An entry of firsts in France and in life!

So all is well here.  This post is about firsts in France.

To start off, this year is the first time I have picked apples.  Ever. I was so excited! And, what's more...I had to go to France to do it (not like I could have in college in Connecticut or on Long Island...that would have been too simple and easy to do). I went with a French friend and we had a wonderful time, plus it was beautiful weather!

Here are a few pictures from that momentous day:

Translation: APPLES

Name of the farm is La Ferme de Viltain

All the apples available for that day.  We had Boskoop.

To collect your apples you take a wheelbarrow and go to the aisle you like.

 

 

This is the price tag in front of the aisle.  It's cheaper to get a crate than by kilo.

 I had told my honey that I would just get a kilo of apples...but then I saw this:

And this:

 I just couldn't help myself.  So with the help of my French friend, Mme G...

She got two crates of apples.

Boskoop

Crimson Crisp

And I got one! It's a lot of apples, but they are a mix between Granny Smith and Gala.  They will conserve well in the cave or cellar of the appartement.

Voila the crate of Boskoop apples, plus a spaghetti squash (unknown in France, but divine in my opinion), a potimarron squash (orange and tastes like a pumpkin), and a patisson, or priest's bonnet squash (I DO NOT recommend that one...not a tasty squash, just saying)

 I thought this was cute.  The farm had a new variety of apples.  They're delicious, almost like a strawberry apple and a pink lady mixed together...but their name is...Crimson Crisp.  Try getting a French person to say that name 5 times fast.  I dare you!

 On to another first!  We've decided that every time we try a new cheese in France, we will take a picture and post it. We're a couple of weeks behind so here are two pics.
 

 They were very good!  Out of the four of them...I think we like the Rouy, then the Caprice des Dieux, then the Pave d'Affinois, then the Fromage Fouette de Madame Loik. Rouy is a delicious creamy orange soft cheese.  Caprice is a very palatable tangy brie, pave is a smelly but very mild and creamy soft cheese and the last from Loik, it's like an herbed cheese spread. I happened to buy it because of a commercial I saw.  Yup.  Fell for it.  But they had Irish music and happy people on the commercial! And the cheese is very good on toasted bread. Gotta be careful about commercials here.  They work!

Another first was actually finding a purple vegetable other than eggplant.  How about a Violet, or in other words, a purple cauliflower? I love it!  It is soo cool.

I decided to steam it to try to maintain some color and taste.

Turns the water blue after steaming, too!

After cooking 14 minutes on medium-high vapor it still has it's color and texture! Yay!

This is merely a serving suggestion.  However, I do recommend a sauce blanche to go with the chou fleur.

Bon appétit!

A little glimpse into our village life...

We live in Essonne.  A very beautiful natural park area in France, outside of Paris.  We love the open air. I love the smells of the countryside: fresh bread, animals, grass, trees, rain.  You name it, it's here. 

People like walking and hiking here.  A short walk is to the local Chateau. 

We are 8km away from medieval history!

This is the story of how one gets to the Chateau de la Madeleine...Shall we begin?

You get to the train station and then start walking along the bicycle route.  The chateau is in the distance, above a field of goats. Ah, you can almost breathe the country air!

Views along the Bicycle route and pedestrian walk

Chateau de Coubertin

The path

Beautiful countryside

Cows in the distance along the Yvette river

Bonjour M. Cheval!

Pretty little vista, no?

Mr K strolling in the fields on our way

You keep walking and the bicycle route turns into a little dirt path through fields. Keep going.

 You then pass by a small street to go towards the chateau...

Hello, sunflowers!  You make this trek even more lovely!

 Walk through Chevreuse until you see the tea shop.  Turn right. You hike up the Rue Jean Racine (very famous here).  Notice the old lanterns, the cobblestones and the "meuliere" in the walls.  

This is a very old road.

 

 Smile! Mr K loves walking uphill for long periods of time.  They are his passion.  In fact, if you happen to see him next, suggest a walk that is nothing but uphills.  He'd like that.  Really.

We're good now, right?

Nope...still have to find the path to the chateau. Continue going along the road  until you see a signpost.  Follow what the sign post says.

At least we're going in the right direction.  Let's take the short cut...

Always take the road on your left after you see the sign post. That is the shortcut.  Everyone else will take the road to the right, even the old ladies and women with strollers.  You don't want to be where everyone else is do you?  Besides, you'll want time to look at the red squirrels and the "chataigniers" that surround you.

To the shortcut!

Okay....but we'll get there faster...right?

 Mr K is laughing at me now.  We can see it, but our shortcut just turned into a longcut...around the chateau.

No more stairs now! *grin*

 I can see it...but how do we get to it?

Keep walking around the chateau a few times following the path.  You're bound to get there by sunset. Just be patient.

 

Voila!  The Chateau de la Madeleine! We made it!

It's so cool.  A medieval fort with a tower and archer's windows:

These are a few photos of the courtyard and the grange where they housed everyone and the horses:

I can be an archer!

 Mr K is ready to head back now, before the sun sets, but he loves the medieval chateau.  Plus the view from the top was superb!

Our view from the top of the chateau over looking Chevreuse valley.  If you look off to the far left, the next village you see is Gif, where we live. :-)

Thus, our expedition to Chateau de la Madeleine draws to a close...good thing we can go visit it anytime we want (only 8km away!) for free.  I love this area! Until next time!

A glimpse of our current abode

My French friend, M. G. hosted us at his house until Friday the 14th.  We moved into our lovely and brand new appartment then and have been enjoying the French way and pace of life...aside from the fact that we still have no internet (though we should by mid October).

That said.  Thought I would share a little about a French home, especially his as it is absolutely gorgeous!

I love doors

I love the way his home is laid out. Lovely and airy and like a chateau almost.  But the prize of the house is the garden:

Hello Mr. K! Lovely morning to you too!

View from the garden to the valley

The archway of roses

Absolutely lovely

This is where we stayed for a few weeks....It was such a blessing.

The Big Adventure

Well, Mr. K and I have arrived in France.  All in one piece too! We had such fun getting here.  Mr and Mrs. K Sr dropped us off early at the airport in JFK. Mr. K had to go to the ticket counter to get things straightened out for the flight tickets, but it was no problem. We flew on American Airlines (my favorite type of planes...I'm not a pilot's daughter at all...). 

All the little planes in a row...

We had tickets in coach, but we were bumped up to an exit row (legroom!) and then as we were settling into the seats again, we were bumped up once again to BUSINESS CLASS!!!! This is all thanks to my step-mom who just so happened to be on the flight as a flight attendant and told the gate agents that they needed to take good care of us.  We didn't mind in the least. We were separated at first, but the business man saw we were a couple and said he'd switch an aisle for an aisle so we could be together. What a kind man!

For those who have never flown business class this is what it entails:
Water whenever we wanted, even while we were taxiing down the runway to wait in line they came around to give us glasses of water. A menu to choose from (beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian dishes); we chose the Boursin crusted filet mignon with wilted spinach and mashed potatoes and a grilled tomato which came with an appetizer of warmed salted nuts, then a salad and coconut shrimp on pineapple slices, then the entree, then dessert (praline ice cream, ice cream sundae, or fruit and cheese).

You could have wine with dinner and a sweet liqueur free of charge. I had a Shiraz with dinner and some amaretto with my fruit and cheese dessert (wasn't feeling the ice cream, though Mr. K thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream sundae with butterscotch topping and nuts!).

They give you a duvet and a large pillow to help you sleep when your chair goes back all the way to a Lazy boy recliner position. (Mr. K loved that part and spent quite a few minutes going over the tutorial on the seat.)

We got to have a selection of movies and tv shows that we could watch with Bose noise cancelling headphones (YESSSS!!!!) and we had plenty of storage and leg room. They also give you a neat little toiletry bag that is filled with all the things necessary to make you look pretty the next morning (lotions, lip balm, tooth brush and toothpaste, tissues, eye cover, ear plugs, floss, socks, a comb).

Needless to say, we had a very enjoyable flight.  Plus, I got a chance to see my step-mom at work and where she does the magic. Very small quarters. They even have sleeping closets which is just that.  A closet that you open the door and have two bed shelves. Very small, very tight, very hard. She said she doesn't like to sleep in there and that Dad when he has to sleep (as he is a very tall pilot) can reserve a seat in Business Class. The room that she works in is just about as big as an average walk-in closet but the walls are made of ovens and microwaves and they do everything on little metal carts. Flight attendants do a lot of work and don't get much credit for it.  After seeing what they have to do in the little space they have, I am very appreciative of their work!

She let us sleep through "breakfast" (which is really only 3 hours after dinner) and gave us a good-morning bon voyage breakfast package. We are so thankful.

We arrived in London, chugged milk and orange juice (you're not allowed to have liquids over 100ml through the security lines that are immediately after the flight as you got to connect to the other one), and got to stand in line. We both had our bags searched. Mine was searched due to a candle that looked like a liquid, which she said wasn't a problem and that it happens all the time. Then, come to find out, the bon voyage package that my step-mom gave us was packing "sharps" or in other words, we had real silverware in the package (even though they were dull as could be) and were thus confiscated. Mr. K had his backpack searched and wiped down because of spice jars from McCormick that had the same density on the scanner as a liquid. Oh well. They didn't take those, thankfully.
Then we waited 4 hours for our flight, which was delayed as it was coming from Edinburgh, Scotland. At least, that's the reasoning they gave us. Bad Scotland, bad.
Then we had the 1 hour flight to Paris where M. G (my french friend) picked us up and took us to his home via Citroen car.

And that was our travel adventure! I loved every minute of it (well, okay, maybe not the waiting 4 hours bit).

As the French say: A plus tard! or A+