Jacques in Granges: 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.