Elizabeth's Blog

Celebrated French gourmand and food writer Curnonsky—also good friend of Julia Child—was the arbiter of French taste in the first part of the 20th century. He was a food journalist par excellence and wrote numerous books and articles on French cuisine. He had two favorite sayings:

« Et surtout, faites simple! » (And above all, keep it simple!)

« La cuisine, c’est quand les choses ont le goût de ce qu’elles sont. » (Good cooking is when things taste of what they are.)

I love this last one as it is what makes French cuisine so interesting, so delicious and so perfect. Food needs to taste of its own essence—of course, it needs to be oh-so-fresh to really taste good which is the norm in France. It also needs to avoid being covered up with bizarre flavor combinations or distracted by wacky textures.

But I would say that is only part of what makes true French dining so satisfying. The French know too that things need to be seen for what they are. In other words, the French make a habit of serving food on simple white dinnerware so that the food speaks for itself visually.

Recently I went back into my photo archives for examples of how this adage plays out. And once you start to pay attention, it is astonishing how many dining experiences in France happen on white porcelain that has little to no decoration.

Occasionally, the white porcelain has a touch of decoration such as the pale gray lines here. But the food is as inviting as ever, not hidden or overwhelmed by overwrought color or decoration…

Personally, I have been collecting white French porcelain for many years now, namely Apilco and Pillivuyt. It looks as new today as the moment when I bought it, and it always makes the food placed on it look fresh and enticing. And you can create a variety of table settings with flowers, decorative objects and colored linens–although using white linens for the “white on white” effect is eternally elegant.

This past summer in the Médoc region of France, I had a fabulous French porcelain moment when I stumbled across what was an Apilco ‘factory outlet’ for all intents and purposes. I had gone to the large outdoor food market at Vendays-Montalivet located on the Atlantic coast north of Bordeaux. As I perused the various vendors’ offerings, I came upon a sign for a nearby boutique that read « Porcelaine Blanche » (white porcelain).

Curious, I made a beeline for this white porcelain heaven and was not disappointed. Everywhere I looked were stacks of Apilco, Pillivuyt, Limoges, and more. Standard dining fare, interesting serving pieces, tea services,  soufflé dishes (see February’s posting on Apilco and soufflés!), oyster plates, and more. Everything you could want in dining ware was there. And at prices a serious fraction of what you’d find in Paris or in the U.S. As I perused the offerings, I quickly saw that some pieces were less than perfect–but I just made sure to pick items that were flawless.

So the next time you set your table—dinner tonight?—think about the French love affair with white when it comes to dining. Use white dinnerware and serving pieces and see if the food doesn’t stand out more…and taste better somehow. And next time you are in France, notice how many restaurants, bistrots, brasseries and cafés let the food be the star of the show.

If you want to purchase white French porcelain in France, check out the housewares section of the large Paris department stores such as Galeries Lafayette, Printemps or Le Bon Marché. You can also find a nice selection at A.Simon kitchenware shop on the Right Bank. For the Apilco factory outlet, you’ll have to travel farther afield. But if you’re in the Bordeaux area and love white porcelain, it just might be worth the trip:

ESPACE PORCELAINE
46 avenue Brémontier
33930 Vendays-Montalivet, FRANCE
(Open April 1 to October 1 from 10am to 2pm and 4pm to 8pm, the rest of the year by appointment.)

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There are several locations in France which merit the designation “la route des châteaux,” or ‘ châteaux road’ including the Loire Valley and the Auvergne. One of the prettiest is found in the Médoc region in southwest France. The Médoc is the peninsula extending approximately 80 kilometers north of Bordeaux and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and by the Gironde estuary on the east.  The term Médoc comes from the Latin ‘in medio aquae’ meaning ‘in the middle of the water.’ Beaches, pine forests and vineyards make up this fairly rural area of France, with the vineyards being among the most prized in French wine circles.

I recently had the chance to tour Médoc’s route des châteaux with British transplant Pamela Prior who has worked in the Bordeaux wine industry for more than 40 years. Vivacious and fun-loving, Pamela knows every inch of the château road (the D2 on a trusty Michelin road map) and was an expert guide and door opener to several exclusive vineyards.

First, she gave a short tutorial in the Médoc wine region’s characteristics. There are six AOC’s in Médoc: Listrac, Margaux, Moulis, Pauillac, St. Estephe, and St. Julien. (AOC stands for Appellation d’origine contrôllée; it’s the French government system of recognizing wine and where and how it is produced. It also applies to other products such as cheese.) The primary cépages, or grape varieties, grown here are cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Red wines, of course, are the star of the show in this region and are most often blends of several cépages.

We began our tour and tastings north of Pauillac, the capital of the Médoc. Our first stop was the charming Château Rousseau de Sipian. Its red wines are very fine and it also makes a smashing rosé which is perfect during warm summer months in southwest France. As Pamela currently serves as a wine consultant for the vineyard, she had access to the family château. We toured the 19th century mansion which has been beautifully restored. Several of the bedrooms are offered during the summer months as chambre d’hôtes and can be accompanied by gourmet meals served in the château dining room for a thoroughly enchanting stay.

Next, we headed south on the  Châteaux Road to Château Loudenne where Pamela served as châtelaine for more than a decade. The château has kept its signature Médoc pink color and was awash in climbing roses the day of our visit. Our tasting at Château Loudenne was followed by a lovely lunch at the Café Lavinal, in a restored village on the property of Château Lynch Bages.

Many of the big name chateaux are located in and around the town of Pauillac: Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, and many more. It’s a fairyland of white stone and steeply pitched slate roofs with glorious wines attached to their names.

We ended our Médoc wine tour at the mythic Châteaux Margaux. Built in 1810, the stunning château commands your attention as soon as you enter the long drive. The property is unique for its outbuildings and cellars which are of the same period as the château itself. After visiting the chais (cellars and area where the wine is made), we went to the tasting room for a dégustation (sampling) of their wines. We were offered the chateau’s first wine, a premier grand cru classé aptly named “Château Margaux” from the 2006 vintage. It sells for several hundred euros a bottle—when you can get it. Most famous châteaux’s wines are snapped up even before the wines have been bottled. The next wine we sampled was the vineyard’s second wine called Pavillon rouge, a more affordable option at 95 euros a bottle. This was my favorite—it was strong yet immediately drinkable. The Châteaux Margaux 2006 needed a few more years of rest before it would soften up enough for my palate.

All in all, it was another one of those fabulous days in France where landscape, architecture, wine, food, good weather, and good company all came together. With so many châteaux and vineyards in the area, we just touched the tip of the iceberg with our one-day visit. The Médoc merits many such days. However, I must confess that while I loved tasting the wines, I could have been happy just driving slowly down the D2 road taking in the château eye candy.

French Take-Out™ ~ La France à emporter

We have a couple of good French Take-Out items related to today’s posting to share this week…

Bordeaux at home:  First, enjoy your own taste of the Bordeaux region with Frog du Jour’s set of Bordeaux wine label placemats. Frog du Jour is a U.S. based company run by French expats who are passionate about sharing French culture through interesting and unique products from France.The set of four placemats includes authentic reproductions of Bordeaux wine labels on cotton canvas. Click here to see the other three labels and to visit the Frog du Jour web site.

Dijon-Dallas French Week 2010:  If you love Bordeaux wines, you probably also are a fan of Burgundy ones as well. Not to be missed is a great wine and food experience beginning next weeked in Dallas, Texas. Dijon-Dallas French Week will be held at the Y.O. Steakhouse November 11 through November 18, 2010 featuring a week-long celebration of French dining and Burgundy wines. Guest Chef, Romain Détot, of Les Gourmets in Dijon, France, will be featured and Hugues Genot, President of the Association Dijon-Dallas, will be in attendance throughout the week. Dijon and Dallas are international sister cities. The November event follows last year’s celebration held in Dijon, where Tony Street, Chef & Owner of the Y.O. Steakhouse, cooked a Texas-themed Thanksgiving feast for Gala attendees in Dijon, France.

French Week 2010 will be held November 11 – 18 at the Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse in Dallas, with the French Week Gala evening scheduled for Friday, November 12. Each evening of Dijon Dallas French Week (November 11 and November 13 – November 18), Chef Romain Détot will prepare a three-course dinner with wine pairings. Tickets are $60 per person without wine or $80 with wine. An à la carte menu will also be available. Local area students are invited to join us to meet Chef Romain Détot and experience his amazing creations. On Tuesday, November 16, students and teachers (French, culinary or otherwise) receive 25% off of the three-course dinner. Tickets for all events may be purchased online or via phone reservations at 214-744-3287. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Association Dijon Dallas.

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Have you ever wanted French cuisine to be, well, a little more piquant (peppy)? Occasionally, I have. Don’t get me wrong, I love all aspects of French cuisine, especially those subtle tastes and flavors that the French do so well. But every so often, you need a meal with some spice. And when you do, just head down to the Basque country.

For about four centuries now, Basque cooks have been using their special spice factor—the piment d’Espelette—to flavor their cuisine. 

Introduced into the region around the village of Espelette from South America in the seventeenth century, this special chili pepper has added a smoky, fragrant and slightly hot taste to all types of Basque dishes including poulet basque (Basque chicken), jambon (ham), pâtés, piperade (slow cooked tomatoes, red and green peppers , and spices) and axoa (a ragout of veal that is to die for!). In fact, axoa is my favorite Basque dish.

As the peppers grow in Espelette and the villages nearby, they are green on the vine. Then the peppers are picked in the fall and hung to dry on balconies and buildings turning a deep red hue to form guirlandes de piments rouges (garlands of red peppers). Once dry, the peppers are often ground into a powder which you can buy in a small pot (jar) for about 6 euros. 

To figure out just how hot this chili pepper is, I consulted the Scoville scale. Developed in 1912 by the chemist Wilbur Scoville, the scale measures the spicy heat, or piquance, of chili peppers. The piment d’Espelette rates level 4 on the scale, slightly spicier than the ancho chili pepper but definitely less hot than the jalapeno. (I love the French terms on the scale below–cayenne ranks as ’torrid’ and tabasco as ‘volcanic’ in spiciness!)

So you can use piment liberally without putting your mouth on fire. In fact, the Espelettards (people from Espelette), have the following motto:  A consommer sans modération ! (Consume without moderation—a play on the phrase ‘A consommer avec modération’, consume in moderation , as required for alcoholic beverages in France.)

In practically any gourmet boutique in the Basque country, you can find the piment d’Espelette in a variety of forms-–the regular powder, jelly, jam, spicy oil for grilling, flavored salt, and even chocolats au piment d’Espelette. I found a wonderful jar of garlic cloves marinated in olive oil flavored with piment d’Espelette. And this vendor had a tempting array of dried spices that included mélange basque—basically a herbes de Provence mixture to which piment d’Espelette had been added.

This weekend, you can find all these products and more at the Fête du piment d’Espelette. The festival is held every year the last weekend of October in the town of Espelette itself. In addition to the food fair with piments and regional products for sale, there are parades, concerts, pelota games and a competition for the best chili pepper of 2010. On Sunday, everyone sits down to a piment-inspired lunch at one o’clock following the Sunday mass and bénédiction du piments (blessing of the peppers). This year’s festival also marks the tenth anniversary of the piment’s AOC status, an official recognition of this regional product’s uniqueness.

Check out the piment d’Espelette website for more details on the festival and on the French chili pepper: http://www.pimentdespelette.com/. I particularly liked the “Recette du mois” (recipe of the month) section—this month’s winner created a “Piperade façon tarte tatin et sa glace au piment d’Espelette” (a savory version of the dessert tarte tatin). You can click here to see her recipe.

If you are inspired to cook with the piment d’Espelette in the U.S., you can find it at a variety of stores online. When in France, you can of course buy some in any Basque town or in Paris at La Grande Epicerie on the Left Bank. Happy, hot French cooking!

French Take-Out™ ~ La France à emporter

French Affaires readers in Dallas can enjoy a piment d’Espelette festival of sorts next week at Cadot restaurant. French chef Jean-Marie Cadot is offering an Espelette chili dinner from October 25 to 29 which features five courses for $39.95. The Basque chili menu includes:

Tomato & Red Bell Pepper Garnished with Espelette Crème & Popcorn

Crêpes with Shrimp, Onions, Espelette & Hatch Chilies, & Scrambled Eggs with a Mixed Green Salad

Blackened Ahi Tuna with Hatch Chilies, Prosciutto, & Chichoré Lettuce

Cornish Hen with Lemon Preserves, Espelette & Hatch Pipperade, & Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Crème Catalane (Crème Brûlée)

Cadot restaurant’s chef Jean-Marie is a native of Paris and grew up in a family that’s been in the restaurant, hotel and bakery business since the 1700’s.

He trained in France before continuing his culinary career in New York City and Dallas. He opened his Dallas restaurant Cadot in 2009 bringing wonderful traditional and new French flavors to the Dallas dining scene. Reservations are recommended for this special Basque chili dinner. For more information and to reserve, please click here.

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“Follow your instincts.” It’s possibly the best piece of travel advice around.

This summer in France, I was rewarded many times over for heeding this call. One particular instance occurred as I was exploring the Basque town of St. Jean Pied de Port in the Pyrenees mountains. I had been wandering up the Rue d’Espagne, one of the town’s main streets, with its charming houses and shops. Basque linens, espadrilles, gourmet food items, local wines, souvenirs, and berets were the main items on offer.

Mid-way up the road, it appeared that the interesting boutiques and sights were tapering off. I was on the verge of turning back toward the center of town—when something told me to press on.

A few yards further ahead, I came up a small, unassuming shop not much wider than its doorway. Though the sign read “Sandales,” its specialty was espadrilles. The canvas shoes in solids and stripes of every color lined the shelves.

But as I browsed, I noticed a small workshop in the back. A woman was seated at her workbench, and wonderfully enough, she making the colorful espadrilles by hand. What a find! It turned out that I had stumbled upon an authentic bastion of Basque culture. Madame Arangoïs and her family have carried on the tradition of hand-made espadrilles for generations. Madame Arangoïs learned the technique from her mother who learned it from her mother. It is Monsieur Arangoïs and their daughter who manage the shop.

On the spot, Madame Arangoïs gave me a private demonstration of her craft. All her espadrilles are faites main (made by hand), or more specifically, cousues main (sewn by hand), according to traditional methods. Though a quiet, patient woman, you could tell she was quite proud to demonstrate her creative expertise.

First, she selected a pair of hemp and rubber soles from the stock that she had pre-prepared. Next, she took the colorful cut canvas and glued it around the edges of the soles.

The third step was to sew the edges down on the exterior with beautiful looping stitches. Her practiced hand was lyrical in its movements as she completed a pair of espadrilles in minutes.

My next question was obvious. Could I order my own custom-made Basque footwear? “Bien sûr,” she responded. Of course! We do orders sur mesure. So I set about selecting the canvas for espadrilles that Madame Arangoïs would make especially for me. Uni (solid colors) or rayons (stripes)? The colors were fabulous—comment décider? How to decide? I ended up choosing a marvelous multi-colored stripe with red accents and also a black solid as black goes with everything. And my size–je chausse du 39. I wear an 8 and a half shoe size.

Hmmmm, what about the timing? My train for Bordeaux left at 3pm le lendemain (the next day). Could she have the two pairs of espadrilles ready by lunchtime? Again, another robust “Bien sûr!” ensued.

So on Wednesday after a lovely final Basque lunch with my husband, I stopped by the Arangoïs shop to pick up my espadrilles. Sure enough, my shoe treasures were waiting—and what a bargain. The two pairs together were 20 euros, or about $26. J’ai vivement remercié Madame Arangoïs (I enthusiastically thanked Madame Arangoïs, or “Madame Espadrilles,” as I now call her.) And for a marvelous cultural experience—and for just a few euros, I had a tangible, chic souvenir of Basque culture.

For your own custom-made espadrilles, be sure to visit the Arangoïs shop when in the Basque country. It’s located at 42, rue d’Espagne, in St. Jean Pied de Port. Madame Arangoïs and her family are delightful hosts and would be happy to share the legacy of their livelihood.

And in case espadrilles for the feet aren’t enough, you can pick up a key-chain version at one of the many souvenir shops in town. Vivent les espadrilles (long live espadrilles)!

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Toward the end of our time in southwest France this summer, my husband and I decided to take a break from the Bordeaux area and head down to the Pyrenees. I had never been ‘down under’ in France and looked forward to exploring the French Basque country nestled along the Spanish border.

We left Bordeaux’s Gare St. Jean (St. Jean train station) on a Monday morning and after changing trains in Bayonne, we arrived three hours later in St. Jean Pied de Port. The wildly picturesque town is situated on the Nive River at the base of the Roncevaux Pass across the Pyrenees mountains.

St. Jean Pied de Port literally means “St. John at the foot of the pass.” Approximately five miles from Spain, it is famous for its place on the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, known as the Chemin de St. Jacques, and as the last stop before the difficult passage through the mountains.

The afternoon of our arrival was market day and the village was thronged with tourists as well as the eternal pilgrims. Backpacks and hiking shoes were the main fashion items along the narrow streets.

But for those looking for a more aesthetic type of footwear, the many boutiques selling locally-made espadrilles are a great place to start. I happened upon a fabulous shop specializing in custom-made espadrilles. I’ll be posting the story of this original addition to my wardrobe next week.

Speaking of aesthetics, the Pays Basque (Basque country) owes part of its personality to its signature architecture. White stucco accented by red trim and red tiled roofs are required of residents who live in the region. Some houses and buildings also are accented by red granite native to the area, often carved with the date of construction.

The principal architectural marvel of the town is the citadel, located at the top of the steep, cobblestoned streets. Built in the early seventeenth century in response to the wars of religion and conflicts between France and Spain, the citadelle was redone by the famous French fort architect Vauban around 1680. While the interior is not open to the public, the impressive facade attracts crowds of visitors. Its altitude affords impressive panoramas of the mountains around St. Jean Pied de Port. But I think my favorite view in this part of the village was the banks of hydrangeas resting innocently against the centuries old fortress walls.

After exploring the town, we decided go further afield and try one of the many randonnées pédestres (walks) in the nearby hills and mountains. The Office du Tourisme in St. Jean Pied de Port was a wealth of information. They offered detailed maps for walks and hikes of varying degrees of difficulty in an easy, put-in-your-pocket format for a few centimes.

We started off and in just minutes, we were out in the countryside and headed up into the mountains to our destination—a panoramic view of the entire valley. The walk was so stunning that I’ll have to share more of it in another posting. But here is a photo looking back towards St Jean Pied de Port from our perch in the mountain vineyards:

As I wrap up this week’s posting, I have to mention yet another spectacular part of St. Jean Pied de Port–its cuisine. Full of spices and peppers, it’s worth exploring in its own post as well. So bookmark this page for coming Pays basque attractions!

French Take-Out ~ La France à emporter™

So what sort of souvenir does one take away from the Basque country? Basque linens, of course! Signature stripes distinguish it from its Provençal cousins and from other types of French linens. In St. Jean Pied de Port, a multitude of shops were selling their version of linge basque but I think my favorite was the chic Jean Vier boutique. Here are some of their fabrics sold by the yard:

And the colorful dish towels were creatively displayed on this mannequin:

I bought a few things sur place (while there) and made a note that their beautiful offerings are also available online at www.jean-vier.com. The company has also sponsored a beautiful museum of Basque culture and craftsmanship in St. Jean de Luz. Another spot to put on the France must-visit list!

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Today is a full-bodied, sunny August Sunday in the Médoc. As I wrote last week, I am spending time in southwest France this summer for work—with a bit of vacation thrown in. The time so far has been rich, and there are some good stories to tell about French culture, sights, history, geography, food, wine, and more. But in the spirit of getting the flavor of the place, here is a short résumé (summary) of highlights from the past couple of weeks:

Wine – Tasting Tour of Wineries in the Médoc

Wheels – Tour de France Bike Race in Pauillac

Water – French Beaches on the Atlantic Coast

WINE:  Basically, the Médoc—the area north of Bordeaux bordered by the Atlantic ocean on the west and the Gironde estuary on the east—is about wine and water. Some of France’s most spectacular coastline is here. And some of the world’s greatest vintages are produced here. You can drive down the “Route des châteaux” (chateau road) and see breathtaking castles surrounded by grapevines basking in the sun everywhere you look.

A few days ago, my husband and I were treated to an ‘insider’s tour’ of several Médoc wineries. Our guide was Pamela Prior, a glorious British woman who has spent her career in the wine business in this region. We started at the northern end of the Médoc and worked our way down for a grand finale tour and wine tasting at Château Margaux, a legend in French wine circles. As is the case at top tier chateaux, visiting the chais, or wine-making buildings and cellars, is by appointment only.

And the neoclassical chateau is only able to be admired from the outside…

Our two-hour tour ended with a tasting of the winery’s first wine—a Château Margaux 2006. It retails for about 350 euros a bottle–definitely not in my wine price range. While it was an extraordinary wine, it did need some more aging to mellow out. More accessible in terms of taste and price was the chateau’s second wine called “Pavillon rouge” also from 2006. What a great wine! It sells for about 25 euros a bottle but maheureusement (unfortunately) none of the chateau’s wines were for sale sur place (on site) as they are snapped up way in advance of production!

WHEELS:  A few days after arriving in the Médoc, we discovered that the Tour de France bike race was scheduled to come through the area on July 23^rd, the day before the triumphant finale on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Riders would complete Etape 19 (Stage 19) of the Tour with the ‘contre-la-montre individuel’, or individual time trials, from Bordeaux to Pauillac, a small town that sits on the Gironde estuary. As fans of the Tour know, the time trials are a race against the clock for each individual coureur (rider). The trials began in Bordeaux at 10:25am with pairs of the slowest riders making the 50 or so kilometer trek to Pauillac and were staged all day long every few minutes ending with top riders Contador and Schleck who pulled into Pauillac about 5pm.

Brilliantly enough, our dear friend Pamela has a lovely flat on the main street of Pauillac with windows that overlooked the finish line. Here is a front-row-seat shot of the Arrivée with the action in full swing:

And here are spectators lining the route just prior to the finish line:

There was no shortage of souvenirs as this smiling vendeuse was happy to help Tour attendees with their purchases…

WATER:   If wine isn’t enough of an attraction, the Médoc has miles and miles of beautiful pristine beaches. From Soulac-sur-Mer in the north down to Cap Ferret (not to be confused with the Mediterranean’s Cap Ferrat!) and Arcachon in the south, the coast is perfect for sunbathing, surfing, walking, and swimming. However, as we experienced firsthand, the cross-currents and tides are very strong so swimming is recommended only in the lifeguarded areas…

The beaches have one of my favorite things about this time in France—there is so much coast that overcrowding is nearly a non-issue even at the height of tourist season (think Nice or Cannes in August). So if you’re looking for a new sunny spot to try in France, the Médoc may be just the place! 

Next week, I’ll have some more snapshots from southwest France and more French culture to savor. And if you’re on holiday in August like most of the French are at the moment, I wish you bonnes vacances! 

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In the world of real estate, the three magic words of the profession are ‘location, location, location.’ Success is based on the value of place–think ‘Boardwalk’ and ‘Park Place’ on the Monopoly game board.

When in France, I adopt this adage to my time spent there—and it becomes ‘relocation, relocation, relocation.’ Whether I am in this gorgeous country for a few days, a week, a month, or several months, I consider myself to be living as a full-time resident. It’s a state of mind. It’s a way of being and acting. Success in this context is living the sense of French place to the fullest.

I am spending a good part of this summer in France, and it feels wonderful to be ‘home.’ I am here with my American husband—as many friends of French Affaires know, I was married for the first time a few months ago—who is also at home in France and of Europe. We have ‘relocated’ to the Bordeaux area for several weeks for both work and vacation.

On the French Affaires web site, I will be posting current adventures from our southwest France experience in the days to come including this year’s Tour de France race, the Bordeaux wine country, bastide towns in the Dordogne, the varied countryside of the Médoc, beaches on the Atlantic coast, French lighthouses, French oysters…

But first, here are some of the small French pleasures I love to come home to (in no particular order!):

-       Delicious  wines by the ‘pichet’ (pitcher) at French restaurants

-       Windows open all day long, particularly for the cool air at night

-       Fruits and vegetables just picked from gardens

-       Long lunches on outdoor ‘terrasses’

-       Real French camembert cheese made from raw milk

-       Lovely qualities of sun and light in France

-       Relaxing walks on French country roads

-       Buying fresh baguettes every day

-       Mind-boggling selections of mineral waters, yogurts, breads, pâtés, cheeses & wines

-       Beautiful ancient churches in every town and village

-       Reading French newspapers and magazines

-       Diving into French novels in the country where they were written

-       Open air markets in every city, town & village

-       French and European friends old and new

But there are so many things to enjoy about France, please share your favorites too in the comment section of this posting. Meanwhile, bonjour from la belle France!

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