For the Foodies

Before we get to the photos which cause people to salivate, let's talk about poop.  During the past few months Douglas has been coming to us to let us know that he has a poopy diaper and needs it changed.  Sam used to remind him not to touch his penis (or anywhere in the nether region) while he gets his diaper changed, but we no longer need to remind him.  He now comes to us with his hands up (see above photo) saying, "Mom/Dad, I have poopy diaper.  I no touch my peepee."  Cute little man, and very helpful.

This is for my nephews/niece.  I want to know which of you can figure out why this leaf is floating.

Tuesday night was our "all-American" night.  We visited Buffalo Grill for dinner, where I ate a hamburger with 100% French beef and Sam ate fish and chips.  Okay, maybe not so American.  Then we attended a portion of the Vichy-Clermont basketball game.  Vichy-Clermont is part of France's national basketball league.  I met two of the players' wives at a playground one day and they told me about the games.  Two or three of the players on the team are from the States.  They bounce around (Taylor, there's another pun for you) from country to country in Europe playing one-year contracts with various teams.

Douglas liked the mascot: a big, red and yellow dragon.

I was happy to leave after the first quarter.  Those drums are made for massive soccer stadiums, not small basketball arenas.  Loud!

Looks like the terrorist group really is targeting the youth.  They have a toy store in Vichy!  They offer a wide variety of toys and games.  Some of their favorite games are Guillotine, Cards Against Humanity, Uno Attack, Exploding Kittens, Risk: The Game of Global Domination, Tigris and Euphrates, The Invasion of Canada, Taboo, Diplomacy, Operation, and Acquire.  Do I need to put a smiley face after this paragraph, or does everyone understand that I am joking?  Don't report my blog to the FBI.  I'm pretty sure the English acronym "ISIS" is not the same in French anyway.

Okay, now that we've mentioned poop, floating leaves, European basketball, and terrorist entertainment, let's talk about yummy French food.  These photos are a sampling of the different goodies through which we have delighted our taste buds over the past month.  Above you see a chocolate-hazelnut pastry.

Lemon meringue on the left; some kind of strawberry puffy thing on the right.  They weren't so great, but they look pretty.

Pistachio macaroon

Fluff.  Again, it looks pretty, but did not produce the desired gustatory experience.

Most mornings I would walk five minutes to this bakery to obtain the items you see below.

Pain au chocolat, quiche, pastries with some kind of potato filling and sour cream on top, and croissants.  I probably ate an average of two croissants per day......in between meals or middle-of-the-night snacks.

This one is from a fabulous Italian restaurant (Michelangelo's).  Thin cookie on top, sweet white cheese (similar to cream cheese) in the middle, apple sauce and mini apples on the bottom.

Strawberry fruit tart

Saint Honoré (said with a French accent)

 Large cookie with strawberry filling and powdered sugar on top.

Apple tartlet

Sam loved her cheese rounds with various spices on top.  She put them on her salad each day.

Crepe filled with veggies and a delicious cream sauce.

Crepe filled with cheese, potatoes, and strips of ham.

Crepe filled with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream.

I really enjoyed the goat-cheese and spinach galette (a crepe made from buckwheat) with honey drizzled on top, which is offered at the Creperie Saloon (see photo below).

Menu at the Creperie Saloon

 Inside the Creperie Saloon.  Notice the photos on the wall?

 Mint-chocolate crepe

Goat-cheese and spinach galette (with honey drizzled on top)

 Douglas is a very considerate child.  He knew that Mom would complete her study abroad course today, so he asked me to take him to the store to buy her some flowers and chocolates.  He woke up from a nap five minutes before I took this photo......and he still gave me a semi-cheese.  Superb.

 He also wrote a nice card to her.

"I propose a toast.  To Vichy!  We made great memories here."

"I will even give you a 'Cheese!' while I toast."

Rignac & Rocamadour

Friday afternoon we drove three hours south to the village of Rignac (pronounced "Reenyak").

Population:  270 

We found Maud & Jean-Luc's place on Airbnb.com, and what a find it was!  The village is charming, the home is beautiful (and 300 years old!), and Maud and Jean-Luc are amazing hosts.  If you are looking to visit France, we highly recommend taking a trip to Rignac to stay with Maud and Jean-Luc and visit the beautiful surrounding area.

Here is their Airbnb.com listing:  https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2133217

They even brought in a crib for Douglas, which made for two great nights of sleep for Sam and me.

This is the oven which served the entire village years ago.

We wandered around the village after getting settled in our room and we stumbled upon a Friday-night gathering of petanque players.  Sam mentioned that we might be able to convert the grass on one side of our home into a petanque pitch. :)

Saturday morning, after a delicious breakfast of various breads, homemade jams, eggs, milk, and orange juice, we drove a few kilometers to Rocamadour.  Wikipedia will explain the significance of Rocamadour to you:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocamadour

At the chateau on top of Rocamadour

He kept looking up saying, "Hey everybody!"

Looking down from the top of Rocamadour

"Applesauce!"

We ate lunch at Au Panorama.  The white stuff on the two pieces of bread is Rocamadour goat cheese.  It has a very strong taste.

The salmon and lentils were excellent.

Oh, how I enjoyed wandering around this little village.

Maud is a warden of the 15th-century church in Rignac.  She gave us a little tour of the church and she gave Douglas some colored pens and paper to keep him happy.

Beautiful place

"Dad, I have a poopy diaper."

Maud asked us to sing in order to demonstrate the great acoustics of the building.  Sam picked the fifth verse of Nearer, My God, To Thee and Doogles "accompanied" us.  I thought he was drumming with the colored pens, but Sam says he was trying to lead the music for us.

Saturday afternoon we visited the monkey forest.  I thought it was going to be similar to an experience one would have at a zoo (seeing monkeys in trees at a distance).  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my pre-visit judgment of the monkey zoo was completely erroneous.

We had fun mingling with these funny little things, and our visit was perfectly timed.  It rained just before we arrived, and the rain forced us out as we were approaching the end of the walk.

Dad (Kelly), we thought you might appreciate this.

I went back to Rocamadour in the late afternoon in an attempt to get "the perfect shot," but the clouds didn't quite break enough.  And this morning we went back for another try, but the entire valley was covered (and I mean covered!) in fog.  I couldn't see 30 feet in front of me.  Ah well, another reason to come back to Rignac.

We taught Douglas a couple of commands to open and close the car.

We listened to General Conference as we drove back to Vichy today.  For those of you who may not know what "General Conference" refers to, it is a semi-annual conference held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.  The conference is broadcast throughout the world and the talks are interpreted/translated into 90+ languages.  Here is a link if you are interesting in watching/listening to some of the talks:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_SA_1-10-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL2-4_

We prefer saying "à bientôt" instead of "au revoir" to our friends, Maud and Jean-Luc, because we hope to see you again soon.  You made our visit wonderful.