Home Again

I am back in Portland after a bit more than 2 weeks in France.  It was wonderful, every second.  What I can't believe is that I did not gain a single ounce of weight while eating every single thing in sight. God bless the French active life - I am now a true believer.  I know I walked a lot but look at what I ate:

This was a mushroom fricassee with a salad - don't you love the presentation?

Two of our desserts at the Musée d’Orsay.  It was tough, but someone had to eat them.  We did.

Fig stuffed with foie gras - I know, can I be more politically incorrect?  It was deliciously succulent but at the price of a poor goose being force fed.  They tried to tell us that it didn't bother the geese but I find that impossible to believe.  If we are judged by how we treat our animals, I must give it up.  

Our usual breakfasts were fresh croissants or equally wonderful pastries with coffee followed by 3-course lunches (out) then dinners (mostly at home) composed of lots of cheese, wine, bread, foie gras, tapenades, fruit and more pastries. Amazing. I am grateful for both the wonderful food and the walking that kept all those calories at bay.

France was simply wonderful.  My cousin Loretta and I flew first to Belgium where our good friend Sabine picked us up. It was almost unreal that, less than 24 hours after boarding a plane in Portland, we were floating down a river along the Belgian/France border in a canal boat with Sabine's friends toasting each other with Kir Royal's (bring 'em on - delicious). We visited with Sabine and her family for the next 2 days. Her daughter owns a cheese business and did we ever profit. We must have had 12 different cheeses during our 2-day visit and then Sabine, bless her, packed all the left overs for us to take to Paris. One of my favorite memories of that train trip is the rich aroma wafting up from one of the stinkier cheeses. It was quite strong but I figured other riders were an audience that understood both what it was and how lucky we were to have it.

Once in Paris we connected with another cousin, Bonnie, my sister-in-law, Melinda and a good friend, Sue. The five of us were together for the next 2 weeks - first in Paris and then in Sarlat, in the Périgord/Dordogne region.

Paris was magnificent, no surprise. What wonderful memories as we revisited places we loved (Musée d’Orsay, Cluny, Left Bank neighborhoods, Ile St Louis) and explored areas new to us.  Fun shopping - we all got scarves (it seems like everyone wears a scarf in France - men and women alike), purses and  shoes.

A sidewalk cafe on Ile St Louis in Paris

The Cluny Museum of Medieval Art

The restaurant at the Musée d’Orsay - I felt like I was eating at Versailles

Our apartment was right across from the Eiffel Tower - literally about 100 steps gave us an unobstructed view. It was on the second floor of an old building on Rue de Suffren, between a restaurant and a patisserie. The apartment had 2 bedrooms, a pull-out sofa in the living room and a very modern kitchen and bath. It was perfect for our needs. In visits from the past I have walked by the tall doorways that let into French apartment houses and wondered about life behind those doors. This time, I had a key. I felt very Parisian.

This trip we did not use the Metro. Instead we bought multi-day tickets for the Bato-Bus - a boat that makes 8 stops along the Seine at destinations that beautifully matched where we wanted to go. We would stroll under the Eiffel Tower, board the boat from the quay, and then sail to our destination. I think I most appreciated it on the way home each day. Sometimes we were on the boat for 45 minutes before it got back to the Eiffel Tower - 45 minutes of chit chat about our day, people-watching, views of the gorgeous Parisian buildings floating by - lovely way to travel if time is not of critical importance.  Those of you who have been to Paris, think Bateaux Mouches - but smaller with no upper deck.

We picked up our rental car outside of Paris and drove 6 hours to Sarlat, a world away, where we were plunged into the Middle Ages. The house we rented was part of the ancient wall that once surrounded the city (most of it is gone, just bits remain - including the wall of our living room/back bedrooms).  The historic center has been beautifully preserved and I loved walking through it. It was small enough that we quickly learned the alleyways that never seemed to go in straight lines.  Much more interesting that way.

Melinda adds the necessary scale to a Medieval alleyway.

What I most loved about our ancient house (I figure it was at least 800 years old) was the shutters on the windows. They were just what you imagined a medieval house would have. Large with heavy iron work that propped them open or closed them tight.  I loved throwing open my bedroom shutters each morning.  Such a satisfactory experience.

This is our terrace that backs on the ancient wall.  The open shutters led to the living room, the closed shutters above were Bonnie's bedroom window. Melinda's tiny shutter was above, on the top floor, not visible here. She and Sue had perfect medieval rooms up at the top of the house - exposed stone walls and wood beams spanning the open space up to the roof. Thankfully, the house had modern bathrooms (3 of them) and kitchen.

The Sarlat region is famous for several foods - fois gras, walnuts, tobacco and truffles. It also has a market that is considered among the best in France. We arrived the night before the Saturday market so our first morning in Sarlat was spent walking among all the food booths and shops - amazing.

The cheeses - YUM!

Glacé fruit

How does one choose?  We ate lots of 'em.

Urgh!  I forget what this is called - it's a nougat.  I know someone reading this will tell me.

We used Sarlat as our base to drive around the surrounding area. We visited medieval and Renaissance towns, churches, castles and a chateau in the Périgord, sailed down the Dordogne River to view towns tucked into the hills, visited the model of the Lascaux cave, toured an ancient mill (and shared a drink with the mill keeper in his upstairs rooms), and ate and ate and ate.   

Sarlat in the day time

Sarlat at night

One of the best experiences of the trip was the opportunity to share meals with French friends in their homes. I know the average tourist doesn't get this experience and we were grateful for it. Loretta and I spent time with Sabine and her family at her home in Northern France (just a few miles from the Belgian border) and the 5 of us spent time with some of Sue's French friends she met in Petaluma through the Master Gardener program. The first, Bernadette, had a fascinating home about 20 minutes from Sarlat. The kitchen was ancient (although updated and modernized). Her son built the rest of the house around the kitchen - a modern addition that perfectly matched the style of the kitchen. It was exquisite. We ate lunch on the covered porch that overlooked her magnificent gardens that included wide meadows filled with wild flowers, an ancient grotto (we were very close to the caves at Lascaux), and unexpected small gardens with seats and tables tucked into nooks and crannies of her land. One of my favorite memories is her "laboratory" where she concocts elixirs from the plants on her land and from her wanderings in France and Spain. It was in her cellar - dark, dirt walls, with wood shelves tucked under beams supporting the house - talk about the Middle Ages. I told the others afterwards that Bernadette would have been considered a witch back then! She gave us tastes of the elixirs - heavenly - and then gave each of us a small bottle and another bottle of honey from her bees to take home (and, yes, I got them through customs).

Jean-Paul and Marie-Helene were the other Master Gardener friends we visited.  Their house was about 200 years old and on a large piece of property close to Bernadette's. They used to live in Paris but bought this house 20 years ago as a second home and now live here permanently.  

Jean-Paul and Marie-Helene's house

This is the main house.  They told us that it is so hot in the summer that they use this addition (in photo below) with a separate kitchen and covered porch for preparing and eating meals.

After visiting 4 small towns in the area, we spent a wonderful late afternoon with Jean-Paul and Marie-Helene.  We toured their gardens and bee hives then sat under a tree for aperitifs.

Although aperitifs was the original invitation, once there, they asked us to stay for dinner. We ate at their long wood table in the kitchen of the main house. Marie-Helene is an excellent chef (she smiled modestly while Bernadette and Jean-Paul described her creations) and whipped up a wonderful meal. It wasn't complicated but absolutely delicious. I wish I had photographed it (or rather photographed it well - all of these photos are from my phone camera with all of its limitations).

- First course:  Sliced duck and sausages from Avignon - beautifully presented.  The meat slices were intricately rolled on the platter. It was art.
- Second course:  an omelette of eggs (from the neighbor's chickens) and cepes (a local mushroom that the region is famous for) and salad
- Cheese course - 5 cheeses.  My favorite was the one in little balls with honey in the centers
- Dessert - lightly sweetened yogurt with perfect strawberries and cream
- And of course wine.  At the end they gave us some cherries that were marinated in an elixir and then some Armagnac.

I looked around the table at these wonderful new friends who had been so hospitable and thanked my lucky stars that I was sitting there. Our language abilities varied greatly. Some spoke no English or French, some spoke a bit of the other language, a few were fluent. Whatever, we made ourselves understood and had a wonderful time.

So, when I review this amazing trip I have several thoughts:

1. Traveling with 5 women was lots of fun.  We focused on important things - beautiful towns, fun shopping, great food - especially sweets, wine and cappuccinos. We didn't always stick together. 2 of us might go somewhere while the other 3 did something else. Some would go out while others stayed in.  Whenever someone went out, however, they usually brought back something heavenly (food or wine) from their explorations to add to dinner. It was all low key and delightful.  We meshed well.

2.  Renting an apartment and a house was so much easier than staying at hotels.  We had kitchens and washers/dryers - and used them.  It was also cheaper.  Thank you, Melinda, for all your advance planning.

3.  As wonderful as were the things we saw, I also treasure the time spent with our French friends.  Being with them offered unique opportunities to understand issues of importance to the French, exchange viewpoints, and laugh a lot.  I loved experiencing their homes and gardens.  It is also fun to explore towns with locals - they know everything and are happy to share it.

4.  I have never eaten so well - and gained nothing in weight.  Alleleuia.

5.  French wine - YUM!  We drank lots and lots of it.

This is what we drank at home in Sarlat - not to be confused with what we drank

 at restaurants or had in Paris.

6.  I loved the contrast of Paris as Haussman reconstructed it in the mid 1800s (the tall buildings, wonderful rooftops, wide boulevards) and the medieval feelings of Sarlat and surrounding towns.  Both were magnificent.

A medieval cloister

An overlook in a town near Sarlat

Dordogne town seen from our boat

The moat (long since dry) at Chateau de Losse - I mean - Medieval?!?!?!

7  The kindness of strangers. I am continually astounded by the unexpected kindness of strangers that I have experienced world-wide. It is why I go out of my way to help when I notice someone with an accent who appears to be facing a challenge of some kind here in the U.S.. I want to repay what I have received. On this trip strangers helped me in airports, in Paris and in the Périgord.  I am grateful.

The trip home was exhausting.  We left Sarlat at 4:30 am and, this time, the GPS did us wrong. An hour into the trip, when we should have been half way to Toulouse, we were lost in the back roads of the Périgord - pitch black, no houses, no sense of a highway. When the GPS suggested we turn into what looked like a gravel path we balked, pulled out a map and eventually found our way to Toulouse - but just in time.  A quick flight to Madrid and then a mad rush to our connection. We thought 90 minutes was enough time for the layover forgetting that flights to the US require an extra security check. The Madrid airport was large, modern, and in our case, badly marked for our gate but we eventually made it. 11 hours later, we landed at Dallas and then had a long wait to get through the immigration/passport line, through customs and then another race to our gates. This time the layover was almost 3 hours but Dallas always confounds! I waved goodbye to the others and went to my gate for Portland and finally slept on that final 4 hour leg.  In bed 28 hours after getting up in Sarlat.

I remembered why I was here in Portland when Wesley greeted me the next day.  He ran to me, jumped in my arms and snuggled in. He wouldn't look at me, just snuggled, fitting his head under my chin. When he finally got down so he could walk into my house, he waited until I sat and then immediately climbed back onto my lap and snuggled some more. We had missed each other.

Now, 3 days later, I can tell you that Wesley believes that France is a bit of heaven. He can't believe the many interesting things that have come into my house from France. There is the new chicken on my kitchen table that bobs a bit when you touch it. I told Wesley that the chicken doesn't say, "hello" like American chickens,  but "bon jour." He is fascinated. We have read his new books (they are in French, but he doesn't know I am translating - badly mind you - but translating), and he was most excited about a new book that has lots of stickers.  Then there are the tiger slippers I brought him in Paris - they fit perfectly, and the small cushion from the Cluny Museum that shows a reproduction of a rabbit from one of their marvelous tapestries. He used it as his pillow when he spent the night on Sunday. And finally, he loves to stare at the mechanism while turning the handle on the tiny music box that plays La Vie En Rose. I told him that it reminds me of Paris and we hum along together.  Yesterday, he told me that someday he will go to Colorado and then on to France (loved the combination) and that I could go with him. "What a great idea," I said. "Let's go."  I'm ready whenever he is. Well, maybe his parents would like to come along too.

The French Tiger Slippers

A simply wonderful trip.