La Drôme de Ferme en Ferme

This weekend we participated in this local annual event. Farms invite the public to visit the farm and organize volunteers to give tours and allow everyone to sample the products. At many of the farms you can do this throughout the year but one feels especially welcomed when they are well prepared. Couldn't help help but share some of the darling pictures.

Each farm had one of these characters greeting you at the road...

There are two types of goats authorized to make the Picodon goat cheese that is a regional specialty of the area. This farm has been in operation for less than 2 years. Saôurit is the name of the farm. It's a play on words with the name of the village (Saôu) to make the French word sourit (smile).

The back side of the Trois Becs.

 The winery we visited - Domaine des Caminottes

A surprise encounter with Margaret

To Lyon for the Fête des lumières

After reading about the Fête des lumières in textbooks, I was so excited to finally have a chance to see it live. You can’t really experience this sort of event by reading about it or watching a video, since it’s a combination of different types of light venues throughout the city. Once it’s dark, you really have to make your plan to see the things that are interesting to you.

Nate immediately had his heart set on playing Pac Man against a building, which was a distance from the city center but we did go. Some other highlights were the film shown in a square against the four surrounding buildings, the Parc de la tête d’or telling the myth that bears the same name (in illuminated sculptures, of course), and the countless streets lit in a variety of themes.

The number of people that hit the streets to observe the lumières is impressive. Seriously, if you have a health condition or a stroller this event would be out of the question. 

Eurre and le bal folklorique

Today we were invited to this bal folklorique which involved dancing and live musicians. We went with my colleagues wife and two daughters. While they were a bit disappointed at the lack of princes and pretty dresses, Burt and I were loving the ambiance and the dancing. There was quite a variety and you can go to classes to really learning them and not look as foolish as we did.

Thanksgiving Feast - en France

In sharing my American heritage, it would only be right to introduce my new friends to the tradition of Thanksgiving. After a brief talk with a friend, one thing led to another and I was preparing to welcome  28 people for this ever-important feast! Whoa - where's my mom? While Burt and I have cooked turkeys together, I've never singlehandedly prepared the turkey, stuffing, and gravy....let alone for 28 people. First, I ordered the turkey from the local farm (yes, free range and on the small side from what I'd heard). Next, I bought one additional gourmet frozen turkey from my favorite frozen store, Picard, as well as two chickens just to make sure we'd have enough. No worries about the oven being too small, the 52€ turkey was under 11 pounds! It also came with a neck and head (but not feathers-phew!) making the Ferme des Blaches a priceless experience. Now all I had to do was pull off a brine and honey glaze with a perfect gravy and I think I actually did! Thankfully, the friends all contributed everything else (except the pie, I made that) which was a huge relief. More stress than actual work, we had a great time. My friend Thierry was so honored to be the designated turkey carver and made a really cute speech about how thankful he was to celebrate his first Thanksgiving with us. Explaining the history of Thanksgiving in French became much easier after enjoying the lovely wine that Corinne brought!

la dinde with neck and head

Carver Thierry

Fatima's amazing nut pie

I'm so thankful for all of my new friends in France. They all just think that being so kind and helpful is just normal but I happen to think that I've been extremely fortunate to have landed in Crest and among such wonderful and caring people.

Halloween in France

While Halloween isn't celebrated much in France, it's gained popularity in the last 5-10 years. That said, trick or treating happens in a different way. Kids beg for candy or cookies and wait for (nice) people to find something for them or get turned away. It's not part of the culture or a tradition. November 1st is their day for respecting the dead with flowers at the cemetery. A friend had organized a party so I offered to do some pumpkin carving with the kids at our house to start things off. None of them had done it before so it was lots of fun. Weren't we surprised when the pumpkins cost around 10€ at the store! We put together a little soup so as to not waste our precious pumpkins!

The gang does some carving. One boy wouldn't have anything to do with touching the inside of the pumpkin!

 Thinking out the plan and preparing the seeds for roasting.

 Corinne and Pascale put together ingredients for the soup.

 This escargot was attached to the pumpkin when we went to bring them home!

Voldemort and his mama

Fulbright orientation in Paris

This past week I went to Paris for meetings and informational sessions relating to the French educational system and the approach to language learning in general. We observed French teachers, something that is very difficult to arrange. The organizers explained that is was difficult to find teachers who would agree to having us, particularly so early in the school year. They have been working with this particular Collège (middle school/junior high) and Lycée (high school) for several years and they are welcoming and used to the whole idea. It was quite eye opening and great to have a sense of what French students are used to experiencing in class.

Our time there included one day with the Fulbright Scholars spending time in France as well as a lavish reciption welcoming us all to France. One night the teachers were invited to experience dinner served by high school students training to work in restaurants.
Here's the link:
High school (Lycée Professionelle) with restaurant program