Oh Em Gee, you guys. I think I have recovered enough from the drama that was my Return to the States to finally get back to blogging. Stay tuned to the blog for that story...I'm recovered enough to write, but not about that....not yet, anyway.
Ok so, where were we.....oh yes, the last day I spent in France on this trip. Another late morning, you may well imagine. I mean, when the guests don't leave until 2:30 am, you couldn't really be expected to wake up before 10 am the next morning, right? Once I got up, got ready and repacked my suitcase, I went downstairs to discover more jam being made, and some tarte flambées about to go into the oven. YUM. Anyone who knows me probably knows about my obsession with this particular Alsatian delicacy. The best place to have tarte flambée is probably in a little country inn, miles from the nearest city. Next best (to me) is happy hour at Les Brasseurs in Strasbourg. Tarte flambée can definitely taste better when eaten in a place that conjures up happy memories of studying abroad or being a broke teaching assistant. When neither of those options are possible, you do whatchu gotta do - you go frozen. They were super yummy, and I ate more than I probably should have. Glorious.
The tarte flambée was eaten out on the patio, in the garden, in the sunshine, btw. I also spent the afternoon out in the yard, sitting in the shade and catching up with another one of my colleagues from last year, one of the teachers from the middle school who happens to live in the same town as Isa. Her two daughters came along, both very young and super cute. One of them was in a FOUL mood, and kept biting/hitting/kicking/hair pulling, and generally being disagreeable. Isa sent her kids up the road to an elderly neighbor's house to deliver a jar of homemade jam. The neighbor has gotten the nickname "Madame Chocolat" because she's always giving the kids chocolate. This time was no different, and they returned with a gift wrapped box of very expensive and yummy chocolates, which we promptly opened and shared. La vie, franchement, est belle.
We had a quick raclette dinner, which I requested (again on the patio, in the garden...are you tired of me yet?) before Isa took me back to the airport for my evening flight. Raclette is a cheese, meat and potatoes meal, pretty heavy and hearty and not at all what you'd expect to have on a hot summer evening. The thing is that raclette cheese and the raclette melting machine are not widely available in the States. I was carpe-ing the heck out of that diem and eating some of my fave French foods that I really just can't get here very easily/at all. Side note - Trader Joe's does a decent frozen tarte flambée, so I will be journeying to Cherry Hill soon to stock up.
Had another lucky moment at the airport that evening. I hadn't planned on (or paid for) a checked bag, but Isa had given me tons of jam to take home with me and one of those jars was intended as a gift for my friend Kate. Definitely wasn't going to make it through security and onto the plane with that stuff, so I went to the check-in desk to see how much it would cost to check my bag. It is usually really expensive, so I was cringing as I asked....and then the woman at the desk said the word "gratuit". Did I just hear her say free?? I did! Since I had volunteered to check my bag, and because there ended up being not enough room on the flight for all of the carry-on luggage, I didn't have to pay! **happy dance** Isa could't believe it, and I sort of couldn't either. I was so bummed to leave France, but I know that I'll be back next summer, so it's not that bad. I had a pretty uneventful trip back to Jenny's, and there ends my tale. Stay tuned for tales from my wee trip to Scotland!
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