Grignan, Drome Provencal- a heavenly slice of Provence

Last spring, we had the chance to take some time off with some friends to visit the French department of Drome.  Drome is just south of Isere and just north of Provence.   The original idea was to stay as close as possible to Valence and visit the Valhrona chocolate factory (again).

 I did some research on some "Chambres D'hôtes" (that's french for B&B) and "Gites" and since we were a large group of 10 (silly me, I made the reservation for 8, thank god the Gite still had space), there were only a few Gites that could accomodate all of us.

Yeah that's our laundry

A Gite is basically a series of Chambres D'hotes put together.  A Gite can be a stand alone house, or a connected house with our without a kitchen. The one that I settled on was La Croix du Gres- the location was a bit far but the website and photographs convinced me that it was the way to go (*ahem importance of having a good website). The complex is run by Noelle and her partner Sid with the help of Noelle's children and really super friendly son.  The complex is completely interconnected and consists of 2 houses and a series of Apartments with kitchens and rooms without kitchens.  Noelle, her family, the dogs, cats and horses also offer home cooked meals, horse rides, an outdoor pool, lots of lavender, rosemary and thyme and super knowledge of the area and a whole lotta hospitality.

Nothing beats a sunset dinner overlooking the French countryside

The Gites were extremely charming and impeccably decorated.  Most of the wall art was created by Noelle's grandfather who also built the Gite(s) himself. The Gite also features an enormous Salon or living room that houses a huge fireplace and more amazing art.  Noelle and her family offer dinners in the living room where guests help to prepare the food that is cooked in this gigantic fireplace.  It's amazing to think that her grandfather put everyone of these gigantic stones into place.

We were lucky enough to make it to the local farmer's market in Grignan.  It has been a long time since I've gone to such a comprehensive market.  The produce was fresh, in abundance and just gorgeous!

Just a little peak at the amazing variety of food: naturally flavored wild honey, lavender, amazingly tasty saucissons, world famous Montmelier nougat, confit garlic (my husband tried a piece and didn't have stinky breath afterwards. he said it was mild and very tasty), asparagus and onions, olive tapenade 

...And of course cheese there was wonderful gorgeous cheese. 

 Tomme de Montagne is just a generic cheese produced in the French Alps.  The taste is generally mild and fat content is usually low as the rich creamy part of the milk is used elsewhere.








Cantal is from the Auvergne region of France.  The unpasteurized cheese tends to have a tangy butter taste.  I have been told before that cheese such as this one that uses the "winter milk" meaning milk that is produced during the wintertime when the cows are kept in the stables and fed hay, the milk tends to hold less floral/ herbal/ grassy flavors.  Also, the winter milk tends to have a higher fat content, and thus (as depicted from the photograph) the winter cheese does not become as hard as summer cheese. 

 Our favorite cheese, this unpasteurized cheese is usually quite hard (still bendable).  Made in the French Comte region of Alsace, many consider Comte the French version of Gruyere.  just like Gruyere, the flavor of the cheese is strong but not harsh with a slightly sweet tinge to it. The Comte we usually find at the grocery store is aged 12- 18 months.  this fine specimen of 24 months had a stronger flavor and the delicious Comte cheese crystals that are so coveted.  I had the pleasure of dining at Arpege in Paris and man, do I wish I could get my hands on some more of their 48-60 month old Comte.

Oh, did I mention that Grignan also happens to be voted one of France's most beautiful cities?

The Tuesday market is a MUST do so if you plan on heading down to Drome, plan to be there on a Tuesday morning.  We also highly recommend staying at La Croix du Gres.

Our visit to Drome was one of the best vacations I've had in a long time. The locals in Drome are incredibly helpful and nice and the food, mind blowing.

Addresses:
La Croix du Gres
26230 Valaurie, France
+33 7 87 02 80 36
Lacroixdugres.com

Marche de Grignan
Every Tuesday 8am- 1pm

Space Invaders Blvd. de Perolles

One of the things that I enjoyed the most about living in Fribourg is the number of Space Invaders available to me.  I once researched that there were 6 Space Invaders in town but unfortunately, I have only been able to locate seven of them and of course, I'm missing a photo of two of the five...

On the Corner of Rue des Alpes and Rue de Lausanne

no location directions needed :

At the bottom of the Funiculaire de Fribourg

Stickers that no longer exist on Blvd. de Perolles

At the end of Blvd. de Perolles

My buddy who use to greets me every morning on my way to the train station (location self explanatory)

And sorry for the poopie picture! the Space Invader at the entrance to the Funicular

She's back!

After a 3.5 year hiatus from blogging.. I'm back! A lot has changed in these last three years- amongst them has been what seems to be my permanent move to Europe. I guess living the local life now means living my normal every day life which has allowed me to spend more time doing things like crafting- something I use to do a lot before I decided to uproot my life, change careers and move to Europe. A couple huge milestones happened since I graduated wearing that silly square cat I mean cap. Was that a freudian slip? The first one is that Michael and I got hitched! that's right, I'm officially a Mrs. now. The second one is that Michael and I have three adorable children- ok so they aren't human, but they are still our children. Here's some really cute pics of them (You are lucky that you are being spared the last three years of cat photos)

 

 Just so that there isn't a whole lot of confusion with future posts as to which cat is which, our cats (Big black male and cute grey female stuck in the middle of the above photo) had babies- of which we are blessed to still see all of them on a regular basis (this is a hint that you might be seeing more cat photos in the future). Here's a super cute pics of the kittens. I swear it's the last cat photo for this posting.

As hinted before, I'm still focused on living the local life, but there may be a little less exploring and a little more crafting in future posts. I hope you will enjoy my blogs!

The Silly Square Cap

When I first told Michael that I was going to wear a cap and gown, he burst out into laughter. At first, I was a little disturbed because it was the whole idea of graduation and what is graduation without a cap and gown? Looking back at the photos.. and putting on the silly square hat for the third time, I realized, it is a really silly cap and gown.. and I DO LOOK RIDICULOUS. Then it got me thinking.. where the HECK did they come up with this idea of a SQUARE hat? I mean we are suppose to be educated people now.. and we are going out in public in this silly square hat? WHY?
It seems like a silly thing to ponder but it really started to bug me. Enough for me to look up the history of the "cap" or "mortarboard" (for its resemblence to a brick layers mortarboard.. yes I'm wearing a mortarboard on my head. I'm so smart, I couldn't find anything else to put on my head ). It is believed that the shape of the cap comes from the roman catholic clergy hat Biretta.

The hat was then adapted and turned into the Bishop Andrewes Cap

It's said that later, those who were of intellectual properties (scholars, artists, student humanists) wore a red berretta type cap to differentiate themselves from others. There are also rumors that the square shape takes itself from Islamic roots where students wore a cap with the koran on the top of the cap, lending to the shape that we see today.
Traditionally, the tassel on the cap designated what major you were graduating from. Unfortunately, mine is black which means.. well nothing. Typically, schools have students wear tassels in accordance to the school colors rather than their majors.

whatever reason it is that we have to wear this silly square cap on our head ( we are suppose to be more intelligent after all that education.. why would we wear this cumbersome square cap in which no one can ever tell which side is the front and which side is the back??) It does make the day a little more special. I mean how often do you WANT to wear a ridiculous looking square hat on your head?

It's OVER! well.. almost..

Congratulations to the graduating class of Glion 2010!! Well hopefully congrats... On Friday, we had our "graduation" pending on us passing our dissertations. A beautiful day in the Swiss Alps, the rain and clouds ceased just for 3 days, enough for us and our families to have a beautiful (albeit HOT) graduation. It has been one heck of a year here in Bulle with ups and downs.. but its over!! (almost)

Thank you so much to all of you who have been there for me through this year- you know who you are and I am extremely grateful to have spent time with you this year. Bonne Chance & FINISH THOSE DISSERTATIONS!

The Nestle Outlet Factory..

*Warning* I am not responsible for any weight that you may gain after reading this posting. thank you.




At the beginning of the school year, I did the Cailler- Nestle chocolate factory walk. A mere 3 miles from my dorm-- it was a gorgeous jaunt through the forest and into the little town of Broc. I learned my lesson the hard way-- consuming so much chocolate that my stomach.. very angry at me and my head very dizzy from the sugar high taught me to restrain myself the next couple of times that I went.

I also heard a rumor of a "Nestle Factory Store". I researched and researched-- with no address, just a short 4 year old posting on trip advisor about this so called factory store. My friend and I drove aimlessly around Broc trying to find this "unsigned, nondescript white building next to the train station" with no luck.

Then the other day, it dawned on me (I think I was in the shower where my MOST productive thinking comes about). Nestle-- has websites-- Nestle has lots and lots of websites and a million products that I wanted to make a point that Nestle and Kraft are taking over the food world using the same branding techniques and growth strategies).
So, are you ready? I found the Nestle outlet store.. In fact, in Switzerland, there are 15 of them. The one in Broc is-- not next to the regular Broc Station-- it is next to the Broc- Nestle station. As you drive towards the Cailler factory, if you just pass the factory-- the next building after on the left hand side is.. THE OUTLET STORE!

Most everything is cheaper, but not everything. They have certain items that go on sale.. much like my new favorite chocolate bar: Dark Chocolate with Coco Nibs (mmmm)



The best time to go is after a holiday.. when all the holiday chocolates go on sale- if you are just looking for chocolate and do not care if they come in funny shapes of past holidays...

alright. I will be nice... here is the address and website link to other nestle outlet stores. Again I am not responsible for any weight that you may gain from this posting...

NESTLE SUISSE S.A.
Fabrique de Broc / Nestlé Shop
derrière la gare fabrique
1636 Broc

Hours:
Mon-Thursday 10.00 - 17.30
Friday 10.00 - 17.00

Marrons.. Mmm.. the obsession continues!

So I've had roasted Marrons (Lugano autumn chestnut festival) , I've had Marron Glace (candied marrons), Japanese chestnuts (smaller but not necessarily sweeter than their European counter parts, Vermecelli marrons, chestnut cake, chestnut mousse.. but SAVORY chestnuts? I've never seen this one before! I had to try it.

Made the best way, the cooked chestnuts are just lightly sauteed, butter melted over them, a little salt and chopped parsley. They were absolutely addicting (so much so I am going to make them for my parents). To accompany the soft sweet morsels, my boyfriend's mom also made duck confit and pomme puree.. I'm sure I have gained about 5 kilos because of her fabulous cooking.

If you ever want a quick, side dish-- this is the way to go. Delicious, quick and filled with vitamin c, potassium and iron... a new marron recipe to add to my Marron obsession!