Thanksgiving in a foreign country

Previously when I lived overseas I was on a team with Americans. So while the nationals did not celebrate USA holidays my team did after all work was completed for the day, or we took the day off from work. Here, in France we are not surrounded by Americans, although we have friends who have lived in America, some half American and others just want to have fun with us. So we will prepare for Thanksgiving all week and partake in Thanksgiving on Saturday.  Pumpkin pies made from cooking the pumpkin, scrapping, pureeing and creating. The last 3 turkeys found Wednesday night at Lidl.

On Thanksgiving, after school work, we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade with cousins. The cousins were watching the traditional stage and performers, while we were watching youtube live. The difference was amazing. We watched the performances through facetime and watched real time, with no commercials and lots of lag time between bands, and floats. Our stream did not have any performances but did have clowns throwing confetti at bystanders, poop scoopers following horses, band members who for some reason had to leave the squad and walk on the sides after the band, police with dogs, and a ton of characters walking on stilts. Later we watched a dog show with friends. One friend actually met last year’s champion dog, Winston Churchill, at an airport this summer.

Saturday we went to our friends’ house and made food together. Turkeys being stuffed and baked in the oven, potatoes being mashed, pies being baked, vegetables being sauteed, world cup soccer being watched, children playing, and people laughing.

The meal was held at another family’s house in the next village. The spread was beautiful and amazing, food was delicious, conversations were entertaining, and the hospitality was warm and inviting. Our family is and was thankful for new friends in a foreign land.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chef Mz and Jake

Mz is taking “Life Skills for Middle Schoolers” this semester. In my opinion this class should be mandatory for all middle schoolers. Throughout the semester she is working on a travel blog, showcasing a new place over the next 5 months. Each week she has a different topic to research and add to her blog. Mz chose to write a travel blog about Montpellier, France, fitting I would say. A couple weeks ago she had to research a type of food known to the region.  Red wine was chosen because she rides by vineyards daily. The next week she had to find a chef or local person to help her cook a local dish, using local red wine. Jake, a high schooler from the church we attend, is pursuing a chef career. Mz asked Jake if he would help her.

Randy and Mz traveled a couple of villages away to purchase bull beef from a butcher store, along with other items needed for her recipe, Gardianne de taureau. 

https://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/gardianne-de-taureau-61906.aspx

Sunday after church we all sat down for lunch and devoured the meal. Jake’s dad even showed M how to make salad dressing from scratch. The meal was a success in many ways, both kids had 2nd and 3rds. Once we finished the entree, French style, we had a cheese board and dessert. Jake’s mom taught us about a proper cheese board, which includes several types of cheeses representing cows, goats, sheep, soft and hard textures.

Fall colors while rock climbing

Every other weekend the kids attend the church youth group. The first meeting of the month is an outing and the second consists of middle (collège) and high (lycée) groups together for fun, food, and fellowship. Since September both kids have attended the collège group. In America Z would be in the high school group, yet in France he’s considered a collège student until 10th grade. Both kids have enjoyed their English speaking sibling during youth group. In September they went ice skating and in October they enjoyed rock climbing. 

This month the parents of the French lycée students have asked to move Z up from collège to lycée. Z’s maturity level is different from the boys in the collège group, who are 11-13 years old, and would fit better with the kids of the lycée group, who speak more English. He is up for the new adventure.

M had asked me to join her for the rock climbing outing after church. All the carpooling arrangements were made and lunches were packed. Since I was staying I volunteered to bring home the kids from neighboring villages. Once church was over she decided I did not need to stay with her. Hmm, now what to do for the next 3.5 hours? Randy mentioned grabbing some coffee and enjoying the day. Sounded like a great plan, especially since my lunch was already packed. One small problem, many places are closed on Sundays here. I never grabbed coffee but took to the road. Looking at my Google map pinned with surrounding areas of interest, I found some relatively near the side of town as rock climbing. So off I went driving through amazing scenery.

Just what I needed on a fall day, crisp blue skies, yellow foliage, curvy mountain roads following a meandering river, familiar music to sing to. I drove NW toward Ganges, out of Herault into the Gard district. Here I found La Cascade de la Vis.

Just past this cascade is the tiny mountain valley village, Saint-Laurent-le-Minier. Approximately 354 people live here. It was so tiny I could not figure out how to drive through it due to the narrow one way streets. A little frustration arose as I was reversing in alleyways and not understanding French directional signs. 

I stopped and walked in Laroque, France, a medieval town, population of less than 2,000. http://laroque.fr/Patrimoine-Classe

This place reminded me of Montana, probably because of the wide stream running alongside the forest. It was a perfect place for a moose to saunter out for a drink.

A building along the water has housed almost 2 centuries of work, starting out as a silk factory in 1838, transforming into a lime factory with a mill 1884 to 1920, and finally restored into luxury apartments.

Biking Mz/Cody and Randy

“I’ll be back,” is often the phrase we hear a couple times a day. Mz and Cody bike and run 2x daily. Sometimes through the surrounding vineyards, through the village to a creek, around the nature walk, to the boulangerie or through the neighborhood. More frequently they just take off without a destination and let the roads guide them. When one of us tags along, we experience life as the youngest ones in the family do. Mountain biking has become a new place of enjoyment for Mz. She relishes in the freedom, open fields, narrow paths, the independence, and determination to keep them both safe.

A couple times a week, Randy takes to biking the countryside surrounding the neighboring villages. Mainly car-free roads, tree-filled plains stretching to the not-so-distant mountains. Horses, in their fields, running alongside him. Wineries beckoning for return visits. Local café servers recounting the days when the Tour De France would ride by and sharing their own stories of being professional riders. Occasionally, he meets other riders and they chat in French about life. The guy below and his dog were traveling Europe and Africa. Apps like Kamoot and Strava record and keep an eye on Randy’s destinations for both of us.

Bull Team 8

The family has found an ultimate league to play in this year. Randy and the kids go every Tuesday night, which gives me a night to myself! They play under the lights in a distant village. The kids are learning French vocabulary related to ultimate as well as all sports. Last week after church, Randy and Z played on a mixed team against another village. It was new and fun to see Randy and ZACH as teammates, usually Randy is coaching him. They had a couple of give-and-go plays as well as some points together. Cody came with us and occupied M on the sidelines.

French Thrift Store Emmaus

-The adventure continues as I find a thrift store here in Southern France. Each department (books, textiles, housewares, electronics, music, children, furniture) is housed in a separate building connected by sidewalks and alleys. Once you find an item (or items) you want to purchase you take it to the counter in that particular building. The attendant writes a sale’s ticket, gives the ticket to you and keeps your item or items. Once you have completed all the buildings you want to search and have all your sale’s tickets, then you go to the cashier building and wait in line to pay. (Pix below of me waiting in line with my tickets and bag.) The window attendant rings up the total, takes your payment and stamps each ticket. Think old days with a big purple loud stamper. At this point you return to each building, show your receipt and claim your items. Almost everywhere in France you have to provide your own bags.

My first day I scored a boogie board, an Eiffel Tower 3D puzzle, a cottage puzzle, a necklace of imperfect silver pearls and the best item of all….an American Mickey Mouse ruler, with 12 inches, for geometry class for Z. He has been using a 6in. ruler from my Aunt Dale, who sent him an art kit. The smile on his face to see the 12 in ruler was priceless.

I thought I would have to go this fall season without anything pumpkin except my pumpkin latte in Greece. The day before Halloween I began finding pumpkins sliced, deseeded, and wrapped for purchase. Now I am experimenting with baking fresh pumpkin, making muffins and pumpkin lattes, freezing pulp, and eventually baking pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Oh and I researched and made my own pumpkin pie spice.

I made homemade chicken nuggets, using a CFA recipe hack online. It really did not taste like CFA, however the nuggets were devoured and bellies were full.

Plage De L’Espiguette (Le Désert)

We found a new beach. We had to walk about a ½ mile across mini sand dunes (think the amount of sand at Jockey’s Ridge OBX or Beaver Sand Dunes, without the height) to reach the Mediterranean Sea. We saw about 20 people, swam, walked the shore and collected shells. We first thought we saw huge kites, later we realized the beach ATV’s were powered by the wind. I am very proud and happy with my pink RayBan sunglasses, purchased in Greece for 8 Euros. They remind me of my blue ones from the 90’s that cost a lot more.

November Novelties I was Armistice, Veterans, and Remembrance Day Across the World..I had not come of with this clever title when I posted…haha

14 November 2022

We are on day 2 of cooler weather, gray skies, yellow leaves and RAIN! The new weather, while sporadic, is new to navigate.

The Carpenter’s song lyric, “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down…” rings in my head as I look out the window. This lyric can be true, although it is NOT ALWAYS true. Rainy days can slow life down a bit, providing a day to wear bright colored raincoats, use fun umbrellas, wear fun rain boots and, for some of us, a chance to relive childhood by splashing in a puddle. Rainy days can also be dreadful due to the missing raincoat, the broken umbrella, or the lack of protection offered by rain boots for pant legs from a puddle splashed by a car or a child. Either way warm drinks and cozy blankets in the cooler months bring comfort to dreary days, pajamas and a new friend helps too!

As I reflect on the past couple of weeks, through pictures, I see where it was not raining and I was not “down.” So good to be reminded of the past to encourage the present day. I think of the people in the bible who would rely on the “stories of old” to remind them of God’s faithfulness in their lives. Even experiencing miracles with their own eyes, freedom from Egyptian slavery and daily food delivery the Israelites often forgot the past, focused on the here and now, grumbled and complained. Over and over they were rescued, redirected and restored. I am thankful for my own reminders of God, through experiences, people and photos.

11 November

Armistice, Veterans, and Remembrance Day across the world

Today is a national holiday in France known as Armistice Day. So being a good expat I decided to research what the French have to say about this day, especially since it coincides with the USA’s Veterans Day. I must admit I had no idea many countries (over 30) acknowledge the same day, or weekend, and the significance of the actual date. Some countries have named the day Remembrance Day. 

Armistice means the “suspension of fighting.” The following website, https://nationaltoday.com/french-armistice-day/ states, “The armistice was signed at Compiègne in France at 5:45 AM in 1918, but came into effect at 11:00 AM. The odd recurring insistence of the figure 11 on this day led to the famous saying highlighting the armistice -”the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” This agreement ended WW1.

The French symbol used for this day is the blue cornflower because the uniforms were blue and the French flag contains blue. Today I am reminded of an afternoon, during the beginning of Covid 2020, where the kids and I joined friends exploring Poor Farm Park. Returning home we stopped and played in this amazing field covered in blue cornflowers. 

Veterans Day in America has been associated, for our family, as the day Grandpa (Bob Lee) would dress in his Army uniform, parade through the elementary halls of our kids’ school, and participate in the school ceremony, along with other Veterans of wars fought decades ago to present day. Every year this particular ceremony would bring tears to my eyes and smiles on kids faces. Such a juxtaposition indeed. Pictures below circa 2016.