Ritchie's African Life: Noel in France

One thing that I miss about Christmas in Kenya is the cold and the snow. So this Christmas I decided to go to France to spend the holiday with Ingrid and her boyfriend, Gilles. Ingrid, at this point, is in her 9th month of being pregnant and hopefully she will have a special delivery before I leave France.

I thought I would be prepared for this trip, but I forgot that I had hardly any winter clothing. Luckily, my roommate, Chris, was gracious enough to loan me a thick hoodie and a cap. Let me tell you, those really kept me warm, especially upon arrival in Paris. Oh, I was daring enough to take Turkish Airlines again ... well daring or stupid. The flights were ok, expect my flight from Nairobi to Istanbul was 6 hours late. That really didn't start my trip off well. I even asked if I could have my money refunded and just stay in Nairobi, but I am glad that I didn't. So back to Paris, I arrived late, not a surprise, but the thing was that I had already purchased train tickets to go to Tours, and trains rarely run late ... except when France is unprepared for a deep freeze and snow. The train was about an hour late, so I made it! :) Then it was about another hour late to arrive in Tours because it couldn't go its normal speed because of the cold. In the end, I traveled for a long time and I arrived in Tours unscathed. Ingrid and her step-son were at the train station to pick me up. It was great to see a familiar face.

I really didn't have much planned and Ingrid had off due to her impending delivery, so we hung out at the house. Her step-children were over for some of the time. And the other times we were busy shopping to replenish the food that had been consumed. We ate SO much ... TOO much. It seemed as if every day was a new meal and more guests. We had Gilles' one sister and her husband come for Christmas and then his other sister and her family came for New's Year. For both events, we made tons of food. The meals consisted of finger food (picture below) and drinks. Then we moved to the table for the rest of the meal. We ate seafood, a tartelette of fois gras and green apples, then on to the turkey and other meat. At the end of the meal, we had a salad, cheese and then dessert. The French love to eat and that we did! Meals are a good time to converse and to just hang out. I think we were at the table for more than 3 hours for both meals.

After New Year's, things go on sale ... especially CHOCOLATE. I am embarrassed, yet proud, to say that I bought about 9 boxes of mouth-watering Lindt chocolate, a traditional holiday chocolate for the French. I also had a chance to buy my fill of French cheese and tea. Since I was in France over "Three King's Day" (Epiphany), I got ingredients to make their special "galette des rois" ("Three King's Cake"). It is a puff pastry with a crushed almond / hazelnut filling. You usually hid a bean inside and the person that gets it is the king for the day.

My learning never ends. Every time I go to France, I learn more French and other skills. This trip I learned more about cooking. I got to the point that I could make those finger foods in my sleep ... we made so many of them. Also, I learned how to make a "fondant au chocolat" (like a really moist and fluffy brownie, but way better). Because of the cold weather, Ingrid made many "potage" (soups) using her handy-dandy hand mixer. Just boil all the ingredients and mix them up in the pot -- voila, great soup!

Besides my cooking, I learned more about French culture and the language. For New Year's Eve, they had on many programs that had famous French people. I got to know new singers and even TV shows. One of my absolute favorite show is "Un diner presque parfait" ("An almost perfect dinner"). Every week 5 people are chosen in a particular city to show off their cooking and presentation skills. One of the 5 cooks and invites the others over. The others are to judge the cook on presentation, ambiance and food. At the end of the week, the winner is announced. I miss that show. Also, I got to see the show "Plus belle la vie", a French soap opera that is set in a small part of Marseille. The episodes are only 22 minutes long and are everyday, so it can be addicting. I bought the first box-set of the first season to possibly use in my AP French class. It gives a good representation of the French language and culture.

I ended my time in France with a very early-morning train ride to Paris, then metro to the airport. I was sad to go ... Ingrid had not delivered ... and it is just hard to say good bye. I arrived in Nairobi without any problems and I was back in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops the next day. So much for a cold Christmas!