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! 

Un bon week-end!

Saturday morning I woke up to drizzling rain. I had had a great sleep and nothing was going to dampen my spirits. After breakfast, I took the tram to the market at Les Arceaux. I've written about it in an earlier blog and "c'est un marché très intéressant". I stopped by one of the kiosks, a boulangerie of sorts, to buy le pain complét that Patricia and I so enjoy. The boulangère is a lovely man and he and I had a brief, but most agréable chat. In the fall I had bought Patricia a beautiful red cyclamen that continues to thrive on her tiny exterior shelf outside the dining room window. I decided to tell the vendeuse who sold it to me about how happy we were with the cyclamen. While I was there, I noticed she had some beautiful spring primulas in vibrant colours for sale. Patricia is so kind and generous and I thought I would buy her some for the window shelf. Both the vendeuse and Patricia were most pleased. My other encounter of note was with the man who sells the honey Keith likes so well. When I purchased a jar in the fall, the honey was amber and liquid. This time, en hiver, the honey was crystallized. The man, in French, explained the differences to me. He too, was most delightful.

The afternoon was spent doing a little more shopping with Patricia, homework and getting ready to go to the wine tasting and art exposition at the caviste Tires-Bouteilles. It just poured in the afternoon, but by the time I walked back to the tram, it had eased a bit. I arrived at Tires-Bouteilles around 6 p.m. It turns out that the artist was a woman from Nîmes. Unfortunately, I did not catch her name. Her work was hung along the walls above the wine. Most of it was done on metal with a few pieces on canvas. She told me she uses paint bombs, stencils and other media to produce her art. The wine featured this evening was a flight from the small domaine Monplézy from Pézenas, France. The white was very good. I was not keen on the rose or the first red I tried, but I very much enjoyed the Félicité and Emocíon reds. Before I left, I bought a bottle of Félicité made from Grenache, Carignan and Syrah grapes that are grown on gravel soils, handpicked and aged in barrels. Whilst there, I met quite a few interesting folks including Delphine's husband (co-proprietor of the caviste) and two English couples who spoke very little French. After a couple of hours, it was time to head home for a delicious meal with Patricia.

Sunday, I spent most of the day visiting some of main attractions in Montpellier.  Le Musée Fabre (below) is an amazing art museum founded in 1825 by a Montpellier painter François-Xavier Fabre.

It underwent a massive renovation that was completed in January 2007 and now houses a large collection of sculptures and paintings from the Renaissance to modern times. There are works from Flemish, Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish and American artists. Here are just a few of the photos I took.

I can't recall the painter, but I appreciated the rubenesque women in the tableau.

"La negresse aux pivoines" 1870 by Frederic Bazille.

"Le gateau des rois" 1774  by Jean-Baptiste Greuze. The cake in the painting looked just like the one we ate recently to celebrate Epiphany.

The picture below gives you a sense of the size of some of the rooms filled with paintings and lovely sculptures such as this one made from marble.

Needless to say, this was in the contemporary section. The painter, Pierre Soulages has donated a significant number of works from his collection to the museum. Quite frankly, I liked the 17th century paintings better.

As part of the expansion of Le Musée Fabre, l'Hôtel de Cabrières-Sabatier d'Espeyran (1874-75) is now hosting a new department dedicated to the Decorative Arts. It is an historic residence, also recently renovated, that exhibits a remarkable collection of furniture, ceramics and silver. 

This is the entrance to the Hôtel de Cabrières-Sabatier d'Espeyran.

The Red Salon with incredibly ornate furnishings.

Another salon filled with period pieces. Everything was a "bit over the top".

This was an Italian table located in the anti-chambre.

Another view of the exterior of the building.

I thought I might take in one more exhibit at L'Espace Dominique along the esplanade. I had been there in the fall to see a small, but entertaining exposition by Albert Dubout. However, as I passed by, the title of the exposition was "Sexe, Cannibale" by André Cervera. There were a number of huge murals in the windows which gave me a pretty clear picture of what the exhibit was about. Guess what...I decided to give it a miss. Regardless, it was a wonderful week-end filled with new experiences, new people, wonderful food, wine and art!