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Published: October 15th 2007
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Pau Centre Ville
Thanks to the lovely sunshine we've had for (some of) this week, I have these beautiful photos for you! Home Sweet Home!!
Hello friends and family! I’m pleased to be able to say that I finally have a place of permanent residence in Pau. I am proud to no longer be an SDF, which is the PC term in French for a bum (personne sans domicile fixee). The answer to everyone’s prayers came in the form of the Canterot family. Their middle daughter, Laurence, is in one of my classes at school. Her parents are dentists, are their house is only a 5-minute walk from College Clermont. The whole family is absolutely amazing. There are four daughters (Sabine, Laurence, Elsa, and Charlene) , a golden retriever named Ruska, an Italian kitten named Bacci, and of course M. and Mme. Canterot. They’ve all been so welcoming and great and I can tell I’m going to love it here.
So I moved my stuff in Saturday, and we all had dinner (mussles, and then crepes for dessert, two of my all time favorite things!) and then watched the semi-finals of the world cup. Sadly, France lost to England, so there wasn’t the same pandemonium in the streets as when they beat New Zealand last week.
Sunday we had “magret
Sam and Helen
This photo has nothing to do with the entry, but I thought it was really funny. Sam and Helen needed a digestion break after we had some really sketchy armenian kabobs for dinner the other night. du canard”, which is yet another preparation of duck, for lunch. M. Canterot has a special recipe for it, and he says the trick is to cook it only 5 minutes on each side, so that it’s still nice and rare. We also had a duck pate that was very good. Then, M. and Mme. Canterot and I went on a bike ride on the chemin Henri IV, which goes all the way from Pau to Lourdes, but of course we didn’t bike the whole thing. We took Ruska with us as well. It had been a long time since I’d been biking, and it was a lot of fun. We saw the beautiful Bearn countryside, the corn fields, and the Pyrenees. Then, we stopped to gather chestnuts.
Gathering chestnuts is quite simple, really. The first thing you clearly have to do is identify a chestnut tree. This is not really that difficult, because the huge pods that hold the chestnuts are all over the place. Once you’ve found your tree, you use your shoes to step on the pods and open them up. You can’t touch them with your hands because they’re very prickly. Then, you pick up
Boulevard des Pyrenees
I tried to get in some good shots of the mountains, as well the nuts that you’ve squeezed out and put them in a sack. They can be ground into a flour, roasted in the fire, or used for candy. “Marrons Glacees” are a candy made out of chestnuts that have seeped for over a month in simple syrup until they’re soft and candied.
That night after dinner, I went with Mme. Canterot to the neighbor’s house to get a big ol’ box full of fresh duck livers. She was going to use them to make foie gras. So, while watching South Africa beat up on Argentina in the rugby semi-finals, I learned how foie gras is made. First, you take the swollen liver and cut out all the veins and such that would give it a bad taste. Then you salt and pepper it and cook it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Get yourself some toasted bread and you’re in business!
Today, while I went to classes and the rest of the girls went to school, Charlene went to do her “service militaire”. It used to be that a year or two of military service was mandatory in France, but that stopped about five years ago. Now, all
Ma chambre!
Just to give you a little idea of my new digs... the seniors in high school have one day where they go and take a test on French civics, and I guess do some physical activity or something. It lasts all day, at any rate. As M. Canterot said to Charlene “After this, you’ll be a man, my girl!”
On the classroom side of things, I had a really successful lesson with my kids this week on American Holidays. They got a huge kick out of my tracing my hand on the board and turning it into a turkey. They got the concept of pumpkin pie and jack o’ lanterns, but cranberry sauce and the Macy’s day parade were rather lost on them. We also covered the 4th of July, although I think I need to bring them a visual of Uncle Sam for them to really get it.
So that’s it for now. Since I have an address, all you have to do is shoot me an email asking for it and I’ll be happy to respond. I know you’re all dying to send me cards and postcards and presents to let me know how much I’m missed ;-)
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The Janet
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I'm so happy for you....
I am so happy that you found a nice place to live and a nice family too! Luv, Aunt J