Southern Fried French

Should You, Could You, Move to France?

This Provençal house is aptly named for our post today

This post will be longer than usual, but we have a very specific and important agenda here: to answer a burning question from a reader’s comment last week, which may be a question quite a few of you have (especially since America seems to be sinking into polarization, ill manners, and gun violence. Sigh). I also know many of you will have good  answers to Carol's questions: you've been there. So readers, here are my thoughts and I hope some of you expats and immigrants will share yours.

Our reader Carol asks: I’m originally from the South and thinking about retiring to France in a few years with my Wyoming husband. We live in Colorado, but the house prices here have more than tripled. And with the violence here, we want to leave. Each year, we visit France, and have grown to love it and the people. We’ve passed the French A1 language exam. Not very good with French, but we’re trying to learn. Any words of encouragement? We’re scared of being left out of life there for lack of knowing much French. We can order at a restaurant fairly well but that’s about it. I’ll be 61 when we retire. We’re both engineers, so math inclined but shy and not very social. Comes with being engineers - as the hubby says - Good with numbers, not so good with people. But we love France. Any thoughts on a fulltime life in France for newbie older shy Americans? 

Oui, we have thoughts!

Carol, you are dealing with a question that so many of us face when we retire: Are we up for an adventure? Jump right in, or play it safe? Should we follow our dream?

 

The end of the rainbow, from our house in La Vineuse

Your question echoes some of the concerns we had when we up and moved full-time to France (also with minimal language skills). I love that you are thinking this through carefully and I love that you contemplating an adventure that will push you both a bit. There is no question, it’s a bold move. It will pop you right out of your comfortable box and into a new world, full of challenges, rich experiences, an education you couldn’t get any other way, and a fabulous new lifestyle.

 

So let’s break down your questions. First of all, you have a great head start: you love France, you’re motivated, and you’re obviously committed to learning French. If you continue your language learning (which will get a huge boost when you get there) and find someone in France to help you a bit, you should be fine. We did fine, even though we moved deep into the countryside, where bi-lingual French speakers are not as common as in big cities.

Let me say up front that our experience has been so incredibly wonderful, the best move we ever made, that I will be full of words of encouragement. I'm clearly biased. But I will also say that, after 20 years and meeting a gazillion expats and immigrants, I only know one (British) couple who could not adjust, and turned around and went home. 

It may help to ask yourselves these questions:  What’s the worst that can happen? Can I bail out if it doesn’t work? When we moved, we decided we would stay as long as we were having fun, that was our only commitment.

It may help ease your mind if you make your move a little bit gradually. Rent a gîte (a French vacation rental) for a month in an area you like, and pretend to be locals, not tourists. Then pick another area and rent for a month, and so on. It’s also a great way to figure out which region is right for you, if that’s an issue.

Then, when you finally make the big move (as we did—we sold our house and furniture, packed the cat, and off we went), we rented a longer-term place instead of buying right away. We ended up buying a house after a year, then spending two years on renovations, so we rented for three years total. Renting also helped us pinpoint the exact place we wanted to buy. And by the time we were ready to start the renovation, we had friends to advise and help us along.

Now let’s talk about being “newbie shy Americans”.

The French are reserved too, especially compared to Americans. So you are going to have to put yourself out there a bit, to get started, but you may find that your reserved personalities mean that you fit in nicely. The French love to be helpful, and they are especially pleased when folks make the effort to learn their language. The French in our small village were incredibly patient and supportive, we were quite touched by it all.

Your commitment to learning the language is going to serve you well, and speaking French will vastly enrich your life there. Living there is the best immersion experience there is, but keep studying. Becoming fluent is a lifelong challenge for most of us.

But how to manage until your French is up to speed? Our answer, is to find an ANGEL. That is, a kind person to take you under their wings. We’ve found that most expats who move here manage to find one or more, usually serendipitously. It might be a friendly local shopkeeper, or a bookstore owner, or a French neighbor who speaks English, or an expat neighbor. We were blessed to find several generous French friends and expats to help us. These folks can help you navigate daily life until you’re settled in, and introduce you to others. Be kind to them, they really are les anges.

The famous smiling angel of Reims

 One thing that was not on our planning list when we chose an area, but it should have been: Where and how and with whom, can we make friends? We were super lucky: we happened to pick a region where the French are especially friendly and there are expats from all over Europe. Expats, far from home, tend to develop a special bond. 

One tip to get started: once you move there—or even on one of those month-long séjours—find a French teacher who has a conversation group or a group French class. With luck you’ll find a sympathetic French person plus some expats/immigrants to befriend.

So let's talk more about meeting people. You can plan ahead for this, in a way.

There  are many beautiful rural properties that are what the French call isolée: sitting all alone in the countryside. That’s fine if that’s your thing, but it won’t help your French much, or help you find friends. We chose a house that was in the heart of a village, with neighbors passing by to chat with. We got out on the street, and we got involved. If you go to a bigger town, you may find established expat groups (there is one in Beaune, for example, a mix of French and expats). 

Expat communities vary by region. Nearly all European expats speak excellent English. In Burgundy we are close to a number of borders, and the gorgeous countryside attracts other Europeans. Our village of 40, which was essentially 2 blocks long, is a case in point. On our street there were French folks of course, and also: Italians, Dutch, Brits, Belgians, and Germans. It was a wonderful international mix which made for some great dinner parties!

Dinner parties are often casual potlucks, called an "auberge espanole" in French

 If you want to be around lots of Brits, the west and the southwest are the most populated. Google searches can help you here, as there are maps of where the expats tend to flock, and by which nationality. 

 Ron's tip for making friends: hang around French weekly markets! The locals will linger over a coffee, it's very much a social event and a way to meet neighbors.

Carol, I hope this has been helpful. In a future post, we’ll go over some of the practicalities of moving—taxes, insurance, and so on. But for now, I’ll turn your question over to our readers. What advice do you have for Carol and her husband?

 

In the Comments: our guest blogger Natalia responds to your comments: "Lynn, thank you again for giving me the honor of writing a guest post, and now(!) for the opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to the kind people who made such wonderful comments. Their words meant so much to me."

Favorite READS: Suzanne loves Cara Black's Aimee Leduc series becuase it’s almost as good as being in Paris. And that says a lot. Su has a book for us, Not So Wild a Dream, with Eric Sevareid writing about his experiences as a young journalist in WWII. And speaking of the expat life, cruise over to Kristi's French Word-A-Day blog to read about filing expat taxes, the easy way.

In this  new age of outrage and hate that seems to be seeping into the culture--what better book than one on old-fashioned hospitality and good manners! Everyday Hospitality is a sweet little book with big things to say. It's written by my dear friend Thea Jarvis. I keep a stack on hand for host/hostess gifts. What better way to thank friends for their warm hospitality! The Gift of Grandparenting is another lovely book by Thea.

 

 

 

On Books: Our Own Reviewer/Recommender Shares her Story

Over the years, our loyal reader Natalia has commented routinely and enthusiatically, and she almost always suggests a book or two for us to try. I've taken to calling her our "Reader-in-Residence", as she has become such a fond fixture on this blog! If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you've probably read something she's recommended. Natalia has a strong French connection, too. In her honor, I've asked her to tell us her story, which appears below. And from all of us, a giant Merci for all your ideas and support!

 

 

"Writing this guest post is such an honor for me. I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Lynn and Southern Fried French some 15 (or more) years ago. I learned of them from Kristin Espinasse (author of French Word-A-Day  and a number of books) and I greatly respect these two ladies for their talent, for their generosity, and just for being the upstanding women they are.

 

"I’ve always loved the French and their beautiful language.It was my parents’ common language when they first met and remained a favorite when we all lived at home in Scottsdale, Arizona. During WW2, Daddy was one of (Edward R) Murrow’s boys on assignment in Belgrade (Yugoslavia, now Serbia); Mama was their first Serbian female radio broadcaster there in Belgrade (at that time, neither spoke the other’s language). It was a coup de foudre [love at first sight] for them—an event serendipitously passed on to my husband, Ratomir (Rod), and me as we embraced that same coup de foudre. We got engaged at the Sacré Coeur on our first date and in September and will celebrate our 58th anniversary, relishing the occasion with our two beloved “mignons”—sibling Yorkshire Terriers Ellise Rose (Elley) and Aristotle (Ari) who never fail to keep our days overflowing with sunshine and joy.

 

 

"Rod retired from Delta Airlines as a Boeing 767 Captain; and thanks to his encouragement I earned my own pilot's licenses. Since retirement he's become an expert in his hobby of horology...(I now refuse to divulge exactly how many clocks have taken up residence in our house!). We had the good fortune to live in Paris and Montreal as newlyweds (later in other cities), and then enjoyed the bonus of being able to travel a lot, often (usually) at the drop of a hat.

 

"Though I studied French in school, my parents made a real effort to help us kids to become more proficient in speaking by initiating  dinner table conversations covering the events of the day (which predictably turned into disaster when we launched into a free for all of, perfect for our ages, silly/insulting childish name calling--Fatso!! Glasses face!).

 

Also predictably, as an adult encountering periods of being conversation-less in French, I found myself forgetting more than I desired and became pretty rusty. I decided to help myself regain some knowledge and enrolled in a series of excellent French classes at the French Café Society, taught with expertise by its  founder and ever-patient teacher/translator, Ida Young-Bondi. She offered twice weekly Zoom meetings from her then home, in Nice. Our classmates (femmes formidable!) were—and are—diverse, living in several countries, very supportive of each other, and(!!) of huge benefit, offering no judgement, particularly appreciated by this most senior member of the group who laughingly describes herself as sometimes wandering through the land of Natalia’s Fractured French. Fun, motivation, and a nice feeling of progress.

 

"I've been an avid reader since I was little and readily admit that my books have become (alas, in too great a number) my friends. As our bookcases, pictured above,  expanded from stuffed to exploding, the best solution seemed to be in switching to my Kindle instead. I keep it on my nightstand, filled with new reads galore. My husband has sweetly gotten me newer versions, but my constant favorite still is my first one—my old tried and true, where I can cloud titles to my  heart’s content and never forget how to work everything.

 

Natalia reads on her devices--and so do I! Here are a couple of her recent recommendations.

 

"In bygone years I have belonged to several book clubs, but fell out of touch when the chosen subjects failed to capture my imagination and keep my attention.

 

"My favorite books continue to be cookbooks. I left the Sorbonne to attend the Cordon Bleu-I had youthful aspirations to become a chef-—and was also graced with a most inspiring belle mère, my mother-in-law. And, of course,I still love to  prepare (what I hope to be) yummy stuff for my family (and myself!),

 

"A tie for my favorite now also includes books in French, ones with words which are not only  understandable but lead to  a good plot . (Musso remains one of my favored authors).

I sincerely hope  some of my suggestions have brought you enjoyment to you.

 

Natalia has recommended so many books for us over the years. Merci Natalia! Here is a stack from my own French collection.

 

"For twenty five years I wrote for The Yorkshire Terrier Magazine, most articles starring  our own Yorkies, first day to last filled with with pleasure and a sense of accomplishment.

(My skilled and  former editor, Heidi Kausch, still remains a dear friend).

 

"After re-encountering  many scary tales along the lines of featuring how 'the old gray mare ain't what she used to be', a major concern became that all my body parts, first starting from the neck up, would cooperate in shaking out the cobwebs and create something of interest to for you to read. My fingers are crossed."

 

You succeeded Natalia, thank you so much!

 

In the COMMENTS: From Carol, a very interesting question: she and her husband want to relocate to France, but they are a bit introverted and not good French speakers. Should they, could they? This requires a long and thoughtful answer, so tune in for the next post, and I (and I hope, some of you as well) will try to fully answer her question about what you need to know before moving to France (spoiler alert—go for it!). 

Rachel has yet another Pink Sauce variation—they are endless I think. This British/Irish one is aptly named Marie Rose Sauce. And Debbie, you phrased it so well: “I can’t help watching Emily in Paris”!

 

Favorite READS: Of course Natalia has a book recommendation for us this week! She likes Home Again by Kristian Hannah, and loves her other books as well.  And merci, Anne Marie, for another author we might like to read to fluff up our French: Antoine Laurain. (there are English translations as well).  Page and Vicky, how could I possibly missed Sean of the South—a wonderful blog and I immediately subscribed. Thank you!

And an IDEA, for you travelers: our Reader Carolyn is a tour guide and she has a fascinating tour coming up this year: Women in Burgundy, for and about Women. Doesn't it sound fun? Read about it below. 

Women In Burgundy 2023 ….

An Adventure For Women, About Women! 

Wednesday, September 20 to Saturday, September 30, 2023 (10 nights)
Price per guest – $6,550, Single Occupancy
Or, “Travel with a Buddy” for $5,750, Double Occupancy (Savings of $800 per guest)
Limited to six fun-loving, “Wander-ful Women”

The price includes an arrival night in Paris to help you relax as you begin your adventure!

Join us for our annual excursion, just for women – With Carolyn as your personal guide and cultural interpreter, our group of “Wander-ful” adventurers will be introduced to women who have played extraordinary roles over the course of Burgundy’s history.

Are you interested, but hesitating because you don’t have a “buddy” who wants to sign on with you?  Don’t worry!  This excursion is ideal for solo travelers, as this experience is all about self-rejuvenation and making new friends!

 

Gettin’ Saucy With It

Sauces and condiments in a French gourmet shop

 The french adore sauces. It may be why their cuisine is so beloved. Who doesn’t love a good sauce? I imagine romances have been launched over the making of a perfect béarnaise.

But the classic French sauces are a subject for another day. Today we are going to lighten things up a little, and give you two spring sauces that will serve you well for the festive summery season ahead (estival in French). Both have endless variations, and can be whipped up in a flash--don't even think about getting that measuring cup out of the cabinet.

The first sauce I discovered  at a restaurant, when I was about 20, and we are not going to talk about how long ago THAT was. I was served the simplest of salads: butter lettuce, topped with a sliced boiled egg, a pinkish creamy dressing, and some chopped chives. Magnifique! I rushed home and mixed up a version that was  as close as I could get and I've been making that dressing/sauce ever since, pimping it up as desired.

The sauce is great as a salad dressing, a dipping sauce for French fries, and it's  really good with cold shellfish or other seafood. The basic ingredients are below. I've since learned that there  are as many possible additions as there are chefs, and many cultures make some version of it.

•  mayo
•  ketchup,  or chili sauce
• something acidic to thin it 
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• Your favorite additions (see recipe below. For my own version, a splash of brandy is the secret ingredient)

The Gullah community in Charleston call it Pink Sauce; they add grated onion to the above.

A Japanese version is happily named Yum Yum sauce. It has a similar base, with some Asian additions,  like rice vinegar and sesame oil. 

Then there is the famous Mississipi Comeback Sauce, with it's quirky name. This one is over the top and starts with the mayo/ketchup combo but includes lots of spicy additions, like wostershire sauce and paprika. 

See my own version of this international pink sauce below. The closest French equivalent to this sauce, by the way, is a remoulade sauce, with similar ingredients but with mustard instead of ketchup. It's a closer relative to what we call tarter sauce.

 The second sauce is lighter fare. It's a simple, herby, cilantro vinagerette-type sauce to put over fresh fish or vegetables or meats. Our friends Derek and Debbie, Australian/Canadian expats, served us this recently. Light and fresh and perfect for summer. Below, see what our friends put under that tasty sauce. Bonne fête!

 

RECIPE: Lynn's Pink Sauce

Serve Pink Sauce alongside any sort of dinner bowl--like this one with grilled pineapple, sauteed mushrooms, avocado and peppers.

Mix together: 2 parts mayo to one part ketchup, or use Heniz's chili sauce. Add a splash of brandy. Thin it with lemon juice to the desired consistency. Add sea salt and ground pepper to taste, and a dash of Srirscha or any hot sauce, if you want heat. I stir in some chopped fresh chives if I have them, and a small clove of cushed garlic if I want a stronger flavor, like if I'm serving it with shrimp.

You can also stir in: other favorite herbs, shallots, diced pickles, capers, whatever makes you happy. Start with the basics, and it's a sauce to play with. I make it with lime juice instead of lemon when I  serve it with a tuna poké bowl; that recipe is here. 

 

RECIPE: Derek and Debbie's Summer Salmon with Cilantro Sauce

Our second sauce, served with seafood and colorful toppers, is a great one-dish meal for a summer party. The sauce doubles as a marinade. Even if cilantro isn't your favorite, you'll find this combo as fresh as a spring breeze. Still, you could use any soft fresh herbs you like. Use a white fish instead of salmon if you prefer. No measurements needed here, just use les yeux.

For the marinade/sauce: Pour out really good olive oil, add lots of lime juice and tons of chopped cilantro. You could also make it with lemon juice, or orange; add basil or parsley or chives or some of each; throw in some garlic, or mustard, or shallots. You could add just a splash of Worcestershire, fish sauce, soy sauce, or hot sauce.

Make the sauce, reserve half and marinate the fish in the remaining half for about an hour. Sauté, grill, or bake the salmon. Plate the filets and top with roasted peppers and avocado slices. Drizzle the remaining sauce over all. 

 

Favorite READS: Karim, thank you for helping us polish up our French! For anglo reading in French, not too challenging to be discouraging, Karim recommends the author Christian Bobin. You can find some of the titles on Amazon.

Looking for Bloggers and Authors in the Southern Fried French community! Are you a blogger or an author who writes about anything related to the South or to France? Many of our readers are--and if you are one of them, I'd love for you to share with us. Drop me an email about it, I'd love to talk to you about a guest post.

A Southern Chef Makes a French Tart

Bob Waggoner is one of Charleston's most fabled and beloved chefs. Trained in Paris and married to a French woman, he cooked up French specialties at the elegant Charleston Grill for many years, until he started his own Charleston cooking school. In the Kitchen with Bob Waggoner is a night of cooking, eating, and imbibing in the French way, at his atelier in the historic district. My sweet husband treated me to a class for my birthday, while we were back in Charleston.

We donned aprons and sipped white Burgundies while we prepared our feast: scallops over a bed of vegetables in a ginger infused broth to start, and roasted beef tenderloin on veggies with a veal sauce for le plat.

Les sous-chefs. Translation of Ron's apron: I'm taking care of the wine!

One good cooking tip I picked up: he always keeps an overflowing pot of stock on the stove, which he cooks for hours, even overnight if it's veal or beef. In French, stock is called the fond de cuisine, the foundation of cooking. So you are always ready to dip in, for a rich sauce or broth.  He had stuffed his stock pot with meaty bones, plus aromatics and vegetables added in later. The important part, which I had never heard, is to keep as much fat out of your stock as possible, right from the beginning.  And don't let it boil---a low simmer is good, and his pot was so low there was barely a bubble.

But the recipe I will return to often was the pear tart we had for dessert. Because it was seasonal and delicious, but also because it took all of five minutes to make, which as you know is my favorite sort of recipe, especially for entertaining. 

My photo, above, is not lovely because it was impossible to not jump right in and sample it. So go for it--fast and French is the very best way of cooking!

 

RECIPE: Bob Waggoners's Pear Tart with Pecans and Honey

Another, more patient, attendee got a better photo (photo credit)

These can cook while you're eating dinner.

Heat oven to 375. Thaw a sheet of frozen puff pastry, roll it out lightly, and cut it into single-portion sized rectangles. Core one pear for each rectangle, and slice thinly. Shingle the pears on top of the pastry. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden. 

Coarsely chop some pecans, about a tablespoon per serving. Toast them lightly in the oven (Bob says always toast your nuts, until they release their aroma--it makes them more flavorful. He makes batches ahead so he always has some on hand). In a small saucepan, mix them with honey to cover, plus a bit more, along with a pat of butter. Heat just until warm. Spoon the warm topping over the warm tarts and serve with vanilla ice cream. (By the way I'm also going to try this with maple syrup instead of honey, or maybe half of each, for a more caramel-y taste).

IF YOU GO: Book well ahead--as in a few months ahead. Prepare to meet some interesting people (we were 16), as well as to be charmed by your exuberant chef. The link is here.

 

Favorite READS: Karim,  I’m so glad you enjoy the blog. Musso is quite popular but I agree that he is no literary giant. Can you recommend some  books in French for us, that might be simple to read, but interesting? Or maybe other readers have recommendations, for those of us who can read in French, but slowly!

A New Way to See the French Countryside

If you travel to France to experience the French countryside, you may be missing the best activity you don't read about in the guidebooks : The Sunday Village Randonnée.

Randonnée in French means a hike. The "Grand Randonnées" in France are marked French hiking trails, sometimes hundreds of kilometers long. For the serious hiker who owns hiking boots, a backpack, nordic walking poles, and an outback hat.

That would not be me. If you are a fellow casual walker, as I am, and you're in France with a Sunday morning free, then the Village Randonnée is just the ticket. Depending on the village, they may be set up for bikes and/or horseback riders as well.

Riders get ready for a randonnée in La Vineuse

Many villages and hobby or charity organizations hold these events annually, most often on Sunday mornings, so let me walk you through the one we had in our former village of La Vineuse each year, planned by the village social committee, of which we were a part.

The posters had gone up, fliers had been distributed for our event. The festivities started at 7 am at the pique nique shelter at our school/mayor's office. We set up a coffee station, trays of croissants and pain au chocolat. As our visitors arrived, they paid a small fee and were given maps of the three marked trails (a choice of one, two, or three hour walks) to pour over, while we poured the coffee.  

The serious hikers arrived first, booted up and bursting with energy despite the early hour. This was the 3-hour crowd. 

Throughout the morning and afternoon, the more casual flâneurs drifted in, dressed in t-shirts and les baskets (tennis shoes). They came in pairs, with packs of friends, or in multi-generational family groups. We set them off in convivial herds. Couples pushing strollers, hiking clubs, college kids in lycra, seniors out for a spin, they were all there. There was laughter and camaraderie as they headed off down the hill.

A view from the randonnée course in our village

Mid-morning we did our next set-up, for the finishers who were starting to trickle in (except for the 3-hour crowd, who did not trickle, but strode in energetically as if they might take in a couple of aerobic classes and some weight-lifting in the afternoon). There was wine of course, to celebrate; plus trays of cheese and saussison, and cookies. The visitors lingered to discuss their walks and share a glass.

We've done other village randonnées, and they are great fun. There's a party atmosphere as you chat with other groups along the way. We've passed through hamlets, along farm paths, by beautiful country houses and gardens, by lakes and ponds, and there is usually a château or a church along the way, hidden deep in the countryside. If there is a better way to experience la France profonde, I don't know what it is!

If you can't find a randonnée fête, these signs help you go it on your own.

IF YOU GO: If you can’t catch a planned randonnée on a week-end, you can go on your own. Most villages have marked walking paths you can take anytime; look for the large maps signposted in a central location in many villages. Or you can download randonnée maps at http://www.france-randos.com (select your language at the top). If you want to participate in a week-end randonnée event, the local tourist office is your best bet, and you will always find them in the digital or print version of the local paper.

 

In the COMMENTS: Ann, I'm hoping the French breakfast is going to help with those pesky hips too! But then again, brioche with cherry jam, Jan, could tempt me in a skinny minute. Julie, at least your dog gets you moving in the morning, they are great for that. And Colleen, isn't that French bread wonderful? They've come a long way since it was only baguettes.

Favorite READS: Our favorite book critic Natalia checks in with some great new reads. I'm always looking for books in French that are not overly difficult, and my friend Debbie got me reading Guillaume Musso. By this author, Natalia recommends Skidamarink . She says: odd title, interesting story. Musso is hugely popular in France. To read one of his in English, try his thriller, Central Park. Natalia also recommends Cara Black and her Aimee LeDuc series, mostly set in Paris. And speaking of Paris, my friend Sandi is currently immersing herself in books about the city, and she says, "Your readers will LOVE A Paris All Your Own, by Eleanor Brown. She also recommends Paris Street Tales and Paris Was Ours: Thirty-two Writers Reflect on the City of Light.

 

 

Is Breakfast the Secret to the Skinny French?

There is the famous Full English Breakfast, with eggs, beans, sausages, tomatos, mushrooms, and toast (below). There is the American breakfast: bacon and eggs, maybe some Cheerios or corn flakes or pancakes. And of course there is the uniquely American tradition of brunch. Then there is: le petit déjeuner. It’s no surprise that breakfast is different in France. Does it perhaps have something to do with why the French are thin?

The English are not as thin as the French...(photo courtesy of i am a food blog)

In France, there is no grabbing a bowl of cereal while standing at the kitchen sink. I once quizzed the Lyon Ladies (Nicole’s big group of French friends from Lyon who lunch together periodically) about le petit déjeuner. “Breakfast is an essential meal, like any other,” they told me. “It’s important to sit down for half an hour, to relax, to start the day in a stress-free manner”. On this they all emphatically agreed. Eating slow and easy: good for the body, the mind, and the diet.

And what do they eat? Mostly unsweetened yogurt, and perhaps a breakfast tartine: a baguette spread with jam or butter, or topped with a slice of gruyère.  Though these days, a pain aux céréales, a whole-grain loaf, may take the place of the baguette. The offerings at le bougangerie are likely to look like the lavish spread pictured at the top.

Breakfast is taken with an espresso of course, and maybe un jus d’orange.  This sort of light breakfast has spread across Europe, hence the English term, “continental breakfast”.

le petit déjeuner

What the French do not have is a tradition of going out for a big breakfast at a restaurant. If you want breakfast while traveling, you pop into a café, where they will offer a tartine or a croissant, served with an espresso and orange juice (though for the chic and trendy French, especially the Parisians, American style brunches are popping up). 

So now when you travel to Europe, you can order breakfast like a pro. And in the French fashion, be sure it’s leisurely!

 

RECIPE: A different sort of Breakfast

I was at my sister’s house recently, and for breakfast she pulled out a big plate of some delicious looking baked pears with pecans. “I keep some of these in the fridge all the time”, she said. “They make a great breakfast.”

Nutty, caramely baked pears for breakfast? I’m in! I made a batch right away, but I used apples instead, because that’s what I had on hand, though the pears were even better. I added oats and raisins to the filling, to make them even more  breakfast-y, and I used just a small amount of maple syrup—honey would work as well— to caramelize them. They take just a few minutes to make, and then you’ve got a fabulous breakfast to look forward to, all week.

No recipe needed really. Here’s what I did, with my sister's advice: I cored the apples and cut them in half, and brushed them with maple syrup (or use honey). Then I put a handful of chopped pecans in a bowl with another handful of regular oatmeal. Raisins are a nice addition too. I added plenty of cinnamon (pumpkin pie spice, if you prefer), and just enough maple syrup to hold it all together. Add a sprinkle of cinnamond and bake them until they are as soft as you like; mine took 45 minutes, but pears might be quicker. We preferred them chilled, but zap them in the microwave if you wish.

This is a healthier version of the traditional baked apples, which are loaded with butter and sugar and are typically slathered with whipped cream or ice cream. Instead, fruit, nuts oats, minimal sugar— a breakfast fit even for the French! 

 

For other breakfast recipes, a bit more decadent, check out this post on cinnamon biscuits,  this post on baked eggs, or this post on morning buns.

In the COMMENTS: Your comments on Emily were most entertaining! I think y’all are equally split on loving or hating this “candy-coated romp”, as Jan calls it.  I think my friend Nancy got it right—she alternates between watching “Emily in Paris” and “I Am A Killer”. Cuts the sweetness a bit. And Susan V., I’m with you in that the little digs at the French AND the Americans keep us amused. Meanwhile, Francine and Jan mentioned some good French Netflix alternatives, which I’ve listed below.

Favorite READS & VIEWS : A friend has given me a copy of Suite Francaise, which I'm looking forward to reading. For French or French-themed shows on Netflix, our readers recommend Lupin, Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent in French), Balthazar (violent) and Paul Hollywood's Big Continental Road Trip. One more for you: We are really enjoying the charming French crime series Candice Renoir, about a single mom of 4 who is a detective. Find it on Acorn TV, where you can find lots of British and French shows.

 

 

Much Ado about Emily

We’ve weighed in before on Emily in Paris (you can read my original season 1 letter to Emily here), but she is causing such a stir again, it must be time to take another look. Season 3 of the show that people love to hate but watch anyway has arrived. So, fellow Francophiles, what do you think?

Is it a great show or what? True, it does depict Paris as a sort of perfect fairy tale kingdom. And yes, Emily SHOULD be speaking French by now. Bien sûr, it tosses around every French stereotype and cliché that ever existed, some true and some awful. For sure it makes American expats look bad. And no, if you worked in Paris at an entry level marketing job, you could NOT afford clothes like Emily’s. Unless, like Emily, you could conquer complex French luxury branding in little puffs of instant inspiration, without even speaking the language.

Emily's candy-colored, Disney-fied, Paris

 My take is, it’s all much ado about nothing. The show is a silly, sugary bit of Franco-American fluff that, for all its faults, is great fun to watch. I do have great sympathy, however, for Parisian residents who’ve had their favorite haunts overrun by the new Emily tourist crowds, desperate to replicate some of her experiences.

But let’s talk about those clothes! Even my husband, who has zero interest in fashion, tunes in for the fashion parade alone. A zebra get-up with giant wings! A hot pink confection that seems to be raining flowers!  Plunging black cut-out dresses that seem to be held together by air and a prayer! And that’s before we get to the French scenery porn. It’s a French feast for the eyeballs.

Below: Emily as a flying zebra, frothy in feathers, wrapped in ruffles, and bow-tied. Plus Mindy and Camille, in the (very) Little Black Dress.

 

My favorite deliciously cynical take on the show comes from sassy French academic Arthur Asseraf, a Parisian who watches while doing a live twitter feed commentary—“I suffer so you don’t have to,” he quips. He settles down to watch the show with this tweet:  “I’ve poured myself two glasses: one is full of wine and the other is full of righteous judgment, and I’m double-fisting hard.”

He also proposes an Emily drinking game: every time there is a gratuitous shot of the Eiffel tower or a person wearing a béret, you take a sip. Having tried it ourselves, we can tell you that you are going to need a very large glass of wine. His favorite scene is a double hit, a shot of the Eiffel tower with a guy walking by in a béret. “Take two sips and kiss your dog!”, says Arthur exuberantly.

Drink up! Emily sports a béret.

So how about you, dear readers? Is Emily your favorite show, or is it your French nightmare? Or maybe a little of both? 

 

In the COMMENTS: Natalia, a French teacher once told me that the subjonctif tense is going away slowly because the young people don't use it. Problem solved, I'm declaring myself young! Holly, the cookie cutters came from Amazon, they have every shape you can imagine. Colleen, hope you feel better and best of luck with your new children's book, It's a Rainforest, which we featured in the last post. Chris, looking forward to trying that oatmeal bread. Anne, be sure to send photos of those cookies.

Favorite READS: Next up on my reading list is The Billionaire's Vinegar, which my husband is currently reading, about the most expensive and famous bottle of wine ever made. And while we're on a Paris theme this week: Like Natalia, I've read Ann Mah's Jaqueline in Paris, which she is loving. Chris recommends Paris by the Book, by Liam Callanan, a mystery novel about love and loss. 

 

 

A "Sable" for Every Season

Every Christmas I buy pounds of butter and make mounds of sugar cookies—as I’m sure many of you do—which in France are called sables. The American and French recipes are similar, though the sables I buy in French boulangeries are slightly drier and less sweet than our sugar cookies, and equally delicious.

I love decorating the cookies as a group project—this year with my daughter and sister. We are not pros but we like to get creative. We were pretty proud of our wreaths, below (an idea we stole from Instagram--directions for those are here).

But decorated sugar cookies are not just for Christmas. They can make any occasion festive. I have a variety of cookie cutter shapes which are now overflowing in my cabinet. You can get the letters of the alpabet to spell out a name or phrase; my daughter has a tic-tac-toe set. Any theme is possible. And last year I bought a simple decorating kit for just a few euros, which made it all SO much easier.

So shall we broaden our sable horizon? How about heart shapes for your Valentine this year? For our beloved châtelain Pierre, I made châteaux for his birthday one year (see below). I did French-themed cookies for a party for a friend who was off to France for a month (pictured above). And at a French village flea market we sometimes set up a booth to benefit my cat rescue group, and I made the cookies you will see in the recipe below, to sell at the market.

My secret for making them delicious is to use lemon juice instead of milk for the icing. My daughter likes to add almond extract instead. Sugar cookies can be chocolate too, or other flavors, like the caramel-y castles above.  And while you have to be a bit of an artiste to make the fancy ones like you see on Pinterest, don’t be deterred. My daughter and I didn't get the  painterly gene, but we managed to turn out something respectable. If we can do it, anyone can. It’s like getting in touch with your inner child, no skill required.

My Thanksgiving dessert platter, with turkeys, leaves and pumpkins

I decorated this batch for Christmas in a hurry: no food coloring necessary.

 

RECIPE: Chocolate Sugar Cookies

For regular sugar cookies, I use this recipe from Ina Garten or this one from Sally's Baking Addiction. Or try a French sable recipe like this one.  Most of the recipes are very similar, but this chocolate variation (from Melissa Clark) is different and quite good. I've included three icing recipes as well.

• 2 cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
• ½ cup/40 grams unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup/225 grams salted butter, preferably European-style butter (2 sticks), softened
• ⅔ cup/135 grams granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in yolk, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Once chilled, remove plastic wrap and sandwich dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out into a 1/3-inch-thick slab. Leaving dough between the parchment, place it on a  plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).

Heat oven to 325 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, or a Silpat.

Pull dough from refrigerator, and remove parchment from dough. Cut out as many cookies as possible.  Transfer them to the prepared cookie sheets. Reroll the dough scraps and repeat (my tip: if they stick, instead of flouring your hands, the board, or the cutters, use dry cocoa).

Bake cookies for 15 to 22 minutes, until puffed and set, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool completely.

 

For the icing: Use the lemon for regular sugar cookies, and either of the others for the chocolate ones.

Lemon: Mix 3 cups confectioners sugar with 1 tablespoon meringue powder (the powder is optional, but helps the icing set up better). Stir in fresh squeezed lemon juice (it will take several tablespoons) and beat until icing is very smooth. Stir in food coloring. Icing shouldn’t be so thick that it’s hard to stir , and a bit slow to drip, sort of like honey. Almond: As above, but use milk instead of lemon juice and add 1 teaspoon almond extract.

Chocolate: Melt 6 oz  dark or white chocolate. Frost cookies and top with sprinkles or colored sugar.

My Francophile cookie set

Next project: Charleston coastal cookies!

 

Favorite READS: Félicitations to our loyal reader, the artist Colleen Taylor, who has a new book out! It's a Rainforest is a children's book with illustrations by Colleen. Check it out, it's gorgeous!

 

 

Bits of French Wisdom for a Happy New Year

My friend Sandi in Charleston  is a book collector. Her house is full of books, old and new, from floor to ceiling. She's started selling old Charleston and southern themed books on her Etsy site, Charleston Ink and Art, so she is always on the prowl.

So as a gift, she gave me a real find: a little antique tome called "French Wit and Wisdom", stuffed with quotes from famous French authors of another era. The original price is printed on the leaf inside: $1.00 (which speaks to how old it is: 72 years to be exact).

This is perfect since we are in Charleston for Christmas this year, and I won't be able to share the  French quotes from the wrappers of the chocolate papillotes as I usually do (like this former post, and this one).  This little book is actually in English, but as usual I've got some French homework for you--I've posted  the quotes in French,  too, so you can practice. (Exception: no translation for a couple of quotes because I could not locate the original citation in French).

I've picked a sampler for you. Some of the quotes are appropriate and cautionary for our scary world at the moment, and some are just good advice. Inspiration for your new year's resolutions maybe? Joyeux Noel et Bonne anneé to all!

Here are some some wise quotes that seem right on target for our difficult and polarized times: 

Politeness acts as a guard over the rough edges on our character, preventing them from harming others. We should never lay it aside, even in contact with coarse people.—Joubert

La politesse est une sorte d'émoussoir qui enveloppe les aspérités de notre caractère et empêche que les autres n'en soient blessés.

 

In those countries where the morals are the most dissolute, the language is the most severe; as if they would replace on the lips what has deserted the heart—Voltaire

 

A sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no law but his caprice.—Voltaire

On appelle tyrant le souverain qui ne connaît de lois que son caprice.

 

Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.—Voltaire

Ceux qui peuvent vous faire croire à des absurdités peuvent vous faire commettre des atrocités.

 

Religious zeal is a a pure and enlightened attachment to worship of the Divinity and its maintenance and progress; but when it grows blind and false and takes to persecution, it becomes the greatest scourge of humanity.—Voltaire 

 

Prejudice is the reason of fools.—Voltaire

Le préjugé est une opinion sans jugement.

 

Narcissists, like dwarfs, have the stature of a child with the face of a man.—Joubert

Les orgueilleux me semblent avoir, comme les nains, la taille d'un enfant et la contenance d'un homme. 

 

And some life lessons:

 

Jest with Life; that's all it's good for.—Voltaire

Je joue avec la vie, madame; elle n'est bonne qu'à cela. 

 

The more one judges, the less one loves.—Balzac

Plus on juge, moins on aime. 

 

We should wear our velvet next to the skin--that is we should be the most amiable and agreeable to those of our own family.—Joubert

Il faut porter son velours en dedans, c'est-à-dire, montrer son amabilité de préférence à ceux avec qui l'on vit chez soi. 

 

Had we ourselves no faults we should find less pleasure in discovering them in others.—Rochefoucauld

Si nous n'avions pas tant de défauts, nous ne prendrions pas tant de plaisir à en remarquer chez les autres.

 

We never live; we are always in expectation of living.--Voltaire

Nous ne vivons jamais, nous attendons la vie.

 

The most completely lost of all days is the one on which we have not laughed.—Chamfort

La plus perdue de toutes les journées est celle où l'on n'a pas ri. 

 

Merry Christmas and the happiest new year to all!

A Christmas scene, spotted on a village house in Burgundy

P.S. No new recipe today, but I did stumble across a recipe for my Lucky New Year's Pie, which made an appearance in a guest post for Kristin Espinasse's French-Word-A-Day way back in 2010. Some years back we decided to forget the Hoppin' John and make something with Gran Marnier every New Year's day, for some sweet good luck. And so far it's working! Lately I've been making a Gran Marnier soufflé, but this year I'll go back to this Lucky Gran Marnier pie recipe, loved and lost.

 

Favorite READS: I have one more quote from the book for you, from Joubert: "The one drawback of new books is that they prevent our reading old ones."  Le grand inconvénient des livres nouveaux est de nous empêcher de lire les anciens. In that case, why not revisit the ultimate French classic, Le Petit Prince, as I did recently--I hadn't read it since my high school French class. Better yet, read it to your kids or grandkids. or even more fun, you can find Le Petit Prince on youtube, narrated by Kenneth Branaugh, with the simple illustrations in the book brought to life with animation.

 

 

 

An Overnight Pilgrimage

“The sun was coming up. There was a thick mist hanging over the valley, and I could see the treetops piercing through it here and there. Up above, the village stood, like a pyramid reflecting the light. It was a magnificent sight, and it was full of admiration that I made for the Church of St. Madeleine.”—Prosper Mérimée, 1836

 

If you are a any sort of francophile (or of a religious persuasion), you have no doubt heard of the pilgrimage town of Vézelay, in the northwest corner of Burgundy.

As I’ve said before, one of my favorite things about living in France, and in La Bourgogne in particular, is the ability to go to an exciting new area, or even another country, for a week-end trip. We hadn’t been to Vézelay in a couple of decades, so when our dear friends Carol and Bill came to see us, off we went for a brief séjour, pilgrims for a day.

So what’s so special about Vézelay? A lot.

First of all, it’s not every church that (reportedly) has relics of such a famous saint, or that has been around since the 9th century. Pilgrims have been visiting La Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine for 1000 years. It’s now a Unesco World Heritage site. It’s still a common starting point for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (if you’re up for a VERY long walk). The town has a long and rich history, as the originating point of crusades, a medieval mecca, and more.

The Basilica, a 12th century Romanesque masterpiece of a monastic cathedral, sits on top of the “Eternal Hill” that is the town. Most of the small village, which is packed with charm, is set along the one main road that leads from the base of the town, steeply, up to the church.

A visit to the inside of the church will surely fill you with awe, then you can descend to the small chapel below ground where the relics are kept. Behind the church is a jaw-dropping view of the lush rolling hills of the Morvan.

Semur-en-Auxois is on the way, so we did a quick pass through and gazed at the town from its perfect viewpoint. We also wandered through nearby Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, which is where the famous movie Chocolat was filmed (Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench. We watched it again, to put us in the mood for our trip).

IF YOU GO: In Vézelay we stayed at the very pleasant Hotel de la Poste et du Lion d'or. It was right at the base of the hill so you will have to walk up to the church. It’s mostly a pedestrian road but when we went to dinner we managed to drive up and park behind the church. In the past we’ve stayed a few miles away at a marvelous château, called Chateau d'Island.

If you pass through Semur, don’t miss lunch at Cuisine de la Fontaignotte, farm-fresh food with  a terrace that has a sweeping view of this exceptionally beautiful town.

In Flavigny, we got a very casual lunch on the Place near the church—picnic tables outside, and self-service—at La Grange, billed as a farm-to-table place, and it was quite a fun  pique-nique in the sunshine.

 

Vézelay:

Here is La Basilique de Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

 

Flavigny-sur-Ozerain:

This is the entry gate to the village

 

Lovely architectural details were everywhere

 

Our friend Bill peeps inside the window that was the chocolate shop in the movie Chocolat

 

This was a photo-op in a little square, and the first and last time you will see my husband in drag

 

Semur-en-Auxois:

One of the most beautiful towns in France, with dramatic views all round. You can read my previous post with more photos of Semur here.

 

 

Favorite READS: Speaking of French travels, who doesn't love Provence? Our book expert extraordinaire Natalia recommends An American in Provence by Jamie Beck. On a road trip recently, Ron and I listened to two Peter Mayle audiobooks, French Lessons and Twenty-five Years in Provence. I recommend the audiobooks because the readers, with their posh English accents, deliver the dry British humor with aplomb.