Marianne goes to France

cheese (or, 450 reasons to love France)

2012-01-28T13:38:00.001+01:00

OK, so I've counted and we currently have nine sorts of cheese in the fridge, or ten, if you count cottage cheese as cheese. We've got our regular staples:
1. parmasan
2. feta
3. gouda - I am Dutch, after all!
4. camembert - impossible to live without, according to Jean-Marc

And then we have a selection that I picked up on the way home from our snowshoeing trip in the Jura mountains:

Clockwise from the top, we have:
5. aged bleu de Gex
6. tomme de Jura
7. aged morbier (with ash running down the middle)
8. chèvre with truffle oil
9. brebis (sheep milk) with piment d'espelette or espelette pepper, from the Basque region

Our boss had organized a cheese-tasting at a famous fromager's shop in Gex, a city at the base of the Jura mountains. A fromager is someone who not only sells cheese, but ages it himself - sometimes for years and years - before selling it in his shop. France has over 450 kinds of cheese, which means there is more than one for every day of the year! This particular store had over 300 varieties to choose from and I thought it quite impressive to find a shop with two-thirds of the country's cheese selection in stock.

We tasted a number of regional cheeses and in the end we all bought some to take home as a souvenir. When we got back in the car after stopping at a rest stop for a coffee on the way home, the smell was something else (!), but we soon got used to it. Sometimes you have to suffer in order to enjoy the finer things in life!

a surprise trip

2012-01-22T12:01:00.000+01:00

A week ago, everybody at work was asked to reserve the following Monday - Wednesday, nights included, without being told why. Then at the end of the week, we received an email asking us to be prepared with a packed lunch for Monday, three days' worth of clothing, a swimsuit and clothes suitable for snow. The plan was to leave Monday morning at around 10 or 11am and come back Wednesday night around 10pm.

So Monday came around and the six of us got into two cars and we started heading south. After eating our packed lunch at a rest stop, we started driving east towards Switzerland. We drove past Geneva (or at least 14 km away from Geneva) and started going up some mountains in the Jura region. We ended up checking into a hotel in the town of Lamoura, which is a small winter sport centre with access to downhill and cross country skiing, as well as snowshoeing, and discovered that we each had rooms overlooking the snowy countryside (and not the road out front!). After dropping our things off in our rooms, we set off to rent our snowshoes for our stay and we then took advantage of the remaining daylight hours to get a bit of snowshoeing in.

The hotel had a wooden chalet feel and it was demi-pension, so breakfast and supper were included. The first evening before supper, we gathered for aperitifs in one of the hotel rooms and enjoyed 2 bottles of champagne that my boss had brought along. The second evening we had 2 bottles of red wine and we played Time's Up in teams of two (it's a game where you have to try and get your partner to guess a word, either using long explanations, just one word or mimes).

During our stay, we had two full days of snowshoeing and we explored a lot of the trails that are scattered around the ski hills, snowshoeing about 10 - 12 km per day. From time to time we would come across chalets where it was possible to have a mulled wine or cup of cocoa, and on both days, we packed a picnic and enjoyed our lunch in the snow. We lucked out with the weather because it was nothing but blue sky and sunshine. Just have a look!

Did I mention that our office dog, Eclipse, came along too? She *loved* the snow and spent her time fetching snowballs, some of which were much larger than her head!

On the way home we stopped at another mountain peak and went to a restaurant for some tea. The sky was clear and there was a panoramic view of the Alps across the valley. We could even see Mont Blanc. It's the biggest one there in the middle.

Further down the hill we stopped at a fromagerie to buy some local cheese before going home (I'll write more about that in a future post).

We arrived home in one piece on Wednesday night. It was nice to have time to bond with my work mates and just have fun together without thinking about work. I think that was the point!

paperasse part two

2012-01-11T18:59:00.000+01:00

(another catchup session)

This is an ongoing theme here! Paperasse, or paperwork, is really stress-inducing in France and every time there is reason to change or update papers, just the thought is enough to create a knot in my stomach. SO! Second move in a year? No problem. I told myself I could do this.

carte grise

The carte grise is the car ownership paper that needs to be kept up-to-date in terms of current address. If you don’t do it after a month of moving and are caught, you can get fined and lose points off your licence (but for some reason, the licence doesn’t need to be updated!). Changing your address on your carte grise means a trip to the préfecture or sous-préfectures and proving your new address with a utility bill.

So we drove 15km into Avallon with our rental agreement in hand and went to the sous-préfecture to change our carte grise. Of course once we got there, we learned that a rental agreement is not proof enough of an address (ANYBODY could make up any old rental agreement) and since I had taken time off work to do this transaction, I drove back home to get the paperwork needed. They wanted an electricity bill (and those couldn’t be made up in photoshop?) but I was hesitant to use our electricity bill because we have three (yes, that’s 3) street names on our bill. Why? Good question! It has to do with the street changing names over the years and nobody being willing to accept the correct address. So I brought the bill, along with a stack of other papers showing the correct street name, back to the sous-préfecture and they were able to process the address change for both of us, although we did have to prove we were married – because the bill was in Jean-Marc’s name – and I needed to insist on keeping my own name for the new sticker. Sixty kilometres later, we were both done.

Back in Canada we don’t have anything like a carte grise, but it seems to me that when I moved I was able to change my driver’s licence online in a matter of minutes and that was that.

banks

Changing your address with a bank also requires sending by mail (not fax, not email) proof of address, along with an accompanying letter requesting the change. I sent off the request along with the rental agreement, but – you guessed it! – that was not the right thing to send off. The letter was returned and I was asked to send the valid proof and so I sent off the electricity bill with the three street names, explained the situation, and I threw in a few other bills, just for good measure.

The change was made, but just for one of the two accounts I had requested, so I had to call the bank and request the change for the second account. They gave me the song and dance about sending proof and I said that it had already been sent in. The decidedly unhelpful and unfriendly person at the other end of the line finally understood the situation and begrudgingly agreed to change the second account’s address. Just today I received the bank statement from this account through redirected mail, so the change didn’t actually get done. Somehow I'm not surprised. I’ve written yet another letter requesting the change again, and I’m sending it with a stack of justificatifs de domicile. Third time lucky?

I also needed to change my address with my Canadian banks. I called and spoke to cheery, helpful people who were willing to change my address and take my word for it (after I correctly answered the security questions, of course!). I did both Canadian banks in under 5 minutes.

carte de séjour

After being the proud owner of my carte de séjour for six months, it was time to put in a request for a new card. I went to the town hall and made my request and the secretary thought that the card should come sooner than last year’s, which took almost seven months to arrive. To my surprise, after only two months, I was summoned with Jean-Marc to the préfecture in the big city of Auxerre, which is 50 km away. I thought maybe we would have an interview to make sure that we are really married and together, but we just needed to sign a declaration together, stating that we are living together. We drove 100 km to do that? Couldn't we have done that in front of the mayor at the town hall? They said that the card should arrive in a month. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my card had arrived at the town hall just before Christmas! I was told to buy fiscal stamps to the tune of 104€ (their way of collecting the payment) in Avallon and present them at the mairie to get my card.

We went to the place where you buy fiscal stamps and when I told them the amounts (one for 85€ and one for 19€) they were confused. There are various sorts of stamps for various sorts of transactions (passport, citizenship cards, driving fines etc.) and they are all at specific prices. They didn’t want to sell me the wrong kind of stamps because getting a refund is a chore (oh really?) and the stamps were changing at the end of the year. I thought that it was a prudent suggestion and I decided to check in with the village secretary first thing Monday morning.

First thing Monday morning I called only to find that the town hall was closed between the 19^th and the 29^th! So this little new card had to wait until 2012 to be paid for and picked up. I went in yesterday with my stamps, but the person at the desk wasn't the regular secretary and she had no idea where my card might be. Call me crazy, but I think that a filing cabinet would be a handy thing to have in an office, as opposed to binders and files stacked in boxes! That way the cards could be found under 'C' for cartes. Filing cabinets are so not French.

Why do taxes, fees and fines need to be paid for with fiscal stamps in this day and age? Why couldn’t I just write a cheque, pay in cash or – and I know I’m going out on a limb here – pay by debit card?

Sometimes I really miss simplicity.

our house

2012-01-08T14:21:00.002+01:00

Ok, so after all this talk about the new house, I bet you would like to see and hear more about it! I was actually wanting to get the house in better shape (painted and more furnished) before taking photos, but that’s what I thought about the last place we lived and, well, that day never came. So here we go, here’s our house! I’ll take more photos when the weather is a bit better, so you can see it with the sun shining out front or in our courtyard.

This is our entrance. There are actually two front doors: a mostly glass one (that was perhaps a store-front door?) and a newly-installed wooden one that was a result of the village's architectural demands. In the summer, we keep the glass door open, so that the wooden one is visible to the public. The bonus of having two front doors is the sound and heat insulation that it provides. The things on the walls are various cards, photos and posters that we have displayed on fishing line that is tightly attached to two hooks.

Beside the entrance is our living room, whose windows look right on the sidewalk outside. The the floor on this level is cement tiling that was typical in the 50s in France. See those two chairs? 5€ at a charity shop!

This is a close up of our front window, which is not at all typically French and more like something you might find in Holland or England!

After the living room, you pass through a hallway that has stairs going up to the other floors as well as the first separate toilet. There is a French door (with glass panes) and then you are in the dining room.

The dining room has three windowed doors that open to outside and it also has a fireplace. The curtains belong to the landlord, just in case you were wondering what was going on there.

This room is actually big enough to be a sort of family room, with dining and living areas, but we don't have the furniture for that quite yet. So in the meantime it's just our little table in this big room, along with a bookshelf.

After the dining room, off to the right, there is a door that leads to the kitchen, which is divided into two parts: upper and lower.

This is the upper part (looking dark, but it's actually quite bright), with a sink and counter with cupboards on one side,

and a fridge and more cupboards and countertop on the other side. I should mention that this is virtually unheard of in France, especially in rentals. As I mentioned before, normally all you get in a kitchen is a sink and one cupboard underneath. The rest is up to you!

And then there is the lower bit with a second sink.

They left us the stove and everything!

I found this old mailbox at a charity shop and decided that it would be a good bread box. What's funny is that it has the number nine on it and I bought back when were were living in Savennières. Our current house number? Nine!

Going upstairs, there are two rooms: the office and our bedroom, with an adjoining bathroom. Oh, and a walk-in closet!

This is the office, which is a huge room with two windows and enough space to have another guest room. I'll post pictures once it's more put together.

This is our bedroom, with windows looking east, over our backyard. We even have a nice view of the countryside and a neighbouring hilltop village. The bathroom is accessible from the bedroom and the hallway.

Up one more flight of stairs and you have a furnished bedroom (no pictures for the moment, I'm afraid - it's been too dark) and a swank guest bathroom that has a skylight and a sitting tub with shower.

As I mentioned, once the weather is a bit brighter, I will take more photos of the inside and add some exterior photos, so you can see what it's like.

Christmas spirit

2012-01-06T19:23:00.001+01:00

Last year was a really crafty Christmas and this year was much less so, but we still got around to a few things. Jean-Marc had the idea of slicing a birch branch into little pucks and then painting them with various colours to make our tree decorations. My only contribution was putting fishing line through the little holes and hanging them in the tree.

While he was busy painting, I decided to take advantage of the paint on the table and paint some Christmas cards to send to friends and family. To be honest, I initially wasn’t very inspired but then what seemed like a disaster on the paper turned into inspiration and I ended up making a wee stack of cards to send off. No photos, though, but some of you will have received them in the mail!

village Christmas gathering

Jean-Marc has been calling up various people in an effort to find work, and one of his recent calls to a local landscaper resulted in an invitation to the village Christmas gathering. Not a job, but a good opportunity to meet more of the locals!

So on the 22^nd, we gathered at the bottom of the hill along with all the families and Père Noël, who was ringing his sheep bell. We climbed the hill up to the town hall’s party room, where there were treats for everyone and Père Noël gave out presents to all the village kids (apparently all bought by the village!). We talked to a few people and then I ended up chatting to the woman next to me. At first I heard her daughter singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with an excellent accent and I commented on how good her English was. The woman replied that they spoke English at home and then we discovered that we’re both from Vancouver and that she went to the high school that is just a few blocks from where I lived for 15 years! Not only that, but she is a classical music agent who is self-employed. The similarities were kind of astonishing, considering we are both living in a tiny village of 400 people, but it was a nice meeting and I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.

Christmas with the family

Officially, I don't have any paid holidays for the first year of work, after which time I get five weeks, but since we had been working long hours and we went away on tour for 10 days, I was able to take the week between Christmas and New Year's off. So we loaded up the car with Christmas presents and Domino the cat and headed off to the in-laws for the holidays. We ended up spending six nights there and had a nice time together with family and friends (the infamous 9-hour dinner friends). This was the first time since I took my job eight months ago that I had proper time off, so it was very welcome! The only bémol (downside or "flat") was that the family got the stomach flu one by one. We thought we had resisted it, but by the time we drove home, Jean-Marc wasn't feeling so great and the next day I was in the same boat. New Year's eve was a bit of a bust as a result - not that we had much planned - but it gave me a head start on my dietary resolutions!

the move

2012-01-03T08:30:00.001+01:00

(This is one of the catch-up installments of what's been going on for the last few months.)

Moving. We had just moved in October 2010 and so the idea of packing up and moving across the country in September 2011 was not something that we were particularly looking forward to. I had looked into hiring a professional moving company, but the cost was too prohibitive, so we decided to rent a 20 cubic metre truck and do it all ourselves.

Step 1: rent the truck

I knew this wouldn’t be straightforward. The plan was for me to rent the truck, drive it across the country, load up next day, drive back to Vézelay, unpack and then return the truck on the third day.

I showed up to rent the truck early in the morning. I had anticipated the problem with my driver’s licence; since my French licence was less than one year old, technically I wasn't allowed to rent or drive trucks, so I thought ahead and brought a statement showing the original date of my first licence in Canada. The woman at the counter accepted this and I thought it would be smooth sailing from there on. Then she asked me for a large deposit that she would take out on my debit card. It was more money than I had in my account and I knew that I couldn’t pay for it. After a phone call to my bank and a chat with the store manager we worked something out. Phew! I wasn’t sure what I was going to do otherwise. The good thing about France is that even when the answer is "no" you can usually find a solution and get to "yes" after a bit of negotiation.

Step 2: drive across the country (500ish km)

This part was relatively easy, but in a 20 cubic metre truck, there was a little more to have to pay attention to (the vacuum effect of bigger trucks, for example).

Step 3: start loading up

Jean-Marc had the unpleasant task of packing up the majority of our belongings in my absence and so when I arrived with the truck we were able to immediately start loading up after making a short trip to the charity store with the things we wanted to get rid of. A friend and neighbour came to help us for a bit, which was a pleasant surprise and a big help. We ended up saving the rest until the next morning.

Step 4: finish loading up, drive across country and fully unload

This was the toughest day! We got up early and kept on packing until about 1pm. Originally we wanted to also do a full cleaning before leaving, but we opted to leave that until our état des lieux (final inspection) which wasn’t for a few more weeks. We had lunch at the local café and then headed out on the road. I drove the truck and Jean-Marc drove his car with Domino at his side. We arrived around 8pm and ended up unloading until after midnight, with just a brief break for a slice of pizza. The truck was due the following morning at 8:30am, so we put our mattress on the floor (the box spring was too large to get up the stairs) and slept as much as we could.

Step 5: return truck and get settled in

We were able to return the truck on time AND with no damage, so it all turned out all right in the end!

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the move was that Pôle Emploi (unemployment agency) paid for all the moving expenses, including gas, toll highways, truck rental, phone and electricity set-up charges, the legal lease-signing fees, AND the return trip that Jean-Marc needed to do for the final clean-up and inspection a few weeks later. When I sent in the paperwork along with all the receipts, I was fully expecting a wait of at least a few months (I did wait seven months for my carte de séjour, remember) but I received the cheque within two weeks. What? Thank you, France!

hello there!

2011-12-30T16:35:00.001+01:00

Well, it’s been a long time! I’ve had friends and family writing me, thinking that there was something wrong with their computer or my blog because they couldn’t see anything new written after August. Ever since the whirlwind of the festival and the tour the followed immediately thereafter, it feels like we’ve been on a non-stop roller coaster ride. It’s not that I haven’t had things to share or write about, it’s more that there has been very little space for such activities. If it’s ok with you, I’d like to catch up on the last few months in a series of little installments and my apologies if it feels like a little much after so much time with so little news. Here’s a small story that happened before and after our move into our house.

the paint job

During the festival at the end of August, I was asked to leave my studio because it was needed for the artists’ dressing rooms. Luckily for me, my landlords were moving a few days before the end of the month and they were ok with me camping out in the house before our big move. Once they moved their things out and I moved my few belongings in, I realized that the walls needed painting; all the holes in the wall from their hanging paintings, plus the wear and tear of living in a house had made the walls somewhat scruffy-looking. Since the landlord left behind a big load of paint for the house, I thought I’d take advantage of the empty rooms and get painting.

Of course this ended up being not quite as easy as I had anticipated.

First off, the big buckets of paint were near empty and I discovered that the cans had gotten mixed up during their move and the landlords ended up taking the full cans home to England with them, leaving the empty ones behind. I wanted to try and match the paint that was on the walls (they had asked that I use their colours) and so I painted a sample on a piece of paper and drove to a hardware store to get a tin made to order. When I got the 12-litre tub home, I could see right away that the tone was MUCH darker than what was on the walls. I ended up mixing white into it to lighten the whole batch, but I never quite got it exactly to the original colour. I decided it was close enough and was eager to get painting so I prepared all the walls and moulding with masking tape and got rolling.

It was all looking really good until I got to the third wall, where I noticed that the paint seemed to be bubbling. I continued on, hoping it would dry with no problems, but then I saw that the bubbling paint was peeling, bringing up many layers of paint with it. Not only that, but the first two walls were starting to do the same. I had spent the better part of the day painting by myself and this was altogether disheartening, so I decided to stop and see what it looked like in the morning.

It was worse.

As much as I was bothered by this turn of events, I just had to live with it until after we moved in because there was no time to fix the problem before then. After our move (details to come in a future installment) we decided to paint right away before settling in. While I was away at work, Jean-Marc spent a week scraping as much of the old paint – along with many other layers – as he could. We sanded the edges of the paint that wouldn’t come off and then had to spackle all the edges and uneven surfaces.

After a week of preparation, we were ready to put on a primer after a good cleaning of the walls. The primer worked ok except on the ceiling, where parts of the plaster were chunking off as we painted. Gulp. We spackled, sanded and primed the ceiling as best we could. We then put the real paint on, and were both super relieved to find that it was sticking, not bubbling and not cracking.

Did I mention that this was in the dining room? The original intention was to do the whole main floor (dining, living and hallway) but after the first room we thought we’d wait until next spring to get to the rest. Something tells me that the other rooms will be just as delicate!

domino the dog-cat

2011-08-31T18:10:00.000+02:00

I think I introduced you to Domino our cat last year when he first arrived at our house. He's now 1.5 years old and has turned into a very adaptable kitty. He has been to Holland once, to the farmhouse in the Auvergne twice, and has travelled back and forth between Savennières and Vézelay three times. That's over 7000 km in the car!

At home in Savennières, he is quite independent and he likes to take off on his own for many hours at a time, just coming home for food and a little lap time, although he does come when he is called. In Vézelay, he stays much closer to us, spending a lot of time sleeping on the bed and exploring the vincinity around where I was staying.

When Jean-Marc was here for his holidays, we quite often went out in the evening for a little walk and we noticed that Domino was keen on following us. One time, we wandered up the winding paths to the basilica (about 200 metres away) and when we looked behind us, there was Domino trotting along. We continued further to the park behind the basilica, and he followed us along the stone wall that encloses the area. When it was time to go, he was right in step with us. I thought this was because he was a little afraid of going too far away on his own in Vézelay because of all the other cats and their territories, but what do I know?

A couple of weekends ago, back in Savennières, we were invited over to a friend's house in our village for a glass of wine. This friend lives in an out-building of a winery château that is situated in a large park, about half a km from our place. We went on foot, and when we arrived, we saw that Domino had followed us the whole way. We entered the grounds of the château, leaving Domino on the other side of the gate (due to the other cats) and visited with our friend. Since it was nice weather, we decided to wander into the park and have a glass of wine next to the pond. When we got outside, there was Domino ( he must have climbed the 3 metre stone wall) and he came with us down to the pond. We sat there for maybe an hour and he stayed close to us, either exploring around the pond or lounging at our feet. Our friend proposed a second excursion into the vineyards of the Domaine, so we crossed a field, climbed some steps and crossed a bridge, which led us into the hillside vineyard. Domino never missed a beat, following us the whole way. Once in the vineyard, we sat on the ground and drank a little more wine, admiring the stars of an incredibly clear night. Domino relaxed in his kitty sphinx pose a couple of metres away and hung out with us for another hour, until we decided to leave. By this point we were probably more than a kilometre from our place and I had never seen our cat wander so far from home before!

We walked all the way home, with our little dog-cat right behind us.

When he's out and about, I imagine Domino to be a bit scrappy because he comes homes with scratches and nicks, but when he's at home he's a total snuggle bear who is very gentle and affectionate. I have a friend who might say that our cat is our "fur kid" - which is kind of true - but as a cat person, I have never met any cat as responsive and faithful as Domino. More like a dog than a cat, really.

I think it's fair to say that Jean-Marc and I are both smitten. We're hoping that the move and the new house, which is dangerously close to some busy roads, don't cause a problem for our little choupie*.

* a word I have invented, pronounced SHOO-pee, which can be used for any animal (un choupie), but in Domino's case, he is Le Choupie. Wouldn't you agree?

going on tour

2011-08-26T11:57:00.000+02:00

When I was singing in Vancouver, we went on tour a couple of times per year for up to three weeks at a time, and it was always a lot of fun to be able to see different parts of the country while working. Luckily for me, the fun can continue for me here! When the choir performs in one of my regions, or if I have some presenters who will be attending a concert in one of my colleague's regions, I get to go on tour. In July we went to Normandy and Brittany and here are a few photos from that trip.

The first concert was at the Abbey of Lessay. While the choir rehearsed, I went for a walk around the grounds and came upon this covered area full of bits of sculpture. I found the area to be quite poetic and I took a few photos.

Around the corner, there was a random pile of slate roof tiles stacked under a window.

And out in the garden, there were some gigantic figs. We tried one but it wasn't quite ripe.

Yes, we went to the seaside, but I only took one photo and it didn't turn out very well. St Malo is a quaint harbour town where the fortified walls separate the village from the beach. I'd like to go back in winter and watch the storms whilst eating some excellent seafood or crêpes (it is Brittany, after all!).

raw milk machine

2011-08-25T12:54:00.002+02:00

Last year, when I went to the farmhouse for a visit, I noticed something different outside the supermarket: a raw milk dispensing machine.

There aren't many around, but in milk-producing regions they're starting to pop up more and more. You buy the bottle on the left and then fill it up on the right. The bottles can be sterilized and reused the next time you want more milk. It's strange when I think of how raw milk and its products are essentially illegal in Canada and here you can get it out of a machine 24 hours/day. Since stores have very limited opening hours here in France, it makes the running-out-of-milk scenario a snap to remediate!

the festival

2011-08-21T16:34:00.000+02:00

Most of my job revolves around selling the concerts of a professional chamber choir, but there is a choral music festival that we host for four days at the end of August for which we have been recently gearing up. Vézelay plays host to three big concerts in the basilica and creates the Places des Rencontres - a square that turns into a terrace with drinks and free concerts - and then there are three other villages that host afternoon concerts and various activities, such as musical walking tours.

It's a small festival, compared with most, but we bring in some big names. This year, Helmuth Rilling is coming to conduct Mendelssohn's Elijah, with the Gächinger Kantorei and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart on the opening night. To close down the festival, Pierre Cao will conduct Arsys Bourgogne and the Camerata Salzburg for Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C minor. In the middle, the Flemish Radio Choir will sing modern sacred music by Sisask, Ligeti, Penderecki and Sandström under the baton of Catherine Simonpietri (it's the concert I'm most looking forward to!).

The smaller concerts include all kinds of music, from Renaissance and Baroque to vocal jazz and beat boxing. Tomorrow we have 30 volunteers coming to get things set up and, starting tomorrow, we we have catering for all our meals until next Sunday's lunch. Yay, no groceries to buy!

To make things somewhat complicated, I was told that I would need to leave my apartment before the festival started because it was needed as a dressing room for visiting artists. I asked my new landlord if I could sleep at the new house for a few nights before the beginning of our rental, and she agreed to let me stay. As it turns out, they were planning on moving the first day of the festival, so I will have the house to myself on August 25th, even though our rental officially starts on September 1st. Of course, this means moving my stuff on the first day of the festival, and I'm guessing it will probably be done at some time after midnight!

The last day of the festival, next Sunday, we will take off straight away to perform the Mozart two times at one of France's biggest music festivals: La Chaise Dieu. We're likely going to be incredibly tired, but I'm sure it will be exhilarating at the same time. La Chaise Dieu is only 25km from the farmhouse, but I'm not sure that I'll get a chance to visit, since I won't have my car with me.

We ended up working yesterday (Saturday), so today is our only day to rest up for the big week ahead!

a new house

2011-07-14T18:24:00.001+02:00

Ever since I passed my trial period here at work, Jean-Marc and I have been looking for places to live. The thing is, in this region it's more about word of mouth than about checking online ads. It was suggested that I visit all the Mairies individually to see if they knew of any houses for rent in their village/city. I made a point of doing this, putting up notices on bulletin boards. We did get a few leads, but it never went further than that. There were a few places advertised online that we checked out, and after looking at some places that were UNINHABITABLE (we're talking mould, leaks, half-torn wallpaper etc. all for the low, low price of 420€/month!) I googled houses for rent in this region in English. Lo and behold, I found something in Vézelay!

It was a conversation on AngloInfo - an expat website with loads of good information - and somebody was looking for a long-term tenant. As I followed the conversation, I saw that the owner had actually decided to sell the house instead of rent it out. I decided that I had nothing to lose, so I emailed her and said that we were looking for a house to rent and that, if her house didn't sell, we would be interested. Luckily for us, this person was still open to the idea of renting the house and when she found out more about us, she seemed convinced that it was what she wanted to do. In her heart, she didn't want to get rid of the house, but she really wanted to find good tenants who would take good care of the property.

There were a number of things to iron out - she's moving back to England and is buying a house there - but we will be signing our rental agreement in the coming week and moving in at the beginning of September.

The best part is that the house is lovely! It's been renovated, has hardwood floors, lots of windows and light, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and an outdoor area with a small garden and terrace. She is leaving behind some extra beds, so our guest rooms will be ready to welcome visitors. Jean-Marc is excited that we also get access to an orchard thrown into the deal. It's a few kilometres away and there are apple, plum and pear trees with loads of fruit. In exchange for caring for the trees and the land, we will get lots of delicious fruit with which to make jams, sauces and chutneys. Can't wait!

Of course, being able to walk to work will be a super bonus for me (especially with the current gas prices!) and it's nice to be in a village that has all the necessities within walking distance: pharmacy, doctor, bakery, bank machines, post office, cafés, wine shops etc. We need to drive to the supermarket (at 15 km) but there is a little outdoor market in the village once a week as well as a little corner shop that is handy for emergencies.

I realize that I never posted pictures of our place in Savennières here due to the lack of camera. Perhaps I'll be able to do that on one of my weekend visits. I'll be sure to take pictures of the new place once we're there!

videos!

2011-06-26T14:58:00.000+02:00

It's been a month since I last wrote something here and much has happened in that month! First off, I have passed my trial period at work, so we have the green light to look for a place to live and I think I may have found the perfect house. More on that as it develops.

As I think I mentioned to you before, one of the conditions of taking this job was agreeing to purchase a mobile phone. I've never been a big cell phone person; I had one in Canada but didn't use it very often and when I arrived in France I didn't feel I needed one. I came to appreciate not having a cell phone: not being available to everyone all the time, having to make firm commitments with people rather than using the phone as excuse to be late and no extra communication expenses!

A couple of weeks ago, all that came to an end. I gave in. I was forced to give in. Of course, since I also didn't have a digital camera or mp3 player, I opted for one that had all that and when I got it home, instead of feeling excited about my new toy, I just felt a black pit of dread in my tummy. I had entered the consumer world of mobile phones, the world of things becoming obsolete thus necessitating upgrades. In fact, I discovered that my phone cannot connect with my computer's current operating system, meaning that I have to upgrade that in order to get my music onto my phone. That's just the start, I'm sure!

On the positive side, I have a video camera and I can share more of my life and surroundings with you. Here's a typical morning scene from my office window:

And here's a typical afternoon scene from my office window (notice the difference!):

weekend hike

2011-05-29T18:57:00.000+02:00

This past week has been lovely; not only has the weather been nice, but Jean-Marc was able to spend the entire week with me in Vézelay (along with Domino our cat!). Of course I had to work, but at lunchtime it was nice to head downstairs to have lunch together. In the evenings we took advantage of the light and nice weather and headed out for walks around the village.

Yesterday was Saturday and we went to the local big outdoor market in Avallon, which is about 15 km away, and stocked up on fruit, veggies, cheese, and bread. After lunch, we went on a 12 km hike through the locals paths, various villages and vineyards. It was really too bad that we didn't have a camera with us because we saw loads of lovely things! (We're working on the camera thing, by the way.) When we got back, we made supper and drank some chilled Chablis that Bertrand, the maintenance worker here, had given to us as a welcome present. We still had some chèvre that Jean-Marc had picked up from a local producer and I have to say that it was an amazing combination with the Chablis (try it!).

We had some fraises des bois that we picked along the paths in Vézelay and this, mixed in with some yogurt, was our dessert. Delish. We even had enough left over for this morning's breakfast! Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

my little apartment

2011-05-15T14:53:00.001+02:00

I have a temporary new home, as I already explained to you. To reach it from my office, I go up two steps, down two steps, down 50 steps, go outside, down a path, up 4 steps, and I'm there. There is a sort of pathway between the main building and the grange, which is a performance space that can hold up to 100 people. I take this pathway to my front door and it looks something like this (no, not the cave below!).

This is my front door from the other angle: (apologies for the MacBook photos)

The outside looks all old and worn, but the inside apartment is brand-spankin' new. The interior design is fairly neutral with a slight modern institutional feel, but it's comfortable. If you continue down this path a few metres, a huge panoramic view of the valleys and hills below opens up. There is a bench there from which to admire the view. Nice!

This week we are changing gears at work as we welcome the singers for a rehearsal period before two concerts later this week. Julian, my co-worker, and I are expected to attend every rehearsal so that we can really familiarize ourselves with the choir, the conductor's work and the sound. The meals during the rehearsal period are provided by a local caterer, so there will be time to get to know the singers on a one-to-one basis as well.

On Wednesday night we will all head up to Paris by train and on Thursday the choir will perform at the Oratoire du Louvre (I don't think it's IN the Louvre, just close by) and the following day we will head to Le Mans by train for another concert in a close-by Abbey. Since Le Mans is only about a 1.25 hour drive from Angers, I will get to spend the weekend at home with Jean-Marc before we head back to Vézelay for a whole week together.

Is this really my new job? Somebody pinch me!

new digs

2011-05-08T16:33:00.000+02:00

Here I am, one week into my new adventure. One thing is for sure: it's beautiful here. Just take a look out my office window. This is what I see when I turn my head to the left.

My MacBook camera really doesn't do the countryside beauty much justice, so you'll just have to wait for me to get a camera in order to see its splendor. There are lots of rolling hills with little villages and mini forests nestled into the valleys and hillsides. This is the France of my dreams and comes pretty close to the France I love near our farmhouse.

So, the job! There were two of us who were hired at the same time and we both started last Monday. Julian is my new coworker and he's a documentary maker and producer, so he's an interesting person to have around. We have both been getting caught up on the history and recordings of the ensemble, the names of all the festivals and theatres where the group has sung (or would like to sing), and we've also been doing some writing assignments and working on the database. The first week flew by and we worked some long days.

I think I mentioned that they are offering me free housing during the first two months. My apartment is in the same building as the offices, but I have a separate entrance from outside. I don't have my own kitchen - just a kitchen sink, microwave, kettle and coffee maker - and so I have to use the office kitchen to store and cook my food. The only problem is that since everything is so new, it's not fully equipped. For example, they have one of those heat induction cooktops, but you need specific pots and pans to cook on them otherwise it doesn't work. They hadn't bought any pots and pans yet, so I bought a couple of cheap pots only to find they weren't the right kind (I didn't know about the special kind at the time!). This means that I've been eating a lot of salads, fruit and cheese & crackers. I've never really used a microwave in my cooking and I know there are possibilities there, but it doesn't seem like real cooking (to me!).

I like to have breakfast in my apartment before heading up to the office, so I pack a cooler with my milk, yogurt and anything else I might want before heading down at night. That way it's waiting and relatively cool for me in the morning. So far it seems to be working out ok.

I haven't had much time to explore, but yesterday I headed into Avallon, the nearest town with supermarkets. I stocked up and also found the nearest laundromat to do a load of laundry. I saw that there is a cinema as well as a number of shops, banks etc. There is a Saturday morning market but I missed it because I slept in a bit. I'll have to check it out next week.

Today I went out for an exploratory walk down and around the many winding trails of Vézelay. The village is on a hill, with the Basilique at the crest. Most tourists just walk up the long hill straight up to the church, but if you go off the beaten path, there is not a tourist in sight and you can walk in silence, with the just the birds and crickets providing the natural soundtrack. I happened upon a 12th century chapel and a sort of monastery today, and I'm looking forward to discovering more!

kinda big news

2011-04-19T19:27:00.002+02:00

Remember a few months ago when I was experiencing the blues about not really feeling further ahead than I was when I first arrived? The lack of work was really starting to get to me and I was having a hard time seeing a way out. Well, I used that situation (and the free time) to start looking for work. And, guess what? I found a full-time job!

I regularly scanned the cultural jobs websites, in addition to others, and started applying for anything/everything that was remotely related to my experience. I also took the initiative to sign up for Pôle Emploi, the national unemployment centre, which I found out I could do even if I had part-time work. I didn't qualify for any benefits, but they enrolled me in a skills evaluation course (which I will no longer be able to do).

With a few applications scattered out there, I was receiving some rejection letters, as one would expect, and then there was a phone message. A professional choir in Burgundy was looking for a chargé de diffusion, or a concert-seller, and they were interested in my profile. In all honesty, I had seen their ad back in February and had disregarded it because of the "sales" part of the job (they usually want someone who already has established connections) but when I saw the job posted again a month later, I thought maybe it would be worth checking out more closely. When I read the job description in detail, I thought I actually might be a good fit.

So, the phone message led to a phone call and then an invitation to an interview in person. It was quite a long distance (almost 500 km each way), but I had heard something about Pôle Emploi helping out with the costs of getting to interviews, so I did a little research and found out that they would cover my gas and tolls for the trip! The first interview went quite well and I had a good feeling about getting a second interview. The invitation to come back a second time arrived and then I was seriously scared; the possibility of getting this job meant a whole lot of change, including Jean-Marc having to give up his job and changing regions, moving etc. After many phone calls with friends and conversations with Jean-Marc (and a little pole on facebook!), I decided to give it a shot, although I would have to pay for the trip myself (I maximized my Pôle Emploi help with the first interview).

To be honest, the second interview went well until the end. I left feeling let down and upset (for reasons I won't get into here) and I drove home thinking that I didn't want the job. When I arrived home, Jean-Marc said that they had called to offer me the job that evening. Mixed feelings about the whole thing, the implied changes, the negative feelings at the end of the interview, and a whole lot of issues were spinning around in my head and I needed to talk it out and weigh everything carefully, knowing that saying "yes" would mean opening up the dam to a whole lot of life changes.

And then, I accepted. A full-time job in France for a foreigner does not come easily - and especially one related to choral music - so it felt like something I couldn't turn down.

So I'm going to be the concert booker, calling up presenters, directors of festivals and theatres, and building and maintaining relationships with them in order sell them concerts for their seasons. I will travel throughout France, and eventually abroad, around one week per month, and I will also attend all of the choir's concerts in order to meet and greet the presenters and VIPs. I've never had this direct of a sales job before, but I have friends who do this work so I know what it's about. I think it's a bit of a role-play and I just need to figure out what the parameters are. Of course I also hope to do it in a way that is true to me!

In addition to the selling, I will also help to produce a festival that they host every summer in August and help the group with its regional activities and presence.

It's all very exciting and scary.

The first two months are the trial period, during which they will give me free housing and Jean-Marc will stay in our apartment and keep his job (just in case...). If we do make the move, Pôle Emploi will help pay for our moving costs and Jean-Marc will qualify for benefits because he'd be quitting his job to follow me for my work. The president of the choir said that he had some connections for Jean-Marc to help him get work.

The choir is based in Burgundy, in the medieval village of Vézelay, which also happens to be a pilgrimage stop and a UNESCO world heritage site. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but the countryside is very beautiful. At the very least it will be an inspiring place to work!

So, in two weeks I will head out and jump into the deep end of a job which has been vacant for a few months. It's sure to be a steep learning curve! Before I go I have to wrap up all the bits and pieces of my teaching (I have to leave mid-contract, which is not the best position to be in), and get to the farmhouse to give it the once-over before the rental season starts.

After 3.5 months of relative inactivity (although somehow I felt very busy), life is about to pick up the pace just a little. Or maybe a lot.

buying local products

2011-04-18T14:56:00.000+02:00

So I went to the Mairie today to pick up my carte de séjour - only 7.5 months after applying for it! - and saw this cute little brochure. It's a regional guide to where you can buy food products directly from the producers. It's got everything from fruit & veggies to eggs, meat and dairy, as well as honey, escargots and wine. Each section lists the individual addresses and days/times you can visit and buy on site. In the back they have tucked in a little map showing each town with pictograms of the types of products available. It's so cute! And what a grand effort to get all the information in one place.

gastronomic hiking

2011-03-22T12:31:00.000+01:00

For years I have seen the ads and the posters inviting people to come out for hikes that end with a communal meal, but before last Sunday I had never participated in one. An old student of mine invited us to come out for such a randonnée last weekend and we decided to check it out. We gathered at the activity centre in St Mélaine sur Aubance at 9 am and signed up for the hike and meal. There were three circuits available at 8, 13 and 18 km. We went for the 13 km one and opted for the meal at the end.

We started with a coffee and then headed out on the marked path. After about 4 or 5 km there was a refreshment stand with brioche, hunks of chocolate, pain au chocolat, apples and water. It didn't seem like we needed refreshment, but we stayed and nibbled and chatted for a few minutes before continuing on. We wandered through vineyards, villages and hamlets, sometimes walking along roads, but mostly keeping to small paths. After a few hours of walking, we arrived back at the activity centre to be greeted with a glass of rosé. We then sat down to a meal which included spaghetti bolognese, cheese, wine, dessert and coffee. The cost of the event was 7€ and all proceeds went towards helping people in a specific village in Senegal. There were probably a couple of hundred of us between the three circuits and it was all in all a very enjoyable time!

I have to say, we're not usually early risers on the weekend, since we both have to get up early during the week, and if we do go for hikes it's usually in the afternoon. But it was so nice to get out early, get 13 km in before lunch and then still have the rest of the day to do other things. I think we may start doing this a little more often!

the market basket

2011-03-10T16:40:00.000+01:00

When I first met Jean-Marc I thought it was so charming that he had a market basket in his kitchen. We have always had one at the farmhouse that we like to take to the market (or supermarket) to fill up with veggies and fruit; it's so romantic! This is it here:

The first time we headed down to visit his parents together, Jean-Marc filled up his market basket with empty jam jars, various tupperware (pronounced: too-pair-WAR) and plastic bags. He mentioned that all these things belonged to his parents and he needed to return them. "Sounds normal," I thought, but I wasn't expecting the eventual refill that was coming our way. Upon our departure, my mother-in-law gave me a list of everything she had put in the basket: homemade jams, fresh veggies from the garden as well as a few leftovers for Jean-Marc's lunch the next day. Apparently this is a ritual that is to happen every time we get together. Just this last weekend we ended up with two homemade jams, leftover homemade apple tart, a container of grated carrots and a bag of washed frisée from the garden, green cabbage and leeks from the garden, as well as some rillettes, vegetable stock, apples and potatoes. We never know what we're going to get, but I have to admit it's kind of nice to get a surprise basket of mostly local and homemade/homegrown things. It's somewhat like those deliveries of organic produce that are usually a surprising mix of unexpected items, except mom-style.

being outdoors

2011-03-08T12:10:00.000+01:00

Well, after my little slump a couple of weeks ago, I feel as if something has shifted. Maybe it's the forsythia that a friend gave me, or the crocuses, daffodils and cherry blossoms that are out everywhere, but things feel lighter. The weather has also brightened up a bit and this has inspired me to head outside and go walking or jogging. On Saturday I headed out to a little island that is in the middle of the Loire - Béhuard - and ran through the middle of the village, which has been classified as a cité de caractère, and all around the island on the river front. Just being outside and appreciating the weather, the surroundings and the solitude was enough to give me some perspective.

favourite things: the pickle picker upper

2011-02-26T19:46:00.000+01:00

This is one of those things that is so handy, it makes you wonder why everybody isn't doing it. Instead of fishing around for pickles with a fork, knife or fingers, the French have a handy pickle picker upper that comes with each jar of pickles. Pick and lift and voila - those pickles that were at the bottom of the jar are now within easy reach. Now, I know there may be concerns about the extra packaging (and recycling), but I have to say that it's a little thing that works well. That, and the unrippable butter wrappers they have here!

expression: qu'est-ce que c'est que ce beans?

2011-02-24T12:44:00.000+01:00

What is this beans? Yes, the "this" is singular and the beans are plural with a definite "s" heard at the end. What does it mean? It's a handy expression for "what the heck is going on?" or "WTF?" but cuter, in my opinion! At first I thought it was something that Jean-Marc made up because he was attempting to mix French and English together and then I heard somebody say it on TV. When googling it I found two different spellings: beans and bins. I think it's meant to be the English word to give it a little exotic flair. Maybe we could start a new English saying: What the fromage? What the fondu? What the ficelle? What the filet mignon? You heard it here first!

questions

2011-02-21T12:57:00.001+01:00

About a month ago, I let an anniversary go by without much thought: my one-year-at-work anniversary. Since then I have thought about it a bit more and it's left me questioning my settling into France.

Where to start?
Well, I suppose I should go ahead and admit that real life France is nothing like the France of my dreams or the France of my holidays. I thought I had a firm grasp on the reality of living here before moving here. After all, I had lived here for a full year and I have owned a house here for ten years, meaning that I had spent a good deal of time in France before taking the plunge. Maybe it's the region I'm living in or maybe it's the reality of France, but I now realize that my image of France was an idealized one and that there was a lot I didn't know.

What's different?
A lot. I can now see that Canada - my home country - is way more open and relaxed about pretty much everything in comparison. In France you need a diploma to do just about everything, including washing floors and shelving books, and a variety of work experience is viewed as suspect. Guess what? My 7+ years of post-secondary education and my varied work experience isn't getting me very far! How could I have been a classical singer, interior designer, library assistant and teacher all in one lifetime? That's just not possible (never mind that it might mean that I'm flexible and adaptable with a number of different skills). I'm also a bit surprised when I enter into conversations about just about anything and come across really closed-minded opinions: the old way is best, it's always been done that way, there is no room for improvement and vitamins are bad for you! Ok, I might be exaggerating a little but sometimes it feels like the whole country has been brainwashed into thinking a certain way. Maybe they're just defending what they know, but I fail to see the critical thinking (the questioning) happening.

What about work?
Well, I'm working, but only just. When I look back to a year ago, I see that I'm not much further along now than I was then. I've worked hard when there's been work, but it's never been steady and the idea of having to continually wait for the crumbs of work to fall from the table is stressing me a little. I'm continuing to look for other opportunities, but it would seem that my biggest asset is English - not my education or experience - and the jobs that I think I'd be good at are (so far) out of my reach. I'm waiting to get my diplomas recognized by some authority in Paris and we'll see if that changes anything.

Any regrets?
Even though I'm in a bit of a slump (it is February, after all!) I don't regret coming here, although I miss (and appreciate) Vancouver more than ever. I love my life with Jean-Marc and there are parts about France that I do truly love, but the good stuff gets clouded when there's an underlying current of financial and work stability. Perhaps it's also the location. Most of my experience in France has been in rural, middle-of-nowhere France and not in urban areas. Just the other night there was a report on television about families who have opted to live in the more isolated parts of France, and one of the families was not too far from where we have the farmhouse (and it made my heart ache). It does feel different there and the mentality of the people I know there is different, too. Jean-Marc and I both love that region and we're looking at ways to make it a reality (although I'm sure there would be some shocks once settled in there, too!).

Any conclusions?
The grass isn't greener and anywhere you go, there you are. I don't want to live a life that is focused on the negative; I know I can live a full and happy life wherever I am and I don't want to dream about being elsewhere. I want to BE where I am and be thankful for it. It's only been a year and perhaps I've been a bit impatient. I was hoping to land some fantastic permanent job right away and that's not what happened. Oh well. It's all about the journey, right?

ready, set, holidays!

2011-02-18T11:36:00.001+01:00

School holidays are something taken very seriously in France and they happen every 6-8 weeks of full-time school. Aside from the two weeks at Christmas and the two months in the summer, they also get ten days at the end of October, two weeks at the end of February and two weeks in April. Not bad! And what do people do for their school holidays in France? Go away, of course! Where they go depends on the time of year: February is winter sport in the Alps, April might be the seaside and summer is usually the south. Wherever the destination, everybody seems to leave en masse the day after the last day of school and come back the day before school begins, to maximize the holiday time. For this reason, the school system has divided the school districts into three zones, with each zone going on holiday at different times so as to avoid the traffic jams on the highways (and in the train stations). Everyone receives a calendar like this to figure out their holidays.

There are traffic reports on the news, with pictures of the entire highway system sporting different colours to show the traffic jams throughout the whole country. Specific days also have colour codes (green, orange and red) so that people can plan their travel accordingly. I know that on the way home from our New Year's trip, we discovered it was an orange day when we had to stand in line for 45 minutes to get into the cafeteria at a rest stop (of course the traffic was heavy that day, too). The main toll highways have an excellent system of big rest stops every 20-50 km with gigantic cafeterias, shops and other amenities. During the summer holiday rush, emergency rest stops are set up along the smaller highways, in an effort to combat fatigue on the road, along with signs reminding that people that they should stop and rest every 2.5 hours.

So the February holidays are already under way for some zones and about to start in other zones. I don't teach that many classes in the school system, but the adults I teach have kids and they tend to stop their English classes so that they can go away. For me it means less work (less pay) and a bit more time to do other things.

what's in a name?

2011-02-02T15:45:00.001+01:00

I've recently started teaching a group of people who work for one of the national French healthcare agencies and it has started me thinking about the differences between health care in France and Canada and the different ways we refer and react to illness. Currently most medication, including over-the-counter items such as ibuprofen and aspirin, are reimbursed to varying degrees by the sécurité sociale, which is why doctors give out prescriptions for 4 bottles when you get sick, so you can stock up (and have it paid for!). When I mention that this is not the case in Canada, that we actually have to pay for aspirin and that we purchase it without prescription, the French usually start talking about the hazards of auto-médication, never mind that it is exactly the thing that they are doing with their four leftover bottles of aspirin! I think I'll save my ideas about medication and vitamins for another post, but for now I wanted to talk about the names we give illnesses.

It has struck me that the French refer to illnesses by their scientific (and I'm guessing Latin) names, while we tend to make reference to the thing that wrong in common terms. The result is that getting sick in French sounds way worse than in English, according to me. Here are a few examples:

rhinopharyngite – common cold

torticoli – sore neck

gastro-entérite – stomach flu

angine et pharyngite – Tonsillitis or strep throat (or just plain sore throat)

otite - middle ear infection

pyélonéphrite - urinary tract infection (kidney infection)

"I have a rhinopharyngite" sounds so much more ominous than "I have a cold" doesn't it? It sounds like it might be worth a trip to the doctor! And here the debate starts.

my weekly check-up and prescription

2011-01-22T13:11:00.000+01:00

Part of the benefits of singing with my choir is that I am entitled to a half-hour of voice lessons every week. Every Monday at 5pm I have a lesson with Vincent, a bass who also sings in the Paris opera in addition to other freelance work. I have to admit that Vincent is the first voice teacher, in a long list of teachers, whose explanations make complete sense to me. Talking about the voice is difficult and usually relies on imagery, and in the past I never quite understood or "got" the images or the language of other teachers. With Vincent, it all seems so clear.

We start with some vocalises and he listens and analyzes as I sing, much as a doctor would analyze a person's heartbeat or breathing. At the end, he makes his diagnosis and gives me some exercises to try at home in order to work on the particular things that he hears. I call this my prescription. He writes the exercises in my cahier (I love it - it reminds me of piano lessons when I was a child) and then we go on to the pieces I have been working on.

I wish the lessons were longer - 30 minutes is quite short to work on exercises and pieces - but I'm thankful for the free lessons that would otherwise cost at least 40€/hour. At this point, it's one of the few carrots keeping me in this large (75-voice) choir!

favourite things: 35-cent coffee

2011-01-19T14:25:00.001+01:00

You'll have to use your imagination here because I don't have a camera, other than the built-in one in my computer. Cafés in France are quite different from ones in North America; coffee is served in real cups, there are usually no goodies to accompany the coffee, and people tend to sit down to enjoy their cuppa (if they're in a hurry, they stand at the bar and drink up fast). Although Starbucks has made it into Paris, and perhaps other large cities, it - and anything like it - has not entered my part of Province (anywhere outside of Paris). No large to-go cups anywhere to be seen! French people say it's something they see in movies and on tv, but you'd never see someone sipping a coffee while walking down the street. In most institutions and places of work, however, there are coffee machines that serve up espresso, café crème and cappuccino for quite cheap. At the schools where I work, the price is set at 35 cents and the coffee is even fair trade! The cups are small - maybe 2-3 tiny espresso cups large (a dixie cup size?) - and you can choose how much sugar, if any, you want. It's somewhat refreshing to be presented with reasonably-sized amounts of coffee, especially after being immersed in Starbucks culture where a tall (the smallest cup on the menu, even though they do offer a smaller short) means 1.5 cups of liquid and a grande is a full two cups. All for the low price of $3-5! It's amazing what we come to accept as normal with portion sizes. I'm happy to have access to my little 35-cent lattés at work. I just wish they would make it possible to use a real cup instead of a plastic one that is automatically dispensed.

the forgotten pears

2011-01-11T13:30:00.001+01:00

When we were at the farmhouse over the holidays, Jean-Marc made a discovery in the garden. Underneath our little pear tree there was a huge amount of fallen pears hidden in the grass. To his surprise they weren't rotten! It seems that the grass had protected them from whatever nasty weather had hit and they were just waiting to be found. There were so many that we came home with a large bag full that we split with our friends.

Even though the pears were in good shape, there were too many to eat raw, so we decided to make some pear sauce by cooking up the fruit by itself. We ended up with four jam pots full that we are keeping frozen until we're ready to use it. Personally I like it in my morning oatmeal (it replaces the sugar I would normally use) and added to plain yogurt for dessert. It's nice to have a little taste of summer/fall in the middle of winter.

ringing in the new year

2011-01-05T16:53:00.000+01:00

After spending Christmas with Jean-Marc's family, we headed down to the Auvergne to see our friends and check up on the farmhouse. Since there is no heating in the farmhouse, staying there was out of the question, but we were lucky enough to be able to stay with friends a few kilometres away. We took our cat Domino with us and he had fun staying at our friends' place with two other cats and a dog (!). It was a very relaxing week, with lazy mornings, excellent meals, afternoon strolls, and a warm fire to sit by at night. There were no firm plans for New Year's Eve, but at the last minute we were invited to a couple's house with a number of other people. In the end there were about fourteen of us and we all shared a delicious meal that went on until about 2pm. For me the real treat was seeing the inside of this house that once had nuns living in it. The couple bought and renovated the place ten years ago and it has been beautifully restored. I had the best seat in the house at the dining room table because I was directly in front of a window that looked over the village's lit up church and prieuré.

Even though Jean-Marc is officially on holiday until tomorrow we had to come back early so that I could teach on January 3. A new year, an unsolicited pay raise at work and new classes await! Happy New Year to you all.

a crafty christmas

2010-12-23T12:44:00.000+01:00

It all started a couple of days ago, when I happened to pick up an old - and only - copy I have of Martha Stewart Living (November 2001, to be exact). I have always hung on to this magazine because it has a number of good recipes for Thanksgiving and for various biscuits (baking powder, buttermilk etc.). Jean-Marc came home for lunch that day, saw the open magazine, and asked me about it. I explained what it was and showed him the nice article on chestnuts (and many chestnut recipes) and he was impressed. I honestly haven't given Ms Stewart much thought in the past 8 years, but I thought I'd check out her website. I went through a number of recipes and saved a few to make later and then I went to the craft page. The ideas for homemade soaps got me thinking about making bath products and that was enough to send me out of the house and down to the local craft supply store.

I bought some bulk glycerin and then I discovered a nearby baking supply warehouse that is open to the public. I carefully went through each aisle and ended up buying some cardboard boxes to package Christmas baking in (as gifts), as well as some bulk pecans and walnuts to go in said baking. Yesterday I set out to make soap, reading up about what I could add to the clear glycerin to make it look and smell nice. In the end I had enough glycerin to make four kinds of soaps: mandarin, honey oatmeal, bergamot tangerine cinnamon clove and mandarin cinnamon. I just used my muffin tins as moulds and learned that once the soap had set, twenty minutes in the freezer would be enough for them to come out fairly easily. I then packaged them in sets of four to give away as gifts.

In the meantime I also wanted to start on my holiday baking. I made ginger snaps to give away, and in preparation for the pumpkin cheesecake I'm making for Christmas, and I made cranberry pecan shortbread and almond pepper biscotti. I will package up the three sorts of cookies in the boxes I got the other day and they will be, along with the soap, our gifts for the adults this year. It's fun getting crafty at home and it's something I'd like to have the luxury to be able to do more often!

the 12-hour lunch

2010-12-20T14:12:00.001+01:00

Last January, we had a 9-hour dinner with friends to celebrate Christmas together. This year we had a lunch instead and it ended up lasting 12 hours. We were invited to arrive at noon, and soon after arriving we were served apéritifs with various hors d'oeuvres, including mini-quiches and pâté en croûte. After a good while, we were invited to sit down around the table and we were served oysters with a shallot vinaigrette, accompanied by white wine. Next up there was a salad with crispy lardons and a seafood terrine. Afterwards, we started to play "blind test" where the host played a few seconds of songs and we had to guess the artist and the title. Luckily for me the host happens to like English music, so I was able to participate. The main dish was roasted duck thighs with garlicky fried potatoes and green beans. By this time we were on to the red wine and it was all very delicious. After the cheese course, and another round of "blind test" we got around to dessert with champagne. The host had purchased omelettes norvégiennes, which are a sort of ice cream cake that is is flambéd before being served. I think we finished dessert around 6pm, at which time coffee was served and we helped ourselves to chocolates and mandarin oranges. I kind of expected that things would wrap up, but no! Everybody continued eating chocolates and some started drinking beer. Somehow time flew by and then the host appeared with apéritifs, charcuterie and cheese. Round Two! Thankfully there were no further meals planned, because I was still full from the first one. After apéritifs with snacks, the wine came out again (I had been drinking only 1/2 glasses and was drinking solely water since dessert). Yet more chocolates and coffee and tea for some, with wine and beer for others, until midnight, when everybody decided it was time to pack it in. Jean-Marc and I ended up winning the blind test and we won a CD that was mixed by the host. I don't think I've ever sat around a table for so long, but I think that everybody else there thought it was perfectly normal. It was a great time with friends and their kids.

la paperasse (or, paperwork)

2010-12-04T13:17:00.001+01:00

I almost laughed out loud the other day when I was driving to the two different préfectures to change my address. I was listening to the radio and an announcement came on saying that we should try to avoid printing paper unnecessarily in order to be more respectful of the environment. Why I found this amusing was because in my bag I had two sets of photocopies of my ID, my proof of address, my récépissé (receipt) for my carte de séjour and my car registration. Not only that, but I was driving 15km each way just to officially change my address. So ecological! The authorities - banks included - are generally not keen on changing addresses without all these things and they won't just take your word for it (unlike my banks in Canada who are more than happy to change my address over the phone). Changing my car registration apparently could have been done by mail, but reading about it made it seem more complicated than just driving the 30 km roundtrip and doing it in person.

After taking care of my car registration I went to the foreign services part of the préfecture to do the same thing for my carte de séjour, which I have been waiting for since the beginning of September. I had called ahead of time to see how I could best advise them of the change of address. They said I should just drop off my papers at the reception desk and that I didn't need to wait in the line (which is usually about 50 people long). When I arrived, the man at reception asked what I was there for. I explained and he immediately gave me a number and told me to join the line. I stood my ground and said that I had already called and that I was told it was possible to just drop off the papers for Mme D, the person in charge of my file. He said no, I explained further, he said no, I continued on, he said no, I countered, saying that I didn't have the time to wait in the long line, and then he said OK. I have learned that in France, when the first response is "it is not possible" it is usually possible if you argue enough. This reaction at reception didn't surprise me, but the manner with which he spoke to me did. I have been to this office many times and each time I have witnessed the worst personal relations I have ever seen. It is filled with disdain, rudeness and superiority, and absolutely no empathy for the many foreigners who are just trying to get their paperwork in order. Could it be that they are not eager to help foreigners settle in their land? No, surely not. At times like those I consider myself lucky to not be a visible minority and to be able to speak French. I know that it's much worse for others.

In fairness to the French authorities, I did find an online government site where I was able to change my address for my health care and taxes without all the paperasse that is normally required and I think this is a sign of good things to come. Of course if we print less paper, that might mean that there will be fewer fonctionnaire jobs for people whose job it is to deal with all these files. Hmmm... this could take a while to catch on.

settling in

2010-11-12T15:30:00.000+01:00

We've been in our new place for over two weeks now and we're settling in quite nicely. Most of the boxes are unpacked, the kitchen is workable, the lighting is better and we're enjoying our new surroundings. I can't say there is much I will miss about our old place, but here's a top 3 list just to pay homage to it.

Top 3 things I will miss about our apartment in La Pouëze:
1. the light
We were on the top floor of a three level building and we had windows and skylights facing east and west, so we had morning and evening sun. We could see the horizon and watch amazing sunrises and sunsets. We now live on the ground floor, with tallish buildings blocking the light on one side and tall trees blocking the light on the other side. In the afternoon we get a bit of light reflection off one of the buildings, but we have no view of any horizons, mostly just walls and trees. At least there are trees.

2. the warmth
We had linoleum floors and water radiators that were powered by gas. The heat was included in the rent, and with the place being so small it stayed nice and toasty all winter long. We now live in a place with cold ceramic tile on the floor everywhere (this confirms my dislike of tile floors!) and we have electric heaters that we have to pay for ourselves, so we're scared to turn up the heat too much! Electricity is prohibitively expensive here! I've put down a bunch of area rugs and we've taken to wearing wool socks (I'm on the lookout for wool slippers) and sweaters to keep ourselves warm.

3. the woods
We lived in an ugly village, but there was a little castle with a little forest behind it. That's where I used to go running and I loved seeing the changes in the trees and plants, and listening to the birds as I ran. We have exchanged the woods for the river and we can go for lovely walks along the walking trails that wind through the local vineyards and connect the villages along the Loire. I love the scenery here and I'm glad to be so close to the river, but I will miss the woods where I used to run.

Other than those few things, we both much prefer the village of Savennières and our new place. So much more space and a real office! There's even a real closet where we can hang our clothes (unusual in France) and a bathtub. Jean-Marc's missing the shower stall from La Pouëze, but I'm happy with the option to take showers or baths!

my weeks are numbered

2010-11-07T22:08:00.000+01:00

I should perhaps start by saying that I'm absolutely fine! What I'm referring to is an administrative way of talking about time that I had never used in my life before working in France. It all started at the Chamber of Commerce when I had a training session about how to fill in all the weekly room reservation and personal availability sheets. My director said "you fill in the number of the week here - next week is week 4, so you you would put 4 here." I asked what he meant by week 4 and he said that in France they refer to weeks by their number in the year, as opposed to "the week of January 24th" or whatever. I saw that it made sense and I easily started to refer to my weeks in that way, but then when I started teaching at the professional high school, I found out that they refer to weeks starting with September as week one. So now I have two numbering systems to maintain. Did you know we are in week 45 on the regular calendar and week 11 in the school calendar? It certainly makes for a lot of extra notes in my agenda!

permis de conduire: check!

2010-11-06T13:28:00.000+01:00

Well, it seems all those hours and euros given to the auto-école paid off. Two days after moving last week I had my driving test. Even though I've been driving for a long time I was still nervous, and when I met the inspector I became even more so. Of course I got there early (20 minutes) and of course my test was an hour later than scheduled, but I was ok with waiting and having a chance to talk to the other people waiting for the same thing.

There was a waiting room with two offices on either side and each of the offices belonged to a driving inspector. There was no reception area, nobody to check in with, and no signs indicating the purpose of the space. It was just a room with chairs. The inspector arrived after my monitrice (representative driving teacher) arrived and I was asked to show my ID and my Canadian licence. The inspector said that I if I failed today, I might be asked by her colleagues to provide an official translation of my licence. Not a nice way to start!

I had to wait for her to go away and do an exam and then 35 minutes later, she was back for me. The monitor was in the back of the car and the inspector up front. I was asked to settle into the car (adjust seats, mirrors, seat belt) and I knew that this could a) take up some time and b) earn me up to 2 points. I adjusted everything and then she asked me to work the lave glace. I turned on the windshield wipers (oops!) and she said no, that's the essuie glace and then I turned on the windshield wiper fluid. This was definitely a language issue. I know what the difference is between the two, but in the moment I heard "clean windshield" and didn't think about the liquid part of it!

We left the parking lot and entered into a neighbourhood that is full of priorité à droite streets where there are no stop signs in any direction, so you have to slow down just in case anybody arrives on your right. I think I caught them all but this was definitely one of my weak points in my lessons so I was scared to miss one! As I was driving the inspector and monitor chatted non-stop about how difficult it is for the driving schools to book exams and then every once in a while the inspector would give me a direction. We drove around for a bit, got on the highway, got off the highway, took a busy roundabout and headed to a park with a large gravel parking lot. I was asked to park anywhere I liked using any method I chose. I decided to back into a stall and then when that was over we took off again. In no time we were back at the office and she said "merci et bonne journée" and I was asked to get out of the car while she filled out the exam paper. They don't tell you the results right away and since my exam was on a Friday of a holiday weekend, I had to wait until Tuesday for the mail to arrive at the driving school saying that I had passed. I got a mark of 31/30, with bonus points for éco-conduite and courtoisie on the road. Yay! The passing mark is 20/30.

Did I learn new things after 23 years of driving experience? Yes, especially the right of way and busy roundabouts. Was it worth the €860 it ended up costing me? I would say no, but I had no choice in the matter. In retrospect I could have gone to a province in Canada that has direct licence exchanges with France and, pretending to move there, I could have gotten licence from that province, but it's not what I did. I do feel a lot more confident on the road and I officially know the rules of the road, so I suppose I can't complain too much. Now I just get to wait a couple of months while my pink paper licence arrives and then I'll have to figure out how to carry it around because it's too big for a wallet and made out of *paper* so it can easily get wrecked! (I think the paper licence is an old world / new world thing and I believe that France should look into the plastic card technology that they use for bank cards and health care cards!).

living in a world built for short people

2010-10-13T19:25:00.000+02:00

When I do the dishes I always get a sore back. Why? Because I can't reach the bottom of the kitchen sink without bending over. When I studied interior design, I learned that the standard height of countertops is 36" or 91.5 cm. It's not that different from the 33" I have in my kitchen, but it's enough to make doing the dishes uncomfortable. I'm not particularly tall (5'-7" or 171 cm) but I find a number of things here just plain tiny.

Take our kitchen table, for example. Average table height is 29" or 74 cm but the one we inherited from Jean-Marc's parents is only 27" or 68.5 cm. Add to that the height of the apron underneath and you barely have enough room to fit your legs under the table. In fact, at JM's parents' house, I can't get my legs under their table because there is only about 4" of clearance!

Then there are bed sizes. In Canada I had a spacious "queen" size bed (60 x 80" or 153 x 203 cm) and here the standard size is 140 x 190 or 55" x 75". When we purchased double beds for the farmhouse, we splurged on luxurious 160 x 200 or 63" x 79" because we knew we would have taller North Americans and Northern Europeans coming to stay (that's like a queen, only 3" wider, for those of you doing the math). Jean-Marc and I have the standard 140 bed at home and it's fine, considering we are both the same height, but there is really only an extra 20 cm to spare in length, so sometimes I find my feet dangling over the edge a bit because I don't sleep with my head against the wall. I just checked online and the average height of men and women in Canada and France is the same. I find it interesting that the scale of furnishings is different by as much as 5 inches. I can't wait to have my own kitchen one day and choose the height of my countertops and sink! In the meantime I may resort to my friend Caitlin's method of doing dishes in France by standing with my feet far apart to make me shorter. Hey, it may save me a few trips to the chiropractor! (more about chiropractors and how they ask you to take your pants off, later)

scavenging for food

2010-10-10T18:12:00.002+02:00

If I say that it's been raining for a few days and now it's sunny, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Ask any French person, and the answer will be: champignons! We've had a few weeks of rain with a few sunny days and Jean-Marc has gone mushroom hunting two times in the last week. Last Sunday, when I was away at an all-day rehearsal, I came home to three sorts of mushrooms: cèpes, mousserons and fausses chanterelles. We ended up eating them in an omelette as well as fried up with garlic as an accompaniment to a chestnut risotto (the chestnuts were found near our village's castle).

Today I asked Jean-Marc if we had any walnuts and he said no, but he knew where to find some. Apparently there is a walnut tree in a field that seems to belong to nobody and, since Jean-Marc has never seen anybody picking any of the walnuts and the field is open, he went and picked a whole bunch. He's also found some abandoned apple and pear trees and we have been making batches of applesauce and eating the pears just as they are because they're currently perfectly ripe. It's amazing what is provided by nature and quite often left to rot on the ground. Soon we will be picking the figs in a neighbour's garden (we've been granted permission to pick them!) and eating them in our salads. Not only that, but we are still enjoying the lovely heirloom tomatoes from our garden. I am in produce heaven.

passing "le code de la route"

2010-10-09T13:13:00.001+02:00

Well, I did it! After three months, 50+ hours at the auto-école, and 15+ hours spent doing practice tests at home, I passed my code exam this past Wednesday. Even immediately after taking the test and waiting for the results I wasn't sure I had succeeded.

I was asked to take the test at 8:15 in the morning and, because I had never been to the place before, I got up extra early just in case I got lost on the way. The previous evening I had a Mozart Requiem rehearsal until 11pm and by the time I got home, studied a bit and got into bed it was well after midnight, so the night was a short one. I woke up with dreams of code photos and questions to a Requiem soundtrack and it felt like my head was spinning. I did get a little lost on the way to the exam but I was still 20 minutes early. The extra time was used for revising my notes (I managed to fill a 50-page notebook during my studies). At 8:10am the doors opened and all the exam-takers filed into a waiting room. A representative from each auto-école was there to present our papers to the officer and then we proceeded to wait for an hour while he got set up. Once he was ready for us, he called us into the room, one at a time, and asked to see our ID and gave us the boîtier (keypad) with which to record our answers. Each person was asked to sit in specific chairs that were placed around the room. The exam started and my heart was pounding, but once I realized that the questions were easier - or at least more basic - than the ones I had seen during my studies, I started to relax. There were a few questions that I was unsure about but in the end I only got 1 out of 40 wrong (yes, it was a "can I pass this car?" question! I dared to say yes when the answer was no.).

I can't tell you how much of a relief washed over me once I found out I had passed. My need for a French licence is getting down to the wire and I absolutely needed to pass on Wednesday otherwise I would have had to wait for at least another 2 weeks to try again (and then wait for the driving test another 2 weeks minimum after that!). This means that I can proceed with my driving lessons as scheduled and take my practical exam on the 29th and (hopefully!) have my new licence for the beginning of November.

By the end of it all, this experience will cost me around €600 and almost 100 hours. I can't say it's not worth it because I have already learned a lot about driving in France. Even though I've been driving here without incident for 10 years, I still had questions and didn't understand certain intersections or road signs. In the end it's all about safety - even though I see people breaking code rules ALL the time - and safety is a good investment. Of course, this also makes me an even worse backseat driver than I already was!

navigating the grocery store

2010-09-25T15:50:00.000+02:00

Grocery stores in France are a lot like their counterparts in other countries; indeed, the invention of the "super store" is a French one from what I understand. The first hypermarché opened in 1963 and they have taken over the French landscape ever since. There are some differences, of course, between what I grew up with and what is available to me here.

the smell
I've heard that they use aerosols to make the supermarkets smell appetizing. I think they've got their scents wrong. When I enter a French supermarket, I am usually greeted with a odorous mix of baking (good!) and fish (bad!).

the selection
This is France after all, so there are lots of things you can't get in Canada. In the wine section, they have a special area for wines to go with foie gras and there is a whole aisle dedicated to tins of cassoulet, terrines and confit de canard. The meat counter has all sorts of pâté, charcuterie and sausages. The yogurt and pudding coolers are to die for; there are at least a hundred times more types of yogurt, fromage frais, pots de crème and crème fraiche than I have ever seen in Canada, and most of the items come in individual servings, so the visual effect is overwhelming. Let's not forget the cheese, too; it goes without saying that you can find hundreds of cheeses at reasonable prices (and I've even recently seen local cheeses in the big chains). Anything to do with whole grains or slightly "alternative" products, however, is pretty much impossible to find, so I go to the organic co-op stores to pick up brown rice, whole wheat flour, almonds and other things such as natural peanut butter (you can take a girl out of Canada, but you can't take the peanut butter away from the girl!).

organization of aisles
There is a different logic to the aisles and shelves of French supermarkets. Many items can be found in three or more different locations, depending on how you view them. Here are some examples:
- chocolate: candy aisle, fair trade aisle, organic aisle
- tortilla chips: apéritif aisle, chips aisle, international food aisle
- canned tomatoes: pasta aisle, tinned vegetable aisle, organic aisle
- cookies: cookie aisle, breakfast aisle (!), organic aisle,
- coffee: breakfast aisle, fair trade aisle, organic aisle
This is means that if you want to compare prices and packages of certain items, you need to run around the store. I personally would love to see all the coffee - fair trade, organic and regular - in the same place, so that I can compare and make my choice in one location. I'm not sure why they've broken it down they way they have, but somehow it's what works for them. The thing about cookies in the breakfast aisle is a bit of a concern for me, but apparently there are cookies (sandwich-type chocolate ones) that are considered a breakfast food. This reminds me of the typical after-school snack given to children: a chunk of white baguette with a slab of chocolate inside.

ambiance
Bright lights, white tiles and annoying music. There is nothing sexy about these supermarkets! I'm not sure if the North American trend of tolerable lighting and more pleasant interior design will ever catch on here, but I think there's a market for it! I have noticed that some of the megastores are starting to open up boutique markets in the city centres. This is a start. We'll see if something like Whole Foods, or a European counterpart, can make a go of it in France.

Of course not all supermarkets are the same and there are different selections and styles of organization, depending on where you go. Ideally, we try to go to the outdoor market and the organic stores, but organic products are even more expensive here than in North America and the markets are only open in the morning, with the weekend ones being the furthest away. We also go to the little asian supermarkets that carry things like soba noodles, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Savennières, our village-to-be, is lucky enough to have a small cooperative supermarket that carries organic and regular products. It's also got a killer wine cave with local wines! I plan on becoming a member and volunteering my time there in order to meet people and to help the store along. Maybe I can even make some suggestions!

back to school

2010-09-19T12:13:00.000+02:00

I officially started giving lessons again on August 16 and my work has been very intermittent since then. Before the summer holidays I was offered some work at a professional high school, but there was an autorisation d'enseignement to apply for from the school district and at the end of August, I was still waiting to hear if it had been accepted. On August 30 I heard that I was expected to be at the school's pré-rentrée meeting (la rentrée is the start of school); I guess I'm officially allowed to teach in the school district! I showed up for a day of rules, regulations, expectations and powerpoint presentations of pie charts showing the numbers of tardies from the previous year. The 'school speak' was filled with acronyms that I didn't understand; each class is referred to by an acronym and there are 32 of them! I was given my emploi du temps (timetable) and was told that I would start teaching the following week Friday. Super! Jean-Marc and I had planned to go to the farmhouse for a few days before school started and this gave us a week to get away.

While enjoying the farmhouse and the late summer weather, I had the idea to check phone messages on the Monday. To my shock, there was a message from a school principal at the other school site (I work at two sites) saying that I was expected to be teaching a class that day and that they were waiting for me! Yikes. I had no idea I was supposed to be teaching that day and nobody had informed me that I needed to pick up the other timetable from the other site separately. I also learned that I was expected to teach a class on the Wednesday. So Jean-Marc and I packed everything up a little earlier than expected and headed home so that I could start my new job.

I am teaching apprentices who are salaried workers who work for two weeks and then come to school for one week. That means I see each of my four groups every three weeks for two hours; that's not much English! So far my groups (CR2A, CR2B and MHL) are people studying to be road builders and maintenance workers. Most of them are 16-18 years old but I also have one student who is 21. The groups are fairly small, with a maximum of 10 students per class, and so far they are all boys. I have to say that I never thought I would go back to teaching high school, but in little doses - two to six hours per week - it's actually kind of fun. They're very cute and even though they are not crazy about learning English, we've been having a good time so far. This week I will meet my AEM1/2 group and I'll find out what they are studying to become. Since they are salaried workers, it is in their best interest to show up on time and to do their homework. If they show up late, their pay is docked and if they misbehave, they can be fired. I like this kind of high school! Oh, and I should mention that three of my groups are at the site that is based in a castle. Of course I don't have my classes in the castle - it's reserved for administration - but it's still kind of cool to go to the château to teach school.

This new work has added a lot more running around to my already busy schedule and I'm madly trying to keep track of the rotating classes. So far, aside from the one missed class, things are going well and I'm managing to keep on top of it all. The best news for me is that this work pays more than double what I make elsewhere, so the 2-6 hours will make a difference to the bottom line (although I'll have to wait until December for my first cheque - they pay two months after the end of the month worked!).

our new place: savennières

2010-09-14T10:59:00.000+02:00

We've actually known this for a few days now, but we have finally found a new place to live. It's been quite a long process, starting in July when we gave our 3+ months' notice. We focused on a few villages and areas of Angers where we were interested in living and we both had our criteria: I wanted charm and loveliness and Jean-Marc wanted access to outside. We both wanted a place that was bigger, closer to work and affordable.

Before we took off for Holland, my yoga teacher emailed to say that he was moving out of his great apartment in Angers. It had 3 bedrooms, wood floors, lots of windows and some (non-working) fireplaces. It felt meant-to-be because he was moving out exactly when we needed to move. It had the loveliness I was after but there was no access to outside, it was a bit more expensive, and the kitchen was tiny. It was an option that we kept in our back pocket while we looked at other houses and apartments, most of which were in the 600€ price range.

In the meantime, I went to a few mairies (town halls) in our preferred villages and asked about any rentals that they might know about. When I was in Savennières - our first choice for a village - the helpful secretary at the mairie asked if I had applied for social housing. I had heard of it and knew that it was widely available even for those with a regular income but I had never applied. She gave me the form and explained how the process could take a number of months or years (!). I filled out the form, attached all sorts of paperwork (tax returns, pay stubs etc.) and within a week we had a applicant number. One week later, a social housing agency, of which there are many, called to offer us a 3 bedroom 1000 square foot apartment in Savennières. We had a look and we decided to take it.

The apartment is in a building that was once a manor and then a retirement home. It was redone about 4 years ago. The building is set back from a tiny winding one-way street and it has a large piece of land around it, so it's quiet. We are on the ground floor, with access to outside: the front has a shared outdoor courtyard and the back has a more private large patio surrounded by trees. They say it's 3 bedrooms, but it's actually got more rooms. It's airy, bright and neutral. The kitchen and two of the bedrooms have windowed doors that lead to outside. There are a few downsides: no actual garden - just paved courtyard and patio - the whole place is tiled in cream tile (Why, oh why? I'm writing my rug list!), and the charm is a little lacking but not completely missing. As I mentioned, it's neutral and I think I can create something lovely with this blank canvas. The real clincher for us was the price: 415€/month. That's less than we are paying right now! Plus it's in a charming village a stone's throw from the Loire, in a wine-making area with lots of walking and cycling trails, and only 5 km from Jean-Marc's work and 15 km from mine. It's pretty much win-win with just a few compromises.

Our notice was for November 1, but we will get the keys on October 1 and get two weeks free. It means paying two rents for the last two weeks of October, but the amount that we are saving (real estate agency fees which are normal for rentals) and the ability to move in slowly makes it worth it.

favourite things: no ads at night

2010-09-12T22:48:00.000+02:00

This is just a little hats-off to the French public television stations (France 2, 3, 5 and Arte) that don't show advertisements after 8:30pm. It's so much more enjoyable to watch movies and documentaries without the annoying breaks!

anglicisms

2010-09-11T12:12:00.000+02:00

There are some words, as I mentioned before, that have been borrowed from English by the French to mean something completely different than their original definition. Sometimes they even invent English words!

Take the word self, for example. Do you have any idea what it means in French? I'll give you some hints: you can eat in it! I had somebody ask me where the self was at school. Give up? It's a cafeteria. Presumably it comes from self-service cafeteria and the French have reduced it down to one word.

One of the invented words is relooking. It also exists as a verb relooker. No, it doesn't mean to do a double-take, but rather a makeover. You can find it related to homes (a house makeover/renovation) and personal style. I have been tempted to use my interior design skills and enter the world of relooking as a side job. We'll see!

Then there are the words that are used with the same definition but are pronounced in a French way (we do the same with French words in English). One such word is discount. It is pronounced dees-koont and if it's a big discount, it is preceded by the word hard: aard dees-koont.

learning to drive (again)

2010-09-09T19:28:00.003+02:00

Well, maybe I'm not so much learning to drive as jumping through some hoops (and costs) to get a French driver's licence. First step is to pass the theory test: le code de la route.

What I have found interesting is going to my "lessons" which are not lessons at all but just a bunch of students in a room who take practice tests on DVD with explanations. There are 60 possible tests to take in order to learn all the information that is required. I would argue that some of the things are not relevant to being a good driver and that much of it is tricky and vague. For example, they show a picture of a country road and ask if it's safe to pass. Personally I see a curve coming up in the photo, so even though the lines on the road say it's safe, I would wait. But no. It's safe to pass and I get the question wrong. But if I didn't pass the car in question, I wouldn't be driving dangerously, but no matter. The trick is to learn the tricks and play by their rules. The test is multiple choice with 40 questions and I'm allowed to get 5 wrong. There can be anywhere from 1 to 3 correct answers per question and if I miss one I get the whole thing wrong. I've got to study up on my percentages, mathematical equations and statistics!

I've also been learning new vocabulary. Some words that I didn't know at first I made up my own silly meanings for, knowing that they weren't correct. Here are some examples:

bifurcation
my definition: something to do with burping or perhaps vomiting
the real definition: a junction or a fork in the road

délit
my definition: delight
the real definition: crime or offence

chevaucher
my definition: ride a horse
the real definition: to lap or cross over (a lane or a line), but to be fair it also means to ride a horse or to sit astride a horse

chaussée
my definition: the sock of the road (I figured it was the side of the road)
the real definition: the full road surface

allure
my definition: attractiveness
the real definition: speed or pace

sinistre
my definition: evil, ominous
the real definition: an accident (in case of)

I'm still waiting to find out if my application to apply (yes, that's right) for a driver's licence has been accepted by foreign services. When I get that stamp of approval I can apply to take the test and move on to preparing for the practical test, while continuing to drive about 700 km per week on my Canadian licence!

my choir

2010-08-26T11:49:00.000+02:00

When I first moved here, I started looking for professional choirs to audition for and I ended up getting on two rosters (with no promise of work). After a few months, I started to really miss singing with other people, so I asked my voice teacher for a good local choir, even an amateur one. He suggested the choir of the local orchestra and I auditioned at the beginning of May and joined right away.

The choir is a regional one - as is the orchestra - and is based in two cities: Nantes and Angers. There are two groups of singers who meet in their respective cities for most rehearsals and then there are combined rehearsals before the concerts. Because it's supported by the regional government, there are all sorts of perks. First of all, when the combined rehearsal is in one city, there is a bus that picks up and drops off everybody from the other city. When there is a concert or dress rehearsal in the "other" city, there is a 15€ reimbursement for supper for each singer. If singers drive more than 50 km to a rehearsal, they are reimbursed for the kms driven. There is a singing teacher present at each rehearsal who listens along and gives suggestions for ways to make things sound better and there are also free mandatory individual singing lessons for every singer. The downside is that regular rehearsals go from 8:30- 11:00 PM, and when the rehearsals are in Nantes, I don't get home until 1:00AM, making getting up early for work the next day almost impossible. This weekend, we are heading away for a 3-day retreat on the Atlantic coast. All expenses are paid!

It is an amateur choir - and a large one at 75 people! - but the level is quite high. Sometimes I miss the intimacy of the 12-voice professional ensemble I sang with in Vancouver and I'm even playing with the idea of creating my own here (if you can't find it, make it!).

marianne is france

2010-08-22T14:58:00.000+02:00

... or at least is a symbol of it!

Growing up with the first name Marianne, I never really had too much opinion about my name. It was unusual and a little old-fashioned, and it was something I neither loved nor detested. Little did I know that the name is actually a symbol of the Republic of France, the country that I would come to love!

When I first came to France as a jeune fille au pair, I remember the family's mother telling me about La Marianne, how she represents the values of France (Liberté, Égalité et Fraternité) and how she was on all the stamps. My name as the spirit and values of France: imagine! I began to like my name more and more - plus it was easy for French people to understand and pronounce.

She's currently also on the government's logo, and I now find myself running into her everywhere I go. I doubt that my parents knew anything about it when they named me, but now I'm very thankful that they chose this name!

old world / new world: storage

2010-08-21T13:35:00.001+02:00

Jean-Marc and I gave our notice for November 1 and we are currently looking for a place to live that is a bit bigger than what we have and a little closer to where we both work. At the moment I drive 28 km each way to work and Jean-Marc drives 25 km each way - and with gas being 1.35€/litre, it adds up to a lot of money spent on commuting!

One thing I have noticed in our search thus far is the lack of storage in every apartment and house. The French do not build closets into their rooms; they would rather have wooden armoires, which I personally find to be cumbersome and imposing, especially in small rooms. This means that you can find places to live where there is not one single place to hang jackets, store linen or hide a vacuum cleaner!

Another shock is the lack of kitchen. There is a "kitchen" but more often than not it only includes a sink with a cabinet below. There are no fancy schmacy things like countertops, shelves, cabinets, stove and fridge; indeed, renters must move in with their own kitchen appliances and furniture. Only if you are lucky enough to spot the words cuisine américaine will you find a real kitchen. I find this to be ironic, considering how much the French place importance on good cooking.

Since there are no communal laundry rooms, you also have to travel with your own washing machine, which will usually end up in the bathroom or the kitchen. Bathrooms are also lacking in storage units and towel bars. To top it all off, none of the lights are ever "finished" and all light fixtures are just bare lightbulbs hanging from a wire. I don't understand why, in this modern world of cheap and neutral light fixtures, the landlords don't make an effort to present a more finished apartment. Haven't they seen the 5€ pendant lamps at IKEA? Surely they could get a little extra money for the effort, based on what everybody else is proposing!

I am finding it difficult to come across rentals that have everything I'm looking for. One big disappointment for me is the lack of charm in the majority of what I see. It could be that it is exaggerated in the area around Angers and not true for all of France. More often than not, owners opt for white ceramic tile EVERYWHERE for flooring material. What's wrong with hardwood? Well, I guess they think you can't wash it. Personally, white tile in living areas gives me the heebie-jeebies (almost as much as compact fluorescent lights) and I can't imagine putting it anywhere outside of a bathroom and maybe a kitchen. A bedroom? A living room? I can assure you that it is used everywhere.

So maybe it's a pie-in-the-sky dream to find an affordable, charming stone house in a village de caractère where the original materials speak for themselves, or maybe a tranquil city apartment with big windows and wood floors, but we're going to keep on searching until the right thing turns up.

plum tart

2010-08-18T12:47:00.002+02:00

Last Saturday we invited a friend over for lunch. We had very little in the house but I managed to put together a tasty menu:

appetizer: homemade crackers with a tomato salsa made from our own garden's heirloom tomatoes

main dish: pasta with mushrooms and chorizo in a tomato/red wine sauce

dessert: homemade plum tart (with plums from the garden) and homemade frozen yogurt

It was kind of a busy morning but I managed to get everything done before 1pm. I started the frozen yogurt the night before so it would be ready for lunch. I don't have an ice cream maker and I just put the mix into a metal cake pan and put it in the freezer, giving it a stir every couple of hours.

The plum tart was a new one for me and I thought I'd share it here, just in case you have an abundance of plums! I just made this recipe up, based on my experience making fruit tarts.

plum tart

crust
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter (plus 2 tablespoons) or 125 grams
1/2 tsp vanilla (I forgot it this time)
1 tablespoon water

(I added lime zest to the crust this time)

filling
plums
sugar
cinnamon (optional)

directions
Make pie crust according to the instructions here.

Pit and halve the plums. I took some of the mushier plums and mixed them with a little sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan to make a plum compote. Even though the plums were sweet to eat, I found that they turned quite acidic during the cooking process, so if you don't like tart tarts, you may want to go a little heavy on the sugar, in which case I would add a little water to the mix. Let compote cool down. Spread the plum compote over the rolled out crust in your pie pan. Then put all the halved plums over the compote layer (you may want to toss them in sugar first, to up the sweetness factor).

You may want to sprinkle more sugar on the plums at this point. Throw it in the oven (375 F or 190 C) for 30+ minutes until the crust is golden brown and the plums are cooked and bubbling. A great all-purpose fruit tart recipe!

old world / new world: identity photos

2010-08-16T10:32:00.000+02:00

Sometimes getting motivated to write something on this blog feels similar to trying to find the motivation to exercise; I want to - and I have ideas about what I want to tackle - but somehow laziness and procrastination kick in and I end up putting it off. It's been a lovely summer and we just got back home from a 12-day trip to Holland and I'm slowly easing into a bit of work before September hits. A perfect time to start running and blogging!

This summer has been administration-heavy for me, with needing a new passport, a French driver's licence, a new health care card as well as a new visa de long séjour. When applying for various cards and visas, as well as jobs, an identity photo (or four!) is always required. Remember those photo booths where you took goofy photos with your friends? Well those are considered "official" photos here, according to the government, and I've already made four trips to my local photo booth for all my official photo needs!

New job: one photo
Driver's licence: four photos
Health care card: one photo per card (I'm already getting my second)
Visa de long séjour: four photos

Of course when I needed to renew my passport, I needed two photos taken to Canadian standards, so I had to search out a photographer who could do them for me.

I'm not sure what they do with all these photos, but they obviously don't believe in in-house digital photography or scanners! I think that this is a bit of an old world/ new world thing, even though photos haven't been around all that long. In France, even when you send in a job application you need to attach a photo (I've scanned mine into my CV) but in Canada I've never had to do that, and it's probably discouraged so as to avoid discrimination. Not so here!

In addition to providing photos, they also require stamps or prepaid envelopes. Just for my driver's licence, I had to provide two BOOKS of stamps! That's a lot of mailing! Apparently before I can apply to take the theory test - a 40-question test filled with trick questions that requires hours and hours of studying to pass - the driving school had to send my application to foreign services to be approved. Once my application is approved, we can book a time for the test (they're group tests given in large rooms to a limited number of applicants). Once I pass my test, I can have driving lessons, at which point they will evaluate the number of lessons I will need before doing my practical test. If I fail my practical test I will need to wait at least 2 months before trying again. Did I mention that I've been driving in France for 10 years and have owned a car here with no problem for the last 7 years? I was allowed to drive here every summer for 3 months maximum at one time and then when I moved here they told me I was allowed to drive with my BC licence for one year and then I would need a French licence. I fail to see the consistency and it feels a bit like a money grab, but oh well. It's probably not a bad exercise to go through!

Once my passport, visa, licence and health care card are here I think I'll be done paperwork (until next year!).

old world / new world: church bells

2010-07-25T14:07:00.000+02:00

I've been trying (trying!) to not rant on about all the frustrating things in France. The fact is, France is a country with a huge history and very strong culture and some things are the way they are because that's the way they've always been done. Coming from a young country where changes and improvements are made for the sake of efficiency, I sometimes find myself asking "why?" when I know a much simpler solution exists. Changing the minds of the French is difficult and they will always defend the old way, even if it's inconvenient. All that is to say that I've come up with a new category of posts, called old world / new world. It's not so much a rant topic as a comparison between the new world of my home country and the old world of my adopted country.

To start things off, I thought I'd mention a positive thing about the old world: church bells. Every village and city has at least one church and most, if not all, have church bells. On the hour and the half-hour, time is marked with the appropriate number of rings, with the half-hour getting one ring. This goes through the night, making sleeping with the windows open a bit of a challenge for light sleepers! On Sundays, Feast days, as well as for weddings and funerals, there is a longer ringing ceremony that lasts a good 10 minutes. In my village, there are two bells that are a tone apart and they ring independently, sometimes taking turns (ding dong, ding dong / dong ding, dong ding) and sometimes hitting the mark together (diong, diong). Whether I'm lying in bed, working in the garden or preparing a meal, I always enjoy this marking of time and events.

midi: the holy hour (or two)

2010-07-23T12:02:00.000+02:00

One thing I had to get used to when I first started coming to France was the fact that everything is closed at lunch, making it impossible to get anything done between 12 and 2pm. While I'm certainly better at planning my errands to account for this, I still find it frustrating and all tasks seem to take much longer as a result. Another part of me admires this regard for the need to have a proper meal and take time out of the day to relax a bit. Here, there is no question of staggering lunches so as to keep services open; everybody takes their lunch at the same time, lights are turned off and gates are locked closed. Period. Even on the highway, you can see cars in little pull-offs and families gathered around the car (or a picnic table if they're lucky) sharing a meal. As soon as it's midday, it's time to stop what you're doing, wherever you're doing it, and sit down to lunch.

Most people still eat a big meal at lunch, with meat, vegetables, salad, cheese and dessert (and wine!). I tend to stick to a homemade sandwich or salad, and when French people find out that this is what I eat for lunch, they say that it's very unhealthy! I've never thought of sandwiches as unhealthy, but perhaps they're thinking of the 16" white baguette sandwich filled with cheese, ham, butter and mayonnaise. Personally, if I have a big meal at lunch, I feel really lethargic afterwards and need a nap, so I can't imagine changing this particular habit while working.

A part of me would like to see France have the same business and banking hours as Canada, but I can also see that it would be a shame to lose this part of French culture. It's admirable (in a way) to not cave in to the 24/7 mentality of the world (unless you're trying to get something done!).

last names: part III

2010-06-30T07:55:00.000+02:00

Just the other week I signed up for my health coverage at the Sécurité Sociale - before that I had been covered by Jean-Marc's insurance (for agricultural workers - there are four organizations of coverage in France depending on your job, just to make things complicated). When I stated that I wanted to keep my maiden name and have that name on all documentation, they said that I needed to fill out a form to declare that I want to use my own name, otherwise everything would automatically be in Jean-Marc's last name. Only in France (or maybe not!) do you have to declare that you want things to stay the same!

I also just bought a new (second-hand) car on the weekend. When I went to register it, the woman asked in shock if I wanted to register it in my own name. I'm afraid I was a bit curt with her...

I guess the "rolling with it" idea isn't working out as smoothly as I had hoped!

a kitty!

2010-06-21T00:16:00.003+02:00

A friend of Jean-Marc's has a cat who had two kittens, and when he asked us if we'd like one, we said yes! We had to wait for the kitten to be old enough before bringing him home, but just yesterday we picked him up. At first we were going to call him Oscar, but just today we decided to call him Domino because he's black and white and makes things fall over a lot. The nickname "Mino" is also close to the French minou, which is their form of the word "kitty". So far it's been an exciting 36 hours. He seems to be adjusting fairly easily, but when he's got energy and feeling playful, it's kind of chaotic. We're busy trying to protect our electrical cords, lamps and other breakable things and he's busy chasing a pencil or his tail. It's fun to have a little ball of energy with a personality around the house!

a successful trip

2010-06-15T20:48:00.007+02:00

Jean-Marc and I went to the farmhouse at the end of May for nine days. It was a working holiday for us and we spent the whole time preparing the house for this summer's rentals. (Click here to be directed to our French Farmhouse rentals website.)

a living room
As much as we love the farmhouse, one thing it has never had (until now) is a living room. There was a spacious kitchen and a number of bedrooms, as well as a terrace and garden, but there was nowhere to relax and read (especially when the weather was bad). No more! We chose to convert our attic - formerly a bedroom with single beds and our library - into a sitting area. I went shopping and picked up various things, including a sectional sofa that has the added bonus of storage under one side and it also can turn into a double bed. Have a look!

It's a bit of a tricky room because of the angled ceiling and the very low windows, but I managed to fit all the various components in without blocking access to the windows. It's still a bedroom, with bunk beds in the back corner, but it's now also a sitting room, with a reading library and a TV/DVD player with a video library.

the garden
While I was working inside, Jean-Marc was working outside in the garden. Not only was there weeding to do, but there was planting, rearranging, stone-moving and general cleaning to be done.

There was also the secondary garden next to the barn which needed some attention. We haven't done much with it until now because we know we will eventually be renovating the barn, but it has always been a bit of an eyesore. I cleared out the weeds and sowed some wild flower seeds and Jean-Marc planted some perennials around the linden tree and along a wall.

We also attacked a number of other little things (varnishing the stairs, hanging up shelves and paintings etc.) and it feels really good to have completed so many tasks (some of which had been on our "to do" list for at least 5 years!). We got home a week ago and headed straight into a full week of work. We were exhausted from our holiday and were even more so by the time we got to the weekend. Luckily we had no plans last weekend and we were able to catch up on some much needed rest!

For those of you who have not seen the rest of the house, here are a few more pictures.

expressions: words ending in "ing"

2010-05-26T23:14:00.002+02:00

Where do you park your car? In un parking.
Where do you hang your clothes? In un dressing.
Where do you put up your tent? In un camping.
What do you call your schedule? Un planning.
What do you use to wash your hair? Un shampooing.
What do men wear to fancy functions? Un smoking.
What do you call going for a run or a jog? Un footing.

For whatever reason, the French have adopted these English words to mean something other than their definitions in English (much like how we use "entree" to mean a main dish, when it actually is the entrance or starter to a meal). Of course French people expect anglophones to understand these words because they think they are English words, and they seem genuinely surprised to find out that we don't use these words in the same way!

favourite things: milk

2010-05-23T11:20:00.001+02:00

When I came to France in 1990 to work as an au pair, I remember going to the grocery store to look for some milk and I couldn't find any! The reason being, as I later discovered, that the French don't buy fresh milk from the cooler, but rather tetra pack-type bottles from the regular shelves. Since most of rural France doesn't really have convenience stores and the regular grocery stores close early, it's good to be stocked up. The milk doesn't quite taste the same, but it is handy to be able to pick up a six-pack and have it at the ready for those times when you inevitably run out of milk! (By the way, bio means organic.)

find of the week

2010-05-15T20:03:00.001+02:00

This may seem like a very banal thing to get excited about, but my super find of the week was baking powder. I should explain that most baking powder in France comes in little pink paper packets, with maybe a teaspoon or two in each one. When one does as much baking as I do, these little packets become tiresome, so in the past I have resorted to bringing baking powder with me in my suitcase when I travel from Canada to France. Indeed, I have also filled my suitcase with other hard-to-find items, including brown sugar, rooibos tea, maple syrup, vitamins, peanut butter and pumpkin puree! This week, when Jean-Marc and I went to the city on Thursday (it was Ascension, so we both weren't working), we went to an "asian" supermarket. I put asian in quotes because this store has products from Africa, India, the Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand (and yet it's still called l'épicerie asiatique). I can even get peanut butter there! Anyway, we were looking at the chinese soy sauces and vinegars and there I saw this huge can of baking powder. It makes our large jars from home look tiny! It's a French brand but I have never (ever, ever) seen it for sale in the traditional supermarkets. I guess most French people buy their treats instead of making them and so those little pink packets are sufficient for the occasional baker. This giant can will do me just fine, and I may even have a difficult time getting through it all before its best before date of 2012!

work update

2010-05-01T14:56:00.000+02:00

Part of the reason I haven't been writing very much here lately is that my workload has increased dramatically over the last few weeks. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose Language Centre I work for, has given me a lot more contracts, including a long-distance one at 70 kms away from home. On Thursday and Friday, I drive out to a tin can producing plant and teach English to a number of groups. It takes over an hour to get there, but it's a beautiful drive through the countryside and I get paid for the kilometres driven (thank goodness, what with gas being 1.34€ or $1.85 CAD per litre!). In addition to the tin can place, I still am teaching a number of hours at the CCI. On Monday and Thursday I start at 8am and finish at 8pm, so it makes for somewhat tiring days!

In addition to the CCI work, I have started working for an English school in Paris for their clients in Angers (who happen to be in the same building as the CCI, coincidentally!). They have hired me as an "auto-entrepreneur" (self-employed) worker, so I have to bill them and then declare my earnings every three months so that I can pay my deductions. Since I haven't had to pay my deductions yet I have no idea how much I will actually be making, but now that I've officially declared myself self-employed, in addition to salaried, I can try and drum up some of my own business. Which leads me to my last work lead...

My yoga teacher actually has a doctorate in English Studies and he also teaches English. He has declared himself self-employed, and when I mentioned that I had done the same, he suggested that we work on something together. Selling English classes by yourself can be a lot of work, but with two people it makes it more manageable and less daunting. We are putting together a brochure that explains all of our services (individual classes, group classes, workshops and translations) and we will put on a series of workshops throughout the year, starting with a four-day workshop in July. I will likely have very little work through the summer, so this will be a way to tide me over until September.

It's funny how I have fallen into this line of work and I'm still surprised at how much I enjoy it. The only down side for me is the uncertainty of the work and how much I will or won't work in a month. My students can cancel their classes and then that means I don't get paid, which can be a serious blow if somebody cancels 6 hours in one week! The flexibility, however, is great because I can pretty much give my availability and they have to work around it, allowing me the time to go to the farmhouse or do other things, like auditions. I have yet to earn a "real living" from teaching, but I think it might come with a bit more time.

Alright, nose to the grindstone for me!

speed

2010-04-24T14:22:00.002+02:00

This is an English word that has come to mean a lot of different things in French. It's mostly used as an adjective, as in "je suis speed, moi." It can mean rushed, fast, quick, stressed, bothered, excited or in a hurry (and the list keeps on expanding). I blame the movie Speed for this particular addition to the language. Are you speed?

This just in: it's a verb, too! I just heard "j'ai speedé" yesterday. One word, many uses.

la cata!

2010-04-24T14:11:00.000+02:00

The catalogue? The cataclysm? The catalyst? The catapult? Nope, it's a catastrophe! C'est la cata! A useful expression for anything that's gone wrong, even the smallest of disasters.

dark chocolate cake with coffee icing

2010-04-20T11:23:00.000+02:00

This chocolate cake recipe is one of my favourites; the cake is rich but not too sweet and the coffee icing is the perfect accompaniment. The recipe comes from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts - an excellent book that I highly recommend - and it is a winner every time. I usually like to make this as a layer cake, with two layers and icing in between, but this time I made it in a bundt pan.
cake ingredients
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

coffee icing ingredients
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
4 Tbsp strong coffee

In a mixing bowl, add a bit of the boiling water to the cocoa, making a paste, and then whisk in the rest of the water. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour the cake pan(s).

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In another bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs one a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cooled cocoa mixture, beating after each addition.

If using two cake pans, divide batter evenly (or just pour into the bundt pan). Bake for 25-30 minutes for two cakes (40-45 minutes for bundt), until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn them out onto racks to cool completely.

For the icing, cream the butter and icing sugar. Gradually add the coffee until the icing is a good consistency for spreading. You may need more/less sugar or coffee and you can just keep on adding until it's right. If you want, you can grate a little dark chocolate over the cake. Enjoy!

time at the farmhouse

2010-04-20T11:04:00.001+02:00

Many of you may know that I co-own a farmhouse in the French countryside with a friend and colleague from Vancouver. We've hosted workshops there in the past and are now concentrating on renting it out as a holiday home. I went there last week for an initial clean-up and gardening session. Every time I go to that part of France I fall in love with it all over again. The scenery is so beautiful and the friends we have made there are so incredibly lovely, it makes it difficult to live anywhere else. I was on my own this time because Jean-Marc was unable to get time off, but I managed to get quite a bit done, including varnishing a floor, weeding a garden and planting wild flowers, and hanging up some pictures around the house. In addition to all the house-related activities I also managed to catch up with friends over a number of meals and I went to musical that was put on by teenagers in a local château (they had spent the week at the château in a theatre camp, memorizing and working on the show). The sense of community that I feel there is something that is somewhat lacking where I'm currently living, although I'm starting to see slight rays of hope in that department. Jean-Marc and I will return to the farmhouse in June for round two of operation clean-up and I'm already looking forward to it.

www.frenchfarmhouse.ca

yoga in my village!

2010-03-26T13:05:00.000+01:00

Just yesterday I found out that there are yoga classes in my village. Maybe I should explain why this was such a huge surprise. My village is small, not very lively and the kind of place where they even turn out the streetlights at 10:30pm. There is one café, one bakery, a couple of other shops and that's it. I happened to go to the town hall for another reason and then I asked if there were any exercise classes or activities in town. I was told that there are three yoga classes per week and that the cost is 53 euros for three months of classes (once/week) or 150 euros for the whole year. What a deal! I was invited to go to the first class for free, which I did last night. I went to a community hall and I took a class with 12 other people. It was a different style than I am used to - very relaxed and slow moving as opposed to my vinyasa flow classes - but it was a good class all the same. Since we will likely be here for the next three months, I think I'll sign up!

nids-de-poule

2010-03-20T19:58:00.001+01:00

At first I was wondering why people were complaining about driving through chicken nests in the street and then I realized nid-de-poule means pothole!

sundays in France

2010-03-19T10:37:00.000+01:00

It's when we go out on Sundays that the difference between France and North America really strikes me. Sundays are still days of rest here, where everything (or pretty much) is closed - even in Paris! The streets are empty, the stores and restaurants are locked up, and every place feels like a ghost town. It reminds me of how things were when I was growing up in Vancouver, but for me there is also something a little sad about seeing the empty streets. So what do most French people do on Sunday? Most still go home to mama and papa for a big midday meal which lasts until 3 or 4pm. Unless kids live really far away from the family, it is expected that they will spend the day with their parents. After 4pm, the families emerge from their houses en masse and go for a gentle family stroll in the countryside or the city. Sometimes you can see four generations enjoying their walk together! For those who don't have family close by, there are a few restaurants that are open, as well as all the cinemas, so a meal and a film are a possibility. There are also the occasional flea markets and garage sales to check out, in addition to special festivals (cidre, apple, cheese, potato - you name it!). Generally speaking, though, it's a quiet and somewhat sleepy day, meant to be spent with family: a time to gear up for the week ahead.

a new house (almost)

2010-03-11T13:09:00.001+01:00

Last weekend, Jean-Marc and I drove around the countryside to search out potential villages to live in. While the apartment we are currently in is quite comfortable and affordable, it's far away from both our places of work; Jean-Marc's work is 25kms away and mine is 30kms away, making for a lot of driving every day. Our current village is also not very inspiring and charming, and I'm craving the beauty of France in my everyday life. We ended up in some villages along the Loire and found a house in Savennières, a lovely village that is known for its white wine. The location is ideal - only 5kms from Jean-Marc's work and 15kms from mine - and there is even a train stop with trains that get to Angers in 8 minutes. The house had a "for rent" sign posted on the door, so we called the landlord right away to see if we could have a look. He asked us to come by on Monday evening, so we headed there after work on Monday. The 200+ year old house was huge: three floors, three bedrooms, plus a big attic with windows. The living room had tomette bricks on the floor, as did the attic. There were exposed beams and the windows had all been replaced with double panes. The drawbacks were the (rather) ugly carpet on the stairs and in the bedrooms, the kitchen, which included only a sink in a huge room (no cupboards, no counters... nothing!), the unattractive woodburning stove standing *in front* of the fireplace with a metal pipe going up the fireplace, and the electric heating (which can be very pricey in France). There was also no garden, just a back terrace-courtyard, and we were really hoping to have our own vegetable garden.

We were quite tempted, despite the ugly elements and drawbacks, and I could easily see the potential in the place, but I could see that it would take some money to get things the way we would like them (the kitchen, for example!). When we got home we had a peek at Jean-Marc's rental agreement and found out that he has to give three months' notice, making it difficult to move right away. We could do it, but we'd have to pay two rents for a few months! Oh well. It was good to see that affordable houses in charming places that are close to our work exist. I suppose we will have to decide when we want to move and then give our notice without having anything else lined up. A leap of faith type of move.

ce n'est pas terrible!

2010-03-07T23:28:00.000+01:00

In addition to writing about my favourite things, I have decided to write about French expressions that I find interesting or unusual. My first installation is ce n'est pas terrible. As an English speaker you might think that this means "it's not bad/terrible" (ie. it's good), but actually it means "it's awful!" At first I took this expression at face value but I soon realized that it means the opposite of what it seems and now I'm using as a part of my regular language. Likewise, c'est terrible can mean "it's great!" My dictionary tells me that this usage dates back to 1664, when terrible changed from its original negative meaning to its alternative positive one. And here I thought it was some recent slang expression! Of course if you want to use this expression and sound like a native, you will need to drop the ne and just say c'est pas terrible, ça!

château flipping

2010-03-06T15:15:00.002+01:00

There is an anglophone network, with regional websites throughout France, called Anglo Info. Every now and again I check it out to look at the classified ads where I can find things that people are selling or giving away. This week I saw an ad placed by a young Irish family who is selling up shop to move back home. I thought I'd go take a look to see what was on offer and when I arrived I realized that they, in fact, lived in a château. They purchased it a couple of years ago and totally renovated it, making it into a bed and breakfast. The interior of the house was gorgeous and they truly did a wonderful job. After finishing the house and running it as a business, they decided that France wasn't for them and that they missed Ireland too much, so they sold it in January and are now selling most of the interior fixtures and furnishings. I have no idea how they afforded to buy and renovate this house, but I can imagine that they turned quite a nice profit in the end. I had a look around and seriously contemplated purchasing a number of things, but in the end I just bought their old TV for my farmhouse (we have a dvd player already with a number of dvds but were lacking a TV to be able to use them). I don't think that I would enjoy living in such a large château year-round but it sure was a nice place to dream for a little bit!

pumpkin pie

2010-02-26T12:41:00.010+01:00

Time for another recipe! A few weeks ago, a friend of ours gave us a huge pumpkin/squash-type thing and we were able to make three dishes out of it: pumpkin soup, pumpkin and chorizo risotto, and pumpkin pie. This being France, pumpkin pie is not known here at all and so this was Jean-Marc's first taste ever! Here is the recipe that I used (half borrowed, half made up). As you can tell by the photo, it was so delicious that I forgot to take a picture of it before it was half-eaten. Yum!

crust
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water

filling

3 eggs
2 cups of pumpkin puree or a 15 oz. can of pure pumpin

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

directions

For the crust, cut the butter into little chunks and mix it into the flour, salt (if using) and sugar with either a knife, pastry cutter or your fingers. Once the mixture resembles a coarse meal, mix in the vanilla extract and add water one tablespoon at a time. You may need more or less water, depending on the temperature and the weather, so add a little, mix a lot and then see if you need to add some more. Too much water will make the crust hard. Knead the dough until it holds together. More folding and smearing with your palms will create more of a flaky pastry. Set aside to rest. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (190 degrees C.)

On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle about an inch larger than your pie pan. Flip the dough into the pan and tuck in the edges. In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills. Bake the pie for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned (the center will still look wet). Cool on a rack.

audition in Paris

2010-02-21T18:44:00.001+01:00

Even though I was rather sick this past week, my voice miraculously came back enough for me to go to my audition in Paris. I took the TGV, which takes about 1.5 hours from Angers, and had a couple of hours to kill before and after my audition. Since it was Sunday and most things were closed, I just ended up walking around and having a meal. It's still amazing for me when I think about the reality of being able to go to Paris for the day (and to be back by 5pm!).

My singing was ok and I felt relaxed and confident; it wasn't the best audition of my life, but certainly not the worst! The ensemble had a full week of auditions this week, so I'm not sure whether anything will come out of it for me. It was a good experience, though, and a nice warm-up for the bigger audition I have planned for the end of March.

last names: part II

2010-02-20T20:29:00.000+01:00

I have a Canadian friend who lives in France and she mentioned that it's best to just roll with the last name thing. Officially you keep your maiden name but sometimes they assume you have taken your husband's name. A little look on Wikipedia brought up this information:

"Since the 1789 Revolution, the law stipulates that "no one may use another name than that given on their birth certificate"; furthermore, the 1946 revision to the Constitution guarantees that "women and men have equal rights", including in the use of their birth name. Upon getting married, a woman keeps her maiden name (nom de jeune fille). She may, under her maiden name, for example, open a bank account, sign checks, obtain a passport, etc. However, marriage grants a married person the right to assume his or her spouse's last name. It is still a common practice for a woman to use her husband's name in this way, despite the fact that no official due process formalizes this usage. The majority of married women use their husband's name for all documents, official or not."

I personally think this is a confusing way to go about doing things and I'm not sure I agree with it. How do I prove who I am? I'm going to take the advice I was given and roll with it for a while (for now, anyway!).

last names

2010-02-18T13:38:00.001+01:00

Arriving in France as a married woman, I have come to the conclusion that France has a long way to go in its treatment of women and their decision to keep their own last name. In every instance, it is automatically assumed that I have taken Jean-Marc's last name, and it is proving to be inconvenient and confusing. Here are my experiences:

1. the bank
When setting up my bank account, the person insisted on putting Jean-Marc's last name as my last name and then said not to worry, that I would receive a bank card and cheque book with my own last name. She said that it was just a formality that was based on an old way of doing things. When my bank card arrived, it had Jean-Marc's last name and not mine. They needed to reorder the card. Just two days ago when I went to a different branch to make a deposit, I showed my cheque book and they were confused because the cheques had my last name, but the computer screen had Jean-Marc's name. When I write emails through my bank account to my branch, it doesn't have my correct name as the sender.

2. health insurance
We went to the insurance place together to get me set up with an account under Jean-Marc's card. They took my ID, photocopied it and we mentioned that my last name was different than Jean-Marc's. When I received my attestation in the mail, they got my name wrong. I needed to ask for a new one.

3. extended health insurance
ditto

4. immigration
When I arrived in France I had to send off a form to the immigration services to announce that I had arrived. There was a line for "maiden name" and "married name" that I was confused about. I didn't fill anything out in the "married name" line because I've kept my maiden name and I didn't want them to use a name that is incorrect. The people at the immigration session said that I would have no end of problems because the sticker that they put in my passport only had my maiden name and the married name was left blank; it means that everyone will think I'm not married and that could prove difficult when I need to renew my visa.

In all of these circumstances I have explained that all my ID has my maiden name because that is the name I have chosen to keep. If they issue me health cards, bank cards and immigration stickers with the wrong name, I think I'd be in even more trouble when it came time to prove who I am. I don't believe that it's impossible to change the computer system to accept a person's name as it is, without specifying married or maiden. Indeed, I am 100% sure that men don't have the same issues. If they can do it for men, they can do it for women. In Canada you give your last name - whatever you have decided to use - and then there is a line for maiden name, if applicable. I don't understand why France is so behind. Tomorrow I have a "civic education" day where we will discuss liberty, equality and fraternity. I might have a thing or two to add to the discussion of equality.

getting sick

2010-02-16T20:11:00.001+01:00

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later, and in my case it happened sooner. Jean-Marc was sick all last week and I thought that after a week of escaping whatever he had, I was home-free. To my shock and disappointment, I started feeling something coming on last Saturday and ended up spending the whole day in bed on Sunday. I taught two hours on Monday and by the time I got home I had little energy and barely any voice left. This morning was even worse, so I decided to go see the local doctor. He assessed the situation (strep throat, an ear infection and bronchitis) and prescribed a whack of stuff for me. Medication is covered by health insurance here (basic and extended) so I was able to go to the pharmacy and walk away without paying a cent. Here's what I got:

3 bottles of the equivalent of Tylenol (the doctor prescribed 6 bottles, but to be fair there are only 8 effervescent tabs in each bottle)
1 bottle of nose spray (the doctor prescribed 2)
1 bottle of ear drops
1 package of anti-inflammatories
2 packages of antibiotics

What struck me is how quick he was to prescribe all this. At home in Canada, since drugs are not covered by insurance, the antibiotics would have been prescribed but the rest probably would have been just a suggestion for over-the-counter products. I can see how France is the #1 consumer of prescription drugs in the world!

Then there was the uncomfortable situation of having to call in sick for tomorrow. I was scheduled for 8 hours of classes and there is no way I could have done that; my voice wouldn't have lasted one hour! In France, calling in sick involves needing a doctor's certificate that needs to be mailed in to both the employer and insurance company. If I were full-time, my first 3 days of being sick would not be paid (as a contract worker, when I don't work I don't get paid). I can see how this prevents people from calling in sick when they're not really sick, but it also encourages people to go into work sick. Who wants to lose three days' pay for a cold or the flu? So people go into work sick and make their co-workers sick and so on, and so on. That's how Jean-Marc got sick and that's how it came around to me. Of course I feel horrible calling in sick after just one month of work, but there is no way to change anything except to try and get better soon.

The biggest bummer of this episode is that I had an audition planned for Sunday in Paris. It's not the biggest audition I had planned, but it would've been a great ensemble to sing with part-time. I will see how it goes and I still may try to go, but I think it's unlikely.

my job

2010-02-09T11:08:00.002+01:00

I have been working for three weeks now and I was waiting to see how it would go before making any public observations. In all honesty, I was stressed and working like crazy the week before I started. I had three classes starting the same week and I had to prepare my classes without any textbooks and with very little knowledge about my students. The first week was difficult and I started to wonder if this job was viable; I am paid for 10 hours, but I was working 40 hours of unpaid time just to get prepared. Once I had my first classes, things fell into place. It all came back to me and I actually enjoyed the experience, which was somewhat of a surprise for me! I find the teaching experience to be energizing and I have gotten my prep time into perspective. There are still a couple of hours of prep to do before each class, but it's much less than the first week.

I have three classes at the moment, with a fourth starting next week. Two of my current classes, as well as the one starting next week, are groups of two people and they all come from the same company. I'm teaching everyone, from the secretaries and the technicians to the administrative director. I have one other class that is with a retired British woman who is learning French. Yes, you heard it right - I'm teaching French in France! I think my boss gave me this class because I am anglophone and I can relate things back to English, if needed.

So next week I'll be teaching 12 hours per week. It's still not a full-time job, but what's good about it is that most of my classes are in the late afternoon/early evening, meaning that I have most daytimes to get other things done. I have a couple of auditions coming up that I need to practise for, so I'm happy to have a bit of extra time to myself.

These classes are all contract work and so far I am committed until the end of March, with one class going until May, and I am still waiting to see how things progress before committing to more. If I decide to continue on, we will likely look for another place to live that is closer to the city.

underground recycling

2010-02-06T12:00:00.001+01:00

A favourite thing that isn't edible? I wasn't sure it was possible, but I ended up finding one. I have seen these recycling containers in many cities and villages around France and I think they're a great idea and a perfect solution to city recycling, where the apartment buildings don't necessarily have the room to house their own recycling containers. Essentially, these are underground bins with an above ground chute that can hold a lot of recyclables. When it comes time to empty them, trucks lift the whole bin out of the ground, unload them and then put them back. I think it's great because it doesn't take up a lot of room, they're not too ugly to look at, and they're handy enough to encourage people to actually use them.

tomato soup

2010-01-31T13:23:00.002+01:00

As a kid, I was never too fussy about cream of tomato soup. The stuff that came out of a can seemed sweet and I never understood the appeal of it. Now that I'm older, I have an appreciation for homemade tomato soup. Here's a recipe that I made the other day. The original recipe that I got from a website seemed heavy on the milk and light on the tomatoes, so I changed the proportions a bit and added a few extra things, like curry paste, tomato paste and a bouillon cube. The thing I learned is the secret of the baking soda: added to the tomatoes, it keeps the milk from curdling.

cream of tomato soup

2 tablespoons butter

1 chopped onion

2-3 tablespoons flour

4 cups milk (you can do it with less)

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (to counter the acidity)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

¼ tsp mild curry paste

1 bouillon cube

salt and pepper to taste

water

directions

Melt the butter in a medium to large pot. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the onion is softened but not browned. Sprinkle the flour over the butter mixture and continue to stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk and continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened. Stir the baking soda into the tomatoes (it will fizz). Add the tomatoes to the milk (it might froth up a bit) Add bouillon cube, tomato paste, curry paste, sugar and bay leaf and bring just to a simmer. Add extra water if necessary. Remove from the heat and put through a strainer or mix with an immersion hand blender. Taste and correct seasonings with salt and pepper. For the ultimate in comfort, serve with a grilled cheese sandwich. Yum!

Just a quick note about curry paste: I find it really handy to have around and I add small amounts to pasta sauces and other hearty soups to give them a bit of depth. Just a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon is usually enough for a big pot of whatever you're cooking.

a job!

2010-01-12T23:16:00.000+01:00

I suppose I should mention that I have found some work! I will be teaching English for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in their Language Learning Centre in Angers. Classes will mostly be one-on-one and will either take place at the centre or at people's place of work. Most of my students will be adults who need English for their job, but there are students from all sectors, including retirees and vocational students. The only downside is that there is no guarantee of hours per week, but I think that with a little patience it will work into something stable. I'm thankful to have found some work and it's nice to know that we don't have to move for the time being. (Now I just need to brush up on my grammar!)

mers-les-bains

2010-01-12T23:02:00.006+01:00

Just before New Year's Eve, we drove north to the English Channel to spend a few days with Jean-Marc's brother. He lives in Mers-les-Bains, a seaside resort town that is straight out of the late 19th century. The town is filled with tall brick houses that have colourful woodwork and are rented out primarily as holiday homes. Since it was the dead of winter, the houses were mostly empty, but it wasn't hard to imagine what it might be like in the summer. We rang in the new year with a delicious seafood dinner, champagne and a tarte normande (almond/apple tart), and worked off our meal the following day on an energetic walk up and down the cliffside hills to the next town. On the way back we could see a storm coming across the Channel. We thought it was rain, but when it hit the coast we realized it was snow. Luckily we didn't have that much further to go!

apple tart

2010-01-11T17:51:00.009+01:00

When we were invited to a dinner party with friends last weekend, we offered to bring dessert. I made a carrot cake and Jean-Marc made an apple tart. He's very good at cooking and baking, and tarts are one of his specialties. With this tart, he tried something new: he put a layer of homemade applesauce on the crust before adding the sliced apples. The applesauce was made earlier in the week from apples from a friend's orchard. It was a good addition to the pie and I would recommend trying it!

apple tart

crust (see the alternative crust down below)
1 3/4 cups flour (200g)
1/2 cup of butter (125g)
pinch of salt (if butter is not salted)
1-2 tablespoons of cold water

filling
6-8 medium apples
applesauce (optional)
1 egg, beaten
cinnamon & sugar for sprinkling

directions
For the crust, cut the butter into little chunks and mix it into the flour and salt (if using) with either a knife, pastry cutter or your fingers. Once the mixture resembles a coarse meal, add the water one tablespoon at a time. You may need more or less water, depending on the temperature and the weather, so add a little, mix a lot and then see if you need to add some more. Too much water will make the crust hard. Knead the dough until it holds together. More folding and smearing with your palms will create more of a flaky pastry. Set aside to rest.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (190 degrees C.) and grease your pie pan. (I don't grease the pan, but Jean-Marc swears by it.) Peel and cut the apples into slices - each quarter apple should give you at least 4 slices.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle about an inch larger than your pie pan. Flip the dough into the pan and tuck in the edges. Spread a little applesauce along the bottom of the crust (1/4" deep) and begin to place the apple slices vertically around the edge of the pie. Start placing the rest of the slices horizontally around the pie until you have at least three layers. Take the beaten egg and brush it all over the top of the pie and then sprinkle the whole thing with a little cinnamon and sugar. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the crust and the apples are brown (our oven was a little too hot, so it got very dark brown!).

Additional Note:
I just made this tart again and this time I switched up the crust ingredients to make it slightly sweeter. It turned out really well!

alternative crust ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water

As for the carrot cake, it's the third one I've made since I've been here and I'm still trying to figure out the best recipe. It was good, but I feel there are some changes to make.

the nine hour dinner party

2010-01-11T16:56:00.005+01:00

This past weekend we were invited to an annual dinner party in Jean-Marc's home town with all his childhood friends. Normally it happens before Christmas but, since there was a lot of flu going around in December, it got moved to the new year. We were asked to arrive sometime after 4pm, when Epiphany galettes would be served (a puff pastry pie with almond paste filling) and a king and queen would be crowned. Traditionally a "fêve" (nowadays a porcelain figurine) is hidden inside the pie and whoever gets it in their slice, gets the crown. So we arrived around 5pm and sat down for some galette and bubbly. This was the beginning of our evening and it continued until 2:30 am. We spent over 9 hours around the table, eating various courses and discussing everything from politics to local gossip and, of course, food. Here is a rundown of our meal.

5:00 pm - galette with sparkling wine
7:00 pm - choice of cider or rosé w/grapefruit syrup
9:00 pm - pumpkin soup with croutons
10:00 pm - pork roast and pommes dauphines
10:45 pm - green beans fried with garlic
11:30 pm - cheese course
12:15 am - dessert (we brought apple tart and carrot cake)
1:00 am - coffee/tea with chocolate and mandarin oranges
2:30 am - we went home

I should mention that there were 19 of us, including 8 kids ranging in age from 6 to 14. The kids were awake the whole time and I remember the 6 year-old girls playing twister at 2:00 am. There is definitely a different attitude towards kids' bedtimes here!

christmas in france: the menu

2009-12-28T13:18:00.002+01:00

We just got back from four days with the family over Christmas. The meal on Christmas day started at 1:30 pm with apéritifs and ended around 5:30 pm. I think that Jean-Marc's family traditionally has their Christmas dinner on Christmas eve, but this year was different due to one brother and his family spending the 24th with the in-laws. Here's what we had:

apéritifs
kir royale (crème de cassis and champagne)
cashews
crackers

appetizers
prawns
fresh oysters with vinaigrette or lemon juice
foie gras with toasted bread
smoked salmon

main course
pommes dauphine (fried battered mashed potato balls)
turkey braised in sweet white wine with chestnuts and lardons
salad

dessert
îles flottantes (egg white islands floating in crème anglaise)
chocolate cake
carrot cake

It wasn't quite the traditional dinner I have grown up with, but it was all very delicious. The braised turkey was really to die for. One hour before serving, Madeleine, my mother-in-law, put in some peeled cooked chestnuts and it was a wonderful addition. Aside from all the food we consumed, we also had a nice time together, playing games with the kids and going for walks in the countryside. A very nice Christmas, indeed!

christmas in france

2009-12-24T14:43:00.004+01:00

It's taken me a while to get into the Christmas spirit. I've been admittedly otherwise occupied trying to find work, but reality set in this week. Since my muffler fell off my car last week, I've been waiting for the mechanic to finish the repairs and have been stuck at home. This meant that Jean-Marc and I needed to get all our Christmas shopping done after his work hours. We did just that on Tuesday evening and then I set about baking for the family. I baked three kinds of cookies (almond pepper biscotti, sugar cookies and espresso shortbread) and found some round cardboard boxes to put them in. In addition to the cookies, I have been making cakes for Christmas. Since I couldn't make up my mind, and we were going to be there for a few days, I decided on a carrot cake with cream cheese icing and a chocolate cake with coffee icing. The chocolate cake is my go-to recipe for an amazingly decadent not-too-sweet dessert. I will post the recipe soon!

I'm not quite sure what to expect for Christmas, other than a lot of great food (Jean-Marc's mom is a wonderful cook). I know that oysters, foie gras, smoked salmon and champagne are all traditional, but it remains to be seen what will be on offer. More than anything, I'm looking forward to spending time together with my new family.

almond pepper biscotti

2009-12-24T01:25:00.003+01:00

This recipe is from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts, but I have altered it a bit because I didn't have the anise seeds that were originally called for. I have made this recipe a couple of times and this time I drizzled chocolate on the biscotti to make them fancier, but I think it was a mistake. These biscotti are tastier on their own; the chocolate is too much competition for the subtlety of the almond and the spice of the black pepper. You may feel differently! Here's my version.

ingredients
2/3 cup whole almonds (toasted)
2 eggs
1 egg white
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 ground black pepper
1 cup sugar
2 cups white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

directions
If your almonds are not already toasted, put them on a cookie sheet in one layer and toast in the oven (325 F.) for 10-15 minutes, until they are fragrant. Set them aside to cool.

Beat the eggs and egg white in a large bowl. Stir in almond extract, pepper and sugar. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until well blended. Coarsely chop the almonds and stir them into the dough. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or oiled) and form two logs that are about 3 inches in diameter. I find the dough to be really sticky and just do my best with my hands or a spatula. The logs will spread quite a bit, so make sure to leave enough room between them.

Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 35-40 minutes. Cool logs on a rack for about 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 325 degrees F. With a sharp knife, slice the logs diagonally crosswise into 1/2" pieces. Place the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet and bake again for 20-25 minutes, just until lightly browned. The biscotti will become firmer as they cool.

(To make the original recipe, add 1 Tbsp anise seeds along with the sugar etc.)

the weather

2009-12-22T12:50:00.004+01:00

The last week has been full of extreme weather for this western region of France. It's been quite cold and there have been some snowstorms, but the snow didn't stick to the ground. This photo was taken from our living room window on Sunday when it was sunny and rainy at the same time.

favourite things: salted butter

2009-12-22T12:36:00.002+01:00

You may think that I have a thing for salt (and you may be right!). This butter has actual chunks of sea salt in it, which doesn't make it that great to cook or bake with but does make a delicious option for buttering bread. Somehow the occasional bit of salt mixed in with honey or jam makes my morning tea and toast extra special. This is not the kind of salt that is iodized and hurts your tongue; it's a flavour enhancer that brings out the best in everything. Tasty!

favourite things: fleur de sel

2009-12-20T15:11:00.000+01:00

There is salt and then there is salt. One of my first discoveries with salt happened back in 2001 when Caitlin and I headed to our newly purchased farmhouse for the first summer. We bought some salt to put in a salt shaker and when we got it home, we realized that the grains were far too big to use in the shaker. We used this salt from its container and immediately realized how wonderful it made everything taste. It was Fleur de Sel de Guérande: an amazing tasting salt that makes anything you put it on sing with joy! Since that time, it has become a staple in my kitchen. I use fine sea salt in my cooking, but when it comes to putting salt on my food, I always reach for the fleur de sel. In the regions where this salt is produced (Guérande in the west and Camargue in the south) you can find stalls at the market that sell fleur de sel mixed with all sorts of herbs, spices and even flowers.

coincidence

2009-12-20T14:41:00.000+01:00

Last Monday I went to Paris for an interview. Of course, this being France, there was a strike on the suburban train line that I needed to use to get to my interview, so I ended up taking a few metros and a cab. On one metro trip, I noticed two people sitting across from me: directly across was a older man who was wearing a ball cap and two seats over was a young woman wearing jeans and some Bensimon shoes. I noticed the man because he seemed to be staring at me, but I later figured that he was just staring in my general direction, and I noticed the woman because the space between her nose and her upper lip was much larger than normal.

I continued on towards my interview, took a cab from La Défense and arrived with two minutes to spare. The interview itself wasn't too interesting; the office was in a hovel of a building and they were clearly looking for someone who had a good knowledge of the classical music touring network in France (which I don't!). They also were suggesting that they wouldn't have any time to train a new person and that there were many urgent things that needed doing. In short, I was not the girl for the job and that's ok.

I left the interview and figured out how to take the bus to La Défense. Once there, I hopped on the metro and a few stations later, I saw the young woman who I had seen earlier that day get on the metro. She got on my car through the door nearest me. I thought that was interesting. I then transferred to another metro and then a couple of stations later, the man with the ball cap got on my car through the door nearest me. It got me thinking about coincidences that seem too impossible. Of all the millions of people living in Paris who take the metro, I bumped into the same two people twice in the same day on two different trains. Both times they entered the car I was in through the door closest to me. What are the odds?

I had a few hours to kill before heading home, so I went to the Galéries Lafayette (a large department store) and saw their immense Christmas tree in the centre of the store. Wow!
(photo from this website. )

favourite things: antésite

2009-12-12T15:48:00.001+01:00

I have decided to document all my favourite things in France and here is my first installment. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you antésite (on-tay-zeet).

This is for licorice lovers only! It's concentrated licorice that makes a refreshing drink when you add just a few drops to water. The resulting drink is almost like a Pastis, minus the alcohol, and it contains no sugar. Being a Dutch girl with deep licorice roots, I am a big fan of this invention! It gives tap water a little extra somethin' somethin'.

interview time

2009-12-12T15:26:00.001+01:00

After being here for six weeks, I am finally heading into a couple of interviews. Getting an interview seems like a success in itself and I am encouraged by it, especially after receiving so many rejection letters. This is all part of the process and somehow I am managing to not get too emotionally attached to any one possibility. Perhaps this is because of the disappointments I had earlier this year, when I was offered jobs, got all excited, and then was let down when the work permit didn't come through. Allowing myself to get excited and to dream about the reality of the job made the disappointment that much greater. Keeping a calm head about the implications of each job is another thing; sometimes it takes constant reminding to not worry about the future and just concentrate on the present moment and the current task at hand.

the job search

2009-12-07T14:58:00.000+01:00

Something I have been doing ever since I arrived here is looking for work. It's an interesting position to be in. It's as if the world has opened itself wide open to me and I get to choose which direction to follow, with very few constraints. Of course there is the reality of needing to work as soon as possible but there is also the question of finding work that is satisfying and conducive to a good quality of life. In my search I have been balancing the location of the job (do we really want to move there? can Jean-Marc find work there?) with the relevance of the work to my training and experience. At first I felt as if I had no attachment to one region and I was ready to go anywhere, but the longer I stay here, the more choosy I become about where I would accept work.

I have to remain open-minded about my options, so that means that I might be working as an interior designer, a library assistant, a production assistant for a musical group, a singer, an English teacher for adults, a music librarian for an opera company or a stage manager for an orchestra. If I were to stick to just one thing, I would be seriously limiting my options and I think that I would be waiting a long time to get a job. My goal is to be working by February, if not sooner, and I hope to find something that is everything I'm looking for. Here is to hoping!

christmas decorations

2009-12-06T18:19:00.003+01:00

Today Jean-Marc and I headed out to the local forest to see what kind of greenery we could scavenge for decoration. We spotted some honeysuckle vines in the forest and Jean-Marc immediately saw the potential. We made two spheres, as well as a wreath, and when we got them home we put lights inside. One sphere is sitting on top of our armoire in the bedroom and the other is in the living room. I like the effect of the natural branches and the lights, and it's a nice alternative to a Christmas tree (which we didn't really have the room for).

la pouëze

2009-11-30T13:16:00.002+01:00

This is the name of the village where I am living. It's not a very pretty name and it's not a particularly charming village. It was once known for its slate quarry (best in the nation!) but now that the quarry is closed, the village has lost a lot of its life. La Pouëze is about 25kms from the city of Angers and it has a population of about 1700, most of whom commute to the city for work. An old-timer told me the other day that there used to be 24 cafés here and now there is only one. While the village is not all that lovely, it is in the countryside and there are lots of fields, country paths and woods to explore. My personal favourite is the small wooded park behind the château; it's where I go running when it's not too wet out.

We will likely be moving in the near future, depending on where I find work. The thing is, now that I've settled in here and we've set up the apartment so that it works for us, I'm starting to get attached to this place!

bran & pumpkin spice muffins

2009-11-28T20:06:00.007+01:00

Here is the recipe that I tried out for the first time today. It's from The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene. There is barely any oil and very little sugar, but they are very tasty.

bran & pumpkin spice muffins

1 1/2 cups bran

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp boiling water

3/4 cup pumpkin

2 eggs

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp milk

1/4 cup honey (I used brown sugar)

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves (I added a little all-spice, for kicks)

chopped walnuts for topping (I used chopped almonds)

directions

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and grease muffin tins (makes 12+ muffins).

Mix bran, water and pumpkin in a medium bowl and let sit for a few minutes. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, honey, sugar and oil. Combine egg mixture with bran mixture and stir until smooth. Mix in the flours, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, sprinkle with chopped nuts, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

rainy saturday

2009-11-28T19:42:00.002+01:00

It was a typical November day today; the kind of rainy day when you don't really feel like heading outside. Luckily for me, I had already signed up for a morning yoga class, so I had an excuse to get out of the house (otherwise I'm sure I could've easily spent the day in my pyjamas!). After yoga, Jean-Marc and I checked out the Saturday morning market and stocked up on lots of fruit and veggies. The selection and prices at the market are a million times better than at the supermarket and I was able to find things, like cilantro and jalapeno peppers, that I was starting to lose hope on finding. After the market, we went out for a little lunch on our tickets restaurant, which are like gift certificates, given by employers as a perk, that can be used to pay for meals in a restaurant or for anything 'fresh' in the grocery store (fruit, veg, butter, cheese, meat, bread etc.). We then made a little trip to the organic store for more pantry items and headed back in the rain to our cozy apartment. As soon we got back I felt like baking something, both to warm up the apartment and to have something tasty on hand for the week. We still had a pumpkin from Jean-Marc's dad's garden, so I thought I'd make some muffins that I had seen in a book. Yum! I will include the the recipe separately.

my favourite lemon loaf

2009-11-25T15:35:00.006+01:00

There were a few sad looking lemons in the house so I decided to make my favourite lemon loaf. I originally got this recipe from a magazine (can't remember which one) where it was listed as a lemon blueberry loaf. I left out the blueberries one time and have been making it that way ever since. This time I added 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds, just for kicks. When I haven't had any lemons around, I've successfully made it with oranges.

The French refer to anything in the form of a loaf (savory or sweet) as a "cake" (pronounced "kék") so this is my "cake au citron."

lemon loaf
1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
grated lemon rind of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional)

for the glaze
juice of one lemon (or maybe two)
1/3 cup sugar

directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease and flour a loaf pan (mine is 4.5 x 12 inches).

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time.

In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and lemon rind.

Add the dry ingredients and milk to the butter/sugar/egg mix, alternating between dry and milk, ending with dry. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. (The original recipe gave a cooking time of 55-60 minutes. My oven doesn't indicate temperature, it just gives the numbers from 1-9, so maybe it runs hotter than I'm assuming. At any rate, my loaf was done - and maybe a little overdone - after 40 minutes.)

Once the loaf comes out of the oven, heat the sugar and lemon juice for the glaze in a pan. Once the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is bubbly, pierce the loaf with a toothpick or knife all over and pour the glaze over the whole loaf. Let sit for a while before inverting onto a plate.

yoga

2009-11-25T13:43:00.007+01:00

When I was here earlier this year I found a yoga studio that I wanted to try out but, since I was on such a tight budget, I never got the chance to check it out. Now that I'm back, I have decided that it's worth the cost to get out, exercise and meet new people. Last week I went for my first class and yesterday I had my second class. It felt so good! Not only did I get to exercise and reap the mental benefits of yoga, I got to practise with other people who speak this same language. It's kind of like music; regardless of what language you speak, if you can play/sing music together with others, you can communicate and build community. (the photo is of the front entrance to the studio and taken from the website: http://www.yoga-angers.com/ )

making cards

2009-11-23T18:44:00.009+01:00

Today I tackled a little chore that has been on my "to do" list for a while now: making greeting cards. I used to do this a lot in the past and have somehow fallen out of the routine or habit. I got Jean-Marc to print out some of his photos in a small format and then I cut them out and glued them to some paper. Not exactly super creative on my part, but at least it is something personal from both of us. All this cutting and pasting has me realizing how much I enjoy this kind of manual work. When I was a design assistant I quite often made spec boards, which showed all the chosen materials, paint colours, finishes and hardware on one board. I had a lot of fun putting those together and I even got extra work from other designers doing the same thing. As for my cards today, some of them are already destined for specific people and others are just waiting for an occasion.

lemon oatmeal poppy seed scones

2009-11-21T17:41:00.009+01:00

Yesterday I went to the Bio-Coop to pick up some things that are hard to find in regular French grocery stores: bran, bulk almonds, wheat germ and whole wheat bread. I saw some poppy seeds and couldn't resist buying them. I've never bought or cooked with them before but somehow I was drawn to get them and bake delicious things. Maybe I was craving something from back home. There is a bagel bakery in Vancouver, called Solly's Bagels, that makes the most delicious oatmeal poppy seed cookies, but after searching the internet I found no recipes that fit that description. I did, however, find this scone recipe. The original recipe seemed a little big, so I halved it and came out with 8 good-sized scones. All I can add is "yum!"

lemon oatmeal poppy seed scones
1 cup oat flour (I just used oats and ground them with a hand mixer)
1 1/2 cups flour (I used half all-purpose, half whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/3 cup buttermilk (I used regular milk with a little lemon juice)

directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a large bowl, stir together the oat flour, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, lemon zest and poppy seeds. Cut in butter until the lumps are smaller than peas. Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Pat dough into a 1 inch thick circle. Cut circle into 8 wedges like a pie. Place pieces onto a baking sheet, and brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. (I ended up baking mine for closer to 30 minutes because I like them a little more toasted.)

my arrival in France

2009-11-21T17:10:00.005+01:00

I arrived in France with my "visa de long séjour" just three weeks ago. My flight landed in Paris at around 9am and my husband Jean-Marc was there to pick me and my luggage up. Most of my stuff was already in France because I had sent it earlier in the year when I came to look for a job, but I still had two big suitcases full.

It was quite an exercise to go through my things - the stuff of life that I collected over the years - and decide what I wanted to keep and what I could part with. The truth is that in the past I was fairly attached to my things, but, through a series of big changes in my life, I learned to not identify with my material possessions and found that it is easy to let go. More stuff will come into my life and I know I will come across other amazing finds over time.

Now that I'm settled in, have unpacked my pots and pans and my few remaining possessions, I am feeling like I am home. I'm looking for work and slowly accumulating information that I need in order to be completely set up in France. The journey is exciting, sometimes frustrating, and always full of new experiences. The best part about it is that I'm sharing my life with an amazing person: Jean-Marc.