Friday, August 24, 2012

Yesterday I posted something on my Facebook that got me a funny response. I got a private message from my brother in law ( I only have two, so you pick which one) anyway, it made me laugh and laugh! 

He said “Seems to me you should spend less time driving around in your new car or sipping iced tea on the patio and update your blog. It's been over 2 weeks. Some of us are waiting.” Too funny!

I am always amazed when people tell me they actually read it!  It started as a cathartic thing for me to find the fun in some difficult situations, but then became an easy way to answer the same questions people had. Now, it’s become kind of fun to find out who is reading and who is waiting for updates; after all it’s just the crazy life I’m leading these days!

Two weeks ago I had an appointment at Skoda to pick up my car. As I mentioned earlier, we ordered it back the beginning of June and we were waiting for it to be manufactured. When we arrived, the car was under a white cloth cover complete with little pouches for the side mirrors.  Kind of like the people who cover their cars at night with the fabric stuff. I would have loved a photo but by the time I realized it was my car in the showroom that they were whipping the cover off so dramatically, it was too late to ask him to re-cover it and let me take a picture!  I really love the little car; it’s not fancy although we added a few nice features such as air conditioning and rear back up sensors that beep.  I only got to drive it one day before we went out of town, but this week I’ve loved zipping around town and parking it has been a dream!  I’ve been able to explore new grocery stores that I’ve wanted to try such as Lidl, and E.Leclerc, which has been fun!

Now, the funny part about driving here is the “kit’ you must carry in your car.  It’s the law and they don’t sell the pieces together, but you must purchase them and carry them at all times.  So, there is in the trunk a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, a reflective triangle and two one-time use breathalizers. You also must carry a reflective vest, but it must be in the vehicle with you as you are supposed to put it on before exiting the car in case of emergency.  The police do routine stops for insurance checks as well as kit checks. Of course, I will die if they pull me over, even if it a routine check. Plus, I told Ross if my car is on fire, I am NOT going to stop and put on my vest and go to the trunk for a fire extinguisher….I am going to grab my purse and run!!!

We then headed to Angouleme for a week so Ross could do an intensive, immersion week in French.  Jacques and Claire live there so while Ross had class each day I spent it with Claire and the family.  I had so much fun and we compared “adjustment” stories.  We’ve been through many of the same things even though she grew up here, it’s a cultural shock coming from America. We shopped together and cooked together and had a great week just chatting together.  It was great to see Bradley, who was visiting from Togo; his family left the US last year, so we hadn’t seen him in ages.  He is doing his schooling in France this year. We’ve known him since he was a little boy, so it was fun to see how he has grown up.  After one year, his French is amazing, so Jean-Samuel, Sylvain and I felt hope that maybe we’ll get it all!

Wednesday was a national holiday; Assumption Day, so no work for most people and no classes for Ross.  Assumption Day was started in 1950 as the day the Catholic Church decided they needed a holiday to show when Mary went to heaven.  It isn’t in the Bible, and most people don’t even know what it is, but as I’ve stated before, the French LOVE a good holiday so they don’t really care why!  

We spent the day with Jacques and Claire in Cognac, which is about 45 minutes from their house.  We took a tour of the Hennessey plant which involved a little ferry ride across the river to get to the production plant. The process was fascinating and I never knew they used only the vapors to make cognac.  Our tour guide was a young woman who not only spoke super fast, she had a bit of a mumble; so I’m sure she thought I was a total nutcase as I would get as close to the front as I could and stare at her mouth and then I could understand a good bit of what she said.  If I was off to the side, forget it.  At the end of the tour there are samples, we got three juice and one cognac which we passed and each tried a sip…..YUCK!   I might consider cleaning the toilet with it if the bottles weren’t between 36 euro and 3500 euros each J I’m so not a fan and apparently neither is most of France since they export 99.5% of the stuff.  It was a fascinating tour and nice to understand some of the local culture.

We had lunch at a lovely little restaurant that had décor that made you feel you were on a city street.    We walked the town and later had coffee and tea at a little sidewalk café.  We passed a funny little shop that was obviously for plus sized women; but oh the name and the photo. Madame Ronde ; which means Mrs Round!!!!

On our way back we stopped at an Abbey.  It is mostly unused anymore except for little retreats.  There is one guy who worked there that seemed so sad as he only whispered when he talked and said he just spends his days alone and just copies scripture.  Obviously Claire and I are such gentle, quiet women that this was pout perfect place-ha! We were in the beautiful church alone admiring the woodwork and beauty when Claire went to sit at a pew we thought was a tiny seat thing when WHAM, the seat fell down and made the loudest bang.  It echoed and echoed in the vaulted ceilings.  We started to giggle and Ross came flying around the corner to see what we were up to. We didn’t linger but enjoyed the buildings which were so very old.

One evening Claire did “lapin” or rabbit for dinner; As we were searing the pieces I asked what on earth those two pieces were…..it turned out it was the head, split in two, complete with eyeballs !!!  Even Claire was surprised as they usually don’t put the head in!   

Then one day she did “canard” which is duck.  Afterwards she saves the fat as it is clear, and not full of yucky bits.  She tells me it’s the cleanest and best of all animal fats.  She then lets it congeal (okay I know Lindsay is gagging right here) but then used the fat to cover chicken in the crock pot to make a conficture.  I know it sounds weird, but actually very delicious!  We’ve eaten at their house for years, but usually arrive after food prep is done…..so now I know all her secretsJ

Two things I’ve purchased since being at her house are an electrified fly swatter and a lettuce washer.  The fly swatter is awesome, you swing at the bug and press the button and it fries the bug!!  With no A/C here and open windows without screens, the fly swatter/zapper is perfect!  Since the lettuce is all fresh from the farms, the washer is a must! I had been struggling getting the grit out and I know talking about a silly lettuce washer seems dumb, but it’s the little things that help!

So, now my challenge is to try a few French recipes.  I will only be buying canard or lapin that is already trimmed and boned and with no EYES! 

Arriving home we hit a heat wave.  The weather hit the high 90’s and hovered around 100.  Okay, no A/C….phew…..so now the trick is to work the shutter system.  You keep the shutters and windows closed and yes, it’s dark in the house, but is also kept it about 20 degrees cooler inside. My little shutter system usually consists of in summer, leaving the front shut until noon while the back set are open, then switching as the sun moves.  But, with extreme heat, it changes.  In winter I open everything just to get sunlight and a little heat. I think we finally have the hang of it. We actually talk about building a house in America and using some of the features from here; a combo of both would be great. We’d install A/C though!

Last Monday, Ross was able to get his new company car.  It had been here in St. Cyr since the 25^th of July, but even though we were here, the person from SKF who handles this stuff was on holiday.  So, it sat at the dealer here for a month. When I say that EVERYONE goes on holiday in August here is an understatement.     Ross has had one or two pother people in his whole building.  The factory was shut down and even the cafeteria is closed.  In town, our bakery just puts a sign in the window and leaves town. It’s hysterical, you can’t get anything handled or done for the whole month; it’s their holiday time!  So, Ross got his car which we most likely will have the rest of the time we are here.  It’s quite nice with lots of bells and whistles.  In his allotment, we could have gotten a big name car but with not much on it; but we’re so not name people just to say we have a BMW or Jag or something….rather we prefer loaded with features.  I haven’t driven it yet or ridden in it, just sat in it in the driveway. Tomorrow I’ll get my first ride!

We’re actually going tomorrow to pick up a new toilet.  I ordered one from Leroy Merlin (our local Home Depot type store).  When back in the US, I realized how much I LOVE our tall toilets and then coming back here, they are soooo short; even shorter than our normal US ones. So, I found one that is perfect and ordered it.  Eric, our plumber, handyman will install it for us.  I met a lovely elder lady in the toilet aisle and we had a nice chat.  She has artificial hips and knees and wanted a taller toilet too. Ross came upon us in full toilet conversation!! I introduced him and we all had a good laugh.

Sunday at church was good in that we understand more and more, but bad in that it was 100 degrees out and there is no A/C at church. In a country where deodorant (and sometimes bathing and laundry) are an option…….phew!  I just do not do smells well and it’s bad on a normal day, but add the extra heat!!!  Now, before you groan, many, many people here are very clean; but they think nothing of wearing their clothes over and over again.  Some do wear deodorant but many, sadly, do not!  We decided to eat out after church and pulled into a restaurant where we noticed all the doors were open-no go, that means they are hoping for a breeze!  It’s hard to find open places on a Sunday, but the next we tried had shut doors, so it was a hint that they had A/C inside! So, that was our brilliant plan for eating, the place with A/C wins!  It was Buffalo’s grill again, so we had “American hamburgers”. They were yummy and it was fun to laugh again at their interpretation of American food. I went to use the bathroom before leaving and as I’m going tom wash my hands, there is a man washing his false teeth out in the sink. So, I check the door and then tap his shoulder pointing out that he is in the wrong bathroom. He was shocked and questioned me, so I showed him the two doors….he then apologized and we smiled.  Yes, some toilets are co-ed, but this one was actually females only!

Yesterday while out I realized the heat was causing men to strip down a bit; I saw not one but two men biking topless. Okay, they were not Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte bodies, but old men, not super fit and kind of saggy…..WOW!  I find the fashion here amazing, somehow I thought I would be the frump of France; not having designer clothes and all…..but it’s really more” people of Walmart” that I’ve noticed.  I’m like a fashion-ista! Plus, I wash our shirts every time we wear them and we wear deodorant!!!

Earlier in the year several people emailed me about a woman doing all the talk shows on how French kids were better behaved than American ones-well, I would love to chat with her; the kids are the same all over the world.  I see five year olds with pacifiers and throwing fits, a little girl in Ikea yelling Maaman louder and louder until she’s shrieking because her mother was talking and didn’t shush her and brothers and sisters fighting!  So, my conclusion is kids are kids and all need discipline in their lives, no matter what country you live in.

Ross is planning a trip to Brussels (only one day) and then Amsterdam in September.  I am thinking of tagging along to add to my countries visited list!  I think there is a Switzerland one coming up too.

We’ve been enjoying Liam on Skype.  I love watching him as he is so mobile now.  He has that little mischievous side which I enjoy! There is a photo Katie sent me of him when she had him in a baby proof place ( she thought) and it got too quiet.  There he is climbing into the closet! I love it!  He waves bye-bye and says it now and we love it!  We watch him eat and make a mess and watch him playing in his toy room….every little bit is fun to watch! This week she had the computer on the other side of the gate and the camera following him.  He kept ducking at the gate looking at me on the computer; then throwing his toys over to me J I can’t wait until he says Nana and recognizes me.  Of course, then he got his toes in the gate and tried to climb over! We reminded Tristan that he was a two gate kid since he was a climber…too fun watching normal toddler activity and knowing it’s your grandchild!

I’ve been working on learning the books of the Bible in French. When we are at church by the time I figure out the book, they’ve said the chapter and verse  (some numbers take me a while to process too) Some books are very similar, or easy to understand but some are totally different and I’m lost.  I get Premier Rois is First Kings, but Esaie for Isaiah and Sophonie for Zephaniah are really tough!  I tried singing them to the tune I use in English, but no way do they fit!

Tonight’s dinner is smoked salmon with pasta and crème legiere…..also lardon with pasta and crème legiere……my first French recipe!!

More blog next week, we’re having dinner Sunday at a couple’s house from church. They speak English so we’re looking forward to getting to know them better.

I’ll be on the lookout for funny, interesting things……and yes, this afternoon, maybe some more sweet tea and a book on the patio J