A note on food etc.
Decided to stay in Clermont Ferrand this weekend and explore my "home base" town. Weather was nasty this morning but is clearing up currently, so I will likely explore some of the tourist walks through town later in the day.
They eat different food over here of course, which some of you may find interesting. Here are some typical examples of meals I have had recently:
1) Shark, rice and marinana sauce
2) Confit of duck, lima beans and roast potatoes
3) Saucisson - a pork sausage that is a regional specialty of Auvergne, served with salad and truffade. This is probably the most typical meal I've had. Truffade is a skillet of roasted potatos, local cheeses and herbs. Excellent stuff. Potatoes are really popular in this region because they have cold winters here, and historically you wanted food that held up through the long winters!
4) Veal meatball (it was fancier than that, but you know what I mean when I say meatball) with potato cake and spinach
5) Herb crusted Lotte (popular fish around here) filet with potatoes au gratin
Several of the restaurants we go to here are typical "working man's lunch" spots. It's very common here for them to not have a menu at all. Each day, you have 2 or 3 choices for the plat du jour, and that's it. I'm happy with this arrangement because it means that I'm getting local food for sure, and also it means I don't have to read through a French menu, which is a pain in the rear. I don't really care what I eat most times, but here you have to be careful that you don't end up with lamb stomach, or pig pancreas- these guys really will eat anything. You should see the butcher shop at the local Kroger - more fish and more kinds of meat from a WIDE variety of animals.
There is a "spring market" that I went to with one of the locals from work. It was interesting. Sort of a combination between flea market, arts fair, and farmer's market. The Saucisson was everywhere though, as were the cheese merchants. They'd have these stands with enormous wheels of cheese from all over Europe and especially from around here. Decided to make that my lunch for today:
Sliced Saucisson
Aged Cantal cheese
Sesame crackers
Served of course with some two buck chuck from the grocery downstairs. Or I guess here it's "Deux Euro Pierre." Really - I got bottle of Bordeaux that was on sale for 2 Euro. It's 2004 so it's a little new, but for $2.50 you can't beat it.
In other news I got dinged on making a trip home in a few weeks, so I'm really out here for 7 weeks straight. On the up side, this means I'll be able to attend the Monte Carlo grand prix and the Cannes film festival all in one weekend. Ben Ezell is trying to come out and join me, he thinks he has enough sky miles for a flight to Nice free of charge, which would be ideal.
Ella comes out next week so looking forward to showing her around Paris. I've got hotel arrangements made, train tickets booked, and some castle tours planned in the Loire valley.
Also I got a haircut today. That was an adventure. Next time you go to the barbershop or salon, try explaining what you want done in German and see how they react.
They eat different food over here of course, which some of you may find interesting. Here are some typical examples of meals I have had recently:
1) Shark, rice and marinana sauce
2) Confit of duck, lima beans and roast potatoes
3) Saucisson - a pork sausage that is a regional specialty of Auvergne, served with salad and truffade. This is probably the most typical meal I've had. Truffade is a skillet of roasted potatos, local cheeses and herbs. Excellent stuff. Potatoes are really popular in this region because they have cold winters here, and historically you wanted food that held up through the long winters!
4) Veal meatball (it was fancier than that, but you know what I mean when I say meatball) with potato cake and spinach
5) Herb crusted Lotte (popular fish around here) filet with potatoes au gratin
Several of the restaurants we go to here are typical "working man's lunch" spots. It's very common here for them to not have a menu at all. Each day, you have 2 or 3 choices for the plat du jour, and that's it. I'm happy with this arrangement because it means that I'm getting local food for sure, and also it means I don't have to read through a French menu, which is a pain in the rear. I don't really care what I eat most times, but here you have to be careful that you don't end up with lamb stomach, or pig pancreas- these guys really will eat anything. You should see the butcher shop at the local Kroger - more fish and more kinds of meat from a WIDE variety of animals.
There is a "spring market" that I went to with one of the locals from work. It was interesting. Sort of a combination between flea market, arts fair, and farmer's market. The Saucisson was everywhere though, as were the cheese merchants. They'd have these stands with enormous wheels of cheese from all over Europe and especially from around here. Decided to make that my lunch for today:
Sliced Saucisson
Aged Cantal cheese
Sesame crackers
Served of course with some two buck chuck from the grocery downstairs. Or I guess here it's "Deux Euro Pierre." Really - I got bottle of Bordeaux that was on sale for 2 Euro. It's 2004 so it's a little new, but for $2.50 you can't beat it.
In other news I got dinged on making a trip home in a few weeks, so I'm really out here for 7 weeks straight. On the up side, this means I'll be able to attend the Monte Carlo grand prix and the Cannes film festival all in one weekend. Ben Ezell is trying to come out and join me, he thinks he has enough sky miles for a flight to Nice free of charge, which would be ideal.
Ella comes out next week so looking forward to showing her around Paris. I've got hotel arrangements made, train tickets booked, and some castle tours planned in the Loire valley.
Also I got a haircut today. That was an adventure. Next time you go to the barbershop or salon, try explaining what you want done in German and see how they react.
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