Valentine 2014

Well, it has been a very pleasant few days down here in La Sud de France. Pleasant as in sun, sea, Sauvignon and serenity. We wish you all were here to share this beautiful situation with us.

I apologize for the lack of photos but I wanted to offer our update anyway.

On the 31^st, our little group of eighteen went to Pouzolle for the Thai night at Ken and Alison’s.  The   menu was fabulous and very tasty. After an aperitif of Thai punch or pastis, we started with Thai fish cakes followed by a beautiful salad of glass noodles and king prawn, the dressing was out of this world. The main courses were served buffet style with a choice of Thai cashew chicken, jungle curry pork, fried Thai noodles, sautéed vegetables and steamed rice. This was followed by a fantastic cucumber salad.  Dessert was a fruity something or other that I doubt was Thai. But a great meal anyway. The only catch was that Ken has yielded to the English pressure and increased the amount of chilies he uses. The pork had whole chilies that would light you up if one slips in on you. The meal included unlimited wine and café to finish for €18.

On Sunday, we caught an early nap then headed over to John Merson’s for the Super bowl. It started here at 12:30 Monday morning. We held out hope that Denver would wake up but ultimately gave up as they did before they arrived. Pat had cooked some cornbread and we brought some guacamole to go with John’s English chili which is very good. They eat the chili with rice here. A good meal made up for a poor game. We went home at 3:45 sadly disappointed in American football.

The next week tragedy struck for all the British expats here. The satellites that brought UK telly here to the Sud de France had been reconfigured. The intent was to tightly focus the satellite focus on UK. The result was that all the BBC, ITV and Sky channels were lost. And smack dab in the middle of the Olympics.You have never heard such caterwauling. At our house on a slight larger dish we only lost BBC but Robert lost everything on his small dish. Francois from Roujan has installed more large dishes in the past week than he normally does in a year including a 1 meter for Robert and a 1.2 meter for John Mackenzie. John said his roof now resembles Jodrell Bank  observatory. Strangely, by the next week most channels had returned. Thinking was that the reconfiguration was over cooked and they had to increase the power. Who knows if it will stay or larger dishes are in order for all. But what a frenzy it created.

Speaking of tragedies, I went to rent a truck to haul a large piece of furniture only to find out that my driver’s license has expired! Another frenzy ensued. While I was able to finesse the clerk to get the truck, I now know what a spot I am in. I could easily renew in Georgia but a vision test is required and you must go in person to do that. France reciprocates with some USA states to simply exchange for a French license. Going online, to get the requirements, I built my dossier, which required getting an official translator to translate my license. €25 please.  I had to get new passport photos as on my old one I was smiling and the French want a closed solemn face with no jewelry etc. €12 please.  I had to show proof of residency, green card, and copies of all of that and fill out two application forms. After standing in line for 30 minutes, I used my poor French to ask for the exchange. They took all my papers and then started giving some of them back to me. I was then told Georgia doesn't exchange with France and it was not possible to get a French license. So here I sit unable to get either license! For the French, I would need to go to driving school with 20 hours behind the wheel in addition to classroom hours.

Last Sunday we went to the Roquebrun Mimosa Fete. Here the mimosa (also pronounced differently as in Meem–o-sah` ) is a totally different tree with bright yellow blossoms that blooms in early Fevrier. 

The fete is absolutely one of the most French fetes in the area. It differs in that it is in winter and there are very few outsiders come and I don’t know why. There are the usual complement of artisan vendors with cheese, honey, crafts, saucisson, sweets , etc. wine degustation everywhere although Helene said they really weren't anxious to share.  

Food is everywhere from cafes and street stalls. We tried to eat a little late only to find the good stuff sold out. We (Kenth and I) had a lard sandwich which was pretty awful just a piece of thick sliced “bacon” with some potatoes in a piece of baguette.

They shot cannon to signify the start of the parade. Twenty minutes later here they come led by a brass band with drums and a course line of dancing girls. Not just dancing girls but dancing grannies! The youngest was probably 45 and I shudder to guess the oldest. It was the same group we saw in 2009 only 5 years older  and with new platinum hairpieces  The procession includes about 5 musical bands interspersed with “floats” which were vineyard tractors highly decorated with flowers and populated by mostly local children throwing confetti and spraying colored cream on the crowd. Miss Mimosa was anything but a Miss being quite matronly and plump.

Miss Mimosa and court

The street for the parade is narrow already but the spectators get right in the middle of the proceeding so it is hard to tell official paraders from spectators. It also makes it a little difficult to get good photos. 

le mad boulangers

Next to last in the parade are the boulangers (bakers). They come running down the street sharing their craft with anyone in range. Some carry billows filled with flour that is shot into the crowd. Some pick someone in the crowd and carry some flour and decorate that person appropriately. There is no shortage of candidates as everyone is in the street.

boulangered

looking for a victim

Vin pout tout

The last float is a wine press with people handing cups of wine to the spectators. as far as 600 liters will go. Pat and Hannie said it was good. Jake didn't like the noise and cannon and drums and stayed under a table.

Monday night a bunch of us went to Beziers to a new place ran by an English rugby player. I think he was more like the water boy as he was very small for rugby. But he was a very nice young man and we enjoyed his curry very much. Not too hot but a very nice taste. If you have a chance to catch a rugby game on TV, I highly recommend it. Compared to American football, it is total chaos.

Wednesday night was poker night, this time at Ken’s in Pouzolle. I have lucked into a great group of guys from Margon and the second Wednesday we have our friendly game. It is strange in a sense as they all seem to be well-heeled expats and we play for 10 cents a chip (but no limit on raises) this week we had 2 Americans one Scot,  two Brits and a Frenchman. I was very lucky and won all of €7,60.

From the foliage, you would think spring is here. We have almond trees and few fruit trees blooming. The temps haven’t been that warm but very comfortable for winter. The lows have been mid-forties and the highs mid-fifties and occasionally pushing sixty. Today’s low was 55 and forecast high of 63. Locals are busy in their jardins preparing the soil for the seasons. All the pubs are full of early season plants and supplies.

Thursday the Tour Méditerranéen came rolling thru the village.

It was hard to guess but certainly over 500 cyclists and their entourages. The village was shut down as the gendarme barricaded off the race route. I came back from Pezenas and couldn't get home because of the barricades. So Jake and I decided to see what was going on.

A neighbor came over and told me it was a vineyard tractor race. In France, who knows what will happen next. So I called Pat and told her to get the camera ready for the tractor race. It wasn't long till my neighbor fessed up that it was really bicycles. There were almost as many gendarme as riders. They were going so fast the whole thing was over in about 5 minutes but fun while it lasted. When I got home, Pat said she still was waiting for the tractors, but she made photos of the cyclists just in case I had missed them .

Valentine’s day gave us the opportunity for a wonderful outing with friends. Hannie and Bert, (Dutch)  Kenth and Helene (Swedish) and Pat and I had a great time at Jerome’s (La Table des Vigneron) at the Cave in Tourbes. We also met Patrick and Helene (Belgique) there. Patrick has had excellent reports from his Dr. so we all toasted his continued good health. 

The meal was one of the best we have had. Five courses I think, starting with tapenade on toast and local olives. The entrée was a big hit with all: a giant broiled prawn and noix St. Jacques (scallops) which were sliced thin and floating is a dill based coulis. The prawn was served warm but the St. Jacques cold. The next course was cabillaud doux ( the sweetest cut of cod) again surrounded by a white coulis and the fish melted in your mouth. Garnis was fried crispy seaweed and the side was sweet potato. The next course was Magret a'point (duck breast medium) avec legumes du jour. The slices were large and prepared perfectly. I was amused that our colleagues cut off the juicy pieces around the edge but I thought that it added a lot of flavor.  Dessert was a pyramid shaped poire Chantilly covered with chocolate on a chats langue (cat’s tongue) piece of cake. Vin and café inclus. A perfect 3 hour meal with friends.