la vie en France - c'est beau

I am still having a lovely time in France. Alice's family is really wonderful and they have been feeding me all sorts of French goodies. The other day I went into town with Alice and her mother. Alice had an appointement to get her hair done and her mother had to go to work in Cyrillus, a clothing store. So, I had a few hours on my own to wander around taking pictures, drink some coffee, and do a little shopping. My basic French was good enough to get me through the day and get everything I needed. In the evening we went out for some drinks and catch up on each other's lives, which was really great. I saw a long island iced tea on the menu at one bar, so I decided to order it. The bartender had to call someone and ask a question in order to make it. The result was rather unorthodox, with about half of the drink consisting of coke! Then he said "if it's too bitter, let me know and I'll add more cola". Right. I think they missed the point of that one... I should know better than to order American cocktails in Europe because it never works out right!

Yesterday was also a lot of fun. I went to Ikea (Alice's parents needed a few things to complete their new Ikea kitchen) and then to the grocery store. In the evening, we were invited to dinner with the former neighbors and still friends of the Gondry family, so I got to experience the culinary wonders of yet another French family. This couple has two children, Marine and Vincent, ages 6 and 8. The kids were happy to demonstrate to me that they can count to ten in English. Well done! The dinner was the most interesting part, as it consisted of about 5 courses of appetizers. The first was a martini glass filled in layers- first guacamole, then a sort of tomato salsa with scallops, and some sort of herbally flavored cream cheese on top. It was very interesting to have such a Mexican seeming concoction with seafood in it. After that there were little pieces of bread with all kinds of unidentifiable things on top that were also très deliceaux. My favorite came towards the end though- Have you ever seen a prune with a piece of bacon wrapped around it baked in the oven? Neither had I!!! All that and about 3 glasses of Champagne later, I was enjoying myself but beginning to miss Austria, where I am actually capable of fully participating in a conversation. French is hard, but I suppose that I've studied German a good deal more and that makes a huge difference.

Today looks like another adventure in the making. I neglected to mention earlier that I am in the heart of the Burgundy province, which I a sure you are all aware is quite famous for cuisine and wine. Alice's friend Caroline (also from Dijon) and her American husband Connor are in town for the holidays, and they are coming to pick us up for a wine tasting tour of the province. Watch out Burgundy, here I come!!!