that my host mom made this afternoon and put in the fridge. It was still very good! I also have been having many culinary adventures during lunch time. Yesterday for lunch I went to "Good Food" which seemed like a less classy Leo's. I had a chicken gyro-type panini with fries. For 6 Euros, it was a good deal, and surprisingly good food. Then today for lunch, I went to Mille Pates. It's a mom and son run pasta joint. Everything is made fresh every morning. I had penne bologanese. It was delicious!
Non culinary news, my courses are dreadfully boring (having 6 hours a day of french grammar, is often too much). Then we also have European civilization, where as an American that went to an international high school, I hardly know any of the information they want us to regurgitate. Alas, also French students are very hard to get to know. They are often nice when taken into small groups out of their group of friends, but within their group of friends it is very difficult to break in and start small talk. I guess I need to become more of an extrovert, and maybe less of an accent will help too! But I cannot wait until the day that we form our groups with the English class. Then the French will have to speak English with us for an hour a week. The tables will turn! Finally, I am going to not one, but two flea markets this weekend, in hopes of finding antique cooking or bake-ware. I hope to find a very unique thing that I can only use to make one specific dessert that during the rest of it's life will be on display somewhere in my dream kitchen.
Ah to only dream, anyway I am off to do some homework before passing out and restarting a day of French grammar all over again.
Peace, Love, and baking at 3 am!

Frozen food is good? What?

So the reheat-able lasagna last night was actually good. There was real Ricotta in it too! I ate alone because I thought I was going out with friends that night. It just turned out I had a quiet night at home. But I have become addicted to these Coffee Pudding things. They are so delicious. Anyway, I made pancakes for breakfast today! They were maple and pecan flavored pancake from a mix. They were really good, but I'm not sure what my host sister thought. She said they were good, but I can't tell if she want just being polite. Anyway, this was also her first time having real maple syrup and couldn't get over how liquid it was. But she was eating spoonfuls of cherry jam that I made over the summer. So something was a success! Then I did my homework for the entire week this morning after breakfast. We get many assignments, but they each take about 10 minutes. So unlike Kzoo. Then around 1 p.m. we had lunch. My host sister hardly knows how to cook anything. So we reheated on the stove pre-made cordon bleu. Again, I am pleasantly surprised by the pre-made food! We also ate some couscous left over from the day before and some salad. We talked and had a good time, but I was telling her all the things that the Americans from last year warned us about (I.E. fork in left hand only when eating, wear slippers in the house etc) and she's like "they're all crazy and don't know what they're talking about!" So I found that comforting. This afternoon I am going on a tour of the two cities (Clermont and Montferrand) by tram, it will be my first time using the tram, so it will be fun. But my host mother and father return tonight from their respective places in the country side and we will eat dinner together! Not sure what though, there are so many leftovers in the fridge.
Anyway, I am off to the tour!
Peace, Love, and Food.

Introduction of Spices!

After the dinner last night, I went out with a bunch of Americans and one french person for a drink at a bar. After wandering around the city in a very large group (10 people) and talking very loudly (we are American) we finally settled on a place to sit and stay because they had enough chairs. I had a lovely glass of red wine, although it was much sweeter than I had expected it to be. None the less it was good, and cheap and from France!! Anyway so I made my first lunch for Raphaelle and a friend of hers. She was cooking, and looked a little lost. I asked if she needed help, and I started taking over the meal. We started with a tomato salad. Then we had couscous that had curry, lemon juice and a bit of red wine vinegar. Then chicken cut into pieces and cooked with some lemon juice. Then i made a wonderful curry sauce my first sauteing shallots and garlic in olive oil. added curry paste, milk and creme fraiche to thicken it. It was delicious, but I fear it might have been too spicy for my host sister. Then for dinner we're having premade lasagna - we'll see how it is. My host mom left it for us, and I feel it would be rude to not eat it.
Peace, Love and Spiceyness

My First Dissapointment with France

Tonight was my fist time not enjoying every morsel of the food that I was served. The night before we had a mushroom tart (and for anyone who knows me, this was pure heaven). But tonight for dinner we had this weird sausage type thing on top of lentils, tomato and cabbage. There were no spices at all. I had to choke down every bite of it. And after the wonderful Indian buffet that I had for lunch, I was spoiled on good ways to prepare lentils. But alas, I was another day. I am thinking that tomorrow I will cook breakfast for my host sister and myself (we are the only ones in the house tomorrow morning) and I will make pancakes.
Peace, love, and here's to more spices in the future!

What do you call a zucchini in french?

So lunch yesterday was with all of the people in my study abroad program and all the professors that are in charge of us. There is one prof for each student. So I got to sit next to my favorite professor, Dave. Sarcasm should be noted. The first part of lunch was conducted like a classroom of beginning french. "What is your name? What do you study?" One word answers, two maybe at most. So no conversation was happening at my end of the table, then we started being served lunch. We had some basic table wine, rice, chicken and a ratatouille. Which then we had to name all the vegetables that go into ratatouille. Lets just say not a relaxing lunch. Then chocolate mousse for dessert! After lunch we had a tour with French students of the city. Half way through I broke off with some others, eventually meeting all the other Americans in a park in the middle of the city. All the girls went to a cafe to talk and to have a beer or coke. I bought my first beer in France! Hyper Super! Then returning to my house in time for dinner. I should explain how my family eats dinner. We eat in the kitchen around the kitchen table, but we eat in courses, usually the main course is finishing cooking when we start dinner. We started last night with a squash puree soup, which I thought needed something else, just not sure what. Then main course was Pâte brisée, which is butter, butter and more butter cooked with flour over the stove top until it begins to coagulate. Then it is dolloped into a tart pan and topped with cheese. Cooked in the over until the outside is a crust and served with creme fraiche mixed with tomato paste. Wonderful thing that they can get creme fraiche in the grocery store! For dessert we had cheese and grapes. Lunch today was amazingly cheap too. A sandwich store near the university. It was prosciutto with cheese and sun dried tomatoes, yummy for 4 euros! Otherwise I've had a lot of free time to walk around the city with the other American students. And I have been trying to follow the French news, but one day I will understand what is going on in the world! Unfortunately I have some homework to attend to.
Peace, love, and here's to hoping for more croissants!

Le Pizza!

My first day of classes with all the other international students. They seem really nice, except they all know English (for the most part) so it is very easy to slip into English, when I should be studying French. Anyway, classes were fine, if not a little dull because it was just an orientation, I can't believe they are going to let this drag on for an entire week. For lunch they gathered a majority of the international students together and we got pizza for lunch in the cafeteria. It was probably the weirdest pizza I have ever seen. Salmon, potatoes and dill. I had to question the French on that choice. But I had pizza "plus American", with tomatoes, chicken and other veggies. I know I'm a wimp, but fish on a pizza? Anyway, my afternoon classes, the professor tried to assume stereotypes about Americans, which almost offended me. Contesting that American's all walk like John Wayne, or the accent was rather silly. The guy was an Ex-Pat, so he had nothing good to say about America. After listening to 3 hours of ramble, we were allowed to go, after receiving our stipend for lunch! Yay for not having to pay for awesome food. Dinner was a simple stuffed tomatoes and rice, but was very good. A rhubarb crisp to finish off the meal. It's very strange that rhubarb is is season now in France, but in season in the spring in America. The blackberries are later here too. I can go from gathering blackberries up-north straight to France. Yay more jam! Moving on, exciting news, my host mother offered to set me up with this woman who has french cooking classes for international students. I was worried at first that I would be out of place because I don't know the names for any type of food practically, but she assured me that no one else would either and that it would be a good experience to meet new people, besides at the school. I then asked here when and where? She laughed at my eagerness.
Until next time,
Peace, Love and "Pas de Pizza!" (no more pizza)

Le Petit Chalet

So I did not want to wake up this morning, but I figured if I didn't I wouldn't get use to the time change. So we had more sweet crepes this morning. They have this wonderful contraption, it's an electric griddle, but the tops are interchangeable, there's one that looks like a George Forman, one flat one and one with 6 cut outs in perfect circles, so that the crepes come out in perfect tiny circles. I want this contraption! Anyway, then we quickly packed up for a picnic in the countryside. After an hour of driving around mountains and through these windy back roads, we arrived in this small village, maybe population 20? maximum? Their country home is located there, it's a very small, 2 room home that my host father has built entirely himself. We had a Bar-Bee-Q there of pork spiced sausages, this odd looking thick bacon and some couscous salad. First we started of with melon, and I can say, the melon in Europe is so much better than in the United States. Even while I was in Italy a few summers ago, so much better! Anyway, the sausages were good, I don't think my family knows how to cook very well, because there were flair-ups all the time. Oh well, still yummy. I didn't try the bacon because I was quite full after the wonderful couscous and cucumber salad. Then for dessert, cheese, it was a soft cheese, but very tangy, I think goats milk, as well as grapes.
Then after relaxing and talking with the rest of my host family, my host mother and I took a long walk around this wooded area, she wanted to ogle this new (huge) home that was being built, I wanted to see the chain of volcanoes. It was beautiful, and you could see all these small villages that have probably been there for hundreds of years. So different than the US.
So we returned, and I was almost asleep in the car. And when we got home, my host sister asked to go play tennis with my host father, after I had gotten "le wifi"! So now I don't have to go to parks late at night and be bothered by french teenagers.
Peace, Love and Food.

The First Pain Au Chocolat

After wandering around for about 3.5 hours, I decided to get my first pain au chocolat of the trip. Unfortunately, the woman in the patisserie didn’t understand me when I asked for a croissant avec chocolat, and she gave me a croissant and a chocolate croissant. I’m not too disappointed; it was only 1.5 Euros for the two. So I ate my pain au chocolat in La Place de Jaude (a large concrete park in the middle of the shopping district) while the birds flocked because of the wonderful flakiness of the pastry. I am afraid that the proximity of the bakery to my house will cause me to go there, almost daily. But do not worry! I also walked to my school and it’s a good hike up and down hills, for about 20 minutes one way. On the way back home I found a yarn store, as well as a circus store! I asked the woman if I could take a picture of the store, and not only did she say yes, but she understood me! Ah this trip is just wonderful, now if I could only be able to get on-line to talk to my boyfriend! Zut! Maybe tonight I will be able to go on-line to talk to him.

And what you may ask has become of the croissant? It is safely hidden in my room for a midnight snack tonight after dinner! I can’t wait, we’re having crepes!

Peace, Love and Croissants!

No Longer in Fudge Land Now Cheese Land!!

September 3, 2009

While not technically in France, on my plane ride over I managed to talk my parents into picking up Thai food for me so that I wouldn’t be subjected to the goo they call food on the airlines. I had wonderful fried rice with tofu, and probably the spiciest thing I will be eating for a while. On the plane I sat next to a very talkative, but also very sleepy Nigerian born-U.K. raised-Chicago citizen on his way to the Ukraine for school. After he had fallen asleep, I amused myself with many videos before falling asleep myself. I was woken up to the cabin lights suddenly turning on, along with a loud announcement that breakfast would soon be served.

September 4, 2009

Breakfast was the worst looking breakfast sandwich I had ever seen, along with a semi frozen banana. After we got off the plane, everyone decided to get coffee and a real breakfast, mine consisted of sliced fruit. Then we found our gate for the connection to Clermont-Ferrand. Nervously talking amongst ourselves, I started to get the jitters about my host family. Up until this point I had heard nothing from them. The ride in was interesting to say the least. I fell asleep for the majority of the flight, but work up in time for landing over Clermont. The landing could have been smoother, but for a 30 passenger plane it wasn’t too bad. Everyone got their bags (nothing got lost!) and then we set off to find our host families, when in actuality they found us. It was organized chaos with everyone saying the American name, and butchering it. Again, no one in France can pronounce my name, but I will make do. Anyway, I had a lovely ride home with my host mother and I found out I am living basically in the center of the city! It’s so amazing, before dinner she took me around town to show me the highlights of the city. She is so nice, and loves to knit as well! Finally dinner tonight consisted of spaghetti with a tuna sauce, wonderful non-pasteurized blue cheese and cherries, and of course bread. I now know why I put myself through all the anxiety. The cheese was amazing, and I know where to get more! Before dinner was over, my French sister offered that I should cook American food for them some night if I liked to cook so much. To which I replied, there’s a McDonald’s down the street if she wants “American” food. We laughed, and I thought of my gift, and when to give it to this wonderful family, whom I still have more people to meet!

September 5, 2005
I have found internet! My host mother does not know the code for "le wifi" so, I am in a park in Clermont, soaking up the sun and on the internet, isn't life grand? I got complimented on my french today by my host mother and sister. I still have not met my host father, but if he is as nice as the other two, I feel this will be a good adventure that will go quickly. Breakfast was simple, toasted baguettes and butter, lunch was oddly american, and I'm not sure if they did it for my benifit or not. I live with a familiy that has a deep fryer, how very unfrench if i do say so myself. So we had french fries (frozen, not homemade) and a gourmet type burger, very strange. Anyway we all went shopping at this huge store, larger than any wal-mart or k-mart or target that I've ever seen. I was able to get my school supplies, eventhough I do not know what I will be needing. Anyway, classes start on Monday and I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. I'm sure my host mother has told me, but I've forgotten. Hopefully I will have time to be able to get out and explore the city, it's cool, and I live in the heart of the shopping district. Did I mention, my host mother likes to knit too!

Peace, Love and Good Good Good Food.

Who? What? Where? When? Why?

So, I am doing a blog about my time in Clermont-Ferrand, France, much like everyone else who is going on this adventure with me. I will be living with a host family, and hopefully will be working part time in a bakery while going to school.
I am a foodie. Good food, homemade food, anything but fast food is just wonderful to me. And through this blog I will be sharing my experiences with food, the food culture of France, and the other countries that I may visit on my travels.
I am really excited about this trip because it will be such a wonderful experience to learn about a culture through their food!
Over the summer I was working at a bakery in northern Michigan, it was a lot of fun to be able to practice all the recipes that I've been trying to perfect over the years, but now it's time for a change, and a trip across the ocean.
So I leave on Thursday, to arrive in France on Friday when I'll meet my host family. For there I will start to (cross my fingers) experience all the wonderful non-pasteurized cheese and traditional baguettes that I can get my hands on.
Pease, Love and Food!