Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween and as I write I think how I should be in Georgia right now catching up with family and friends and working on filling boxes of things to ship back here that I need; things like children’s books for each holiday that I can use in English classes or a few of my warmer sweaters and clothing……and then meeting my neighbors as they ring the bell tonight with their kiddos……..but instead here I am in France sitting at the table writing.

Monday I took Sophie to the kennel and Ross and I took a taxi to the train station.  We were taking the train to Paris, spending the night in the hotel and flying out Tuesday morning.  We’d both fly into Philadelphia where he would work for three days while I took another flight to Atlanta.  He was to join me for the weekend to celebrate Liam’s first birthday. On our way, he got an email saying our flights had been cancelled due to hurricane Sandy.  He immediately got on the phone to try and re-book flights.  For him, the soonest they had an open flight into Philly was next Monday  and for me they could get me as direct flight into Atlanta but not until Thursday. So, we took another taxi home after switching my train ticket ( for a fee of course).  I called yesterday and picked Sophie up after 24 hours at the kennel.  So, it’s been an expensive week of going nowhere!

Ross ended up having to cancel his meetings so for him, there was no reason he could pop over to Atlanta for the weekend now.  That is a bummer especially when Thursday and Friday here are work holidays so he won’t even be able to go into the office. So, while we are disappointed, we are very thankful for those we know and love who had to deal with the storms.  You know at the end of the day, if your family is okay, the rest really isn’t as important. Now I am trying to re-arrange things and cram my visit into less days.  It’s a bit of a mess, but I am really pleased I still get to go.

So, since I last write, nothing much new except that it is mushroom season here and we have been enjoying trying the different varieties.  The black ones in the photo don’t look very nice, but they sure were tasty.  They were also 19 euro a kilo which everyone tells me is super cheap! Around Christmas they will be up nearer 30 euro a kilo.  I just got a small sampling so it was worth 2 euro to try them. We eat so seasonally here that it is fun to see what comes out next. 

Over the weekend  we took a field trip to my school to show Ross the crazy back roads I take and we went back to the hotel de chateau in Chaumont.  We had been thinking about the lovely meal we’d had there this summer and wanted another try to see if the food was as good or just the memory of it. Silly I know, but it had been a gorgeous day and we ate out on the terrace, etc.  Now, it’s much colder and we ate in the dining room.  The food didn’t disappoint, the chef there really has a way with flavors.  The only thing I couldn’t do was the pre-starter liver pate mousse.  I had one spoonful and had to pass it on to Ross.  Nice restaurants here give you something pureed or mousse like in these tiny glasses before your meals and it’s fun to try them.  This one however for me was too much.  It was cold, but nice and clear, so we enjoyed the drive and seeing the sights along the river.  Seems all our outings here revolve around exploring good food…..hmmmm.

There was this silly cat though that kept following Ross. If he slowed down and stopped, so would the cat.  It would run along next to him and try and rub his leg, too funny.  any of you that know Ross, you know how much he LOVES cats!!!

Food here is such a part of the culture and dining is more of an experience, so we’ve had fun adapting to that cultural difference.  So, here are some random food photos of our mushrooms and meals Saturday.  Hopefully, if all goes well tomorrow, I will write again when I return in mid-November!