The freshness of France

I began today with my usual petit dejeuner (breakfast) of peanut butter and nutella on slices of fresh bread (like a reeces sandwich mmm) with a few shot glass-sized cups of jus d'orange. In France, people do not eat eggs or bacon for breakfast (eggs are for dinner usually) and they drink their hot tea out of large bowls. The milk here is a half milk/half cream mixture and each morning our table is covered with different breakfast choices for all the kids to have before leaving. I eat by myself usually because we all leave the house at different times in the morning.

 

 

I met up with some friends this afternoon and went to a market in town to gather supplies for a pique-nique. There were stalls upon stalls of flakey breads, huge blocks of cheese waiting to be cut, meats and fish that gave the market it's distinct smell, vegetables pulled fresh from French soil, and fruits oozing with ripeness. The market was flooded with people toting bags full of fresh goods for the week. It was very exciting and I plan to make it a habit to browse under the market tents each week. We took our purchases to a park near the train station and down the street from one of my friend's house. The grass was green and dewey, the flowers were blooming reds and golds and blues, and all the benches were filled with people lunching. We ate fresh baguettes, cheese, sausage, and pears under the sun in the grass. After lunch, I went with a few girls to check out a rowing club near our houses. The river was crowded with people in kayaks, paddle boats, and canoes and a giant lunch/tour barge was seating beaucoup de guests. The area along the l'Edre river is very refreshing to be around because everyone is active and lively.

Tonight my family had their neighbors and one of their son's family over. I met the son and his wife and made silly faces to their four month old baby boy. (Apparently french babies make different baby noises than babies in english-speaking families. That goes for all French people. Many people here make a noise like "up" if they mess something up, and apparently kids at the fair nearby scream on the rides in a different manner than in the States.) The neighbors came over for an aperitif (the wine/drinks taken before a meal), we talked with them a little while about hosting a student, Harry Potter, and when their daughters are going to start learning English, and Constance and I played with their two little girls upstairs. I do not think there can be anything cuter than a child speaking French. Maybe I can find a way to bring one back with me to the States.

For dinner we ate lasagna (which my host mom assured me did not look pretty but tasted good) with salad from their garden at the country home. In France, fruit is eaten for dessert (cantalope is not considered a fruit here, so it is eaten with the main plate) along with yogurt and sometimes a tastey gateaux chocolate (chocolate cake). The yogurt is rather sour and each person has to spoon in their own sugar before eating it. At my host house, they do not make big meals on the weekends so my host mom told me just to dig in to the fridge whenever I am hungry. Yes ma'am!