Le Tour de France

Le Tour de France was in my 'hood this weekend! The cyclists didn't pass through Gap this year, as they have in the past. However, they started out today's leg of the race from Embrun, which is about 40 kilometres east of Gap. Was I there? Mais bien sûr! Did I mill around in the pouring rain, shivering along with all the other commoners? Mais non!

Francois is a journalist, right? And journalists get special privileges, right? And Canadian girlfriends who are thrilled at the prospect of cheering on Le Tour de France get to take advantage of those privileges, right? You bet! It is thus that I am currently proudly sporting a very yellow, very official Tour de France wristband that allowed me access into the Tour de France village, for V.I.P.s only, baby!

So great!

We arrived around 9:45 a.m. and there was already a party going on in le village. For someone who loves freebies (moi, for example!) it was paradise. Free coffee, breakfast pastries, newspapers, shopping bags, even wine! (Personally, I felt that having a glass or two of red before 10 a.m. was perhaps a bit much, but there were others who were not of the same mindset!) Wine or no, it was very festive, with music, people on stilts, crazy bicycle demonstrations, and oh... did I mention the freebies?

Actually, I was having so much fun in the freebie zone that I somehow forgot to go back out and join the unwashed masses (!) in order to see the start of today's leg of the race (which, by the way, started in Embrun and ended 183 km later in Italy. You can see a video with highlights from today's leg here.) And check out my super-exclusive yellow-wristband-only photos from le village !

Tour de France

Salade Niçoise

 

I've noticed the trend (especially on blogs written by North Americans living in France) of taking photos of yummy food. I am slightly embarrassed to join their ranks with this post, but don't you love the salade niçoise I made for dinner last night? Yum. It was actually really easy. Just required a little boiling and a bit of chopping... et voilà ! The green beans and new potatoes came from FQ's parents' garden in Pommiers (delivered to Gap by his sister Delphine when she came to visit last weekend) and the tomatoes were bought at the Wednesday market here, which was full of delicious fresh produce. Salade niçoise originated in Nice (hence the name) but is found on restaurant menus all over France. If you'd like to make your own, here's the recipe I used. Bon appétit!

P.S. How cute is my new tablecloth?

C'est la fête nationale de la France!

I am just watching (live, but sadly via the TV) the hugely enormous military parade that takes place on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Wow. Marching bands in all their finery, jets performing a fly-over with coloured smoke in red, white, and blue, tanks rolling along towards the Arc de Triomphe, parachutists armed with the French and EU flags jumping out of planes, floating down over Paris and then landing right in front of the French president... Not too shabby.

There will be a military parade here in Gap this afternoon. There will surely be less fanfare than in Paris, but hopefully lots of handsome French soldiers and firemen all the same! This evening, Francois and I have been invited to a "garden party" (I'd give you the word in French, but they use the English term so what can I do?) Such parties seems to be a typical way of celebrating Bastille Day. That plus fireworks, which happen tonight at 10:30. C'est la fête!

Les Nuits de Fourvière (in other words, R.E.M. and Leonard Cohen come to France and play in a Roman amphitheatre in Lyon just for me!)

I am way too excited. This time tomorrow night, I'll be sitting in a Roman amphitheatre in Lyon watching R.E.M. live on-stage!!! And then (as if R.E.M. is not enough!) on Wednesday night, I will be back in said amphitheatre but this time to see Leonard Cohen!

It's all part of a big music/theatre/dance/cinema festival, Les Nuits de Fourvière, that takes place in Lyon every summer. Right now I am too keyed-up to explain in any more detail, so go have a look at the festival website if you like.

Now, before I sign off, let's recap, shall we?

R.E.M. (who I've loved since I was 16 and have already seen three times in two different countries but who's counting?) and Leonard Cohen, who, as I explained to François, is pretty much the Serge Gainsbourg of Canada. While doing my degree in Canadian Literature back in the day, I took a semester-long course in Leonard Cohen. And now I'm going to see him. In France. In a Roman amphitheatre. Really, the mind boggles, n'est-ce pas?

Le 4 juillet en France

This past weekend, thanks to my friend Camille, I had a chance to celebrate the 4th of July here in France.

 

Camille invited François and I to the traditional Independence Day BBQ that she has been helping organize for a good many years now. As you can see, it was très authentique, with chicken and (hooray!) potato salad.

Like any successful summer gathering, there was swimming. François and Nina (Camille's grand-daughter) jumped into the pool the second we got there.

 

There was also a bit of relaxing...

 

and a whole lot of chatting, in English and French!

There was, of course, la table des enfants. Look how nicely French kids wait for their dinner!

Meanwhile, back at la table des adultes...

All in all, it was a very cool way to spend a sunny summer afternoon.

 

Weekend à la Lavande

Did I tell you that François and I have a pact to go away overnight at least once a month? Well, we do. June was crazy with our arrival in Gap, FQ's new job, the apartment-search, the moving... Despite all that, we still managed to squeeze in our monthly getaway. We decided to go to Valensole, a village about an hour and a half from Gap, that is famous for its lavender fields. After calling the tourist office to make sure that it is indeed the right moment for lavender-viewing (?!), we reserved at a B&B and hit the road Saturday afternoon. I was way too excited to see the lavender fields. Not being a big gardener or crazy about sachets of dried lavender in the undies drawer, I was surprised at how keen I was to go wander among a bunch of purple flowers for the weekend. But really, lavender is so French. How could I not love it?

It was amazing. I'd seen photos galore of rows upon rows of lavender growing next to fields of wheat with a big blue sky above... but the real thing is even more beautiful than I expected. The whole experience reminded me of when I went to see Stacey in Japan for cherry-blossom season. Before witnessing it with my own eyes, I thought, "people sure get excited about a bunch of blossoms!" But once I was there, it was amazing, gorgeous and mesmerizing! Ditto for the lavender fields. And it smelled so good! All fresh and summery... not at all like a dusty old granny's dresser drawer!

We managed to tear ourselves away from taking endless photos of lavender fields long enough to explore the village of Valensole, have a little BBQ on the patio of our B&B, visit a boutique selling all kinds of lavender products (what else?) and go swimming! It was hot hot hot. At least 35 degrees and dry! I felt like I was in a giant kiln. What a relief to find some water to cool down in.

Back here in Gap, our apartment has become "lavender central". Lavender soap? Check! Lavender oil for the diffuser? Check! Lavender water (a kind of spray you can use as air-freshener or put on your pillow to sleep better)? Check!

Think I'm going overboard? Consider this: I've seen lavender-flavoured yogurt and ice cream in the grocery stores here. I imagine it would taste a lot like soap. Non, merci.

So, if you have lavender-scented hand cream or similar, now is the time to bust it out in order to fully enjoy my beautiful photos from last weekend.

Valensole June 2008