Bonsoir fellow Canadians! Just over three weeks into my excursion abroad and things are continuing to go fabulously. Busy, busy week filled with swimming and golf, as well as the seemingly "routine" trips to
Belves on Saturdays to hang out with Claudine and Allan's clique of friends. Last Saturday we ate at a fabulous little restaurant/cafe (they had THE best hot chocolate that I have ever had in my life... It was highly recommended and needless to say, I'm glad that I caved and tried it, mhmm) where I ordered a big salad with avocado, prosciutto, tomatoes, amazing fried foie gras on little pieces of bread; just DELICIOUS. Today was pizza du margharita, with tomato sauce, cheese, peppers, ham, some sort of spicy italian sausage, mushrooms, and black olives, on a thin crust... It was humongous, I ate about 1/4 of it (Nathalie ate probably at least 1/2 in addition to her own meal, hahaha), but very good as well. The very first time we went to the market in
Belves on a Saturday I was introduced to this fantastic little sports bar which has (and I say this full-heartedly, since I consider myself as somewhat of an ice cream connoisseur) THE best soft serve EVER... There's three options: vanilla yogurt, strawberry sorbet, or a mix... It is heavenly. Clearly I have become addicted to getting a waffle cone of it each time we visit the market, now I usually just stick to solely strawberry sorbet... SO GOOD! I look forward to going there each week, not for the market itself OR for the meals, but for the delicious ice cream treat afterwards :)
Thursday I experienced my first traditional French "lunch," and all that I have to say is that I think I'm STILL full, two days later. Nathalie's cousin, Roger, and his wife, Dolie, own a cattle farm on the other side of the mountain. Not only do they have cattle, but they have a ton of chickens and ducks, rabbits (there are babies and they're just adorable! A little odd looking though, their ears are enormous and stick straight up all the time... Cute nonetheless), a 23-year old horse named Mirabel, a German shepherd whose name I didn't happen to catch, although I did hear that he's 13 years old and has very bad arthritis (poor fella, so sad), and then my favourite little guy, Billou! We arrived at 12-ish and were greeted with champagne and a table full of great munchies (not so much the same munchies as I'm used to, such as party mix and peanuts, but more like some fabulous homemade cream cheese and sausage, cherry tomatoes from the garden, etc). Shortly after, we headed into this beautiful "sun room" that wall-to-wall windows and an incredible view of the farm from higher up and the valley/Dordogne River. The second thing that I noticed aside from the view was the table arrangement... It was similar to something you see in a movie. In front of each seating place were two plates on top of one another, about seven pieces of slightly different cutlery (unnecessary extra washing, if you ask me), two different wine glasses, and another champagne flute... Very similar to the picture below, seriously.
After we were seated, we were served some rose along with melon and their own homemade prosciutto, which was amazing. Once we had finished the first course, out came the pate with black truffles (I learned that black truffles are sold for about 3 500 euros at retailers... HOLY SMOKES! Good thing Billou is a truffle hunter!) and bread on a THIRD plate. The pate was to die for, the best I've had in France yet. With the pate we were served a, wait for it... 20-YEAR OLD bottle of very, very sweet white wine. 20 years old? It's the same age as me, which is just absurd. I thought that I've had sweet white before, but this wine tasted as though it were juice, I was stunned. It was about at this point where I was already feeling full and began thinking, "Uh oh... I'm in trouble now," which was 100% accurate. About 2.5-hours into the meal, we were then served some fantastic chicken, from their own coop of course, cep mushrooms, green beens, among some other mouth-watering dishes and red wine. Again, this course takes up a good hour and a half to finish up and by this point, my food baby has grown to probably along about 7 months (I'm talking with 9 months being the point where I would physically EXPLODE), and I'm starting to feel tired and my butt hurts from sitting in the same spot for FOUR HOURS while stuffing my face. Not only am I feeling slightly tired, but I'm also beginning to feel a bit frightened... I'm scarily full (I was an entire course ago) and I'm going to have to eat whatever comes out next because a) I don't want to seem rude, and b) HOW COULD ONE, especially myself, PASS ANY OF THIS DELICIOUS FOOD UP?!
So, then out comes more champagne and dessert: ile flottante or "floating islands," and consists of a meringue floating on a creme anglaise (vanilla custard) and caramel drizzled over top... So, so good, just heavenly. Now, I'm actually feeling like I'm drifting into a food-induced coma, fearful for my well-being. Lastly, came the coffee and tea and biscuits, cookies, etc... Let's just say that at this point I felt confident with being able to pass on the goodies, but I remained at the table. Once everything wrapped up, we were about six-seven hours deep into lunch and I was prepared to either have to roll to the car or end up taking a trip to the hospital after attempting to walk and have my legs shatter under the immense additional weight of the food making its way through my digestive system (happily I can say that neither actually occurred). It was a tradition to take part in and the food was incredible, but I can firmly say that I don't know if i can mentally or physically prepare myself for another French "lunch" any time soon!
I also recently spent a day in Sarlat, a nearby (bigger) medieval city. Most notably, while I was there I managed to stumble upon a fantastic female street performer... She stood near a restaurant with just her acoustic guitar and an amp. Not only did she sing in French, but also in English and what seemed to be possibly German? I was very, very impressed, she had incredible talent. It was great to spend some time alone, just walking around at my own pace and checking out shops and the sights.
Tonight while out at the patio in the garden, winding down, Billou happened to stumble on over. After hanging out with him for a while and thinking of my mother's request for pictures of the little guy, I figured it would be a good time to snap some photos and thus commenced "Operation Billou." Claudine doesn't like him coming in the house, so I snuck him down with me to my room, out of sight. I could tell he was ecstatic to be inside, since he's an outdoor dog... He strutted around with a big 'ole smile on his face. I grabbed my camera and after chasing him around, trying to get him to stay still, he suddenly took a seat on the rug and looked intently at the camera. I mean, he actually seemed to be "posing" for the camera... He stood there still as a statue and wouldn't budge until the flash went off. It was too adorable, he's stealing my heart even more! So, finally, here he is... Billou the truffle and hog hunting Brittany!
Isn't he just darling? :)
Well, off to bed I go as I'm becoming delirious (so I apologize if this post is awful and makes no sense, I didn't proof read :/ go figure). Tomorrow morning I'm supposed to be taking the train to the city of Bergerac (half hour away), although it is supposed to rain/thunderstorm all day, so we shall see! Keep your fingers crossed that the weather doesn't impede my plans!
Love and miss everybody -- Ciao, ciao et bisous!
