08 February 2010

Regional Cuisine

Last week, to celebrate Annemarie's birthday, a group of eleven of us went out to eat. We made a reservation at the restaurant d'application at her school, which is also a vocational school like mine. Our meal was completely prepared and served by students who are learning to be cooks and waiters. They are supervised by some of their professors, but working here gives them hands-on practice for their future profession.

The head chef teacher was generous enough to let us all walk through the kitchen as he described the preparations for the meal.

Our first course was "fillets de rouget avec son mesclun et tapenade" which is fillets of red mullet (?) fish served cold over a mixed green salad with black olive and anchovy tapenade.

The main course of the evening was "carre d'agneau avec ratatouille" which is rack of lamb! I have only had lamb a couple of times before this and it was delicious! The ratatouille is composed of tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and onion.

We were then served with a cheese plate which had Pelardon, a soft goat's cheese which is made in our region, and Roquefort, the sheep's milk blue cheese that is well-known for being extremely strong!

Our dessert course was composed of "peches flambees" and some type of green, flavorless melon, and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

It was really fun to eat a traditional meal from our region, and as always, our group had a great time together.

Rachel, Martha, Britt, Annemarie, and I leave on Saturday morning to start our February vacation. We will go first to Dublin, then Berlin, Venice, and Sardinia before returning to Beziers/Sete on February 26th. We will only have sporadic access to email and internet. I will email my parents when I can, so if you would like an update you are welcome to contact them!

02 February 2010

A Walk Through Beziers

I have been struggling to come up with a good post because nothing exciting has been happening lately. I will have lots to write about after our big vacation! For today, I decided to post some photos of my typical walk from my apartment to downtown Beziers. Enjoy!!


After leaving my high school, walking north to the major road that cuts all the way through Beziers


Approaching Les Arenes on the left and heading west towards downtown


A wonderful bakery I pass every time I walk downtown - it always smells SO good!


Les Alles Paul Riquet - the pedestrian area, seen from the North end

Eglise de la Madeleine

In other news, I went to Montpellier two weekends ago with Rachel and Eva. We saw Avatar in 3D (in English). It was excellent! I stayed in Sete all weekend and even watched the Vikings-Saints game on Sunday night/Monday morning. Poor Vikes...

Looking at my calendar, it seems time will sure fly by! I have 2 weeks of class, then 2 weeks of vacation for February. March will be split in half by Dan's visit (March 11-18), and April is practically worthless with Easter weekend, one week of class, two weeks of vacation, and one final week before my contract is up and Mom and Dad are here!

17 January 2010

La (Les) Fete(s) des Rois et Narbonne

There isn't much to report from across the pond, but I know I promised to write more frequently, so here it is...

The French celebrate Epiphany on January 6th during which they eat "Galette des Rois" or Kings' Cake. Inside the cake is a little figurine, called the "feve" and whoever finds it in their piece of cake gets to be king or queen for the day. We definitely enjoyed this holiday as the cakes are delicious! We celebrated once in Sete, and once in Beziers at my apartment.


Eva, Me, & Rachel at our Epiphany celebration in Beziers

This weekend I travelled to Narbonne with my roommate to stay with several of her Spanish assistant friends. Narbonne is only a 15 minute train ride west of Beziers and it was a chance to visit another new town. We went to a discotheque Friday night and stayed until almost 4 a.m.! On Saturday, we did some sightseeing in the town before coming back home Saturday evening.


Moi, at the Palais des Archeveques (Archbishops' Palace)


Narbonne on the Canal de la Robine

That's all for now...ciao!

10 January 2010

Home for the Holidays

I realize it has been quite a long time since my last post! Things were crazy during my two weeks at home and I hardly used my computer. I will try to stay more up-to-date...let's call it a New Year's Resolution!

The last week of class before vacation was fine. Everyone was ready for a break, so the students were even more excitable and rambunctious than usual (I didn't think it was possible!)

My friend Britt and I went to Barcelona on Saturday morning, the 19th of December. We spent the day together sight-seeing, enjoying tapas, and living it up together. She left on Sunday morning, and I spent the day with an Argentinian that we met at the hostel. See my facebook album for photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2175583&id=20306625&l=4cfae42b78. I spent Sunday night in the airport before heading home on an early morning flight. I flew Barcelona-Amsterdam-Minneapolis-Des Moines. Thankfully the weather cooperated and I was able to get in and out of Amsterdam (all the flights during the weekend had been cancelled due to snow), and gladly I didn't have any security issues like on Christmas Day...

After quite a long day (29 hours in airports or planes) I finally made it home! The whole family met me at the airport - even Divot - and we had dinner in Des Moines before heading home. Thanks to the wonders of jet lag, I couldn't sleep past 5 a.m. the first three days I was home, but I sure did get a lot accomplished! Who knew productivity was possible before sunrise?

The Siblings

For the most part, I had a very relaxing week at home in Iowa. I got to see friends Mal and Alison, and I even took a road trip to Cedar Rapids with Mal, her sister McKenzie, and mom Tammi in order to get fitted for our bridesmaid's dresses for Mal's wedding next August! The dress will be fern green, not the pale yellow we are wearing, but that is the style.


Christmas was a relaxing day spent at home with Mom, Dad, Zack, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, and Divot. Santa was good to all of us this year - we must have been on the nice list! On Saturday, we added three more people to our already full house (maybe we should call it a hotel) when Dan, and his dad and stepmom drove in from Chicago. It was the first parental meeting, and it must have gone well since Dan and I are still together :) On Sunday, the four of us piled into the car and headed back to Chicago for Dan's grandpa's 90th birthday party. We then took the train up to Milwaukee to spend the week there.


We had an action-packed week and I got to see tons of friends! We went bowling, watched the Vikings games, cooked delicious meals (actually I supervised the cooking), celebrated the new year, went to a Marquette basketball game, and perhaps enjoyed a beverage or two. On Wednesday, Bridget, Cathy, and Jill came up for a Sin Bin Reunion. Things didn't go quite according to plan, but it was SO good to see those girls!!

Cathy, Bridget, Me, and Jill

For New Year's, we were invited over to a friend's apartment for heavy hors d'oeuvres and drinks before going to Lakefront Brewery to ring in the New Year. We had a great time with great friends, and I look forward to seeing what 2010 has in store for me!

Now that I have caught up on the happenings from the homefront, I will try to keep up-to-date. Not much has happened since I got back but I'm sure things will start picking up. Plans for the February vacation are underway and I will be sure to post about that soon.

Until next time, Bonne Année, Bonne Santé, et Meilleurs Voeux!

16 December 2009

A Mediterranean Christmas

Happy Holidays from the sunny south of France! Until a couple days ago, the weather was very misleading - I thought it was October instead of December! We had highs in the mid-50s until Sunday, when the temperatures plummeted. Currently it is 37 degrees at 3:30 in the afternoon!

The city of Beziers (and all other towns I have visited) try their hardest to make it feel more like Christmas even though we probably won't get any snow. We have a couple large Christmas trees in town, the streets are all lit up, and even the palm trees are decorated!

Christmas tree and Santa's train at the Hotel de Ville, Beziers

Last weekend, Fred picked me up on Saturday morning and we went to Montpellier for the Christmas market. Fred, Laura, Elisa, and I spent the afternoon there shopping, and even took a little break for ice skating! On Saturday, it was 55 degrees and sunny so it felt strange ice skating outdoors!

Laura and I on the ice

Elisa, Laura, and I with Santa

Place de la Victoire, Beziers

Apparently Christmas is a great time for a carnival. Les Allees Paul Riquet, which is the big pedestrian boulevard in downtown Beziers has been inundated by garish carnival rides and games. The sad part is, there is NOBODY playing said games or riding said rides! I'm not sure how long everything will be there, but I miss my serene, pretty Allees.

'Twas the night before Christmas, and there was a carnival?

I am more than halfway through my last week of class before vacation starts. I have a full day tomorrow, then only one class on Friday before FREEDOM! My friend Britt and I are taking the train to Barcelona on Saturday morning and spending the day/night there together. She heads for the States on Sunday morning, so I will spend the day in Barcelona before heading for the airport to "sleep." My flight leaves at 6 a.m. Monday (Barcelona time - CST +7) and I will arrive in Des Moines (after layovers in Amsterdam and Minneapolis/St. Paul) at 4:30 p.m. local Monday (11:30 p.m. Barcelona time). Needless to say I will be quite tired! I am looking forward to my welcoming crew at the airport, which will include Divot!

Joyeuses Fetes a tout le monde, et a bientot!

13 December 2009

Weekend in Montpellier

Again, I apologize for falling behind! I will update again this week before I leave to go home!

Last weekend (December 5-6) our big group went to Montpellier to celebrate Eva's birthday. We ate at a wonderful sushi restaurant (see picture below) and explored the Montpellier Christmas market. Several of us ended up staying in Montpellier at our friend, Boris' apartment.


Our group (minus photographer Martha)


Christmas tree in Montpellier

Annemarie, Brittany, & I in Montpellier

The time has flown since my last post - it's been 2 weeks already since Thanksgiving, and this one is not nearly as long as I wanted it to be, but it will at least give you a glimpse. Like I said, I will update one more time this week with Christmas pictures.

I can't believe that I will be home one week from tomorrow for Christmas! I have 12 more hours of teaching this week, and I can't wait for it to be over! I will go to Barcelona on Saturday with Brittany (pictured above) because we both fly out of Barcelona back to the States. We will spend the day together on Saturday, then I will have all day Sunday in Barcelona before spending the night at the airport. My flight leaves at 6 a.m. on Monday! I will be home in time for dinner on Monday with my family!

30 November 2009

Thanksgiving French-Style

When everyone in the United States was sitting down to a lovely Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, I was working. I taught several classes about the history and traditions surrounding the holiday, then I celebrated too with a three-day weekend! On Thursday night, I took the train to Sete to work on cooking for our big Thanksgiving party on Friday.

On Friday, I made green bean casserole and stuffing, and helped prepare the turkey! Bruno, my friend Rachel's French roommate, took the responsibility for finding the bird. He asked at a butcher's, who said he would call around. It turns out the butcher had a friend who owned a farm and could get us a turkey...a fresh one. Bruno, Rachel, and I dressed and stuffed poor Phinneas, then cooked him to a beautful golden brown. My, was he tasty!!

I can't believe my hand is inside a raw turkey!

We crammed about 20 people into Martha and Eva's cozy apartment for our feast Friday night. I put more pictures on Facebook, so you can see how squished we were, and how much food we had! It was a great combination of Americans, French, Spanish, Mexican, Colombian, British, Austrian, etc. We all had a fantastic time and enjoy each others company.

Martha, Rachel, & I

On Saturday, I took the train back to Beziers to do Thanksgiving all over again at Fred's house. We did our grocery shopping, then set out cooking. I had some wonderful helpers in Pau, my roommate, Laura, Fred's daughter, and Elisa, Fred's niece. We made turkey legs, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and an apple crumble!

Pau and Laura peeling apples

Fred and I with all the food!

The five of us had a very enjoyable night and played Taboo to cap it off! It was fun to share the American tradition of Thanksgiving with a French family.

On Sunday, Pau and I went to one of her teacher's houses for a meal. Needless to say, it was a weekend FULL of Food, French, and FUN!

I am buckling down for the last three weeks of class before I come back to the States for the holidays! I hope to see many of you either in Iowa City or Milwaukee while I'm there. I'm always available by email or Facebook, so please drop me a note to let me know how you're doing!