Eat, Eat, Eat

All we have done this past week is go from meal to meal. Saturday at noon, we went to the same restaurant where we celebrated Ren's baptism when he was a baby, the Bleu Marine in Gerardmer, but this time we were celebrating Patrick's brother Philippe's 50th birthday. Here we are, left to right, back row: Patrick, Dennis (Christine's bro), Ren, Lucie, Philippe, Florian, me, then Christine in front of Patrick, then sitting Bernadette (Christine's mom), Gladys (Patrick's aunt and godmother), Ida, and Remi.



Then Sunday, distant cousins who have become friends recently, came to Granges, and we went to dinner and celebrated my birthday a day late. First picture, Philippe and Ren. Who does Ren remind you of? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, although it may skip a generation! 10 points for the first to e-mail me with the answer!



Below, same night in our kitchen. Clockwise starting from bottom left: Gladys, Ida, Coco (Jean Francois, the cousin), his mother Pacquerette (meaning "Little Easter"--she was born on Eastere morning), Coco's wife Sylvie, their baby Helene (they are our age, and yes, the baby was planned), and me. Coco is the artisan who did all the windows in the new house and our beautiful ash staircase.


Coco and me. Notice the two delicious cakes, and Ren's homemade birthday card, the highlight of my day.



On Tuesday, we went to a favorite restaurant called Auberge de Belbriette, with Lucette and Camille. Here are the four of us at my favorite spot in the Vosges, the lake at Belbriette (not the same one the restaurant overlooks).

On Wednesday, we drove up to the mountain tops to eat at a Ferme Auberge, a restaurant that produces 75% of what it serves. Check out the view! Left to right, Gladys, Bernadette, Christine in front of Philippe, Ida, Patrick, me.

Finally we got a day of walking! Patrick, Ren, and I went on a hike that took us past some WWI barracks and trenches. This is Patrick and Ren in front of German bunkers from the first war.

And this is "graffiti" on one of the bunkers telling the date, 1916, and the name of the bunker.

This will most likely be the last entry in the blog. We go back to the US on the 19th. It will be hard to leave, especially for Patrick, and I think for his mother too. It is very difficult for Patrick to live this far away from family, and it is a blessing to me that he is willing to do so. Please say a prayer for him and for his Mom, and for us for Travel Mercies as we go back next week.

Diet starts on August 20th...

Housewarming Party

It's done! The traditional "Cremaillere" or House Warming, named after the chain that the cooking pot was hung from in the cooking fireplace in a home, was held Friday night. (The name probably comes from the idea that, once moved in, the family would set a pot on the fire to cook and invite friends and family for the first meal in the new home.) Our Cremaillere had an American flavor to it, which required some education for the French who were invited, at least those of the older generations, who expect to sit down and be served a meal over several hours, as opposed to the less formal style of heavy hors d'oeuvres and serve-yourself that is more traditional for Americans.

We served Jambalaya over rice to represent my Louisana heritage, quesadillas for Texas, carrot cake muffins from Grandmom Cochran's recipe, brownies, shrimp spread on crackers from Mom's recipe, "Heath" cookies also from Mom, and a few other tidbits. To drink, we offered Sangria, champagne, or orange soda. You see here the food laid out on our kitchen table. (This table was Patrick's grandmother's, and he has good memories of everyone gathered around it, so we are honored to continue that tradition in our own home.)

Jambalay almost ready!

Angela Boulet (married to Dennis--Patrick was his best man), with Lucie and Flo in the back yard. The weather held--we had a few drops of rain but were able to stay outside most of the time.

Below, left to right: Suzie Antoine, Ida Jacques, Andre Antoine. Andre is 92! I teased him that he likes to flirt with young girls, and his wife said, "Yes, he loves to walk in town with young girls." I said, "Actually, I was referring to Ida!" (She's only 82.) They are sitting on our living room "sofa" which was actually Ida's childhood bed, now serving as a daybed. On the wall behind, there are three framed sheets of music, all from around WWI, all owned by my grandmother Jewel Ewing. The first one is "Goodbye Broadway, Hello France" and shows Roosevelt shaking hands with Petain. The second is "My Dear Old Texas Home," and the one on the right is "Over There" by Cohen, with a picture by Norman Rockwell.

I took this picture from our bedroom window, looking down into the back yard.

I had to push to get people to try the Jambalaya, but once they did, they came back for seconds. I billed it as a Lousiana version of Paella, since Paella is very popular here, and that seemed to get it started. This is Michel Boyet (a man Ida helped raise when she served as a nanny for a family from about age 15 until marriage), Daniel Jacques (Patrick's uncle), and Francois Martin (another cousin of the Jacques, and the man whose company replaced the roof of the house.)

A couple of interesting things about the picture below. First, our friend Eric talking to the village priest. Second, next to Eric is M. Rouault, our neighbor and WWII vet who flies the flags. (He is 82 and joined the FFI, which was the undercover French army, aka the Resistence, at 17.) Third, we see our neighbor in the orange shirt in the background, helping himself to a beverage. There are stories behind each of these, but there isn't time or space here, but I wanted to put this one for the French blog followers. (By the way, the blong woman next to the priest is Eric's lady friend, Nathalie.)

Patrick talking to his brother Philippe (to Patrick's right).

Patrick and me with the architect who designed and oversaw the remodel. This is the same man who built Patrick's parent's house and his brother's, so by now we can say he is also a friend. We're standing in the living room in front of the beautifully-done staircase that was added by a woodworker/artisan from a nearby town, whom we discovered during the renovation to be a distant cousin on Ida's side. (Everyone here seems to be related in some way...)

Finally, for those of you who are wondering where Ren was, he was there all along, helping. He helped clean ahead of time, helped prepare the food, and helped serve throughout the party. We were proud of him: he truly was one of the hosts. In this last picture, he is standing in the entry way to the house pointing to the sign that says "Cafe de la Gare Chez Jacques." Last year, a rumor started that we were going to reopen the Cafe de la Gare, a Cafe that existed in this house years ago. (Gare means train station.) This house was also once a butcher (the giant basins for cutting up the animals are still in the cellar); a shoemaker's store and workshop; and a hotel. So Ren made this sign on the computer saying the Cafe was now open, with an asterisk at the bottom saying, "The cafe will open for sure the day the train returns to Granges." In other words, never!

Two Dinners and a Truck

Our next door neighbors are a young couple who just got married in February. The young woman, Marion, is the daughter of our good friends Bertrand and Catherine Voirin. She married a young man who has since opened a "Kaboberie," a middle-eastern fast-food kind of restaurant. On Tuesday, a group of us, including Marion's parents, went for dinner. It was a delicious meal of gyro-style meat, a well-presented salad, and fresh-made fries. Left to right: Philippe (Patrick's brother), Marion, Lucie, Flo, Susan, Patrick, Catherine Voirin. Front row: Pierre, Bertrand Voirin, and Pierre's wife Monique. (Pierre and Monique are friends of the Voirin's. You saw them in the Potato Pancake pictures.)


On Wednesday, Lucie and Flo invited the family for dinner at Flo's parent's house. When we arrived, we found USA decorations on the door and a US flag to welcome us. We started with homemade sushi (they learned how from our neighbor Tokso in the US), and chips and salsa (Lucie has become a huge fan of Tex Mex since her stay in Texas!). The dinner consisted of several delicious vegetable and salad dishes, along with pork chops and grilled sausages. Dessert was a "clafoutis"--a kind of flan-like pie made with plums. It was all very good and very well-presented, with little US flag mints and a mini Mexican hat for decor.

Above, left to right: Christine and Philippe, Lucie and Flo, and Julian (one of their friends, studying to be a PT.) Below, left to right: me, Patrick, Ida (Patrick's Mom), Gladys (Ida's sister), and Bernadette (Christine's Mom).

Finally, as a little bonus on today's blog, a picture of Philippe's truck, loaded with wood awaiting delivery, parked in front of the original garage from the early 1900's where the family trucking business started. The garage is located across the road from Patrick's grandparent's house (Rene Senior's parents, who started the trucking business in the 1920's). Frederic and Pascal now own the old home. They split it into two parts so that they each have a section for their families when they visit Granges. The business is now housed in a larger, newer garage next door to this one.

Tonight, we are hosting our House Warming party, so I better get busy getting ready! Pictures to follow tomorrow!

Village Festival Sunday

First, a little WWII history. First picture is a memorial at the site where the Nazis shot down an allied plane

(I'm a bit behind...) Last Sunday was the Granges Village Festival--kind of like an old-fashioned carnival with games, homemade waffles, and artisans demonstrating their skills. Ren and Patrick tried their hand at "Quilles," a game like bowling that used to be played outside of most taverns. All it takes to set it up is a couple of boards, 10 wooden pins, and a wooden ball. Ren won a bottle of wine for his parents.

Then he played a game where you toss a petanque ball at an egg. He broke the egg, and won a two waffles, for his parents. By then we had a complete meal! Who says kids cost a lot?!

Everyone comes out for the festival. From left to right, this is Patrick, his cousin Pascal, some guy I don't know, his cousin Frederic (in black with his arm on his hip), and others. The church is in the background, and you can see two ladies pulling a wagon with a bag filled with delicacies like a bottle of champagne. That, too, was a game: guess the weight of the bag, and whoever comes closest wins the bag. (We lost that one.)

Just at the end, the skies opened up, and we ran into the local tavern. (This is Frederic with his youngest son Ludovic.)

Fish and Birthday Cake

On Friday, the three of us drove to Nancy (about an hour from Granges) to pick up Patrick's almost 85 year old aunt and godmother Gladys (Ida's sister), who is coming to visit for a couple of weeks. Shortly after we got back to the house, the doorbell rang, and there stood Camille, 88-year-old WWII resistance fighter, photographer, Patrick's basketball coach, and our friend, offering us fresh-caught trout. Of course, one good turn deserves another, so we invited him for beer. (Truth be told, it is tradition when someone drops by to offer them a beverage, but we were thrilled to see him!) I hope I am as active and energetic as he is when I'm 88.

He had come by twice already to give us the fish, and since we weren't there earlier, he went ahead and cleaned them for us--something I consider to be quite a blessing, in addition to the gift of the fish! Cooked in a little butter with almonds--delicious!

The weather was beautiful, so of course we ate outside...

Patrick caught this telling shot of Ren (who did eat a trout), following up his meal with, quelle surprise, pasta.

Later, we went for a walk. Ren took this picture of Patrick and I walking in front of Ida's house (on the right) and Philippe's (on the left) with the moon rising over the mountain behind. It was close to 10:00pm but we are so far north that the sun sets late.

Saturday was Patrick's birthday, and I invited the inlaws over for dinner to celebrate. We started with the traditional "appero" outside, then had bruschetta as our entree (inside--it was getting chilly), then for the main meal we had American meatloaf (a favorite of Patrick's) with zucchini from Ida's garden steamed and served with lemon-parsley butter. Then a cheese and salad course, and finally, these two delicious cakes. (No, I didn't make them--are you kidding?!) The one on the left is a fruit-type cake with layers of pistachio mousse and apricot mousse. There was a lovely "flower" on the top made of vanilla sticks, apricots, and pineapple slices. The chocolate one was layers of different chocolates and a layer of cream filling. It was my favorite. I know you are shocked!

Biking in the Vosges

The three of us went on a bike ride Wednesday on the "Voie Vert", biking trails that are linked with old railroad lines. It was a lovely sunny day, and we stopped for a picnic along the way. My legs are a little sore, but I earned my potato chips at lunch! (Dad, we had jambon-beurre for lunch. I know you would have loved it!)

Castle Matching Game

We went to Alsace on Monday to visit castles and then to eat dinner with a "true" (14 generations) Alsatian family that Patrick met through his antique postcard collecting. Each picture represents something, and it is up to you to match the picture to the description. Here are the descriptions:

A: "Donjon"
B: Medieval Chapel
C: gate with drawbridge holes
D: sewage system
E: Medieval toilet
F: cannon firing hole
G: Medieval fireplace
H: "Choucroute Alsacienne"


1:



2:

3:

4:

5:

6:

7:

8:

ANSWERS:

1 B: This 11 or 12th century tiny chapel was in the wall of a castle ruin.

2 D: Yes, this is indeed the exterior of an indoor toilet! They would sit down on a stone seat with a hole in it, and go...and it would just all exit out the tower. Sarah, I know you love this one!

3 F: When canons were invented, this castle was updated to allow for holes to fire out of.

4 G: Most castles we have seen had some kind of fireplace in the wall.

5 A: A "Donjon" is the tower that was the last resort when a castle was under seige. It was where the family lived, and where they stayed in a seige.

6 H: Homemade! Excellent!

7 E: This is a different castle but another toilet. Here you get to see the seat!

8 C: This gate once had a drawbridge. You can kind of see the openings where the drawbridge mechanisms were (above the opening).

Sunday Lunch

You gotta love a country that understands the importance of good food as well as France does.

Picture this: Our WWII vet neighbor had brought us a big box of potatoes and green beans from his garden. What to do with them? Invite Patrick's Mom to come have lunch with us on Sunday. So we call the butcher and ask him to set aside a roast chicken for us for Sunday. Done.

Sunday morning comes, and I think, "It would be nice, since it is Sunday lunch and that is traditionally a nicer meal in France, to have an 'entree' before the main meal." (An "entree" in France is the course between the appetizer and the main meal.) I look in the pantry and realize I have all the ingredients for Dotties 4-ingredient chicken salad as long as I use tuna and almonds instead of chicken and pecans. (It was good, Dottie!) Stuff some smallish tomatoes, and you have an entree.

But then we realize that my bro-in-law and his youngest daughter Lea are on their own because Christine had to work, so... let's invite them!

First, though--Ida, do you have any extra tomotoes? Yes, no problem!

Butcher, can you put aside another chicken for us? Yes, no problem!

What about dessert? Quick stop at the patisserie/boulangerie, and voila! A delicious, relatively easy meal fit for the in-laws! (We already had fresh bread from that morning and delicious cheese on hand.)

The meal: appero (nuts, olives, cheese straws, etc. while sipping a glass of port or other such aperitif), followed by tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad, then roast chicken and a side of green beans and potatoes, then a selection of cheeses with fresh bread, then dessert, then coffee. Mmmmmmm!

I love this country! (Pictures below)


An assortment of desserts to share...


Stuffing the tomatoes with the tuna salad in our little kitchen...




Patrick, Philippe, Ida, Lea sitting outside for lunch al fresco (but under the umbrella to keep the temperature down!)

Beignets de Patates a Champdrey (Potato Pancake Festival!)

The now-famous (in our circle of friends) Potato Pancake Festival in Champdrey (the village on top of the mountain show in the quiz) took place last night, and it was, as predicted, a lot of fun--although the general feeling was that the beignets (kind of like hash browns, but better) were not as good as last year. Oh, well--the bacon sandwiches made up for it! (Think thick-cut bacon cooked on an open fire, on fresh French bread--mmmmm!) Patrick, Ren, and I went to 6:00 mass in Champdrey at the church across from the festival. In fact, if you look at the first picture, that's the priest sitting at the bottom right in the white with the glasses. He joined us for a glass of wine and some beignets, and let me tell you, he held his own with the funny stories and jokes! (Thank God, everyone kept the jokes clean, at least while Frere Jacques was with us!) You can just see the church behind our table. Clockwise from left to right, starting at the bottom left: Bertrand Voirin, me, Catherine Voirin, some other people we didn't know, across from Catherine is Christine Jacques (Philippe's wife), Philippe (Patrick's bro), Frederic (Patrick's cousin and close friend), Father Jacques, and Pierre (a friend of Bertrand).



Funny stories and jokes were told by anyone who had that ability (not me). Here, Philippe tells a good one to Fredo.



Only complaint: long lines for the food! You can just see Patrick waiting in line for the bacon sandwiches, in the right half of the picture behind a lady with a pale green sweater around her shoulders.


Like last year, a clown was present to provide entertainment. I'm not usually a fan of clowns, but this guy is really good. He keeps the kids entertained while still keeping it humorous enough for the grown-ups, and his juggling ability was impressive.

The "after party" was at Bertrand and Catherine's house in Granges. We had champagne and kuggelhopf (don't hold me to the spelling on that). Clockwise starting at bottom left: Pierre, Fredo, Christine, Bertrand, Philippe, Virginie (Bertrand's neice and godchild), her fiance Olivier (a policeman), Monique (Bertrand's sister-in-law's sister and Virginie's godmother), and Patrick.

The funny stories and jokes continued! But we were still home and in bed by 1:00am, which was earlier than last year (and very welcome by those of us who need our 8 hours!)

As they say, a good time was had by all. (Ren had dinner with us, including beignets and coke, and then Patrick drove him down the mountain so he didn't have to hang with the old fogies.)