Bonjour, faithful readers!
I just got back from another day with Michele, but first let's catch up.
On Sunday morning Carol knocked on my cottage door to ask if I wanted to visit the farm and have lunch with her and Bruno. Oui, but of course!
So about an hour later she drove me to la ferme which, as it turns out, is right down the road from La Forge. Since I have access to a bicycle and plenty of excess time on my hands, I'll probably make my own way over there to do some more exploring later this week. That's if I can pry myself away from my warm cottage and stack of books. Not to mention the puzzle I started.
Bruno prepared us a lovely lunch of lentil soup, salad, and eggplant stuffed with rice and sausage, followed by pear tartlets. Oh, let's not forget the obligatory cheese and bread. See, at least four courses. Always. Bruno is an excellent chef and Carol loves to tell stories about his experiences (he likes working as a private chef on his trips to the US); Bruno himself is quieter (much like me these days) except for the occasional "mm mm mm" of agreement he makes, which makes me smile every time. They're genuine, really wonderful people.
After lunch Carol showed me around a bit, while Bruno followed at ultra low speed on a loud, sputtering Japanese tractor. It was cloudy but an absolutely beautiful day and wonderful to be outside.
La maison
Les canards
Les moutons
There are multiple streams on the property; after California I still can't get used to all this water!
I'll admit that the French version of "the country" is a far cry from what I grew up with. It's not the boondocks if you can walk with little effort to the local village, am I right? And hiking for me is not "walk along the lovely path through some trees," but it certainly is pretty, I'll give them that.
Carol awaits Bruno's steady approach
Carol and I continued our walk down along the stream to the poplar grove, where I discovered stinging nettles but still enjoyed it nonetheless. Stinging nettles, by the way, are startlingly painful. I literally brushed ONE FINGER against one and it hurt like a bitch for hours.
Here are a few more photos from the walk.
Note how all the trees are spaced so evenly. That would be because they've all been replanted because the area has been inhabited so long that the natural forests no longer exist. Very, very different from our oak and redwood forests in California! It's beautiful, but I'll admit it seems rather unnatural and strange to me.
We made our way back to la ferme then, where I helped Carol pick some holly for Christmas decorations and I met her brother-in-law who lives next door. Bruno and his brother have always lived together and la ferme itself used to be a collective, before the separate parties split and divided it up into smaller sections.
Carol and I then headed to the neighbors where I became acquainted with two full size donkeys, three dogs, and a pony, and half-listened to the group rattle on in French about house repairs. They also had a couple geese and the male kept charging me, which would have been infinitely more effective had I not been several feet above him on a small bridge watching with a great deal of amusement. They're not the brightest creatures. It reminded me of being a kid when our goose Ping would charge me and I'd grab his neck before (very quickly) pushing him away and closing the aviary door between us. Ah, the good old days.
After a full afternoon I was happy to relax at home and eat some leftovers.
Yesterday morning Michele came over around 10 (I've discovered she's usually 10-15 minutes late, but from what I gather c'est normal to not be on time, at least around here). We drove into Bordeaux which takes about 30 minutes, then took the tram into the main part of the city to visit the French equivalent of a flea market near la basilique Saint-Michel. Walked around the church, the market, and had coffee and tea at Chat Noir Cha Verte right on the square. The church was absolutely beautiful and I was loving the modern-style stained glass windows everywhere, très différent!
La lumière
Fun fact, did you know that the symbol for Bordeaux is the crescent moon because the river bends where they established the city and, therefore, is crescent shaped? See the things you can pick up when someone is rattling at you in a language you only kind of understand?
Today I had to rush to get ready for Michele, and we drove to one of the nearby villages for, finally, market day! Be still my beating heart!
Look what you can get for just over 5 euros. I mean, just try and tell me these people don't know how to live.
I was going to make a potato gratin, but I might be amending that to sautéed shrimp, fried polenta cakes (using leftover polenta from last night), and roasted veggies. But it's a while until dinner so I have time to change my mind.
After shopping Michele and I went back to chez Michele et Veronique pour le déjeuner. They have a young man (Jordan?) working on a new building on their property so he and his father also joined us. I listened to the lively conversation and picked up quite a bit of it but generally kept quiet, I'm still self conscious about speaking in French even though I understand a lot. One thing I'd like to note is that young men in their late teens/early 20s are exactly the same everywhere. I was reminded of my younger brothers and the fallback "whatever Julia" they throw at me when I irritate them. It was pretty funny watching all the adults rag on him. I also find it totally unbelievable that someone won't eat vegetables but will eat Roquefort cheese. Really?
For lunch we had radishes, a salad with shredded cabbage and beets, puréed potatoes mixed with sweet potatoes (I normally hate sweet potatoes, but it was pretty good), boudin noir (which is a sort of blood sausage; a thoroughly strange texture but tasty), apple compote, bread, Roquefort cheese, local red wine, and coffee with chocolate to finish. Veronique insisted I go home with the leftover salad because I liked it so much so that will be part of my dinner this evening as well. I helped prepare lunch so, as I go, I'm learning how to make a bunch of new things which I'm really enjoying.
Well enough for now, I'm going to read for a bit before deciding what I want to do for dinner.
Au revoir!
WTF, this is too much! The little bicycle is a poem. Stained glass and those red doors.. Wow! I can't wait to show K & E!
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