Riding the tram in Montpellier

As you know, I take the tram almost everyday. It is a very convenient way for me to get around this city. It also provides me with some interesting observations that are at times amusing and at others, quite annoying. My first comment belongs to the latter. Recently a girl entered the tram smoking a cigarette and proceeded to finish it directly in front of me. My initial thought was that she was smoking when the tram arrived and just forgot to put out her cigarette before she got on. However, when we arrived at the next station and the doors opened, she didn't throw it out as I had anticipated. She just kept on smoking until the cigarette was finished. By the way, smoking is strictly prohibited on public transportation, but obviously not in this case. Several times, people have entered the tram with beer in hand. One older, grizzled man was a little more discreet and carried his wine in a plastic water bottle covered by a grocery bag. Every once in while, he would take it out, have a swig and then tuck it away again. In case you are wondering, drinking alcohol on public transport is also forbidden. Occasionally I wonder if some of the conductors are frustrated Formula 1 driver "wannabes". I've almost experienced whiplash taking some of the corners or coming to a halt at the tram stops. And everything comes onto the tram - bicycles, skateboards, animals, laundry, suitcases, screaming babies and children in prams. When I think about it, my experiences here are not all that different than when I have used public transportation at home in Edmonton or in other places we have travelled to. Despite it all, the tramway in Montpellier is a pretty efficient mode of transport and I am forever grateful that it exists. 

My tram -  Ligne Numéro 3

Une journée agréable

Unfortunately, I took a tumble last night. I got out of bed to turn off the radiator, but neglected to turn on the light. I think I caught my foot in the strap of my knapsack and crashed to the floor. I'm quite alright except for a pulled muscle in my back which is giving me grief. I'm finding it difficult to move about so my planned trip to Aigues-Mortes today has been postponed until next week. By then I hope to be up and running again. What a shame because it is a glorious day today with sunny skies and mild temperatures. 

Up until my fall, I had had a great day. My friend Maria, invited me to join her for a reading at one of the local bookshops. For 3 days, L'association Coeur de Livres is hosting Escapades en librairies. Les librairies are independent bookstores and different events are being held at various stores across the city centre. I think the intent is to educate, inform and invite the public to see what these bookshops have to offer. The event Maria and I attended was held outdoors in front of Librairie Souffle D'Esprit. The comedien Tom Torel read passages from La Sagesse d'un pauvre d'Eloi Leclerc which paid hommage to Saint-Francois d'Assises. He was supported by a sound man who also provided musical interludes. As usual, I had difficulty following although he spoke clearly and not too quickly. I was distracted by people walking by, noise from motos and the weather was less than stellar - I was cold because it was cloudy and the wind was blowing. However, Maria understood the gist of the reading and explained it to me afterwards. Once again, I was surprised by the number of people who were in the audience on a Friday afternoon and were willing to stay and listen despite the cool weather.

Tom Torel reading from La Sagesse d'un pauvre d'Eloi Leclerc

During my morning tram rides, I pick up the local daily papers and read some of the articles of interest. One caught my eye and it was about a retrospective "It's Not Only Rock and Roll" with photos by Linda McCartney. After the bookshop reading, Maria and I headed over to Le Pavillon Populaire to take in the exposition. 

Maria in front of La Pavillon Populaire

The exposition was very well done with pictures of famous rock stars from the 60's such as Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, BB King, Jimmy Hendrix and of course the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead etc. There were also many family photos of Paul, Linda, their children and their animals. The retrospective included an interesting video of her history as a photographer and her marriage to Paul. Some of the photos were familiar as I had been to an exposition of hers a few years back when I was visiting in Winnipeg. However, I really enjoyed this exposition too.

According to the article in the local paper, Paul McCartney and his daughter Mary made a surprise visit to Montpellier on opening night. Sure enough, I found their autographs in the guest book that we also signed and took a picture. I just wish I had been there.

Afterwards, we wandered over to the Shakespeare pub where we had agreed to meet some of the other students for a beer. That was followed by dinner at La Poule au Pot which is a beautiful wine bar/restaurant steps away from Place Jean-Juarès. It had lovely arched ceilings from the 12th century and a great wine cellar. We all ordered different meals and everyone agreed the food was excellent. I think it was one of the best meals I've had here and will definitely return. Service and prices were also good. 

James (England), Ella (Germany), Maria (Finland) and Lexa (United States)

My dinner - le loup. Cooked perfectly and it was delicious!

Last stop of the evening was the Fitzpatrick's pub that was televising the rugby match between Wales and France. The place was absolutely packed. James thought we should hear the French sing the national anthem La Marseillaise. People in the pub eagerly joined in chorus with the crowd on the TV. I wasn't particularly interested in staying for the game, so after the anthem, I bowed out and took the tram home. The rest remained and Maria sent me an email saying that Wales beat France 26-6. Apparently James was pretty happy with the result, but I doubt there were many others in the pub that shared his sentiments. 

Until next time....

Mon temps libre

I just thought I'd share some of the things I have done in my free time lately. On Friday, I went to the local theatre in Celleneuve called Nestor Burma. It is literally about 30 seconds from Paticia's place. The film I watched was Philomena with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Although it was the English version, there were French sub-titles (sous-titres). The film was great and the price was right. Movies at Nestor Burma only cost 5€. This is the third film I've seen there and I hope to go to another next week titled Lulu femme nue en français. Going to the cinema is a very popular pastime here and I have seen 6 movies since my arrival - 3 en français and 3 with sous-titres en français. That's more movies than I've seen back home in the last six years! I also think it is another fun way to try and learn a little more of the language.

On Saturday evening, I met a group of more mature students (over 30 yrs.) from the school in the centre ville.  It was a beautiful evening and we sat outside on the terrace for a beer before heading into a traditional French restaurant for dinner. The two women, Majia and Maria are Finnish and James is English.

I'm sad to report that my meal was less than stellar. I ordered the magret de canard (fillet of duck breast) and it was very tough. C'est dommage parce qu'il j'adore le canard (It's a shame because I love duck). Both before and after we came out of the restaurant, the terrace was absolutely filled with people. There wasn't an empty chair or stool in sight. They talk about the economic crisis here, but there was no evidence of it that night. 

This afternoon, I took another cooking course at L'Atelier de Valérie. Our crew of 6 with Chef Valérie  prepared un plat - poulet (chicken) mimolette (cheese) et potiron (pumpkin) en millefeuille (thick pile). Initially, I thought it was going to be a savoury version of mille-feuille, the traditional French slice made with layers of puff pastry.  However, millefeuille without the hyphen, and in this case, was layers of pumpkin, chicken, mimolette with a persil (parsley) garlic, rosemary and olive oil mixture in between. 

As in my previous class, we sliced and diced all the vegetables etc. and did some preliminary cooking of the potiron and the chicken in skillets. Then we began to create the millefeuille. In the photo below, you can see the first layer of pumpkin, followed by the chicken covered with the parsley sauce and finally, the mimolette cheese. These layers were repeated 3 times. 

This is what they looked like prior to going into the oven....

... and this is what they looked like after.

While the millefeuille was cooking, we began to prepare the Risotto crémeux. We used a large casserole dish to cook onion, celery and potiron in a mixture of olive and sunflower oil. The arborio or carnoli rice was added and cooked until the rice was pearlized. Then hot chicken bouillion was added to the mix. We took turns stirring the rice while Valérie liberally added salt and a variety of interesting peppers to the pot. Once it was almost done, she removed it from the heat and covered it with the lid.

 At that time, we whipped some cream (35%) softly and then folded it into the risotto. 

Our lunch was ready to be served. Each plate had some of the garlic, parsely sauce drizzled on the side, a millefeuille and a bowl of creamy risotto. Take note that the millefeuille is at the front of the plate. According to Valerie, the meat or main dish is always served closest to the person.

Cette fois, nous avons mangé sur place en table avec un verre de vin rouge. Après, nous avons eu un café et du chocolate. (This time, we ate on site at the table with a glass of red wine. After, we had a coffee and some chocolate). Everything was delicious. I was even able to bring home a container of risotto for Patricia to try this evening.  

A serendipitous thing happened at this class. One of the women who no longer works gave me her number and offered to meet for coffee and chat in French. Lucky me! I'll give her a shout this week and see if we can get together. Maybe she can even explain some of the things Valérie talked about that I didn't understand. 

Talk you you again soon!

Carré Sainte-Anne

It was a beautiful day, so after school I decided to take advantage of it by walking and doing a bit of sight seeing. Before I went too far, I needed to have a bite to eat. I came upon a restaurant I've passed many times before called II Nome and thought I'd try it. It was lovely - vaulted ceilings, good service and a delicious meal of daurade (sea bream), a vegetable medley, (the first vegetables I've had that were not overcooked) and a few tasty potato fritters. Of course, the wine was wonderful too.

Pleasantly replete, I walked to l'Arc de Triomphe before making my way back to the Carré Saint-Anne. My prof suggested that I go there to see a free art exposition. This space is in an old Gothic church that fell into disrepair, but was subsequently transformed into a cultural and contemporary art centre in 2011. 

The expositions at this centre are produced by the Directorate of Culture and Heritage of the city of Montpellier under the artistic direction of Numa Hambursin. The current exposition is called "l'œil et le cœur 2". 

It certainly was contemporary, interesting and different. One set of photographs really intrigued me. it was a series of 7 photos called "What if?" by Boushra Almutawakel (see top pictures below). Each photo has the same man and woman in it, but in the first one, the woman is completely covered in a burka and the man is dressed in white robes. As you move to the next one, her eyes are exposed. In the 3rd, you can see her face. In the 4th, the man's white robes are off. In the next 3 pictures, the man lands up wearing different parts of the burka until he is completely covered. At the same time, the woman becomes more exposed so that by the last photo she is wearing normal garb and a great big smile. I thought it was very clever. 

Other art pieces on display.

The sculpture below was interesting too. Depending on where you stood to look at it, the shape changed. You really had to check it out from all angles.

Montpellier is a cultural hub for art, theatre, music and cinema. There are several art schools here and each time I have been to one of the galleries or expositions, there have been groups of students in attendance accompanied by their prof. I am also surprised by the number of people that frequent these galleries. It was a Thursday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. and there was a steady stream of people coming and going. It's wonderful to think that the arts scene is so vibrant and well supported. 

Salinelles....Uzès ...Sommières and points in between

Back in the fall, I met a woman from Ottawa, Canada, who was also in Enio's class. We would chat together at coffee breaks and she would tell us stories about her beautiful rented gîte and village. Unfortunately she left our school after a couple of weeks, but occasionally I would get an email from her. A few weeks ago, she invited me to spend the weekend with her and her daughter, Moira, in their gîte in Salinelles. I jumped at the chance to see her place and some of the French countryside and villages that are not accessible by train. I met her shortly after noon on Friday at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier where she is now studying French. It took us a couple of hours to get to her home only because we stopped en route to see some of the sights and pick up some groceries. 

My lovely hosts, Rebecca and Moira, in front of the gîte.

Here are pictures of their beautiful gîte which is situated on the banks of the Vidourle river.

The Vidourle River is fed by the Cevennes and the water level can change dramatically within a very short period of time. The gîte is to the left.

This wonderful old Roman bridge crosses the river in front of their gîte. In these pictures the river seems quite calm and the water level is relatively low. However, as I write this blog, Rebecca has been sending me pictures that show the swirling river and the water level has risen past the arches. Apparently, there have been several floods here and in other areas bordering this river. 

The weekend was filled with wonderful food, wine, conversation and of course sight-seeing. Rebecca has explored much of the area and took me to see many of the nearby villages. We would just pass through one and then we'd be in another. The landscape was dotted with chateaus (les châteaux) French country farm houses called les mas and vineyards (les vignobles).

Un mas 

Below is a picture of a vineyard or un vignoble in Dions.

The villages, for the most part, had beautiful stone homes with colourful shutters, charming streets and interesting walls. These pictures were also taken in Dions.

On Saturday morning we drove to Uzès, a lovely medieval village north of Nîmes. In the "Place Aux Herbes" there is a market which is famous for its produce and the various cloths made in the region as well as tourist souvenirs. Rebecca managed to "bang out some bargains" while I exercised remarkable self restraint.

Mimosas are in season right now and this was a beautiful bouquet for sale at the market.

After the market, we wandered through the charming streets of Uzès...

past the Château du Duché....

to the Cathédrale Saint-Théordorit d'Uzès.

The tower you see behind the cathedral is an iconic symbol in Uzès because of the unique paired windows. The cathedral has been rebuilt and the tower is the only part to survive from the original medieval structure. The tower, La Tour Fenestrelle, dates back to the 11th century. It is reminiscent of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

After Uzès and a quick trip home to unload the purchases and grab a bite to eat, we headed out again - this time to Sommières. It is another interesting medieval town centered around a large Roman bridge with an historical centre of vaulted passages, fortified portals, ancient ramparts, shops and homes. Below is a picture of the Vidourle River and the Roman bridge.

I just happened to have my camera ready when a trio of riders came by along the banks of the river. I wonder if that is one of the Camargue horses?

A couple of black swans in the Virdoule.

On Sunday, we drove to another beautiful village called Villevieille to pick up one of Moira's friends. As it turns out, this is where Rebecca will be moving to at the end of April. They will live in a delightful, albeit smaller home, just below the chateau. We had coffee with a charming couple who have lived in France for the past five years, but were originally from Australia and Ireland respectively. Their daughter, Katelyn, accompanied us for our afternoon adventure to the Ambrussum which is a Roman archeological site. This is all that remains on the site of the original bridge Ambroix. It is thought that the bridge probably had between 9 and 11 arches and was built around the time of Jesus Christ or perhaps even earlier. It was partly destroyed by 14th century inhabitants, but the rising Vidourle River also destroyed several arches. 

We walked up the main paved road called the Via Domitia which is the oldest Roman road built in Gaul. It had deep ruts created by primitive vehicles and along the sides of the road, there were  remains of buildings and homes. Katelyn and Moira exploring some of the ruins below.

Once we reached the top, about 56m altitude, there was a panoramic view of Pic Saint-Loup, the foothills of the Cevennes and the village, Gallargues-le-Montueux, seen here.

At this point, you could see the rampart or surrounding wall, the oldest visible remains on the hill. 

A picture of Rebecca, Katelyn and me taken at the peak by Moira.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and it was time for me to return to Montpellier.  Rebecca and the girls kindly drove me back to the city. It really was a delighful week-end and I am so grateful to Rebecca and Moira for their kindness and generosity. Un autre bon week-end!

L'Atelier de Valérie... cooking with Valérie

Lisa, my lovely sister-in-law (ma belle-soeur) recommended that I have some fun by taking a French cooking class. After surfing the Internet, I found L'Atelier de Valérie, which is a cooking school about 5 minutes away from ILA (my language school) The chef, Valérie Sabantino, is the owner and has a terrific website if you are interested. You can even take a virtual tour of her kitchen.

www.atelier-valerie.com

She teaches a wide variety of courses from entrées to plats du jour to les pâtisseries. The menus change and courses are offered on different days and at different times. It just so happened that today's course fit into my schedule, so I registered on-line for "En Practique - Les Grandes Ravioles aux mélanges savoureux". That roughly translates to learning one cooking technique for ravioli with variations for 3 delicious fillings. The first was a mixture of champignons et châtaignes avec jus de persil (mushrooms and chestnuts with a parsely sauce); the second was potiron et noisettes avec émulsion parmesan (pumpkin and hazlenuts with a parmesan sauce) and the last was saumon aux morilles avec beurre blanc au Noilly Prat (salmon and morels with a butter and Noilly Prat reduction) 

Here we are getting ready to begin. Our stations are clean and some of the ingredients are at this end of the counter. Our first task was to don aprons and wash our hands.

 

After that, I'm afraid that I didn't understand very much of what she said. Fortunately, I do know how to cook and I'm pretty good at following by example. Most of our time was spent chopping the various ingredients - shallots, onions, onions, garlic, chestnuts, hazlenuts, salmon, pumpkin etc. 

Some of the ingredients ready for cooking.

Valérie demonstrated how she cooks the mushroom mixture with the shallots, onions, garlic, butter (used liberally I might add) sunflower oil, spices etc. She cooked the first half and poured it into a strainer. Then she asked me to cook the last half while the rest of the class watched.

After the mixtures were prepared, we learned the technique to fill the ravioli. We used prepared pâtes (dough/pasta) - rice rounds and squares of gyoza. The rice rounds were used for the salmon mixture. By the time we were finished, they reminded me of potstickers. We had a chance to test the ones below which were very good with the onion, butter, Noilly Prat sauce. 

We used the gyoza squares to make triangles filled with either the mushroom mixture or the pumpkin and chestnut combo. While we were making the ravioli, Valérie was busy preparing the sauces. Once everything was finished, we divvied up the 3 different types of raviolis and sauces and put them into containers to take home. Here is our class (Valérie is second on the right).

Guess what was on the menu for dinner at our place tonight? I cooked the ravioli as instructed and reheated the sauces. Patricia thought all three ravioli were delicious and I have to agree.

I think I would have learned more about the ingredients and the cooking methods if I had understood the language better. Even so, it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Time permitting, I may take another class or two before I leave. Merci Valérie!