Menagerie

Our Menagerie keeps growing and shrinking as the animals and insects come and go.  Lately though it’s all about molluscs.  With spring showers come snails, and they are everywhere.  The really cute ones that look like Turbo.  The kids easily found over 30 of them the other morning crawling around in the grass.

Back when Bob and Helene were still here, the kids found 3 gorgeous snails.  You can see one in my spaghetti strainer (yumm) and the other trying to escape from his jar.  They were upgraded to a better home (no where near our other pet the scorpion for those who might be worried about that).

Etienne named his new pet Morris, Evi named hers Slow Motion, and Nico named his Malcolm.  They were on a lettuce and flour diet with lots of water. Add wine to that and it sounds a lot like my diet these days.  You wouldn’t believe how much lettuce they go through!  Or how quickly lettuce goes through them.  Speed wise they are actually faster than you think.  Etienne remarked that these were the fastest snails he had ever seen.  Of course they’re the only snails he’s ever seen so he’s technically correct.  We decided to set up a snail race to see who really was the fastest.  Evi strategically changed her snail’s name to Turbo right before the race.

You know you’re no longer in the rat race when you literally have enough time to host a snail race from start to finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever heard of a snail whisperer?

The winner would be the first to cross a complete tile.  Evi’s strategy worked and Turbo (formerly known as Slow Motion) took the title for the First Annual South of France Invitational Snail Race.  Afterwards they were set free.  The kids loved their pets and were sad to let them go.  Bob, however, did not get attached or sentimental at all.

 

When life gives you lemons…

I had been eyeing up this lemon tree since we got here.  It was covered with plastic for the winter months but I could see lemons in there peeking through.

 

We use lemons a lot, they are a staple every week on our grocery list.  I would love to have a lemon tree.  I finally got the nerve to ask Françoise if I could have one or two.  This is what she brought me.

A giant bowl full of extra fresh, extra juicy lemons with thin rinds that are easy to squeeze and easy to zest.  Not the thick peeled ones we buy at Superstore back home that only Arnold Schwarzenegger could squeeze.  So what did we do with all these lemons (other than lemon rosemary chicken, squeeze on delicious cauliflower or broccoli and add to salad dressings)?  We made homemade lemonade of course!

 

A bowl of lemons wasn’t the only thing Françoise was kind enough to give us.  Around here, the animal to hunt is ‘le sanglier’ which translates to wild boar.  Her son hunts them every weekend (during the hunting season) and I think he shot 3 of them this year.  Wild boar is to this area what deer is to Saskatchewan.  I guess the last few years there have been way too many sangliers and they are ruining some vineyards. It is not a good idea to mess with wine producing in France.  About a month ago, Françoise brought us some ‘sanglier’ stew to try.  It was delicious!  Even I ate it, and I’m sometimes/almost/practically a vegetarian.  Nothing political or environmental, I just don’t really like meat that much.

Since it’s something we don’t typically have in Canada, we thought it would be nice to make a wild boar stew for Shamus’ parents, Bob and Helene.  I asked Françoise if she had some extra and this is what she brought us.  No wonder she was adamant that I needed a full day for it to thaw!

For those who know me, I don’t deal with raw meat very well at all.  I certainly  have never butchered anything in my life, and sometimes I even let out little high pitched screams of ‘grossmetheeffout’ when I’m cutting the white stringy stuff off of  boneless skinless chicken breasts.  This thing had a ball joint and socket.

Lucky for me Shamus got very excited at the prospect of dealing with the beast (definitely some evolutionary psychology behind that) and that Bob came back a day early from his trip to Switzerland.  They were both very happy (as was I) to take over.  I was delegated to buying wine for the bourguignon (before, during and after).  Look what I found!  Too perfect!

It was delicious and enjoyed by all!  And in one afternoon, Shamus went from  savage…

to civilized.

 

 

 

 

 

Bits and pieces

Here are a few things we’ve been up to lately…

Bob and Helene have been here (and gone)…

I’ve been buying fresh unpasturized milk at the Marché.  The milk lady is only there on wednesday morning and we bring our milk jar back every week for a refill.  The kids still aren’t keen on drinking it, but I think it’s the Best. Milk. Ever.

We visited the town of Arles where Van Gogh lived in 1888-89 and produced quite a few of his famous paintings.  We planned to do the walking tour of 10 reproductions mounted on easels depicting actual places throughout the city.  I was pretty excited about this tour, especially the one called ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’.  The cafe itself was closed but I’ve read from many reviews that it isn’t that great anyhow.

Cafe Terrace at Night

Another reproduction we visited was ‘The Yellow House.’  This is the house Van Gogh rented and lived in for a while in Arles.  You can see how thrilled Evi is about seeing it.  She looks more depressed than Van Gogh was I think.  The truth is the kids are pretty damn sick of 1000 year old castles, cobblestone streets and dead artists or popes or whoever.  They don’t want to climb one more tower or walk in yet another old town.  They are normal kids who prefer candy, desserts, restaurants, zoos and fairs or carnivals.

So we cut the tour short and went out for drinks to an outdoor café where you can buy a good old fashioned Coke in a bottle.  That made for happy kids (and a lot of pee breaks).

Mid-afternoon drinks in Arles.

Luckily they still like spending time outside and going out for hikes.  There are many breathtaking trails right on our doorstep.

Shamus used the BBQ for the first time.  No propane here.  We got to use these old grape vines as firewood instead.

 

Evi dressed up as Elsa for ‘Carnival’ at school.  Our neighbour’s daughter was kind to lend her this outfit.

Nico was going to be a ninja but all I had to work with was black pants and a black shirt.  He looked more like a terrorist than a Ninja so we quickly turned him into a surfer dude by giving him sunglasses and swimming trunks (which he wore under his sweats).  In the end he was dressed up as himself but that didn’t stop him from dancing.

We slipped in a Mediterranean beach day too.  It was a bit on the windy side but the kids loved it anyway (as did I).  Don’t let the swim suits fool you, it really wasn’t that warm out.

We went for treats at ‘La Nougatine’, our favorite dessert spot.  I love how Bob can’t get his eyes off the dessert long enough to pose for a picture.

We picked up Grant and Vivian, Shamus’s aunt and uncle.  We took them out for a hike and a picnic.  We like to wear our guests out right off the bat!

And of course I found a few more French Doors…

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

Turns out the Easter Bunny made it all the way to France this morning!  The egg hunt was on!

After seeing all the beautiful eggs on Instagram yesterday,  I decided I just couldn’t go without getting the kids to dye some of their own.  So we got some grocery store dye and a dozen brown eggs.  Apparently chickens don’t lay white eggs here because I’ve yet to see any.

I think they turned out really well.

The Easter Bunny also left these cool archeological eggs with a tiny fossilized dinosaur buried inside.  Dusty work but totally worth it.

Here they are half and fully excavated.

 

Divvying up the goods…

Happy Easter Everyone! Joyeuses Pâques!!

 

This just doesn’t happen in Canada: driving in France

Driving and parking in France is something else.  By now Shamus has it mostly figured however it took a certain amount of concentration and focus in the first few weeks.  My Dad commented that on one particular stretch of  mountain road he needed to be so focused that chewing gum would have impaired his driving.  Personally I completely avoided driving for the first month but I can now venture out on my own to the grocery store or around town.  I’m not quite ready for the big cities or the major highway which has 3 lanes and a speed limit of 130 km per hour (110 when it’s raining).  Even then, when we’re at the maximum speed limit or a little higher, the french are usually blasting past us.

I remember one day on our way to Montpellier on the big highway.  We were passing a semi-truck driver and I could tell he was texting or doing some other distracting thing while driving.  Once we got a closer look I realised that he wasn’t on his phone at all but actually rolling a cigarette!

One thing we’ve noticed is that every car has a dent on their bumper or scrapes along the side.  I don’t think it’s worth having them repaired because it is such a regular occurrence.  It’s also common to see the side mirrors ripped off of vehicles.  This is not surprising as the streets are so narrow and sometimes difficult to manoeuvre.

 

Out into the countryside,  the roads are still very narrow and windy.  And shoulders?  Who needs them!  Shoulders generally don’t exist here unless you ride a 10 speed.  Even though most roads are flanked by a deep ditch, hairpin curves or plunging cliffs.  Often there are rows of trees planted along both sides, perfect for impromptu games of Chicken.  To add to it all, there is always someone tailing you, so much so that you can’t even see their headlights and it looks like they’re sitting in your back seat.  They will totally ride your ass just waiting for the first opportunity to pass.  And when they do, it’s so awesome to see a little old granny behind the wheel.

Finding a parking spot can also be a challenge at times.  As my cousin Roxanne put it (she is married to a bonified frenchman and has been here numerous times so she knows what she’s talking about) ‘there are 66 million people in France and 40 parking spots’.  It becomes a matter of being creative and sidewalks are fair game.  No need to worry about whether the other guy can get out, that’s his problem.  Just find a spot and snug up tight.

It’ll be a bit weird when we’re back in Saskatoon where it’s illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk never mind parking your vehicle on it.

When in Rome….

Especially in front of Bakeries, anything goes.  As you can see there is no rule about which way the car facing.

How would you like to park on this driveway every day?

Somehow though, we managed to get a speeding ticket.  I don’t know how it’s possible being the slowest drivers in the country right now.  Shamus was probably just trying to stay ahead of that little old granny riding our ass….