Une soirée avec nos amis français

Bonjour mes amis! Last night we hosted a "soirée" with my colleagues at Lycée Vaugelas. What fun we had reminiscing about our year together! We had lots of laughs talking about the fun times this year as well as the challenging ones. I know that any worthwhile venture involves the positive as well as opportunities which allow us to learn and grow and "rise to the occasion". Lee and I will never forget the kindnesses, the friendship, and the love shown by our friends in Chambéry. They honored me with a lovely picture of Chambéry from the 19th century. I can't wait to hang it in our home in Richmond. This has been quite a year for us. I am honored to have had this opportunity and to have been able to share it with you all. Merci bien to those of you who have traveled with us this year through my blog. I have loved sharing! See you in Richmond.

A Bientôt!

Mme. Wallace

Beaufort: Notre fromage préféré en Savoie

Bonjour mes amis! Today, June 17, Lee and I decided to drive to Beaufort, a small rural town in the French Alps near Albertville. We have so enjoyed Beaufort cheese this year, which we have purchased often at the Saturday marchés. We decided to discover the French town which gives this special cheese its name. Beaufort was known during Roman times. Beaufort cheeses come in three versions: Beaufort, Beaufort d'été (summer Beaufort) and Beaufort d'Alpage (in the Alps mountains). The last one is made with milk from Tarine (Tarentaise) cows. They live in the mountains and graze on natural pastures. People who eat this cheese claim that when they eat a piece of Beaufort, they can feel the flowers and grass of the mountains!! It takes approximately 130 gallons of milk to make a wheel of Beaufort which weighs 99 lbs. Beaufort needs to age at least 4 to 6 months in a mountain cellar or cool place which maintains this cool temperature throughout the year. Beaufort is richer and creamier than other mountain cheeses such as Gruyère, Comté, or Emmental. Beaufort has a nice scent of milk, butter, and honey. Beaufort is often served with smoked salmon. We have tasted Beaufort in Savoyard fondue which is often served on snowy winter evenings in Savoie. Today we had a delicious sandwich de jambon et fromage but today's fromage was delicious Beaufort!

Mme. Wallace

A Garden Party: our volleyball friends

Bonjour mes amis! Wednesday, June 15, the Menningers and Lee and I went to a wonderful garden party hosted by one of my colleagues at Lycée Vaugelas, Christine, and other "volleyball friends". What a great group of French friends. There were Serge et Fabienne, Christine and Stéphane, Laurent and Irène, Monica, Stéphane and others. We had so much fun visiting and eating delicious French food and drinking rosé wine. We have had so many interesting discussions comparing our cultures and learning from each other this year. We especially enjoyed our discussions yesterday with Laurent, who is a philosophy prof at Lycée Vaugelas. Laurent expressed many ideas concerning life and education in the U.S. vs. France. Perhaps our world leaders could "take a lesson" from Laurent and those interactions and lessons learned during a Fulbright Teacher Exchange. We will surely miss our new friends from this past year. What a fun afternoon!!

Mme. Wallace

Purple Magic: La Lavande

Bonjour mes amis! One reason we wanted to visit the Luberon with the Menningers was to smell and see its beautiful lavender. You must close your eyes and breathe deep and your senses will tell you that you are in Provence with its lavender fields. The scent of lavender is strongest in the heart of summer, from mid-June to early August, when the fine stalks wave in the wind and the lavender prairies stretch as far as the eye can see. Lavender fields cover areas at the base of Mont Ventoux. Lavender grows in the Luberon area. It is used in soap, perfume, honey, sachets, potpourri,etc. Did you know that for many years in history lavender was used for purification? In fact, the word lavender literally means "to be washed". During World War I lavender was used as an antiseptic. It was also used to treat wounds and burns. In June, magic happens to the fields in northern Provence. Rows of spiky green begin to change color. By the 3rd week of June, the valleys have changed from green to purple, as the mats of parallel rows become purple with the ripening lavender. These lavender fields provide an agricultural crop which was once as important to the Provence farmer as their olives and grapes. Lavender today is not the big business that it once was as synthetics have pushed it aside. However, lavender still continues to provide us with wonderful products partly out of tradition and a demand for excellence. !!! Très, très belle!

Mme. Wallace

A Day in the Luberon: toujours magnifique!!!

Bonjour mes amis! Sunday evening, Lee and I spent the evening with the Menningers just outside Gordes, in a lovely farmhouse-hacienda close to Joucas, another Luberon town. We had a view of the hilltop town of Gordes from our window. The next morning we began our exploration of Gordes. In the 1960's, Gordes was a virtual ghost town but has been renovated and is now an impressive village in the Luberon. This village was made popular by Peter Mayle's book which was later made into a movie, A Good Year. The Abbey de Sénanque which is a beautifully situated Cistercian abbey built in 1148 is nearby. From Gordes, we continued to Roussillon which was Europe's capital for ochre production until World War II. Roussillon sits on the world's largest known ochre deposit. The value of the ochre cliffs was even known in Roman times. Once the ochre was excavated, the clay ochre was rinsed to separate it from the sand, and then it was dried for deeper color. This was used primarily for linoleum and wallpaper, and reached its peak just before World War II. Enjoy the beautiful hues of color in Roussillon!

Mme. Wallace

Les Dentelles de Montmirail's mountaintop villages

Bonjour mes amis! Sunday, June 12, Lee and I visited the villages surrounding Les Dentelles de Montmirail with the Menningers which made for a beautiful scenic drive. We experienced the breathtaking sights and awakened all of our senses as we explored this region. Les Dentelles de Montmirail are a small chain of mountains in the département of Vaucluse, in the region of beautiful Provence, just south of Vaison-la-Romaine where we spent Saturday night. The highest peak of this region is Mont Ventoux and Les Dentelles de Montmirail are the foothills of this region. We began our exploration in Le Crestet, a charming hilltop village which was built after the fall of the Roman Empire. As with many of the villages of this region, there was a castle on top which dated about 850 AD and there were ramparts and house walls which served as protection from barbarians. We had a café au lait in Le Panoramic which had an upstairs terrace which justified its name because of its view. From Le Crestet we continued our loop to Suzette which floats on its hilltop just under Mont Ventoux at 6,000 feet. Suzette has an interesting 12th century chapel and one café. We continued our Côtes du Rhône loop to arrive in Gigondas. Gigondas has some of the best red wine of the region and is well-suited for hiking and driving into the mountains. We took a walk up through the town and, from the church up top, we had beautiful views of the vineyards below. This region of France with the character of its towns and the views of the landscape was spectacular!!!

Mme. Wallace

Qu'est-ce que c'est Les Callets de chocolat?

While Lee and I were traveling with the Menningers in Provence, we stopped at a Chocolatier and discovered a new form of chocolate. These were called Les Callets. They were small beads of chocolate, white and dark, or other combinations, which were used for eating, baking in recipes, molding, dipping etc. These callets are round drops of pure chocolate. The callets are made using 100% pure cocoa butter and a dash of vanilla that rounds off the taste with a slight sweet hint. The origin of this chocolate is Belgium and they were originally made by the Callebaut manufacturer. We sampled various kinds of Les Callets and loved all of them - Délicieux!!!

Mme. Wallace