French for a While

WE WENT TO our first Wednesday Night Market this evening in our village. To be fair, it's more than a market. In addition to the standard stands (clothes, jewelry, crafts, etc.) there are also a variety of food merchants who come to town. But what makes the market different from others we have been to is that the locals eat dinner there as well. They buy food from one of the merchants, buy a bottle of wine from one of the local producers, and sit at one of the many tables that are set up for the occasion. We ate with the locals (including a 90 year old woman who sang to us) and some of the other vacations who are in town.

OUR VERY GOOD friends from DC email this weekend to tell us they had been to Sierra's Grill -- our favorite Mexican restaurant back home. That wasn't very nice of them! You see, we don't get much Mexican food in the South of France (I think the French might be scared of the spices...shhh!!). So this afternoon we decided to try one of the few Mexican places we've seen in the area, a little place called Le Ranch in Cagnes-sur-Mer just off the beach.

Here's the quick summary: super good and super expensive.

Now the details.

We were quite surprised by how good the food was: lovely quesadillas, crisp tacos, cheesy (but not too cheesy) enchiladas, and above average guacamole. All in all, a very good meal when you consider that it wasn't exactly a typical plat du jour. Of course, it could be that our deprived taste buds were tricked into thinking it was good simply because they haven't experienced the joy of cumin, cilantro, and lime all in the same bite in quite some time.

There were no chips/salsa before dinner and I would have preferred a little more heat (hello habanero!), but everyone was quite content when the meal was over -- even after looking at l'addition (the bill). Patrick's enchilada platter was a cool €15, and my Mexican Deluxe platter was a tick higher at €17. But the quesadillas were reasonably priced at €7 and Kerri had a fantistic salad for only €5. Then, just for fun, we added a big Banana Split and two coffees.

It's not the comfort of Sierra's, but we might just find ourselves back at Le Ranch one of these days -- like when Pop Pop and Gi Gi come to pay...uh...I mean visit.
CJS

WE SPENT LAST weekend in the western part of Provence (again) and the Massif Central mountain range, partly because my dad and his wife were visiting and my dad really wanted to visit the small village of Le Chambon. My dad’s interest in the village goes back to events that took place there during World War II. (You can read about those events here and I'd recommend a quick read because it's an amazing story). We also spent time in Orange and Avignon. Orange is quite stunning because of the 1st century amphitheatre that dominates the town. It’s a must see if you are ever in the region.

[Ed. note: If you read the previous post you’ll see a summary of the trip in French. Don’t get to impressed though. This was an exercise for our wonderful French teacher Barbara, and my original version looked nothing like the corrected version you see above. I’m also a bit embarrassed that it reads like a textbook geared for 8 yr olds.]
CJS

ONE OF THE interesting things we’ve noticed about our lifestyle in France is that we do a lot more together as a family than we did in Washington. There are a number of reasons that might explain this: 1) since we are here for a finite period of time we are trying to do as much as possible while we can; 2) we live in a part of the world where there are an incredible amout of things to do; 3) we don’t have any friends. (I’m leaving out the obvious reason: we don’t have ESPN or C-SPAN).

I keep telling myself that is has to be number one or two, but just to be sure I’ve begun to compile a list of our travels, and I mean the longish trips we’ve taken – often involving an overnight or two. While compiling the list I decided to add up the total distance we have traveled on these trips. Then, just to make my stomach hurt, I divided that by my estimated fuel efficiency and muliplied that by the cost of gas. Ouch. I’ll show you those numbers at the end of this post.

But here are the major (about 100km one way or more) trips we have taken and the estimated length of those trips measured in kilometers and round trip:

• San Remo, Italy (day trip twice @ 160 km = 320km)
• St. Tropez (day trip = 190 km)
• Giens/Toulon (day trip = 225)
• Monaco: (6 trips @90 km = 540 ) Monaco doesn’t really count because it’s so close, but we’ve been so many times (mostly to show visitors) that I’m including it.
• Modena, Bologna, Venice Italy (5 days = 1050 km)
• Milan, Como & Switzerland (4 days = 1300 km)
• Valberg/Entrevaux (day trip = 210 km)
• Chamonix (5 days = 1000 km)
• Lyon (3 days = 890 km)
• Agivnon & Western Provence (4 days = 1150 km)

Rough Total = 7000 km

Now, with respect to fuel, let me first remind you that we are driving a ‘mini-van’ of sorts in a country where fuel prices -- adjusted to US dollars -- is in the range of $8 per gallon (I'm glad my paycheck is in Euros!) Taking into account only the trips above (and not, for example, our many trips to Nice to watch hockey, or to Cannes to go to the beach, or to the mountains to go exploring) our total fuel costs for these trips was about 850 Euros, or $1300. That figure, I might add, does not include the hefty tolls that French and Italian motorways often require.

Next year I’m considering changing the name of this blog from French for a While to Broke in a While.

Ah, but it's all worth it. The simple fact is that numbers 1 and 2 from the top of this post both explain why we have decided to travel around so much. We're not going to be here forever so we're just doing as much as we can while we can. Carpe Diem.

[Note: if you would like a copy of my spreadsheet for these calculations, email me.]
CJS

I HAVE A student who has lived in some of the most desirable cities in the world: Rome, London, Miami, Abu-Dhabi, and now Beirut (he lives in our dorms during the school year). I asked him the other day which city he liked the best. Without hesitating he said Beirut and listed several reasons why: beaches, mountains, food, the people, etc. It just got me thinking a bit because we are so conditioned to think that that part of the Middle East is nothing more than a war-torn valley of ashes. The photo at left is of downtown Beirut.

[obscure reference guide: valley of ashes]
CJS

SINCE WE HAVE a two week break we decided to take a long weekend to the western part of Provence. So last Thursday we loaded up the car and headed west to begin our trip in the Avignon region. (A friend asked us why we were going to Avignon and I simply responded that our family is really, really into Pope Clement V.). Our goal for the weekend was quite simple:

• visit the vinyards of Chateauneuf-du-Pape -- they are beautiful.
• visit Avignon and teach the kids a bit of medieval/roman/papal history.
• visit Arles -- the ancient Roman city that dates to the 1st century b.c. and has a spectacular coliseum that was started in A.D. 90 (actually, Patrick and Julia knew more about Arles than we did because they have been studying this period in their history class).
• Visit some really cool castles and fortresses (we found a fantastic one in Les Baux)
• Try not to spend too much money.

Let's see how we did: check, check, check, check, not-so-much-a-check.

We have video footage coming, which is a good thing because our digital camera battery ran out after day 1, but here are a few photos of our trip.

Looking out from Chateauneuf toward Avignon

Oh look, mommy and daddy think they're cute.

Daddy with the kids in a 12th century castle. Mommy with P & J at the same ruins.

Another fun thing you can do with Google Earth is track a trip you have taken. Here's our general route -- and the fun things is that this map should be interactive so you can zoom in or out.

View Larger Map

CJS

ABOUT TWO YEARS ago the city of Nice decided to embark on a wide-ranging overhaul of the largest open square in the center of town: the Place Massena. The project was part of a grand plan to introduce a new tramway and new traffic pattern in downtown Nice. For those two years much of Nice was a congestion-filled contruction zone, causing massive headaches for anyone trying to get around the area. But last November, with great fanfare, the tram and 'new' Place Massena were inaugurated, promising much needed relief for commuters and a pedestrian-friendly area for those interested in shopping or a quick trip to a cafe. President Sarkozy even made a visit to kick of the festivities.

But now, a short four months later, the Nice city government has announed that....they are going to tear up the Place Massena and start again!!

Why, you might ask? Because, according to a spokesperson, the newly created traffic patterns don't seem to be working. There is still too much congestion. So the city will soon begin work on a 12-month re-re-restoration project in the heart of Nice. Splendid!
CJS

WE'RE HEADED TO Lyon for the weekend (leaving right after school is out for the kids on Friday). I'm a bit embarassed to say why we're going -- but this website will give you a clue. We'll take some time to look around the city, visit some sites, and -- of course -- try some of Lyon's legendary cuisine.

Full report when we return.
CJS

IF YOU'VE NEVER been to Monaco it's difficult to imagine the amount of wealth that exists there. Here's a silly 25-second video clip I took on Saturday afternoon in front of the Monte Carlo Casino. Take a look if you want to see 8 cars that, in total, are probably worth more than $1 million. You'll notice at least two convertable Bentley's. I feel sorry for the owners of the two Mercedes sedans -- they must feel like paupers.


CJS

To get to Entrevaux we took the train which runs along the old Nice-Digne track and winds through the mountains. Unbelievable views!

CJS

LAST WEEKEND WE took a short trip up to the ski resort of Valberg, which is about an hour north of Nice. Besides the absolutely stunning roads that lead up to this resort (and the fact that we probably should have had chains on our tires), we were most interested in just spending some time in the snow. We didn't have the proper clothing --the tennis shoes didn't quite do the trick -- but we spent enough time in Valberg to 1) enjoy a nice crepe and a coffee, and 2) convince the kids that this winter we are going to spend a week skiing somewhere. The photo on the left is in front of the kids ski school chair lift (bunny hill). Since we are east-coasters (United States) our kids have never skied! Outrageous, I know. That's all about to change. We're looking at some good resorts to visit during our two week break in February.

AT FIRST, OUR plan was just to visit Milan for three days -- but we decided to take a little day trip on the second day and head north to the lakeside town of Como. Great decision: Como is stunning. Then, mainly because Uncle Jeremy and kids wanted to add a check to their 'countries visited' list, we drove a few kilometers up the road to Lugano, Switzerland. Another great decision: a beautiful town on a lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

But we didn't neglect Milan. We toured Il Duomo, the 3rd largest cathedral in the world (can you name the 2 biggest?), and made Mormor happy by visiting La Scala, probably the most famous Opera House in the world. La Scala was showing Wagner's Tristan and Isolde with Daniel Barenboim conducting. If we had stayed another day I think she would have tried to go. You can see her photo in front of the poster on the La Scala wall (right).

WE HAVE SPENT the weekend visiting the Christmas sights in various villages around the region. Today we went to a wonderful Marche de Noel in our own little town of Le Rouret. We took video and will be putting it up soon.

But on Friday Kerri and her parents visited the village of Biot where they put a little twist on the chocolate-filled Advent calendars that are so popular this time of year. In Biot, window shutters are decorated by local school children and 25 of them are 'opened' during the month of December -- one each day. It's a terrific idea and turns the village into a shutter-inspired art gallery. Here are some examples:

IT'S BEEN OVER a week since we returned from our trip to Italy. The truth is that I had hoped to put something up right away, but I just don't have the energy to chronicle the whole trip because it would take too long (and bore too many people). So here's the super-short version, and if you want more you can watch the short video we made of the trip (available below or by clicking 'videos' at the top of the page).

The trip was wonderful, partly because we decided to visit some parts of Italy that are a little less well known -- so no Milan, Florence, Pisa, or Rome (we did cheat a bit and spent a day in Venice). Instead we spend our time in Italy's central region: Romagna -- known around the world for cheese (home ofparmigiano-reggiano cheese), performance cars (Ferrari, Lambourghini, and Mazerati are all headquartered here), balsamic vinegar (it originates in Modena), and Tenors (Pavarotti was born and lived in Modena). Since Kerri and I have both travelled a bit in Italy, it was nice to visit some new places.

Since this was their first real trip to Italy, Patrick and Julia were in charge of keeping the official record of what we did and I will now consult their notebooks for some more of the details. Here's what I found:

• We visited: Emilia-Reggio, Modena, Bologna, and Venice
• We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express every night (go figure)
• We visited three official (DOC) Parmigiano-Reggiano farms and bought some cheese from each farm (all in Emilia-Reggio)
• Number of tunnels we passed through in the first 2 hours of the trip: 103...then we stopped counting. (It's true!)
• Number of Ferarris and Lambourghinis we saw: 12
• Number of cars that passed daddy even though he was driving 135km/hour: A LOT.
• Times daddy swore because he was lost: [entry removed by editor]
• Favorite meal: just of the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna -- Pasta e fagioli, tagliatelle bolognese, penne and tomatos, tomato & mozzarella salad. Yum.
• Favorite part of trip: riding the bus with no roof (Henry)
• Number of time we had to stop 'for a quick coffee': too many!

If you want something visual, here you go:

CJS

LAST WEEKEND WE decided to check out Mougins, a beautiful medieval village in the mountains a few minutes from where we live (and the final home of Picasso). Our goal was to eat dinner there since Mougins is well know for it's top-rated chefs and great restaurants, including Chef Alain Llorca's Le Moulin de Mougins -- one of the most famous restaurants in all of France. After walking around for about an 1/2 hour, looking at art galleries and menus posted in front of all the bistros, it became clear that dinner in Mougin was not going to happen -- mainly because most of the restaurants didn't exactly have a kids menus and we were towing three around with us. But we sure loved Mougins (video coming soon) and we might go back this weekend for the annual Les étoiles de Mougins, a large festival celebrating France's top chefs -- including lots of demonstrations and food sampling. Over 100 top-ranked French chefs will be there --Alain Llorca included, of course.

Oh, and by the way, instead of eating in Mougin last weekend we stopped off at a pizza stand in Roquefort-les-Pin -- it was delicious. I'm not sure Alain Llorca could have done much better!
CJS