Return from Southern France

Ooooohhhh La La!!!!  and Bon Gout (taste good) are the two phrases I spoke the most while in France.  My expectations for the yummy food to be found in France that I have heard and read Julia talk about for the past several months were absolutely spot on.  The sauces...... everything has a sauce to go with it, on top of it or painted on the plate of everything you eat, from meats, cheeses, vegetables and desserts, and it was the sauces that made every spectacular dish over the top spectacular!  My tummy and taste buds are well pleased and begging for more!

We had such a wonderful trip all around, including many hilarious moments of life 'just happening'.  One such moment would be when our rental car broke down on the side of the road in St. Tropez.  We were very fortunate that we had just left the tiny windy road and had just hit town when the fuel pump died.  We were stranded for 3 hours waiting for the repairman/tow truck, which the car couldn't be fixed, so we were literally stranded 2 hours from our hotel on the side of the road in France without any transportation.  The rental company ended up sending us a taxi (another hour wait) to take us to the rental office to pick up another vehicle (another hour), so we lost our entire day at St. Tropez, but...... none of us got excited, we all laughed about the incident from start to finish and we just relaxed and enjoyed sunbathing road side instead of beach side!  LOL  And of course there are several photo's of the car broke down on the side of the road, it being hoisted onto the tow truck bed and us just sitting by the road side waiting.  And at the end of the day, we still arrived back in time for another delicious dinner at our hotel's bistro....... where...... I met the Master Chef, bought his cookbook that he autographed for me and took a photo with me.  However...... when I started reading his page long inscription to me..... he wrote it to "Virginia"!  LOL LOL  How funny is that!  And he even drew a daisy flower beside my name.

We had meals in stuffy places that cost too much money, but the food was amazing....  we had meals in quaint 'unfussy' places that were just as amazing,  and we even bought food from street markets and ate in a park, which too was amazing.  Fresh food, prepared food, it didn't matter one lick..... it was all amazing!  And yes, the French do LOVE butter and lots of it!  No wonder Julia fell in love with the foods of France.

A couple of weeks prior to this trip, I had made a "French meal" to compare my cooking skills to true authentic french cooking, and the couple we traveled with came to dine with us so we could all have the experience for comparison on our trip.  Well....... I must honestly say that I think my cooking is equal to what we ate in France.  I am truly my own worst critic, but was quite impressed that my sauces taste as delicious as the sauces we ate in France at both high end and low end eateries.  But being the Chef, I kept these thoughts to myself, until the others spoke up and proclaimed that my dinner did equal in quality and taste to the true French cooking we ate on our trip.  I'm must admit, I am quite proud of myself and can't wait to keep on cooking and working with Julia's cookbooks.  But then again...... both Julia and I were both classically trained from reputable cooking schools, and it just proves that correct methods and techniques are the key.  I can cook as good as any French Chef using products now available in most local grocery stores.

The bread was soooo good everywhere we went, and that is the one thing I can not yet do like the French do.  But then..... French homemakers/cooks do not make their own bread either because there boulgangeries (bread/pastry shops) on every street, usually several on a street.  No one cooks their own bread in France, and you will see the locals all carrying their loaves of bread home for dinner after work. Everywhere you look, someone has a bag of bread they are carrying.  I am about to start my last class (Baking 1) needed to earn my Chef Certificate in Nov., and I'm hoping what I learn in this class will help me with my bread baking issues.

So nice to be home..... no matter how far we travel and how wonderful the trip..... there really isn't any place like home..... or the good ole USA!!!  My study of the french language before our trip turned out to be quite helpful, and quite inspiring to learn more.  Wish I could have spoken it better, but was delighted to be able to read it and understand it as well as I did.  How cool it will be when I can say I am bilingual or multi-lingual (I plan on learning Spanish after I learn French).  It is not only common among the Europeans to know several languages before graduation from high school, but expected.  Most Europeans can speak French, Spanish, Italian, and English, and communicating with others in their native tongue is just the coolest!

Lots to catch up on after being gone for 10 days and another trip (Greece) in just 2 short weeks, busy times, but good times!

Bon Jour