Quelle Surprise!

This morning, I got up before the sun was up, on a Sunday, voluntarily. I knew I had a whole list of things to do today and I went to bed insanely early last night (I think I was in a cheese comma). First on my to-do list, LAUNDRY. It is so inconvenient to not have a washing machine close by. Even in college all I had to do was walk down a flight of stairs. Now, I have to walk down a flight of stairs and down the street. And today it is cold and windy. Bleh.

But, on the other hand, I do like being out and about on Sunday morning s. There’s a big market right by my Laundromat, so I decided today I’d stick my laundry in a machine and go take a look around the market. Of course, I ended up buying all of my produce and bread there for the week (adding more bags to carry home with the laundry). But, not only was it cheaper (10 euros for 3 huge apples, 2 pears, 2 tomatoes, 1 avocado, 1 huge and beautiful head of lettuce, a basket of strawberries, and a large pink praline brioche that should hopefully last more than 2 days), but it was great fun! The market people (I don’t know what to call them in English) genuinely want you to have the best fruits and vegetables. One market guy sang everything I ordered and asked when I’d be eating my food so as to pick the perfect ripeness. It was cold and rainy and I walked away thoroughly pleased with my experience.

I got finished with my laundry and back to my apartment. I was starved, and got all the ingredients ready for an omelette au jambon (ham omelet). I had everything ready, from the lettuce and tomatoes cut and ready for my salad, to the butter melting in the hot pan when Laurence called, inviting me to lunch at midi (noon). I had no idea what time it was… I said, huh, well I’m just about to make myself something, but I can leave it for later. She said she’d be there in 25 minutes.

Now, I had a whole list of things to do today- laundry was first, omelet second, cleaning, putting away my laundry, and grocery shopping third, and lastly, a shower. I was looking a little rough, so I ran to the shower, and miraculously got ready in 15 minutes with enough time to put away my omelet ingredients and laundry! The rest can wait, I thought! Here’s my chance at the big French, Sunday meal I’ve always dreamed of (or something like that).

As you can imagine, my insides were a-gurgling at this point. We got to Laurence’s house (her mother in tow), and nothing was ready yet. I thought, my God, I’m going to collapse. (But, not to worry, I survived). Laurence’s mother is hilarious. She’s very theatrical, deaf, and talks non-stop. She knows 2 words in English: Good Morning. Even though I didn’t quite catch all of what she said, she was entertaining nonetheless.

All 3 kids were there and the husband went to fetch his mother, so we were 8 in total for lunch. Laurence made raclette, which is similar to fondue in that it involves melted cheese… but different. With fondue, everyone eats from the same pot of cheese, dipping their meats or breads in it. The cheese is also mixed with wine and cream and spices of some sort. With raclette, everyone is given a mini-frying pan, that has its own spot in a heating device put in the center of the table. In this frying pan, you put a type of cheese, cut especially for the raclette dish, in your frying pan. While it heats up, you take already cooked potatoes and cut them up on your plate… along with various charcuterie (cold cuts). Then, once your cheese is melted, you pour it over your potatoes and meat. It’s delicious. I probably had 8 little frying pans of cheese (they kept giving me more, it’s hard to refuse!). We had this with an appetizer of quiche and salad, and a dessert of almond cake and espresso. OH- it was good. Well worth the disruption in my planned out Sunday.

After lunch, we talked for a while, they asked me about my upcoming trips… gave me suggestions, etc. I told them I was a little afraid the strikes would interfere, but they didn’t seem too worried about it (but then again, this is normal for them). Laurence asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her and Laura, but I told her I needed to get back. But, what’s exciting is that she told me the movie theater in Saint-Priest, located a block away, will be reopening on Wednesday! And! Harry Potter is on the list of films that they will eventually show. Now, I don’t know if it will be in its VO (version originale) or the VF (version française, with dubbed over voices)… but who cares! I’ll go see both!

So now I’m home, ready to explode. I feel like I’m going to wake up with cheese coming out of my ears tomorrow after such a cheesy weekend. But, there are worst things I guessJ

Reste cool mes amis!