Dec 29th (Vendredi)

This will likely be our last blog from France as we will leave tomorrow evening for Paris. It has been a great trip so far with catching up with (and in Shuwen’s case, meeting for the first time) many family members and friends over fantastic meals.

Yesterday was another day full of eating well. It was a good thing we ran in the morning before heading over to Annie Chauvel’s. We had a fun time with Annie, Alain, Christophe and their Siamese kitten. Alain and Christophe are both in the music field. Alain is taking lessons and is preparing for certification to become a piano tuner. Christophe works for a less traditional/ classical music center that teaches various kinds of musical styles such as jazz, blues, drums, etc. They both seem passionate about their work and despite the challenges appear to enjoy it. The kitten was terribly cute and was easily the center of attraction. The afternoon flew by and it was almost 5pm by the time we left!

In the evening, we went to Le Cellier to meet up with Antoine. There we met Jerome’s copine, Carine and their son, Jasper with his lovely blond curls and rosy cheeks. Carine is expecting another one due in a few months. Their family is growing J

Antoine a une belle maison and a newly expanded family as well. His copine, also named Carine and he have two kids. Hugo just turned four on Christmas day and Anna is four months old. Hugo is a riot with lots to say and Anna is a real angel. They live in a lovely house built in the 1920s and have done a superb job decorating. We fell in love with their kitchen which has an octagonal working area in the middle with the stove, oven, sink, cupboards, and countertop built into it. Above hangs a metal and glass area to hang cooking apparatus, oils and spices. Their den and dining room was also wonderful with a touch of Middle-eastern and African influences. What a cute family and a beautiful home!

Dinner of course was delicious and involved 3 different types of wine. We had a flavorful rosé champagne as an aperitif together with some yummy saucisson from Corsica. A sweeter 1985 bottle was opened to go with the fois gras (for the third time in 2 days we had fois gras!) and fig confiture. The entrée was a nicely done fish fillet and a carrot gratin (apparently eating carrots makes one likable is the way the saying goes) together with another white. We ended with a Galette des Rois made from almond flour. Carine had put a little fève in it because of the tradition (usually on the first Sunday on January) that whoever ends up with the fève in their slice will get to be the king/ queen for the day. It is great for Shuwen to learn about these little fêtes and customs as it will be fun to be able to incorporate them to our family. The same will go for Marc learning about Chinese customs when we go to Singapore.

Oh, and on Wednesday, we drove out to by Essé where a dolmen (La Roche-aux-Fées) is. Dolmens are boulder arrangements that remain from early Celtic times and usually are funerary sites. This particular one was supposedly from 2000 B.C. or so. It was quite neat and incredible to try to think about how it would have been possible to transport huge rocks (some over 4 tons) over 3 miles and to arrange them the way they are. We climbed on top of them and Marie-Francoise took a few pictures (oh yeah, our digital camera died on our first day in Paris, so we won’t have any good pictures of France-- booo). On the way back, Marie-Françoise dropped Marc off about 10 miles outside of Vitré so that he could squeeze in a run home. Antoine was the chef for dinner and made some beautiful galette complète for us. Yum!

We did not have much planned today and had a leisurely time. Shuwen made a small bouquet from plants from the garden and we visited Papy’s grave this afternoon together with Marie-Françoise and Antoine. He rests in a peaceful site in Cemiterie Saint Gilles just a quick 3 min drive / 20 min walk away. He has a simple gray marble tomb in the shape of a cross with a gold figure of the crucifixion on it. We did not stay for very long, but it was nice to have been able to visit Papy today. After that Marie-Françoise also drove us to the house that Papy was born in, which was literary just outside of the borders of Vitré. There is a painting of that house in the dining room as well, but seeing it still standing is quite something even though it is old and a bit run-down. The area surrounding the house is now full of warehouses and factories it seems like, so it is quite remarkable that the house is still standing.

We bought a cookbook with Breton recipes, and Shuwen has been copying some recipes from a French cooking magazine, so hopefully we will be able to try some of those out when we are back in the US. Friends beware—you will be our guinea pigs.

Marie-Françoise baked a chocolate-orange cake this morning and made some crêpes for tea. The house is still filled with the aromas – hmmmm…. We will miss France!

~ Shuwen & Marc