“Noël en Provence” revisited…

Another memorable workshop to discover how the Southern part of France celebrates Christmas!

This very unique fashion of celebrating Christmas inspired both by religion and magic explains the origin of the traditional Christmas “log” as a counterpart to the English plum pudding, the making and the meaning of the "mendiants" and the "fruits déguisés" as well as the importance of the many little characters that people the Nativity scene in true Provençal style: the shepherds, the fishmonger, the miller, the poacher, the old couple, the knife grinder, the water carrier, the milkmaid, the pumpkin carrier, the baker, the huntsman, the lumberjack, the musicians, the village happy man (as opposed to the village idiot!), l’Arlésienne and many others gathered in the “crèche” year after year. People add little “santons” (provençal for little saints), year after year, buying them or creating their own even. Stories and songs surround these local handmade nativity scenes and form one of the most vibrant and original tradition.

Artists specialise in the making of “santons” and reach fame as Maîtres Santonniersand there are international festivals and exhibitions of their work in cities such as Arles. Find out more about it by following la crèche provençale.

Paris again... a treat as always!

Another episode of Paris autrement had us all gather at our usual haunt Carrefour de l'Odéon, chattering in French for hours on end with our Parisian friends over delicious meals.

The whole week-end, with the French capital celebrating the arrival of the Beaujolais nouveau, was packed with action as usual and very much under the sign of food. It was complete with an evening at the theatre appropriately named Les Bouffes Parisiens.

Sunday lunch took place at Le Procope where we ate in style as all the other "citoyens" did. We took moments sampling the Beaujolais nouveau in its organic version at La Dernière Goutte rue de Bourbon le Château, discovered the mythical café of La Palette  rue de Seine, visited Les Deux moulins café down rue Lepic in Montmartre where the film of Amélie Poulain was shot and we were served delicious pastry by a girl whose name wasn't Amélie. There were heaps of oysters at each street corner outside cafés and restaurants announcing Christmas and new Year Eve's "réveillons" and pâtisserie shop windows that made you feel guilty just to look at them!

The stroll through the Quartier des Beaux Arts was a surprise for someone like Richard even who has visited Paris many times. We managed to discover unusual places once again, chatted to people on the way and learnt about various ways of visiting Paris in the future, parking safely and economically.

We also spent a few memorable moments in a little bistrot Boulevard Richard Lenoir... 
Feeling a little peckish (!) after a couple of hours' walking all over l'Ile Saint-Louis, paying a visit to La Maison Berthillon, French Mecqua of ice cream, having a look at Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois restaurant's very ethnic menu, inspecting the crooked courtyards of the Marché Saint Paul and the quaint little Square of the Marché Sainte Catherine crossing the stunning Place des Vosges on our way to Bastille, we entered a café nearby (we'll let you find it all by yourself). We sat down and began to soak the whole ambience in; the place was warm and friendly with a provincial feel to it.  There were banners advertising the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau in the windows, barrels by the counter, straw on the floor. Two young children walking around attracted our attention to one of the barrels on which sat two rabbits and two miniature hens happily munching and pecking side by side. Nice way of entertaining children whilst waiting for the order to come through we thought.  The whole place felt quite unusual, surprisingly rustic but very relaxed and welcoming.  Suddenly to our amazement there was the sound of a cockerel singing and that wasn’t my mobile phone ringing!  People looked totally unperturbed and carried on eating as a magnificent bird flanked by a couple of hens took a few steps between the tables.  They were obviously regular customers. Quite a sight really… and what a symbol too, that proud French cockerel ruling the place!

We were lucky to enjoy a mild autumnal weather as we walked for miles as usual. We hopped onto buses and caught the metro to keep our schedule and even the “funiculaire” all the way up to le Sacré Coeur where we enjoyed the breathtaking view over the capital...

No better way to get to know Paris we believe and so does anyone who joins us…. Enjoy a few photos and keep an eye on the calendar for our next visit to Paris in April 2011!

A day of French cuisine at Comberton Village College November 6th

“La tarte des soeurs Tatin” or the art of turning a catastrophe into a world-famous culinary masterpiece!

The name of this apple turnover dessert was taken after that of two French sisters who ran a family hotel in rural France by the Loire River in the 19th century. 
Stéphanie the eldest was famous for her cooking but was not the brightest of people. So the story goes, she dropped the apple tart on the kitchen floor!) she put all the ingredients back upside down into the dish and hurried it back into the oven where it caramelised. She then served this improvised dessert warm and covered in cream. All the guests went mad for it.

At our workshop in Comberton Village College in November we rounded up a day of French cooking by attempting this now world famous recipe.  We stopped short of dropping our attempts on the floor before baking them!  See participants comments below:

• Friendly, informative, helpful tutor.
• Quiche very good and tarte Tatin superb!
• Very pleasant atmosphere all day.
• Altogether it was a fun day.

Join us there next March for more culinary adventures...

In the meantime, have a peep at a video and watch the Tarte Tatin film from Jamie Oliver's website.