Grenoble, France

Happy Easter! I'm posting some photos from our day trip to Grenoble. Grenoble is a one hour drive southeast of Lyon. The cable cars you see above took us to the top of a mountainside called the Bastille which overlooks the city. 

The lovely green-colored liqueur, Chartreuse was first made in the region by Carthusian Monks. They named it after the Chartreuse mountains surrounding Grenoble.

A flower drawn on a wall with the words "For the beautiful women, thank you" scrawled along side.

 Palace of the Parliament of Dauphiné (dates from the 15th century)

 Another shot of the cable cars

                 Views of Grenoble and the Isère River from the cable cars

Happy Easter

The Next Level

Random photo to accompany today's post which is.... I passed my French exam! I'm so relieved and a bit surprised. Our teacher told us today that the next level will be "vicious". Thanks, Prof, way to get us excited about what comes next! Here's an appropriate word for what's coming next and it has French origins:

Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me".

Finally...Spring

 The small garden at Saint Bonaventure church

From Hollywood to Marrakech: So Glam -So Chic - So Swag

Posting photos today because it was a tough one and I needed to get out, walk and clear my head. Above is a poster left over from New Year's Eve. If I had known that DJ's Kimo and Nags were proposing dinner and a show that promised to be glam, chic AND swag, I would have been there.  Oh well, maybe next year.

 Packing up : The end of today's farmers market

Interesting graffiti (stencil on duct tape maybe?) on one of the pedestrian bridges across the Soane. It's too bad some hooligan peeled off the part in the middle. What's the world coming to when people don't even respect what's been vandalised? Should we call this vandal on vandal art?  

One of the famous murals in Lyon on the Nardone Glacier (ice cream shop) in Vieux Lyon, the old city. It was too cold for ice cream today, evidently.

A gargoyle peers down from a windowsill to a narrow, cobble-stoned street in Vieux Lyon.

 Place des Terreaux

 The small patio of an Indian restaurant

I wandered into a traboule.

The doors of City Hall. Yes, that's a brass baby for a door handle. 

La Pâtisserie de la semaine

Today's pâtisserie is the classic Tarte aux pommes - apple tart

Formerly featured pâtisseries:
Tarte Amandine aux Framboises
Succès

10 French Words

This past week was the week of French Language, called "Dis-Moi Dix Mots" or "Tell Me 10 Words". It is an annual initiative of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication that aims to spark interest in the French language and to highlight the French influence in words that have become common in other languages. There have been all kinds of contests and activities revolving around these ten words.

So what are the ten words this year? They are:
Atelier
Bouquet
Cachet
Coup de foudre
Équipe
Protéger
Savoir-faire
Unique
Vis-à-vis
Voilà

I found a fun quiz online, if you're interested, to test your knowledge of French words in the English language GO TO QUIZ

One of the cute little French videos defining one of the ten words: bouquet:

«  »© SCÉRÉN-CNDP, 2012

http://www.dismoidixmots.culture.fr/

Weird Animals

You really don't expect to see many llamas in France but there were three hitched up to a railing at the International City for a hiking/backpacking exposition. This guy was taking his life into his own hands as far as I'm concerned because this llama's lips would twitch in a very menacing way every time he started to try and pet it. He was cooing to it in French which only seemed to disturb zee animale more. Then there's this funny little critter....

Ça Cloche!

The image above is from a poster seen around town advertising a dance-theater-music event next weekend, which is Easter weekend, called "Week-End Ça Cloche". (http://www.les-subs.com/evenement/week-end-de-creation-ca-cloche/)

It cracks me up every time I see it because:

A. Ça cloche means "something is wrong".

B. The rabbit, apart from having three ears or maybe because he has three ears, seems to have a funny little disgruntled expression on his face.

C. The use of the word "cloche" is also a nod to Easter. Here in France the church bells (bell = cloche) are silent for a few days before Easter as a solemn reminder of the crucifixion. They have "flown" to Rome only to return on Easter with chocolates and eggs. And of course, this will forever remind me of "Me Talk Pretty One Day". If you don't know what I'm talking about you MUST click the link below and watch this now, for little did I know when I read this book 10 years ago that I would one day find myself in this exact situation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRW8yvf_u-Q

Less Than a Second

Do you know how happy this makes me? I bet you do...

Blogs, Like Life, Are Also Like Boxes of Chocolates, So Here's the Memphistanista Sampler for Today

If you had told me that one day I would be living in France and that while living there I would buy a goldfish because I was arranging a traditional Haft Sin table to celebrate the Persian New Year, I might have thought you were a wackaloon. And now that all of these disparate things have come to pass, I know that I am, in fact, the wackaloon. My companion is Persian and therefore I find myself wrapped up in Nowruz festivities. Decorated eggs are the only thing on the Haft Sin table that I already had previous knowledge of as springtime decorations as well as vast hands-on experience. Regard the ones the below which I decorated with a pack of mini-Crayola markers. 

Moving on... speaking of Spring, here is my "garden"....

And switching gears again...

Ever heard of the guy below? (assuming your answer is no...) Neither had I until a few weeks ago. But look-a-there, he's coming to town soon. I kind of like him and I think it's mainly because of this poster. And the fact that when watching one of his videos it's possible for me to simultaneously be entertained and learn more French. See what I mean HERE

La Pâtisserie de la semaine

The Pastry of the Week is: Tarte Amandine aux Framboises - Almond-Raspberry Tart.

This tart was delicious and a little more refined than last week's MoonPie, um, I mean Succès.  

Almond-Raspberry Tart recipe (in English)

Getting Back to the Soup

I made the Endive Chorizo soup (see Wednesday's post) today with one adjustment. I forgot that my companion does not like chorizo so I used coppa ham instead. Verdict: this soup rocks. Make it today. Your visual list of ingredients is above.

 Cookin' in the pot...see that little clove in there?

And the finished product...

Chop the onion, peel the potatoes and dice, mince two cloves of garlic, chop up all the endive. Saute in olive oil for a few minutes then add water (eyeball it - I never measure), 1/2 cup diced chorizo or coppa, 1 chicken bouillon and 2 cloves. Simmer on medium for 40 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. You may want to stir in some flour or corn starch to thicken. Chop up a handful of chives and throw them in. Add salt and pepper. Seriously, make this today.

My friend says she sometimes makes this for dinner parties as a appetizer and serves it in small glasses.

Interlude

French Swan says, "I am beautiful, n'est pas?"

 I know I said yesterday that I would be making the Endive Chorizo Soup but it has to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, and totally switching gears, I present this interlude of photos of birds in the Parc de la Tete d'Or. I was waiting for the bus at one of the park entrances and decided to walk around the park for a few minutes.      This is to say upon entering the park you will immediately find a bunch of different kinds of birds and I guess I just had to show you....

 I'm soooooo sleeeepy

This funny little bird is called a Moorhen. I had never seen one of these before living here. The vibrant colors don't come through in the photo but those legs are a bright yellow-green and some of the feathers are an iridescent dark green-inky blue. There were a gaggle (?) of baby Moorhens running to and fro also.

These are magpies and they emit a most annoying loud chatter. Magpies are generally said to be attracted to things that glitter. And since this post has veered off into a rambling randomness, here's a magpie quote : "I have a magpie mind. I like anything that glitters." Lord Thomson of Fleet.  Another aside: I'm not a cat person but if I had a cat I think I would name it Lord Thomson of Fleet and refer to it as His Fleetness. And no I don't really have too much time on my hands, I have French homework and a paper I'm supposed to turn in tomorrow. So, in conclusion....

I found a cool website : The RSPB: Bird Identifier which makes it very easy to identify birds. If you ever get that curious now you know where to go.

A Recipe, Kitchens, Chickens and Cats that Work and Travel

The scene of future soup making. Notice the David Lynch "Earnestine & Hazel's" print on the wall.

Well, well, it looks like food is a big topic here this week. I just came from my French friend's house after our weekly language exchange. I love her, I really do. I love her because she has as much difficulty speaking English as I do French and so it helps me persevere. We are Franco-American comrades. But what I love most is that she cooks and she loves to share recipes. And tonight she gave me a recipe for Endive-Chorizo Soup. And this excites me because my friend loves endive. He loves it so much that he will buy a huge package of endive and eat them raw. I will not. I don't really care much for this pale, bitter little leafy vegetable. But now I have a reason to use our endive surplus for something palatable. I am making it tomorrow night but here's the ingredient list for those of you who have a bunch of endive on hand and are looking for ideas:

Endive-Chorizo Soup

1 pound endive, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2-3 medium sized potatoes
1 chicken bouillon (language note: my language exchange friend always mixes the words "kitchen" and "chicken". It is most amusing. Please also note that earlier today I asked her if her cat liked to work in the car when I really meant to ask if her cat liked to travel in the car. Laughs all 'round.)
2 cloves, as in clove, the spice; that thing you put in oranges at Christmas time. They are called Clous de girofle in French or "Clove Nails". Side note: my language exchange friend says she often uses cloves in cooking. I have to further investigate because I have never used them in anything except hot wine/mulled wine.
2 cloves garlic, minced
Chives, chopped
Cream
Chorizo

Part II tomorrow: the making of the Endive Chorizo soup and the grade it gets from Chez Memphistanista.

From Memphis to Marrakesh to my French Coffee Table

This needlepoint life-size person climbing a vine is the very creative display window for a dry cleaner. Random photo, nothing to do with today's post, the essence of which was found in this book...

This is one of a series of "Living In..." books published by Taschen. I have bought four in the series, obviously Morocco, also Provence, Greece and Tuscany. The text is presented in three languages, French, English and German so not only can I look at all the pretty pictures of homes around the world, I can also check my French comprehension. Ok, so I have the four and I plunged into them this weekend. While browsing through the Morocco book, I stumbled upon a name I did not know: Bill Willis. How have I lived in Memphis my entire life and never heard of Bill Willis? Do you know who Bill Willis was? If you say, "yes, of course" then please stop reading this post as it will only make you cringe at my ignorance. But if you, like me, say "who?", then read on. So, I was looking through the Morocco book and read..."The name of Bill Willis, born in Memphis, Tennessee, will always be linked to Marrakesh." Bill Willis, as I discovered, was an architect and decorator who became THE authority on a reinterpreted Moroccan style. He designed homes for J. Paul Getty, Jr., Yves Saint Laurent, the Rothchilds, et al. For all of the interesting details and photos....

Read the New York Times 2010 article Fabulous Dead People

Read Architectural Digest's 2012 article The Aesthete: Looking at the Legacy of Interior Decorator Bill Willis

Read Wall Street Journal's 2012 article A Magician from Memphis

Read the New York Times 2013 article Shades of Casablanca 

....and the list goes on.