Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Fall in Occitanie


Fall in Occitanie


A small disclaimer: Occitanie is the new name of our region. It was like renaming a state but France did it anyway. So Languedoc-Roussillon became Occitanie. Also, this is written over several days/weeks so it may not be absolutely current.

Weather
Our part of France boasts 320++ days of sun every year. This fall, however, we have destroyed that record. We have had about 7 weeks straight of clouds, storms, rains and flooding not seen in 100 years.

Yesterday was the first sun we had seen in two weeks. And rain 5 days out of seven. Miserable to say the least. Even the Brits are saying they had better weather in UK. Our sidewalks have turned green with mildew from the constant wetness.

Green mossy sidewalks
We had flooding nearby that was the worst ever seen here. A friend had flood water to 9 feet on her ground floor in what seemed to have been safe.

The vines have mostly dropped their leaves except for a few varieties such as Grenache which holds its leaves and provide the only red, gold, yellow “fall foliage” seen here.
Vines foliage 
Mesquite beans













Nothing like the beauty of fall in the south and east of the USA. It is much like our roots in Texas where no one drove miles to enjoy the fall color of Mesquite foliage.

The mesquite just has skinny yellow leaves which drop in fall and sheds its harvest of mesquite beans. I vividly remembering having to rake and sack the beans in the fall which my dad fed to the hogs. Mesquite beans are very sweet with about 30% sugar in their crunchy ripe state. Pigs love them.

Thanksgiving 
France does not observe Thanksgiving however they have adopted Black Friday fervently. We managed a little Thanksgiving at a traditional turkey dinner with Ken and Alison. We went to Domaine Roquelune and feasted on turkey, stuffing (not dressing), excellent gravy (sans giblets), yams, Brussels sprouts, green beans, mashed potatoes and finished up with pumpkin or apple pie. It was not quite the same without family but we had 14 friends to share our table and went home wet from rain but stuffed.

Gilet jaune (Yellow Vest)
You may have heard about the current protests happening throughout France. Protesters have donned yellow vests (which are mandated in your car in France) to bring about protests over President Macron’s new social policies. He has started “union busting”; changed the work week from 35 to 37 hours and is fiddling with the retirement age already moving it from 60 to 62 years old. He is introducing other reforms that are not popular. His latest target is the tax on motor fuels. The protestors number in the hundreds of thousands and have turned violent in the last few days. Burning, police fights, and blocking a lot of roads, refineries, and supermarkets. Several deaths have been reported form motorists ramming protestors at roadblocks. Obviously this has curtailed movement by car and led to fuel rationing and grocery store closures due to shortages and blockades.

While it is going all around us, so far we have not been impacted except for a limit on how much fuel you can buy.

Taxes on diesel fuel have gone up seven euro cents (nearly eight U.S. cents) and are to keep climbing to about 40 cents in three years. The tax on gasoline is to increase 4 euro cents. Gasoline currently costs about 1.64 euros a liter in Paris ($7.06 a gallon), slightly more than diesel.(the good news is euro cars get about twice the gas mileage as US cars) The stated reason in to reduce France’s dependence on fossil fuels and use the taxes to develop alternative energy. Secondly, throughout Europe there is huge concern about the environment. France will phase out diesel engines by 2040 on environmental concerns.


Frigo (Refrigerator)

In August, we went to Beziers to find a toilet for our other house at 46 Rue des Aires. Pam and Jeff had reported a blockage so after they left we called the drain people out to clear the line. While there they determined it was not the drain but the toilet itself. We have a lot of calcaire (calcium deposits).  These deposits had accumulated in the neck of the toilet rendering it only viable for liquids.

But back to the toilet search. The old house is 150 years old and needed an exact match to replace the toilet. So, we went to a specialty distributor. The supplier didn’t have (and couldn’t order) the toilet. But over in the appliance corner were several refrigerators. Pat researched sizes carefully because in our house ( #2) we only had 90 cm to fit it in.  We found one that matched size wise, came home and re-measured and placed the order. 
So we went to buy a toilet, but walked out with a huge 3 door Samsung refrigerator. We had to pay extra for delivery because it was going to be fitted upstairs.
It is a big one!

The delivery came on time and two husky men got it to our front door and I showed the front stairs and the back stairs. Up the front stairs they started without removing the packing. Now our stairs are wide and easy to climb by any standard. But apparently not with an oversize frigo still in its box. They had to rest on the halfway landing before tackling the second half of stairs. 

Then they went back to their truck and I thought they were leaving. No, just resting, smoking and calling their boss. In a few minutes they came back in and now decided to remove the crating. Smack in the middle of our landing with a small pallet and scads of cardboard.  Then…Another rest.

So now we start through the house toward the summer kitchen where the frigo is going. There are three doors to go through. They never made it thru the first one! They approached the door on the hand trucks but couldn’t use the trucks. They then measured the frigo then the door then the frigo again. The measurements were correct but when they tried again they got it halfway in and it jammed on the handles. Another measurement clearly showed it wasn’t going to fit. They told me to cut the door larger through solid brick. Not likely!

Call the boss. The boss says remove the handles. “Pierre” and “Francois” couldn’t figure out how to remove the handles.

Call the boss. Boss says remove the doors but again the boys couldn’t (or wouldn’t) remove the doors. Call the boss. Boss screams and the boys get PO and depart rapidly leaving the frigo blocking the main passage on the second floor. So here we are with a 300 pound refrigerator that can’t go down because of the stairs and can’t go in because of the door.

Stripped down and  ready
Then….A little rest for us. After 2 minutes searching on Google and I found a video on how the remove the doors. Three screws on each upper door and the bottom drawer unit just slides out. After our little break, we had the doors off in less than 10 minutes. (Who needs Pierre and Patrick when you have Google and a screwdriver operated by a half-crippled old man and a youngish blonde?)

Sliding into position
Now it will fit through the door but Pat and I are no match for such a heavy object. We did manage to get it onto a floor dolly which got us through the first two doors. But the last door had a large threshold and we were thwarted again. This time the frigo is smack in front of the TV! Not good!


Fortunately, our neighbor stopped by and we begged him to help. Actually, he had little choice because it was also blocking his access to some work he was doing on our terrasse.

Reading the destructions
Where does this piece go?
In another 30 minutes we had water connected and the frigo pushed into position including doors and drawers and shelves.  A lot can be said for American refrigerators like this. I am finding that certain conveniences are well worth the extra cost as convenience is the most used every day.


La Aigle (Eagle)

Forgive me if I’ve told this story before but early one Sunday morning we heard a rapping on the front door. We have a bell but for some reason some people insist on using the door knocker. We jumped out of bed wondering who could be rousing us at this hour. The last time it was the Gendarmerie and Pat was shocked beyond belief as they spoke in rapid-fire Francais asking her if we had a little red car. She acknowledged we were driving Robert’s Renault 5 and they told her to get it out of the street. It was the victim of a botched joyride and they left it straddling the main drag. The gendarmerie and voisins were not happy.

Anyway, we made our way downstairs flung open the door but there was no one there. But glancing down we saw this BIG eagle sitting on our stoop. I have heard of “the eagle landing” but this was ridiculous. We got it inside and I went up and down the rue looking for the “culprits” but not a soul to be seen at that hour. 


It wasn’t until late afternoon that we got an explanation. Our friends Derek and Margaret stopped by to tell us the story of the eagle.

It goes like this here:

And it came to pass that the United States Embassy in London needed some renovations. Out with the old and in with the new. There was a construction dumpster out back to catch the “old” to make room for the new. The story gets a little foggy here as Derek said he found the eagle in this dumpster. Now, exactly what Derek, who is a second cousin to King Midas, was doing dumpster diving or how he just happened to be out back of the United States Embassy is to this day unknown. Anyway, Derek captured the bird and took him home.

Margaret tried for several years to find a suitable place in the London home to properly display such a lofty piece but gave up and brought the bird to le Sud de France. They have a holiday home here that renovated several years ago. Hardly a bolthole, they did a masterful job and the house enjoys a privileged location in the center of the village. Margaret tried again to prominently display the eagle but French village houses don’t have much space to spare. She told Derek to take it with the other trash to the dechetterie (dump). 

It was then that Derek thought of the Americans in the village and decided to bless us with the eagle which indeed owns a piece of American history. So on his way to the dump, the eagle landed at our door.

We are extraordinarily pleased to have him and he sits proudly perched above our summer kitchen and conservatory. No more dumpsters for our noble bird.

It had to happen....

We tend to brag about French food in general and fine cuisine can be found in the smallest of villages. Our Department (county) boasts 3 or 4 Michelin star rated restaurants. Food here is always fresh and cooked to order with a different menu each day. The portions are just enough to satisfy and nothing is left over. No “to go” boxes here.

Now there are exceptions:

So we invited our friends Hannie and Bert to a special lunch at the prestigious Domaine Paul Mas. We had been there several times and knew the food and ambiance to be fitting for the occasion. Bert likes Viognier so I searched the wine list only to find limited selections and at Bordeaux prices. But it was a special occasion so we splurged.  

Now to order our meals. In local fashion, they offered le menu du jour which is determined by the chef and no substitutions. Two other menus at escalating choices and prices were offered but nothing seemed to suit any of us. One of the reasons was because one of the entrée (starter) courses were “pied de mouton”. Now who wants to eat sheep feet?? 

Anyway we ordered a la carte to know what we were getting and find something we liked. We did ask the server about the pied de mouton which he politely explained was mushrooms that looked like sheeps feet.  

Hannie and I had espadon (swordfish); Pat had magret (duck breast) and Bert chose pigeon (pigeon!). When our starters arrived, we were stunned. There was not enough to soil the plate. They could have served it in a tablespoon.  The main course arrived with the same stunned looks on our faces. Pat seemed happy with her selection but Bert may have been expecting a little more pigeon. 
Pat's entree
Bert and the pigeon

Swordfish and legumes

 The portion of swordfish was large enough but for sides there were half a dozen small chunks of “legumes de mysterie” (mystery vegetables).  Dessert followed the same pattern: huge white plates with scant servings that wouldn't cover a tea saucer.
Hannie's cheese course
Pat's dessert


Jerry's dessert

It was the most expensive meal we have had in France and the very least we have ever had to eat.

It had to happen, that classic opinion of haut cuisine that is the view of French cuisine. And now we know….



Terrasse update

This is a little rehash of the work in renovating our barn area. But now that it is finished, this is basically where we live within the house. Most of the descriptions have been in prior blogs so only photos here. Below is a mélange of before and after photos that capture the journey. (I hope)



A rough canvas to work from




Kitchen before
What would become a kitchen
Original barn area
Barn

Barn window




Cleaning off 180 years of dust
Making a new home for the original cast iron sink

Planning the glass wall

Hoisting the beam
Setting the top rail



Creating a column for interest and to cover electrics
Coming together
Three layers of crepi 

Painting le hauts
Adding a brick border
Rendering crepi on the kitchen walls
Terrasse painting
terrasse getting new paint
The after..... 

Our summer kitchen

Summer kitchen


Toward the frigo, laundry and bar

Jambalaya night  

Madame de la Maison
A bit of the terrasse