A French Adventure, Part II: The Countryside

(This post is continued from here.)

From Paris I boarded a train to Nantes with a bit of a fond excitement still lingering from my short time in Paris. For the country I was exhilarated. All the time in movies I see the Italian country, the English country and the Irish country… but where does the French country exist in movie land? I was about to find out.

The French country was just as charming and inviting as I had imagined.

My train arrived to Nantes, a mid-sized city two hours west of Paris, just after 6:00 p.m. (18:00). My friends Maïlyss and Ruslan were there to promplty greet me. We drove about an hour to their home in a small town sewn into the grassy meadows of France. I felt like I was in a fantasy.

Maïlyss and Ruslan live with Maïlyss’ parents in an old French country home where you definitely feel the presence of rustic French architecture.

You'll have to pardon my not taking many pictures of their house.

Maïlyss’ parents Frank and Jennifer happily welcomed me into their home as soon as we arrived and then the festivities began. We toasted my arrival with a bottle of cava and enjoyed each others’ company in the fresh air until it was time to eat dinner.

Cheers! Pictured: Maïlyss doing the honors.

Dinner was delicious and prepared deliberately vegan just for me :) 

The next morning the five of us departed early to visit a true gem of French history. A few days prior when my dad learned I was going to be staying in western France he told me that if there is one site I should visit it’s Mont St. Michel. And to my own lucky surprise, that is exactly where my friends took me.

A drawbridge!

Here comes the bride!

Versailles has all of the bells and whistles of French luxury, but Mont St. Michel feels truly authentic. It’s like taking a ride in a time machine back to the medieval days. You can almost see the knights in armor walking around the castle grounds and peasants coming to ask the king for more sizable grain rations. I now feel like I have experienced a real castle!

Following our visit to Mont St. Michel we were famished! We had a picnic in a picturesque little neighborhood with an amazing view of the castle. I wish I could remember the name...

After lunch we went to have a drink in the old walled-in village of St. Malo. Once again I was taken back in time… that is until I was awoken by the strong taste of the calvados (a spirit) my friends encouraged me to try. It was then that I decided I should never again attempt to drink liquor neat :) Too strong for me!

We returned home, drank our aperitifs and our wine and then once again had a delicious vegan dinner. These people could open a restaurant!

For hours that night we played Tarot, a French card game that makes use of its own special deck. Maïlyss and Ruslan had prior taught me how to play in Israel. What is really special about it is that the structure of the game changes slightly for every additional player. Later that night, I fell asleep as we were watching a movie that takes place in my own hometown; the movie: White House Down. I will spare you my comments on the movie and just say that Jamie Foxx should never again be cast in the role of a U.S. political figure.

The next day I was in for a special surprise! We drove half an hour west to the town of Blaine to meet Ruslan’s mother, and then an hour east to St. Herelon where Maïlyss’ brother lives with his wife and six-month-old daughter. 

I can’t say enough in the way of positive remarks about Ruslan’s mother. Like Ruslan she is originally from Ukraine and made a special vegan borscht just for me. The borscht was quite different from any borscht I’ve tasted previously; it was lighter on the beets and a little heavier on everything else. It had a lot more variety than I know borscht to have and tasted great with my Kir wine cocktail!

When in France you must do as the French and you must drink a lot of wine! ;-)

After lunch we visited the Castle of Blain but weren't able to go inside since it was closed. We then headed an hour east to St. Herelon to meet Mailyss' brother's family. His baby daughter was adorable but became sad each time that I spoke... perhaps she doesn't like English!

We found ourselves back at Maïlyss and Ruslan's house a couple hours later, ate dinner and then had a relaxing night.

The next morning day six had arrived of my stay in France and I wanted to take Maïlyss and Ruslan to a nice lunch to thank them for their hospitality. They chose the place: La Toile a Beurre in Ancenis. The menu changes daily and throughout the day depending what local farm-grown produce is available to the chef. The restaurant assured us that my being vegan would not be an issue for them and they proved that to be true ... (for the most part)... the food wasn't as filling as it could have been.

The restaurant is on the first floor of the townhouse found in the middle of this photo. 

My amuse-bouche!

My entree.

Unfortunately for dessert all they could come up with (aside from boring old sorbet) was fruit.

Panoramic view of the area from the parking lot.

After lunch we sat in a nearby pub overlooking the river and sipped craft beers. The rest of the day we took it easy since tomorrow was going to be a long one.

In the morning we woke up around 6:00 a.m. and left promptly to visit five different flea markets. The reason, you wonder... Frank and Jennifer buy and sell antiquities, so they visit flea markets routinely.

The number of vendors present at each market ranged anywhere from 50-250. It was really interested to see the kind of things French people have in their homes.

Food offerings (for the most part) at the markets were crepes, croissants, coffee, hot dogs and French fries.

By the time we got home we were all pooped but I decided to push through it and went for a stroll around the town to see all that there was. It was a Sunday so it was pretty much a ghost town. The only shops open were the boulangeries, because of course the French must be able to buy their bread every day of the week!

The was the towns are structured in France is like this: in the center of each town is the church. Around the church you have a couple boulangeries, maybe a book store, a family-owned electronics shop and some other small businesses. You can drive through must of the small towns, from end to end, in a minute.

Go to bed, wake up... already it is my last day in France. Where did the time go, I thought.

Thank you for having me!

Now looking back on my journey that already is a [approximately] month behind me I have to force myself to believe it wasn't a dream. If I ever can get the chance to go back to France I definitely will :)

A French Adventure, Part I: Paris

I didn’t expect to love France. But I did. And the reason it was surprises me most: the people.

The French have a certain sophisticated, yet warm debonair. Many people, including French people themselves, have told me that, on the contrary, French people are snobby and have their noses in the air. If this is the truth, I had a hard time finding any French people to provide me the proof.

Anytime I asked passersby for help they were eager and excited to advise me. A few times I, myself even got stopped by French people who thought I was one of them and asked me for directions to somewhere. Since I don’t actually know the correct way in French to say, “I don’t speak French,” I would just say the latter. 

I love the way the French are not afraid to maintain eye contact. In the U.S., especially in big cities (cough*cough New York), people couldn’t be more distant and cold. If you smile at someone in a public place you are taken as a crazy person. 

My week-long trip began with two nights in Paris.

The flowers were beginning to bloom!

Let’s preface by saying this: my father is one of the most amazing people I know. Because of him my world keeps getting smaller and smaller. My dad has discovered that we have blood relatives in countries I once never knew existed. To name a few though I’m sure there are more: England, Greece, Italy, Turkey, France, Israel, South Africa, Belgium. It is an adventure in itself just to meet these people, let alone to visit them in a foreign place. 

Some of these such long-lost cousins hosted me for two nights at their beautiful home in Paris. They fed me, entertained me and cared for me as if I was one of their own. Even though we share a last name, I couldn’t begin to tell you how we are related and despite this they still consider me family and I them. How amazing to have such a big family! 

Left to Right: Jeremy, me and Noemi (Hopefully I am spelling their names correctly!)

Me and Philippe (I failed to get a picture with his wife Vanessa.. oops!)

My hosts Philippe and Vanessa illustrated visual guides for me of Paris and its special sites and advised me of what to see. Prior to arriving to Paris, my top two priorities were to visit Versailles, and to stand underneath the Eiffel Tower. And guess what: done and done.

I had only one full day to spend in Paris and since Versailles is more than a stone’s throw outside of the city I decided it best to pay a visit to the late Marie A.’s home first. 

Compare this photo with the picture above it. The previous photo was taken at 9:00 a.m. and this one was taken sometime around 2:00 p.m. - it's a good thing I went early and didn't waste any time!

WOW!

Versailles is incredible. What I didn’t realize is that Versailles has two (at least) additional chateaus on the property in addition to the main estate. I visited all three and rode around the gardens on the Versailles mini-train! Honestly though the gardens were nothing to write home about...

One of the chateaus.

There I met travelers from all over the world: The Philippines, Germany, England, Colombia, Argentina, France (of course…). I will let my pictures speak for themselves in regards to the splendor that is Versailles.

When I returned from Versailles I was pretty much pooped. But after a quick matzah break (after all it was still Passover...) I decided to pick myself up and take a stroll to the Eiffel Tower. I thought I would become filled with some kind of jubilant Eiffel Tower feeling, but instead I just felt like a foolish tourist. Despite this, I would have regretted it if I didn’t visit the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Selfie!

Here's the proof that I stood underneath it :)

My second day in Paris was limited - instead of a full day of touring I had until just 2:30 p.m. (14:30) at which point I needed to halt the wandering and catch a train to the west side of France. I decided that in order to make the best use of my time I should walk to the more historic area of Paris to visit Notre Dame, walk around and then eat lunch.

First things first. I got lost. When I say lost I mean I took one wrong turn (walking) at the Eiffel Tower and ended up an hour or so from my intended destination. It wasn’t until after an hour and a half of walking that I decided to ask a passerby how much more time I should expect to walk until arriving at Notre Dame. And to my own amazement, I was walking in the direction of Versailles!

On my long walk to nowhere I discovered there is a mini Statue of Liberty in Paris!

...and wheels bearing the names of the U.S. states Tennessee and Mississippi...

Eventually I caught the train back to Paris and found my way to Notre Dame. By the time I arrived the line to enter Notre Dame was 200-people long. I decided a better use of my time would be to head straight to the restaurant where I planned to eat lunch so I could have a nice sweet conclusion to my time in Paris.

But not before snapping a quick photo of the cathedral!

Le Potager du Marais is a quaint little vegan restaurant that is located by foot about 15-20 minutes north of Notre Dame. The cuisine is French but is 100% vegan. I of course stopped in to support the joint by ordering a three-course meal.

French Onion Soup with 'cheese' and croutons.

Eggplant Surprise - stuffed with 'cheese' and sun-dried tomatoes

Red Berry Crisp

All of the food was delicious. When it was time to pay I was so happy with everything that I left a 15% tip - in Europe I was told that people usually tip 10%. The server was so happy when I handed him the money for his tip that I thought he was a genuinely nice person. Only later did I find out that people usually do not tip in France at all!!! 

After lunch I took the metro back to my cousins’ to gather my things, say farewell and be gone. The next part of my French adventure will be continued…

This might be my favorite picture that I took. It characterizes Paris so well with the juxtaposition of the big city graffiti against the charm of the highly romanticized Eiffel Tower.