Food - Installment #1

OK you foodies, we are in France after all, and at the end of our first three days here, I counted four empty wine bottles, and six kinds of cheese in the refrigerator.   To give you the information you crave, I made sure to remember my camera on the next trip to the grocery store.  Here is some basic stuff, no fancy patisserie here just a basic trip to the grocery store - to whet the appetite.

The Carrefour is very much like a Costco...big with everything.  So far their quality seems to be very good.

The little bread soldiers all lined up to be purchased (Baguette of various shapes and sizes)  Behind me are the croissants, the pain au chocolate (bake at home ones were awesome), the tarts etc etc

This is interesting, the pan that looks like a wok is about 3 or 4 feet in diameter.  This is a huge batch of sauerkraut and sausages.  In Canada we have the rotisserie chicken, in France the big pot of sauerkraut.

Behind the cheese counter where the full rounds of Morbier, Brie, etc etc, are patiently waiting on deck.

The fish counter, some of the days offerings, which are different each time we go.

One of the 5 or 6 aisles of wine - this one is just for Champagnes.  There is another for rose, 2 for white, and the rest reds.

New cheese of the week.  Coeur de Neufchatel.  Yes I did buy it partially because I figured the girls would like the heart shape, but also because I have never had it before. Below we have Sarah with the knife, and Rachel holding out her hand...NO..don't cut my heart.

In this case, broken hearts are ..... YUMMY

Saint Victoire

On Saturday Jan 14, we decided to go for a hike on Saint Victoire a ridgey mountainey kind of thing just to the east of Aix-en-provence.  To take it easy on everyone we choose the hikes rated as easy so that we could learn how the map ratings, and our abilities correlate, as well as get an idea of the accuracy of the hiking times.  Everyone starts up the trail to see the Durand aqueduct, about 40 min down the trail.

 During the ascent we see trees and rocks fighting it out for supremacy, it feels like Greece here with olive groves etc.

 A still operational aqueduct that channels water to irrigate the nearby valley

 Aqueduct as seen from below (20 min hike to this point, map says 40, but if you interpret that as round-trip we are right on schedule)

 Terraced olive grove.

 The main body of Saint Victoire as seen from the trail, just visible on the peak is the Cross of Pcrovence, a 19m high steel cross visible most of the places we have been.

 In contrast to the white stone of the top of Ste Victoire, the base layers are a red clay compaction.

Some side-notes - Ste. Victoire roughly translates as "Ankle Eater", and FYI don't run down the rubbly mountain path, on Ankle Eater, and expect to emerge from the other side with properly tensioned ligaments.

1st Day of School

On Friday this week, I went to a new dojo in Marseille to participate in a Jodo and Iaido class at the Shinfukan dojo http://www.shinfukan.com/.  The sensei there is Daniel Chabaud renshi 7-dan jodo.  As I was driving to the dojo I realized that the inertia that I had to overcome to get in the car and drive the 50km to a dojo I had never been to, in a city I had never been to, to be taught by a person I had never met; in a language that I struggle with, might be quite similar to the difficulty new students have in getting themselves in the dojo for the first time.  The big difference of course is that I know what jodo and iaido are all about, and I know how a class generally goes.

Anyway it was interesting to reflect on the butterflies that I was experiencing.  With some more thinking there might be something concrete that comes out of this to help new students understand what to expect on that first night in the dojo - maybe a section on the website and other stuff...

The dojo is fairly small, roughly square, and I would estimate 30 feet on a side.  On Friday nights Iaido runs from 6:30 until about 7:30, followed immediately by Jodo until 9:00pm. The Iaido class was 5 of us, we did seitei (maybe to accommodate the new guy?)  Instruction was all in French, with the usual admixture of Japanese (at one point I found myself saying Hai, Oui, Yes well you get it).  There happened to be a professor of English in the class who was put to work translating for me...I stopped him after about 2 sentences, as I understand 80% of what the French is.  The Iaido was fun, their seitei seems to be a few iterations back of what is being done in Canada, you see it for sure in Uke-nagashi.  But when in Marseille do what sensei does.  The basics are the same, and if you focus on what they are doing in terms of cutting, seme etc there is always something to learn technique and timing are variable from place to place, but the intent is constant.

Jodo had MORE participants than Iaido, we lost one Iaido person (the English prof) and picked up some Jodo folks, putting the Jodo class at 9 participants.  The group practices Fukuoka style SMR Jodo under Namitome sensei, hey look here he is now:  (Those of you who go to the Seidokai spring seminar in Guleph will recognise this figurine, just put your thumb out and cover up the head.)

We worked through kihon and seitei Kata 1-6 before time ran out and we all headed home.  Overall a very enjoyable first night at the dojo!  I plan to start typing my notes to put them up on the Iaido-Jodo Canada website.

Jan 9, 10 - Aix and Peyrolles

This day took us on a trip back to Aix-en-Provence to visit some more of the historical sights.  The first are some pictures of statuary in a garden dedicated, I think, to the French revolution.  Up first we have a guy that looks like Bacchus but seems to also have Noahs ark at his feet ...

 If you are a soldier (Roman?) don't go out partying with Bacchus and then pass out.  Otherwise it is Lobotomy time for you, that is a hammer she has over her head.

 The church that we went to see in Aix is Saint - Sauveur.  This church has been constructed over many years starting in the 5th century, and being completed in the 19th.  Sounds like a government job.  The picture below is from the Baptistery, dating from the 5th century.

 Picture of the columns, and their decorations, and the stained-glass windows near the main alter.

 The pipe-organ with the sun streaming through some of the upper windows.

 Detail of one of the main stained-glass windows.

 a dog-day afternoon.

 Wednesday - no school so we head off in search of interesting historic things that the girls will find interesting.  We are only partially successful. First stop is the small village of Meyrargues.  This town boasts having the largest set of remain from a Roman era aqueduct.  What they don't have is a sign or anything around it other than a fence.  If I recall this was declared a heritage site 1922, guess it takes a while to get the sign.  The other way to look at it is, there is so much history everywhere, that if you put signs on everything, you couldn't walk.  So history is just there, in field, where it has always been, deal with it. (if you can find it)

 Down the road in Peyrolles, we went looking for a castle that belonged to King Rene.  The first thing we found was the archway and clock-tower that provides the entrance to the old-city.  The clock tower is quite interesting.  The clock is a sundial somewhat hidden under the Christmas lights, but clearly a sundial.

 Rene's castle.  It is now used as  the town hall (Hotel de Ville) and tours are available of the castle like sections (I assume somewhat more up-scale than the window where you can pay your water bill).  Unfortunately access is by appointment only.  I think we'll go back to this one, as it is very close to home base.

 In the main enclosure of the castle walls you can almost see the workmen, the horses, the filth and peasants.  Ok the carriages are now the horseless kind, but the rest is the same.

 a castle-ly looking picture.

 Churchy picture.

 Sunrise from the kitchen window.

Oppidium Entremont

Today, we went to see the oppidium Entremont.  This was the early village that the Romans wiped out prior to establishing their settlement Aquae Sextiae, at the location of present day Aix-en-Provence.

The settlement is approximately 10 acres, and has the foundations of many houses, roads, etc.

 The partially re-built outer walls of the settlement.

 the foundations of the many workshops and homes.

 Build your settlement up high on a hill so you can see your enemies coming....guess that didn't fully work out...

 Sarah, coming down the steps of the Southwest entrance.

 The walls of the various houses of the settlement.

 This is actually a clay-brick oven, we are taking a picture of "baked Rachel".

 Looks a bit like a bed-pan but this rock is about 4 feet end-to-end. It is a pressing rock, used for either pressing olives for oil, or grapes for juice....and eventually wine.

A reconstruction of what they think the houses may have looked like.

Visit to Aix-en-Provence

Saturday outing for January 7th was a visit to down-town Aix-en-Provence, about 15 minutes away.  Aix is one of the older cities in France, founded by the Romans in 123BC.  They figured this was a cool place to hang out because of the hot springs, Sarah and Rachel thought this was a cool place to hang out because of the H&M.  Times change I guess.

Yes, of course they went on it.

1st house built outside of the city walls of Aix.

Looking down rue Mirabeau the main cafe / hotel / haute fashion shopping district.

This lump is actually a moss-covered fountain, this is a hot spring fountain dating from the 1600s.

Typical view down a typical street, on a typical day, with typical weather, and here is a typographical errrror

Church steeple on the east end of rue Mirabeau. We did not open the doors and see all the people.

Famous fountain (if you live in Aix) of the 4 dauphins.

Fountain de la rotonde, three statues, representing Agriculture, Arts and Justice.  Arts faces towards Avignon, Agriculture faces towards Marseilles, and Justice looks back down the rue Mirabeau at the fountain of Roi Rene.

Back at home, time to fire up the back-yard barbeque, Toulouse sausages on the menu. 

January 4th - Out and About

Big accomplishment from yesterday was getting the girls registered at city hall to go to school.  They are registered at the oldest school in the village ... ecole Maurice Plantier, which has 115 students, a lot smaller than their school at home at 850.  School runs from 8:30 -4:30, which is longer but they get a hot lunch ...actually it sounds like the best meal they are likely to have all day - and there is no school on Wednesdays.  So no school today, lets see how long it takes to walk there...about 30 min.  This is our road ...yes somehow 2 trucks can figure out how to pass each other on this cart path!

 Looking up to the haut Venelles, I thought this was a water tower, nope its a church, and right beside is the school.

 The School through the fence.

Plaque on the front of the school

 With no school today, what should we do?  Drive to the Mediterranean of course.  This is the harbour town of Cassis, which is about a 50 minute drive from the house.  The stores were doing a booming business selling down jackets 'cause it was +12C and windy...that's our child in the sun-dress.

 Ok...if you have been to Quebec, you might think the French can't drive, well not so.  Those are Quebequois, they can't drive, they think they can...they might also think they are French...anyway...I digress, the French can PARK, they ain't bad at driving, but Holy Crap can they park!

 Ok so here we are in the south of France thinking +12C is mighty nice, and we come around a corner, and Christine says "Is that an ice rink?"...must investigate.  Looks like one, kids..check.....skates....check......helmets, check...schmaltzy tree for the holidays, check...ICE....NOPE.  That's PTFE..Teflon to you and I, and yes, the kids are falling on their derrieres just like real skating.

 And the beach at Cassis.

Next up..first day of school, bank account and other fun challenges for toddlers in the French language.