We also are always fully stocked with amazing cereal that has all sorts of nuts and dried fruit in it, soy milk in the fridge, a bowl for grapes and a bowl for fruit. And today there were figs! And I am addicted to grapes. I litterally finish every breakfast, lunch, and dinner with grapes. Sometimes they are gigantic , sometimes small. The purple ones are the best, which are a French grape called Muscat and they make dessert wine with these deliciously small, dark and so sweet grapes. And they always have seeds. There is no such thing as a grape without seeds...who would've thought? That's American modification for you. Right now I am munching on some giant green ones - Italian grapes. They are hitting the spot on this hot sunny day.
I also am really glad we get along so well because I should be in the dog house! I have been using their great bike the past month, and last weekend I left it locked to a bike parking thing and when I returned...no bike. After scratching my head and walking up the street and then back to the place I left it to double, triple, and quadruple check that I was not losing my head, I hopped on the bus and headed for home. Now in search for a new one. I told Sylvie and Fred the next night and Fred asked me 10 times to explain how I locked it because he didn't believe me. But then he just right away said I could use Sylvie's bike and Sylvie grumbled and they both bickered like little kids and said a few things that I didn't understand and then we changed the subject. Then 2 nights later I came home at midnight and realized that I had forgot my key in my room. I had to call the house and Fred opened the door for me. I am going to town to buy some chocolate for them today!
Ok and now to fun stuff: last weekend! On Friday night I ate dinner at home and then went to town with my friends to go bar hopping and dancing a bit, which was fun. Butttt I came home early that night because the next morning the whole group of CA kids and I got to go on a trip to Beaujoulais!!! Beaujoulais is an adorable teeny little farm town about 30 mins outside of Lyon. We never went into the town, but we had an experience I have dreamt about my whole life. As we pulled into the farm, there was a horse-drawn carriage pulling a farmer back home to his farm next door, literally. Then we were welcomed to the farm by an adorable older couple as they explained history of Beaujoulais, as well as our day ahead. "Beaujoulais" derives from joulais, an old French word for vinyard, and beau meaning beauty. So beautiful vinyard - I am sure you get what is coming next...
The whole farm was surrounded by vinyards of two different kinds of grapes! One for red and white, and the other for Rosé. We were then led into the big wine making room where all of the grapes ferment, and then are squeezed into juice. We learned that red wine is made from a grape with red skin and a white interior, and the skin is left in with the juice to ferment. White wine is the same grape, just without the skin. Hence, red wine is better for one's health because the skin is where all of the anti-oxidants are. White wine is purely just fermented sugar and water. And Rosé, the most amazing wine (but HAS to be chilled to taste good), is made from a red grape with a pink interior. France is famous for Rosé wine and I can see why! It's not too sweet and not too bitter and is light and matches perfectly with a salad, a baguette, and some cheese!
Then we began the grandest meal of my life. This was Thanksgiving times 3. They had picnic tables set up in a cool brick cellar downstairs, but then we decided to move outside to eat because it was so nice out! Very rare hot weather for end of September! And as they poured our glass of Rosé and brought out the first basket of bread, we learned that everything we were tasting that day was made within 15 miles of that farm. EVERYTHING was locally grown, picked, and cooked locally - no preservatives and so, so fresh. I also love this idea not only because it is good for health, but great for your senses as well. As these people explained, it is very important experience all 5 senses with the food and drink. That means, FEEL the food when you pick it off the vine or step on the grapes under your feet. HEAR the grapes popping and the oven roasting. SMELL the oaky aroma of the oven, the sweet bread cooking, and the bitter wine fermenting. SEE all of the different colors of the food in the fields and on your table, and the color changes through the whole process. And of course, TASTE how foods begin, and how amazing and wonderful they are in the end. Nothing is more natural, beautiful, cultural, and human than this experience; it is something that needs to be acknowledged!
And at about 1:30 we began the four hour meal (Pictures below).
It started with 2 different kinds of focaccia bread, one with Rosemary and one with a mild cheese mixed in. Amazing. Next we had a flatter thicker bread with cheese on top and roasted tomatoes - kind of like a mini pizza. Number four was a basket of sliced bread with raisins and walnuts in it! So good. Kelsey, France is going to be your heaven.
Then came the one thing in France that I tried that I truly did not like. The French LOVE it. It looked and tasted like cat food and had a gooey salty green jelly on top of it it keep it nice and moist. There is nothing like that potent paté, made from duck liver, that gives me the chills like that. Not a fan. But luckily a delicious large simple fresh green salad with a dijon dressing to wipe that other taste away. After the salad came a big crock pot of tender beef in an olive oil and tomato purée sauce, very thin, like gravy, and completely and utterly heaven-like. To soak up any extra tomato sauce on the plate, we also had a big pot of potatoes with rosemary and garlic. And of course, if you still didn't get to enjoy every bit of the tomato juice on your plate, you were expected to help yourself to more of the heavenly bread that never stopped being replenished on the table. (Remember, EVERYTHING was grown and made on the farm - even the beef from the cattle next door, and the potatoes in their backyard).
After that came a big plate of goat cheese, and eat round was aged a different amount of time so some were much harder, and some were creamy, and so each slice tasted like an entirely different cheese. After stuffing ourselves with that (2 hours had passed), we were told that we had 3 different desserts coming along with an espresso. YIKES! The desserts were a gooey almost tart on a moist, thick and sweet crust, an airy almond cake with crystalized sugar on top, and then mini almond and chocolate chip cookies came along the espresso to dip into the espresso. They were so good that I had 2.
When we finally finished, we decided to go explore the vineyards for a bit, and of course there were perfect grape clumps hanging off of all of the vines! Since I am so addicted to grapes now, I of course indulged in the picking and eating these wonderful amazing sweet and stupendous wine grapes. Ohhhh so good.
And after all of that, we were guided into the bread-making room where we also learned how to make amazing bread, and with flour grown/picked/milled on their farm and yeast made from flour that had been mixed with some of the wine sugars to cause pre-fermentation. Absolutely brilliant. Then we took a long wood spatula and stuck our perfect bread rolls into a big stone oven where it mad the best bread of my life. I must admit, I didn't eat that bread there (unlike everyone else) because just the thought of more food at that moment made me literally want to puke. So I brought the bread to Paris with me.
And then we hopped on the bus and I headed back to Lyon, just to hop off of the bus and run to JUST BARELY make the train to Paris!!!
And more to come! But now to go out and enjoy the beautiful day here!
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