Fair Day in Le Puy

Hot roasted chestnuts were one of many attractions at Fair Day, and Eluiza and I took full advantage of them.


Chestnuts are quite popular in France. They are used to make a condiment that can be spread on bread. They are also used in soup.

Chestnut trees are in parks and the nuts fall to the ground available for anyone to pick them up. **

French chestnuts tend to be bigger than those I've seen in Michigan. 

CORRECTION FROM A FRENCH FRIEND:  the variety of chestnut you find in public parks is called horse chestnut (in French marron d’Inde) and it’s not edible! It’s usually picked by children to fight in playgrounds and often teachers and school nurses have a hard time when such fruit cover the ground ! The variety we eat comes from l’Ardèche (south of Le Puy) and is cultivated; anyhow along the roads, in that part of our country, you may pick some fruit when they have fallen out of the private field.


Every year on November 2, the fair comes to town. It involves dozens of vendors who sell clothes, shoes, outerwear, underwear, kitchenware--even cars--as well as cheeses, deli meats, vegetables and fruits. 

The fair is held in one of the main parking lots of the city off the main road. It only lasts one day, but it was well worth the visit.

Farmers also brought their cows to sell. These beauties produce the healthy milk and 365  delicious cheeses of France. God bless them!! 

For more info on the cows of France, click here.

One farmer from Provence (southeast France) brought nougats with him. They are made of honey and almonds. Très cher, mais très bon!! It was worth the cost, however, just to watch him cut the huge wheel of nougat.

Life in France is good!! Life in Le Puy is interesting. There's always something going on.

Toussaint -- All Saints Day in France

Today is All Saints Day, known in France as Toussaint.  

Toussaint is a holiday in France and businesses are closed--except for flower shops. The flower shops remain open because people bring flowers to the graves of their loved ones in the cemeteries. (They don't do it on All Souls Day, November 2, a Catholic holiday.) According to the website, French Moments, 

"Members of a family usually gather to go to the cemetery together. They put chrysanthemum flowers on the grave and light candles to symbolise happiness in the afterlife. They can also attend special church services."

It is also interesting to note that for the past couple weeks, school kids have been off. It is part of the Toussaint period, which historically came at the same time as the potato harvest when most people were farmers. Kids worked the fields and didn't go to school, so "potato holidays" were declared between October 22 and November 3. They were later known as "Toussaint holidays." 

November 1 is also the Centre's first day off since last March. We said good-bye to our last group of the season on Tuesday. Now it's time for program planning, vacations, and a little down time. 

We spent our morning by sleeping in and going to 10 o'clock Mass. The church was so packed that the pastor said he might have a second Mass in the morning next year.

 After Mass, I had a taste for cinnamon roll, so we went to the bakery to see what we could find. As much as the French have adopted North African food, they don't care that much for cinnamon. Instead, we bought Jesuites (left), a cream-filled layered dessert and a chaussure pomme (literally "apple shoe" but what Americans call an apple turnover). Both were delicious, of course, and we ate them for dessert. However, I'll need to learn how to make cinnamon rolls! Any good recipes out there?

We had a nice lunch of "restant" (leftovers) that included pasta as well as rosette (salami) and a salad of carrots, olives, grapes. 

Anita, Eluiza and I sat down to a quiet, leisurely meal.

Anita

Check out Eluiza's new hairstyle!

 I don't often get into the picture but here I am--with my new haircut--and color (shhh).

At 2 p.m. we went to the fair in town. This fair is not unlike ours in the USA, but I think it has been here for the "Toussaint holidays." People have been coming for a couple weeks now and today was a mild and beautiful for fair-going.

We didn't go on any rides but instead wandered around to see all the people and all the rides. 


Most of the rides' names were familiar to our fairs--and their names were in English. Good thing the French are learning our language!

Before we left the fair we stopped for croustillons. A croustillon is like a New Orleans beignet, only it is a small, round ball with a lot more grease and coated with granular sugar instead of powdered sugar. 

Long lines form in front of the croustillon counters, but the servers work fast, the wait is not long, and the croustillons are hot. 

Upon returning home, we watched a couple quiz shows, including my favorite, "N'Oubliez Pas Le Paroles" (more on this later), ate leftover mushroom/tortellini soup, and slept through the news. It was an early retirement to bed also.

All Saints Day was a good day for all of us!

FUN FACT ABOUT THE FAIR

The Ferris Wheel was invented by George Washington Gale Ferris, a 33-year-old engineer from Pittsburgh. It was the Chicago's answer to the Eiffel Tower, which was constructed for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. The Columbian Exposition of 1893 was held in Chicago, and it ostensibly commemorated the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the Americas. However, psychologically, the fair was Chicago's comeback and rebuilding after the 1871 fire that burned down 3.3 square miles of the city, killed 300 people, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The Exposition, under eminent architect Daniel Burnham's charge. "Make no little plans," said Burnham to his all-star team of designers--and voilà, among the many world-dazzling showpieces that mushroomed in Chicago was the Ferris wheel.   

The pilgrims gathered at Bambou & Basilic, a Michelin three-star restaurant in Le Puy, to celebrate their pilgrimage. The restaurant is in the old city, a 30-minute walk from the International Centre. 

Angelique was our server, a patient and kind woman who afforded us excellent service and a friendly smile always. The food is described as fusion food that resides between the modernity and traditions of Le Puy. It was a real treat with insights into French cooking and service. Below, Angelique takes the count on who wants which meal: bamboo or basilic. 

1. Amuse Bouche

The "amuse bouche" course literally means the food that amuses your mouth. In other words, it is an appetizer or aperitif. It was served with champagne (some with a touch of chestnut or apricot flavoring) and some colorful and tasty morsels on tiny pieces of bread (left) or a bit of cold lentil soup (right).   

                                

Angelique uncorks a bottle of delicious red wine from the Auvergne region. The chef takes special pride and care to serve local food.

2. Entrees

The entree is the first course of the meal. While Americans call the main dish their entree, the French call their entree the course that helps you "enter" the meal. We had a choice of four entrees.

Chicken with quail eggs and vegetables

Sot l’y laisse confit et œuf de caille sur un sablé aux herbes, concassée de tomates et tagliatelles de légumes

Fois gras of duck (liver) 
Foie gras de canard « Maison », compotée de rhubarbe, dôme de pomme au Muscat de Rivesaltes, brioche toastée

Pumpkin soup

Velouté de potimarron de Saint Vincent, poudre de lard et amandes torréfiées














Shrimp with cucumbers, beets, goat cheese

Gambas marinées aux agrumes et curry, rouleau de concombre, vinaigrette aux perles du Japon et fromage de chèvre

Carol Crepeau, program director from La Grange, and Judy from Cleveland. 

Kathy (left) from Wheeling with Mary (right) from Nazareth 

3. Plat -- the main course

The main course or plat, is a meat, fish or vegetable dish in France. We had four choices.

Roasted Beef with onions and potato

Pièce de bœuf rôtie sur une compotée d’oignons rouge, râpée de pomme de terre, jus à l’échalote

Pollock fish

Lieu jaune rôti dans un beurre noisette, épinards et endives croquantes, mousseline de légumes et émulsion au citron confit

Gilt-head bream 


Dorade royale sur une écume de Mona Lisa, brocolis et croustillant aux anchois, huile de chorizo

(This fish is a member of the bream family Sparidae found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coastal regions of the North Atlantic Ocean.)

Lamb

Gigot d’agneau cuit à basse température, samossa d’épaule, jus corsé, condiment de poivrons aux piments de Cayenne

4. Cheese Course

Fresh cheese (before) with fruity syrup (after)

• 
  
• Fromages affinés avec coulis

Faisselle cheese from the Auvergne region

5. Dessert

Fruit and sorbet


Assiette de fruits frais de saisons et sorbets 

Crunchy cookie with fruit and creme

Croustillant à la vergeoise, crémeux exotique, brunoise d’ananas et sorbet fruits rouges













Apple with cinnamon and beer ice cream 


Déclinaison autour de la pomme, glace à la bière et crumble à la cannelle

Bernie (left) and Nina (right), both from Nazareth

Carol with Amandine, hostess of Bamboo & Basilic. She and her husband, Michaël, the chef, have owned the restaurant for the past five years. They have a two-year-old son.