Does He Still Have to Pay For Parking? Friday, July 25, 2008
Now this is what i call Rockstar Parking.
rockstar
A Sense of Place Thursday, July 24, 2008
home
When i recently returned from my trip, it took me awhile to readjust to the daily routines i had left behind. It seemed the typical pattern upon my return home always included some horrible cold or sinus infection that forced me to sleep and re-coop for at least a week. Well this time, i refused to get sick and took lots of bee propolis to help my immune system along. In exchange for good health, I became a complete hermit crab. I didn’t want to leave my house. I spent days basking in the sunshine in my jammies, rooting around in the garden in my jammies and poking around the house in you guessed it, my jammies. I would talk on the phone to all the people i love but dodged reasons to leave the comfort of my cocoon. Now dont get me wrong, i was really excited to see everyone and find out what everyone had been up to and tell travel stories and just enjoy my friends again. But not yet. It took me about 2 weeks to come out of my little pod and release myself upon the world again.
The weird thing is, I am not an anti-social person at all. I LOVE being with my friends as much as being home. But it was a little disarming to just not want to re-enter the world again. I would periodically think there was something wrong with me. I think the pets loved me being home after such a long absence but i was a little surprised at my complete lack of interest in “anything outside the green bean”. Hind-site being the greatest gift of all has now allowed me to appreciate my little retreat and I totally look forward to its return someday. I discovered it was all part of the process. I was being gentle with myself and my old routines. This had been something forced upon me by my traveling colds. So what broke me out?
Our local farmer’s market!
On my first Saturday morning home, it was a gorgeous out! The early hours (thanks to harriet) were crisp and sunny. I put on my white cotton sundress, a pair of cute flip flops and my Audrey Hepburn glasses and headed downtown to the farmer’s market. I had a total of $27 to spend and a hankering for fava beans. As soon as i turned the corner to the market, i giggled with glee. Our market was in full glory a good 30 minutes before the bell rang. I got myself a strong cup of coffee and began to wander through the stalls mentally checking off all the goodies I would pick up. I found my fava beans and apricots for $1 a lb! shallots and my favorite goat cheese covered in fresh chantrelles and garlic. YUM! (side note: this cheese with arugula and my walnut oil is all i need((ever))
After my purchases i used my last couple dollars to pick up a Pinestate buttermilk biscuit with fresh butter and whipped honey on top. I went to find a place to sit down and ended up front and center for the rogue river string band. They were just fantastic and it occurred to me that this is our music and it was good to be home! I really love Bluegrass and it makes me think of my roots and my family and all the pictures i have of them with mandolins and pianos and guitars and instruments i cant even identify anymore.
This day encompassed everything I love about living here in Oregon. I have such a pride for this place and the people who also call it home. Just like that, snap, i was back and wtih a huge grin on my face…and a lot of honey butter. I raced home to bake an apricot pie for the BBQ i would go to and cook up some fava beans. (recipe at the bottom if you want it)
Here are some pictures of the incredible markets i visited in France…no bluegrass though! too bad for them!
Sarlat Market
Sarlat Market
Yea for Sunflowers!! Monday, July 21, 2008
It just didnt dawn on me that I would see sunflowers in bloom, let alone be surrounded by them! i took about 200 sunflower pictures and 200 more of me with the sunflowers, none of which came out right. So i ended up cutting myself out of the one with me and the ground and pasted it into the sunflower one! You never would have even known if i hadnt told you.
So THATS Where They Put All the Money Monday, July 21, 2008
As I was traveling through France I noticed how normal everything seemed to be. There were lots of families withthe car packed to the roof with”stuff” heading to the beach or the mountains for the weekend and normal people shopping for groceries and driving normal cars. We think of traveling abroad with such aww and excitement and then we go there and people are living their lives exactly how we live our lives here. It is such a wonderful revelation and brings the exotic that much closer to home!
Well then i went to San Tropez…the other aha! button went off, you know the one that goes Ohhhh, this is what they mean when they say ” they have money”. LORDY! Now i had visions of myself in the French Riviera. I envisioned white cotton girly skirts, cafes and large sunglasses. I could see myself pretending to be one of the local crowd, fresh from my yacht. I think when i started to snap photos in the parking lot and didnt close my jaw for the next 3 days, it was a dead bang give away that i was one of those ”others”. You know, the normal people i mentioned above.
I think the most difficult question asked for many was Should we take the yaught or the rolls down to Monaco tomorrow? And the appropriate answer was of course, Lets take the Helicoptor, weekend traffic will be a bear and i will never get this parking spot again.
The weather was perfect, the town was charming and I think there was really was money growing on the trees here but no one could tell me in English where those were exactly. After we left, we headed east along the coastline. The roads really are as windy as you imagine and the villas and private beach oasis are as surreal. We were driving way too fast to take any good pictures but at one point i took a couple of videos…turn off the sound, it is just loud and not very french sounding. i loved driving along the coast. I wish i could have ridden it on a bicycle to really feel it, but i would have also felt a car smack me off a cliff i am sure. Grace Kelly didnt die for nothing on those roads.
We went through several great towns, stopped and had lunch along the beach and drove through Cannes. It is way bigger then i imagined and i completely disagree with Rick Steves, I would like to do a lot more then eat an ice cream cone there. It was a beautiful town.
We stayed in the of Antibes. When you learn about all of the incredible writers and artists who lived here it is not hard to imagine why. I could have stayed and painted too!
This was the bay below our hotel in Antibes. We were on the Cap and removed from the bustle of the inner-city. I felt like i was back home on the Puget Sound…ok except for the color and temperature of the water and the 16th century villas perched above me on the cliffs, and the palm trees…maybe it was just the smell of the sea.
The following day, we ventured around a bit and walked along the sea wall in Antibes. It was gorgeous!
the town in the far distance is Nice
crazy kids!
I even found Victor Hugo’s head
We also drove up into the hills behind the coast and visited Foundation Marguarite et Aime Maeght. It was a converted home in St Paul that contained an enormous private collection of modern art pieces. There were beautiful Miro sculptures and my favorite, Chagall. I love Chagall and this just rocked my world. Wonder if it is for sale….hmm i need to marry wealthy
The food in this part of the country didnt really do anything for me. Apparently the seafood in the Mediterranean has been almost wiped out and now seafood is collected via farming or from the Atlantic Ocean. So i am not even sure how fresh it was. Case in Point, Tom got a pretty nasty bout of food poisoning (we think from some seafood) and instead of going out to eat an excessively overpriced and overrated meal, we stayed in so Peggy could keep an eye on her poor hubby. Thus, my last meal in France consisted of a cup of plain yogurt, half a powerbar, a cold bottle of water and a warm bottle of Muscato. I pouted for a few minutes about that and then i thought, good lord what a fabulous image. I had certainly gotten my fill of delectable over the past few days and i wasn’t suffering any and i should have been thanking my lucky stars i didnt eat the seafood! We will just call it hte kickstart to my post france diet.
Bon Appetite!
Truffles or Gold Tuesday, July 15, 2008
My second France posting has to be dedicated to the beauty of the truffle.
Now many people look at this black creature like a lump of coal and after a whiff and a taste, they still look at it like a lump of coal. So what is it about the truffle that has some people paying for them out their children’s college fund? I think it is one of those madnesses that you either get or dont get. Either way is fine, and may be cheaper in the end. I, for better or worse and one of those people who gets it. Oh do i get it. I just look at that lumpy mass and get a twitch and a glimmer.
When i was in Provence, just outside the town of Orange, i had an incredible truffle experience. Truffle season is generally in the winter months so i had visions of lavender fields and sunflowers…not mushrooms. Our day began with a terrific thunder and lightening storm. My god-parents and i were preparing to begin a cooking class with our chef, Pierre. He was lovely and spoke no English. He would show us how to start a task, watch us as we tried to look as cool and then with a nod and grunt of approval, move on to the next task. It was a blast!
We started at 8 am and from the beginning he made sure our wine glasses were full from his own private reserve and he would randomly scamper back to the fridge to pull out an amazing treat like wild boar salami or fresh herloom tomatos on a slice of toast drizzled with fresh basil and walnut oil. His lovely wife Annie would pop in once in awhile to translate something or get his opinion on a detail and he would lovingly feed her a nibble. It was quite charming.
About an hour into the day, a cutie patootie little Frenchman came in with a paper bag. He was shy but had a sharp glimmer in his eye, and i thought Pierre would dance out of his skin. He opened the bag, stuffed his nose into it and his eyes roll all the way back into his head. With a dramatic sigh of delight, he dumped its contents out onto a plate and everyone just stopped and stared. 
Directly in front of me is a mound of the largest black truffles i have ever seen. Some girls would get this same delight over a bowl of diamonds…just give me the fungus.
I think we stood around oohing and ahhing over these babies for about 20 minutes. Finally Annie shuffles him off to the other room to pay him and we talked truffle. Apparently the guy who came in is a truffle hunter by trade and with his 2 truffle dogs, heads into the mountains each year for the goods. He then stores them in a cave until they are requested. I have always heard that they are more expensive then gold…literally. For the entire bag (and we are talking a very disconnected translation here) Chef Pierre paid 50e?? This guy rose in my books i’ll tell you that! When i politely (and barely innocently) asked where i could get such a fine truffle for such a fine price, i was given the typical french phhbbttt sound and a shrug of the shoulders. Oh well, i had to try right?
Fortunately for us, Chef Pierre was not stingy and he pulled out his beautiful mandolin and sliced off paper thin sheets of truffle which he placed on a toast drizzled with oil.
He also added them to the sauce on our first course and again that evening for dinner on a piece of fresh goat cheese. 
Dining, French Style in Perigord Monday, July 14, 2008
…Deep Breath
I have been trying to figure out how to Blog about my recent trip to France without overwhelming you and myself in the process. I think i have opted for the categorized view…it may still overwhelm but here it goes.
First topic, is of course close to my heart; FOOD!
Now i will briefly begin at the end of my trip and work my way back to the start. On my flight home i sat next to a gentleman who grew up in Manhattan and has traveled between there and France to visit family for many years. He mentioned one thing that has really resonated in my brain. When you travel to France you can get just about any kind of food your heart desires, it has grown into a culturally diverse metropolis that has excellent Sushi as well as Ethiopian food. However, good cheap “french” food is hard if not impossible to come by. French food by its very definition is rich on both the palate and the wallet. Of course for the unconcerned you can get the very best of french cuisine on the streets of Paris for a small fortune, or you can follow my route and head to the country. AMEN! (psst go for option 2)
I began my culinary adventures in France twice. The first was when we got lost in the hills of the Perigord Region and had to stop for a stretch and directions. I went for the directions while my travel companions headed to the loo. I entered a gorgeous little cafe, perched on the edge of the Vezere River, that expelled aromas which had me lapping up my own drool.
After getting the entire kitchen and wait staff involved in the quest, we made lots of hand gestures and drew a little map and with my first official Au revoir Mademoiselle, I was off. I even had to suppress a giddy yelp as i raced back to the car. Honestly i had that feeling that if my trip had to end right then and there, i would be sated. Little did i know how much i would be missing.
A short time later we found our hotel and settled in. We were staying on a working farm called Auberge-Veyret between Les Eyzies, Sarlat and Montignac-Lascaux above the river that looked across the valley at farmland and a chateau or 2. It was rather lovely and i am pretty sure i could live there forever. More about the farm at another time, this is a focus on the food, oh god the food!
Right before i left for France i got to eat at Beast. I had the best meal of my life that evening. I was in for a lovely surprise. My meals on the farm were perfect from beginning to end. The owners did not speak a work of English and of the 3 empty glasses in front of us, we used them for all the wrong beverages. The lovely owner, also our wait staff, didnt bat an eye as she presented us with our choice of aperitif; their own walnut liquor or their own muscato, our choice…um both please? So briefly, if that is possible, i will describe my meal because sadly, i was so tired and excited i forgot my camera for this meal…this was all served family style on platters large enough for a family of 6…we ate it all as i recall.
First Course
Cream of Fava Bean and Bacon Soup ( good lord i dream about this soup)
Fresh Whole Grain Bread with Fresh Butter
Second Course
Fresh Melon with Prosciutto (from their farm of course)
Third Course
Veal Cutlets in Port
Heaping plate of Green Beans
Legume Gratin
Fourth Course
Fresh greens with a light mustard vinaigrette
Fifth Course
Cheese Course of course
Fresh Farm Cheese wtih 4 preserves; melon, cassis, berry and fig.
(my only picture!)
Sixth Course
Dessert…we were so overwhelmed that we let before dessert this night (we didnt make that mistake twice)
So if you have read this far with out pictures, you must have some interest in good food, or you love me. I can only say at this point that every single thing we ate was straight from their earth, the meats, cheeses, wines, vegetables were all so fresh, plucked that day fresh and was so obviously prepared with the pride you could only get from preparing your own bounty and love for good food.
To just make it all that much better, we woke up the next day, had a lovely breakfast and after wandering around the countryside for the day, we got to come back for another incredible meal! this time we had Creamed Tomato Soup, Roast Duck L’Orange and huge wedges of their own Porc Pate stuffed Foie Gras. my my my. We learned which glasses to drink out of and we even stayed for dessert…I had a Berry Mousse with Orange Blossom extract. it is really incredible and i have no excuse, but happy delirium..i forgot my camera again! Now that has to be a good meal.
The following morning, i walked through the little town and felt like i had stepped back about 300 years. The buildings were all Limestone and looked like they had stood the test of all time. In one open doorway someone was cooking at the hearth and along the side of another home was a gorgeous garden.
I was waiting for peter rabbit to step from behind one of the massive cabbage heads. I think the secret here has to be goose poop.
Along with their LOVE for the liver of fat water fowl, this region is also notoriously known for its love of the walnut. There is walnut bread, oil, cheese, ice-cream and on and on. Instead of olive oil, they use walnut oil. and can i get an amen! i bought a small bottle of walnut oil for home and all i need is a straw. I can barely walk past the bottle without a taste. It is just that good. Think about roasted walnuts plucked from your own trees and then smush them into oil, that is what you get. pure and simple. I have been eating it on Arugula from my garden with a slice of goat cheese and drizzled with walnut oil and a pinch of sea salt. There is nothing like it. If you come over, i will give you samples…if you come soon!
As we left Foie Gras Country, my heart was a little sad but my stomach bid adieu gratefully. I have two things to say here. 1) there are no small portions in Perigord and 2) they are not skinny little people, they are genuine, solid, hard working, skin dark from the sun, people..they are my kind of people. They know how to eat and they like to share.
Farewell Sweet Harriet Sunday, July 13, 2008
After a week of 5am wakeup calls harriet style, i have successfully found her (him) a new home! and not in a stew pot…yet.
my sweet friend denise made a couple of calls and voila! mr H has himself a new brood of ladies and 4 acres to stomp around in. I dropped him off this morning after feeding him blueberries for a couple of guilt ridden hours.
He has 9 hens, a huge coop, a farm a big old white dog named Nana. i think i might miss that 5am wake up all tomorrow morning, but maybe not 
And Then There Were 3 Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I am freshly returned from an incredible culinary and visual journey across Southern France, but before i delve into all my amazing findings, i must sadly comment on my recent discovery right here at the Green Bean. Miss Harriet is now ( and most likely always has been) Mr Harriet. He will always be Harriet to me whether he ends up in the stew pot or not but he will certainly NOT be laying any green eggs for me…
I discovered this after i was awakened at 545 am after a 23 hour travel day and 4 hours of sleep. I thought i was dreaming about some odd child crying for help in my back yard but no no, that was just Mr Harriet trying out his vocals for apparently the 5th day in a row. Fortunately for me ( and my dear neighbors) he has not yet discovered the full range of his ear piercing range to grace the dawn.
I called the feedstore I got him and they will apparently stick him in a box with a free sign attached. They prefer an early am drop to give them time to dish him off on a new family…i am only partially laughing at my culinary pun here. The chances are pretty good that he will make a fine roast for a lucky bunch.
Au Revoir ma petit poulet. J’adore tu.
Woke up the morning
Smiled at the rising sun
Three Little Birds
Were at my door step
Singing sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true…
This is my message to you
arrived in Arles and it is HOT Monday, June 30, 2008
looks like i am sharing the heat with you folks back home.
i am so overwhelmed with everything i have seen so far i cant really put it into words but i have some pictures so far. lets see if i can download them yes? OH and postcards went out 2 days qgo so….lets see how long it takes.
These are my french cows. There is something special about them dont you think? i havze been talking to the ducks and geese and dogs and cats and cows in french so they will understand me, the humans just smile and nod and i point a lot
So we stopped in the Dordogne River Valley for a quick bite of lunch. while i was waiting for my lunch i ran up to the top of a castle ruin (of course) and am SOOO glad i did.
this is considered a sanwich… the beef and porc melted in my mouth, the onion marmelade and hot mustard oh yeah and the walnut bread and huge salad wasnt so bad either. YUM! i ate it all too
As we were driving along on our first day this little pearl popped into view. i thought about buying it, what do you think? well come to find out these littel hovels are a dime a dozen here! i mean they are everywhere! who knew eh? ok i didnt. this was also in the dordogne river valley
And of course more meat. does it taste better because it is considered vacation meat? i dont know but i swooned right there in the market square in plain site. these people can do things with the piggy that should be offered up as a nobel prize for food
OK so this was my first official still in one piece castle to tour. Apparently Richqrd the Lion Hearted lived here for awhile, i know it is true because i saw his sword and his bedroom! the french wouldnt make this up! the views up here were rediculous and you could see not one but 3 other castles from this one!
below is the dordogne river and i have vivid fantasies of coming back for a really incredible kqyqking trip: people are rafting and kayaking and camping along these river gorges with little towns about 10 km apart (read fresh market supplies) soo many camping fools! i love it!
OK so that is it for now! my hotel is right in between a roman coliseum and a roman amphitheater so i am going to brave the heat and do as the romans do, er french?
Bonjour! Saturday, June 28, 2008
I have arrived safely in the Dordogne Valley and I know see why the french are so proud. This countryside is beyond anything i have ever seen. There is a castle on each swell of the land more beautiful then the last, winding rivers with cafes perched on limestone cliffs, corn fields we think to fatten the ducks and geese, I have thousands of pictures but dont have my cable so i will post at a later date, i hope.
Our flight to Limoge was cancelled after 4 hours in the airport but we landed in a tiny town grabbed our car and headed into the sunset, literally. Our fearless driver Tom has only killed the car 10 or 11 times thus far with explitives i refuse to reiterate, thank god for the old ipod. we stayed in a farm that specializes in foie gras and i dont think there is a more magnificant product on the market…maybe truffles but this is a tie for first. the family is generous and speak no english but boy can they cook! i feel like our hotel is something out of a movie set. it is so spotlessly clean and charming. Our dinners have been fresh from the garden and compare to the finest meals i have had, beautiful soups of fava bean or tomato, foie gras wrapped in pate from their own ducks and piggies, veal cutlets in port reduction, fresh salads, piles of cheese and walnut bread…that was one meal. i think i shall gain severql proud pounds of duck fat and have indigestion for the rest of my life but i really dont care…yet.Yesterday we went into the Bordeaux area for wine tasting and a visit to the town of st emilion. This place has a moat and the largest church in the world carved into the side of a limestone rock. it is so old feeling, you can almost taste it. the french revolution lopped the heads off of all the statues! god i love history!
today we are in sarlot, a medieval city also surrounded by a wall with a moat. it is market day and the tastes of fresh peche liquoir, sausages, wheels of cheese stuffed with walnuts, ahhhhh so lovely. i love the french, they are so warm and welcoming. i LOVE trying my french out on them and they are very patient with me, much more so then italy. i never thought i would find a place i am already craving to return to…i want to crawl inside the earth here and qbsorb it for about 50 years.
until next time Auvoir mes amis
