Sunday Lunch

Last weekend we were invited to my husband's aunt's house for Sunday lunch.  Let me explain, this does not mean grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  Sunday lunch in France is a true cultural experience that usually means several courses eaten leisurely. Time spent with your friends and family at the table is meant to be enjoyed and savored like the meal being served.  

Beverages for everyone in the family.  This is a time for chatting and catching up.

We arrived in time for "les apéros" cocktails and snacks. There was rum punch, juice, soda and of course Pastis.  Pastis is an anise and licorice flavored alcohol traditionally from Provence and the south of France.  This is not an adult-only part of the meal.  Children and adults alike enjoy the pre-dinner banter while sharing snacks and drinks.  It is fun to hang out with the host and hostess for a short time before the meal is served.

The ritual of the pouring of Pastis.  First, pour into glass, then add cool water and perhaps some ice.  Cloudy is normal.  

I love this picture of my mother-in-law and our aunt's mother! 

They are so beautiful!

We moved to the dining room and took our seats at the table.  Our aunt had dressed the table with pretty plates and napkins.  We started the first course of tomato and mozzarella cheese stacks with a slice of ham.  She prepared an "anchoïade"- a sauce with anchovies, for the tomatoes.  I don't really love anchovies but this sauce was very good!  My mother-in-law brought "gougères" - cheese puffs to add to this part of the meal.  They were perfect! Gougères are like the puff of the cream puff but not sweet.  Instead of adding sugar to the batter, you add salt and cheese before the batter is made.  They are absolutely delicious. 

(click the French words for links to recipes)

The main course, le plat principal, was a roast and "gratin de pommes de terre" -  scalloped potatoes.  The roast was rare and delicious and her potatoes were awesome.  My mom always made scalloped potatoes with canned soup (I still love your scalloped potatoes mom!) but these were made with cream and butter and they knocked my socks off!

Of course, the cheese platter was next.  We had two different kinds of cheese.  The Camenbert was creamy on the inside with a fuzzy white outside.  I like the inside part but not the outside.  The Morbier had a stripe of blue.  Yum!  Both were great. 

BREAD AND WINE!

I think it is safe to say that bread is a staple at almost every French meal.  So, there was plenty of baguette to go around for each course of the meal.  Wine was served as well.  Our uncle served a red Beaumes de Venise, a Côtes du Rhone.  I like it!  

So the joke is that they insisted that I take a picture of the coke can with the wine bottle. We drink more coke than wine?  I'm not sure but Sophia enjoyed her coca-cola because we usually don't drink it at home. 

They made me take a picture of the other bottle because it has a funny label.  It says "Shit Wine - The worst hiding the best - A philosophy wine".  It reminds me of some of the funny and witty wines labels we have at home.

I brought dessert - banana bread and chocolate chip cookie pie.  I know, it wasn't French.   But hey, I'm good at those and I can make them quickly with my eyes closed.  I promise, I will try more French recipes.  I am trying every day!

That's not all folks - next stop, Tante Jeanine!

 So, after our meal we had dessert and coffee and more discussion.  Sophia went to read her kindle and we slowly cleaned the table off.  My husband's cousin skyped from Saint Martin and we all had the opportunity to say hello.  We left and brought my mother-in-law home and we went to visit Tante Jeanine, my father-in-law's sister.  Jeanine lives a few miles away in the small village of Villars.  She surprised us with cake, cider and cousins.  Two versions of King's cake - one had candied fruit and the other was covered with almonds with a praline filling. What a perfect day!  We visited with Jeanine, Guy and Mireille and their dog. We made plans to get together in a few weeks to have lunch!

 Thank you Tante Katie and Tonton Michel for hosting us time and time again.  Thank you Tante Jeanine for spoiling us and Sophia every time we see you!  See you in a few weeks Guy and Mirelle!

I hope you enjoyed Sunday lunch with my family.   

Come visit me sometime and we can try a similar menu!  

I'm not sure if I could do it as well but it sure would be fun!

Avignon - City of the Popes

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Coat_of_Arms_od_archdiocese_of_Avignon.png

In 1988 I participated in a study abroad program through SUNY Stony Brook.  Avignon was my city of choice because I did not see myself living in Paris and I wanted to go to a smaller city.  As a student in the "Popes' City", I had a great time hanging out in cafés, drinking wine at the new wine festival and on many other occasions and exploring the city.  La Faculté de Lettres et Sciences Humaines was my home away from home for a year.  The students in our group had the opportunity to attend French classes as well as special classes for study abroad students.  It was the immersion that did it, and the fact that I met a handsome French guy!  By the time I returned home I was fluent and completely smitten with the guy and the culture.   

Avignon is a beautiful fortified city.  You can explore the different neighborhoods, visit the covered market, explore the Popes' Palace, wander in the gardens and dance on the St. Bénézet Bridge.  While my mother and her friend were visiting last November we made the trip to see my former college town.  

Our first stop was Square Agricol Perdiguier, a small park next to the tourist office. The park, named after a carpenter, is where I would go when I had some free time between classes.  There are the vestiges of a Benedictine cloisters, flower beds and many monuments and statues to check out. 

Our next stop was the most modern crèpe stand I have ever seen.  This machine could make six crèpes at a time.  As I was watching the woman fill each order, all I could think about was the I Love Lucy scene in the chocolate factory.  Would she be able to complete all the orders without messing them up?

We ordered ham and cheese crèpes and a nutella crèpe and not only were they delicious but they were huge and inexpensive!  Yum!  By the way, this shop was a bit different when I lived in Avignon.  Back then we ordered steak-haché-frites, a heart-attack-in-a-baguette,  a hamburger and fries loaded into a baguette with mayonnaise.

http://snack-laboulega.com/snack-st-aygulf-10

We continued up Rue de la République and I reminisced about the places I would go.  There was my bank, the Monoprix and the Casino supermarket.  Eventually we arrived at the Place de l'Horloge and stopped in front of the Mairie - City Hall.  The city was on high alert, we visited the weekend after the attacks in Paris, the streets were closed, the police were present everywhere and the Gastronomy fair had been postponed.  

 

If you look, you can see my mom's friend Mary enjoying a spin on the carosel out side City Hall.

The Popes' Palace is a major tourist site in the city.  Avignon was like the French Vatican during the 12th century, where 7 successive Popes reigned over the Roman Catholic church. Of course these popes were of French origin and they favored the French crown, but all that is water under the bridge.  The Popes eventually returned to Rome but the French got to keep the palace and the vineyards.

View of the Palace from the Place du Palais.  In the sumer this open area is often filled with street performers and crowds of tourists.

Views from the interior of the Palace.  We learned that there had been many renovations on the palace and each new Pope made changes and additions to the structure.

View of the remparts.

The roof of the kitchen.  There is a hole where the smoke from the hearth can escape.

 Over the years since the Papal residency, the Palace had been used for lots of things including military barracks and a prison.  It has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. The large photos show what renovations had been done to the Palace to bring it back to the time of the Popes.

 Sophia and I climbed to the roof and we had a close-up view of the statue of Mary on the top of the Church, Notre Dame des Doms.

We also had a great view of the Pont Saint Bénézet.

 

 There are some of you who remember a song about this bridge, perhaps you learned it in French class.  
Click here to listen to the song.

http://comptines.tv/sur_le_pont_d_avignon

 Le Pont Saint Bénézet was built between 1177 and 1185.  This bridge spanning the Rhone river originally had twenty-two arches but only four remain.  The bridge is named after a shepard who, according to the legend, heard the voice of Jesus ask him build a bridge spanning the Rhone.  It is said that he lifted a huge stone to prove the divine visit.  You can visit the chapel of Saint Nicolas, the patron saint of sailors, while on the bridge.  

 Sunset on the Rhone.

Looking back at the city you can see the Pope's Palace.  

Walking the ramparts at sunset.

We spent a very nice afternoon in the City of the Popes.  I loved reminiscing about my year abroad and sharing my memories with family and friends.  I hope you didn't mind!

La Durance and le Pont de Mirabeau

La Durance - looking north from La Chapelle Sainte-Madeleine 

I wanted to tell you a little about the Durance river because of a walk we took last weekend.  Several times we have passed by the bridge supports, a little chapel and what seemed like a trail along the river, I was intrigued and I wanted to see more.  We were able to go exploring there last weekend and the weather was perfect for a nice walk.  

http://www.irstea.fr/nos-editions/dossiers/eau/changement-climatique

http://www.lesechos.fr/18/08/1998/LesEchos/17711-065-ECH_la-durance--ex-fleau-de-la-provence.htm

La Durance is a "fleuve" in the south of France that has its headwaters in the southwest Alps near the city of Briançon and is a tributary to the Rhone river.  The French word "fleuve" is given to rivers that are tributaries and flow into another river.

Living in Sainte-Tulle, whenever I go anywhere I am conscious of the canals and the Durance river. We are always weaving around the canals, finding the closest bridge or underpass.  I pass by water generated power stations every day. There are signs everywhere reminding that people are not allowed to walk on the canals or in the river beds because of the possibility of flash floods.  In this part of France, the canals and dams are used to distribute water, create energy, and moderate the flow of water to prevent floods. The dams can be opened up to control water levels causing waves to run through the riverbed without notification. People have been killed and injured when this happens and even though the water looks safe, it can be dangerous in an instant.  

On our walk, the first thing we saw was the supports for the old Pont de Mirabeau. There is something that draws me to these towers, they make me think of stories I've read.  These structures once held the cables of a suspended bridge.  They were beautiful edifices constructed between the narrowest part of the valley.  Today the modern bridge spans the river between the old structures.

My husband and daughter saw some stairs carved into the hill behind the bridge supports and climbed up to discover where the cables were once anchored into the hill.

When they climbed up the stairway, they found the gallery and chambers where the cables were wrapped around and anchored to the rock/mountain.






Because this is one of the narrowest points on the Durance, there have been several bridges located here.  In the top post card, you can see the suspension bridge built in 1835 and its towers on both banks of the Durance.  In the lower postcard, you can see the old suspension towers next to a more recent suspension bridge that was built in 1935.  The bridge that is currently in use was built in 1987.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Ponts_de_mirabeau.jpg

We started walking south on the right bank of the Durance, following a rocky path.  We soon came upon the railroad tracks that are currently used today to go to Manosque.  We even had the opportunity to wave to a passing train!

My husband and daughter were interested in looking at the different kinds of railroad ties.  We stopped to inspect the ruins on the side of the trail.

 

As we were walking we came upon a memorial for two people who were gunned down by the Gestapo in 1944.  It was a moving remembrance to see the simple memorial on a trail in the middle of nowhere.

Here were shot by the Gestapo 21/6/1944
Joseph(1924) and Émilie(1920) BEINARD

We continued south on the trail for about one mile and turned around.  We went back to the bridge and looked for the Sainte-Madeleine Chapel.  The chapel was built between the 11th and 12th centuries.  Its simple roman architecture is accentuated by its emplacement on a rocky bluff overlooking the Durance.  The chapel has been used by pilgrims and travelers as a resting point for hundreds of years.  Later it was used as storage during the Revolution.  It was restored in 1948.

We walked around the chapel and found a gauge to measure the water of the Durance.  Looking at the river you would think it is impossible for the water to rise that high.  But flooding of the Durance has destroyed many bridges with its violent waters. According to the website lesechos.fr - Brigitte Challiol wrote an article about the Durance.  She says that the Durance, a violent river, was able to be tamed.  Thanks to the river, water and electricity were brought to many households in Provence.

I have a respectful understanding for the Durance river. La Durance has shaped this area, with its large flood plains, seemingly shallow river flow and rocky deposits. I understand why there are signs warning about possible flooding from the dams that control the flow of the river.  I understand why there have been so many Ponts de Mirabeau over the years. It will be difficult in the summer, when it is Provençal hot, to refrain from jumping in the cool waters of the Durance, but I will remember.