Cher Journal,
I love French bakeries. Patisseries and Boulangeries both. Every town has at least one and some have several. They all open early and most close for the long lunch break from 11:30 to 2:30 so you'd better have your bread before you go home for lunch! They are usually open Sunday morning but close at noon. The Patisseries sell pastries and oh, how heavenly they are. We discovered giant meringues, big enough for me to sleep on and not hang over the edge although they'd be a bit on the crunchy side for a mattress. There are cakes and chocolate stuff and whipped cream and on and on and on. I'm surprised we didn't gain a bunch of cookie and pastry weight, must be all the walking that kept it off. We loved the fact that when you go to a bakery or pastry shop your purchase was wrapped and tied up like a present for you. This is not isolated. It happened every time we bought pastries all over France. On Sunday's you see entire families heading to dinner at someone's house with a cake in a pretty box all tied up with string and a string handle tied on too. The little tissue house I am posing with had a gigantic chocolate chip meringue inside and something called a Polonaise which was gooey and rich and good. They came home tied up in this package that was almost too cool to rip open!
I seem to be getting more French as I approach Paris, must be because I get lots of practice speaking French, like ordering my coffee. "Je voudrais un gran creme sil vous plait", I have the "I would like a coffee please", down pat by now.
Today we are in Giverny at Monet's home and gardens. The house is enchanting and has been restored to look much as it was when Monet left. His son let if fall to rack and ruin and for forty years the gardens just pretty much rotted. The Monet foundation has put it all back together. I'm sure it helps that there were so many paintings and photographs of the place.
The lily ponds were stunning and so were the gardens. Of course there had to be a black and white cat relaxing in the sun and having a cat bath on one of the paths. Monet loved cats, smoking, Japanese prints and his gardens, so the cat was a sort of fey touch to the experience. My favorite thing? In the bright blue kitchen there was a porcelain cat, life size, on a pink pillow on a counter. Monet's Japanese friends had given it to him and it was exquisite. His home was hung with tons of wonderful Japanese wood block prints. Amazing to see and amazing to think so many of these things have been recovered and are back in the home.
We also love our landlady, Lawrence. That, so help me, is her first name. She is just the coolest person ever and speaks great English. She is charming and patient with our slow French and a delight to be around. We are staying at Au Coin Des Artistes right down the road from Monet's place. It is on the tiny main drag and we look over the street from our second story room. This place is full of wonderful art. It is airy and bright and sunny and we never want to leave. It seems the house was at one time the boarding house of the artists who buzzed around Monet and wanted to work with him. We read he couldn't stand them but that didn't stop them coming and working here. The place is still full of galleries, it's small so about four constitutes full.
There is a restaurant down the road about three houses, where we had a phenomenal dinner, the place is called the Anciennce Hotel Baudy. We love being in the country, all the tourists leave at dark and when the buses pull away the place is real again. The locals come in for a drink at the bar and we inhabit a table at the other end in the dining room because it's cooling off a lot outside. The decor is very unassuming country French.
They don't think anything here of four hundred year old tables and bits of amazing china American decorators would kill for. We are in love with the pieces on the mantel. The fireplace is faced with glowing brown tiles, all decorated with what looks like a lace pattern. It is a marvel, a focal point and we stare at it through dinner as we consume an entire bottle of local wine. Everything in our world is wonderful and we are ready to cry with just the joy of being here, in Giverny.
posted by Rocket Davis @ 9:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home