Un weekend dans le Montourtier avec des amis

Bonne nuit!
    Its night time here in France and I finally have a minute to write! I am sorry to have been out of internet access this weekend because I couldn't blog but it was well worth it! Friday was great because I had a sleep in and then was invited to embark on a big cooking mission with some of the other exchange students who were still hanging around. One of them recently bought a cookbook for fresh Japanese cuisine. It was a lot of fun and I can now successfully fold dumplings! It was a long night with lots of eating and laughing and it was great because we hung out at someone's flat instead of in Patton which was a nice change up. We also found a decent mall easily accessible by bus for the afternoons when it rains but when we still want to stroll around and shop. Then, I spent the weekend with a friend from Patton (my dorm) and her family as well as another American friend. My friend Margaux lives in Montourtier which is a tiny village of 300 people near the city of Laval. Her village consists of a town hall, a chapel and a few very classic homes. It makes me feel bad for saying I live in a small town! Her family was incredibly nice to us and picked us up from the train station in Laval in the morning. We headed to a French Home Depot (the resemblance is incredible but that is not actually what is called) to pick up some things for the bathroom they are redoing. Then we got home in time to watch a french film Bienvenue Chez les ch'tis, really funny, if you speak french you should check it out. Then it was lunch time. All I can say is Margaux's Mom is an amazing cook! Lunch was arab inspired and then we had cheese and coffee which was lovely. After hearing we were interested in the farms of the region Margaux's Mom made a call to her friend who has a dairy farm to see if we could go see it. He said yes so after lunch we all drove over to his farm which was about 10 minutes away to see his farm. The weather was a little crazy, hail and lightning and rain so we all donned boots, (I had to borrow some) and coats and ran into the barn. The farm is a small operation 73 head of cattle and they have one electronic milker that runs for most of the day and night. The cows were very happy and the electronic milker was amazing, technology was crazy, it even had a laser tracking system to properly align itself. The best part was easily getting to visit the calves, they had one who was only 3 days old. It could barely walk. Of course they spent a lot of time sucking on our fingers trying to get milk! The system is very good and they are free roaming cattle in the spring summer and fall. I was quite impressed with how clean it was! Later in the afternoon we headed to a museum where Margaux used to be a tour guide so that she could show us the remains of a Roman fortress. It was incredible. The town of Jublians is surrounded by an ancient temple, amphitheater and fortress. Much of the architecture is intact and we were able to walk around and Margaux tried to translate some of her tour into English for us. There is also a small anthropological museum attached where they have artifacts found around the region and in Jublians. After a walking tour we headed back to Margaux's for hot chocolate, a snack and some card games. Then I found a recipe online and made bagels because it is impossible to find them here and her family had never tried them before. After the bagels were done it was time for dinner. Dinner was a very quintessential Brittany meal of Tartiflette which is like a casserole with bacon, onions and potatoes with cheese over the top. It was AMAZING! We also had salad, wine and bread of course. We finished with a homemade desert, something like individual fruit cobblers made with red fruits. It was also very good, I was stuffed to the max. Almost no room for coffee, but they they came out with one of the coolest contraptions for making coffee I have ever seen and so I had to try some. Very different taste and very good, but looks like a chemistry project! Slept in a bit to catch up on sleep and then had a quiet afternoon watching some more french movies, talking with her family and learning new card games. Lunch was another triumph with pork au cidre, which is pork, bacon and onions in a sauce made with hard cider. The sides were roasted tomatoes and cheesy potatoes. I swear I gained ten pounds! Along with a creme brulee (homemade again) it was a really nice family lunch. After that we spent some time looking at our photos from the day before and speaking with her family. Spent a lot of time discussing differences between the US and France. The afternoon snack (afternoon being 6pm) was hard cider and crepes made by Margaux's sister. It was a really fun way to spend the evening and we weren't hungry again til late when we all made a hodgepodge dinner (tradition in her family to give her mom a break). Her mom still made a chocolate mousse for desert though! All in all an amazing weekend.

Card time

Petit Veau! (baby cow)

Being dramatic in the amphitheater

Our bagels

Roman Fortress in Jublians

Bagel time

Amphitheater

Margaux and I in the Fortress

Chapel which sits on the old Roman baths

Interior of the Fortress

Tom, Margaux and I at the amphitheater

Amphitheater looking up

Baths inside the Fortress

Lots of love from the rainy city of Rennes! Look for another post soon.

Chateaux de la Loire Part Two: Sunday

Bon Apres-Midi,
Happy Monday from Rennes, it is now afternoon here and I have finished classes and am fairly tired, still recovering from our trip. Part two of my weekend journey was just as eventful. Sunday morning we had to wake up at 8am. I was not super happy about waking up seeing as how we had been awake from almost 24 hours the day before. To add to my morning grouchiness, while we had been told to bring sheets and a blanket we were not informed that towels would not be provided. Therefore in order to shower in the morning I had to air dry in the bathroom. Always a great way to start the day is slightly damp and still a little soapy as our shower had about as much water pressure as a light New England mist. Breakfast was in the unheated cafeteria and included bread, jam, instant coffee, warm milk and orange juice. We were some of the first people at breakfast, following only the Germans. It was amazing how well our group followed stereotypes, the Germans being the only early group always ready to go before everyone else. The Americans, Swiss and English were normally second to arrive and the French and Italians being up the end followed only by the Spanish and Spanish speaking contingent, it was hilarious. In addition to following the timeliness stereotypes about every other stereotype was fulfilled it was hilarious. After breakfast we grabbed our bags and trooped to the bus again, of course we were on the bus by 9:45am as instructed but again did not take off until 10:30ish. We drove for an hour and so to a wine cave which is a consortium of vineyards owners who all deliver their grapes to the Cave where it is distilled and bottled. One the way there it was quite interesting and we had trouble getting the bus into the driveway and we ended up having to do a three point turn in a round about (very very interesting and quite scary) Cave Montlouis was beautiful and has been a consortium of growers since 1961. We were able to get a guided tour of the wine making process and the stocks in the caves which was very interesting. Their process dates back to their origins and they have wines that are made from growing the grapes until bottling in the original manner from hundreds of years ago. The group specializes in white wines and also have effervescent wines, akin to Champagne but they are not able to call it that due to name laws. The cave is part of the Loire Valley officially which means they get special naming rights for their wines and are regulated quite stringently and are therefore rewarded with the very exclusive title as a Loire Valley wine. 

  

Entrance to Cave Montlouis

My room at the hostel

Wine Rotating Machines

Wine distilling at work

Old fashioned barrels

Resting Bottles

Our Tourguide explaining the Dechet Process

 

 

A finished bottle of Methode Traditionelle Vin Petaillant

Once done with our tour we went back to the main room for a wine tasting, we were able to taste one of the methode traditionelle of the Champagne region, sec which means dry, my personal favorite and a semi sec, semi dry from 2009 which was also very good. It had sort of a peach flavor to it. I also tried a dry from 2008 which was good as well. The majority of our bus bought some wine and then it was back to the bus to grab lunch for our picnic. We found a field not far from the Cave and had our picnic of sandwiches, chips and apples. After our picnic we drove an hour to the village of Azay le Rideau. Located in the village is the Chateau Azay le Rideau, which I did a project on in high school. The village is very cute and I had my first ice cream cone of the visit. The chateau is normally not free for Americans but another one of the exchange students pretended to be French so the woman at the door thought we all were and we got in for free. The Chateau was very beautiful and while the smallest of the ones we visited still very cool inside. The chateau sits on a pond and we were able to see some wildlife including ducks and a giant fish.

Bridge near Azay le Rideau

Coolest bookcase ever

Dining table, Azay le Rideau

Game room Azay le Rideau

Azay le Rideau

Again

Phantom telephone booth

 

 

Azay le Rideau Hotel de Ville

View from the balcony

Have a great week, all my love from France!

Chateaux de la Loire Part one: Saturday

Bon Soir from France!
I have just returned home from my first big outing here in France and after a quick grilled cheese (low on the groceries at the moment) I have already started downloading all the pictures from this weekend. The bus ride was long, and the company quite varied but all in all a great success. First however I have to start at the very beginning which was 4am on Saturday morning. I was told to arrive promptly to meet the bus at 5:30 at a location about 20 minutes from my dorm. This meant getting up at 4 to shower, pack and leave at 5ish to make sure I arrived on time. It was dark, raining and cold and the Patton contingent including myself, the other American and a girl from Switzerland all hurried to the law school to meet our bus tired and wet. Well apparently here in France 5:30 does not mean 5:30 because by that time only a few other exchange students had arrived, none of the French students, none of the students who had planned the trip and there was no sign of the bus. The bus finally arrived at 6am and we had a complete disaster of a time trying to load everyone onto the bus, understandable considering it was 65 students and representing at least 10 countries, and a multitude of languages. When we finally did leave it was 6:35am. I am mystified at the ability of people to function in this manner, if this had ever happened in the USA by 5:45 people would have been angrily demanding their money back. WE drove for about 3 and 1/2 hours until we got to the first Chateau, Chateau de Chambord. It was enormous! The architecture was amazing and the sheer size impressive. Inside were several stone spiral staircases, a full chapel and enough apartments of royal people I was having flashbacks to the Louvre. Tip to any of you who might be thinking about taking a trip to France in February. Be forewarned, they don't like paying for heat so they simply don't. Most of the chateau was open and the only heating were a few of the fireplaces although most just had wood but were not lit. Bring handwarmers!
        Chateau de Chambord

Our Group in Front of the Chateau

  Front of the Chateau

 Inside spiral staircase

 One of the many fireplaces, some were lit for some warmth and every 20 minutes or so we took a hand warming break.

 Throne... as if the several signs were not sending a strong enough message, they decided to hang a rope also.

 Duke's Room

 Incredible Rug

 Regular wall decor

 Ceiling design

 View from the Roof

 External spiral staircase

 Top of the chateau, from the roof

 Long way down!

   After a brief picnic break it was back into the bus for another hour drive to the next chateau. Chateau de Chenonceau is one of the most famous and my favorite of the trip. It is over a river and the entire kitchen is right above the water which I imagine helped keep it cooler. The views from the small passageways between rooms in the kitchens were very cool. In addition the entire Chateau is kept stocked with amazing fresh floral arrangements so it smells amazing and feels much more realistic. The entire place is stocked with furniture and paintings from the correct historical period. They also did a lot of work with carpeting and wallpaper so it almost feels like one of the real owners might walk through one of the doors. Again it was quite chilly but not nearly as cold as the first so we were all pretty happy. We were also more able to walk around the gardens because the rain let up some. My history Phil mentioned that this Chateau was once used as a hospital in one of the world wars, maybe he will add a comment about that! We did not have his tour guide. The attention to detail inside was incredible, the ceilings were all works of art and every fireplace and doorway had carvings and hand painted sections.
    Gate house turned wax museum

 Approaching the Chateau

 Moat

 Chateau Garden

Foot bridge

 Chateau de Chenonceau

 Great hall doorway

 Great Hall

 Kitchen

 Water pump into the kitchen

 Kitchen

 Pots and pans!

 Ceiling in the hallway

 Tapestry and incredible floral arrangement

 Bedroom

 Ceiling!

 Fireplace (and Tome and Henrik Creeping)

 Farm

 Grape press and wine barrels

 Gardens

 After our long day at the Chateaux we headed for the bus and drove another hour to our hostel. It was quite an interesting hostel, no door locks and the rooms were pretty barren. Dinner was made by the student association which was something called, (spelling here will be awful) tartinfluntee which consists of baking together potatos, bacon, onions, and cheese. Quite interesting and pretty good. After there was a large, what looked like a container for gasoline with a similar nozzle, full of punch (ponche) which was juice with a lot of some kind of alcohol in it. I did not partake because of the pineapple juice but it was highly entertaining that our school function had school sanctioned punch. After a game of the strangest take on musical chairs I have ever seen, I will not even try to explain because there was a dice and lots of sitting on top of other people, we all headed to bed.
     Look for part two soon!
         Love from France