How is life going abroad?

    It is coming up to four months abroad on December 1, the time has really flown by! It will be five months in total that we will have been away from Vancouver. Today I went grocery shopping with the family we are staying with and it made me laugh when I was sent on a mission to find some items and I knew exactly where to go and what products would be awaiting me. I guess that is the biggest thing Ive noticed about adjusting to life abroad...the everyday stores that used to be foreign and unknown are becoming common. Instead of thinking, 'Oh, we will stop by at Save-On-Foods and buy some milk', I am now automatically thinking, 'Oh, we will stop by at Intermarche and grab some milk'. I also find myself craving products on the shelves here and even recognizing brands I perfer and dislike. Surprisingly enough I've even found boulangerie chains I do not like or others that I do...it's a really neat feeling transitioning from a tourist to a temporary resident of a foreign country.
    I still am finding that I have everything that I could possibly need in my backpack and I recently even sent some clothing back home. It's so liberating having absolutely nothing! All I really need is a camera, some paper and pen and a couple pieces of clothing. It's funny because as I'm writing this paragraph I'm looking around the room to see if there are some other important things Ive packed...but quite honestly there really isn't! One thing I will be honest about though, is how nice it is to have a piece of technology with you; whether that's a tablet, IPad or laptop. Having one will allow you to cut down on space used for books, games, dictionaries ect. and allow you to have it all in one unit. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy having some technology with me, because I do. It allows me to have entertainment, keep in touch with family and friends, have access to translators and keep me up-to-date with news back home. Being a completely honest traveller...I'd recommend having some form of technology with you when you travel for long periods of time.
    Our French is improving greatly day by day, and we are at the level where we now can slowly communicate pretty much whatever we need to in some form or another. Hearing people speak is still very difficult as the speed is very fast. Listening to the radio helps alot and listening to the language being spoken at the dinner table has been great as well. We can definitely understand more than when we first arrived. The best part for me at this point with learning a new language, is that now it does not sound like one long word like it did in the beginning. I now can pick out each individual word and understand a great majority of them...the next step is to keep pace and piece together the words fast enough. I really look forward to the day when it 'clicks' and my brain can keep up with the pace!
    My favourite items I have with me at the moment are random items I've collected over the past four months such as a peacock feather and an Italian peculator! Very odd (and impractical) items to have as a backpacker, but these are the things I've collected or have had given to me and I cherish the most. I even picked up a set of copper pots at a flea market in Liseaux the other weekend! They are gorgeous pots with old handles and embossed 'made in France' prints and although they will be painful to move around...I love them and I feel it's worth it! Along with the peacock feather, pots and peculator, you can also find in my bag; artisan leather work boots, an apron given to me as a gift, a wool dress jacket (from a fashion show), collection of recipes and even bread levain (starter)! I laugh when I look at these odd items I've collected and I'm so happy to know I will have them for years to come giving me the best thing of all...memories.
   

Life in Normandy...Cakes, Burgers, Pots and Fashion!

    We have been in Auquainville, Normandy for the past month with a family in a beautiful restored 200 year old Manor. Auquainville is very small and many locals in the area do not even know where this small village is. It's located 10 minutes away from Liseaux, so it is not very far from where we stayed last at Boulangerie Les CoPains. I cannot say enough nice things about this family...they are some of the nicest people I have met. So welcoming, funny and helpful and really have made us feel at home here in France. Our original plan was to stay 3 weeks before moving on to another Wwoofing location, but we decided against leaving because we love it here so much and also because they have been helping me enormously with my CV (french resume) and cover letter, which I may add is a very hard task to finish in proper french on your own. It appears many jobs in patisseries are being filled now for the Christmas rush, so I've decided to remain here and focus on job-hunting where I can get help and have a flexible schedule in case of a last minute interview.

                                                                    (our room)

    I am very nervous to have a French interview as I fear I will not be able to understand what is being said to me. I am actually quite confident with answering the questions as the family has been training with me, as long as I can hear what the question is. It is intimidating and something I never thought I would be doing 4 months ago when I first started learning french, but when you have goals and dreams you cannot let anything get in the way.
    My fiance and I have been working hard here in the yard and kitchen...you could say we have developed a personal attachment to the yard. With both having jobs, the large yard had become overgrown with vegetation and hedges had turned into trees. Seeing the potential, we have been putting 110% into our daily work and trying our best to reclaim this beautiful yard. The family have been thrilled with our work and amazed at our willingness to work so hard. There has been many times they have told us "you can stop now, it's been 5 hours", but we both always want to continue on and keep working. My opinion is, why stop working at 1 o'clock in the afternoon? Honestly, what else are you really going to go do? I guess you could call us slight workaholics, but when you can see how happy people are from what you are doing...you really want to keep going.

    Entire trees have been cut down, hedges topped and wood sheds built, and our latest project was taking back the garden. Nestled in the back of the property behind old stables and hedges is a beautiful garden stretching back to vine covered walls. The entire garden was grown over with 2 meter high bushes when we first arrived and behind that was what they referred to as "The Jungle"! An area so overgrown with brambles and trees you couldn't even take three steps inside. We could sense the pure frustration in the wife's voice when she showed us what had become of her garden since life got in the way. In the last week of our planned stay, my fiance and I tackled the garden and successfully removed all the invasive plants and trees and he even surprised her with being able to rota till the soil!

 It made us so happy to see the relief in her eyes when she realized she could use the garden again finally. It was actually very exciting to reclaim the land and dig up cement edging and pathways that were previously buried, and to see it return to its original state. After completion of the garden, we both knew what was our next task. Although there was no mention to us to attack the jungle...we knew it had to happen because otherwise it would remain there and infuriate her every time she worked in her garden. All I can describe about that day the jungle came down, was my fiance was like the Chainsaw Massacre to those brambles! Within two days we had every last weed, tree and branch out and it resembled part of the yard again. Brambles have become over the past few months one of my worst enemies, because if you have never encountered them before...they are sharp, they stick to you with every step you take, and they take over absolutely everything! I fear one day they will take over the world...seriously!

    Aside from the yard work, I have been making many pastries and breads in the kitchen, which is always received with smiles here. It made me smile when I asked the 12 year old daughter what her favourite pastry was...and she answered "All of the pastries you make".  Coming here to France I felt very intimidated to bake as a North American. I felt that people of France would look down upon my style because well....it's France! Surprisingly, I have had nothing but positive feedback and everyone genuinely loves my pastries! The specialty that appears to be most popular with everyone here is the carrot cake I make with cream cheese icing! I have been requested to make it a number of times now and I laugh every time...who would of thought? I have a very funny memory of making carrot cake here in France...Shortly after our arrival in Auquainville, we were invited to a friends house with the wife and after a nice visit and tea the topic came up, "What do you make back in Canada?" I told them that I make many traditional pastries that are in France, pies and carrot cake. The look on both the women's faces was priceless, pure excitement. The friend asked loudly, "With Philadelphia?" I started laughing and nodding my head. Within seconds there was a bag of fresh walnuts in front of me and it was officially arranged...I was to make carrot cake TONIGHT! Then the friend dove into the cupboard and grabbed out a familiar yellow container of baking powder, brought back from Canada (there is no baking powder/soda readily available here, although I've heard soda can be tracked down if you search for it). It was if I was going to bake them gold, their faces were glowing with excitement. When we got back home, I walked into the kitchen and tried to get myself acquainted with the foreign kitchen. To my horror I quickly discovered that there were NO ingredients for this cake! My first experience baking for an actual French family and I had nothing to bake with! There was no brown sugar, baking SODA, allspice, crushed pineapple, measuring cups, measuring spoons and no scale! ( I later in the week discovered a scale hidden in the cupboard). Slightly flustered I went into work mode and thought to myself..'What can I improvise with?'. Needless to say, the cake turned out surprisingly great with some alterations and everyone absolutely loved it!

    Since then, I have made carrot cake a number of times and people have actually gotten into arguments over the last piece. Once again, who would of thought? I also made an assortment of pastries for a fashion show for a wonderful designer named Valerie Bacquet. Everyone loved my pastries and at the end I was actually given a standing ovation and Valerie gave me a beautiful apron from her collection. I felt very good that evening, and I must say, baking for people that I was so intimidated by has really given me confidence that I can use in my career ahead.
    Getting off the topic of food and coming back to the designer Valerie Bacquet, I was lucky enough to be introduced to this fantastic woman. Her brand is called Modelunik, and is absolutely fabulous! I was invited over to her home multiple times where she served us champagne and showed us her collection...perfect evenings! I fell in love with one particular wool jacket in her collection but aware of my tight travel budget I had to sadly hang it back on the rack. A few days later I was surprised by my family when they pitched in money, so I could purchase the jacket! I was so happy and thankful from their generosity and now I have that gorgeous jacket hanging beside me as I write.

    Along with acquiring a jacket, I have also recently acquired a set of copper pots! Yes, I know it's crazy but I could not say no when I seen the old set of pots at the massive garage sale in Liseaux last weekend for only 30 Euros!!! I have been wanting a set for so long and I am so thrilled to have a very authentic French set now...even if it is heavy to carry. Certain things are worth the extra effort to carry around...like my Italian coffee peculator from the Pyrenees and my peacock feather. You really do start to collect odd things after travelling for so long.

    Another memory from this month that makes me laugh is the Canadian style hamburgers we made for the family. They wanted us to make a Canadian meal for them, and we had a hard time deciding on something that was 'Canadian' as most of our cuisine is international. Jokingly, I mentioned 'hamburgers' and everyone cheered and said we had to make them! I felt silly making hamburgers as North Americans because how much more of a stereo type is there? My fiance agreed he would prepare the meal and even use the fire outside to cook them. When he started mixing in handfuls of ingredients into the beef and shaping the patties they watched in amazement. That night everyone was praising him at the dinner table. They told us they had never had a hamburger that tasted like this and the husband (who is a manager at the Ritz Paris Hotel) even told him, 'You need to show our chef how to make a hamburger like this!' I laughed so hard after the Hamburger night, and it was requested again the following weekend.

    We are loving our time in France very much and I have been enjoying meeting so many new people and having new experiences everyday. I am a more open person now, and I also feel more confident in my abilities. Travelling is helping my fiance and I both become more sociable and outgoing...qualities I hope to bring home to Canada. It has been so fun to watch people enjoy such North American traditions and have such positive feedback.

                                                                 (Simba and I-My helper)

The Grocery Stores of France...

    Food has always been a very important part of my life whether it's food at home or eating out. Grocery shopping was always a favourite day for me because I loved wandering through the isles of food discovering new ideas. This is why whenever I travel I tend to visit the grocery stores. For most a trip to the supermarket during holidays seems unthinkable but if you really want to get a feel for a new place the grocery store is where to find it. Here you will see actual local people going about their day and if you peek into their carts you can even see what local people eat rather than what is portrayed in Americanized restaurants. Here you can observe how people interact with one another and the similarities and differences of how children behave while shopping with their mother. It's fun to watch what treats the child in the cart will reach for in a foreign country...sometimes the same as back home...sometimes different. Aside from people watching, wandering through the isles and seeing the different products is exciting on its own!
    Here in France, we have visited many grocery stores as we do most of our eating at hostels because eating out daily is the number one activity to break your budget. There are different styles of grocery stores here...

• Petite Supermarche- Usually contains the minimal products such as cereal, milk, fruit and of course cheese. Not somewhere you would want to do a complete shopping trip at. More of a 'You forgot eggs' type of market. Most common name is Petite Casino.

• City Supermarche- Urban grocery stores located in the core of the city offering everything you could need from produce to meat. For days that you want to have a picnic or an easy dinner they offer many pre-made salads. My favourite is the crab and pasta salad! The common stores you find are Carrefour City.

• Supermarche- Regular sized markets that offer everything with reasonable prices. Expect to find around three isles dedicated to wine! Common products back home that are not easily found here (perhaps in specialty shops) includes Cheddar cheese, ketchup, brown sugar, baking soda/powder and out of season produce. Common stores are Carrefour, Casino, and Monoprix. My personal favourite is Carrefour as the produce is always fresh and there is great selection.

• Hypermarche- These are surprisingly found everywhere in France and are very popular for convenience and cost. They are usually located on the outskirts of the city due to the large size. Here you will find everything from food, clothing, housewares and electronics. Surprisingly the meat and fish departments are excellent with some even having awards! Unfortunately, here you will find out of season produce imported from Spain and Africa. I say unfortunately because I really admire how many French people and restaurants try to stay seasonal and accept the fact that strawberries are not available in December. Common stores are Intermarche and E.Leclerc. I like shopping at Intermarche because the produce is fresh and the meat and seafood is great. I do not like to shop at E.Leclerc because I find these stores to be huge, expansive buildings with poor quality and consistently bad produce.

• Markets- My favourite place to shop of course with local vendors offering beautiful produce, cut to order meat and seafood, nuts and delicious cheeses. Markets are only held usually once a week in both small villages and cities and is a highlight for each community. There is nothing better than admiring the healthy produce on a Sunday afternoon or eating samples of cheese from an old French man in suspenders.

   So that is my small rundown on where to buy food in France. There is of course many more supermarkets in France that I haven't listed but these are the common stores you will find everywhere. There has been so many new products I've become attached to over the past three months such as Lion Cereal (chocolate caramel flavour), Papillon Roquefort cheese, Smarties yogurt snack, and baguette.

The milk is sold differently here as well and it took us quite awhile to figure out how exactly it works. Instead of all the milk being in coolers, the milk is sold in plastic bottles and on the dry shelf! It turns out the majority of the milk is UHT treated (Ultra High Temperature) so it can sit on the shelf for months! You can find some milk sold in the cooler but it is sparse and much more expensive. I actually really love the UHT milk as I find it has a sweet taste to it and the price is great ( 0.55 cents/liter). Also, speaking of great prices...as you'd imagine being in France there is a fantastic selection of wine in every store...sometimes taking up much of the store. You can purchase a decent bottle of wine for as low as $3.00! Cheese is also plentiful and affordable with wheels of Camembert costing between $3-$6.00. I will most definitely be writing another blog about the wines and cheeses I have tasted here in France and other local specialties but for now I hope this blog has perhaps encouraged you to take a tour of the local grocery store next time you travel.