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| Parc de enfants |
(This was actually written last year but never posted as I found it in the "Drafts" folder.)
Break of Day
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| Ulisse |
Jake and I wake about 6am and during the week the village
is already alive. This is vine (farm) country and the vigneron are getting
ready for their day in the vignes. After brewing fresh café, Jake is begging
for his walk. Actually, he gets me up for the walk at 7:30 on the dot. We start our walk in various directions each
day with encounters with different villagers on each route. When we head out
toward the Cave, we usually meet up with Andre and his spaniel. Jake speaks
enthusiastically with Andre and tolerates the spaniel.
Further down the way or
on the way back, we meet Carlos and his dog Ulysses (Ulisse). Oh, such howling
commences. Jake speaks to Ulisse and flies directly into Carlos chest as if he
hadn’t seen him for years. Ulisse then speaks briefly to me (good French
manners) and starts the mutual sniffing with Jake. Carlos and I exchange
handshakes and matin pleasantries and the dogs then follow each other wetting
the nearest vegetation. It’s over and we continue our walk.(the video is only Ulisse as Carlos was not at home) Further down the
lane, Jake takes extreme delight in stirring up a couple of screeching spaniels
behind a gate. Once he has them screaming, he laughs and leaves, smiling like a
Cheshire cat all the way.
Throughout the village, there are unique sounds that
start the day. In the old section, it is the sound of creaking shutters sans
lubrication for 40 years. They don’t lubricate them so the voisin (neighbors)
will know they are up and around. Or is it to wake the voisin as a common
courtesy and reduce the need for alarm clocks. In the newer parts or recently
renovated, the shutters are vertical electric and as you walk everyone is
waking up. Old ladies take their bath rugs and beat them against the wall
outside their open windows. In their jardin, night gowns are normal attire for
early morning watering of the plants and picking fruit for le petit de juener.
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| Place de la Croix |
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| La Eglise |
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| Tower of Fortress |
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| Local cluckers |
Throughout the village, whether center or perimeter, there is always the clucking of hens as many villagers keep their own chickens even though space is quite limited. (There are other hens that cluck early but that’s another story) strangely, not many roosters are heard just the hens for the ouefs (eggs).
Virtually everyone here has a dog and as Jake and I walk
by they set up a howl. With notable exception, Jake pays them no mind except
for the occasional huff and “hhrumpf”.
The birds are also atwitter early. We have Pia (magpies),
hoopoes, starlings, and orioles among others. I finally saw a hoopoe up close.
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| Pia or Magpie |
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| Hoopoe |
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| Skops Owl |
As we walk, the doves serenade us with their
distinctive cries and the pigeons growl at each other in the trees (I wonder
what that’s all about). We head down le rue des chats (cat row) aka Rue de L'amour and Jake is on
his best behavior.
He has learned Village cats know no fear, especially from an American beagle.
We pass the cimetière and see our neighbor making his daily visit to the grave of la femme. He drives a classic French "Deux Chevaux" meaning 2 horsepower. (it is taxable horsepower not actual horsepower). We nod and “bonjour” and move along.
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| Daily sojourn a la cimiterie |
Many villagers are heading into the center to get the
pain du jour (daily bread) all along the way, folks stop and chatter or simply
say bonjour, au revoir and bon journee or ciao. (Hello and the French equivalent of “have a good
day”) On market days, they pull a small basket on wheels to bring home the loot
from market which is three days of fresh veggies, meats and cheeses.
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| From our upstairs window |
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| en route to marche |
Toward the end of our walk, the vigneron and tractors are
on the move. Smack in the center of the old part, tractors back out of small
garages and head down the very narrow streets and Jake and I take refuge in doorways
and
stoops. This time of year, they are spraying the vignes for insects and
fertilizing with a spray mist. If you are in the vines, stay away as the
chemicals are probably toxic. The operators wear masks.Commerce in Alignan du Vent
We are blessed with a very complete shopping scene
compared to other villages of our size. We have two boulangeries who provide a
wide variety of baked goods.
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| Poste Boulangerie |
The one by the Poste offers about 8 kinds of loaf
bread (unsliced) as well as croissants, pain du chocolat, chausson de Pomme.
The other baker offers less variety and is trying to compete against the bigger
establishment.
We also have Luc’s, a butcher shop (boucherie) that sells meat, cheese, and a limited assortment of daily essential items. While certainly more expensive than the supermarkets, the quality is great and Luc will cut the meat specific to your orders. He also offers “plats emporter” (plate lunches to carry out).
We also have Luc’s, a butcher shop (boucherie) that sells meat, cheese, and a limited assortment of daily essential items. While certainly more expensive than the supermarkets, the quality is great and Luc will cut the meat specific to your orders. He also offers “plats emporter” (plate lunches to carry out).
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| Le Boucherie |
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| Plat emporter carte |
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| Baker on the inner circle |
The other boulangerie is not quite up to speed yet and while the two used to alternate days closed, the Poste is now open 7 jours. |
| Cafe de la Place |
We have the café/bar that is mostly a bar with flaky
hours. They offer pizza and on occasion will offer a traditional menu or have a
repas of all one dish perhaps cous cous or Paella . Again, if you like, just get the order in. The Poste boulangerie is also offering pizza and early morning café. I am not sure how
this competition will get resolved but nice to have a choice.
Next door is the Tabac. It offers tobacco, newspapers, magazines, cards, kids’ books, candy and miscellaneous items except food or drink. It also has a manual ATM as you give your card to her and tell how much "l'argent" (cash) you want and she runs the machine. It closes at 2p and reopens about 4p.
Down a couple of doors is the Phamacie and across the street is the coiffiure where Pat gets a 20 Euro full service haircut and catches up on all the village gossip. Not really as she doesn't understand the rapid-fire French Gossipers but maybe someday.
We have fresh markets on Wednesday and Saturday. Mid-week, the cheval (horsemeat) vendor is
there and sometimes the poissonnier (fish man).
The legumes (vegetables) man is there faithfully on both days. On
Saturday, we have an additional meat truck that sells meat, sausage, cheese and
eggs. The quality is always good although still requires watching for flaws or
freshness. Buying an aubergine in the market can take some time and be a little
frustrating to “type As”. The vendors serve each customer sequentially and the
lovely ladies can take a long time just picking out 3 apples. Then there are 6
more things on their list. All the while the madams are chatting with every
other lady that comes along. It is best to get there early or after the rush,
as there is no breaking the usual sequence of buying.
Breakfasts in France
When we first started coming to France, we amazed at the
scarcity of a good breakfast here. Before
coming here we traveled Ireland, Germany and Britain and all had offered
substantial breakfast to start your day. In Paris, however, you might get
baguette or croissant, sometimes buerre (butter) and if you insist, marmalade
or confiture. A single coffee but the juice is extra. In the UK countries you
get a full English, or Irish, or Scottish! This consists of 2 eggs, toast,
beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, black pudding and a sausage of some type. All cooked to UK
standards and very satisfying.
When we got to the Provence it was much better as our
B&B hosts put out a great spread. Breads as usual, but accompanied by a
selection of deli meats, cheese, fresh fruits, melon in season, fresh legumes
in season, yogurts, cereals, juice or milk and coffee volonte. Occasionally we
got a boiled egg (in the shell with an egg cup). Germany and Italy follow
generally the same pattern for their breakfasts.
This has become our pattern here in Alignan. We really
like the fresh approach and (perhaps) kid ourselves into believing it is
healthier than the fully cooked in the frying pan offers from USA, UK and
Ireland.
A typical breakfast for us now consists of (with daily
variations)
Baguette
or other loaf (frequently still warm from the boulanger's oven)
Plate of 3-5 different cheeses
(cantal, compte, roquefort, leerdamer, chevre, camembert, emmental, St.
Nectaire, etc.)
Plate of 2-4 meats (rosette,
jambon serrano, pave poivre, ail fume, fig terrine, pate compagne, etc
Fresh
vegetables (cucumbers, radish, tomatoes, etc.)
Fresh
fruits of the season (abricot, poire, pomme) or dried fruits from the market
3
varieties of olives
Olive
oil and/or butter
Honey
and/or confiture
Orange,
pampelmouse, or tomato juice
Coffee and tea
Coffee and tea
Seems like a lot and is but it provides a tremendous
variety and no single thing gets overdone. We think the basis of freshness has
to be good. Pat ate croissants and I ate pain du chocolat the first two years
which are overboard in butter and more recently we are going for the breads. Occasionally Pat tries her hand at crepes.
The only reason I showed this is that it is a long way
from “scattered, smothered and covered”. We are hopeful that it is healthier although we
can have the former anytime (and on occasion do), we like it and all its side
benefits.
Food here is based in general on olive oil and wine in
cooking. I have learned by experimentation that using wine in virtually any
dish will produce richness unattainable in any other way. I believe the
richness also contributes to “portion control” because it is so rich, you
simply can’t eat as much of it. Claude Pottier taught me that even marinating
in wine has a tremendous impact on the meat prior to cooking.
Midi Promenade
Jake normally wants a substantial midday promenade and
Pat is his walking partner during the midi,
the après midi, and the soir promenade.
Jake usually chooses which direction they start out. They sometimes walk in the vineyards, sometimes
along the vendange roads, at times they wander aimlessly around the village. The village during the midi is very
quiet. There isn’t much traffic and
there are not many pedestrians out and about.
Most everyone is home having lunch, even the kids get a two hour lunch
break at home. A few are at the bar, but
not many. When they walk in the vineyard
Jake gives particular attention to the vines.
The raisins are getting plumper so the smell must be getting
stronger. Jake apparently can tell when
they are ripe by sniffing them. When
they are ripe he isn’t bashful about eating a few off the vine. (I know, I know, raisins aren't good for
dogs).
Pat tells me when they walk at nuit it sometimes feels like they are the only people in the
village, especially in the winter. In
the late fall and winter all the shutters are closed and after about 9:00pm
there is no traffic and the bar is long closed. The village has the look of a
Hollywood set. It almost seems like it
is not real. In the late spring and
summer the village is livelier in the evening and night. The bar is opened more often and stays open
later. The old ladies and old gentlemen
sit out in front of their maisons talking, sometimes until 11:00pm or
11:30PM. They always speak to Pat and
Jake no matter how late it is. Most of
them want to give Jake a head scratch before we head on home. One of the older gents is trying to teach
Jake to shake hands!
Also during the
late Spring and Summer the shutters are open and we can hear what is on the TV
when we stroll by. It has been really interesting this year with the World Cup
going on. We missed all the excitement
the last two years because we were on vacation in Germany one year and Italy
last year. I have my French Flag and my
USA Flag that I have been flying. Allez
Bleu! USA! USA! USA! I am sure my neighbors are laughing their
heads off at the silly American!
The "ALLO, ALLO"
The village has a public address system. The Mairie blasts out anything they deem important from parking violations, street closures, or similar announcements. On Market days, they herald the arrival of each of the market vendors and specials of the day such as certain fish or meats or if a special vendor is in town. Occasionally, we have mattress sellers, hardware and clothing vendors that come thru. It is a full fledged advertisement for these vendors as it is important to the village from them to continue serving the village. They also announce, seemingly totally at random, upcoming fetes, boules matches, city and organizational meetings. the sound emanates from three sections of the village so if you are close to two sections, you get the message twice.
