Normandy: took me almost as long to write as it did to retake in 1944

I feel guilty about not being more current on the blog until I remember that my dad left France a mere week and a half ago (lie, it’s now almost two weeks), and I’ve been working since then.

Welcome to the world of blogging, thank you for your thoughtful, concerned patience.

I’ve decided to go about this entry a bit differently. More by category than by chronology. For those who want a big picture, my dad and I took a long weekend to the region of Normandy. We stayed in the beautifully rebuilt city of Caen (pronounced like Ka-on; or if you’re like Adam call it Candy Cane) then took local transportation to the D-Day beaches.

Elaine’s Favorite French Things
Mostly inspired from travels with Daddy, but also just in general.

* Galettes- I am officially in love with galettes. Galettes are a type of “savory” (salty as opposed to sweet) crêpe. Galettes come from a buckwheat batter and are more hearty than sweet crêpes. Our first day in Caen my dad and I stopped off at this adorable Crêperie and ordered galettes for lunch. Mine contained a salad with light vinaigrette and exposed a bottom layer of ham and melted cheese. Daddy’s was flatly folded over tuna, cheese, and tomato sauce. Both of them were wonderful. I am a fan for life. Not only do they taste good, but you can be as creative as you want with the filling. The bonus is you get the textured wheat flavor without a lot of carbs. How galetteful!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galette

* Ice Cream/Gelato – I’m always watching what I eat; seven days a week, twelve months a year. This does not mean I’m on a year-long diet, I just pay very close attention to the nutritional value of my foods and how many calories I eat a day. My guilty pleasure snacks usually include cookies and chocolate or the occasional pie/cake since they keep well in a dorm room etc. Well I’ve re-discovered my love affaire with ice cream. I’ve known gelato sends my taste buds soaring and thank God everyday it’s hard to get in the USA. But good old ice cream dropped off my culinary radar the past few years. Additionally, I’m usually too proper to eat it from the cone (cornet in French) but France is all about it, so I’ve decided I am too.

I'm declaring a new food group....

* Confiture (Jam) – never eat it at home, kinda like it here. We had it at breakfast at our hotel and I really dig it….on baguettes of course. We also had a type of croissant type pastry that’s rolled in a cinnamon bun style, but has a yellowish crème in the center of the role and raisons. Don’t be fooled, they are often referred to as “escargot” but that’s only for the snail shape!

* Blue Skies – Caen had the bluest skies I’ve seen in a long time. After three cloudy months in Strasbourg, a little blue brilliance goes a long way.

* Greek Food – Daddy and I wanted something different after several days of French cuisine consumption. We went out searching for “ethnic food” and stumbled upon this Greek restaurant. Wow. This is now twice Greek food has come to my eating diversity rescue in France, and it was so good. I think I devoured everything on my plate….and then the plate.

WANTED: Good Greek food restaurants in Austin. Leave a comment if you’re knowledgeable.

* Carottes Râpée – Finely shredded carrots in a semi-sweet vinegar/oil dressing. We ate this on one of our picnics in Strasbourg, it comes with a lot of meals as a side, and I buy it at the grocery store to eat at home during the work week. Love it, and I think my dad did too.

* Hydrangeas – they really qualify as ONE of my favorite flowers. Their beautiful, multi-toned colors never cease to unexpectedly halt me on a sidewalk. I remember them from Vienna last summer, and I think they bloom a little later here in France.

http://www.hydrangeaworld.com/

* This flowering tree – They were all over Strasbourg at the end of June/early July and lined the streets of Heidelberg. The tree’s perfume is a combination of sweet, fresh, modern, and clean. I love it, but I have no idea what they’re called. This makes for a very sad Elaine.

* Breathtaking Exteriors – Ironically considering my love for elegant-chic interior design, while traveling I’m usually much more taken by the grandeur of building’s exteriors. The Men’s Abby built by William the Conqueror in Caen stunned me.

* The French word CHAT (meaning cat, pronounced like “shat,” as in I just shat myself) – yeah, I just like the way it sounds.

* Tarte Flambée – see “Tarte Flambée Night”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarte_flambée

* “It’s my culture” – whenever anyone says something about America to me in the lab, I really enjoy getting a serious look on my face and saying “please show some respect for my culture” because after all, I’m the foreign one. We all laugh, and come up with stupid situations in public, such as the lunch line at the cafeteria, where I should just barge in front of people and say “I’m sorry, this is my culture.”

* Riesling Wine – I’ve decided this is one of my favorites. I also like rosés, and the rest is still to be discovered.

French Picnics x Deux

One of the days I was at work, Daddy and I met up and went to walk around the open air market by the Louis Pasteur Institute. Daddy got to see the Nachtmarkt in Vienna, which is in my opinion the best open air market in all of Europe. Never the less, we walked through and then went to my favorite Supermarche (grocery store), Galleries Gourmande, and picked out our supplies for a picnic. We got two different kinds of cheeses from their HUGE selection of French dairy products, some fresh bread, carottes râpée, Light Orangina, and millefeuille. Millefeuille is a pastry that literally translates to “a thousand sheets” and it consists of many, many, thin layers of pastry with a crème custard in between. This was sooooo good.

On another one of my working days my dad and I got crepes for lunch (this was not a picnic) then that night when I got off work we went to the Orangerie (the huge, storybook park I ride my bike through on my way to work). We packed my backpack then got there and set out our picnic of Alsatian Riesling wine, cheese, bread, and almonds, then got ice cream from a stand in the park. We spent the evening watching the family of swans walk around and got to see all the French people out walking their dogs. Lovely way to spend an evening.

Tarte Flambée Night

The week before my dad arrived, we all got an email invitation in the lab for Tarte Flambée Night. The English translation on the email said we could bring spouses or dads, so the Tuesday night my dad got here he got to go out with all my co-workers to Jean and Jenny’s favorite local restaurant that specializes in Tarte Flambée.

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What is Tarte Flambée?

Tarte Flambée is quintessential Alsatian cuisine. It’s a very, VERY, thin rectangular “pizza” that comes with a light cream sauce and traditionally only chopped bacon and onion on top, though they often come with cheese as well. At the restaurant, they must have brought out the tarte flambées in about 5 rounds because the cream sauce doesn’t stay warm for very long. This enables everyone to take a slice, eat it, then wait for another one. I don’t remember exactly how many they brought out because I had wine and lost count. Sorry.

Honestly, I’m usually not big on cream sauces, so I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it. Turns out, I LOVED it. The cream sauce really had the same texture as a soft cheese would, and the thin crunch you get when you eat it just makes it delightful. There are also usually burned bits around the edges, and if you know the Sedenberg family at all, this is a very good thing for us.

If anyone wants to fund the project, I want to install a brick oven in my future house. You pay for it, and I’ll make you tarte flambée. Maybe even that Italian pizza from Rome….

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We started eating at 7, and didn’t end until around 11. This was a typical long French dinner. Everyone sat around and talked, drank, and we even had dessert. Daddy and I split a Madame Noir (or at least I think that’s what it was called) which was basically like a chocolate sundae.

The lab picked up the bill to celebrate Jenny getting an article accepted in JACS (Journal of American Chemistry). For all the non-chemists, this is a REALLY big deal.

I was so glad Daddy got to see all the people I work with and truly experience a local French dinner.

Vivien and his girlfriend.

THIS POST IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Picture posting took over an hour and I have to sleep for work. Chances are by the time most people get to reading this, it will all be fixed and finished. The rest is still in a word document waiting to be added.