Mon voyage vers la belle France: 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.