Luge d'Été

Coming back from glorious Paris, I figured why not experience the very best of what my home French region has to offer? Which, of course, would be MOUNTAINS.

And so it was that I experienced the French-style roller coaster known as luge d’été, or “summer sledding” (sans the snow). Two person per one seat, so I was with Ar the whole time. It was pretty much this: we mounted steeply to the top of a mountain, strapped into a sled-contraption attached to metal rails, and then descended downwards (with plenty of curves thrown in for good measure).

To be honest, I’m pretty sure most real roller coaster aficionados would proclaim it to be completely lame and pathetic, but for me (and Ar who was right beside me), it was quite the thrill. Maybe a bit too much so for Ar, as I, for one, love SPEEEEED, and it was also me who controlled the lever to slow down….which I didn’t do too much of, even when we were at the hairpin turns. The whole time Ar was squeaking, “Ali! Stop! Break!” while I pretended that I couldn’t hear. But no worries, she is hardly scarred for life, as afterwards I saw a look on her face of ravished contentment from all the adrenaline-filled excitement.















Climbing upwards (that would be Ar's pink-speckled hat in the foreground)

My Halloween in France

In previous years I was hardly grateful or appreciative of Halloween. It was something I took for granted. Although in France some of the traditions of the holiday are gaining popularity, it is all still very foreign to them in general. When I explained to the girls how every year as a kid I had gone from house to house in my neighborhood getting candy, dressed up in a costume, saying “Trick or treat!,” their eyes were wide-open in amazement. “Really?” When I talked to the their grandmother (a native Parisian, born and bred) about the concept of Halloween, she was disdainful; “trop commerciale,” she decried. If I was living in the US I would have agreed. But being abroad has made me nostalgic for the fun-hearted traditions and celebrations of good old Americana.

So we decided to throw our very own Halloween party. That is, we decorated the house and then the girls had all their friends over for an afternoon.

The preparations the day before were quite the affair: we baked spice cookies in the shape of pumpkins and witches’ hats, and to add something really special to all the other party décor of black and orange streamers and garlands and fake cobwebs…we carved a jack-o-lantern!

In fact, it was the very first time they had done it, so when we finally sawed around the top of the pumpkin and pulled off its hat, they were surprised to see all the guts that were inside. Ar’s reaction was “Déguelasse!” (That’s disgusting!) She retreated over to the next room, complaining that it smelled bad. Her disgust deepened a couple minutes later when she observed me scooping out the seeds with my bare hands. “How can you do that?” she cried; never mind that I had done it ever since I was little.

Luckily we found a book at the town library to use for ideas and inspiration, and that is where we also found our party menu. Here it is, in French, with English translations and explanations following down below. The explanations are important because otherwise it doesn’t sound too appetizing!

MENU des FRISSONS
Menu of Shivers

Entrées

Yeux de Chauves-Souris Variés
Varied bat eyes
(A mix of black and green olives)

Champignons du Bois des Sorcières
Mushrooms from Witches’ Woods
(Mushrooms)

Plats

Les Vers d’Égout
Worms from the Sewer
(Spaghetti with pesto sauce)

Boulettes de Crapaud au Jus de Vampire
Toad pellets with vampire juice
(Meatballs and tomato sauce)

Desserts

Bave Gelée de Limaces d’Égout
Frozen Slime of Sewer Slugs
(Vanilla ice cream)

Crottes de Chauve-souris Momifiées
Mummified bat droppings
(Chocolate fudge sauce)

Our pumpkin in progress

These are a few of my favorite things...

Favorite pastry: Pain au chocolat.

Granted, croissants are good by themselves. I mean, put lots of butter with anything and chances are the taste buds are going to be happy to eat it…Hence the classic French cooking rule-of-thumb that you can never have enough butter. But for me, add in some CHOCOLATE, and then you have the next thing to heaven.

Favorite cheese: Roquefort.

I love the pungent, knock-out flavor. Never mind that there are blueish green fuzzy dots within it, which look exactly like the mold growing on the stale bread in the refrigerator…

Favorite paysage: The view from my bedroom window.

We’re elevated up on the mountainside, so when I look out down below at night, I see the lights of Geneva and the surrounding area, sparkling and twinkling. The pinpoint-sized pools of light are like an exaggerated mimicry/magnified reflection of the stars above. Environmentally-inclined folks would reject it as mere light pollution, but I admire it each night when I close the shutters to my windows. I usually find a grand blinking light making a steady trajectory amidst the stars, coming from an airplane departing from the airport.

In fact, the vista gives a certain rhythm to my days. After getting out of bed each morning, I open up the shutters to let in some light and take a breath of fresh air. On cloudless days, I see Mont Blanc—the highest mountain in Europe—looming out in the distance. It makes for a spectacular sunrise if I wake up early enough, when the whole scene soaks in blends of blue, orange, and pink from the sky.

Chez Voltaire

This is the house/mansion where Voltaire lived--I pass by it on the way to my French classes. A few days ago I stopped by to see what the interior looked like. Which made me wish I knew more about French philosophy, so that I could appreciate it more! But the gardens and sculptures surrounding the grounds were super pretty.

Antsy-Pantsy Annecy

A couple of Saturdays ago I headed to the city of Annecy with some fellow au pairs. We checked out the enormous outdoor market—I mean, stall after stall of fresh fruits and veggies, breads, cheese, meats, and other specialty items. Besides the food, there were some cheapish quality clothing items, mostly shirts and pants, but there were also tables of lacy lingerie out there in the open, should you wish to buy some while you pick up your food for the week ahead. Or you could even buy a mattress. Personally I wouldn’t want to, as they were lying on the pavement between the stacks of zucchini and bunches of grapes.

Of course we stopped by a cheese vendor in stocking up our provisions for a lakeside picnic. Our selections were the Bleu des Causses (a strong conventional blue cheese), alongside something that really caught our eye, for amongst the standard cheese shades of white and yellow, stood the bright orange Mimolette—a la classic Kraft macaroni-and-cheese orange. The neon intensity got my attention, because despite the enormous selection of cheese available in France, cheddar (or any cheese with annatto coloring) is next-to-impossible to find. Here is a picture so you can see the orange color for yourself:

Photo credit goes to Noah—an action shot of me in midst of eating some of the Mimolette

Post-picnic, we headed out to explore the city. Annecy is known as the Venice of France, and it’s not without reason…First of all there are the canals:

But it was the gelato that made me really feel like I was in Italy:

After a solid two minutes standing in front of the display case weighing the options (there were a lot of flavors to choose from!), I decided to try the Chocolat Noisette. So good, with crunchy chocolate-dipped hazelnuts. It was somewhat reminiscent of Nutella, but more refined.

Some other pictures:

View from the top of the chateau d'Annecy

Along the street canals

Road trip, cows, and castles

This weekend I went to France’s Loire Valley for a family reunion; they rented out a big huge country house and I got to come along to help out and watch the kids as necessary.

At first I was a bit anxious because we were taking the car. Which meant that I was in the backseat, between two kids, for five hours. But it really wasn't that bad, if not just a tad squishy for my legs. Plus I got to check out the insides of a French gas station for the first time. Yes, they sell baguettes and Camembert cheese for roadside snacks. And for two euros, you can get access to shower facilities, located next to the bathrooms.

So we finally arrived, and as picturesque as it was, there aren’t a whole lot of things there except for… cows. All-white cows, actually, which I hadn’t seen before. (I’m accustomed to the black-and-white spotted or brown-speckled varieties. Speaking of which, my personal favorite are the Oreo cookie cows—black head and tail, with a white midsection).

So basically, I’ve discovered that:

Loire Valley = bunches of cows, munching away on expanses of green grass fields + a stonehewn barn every couple of kilometers + the occasional herd of grazing sheep.

In fact, while we were in the car on our way there, we actually had to stop for a good three minutes to watch a herd of sheep, led by a tractor, cross the road. It was funny because it made apparent the difference between the slow pace of country living, to my habituation of constantly going, moving, rushing.

The trip also made for a nice change of scenery: flat terrain in which you could see acres of farmland for miles around—instead of the rocky mountains of France that I have grown accustomed to.

As lovely as it was to be putting the adjectives “bucolic” and “pastoral” to good use, the real highlight for me was the chance to see some French CASTLES, up close and in person!

Me, I think chateaux are SO cool. Part of it probably comes from my love of fairy tales, and also because that kind of history just doesn’t exist in the US—that is, constructions that date back to Roman and/or Medieval times.

What really impressed me was that these castles actually had MOATS. To me, moats were strictly the stuff of stories—nice to imagine, but not actually in existence. But there they were, with lily pads and everything:

Gruyeres

My first weekend here we spent a day in Gruyeres, the town where they make the famous (and delicious) Swiss cheese. It was my first introduction to Switzerland. Some highlights of the day:

The mountains, of course!

The dessert specialty of the region: caramelized sugar meringue, dipped into the smooth rich and creamy creme de la Gruyere, with a side of strawberry ice cream, and an espresso

A mini street concert of the traditional Swiss alphorn, like in the Ricola cough drop commercials!

Going up the mountain on the funiculaire, and then to the very summit on the telepherique

Breathtaking sunset once we got to the top!

Traditional cheese fondue for dinner

Now every time I see Gruyere cheese at the supermarket, I think about our little trip!