Happy Mothers Day -
Yes, it is Sunday, May 25th and it is Mothers Day in France. We had an interesting day, spending the afternoon having coffee at our friend’s home in Aubagne. This is the couple with Icelandic and Indian roots, who we met through hockey, as their son played on the same team as Keaka. I had called to confirm that our family would attend the post-season hockey team party and Kirin (the Indian woman) insisted we come over for coffee. So, we spent almost four hours around their kitchen table talking about almost every subject under the sun. And, we planned a Marseilles dinner outing this coming Saturday at a restaurant on the ocean that is known for having great boulibaise, which Marlene has been determined to try.
Marlene has wanted to make sure we had a truly French meal before we left, in that we haven’t been the biggest supporters of French cuisine (at least in the South of France). So, we decided to go to Lyon, considered the gastronomic center of France. I did some research and found a two-star Michelin restaurant. Our friends today confirmed the choice, calling La Mere Brazier one of the most famous restaurants in France. So, we have train reservations and a lunch reservation this Tuesday. The train ride is 90-minutes each way. Lyon is the second most populated city in France. So, we have a 90-minute train ride, 90-minutes to explore Lyon and get to lunch, 90-minutes for lunch (that may be a little of a rush), and 90-minutes of exploring prior to our train departing for home. I have no doubt this will be the most expensive lunch I have ever been involved in.
Last night we were at a home about 30-minutes from our house, where a family was giving a year-end party for Sophia and Keaka’s friends from the International Section at school. Nothing too notable, until we found where this family lived. The dad works for Total, the largest French oil company that even has a refinery in Texas. They live in a company-owned complex of homes adjacent to a Total refinery. It was a fabulous area, with large two story homes in some rolling wooded hills, generally hidden from the other homes. We had seen nothing like it in France, and it certainly reminded us of a wealthy neighborhood in the United States. Two years ago the family (they are French) was living in Korea, when the dad was working for QatarGas, before joining Total. The kicker is that they had a large refinery accident not long ago in Toulouse, which destroyed some homes. Thus, the French government tightened the laws regarding living near refineries. So, the company homes in this neighborhood are about to be torn down.
Our trip of the past week was a quick trip last Wednesday morning to the city of Brignoles. It’s just off the auto route to Nice and about 30 minutes from our house. It sounds like everywhere we go is 30-minutes away. We went to Brignoles, a city of 17,000, only because it was there. We learned it was a mining town (aluminum and bauxite mines) from the mid-1800s to the 1960s and the pretty large old town dated from the Middle Ages to the 1700s. Probably most notably, in 2009 Brad Pitt and Angela Jolie bought a 35-room complex with a small lake and vineyards just outside of Brignoles and have been updating the complex. Not sure if the project has been completed, but they certainly lift the level of life of the neighborhood.
So, the point of this little sharing session is that we have photos of Brignoles. It’s a long way from the Eiffel Tower, but it is a French city. We looked in the window of a meat market in Brignoles and Marlene wanted to be sure you saw (even with the window glare) the hens for purchase. Clearly, dead but nothing more. They are a long way from my dinner plate. There’s a photo of the main plaza and a photo of a typical bar (coffee house in the morning) on the plaza (every town has a few of these). Then, you have a photo of Marlene with Maurice on the plaza. Also, a photo of a typical French café/brasserie. Then, there’s a look down the main street of town. And, Keaka recently purchased the new featured chicken sandwich at McDonalds. I could not resist taking a photo of the menu board showing this new sandwich at McDonalds. When I ordered the sandwich, the French teenager behind the counter was thrown when I called it a Southern Chicken Cajun (hey, that’s what it said on the sign). He finally said, “Oh, the kah-jus”. I had never heard the word cajun pronounced kah-jus, but that’s how the French pronounce it. And, just as a note, the Southern Chicken Cajun sandwich costs $7.83 USD and it isn’t very good. Add a medium Coca-Cola at $3.45 USD and the combination is something less than a bargain.
The Wilsons
