Mt Saint Victoire

Firstly, these photos aren’t recent. However, they are of the the most famous mountain in Provence,Mt Saint Victoire. And three months later (than we took the photos), we can assure you that the mountain is still there, because Sam sees it every time he enters and leaves the city.

ANYWAY,

Everyone here had told us that climbing Mt Saint Victoire is a must for visitors, a suprisingly pictoresque postcard of french country life. It was just like that scene in Mary Poppins where her and the children and ‘Burt’ all jump into the paintings, and end up in the lovely countryside.
For starters, the first thing you see as you enter the park is a sign warning you not to stray off the path: hunters may accidently shoot you. A bit weird.

Then, as we walked ALONG the paths, we spied suspicious looking people carrying curious bundles. You see, it was mushroom and truffle season. And the french were going wild, detectors out and everything.

Before we came to France, we looked at google earth to see our new neighbourhood, and discovered a great big lake on the mountain, which close up and personal is actually a dam and looks like this:

Just like in the other story of Brer Rabbit, we got lost in the brambles but managed to make a nice discovery, that we were surrounded by mulberries. So we decided to collect enough to make a pie. Shame we don’t have an oven.

We bumped into an old-fashioned (really old fashioned) back packer.

He and his wife, and their donkey, would walk up and across the mountain.

We spent all day on the mountain, but missed the bus coming home. So, we had to wait about an hour for the next one. And we invented an amusing game: taking photos of cars as they drive by the highway road. It’s hard, you should try it sometime.

If your travel plans this year don’t include Aix, but you’re desperate to see this mountain, just check out any one of Cezanne’s paintings.

The 10 Top Winter Foods for Students in France.

Chicken Soup (Because we all know it's the best way to fight a cold)

Cheese Fondue (To add some fat to hips etc so as to keep us warm)

Lots of ChChChCheese, generally

Oversized Crepes (most tasty when cooked in a paella dish)

Polenta with red lentils or fried eggs and sour cream (Better than any heater or hot water bottle)

Paella (easy to make with leftovers+rice)

Serbian salad (simple and amazing)

Salads in general (healthy)

Serbian sausage (Chewapchi???? Difficult to spell, easy to eat)

Galette des Rois (First Pic up top:A special type of cake, eaten around the time of epiphany in January. There's a little figurine or a nut inside, to help determine who is the king who gets the crown)

Hot Wine ( A nice side with any meal, eases digestion of otherwise heavy winter menus)

Fromage

One of the best parts of living in France is that there is a different cheese for everyday of the year. And we thought we should publish for you our current cheese count. If there are any here that we have unfairly rated, or worse, cheeses that we have not tried that you know of, tell us!!!

Bleu/Blue cheese:::A bit generic
Bleu d'Auvergne:::The cheapest, decent blue around
Brie:::Stronger than the stuff at home, niiice
Camembert:::Good basic to always have close
Cantal:::Gross
Chevre:::So good with olive oil- but then what isn't?
Comté:::Winner!!
Emmental:::The perfect cooking ingredient- the best pizza in the world is made with this cheese
Fourme de Mt Brison:::A cross between mimolette and blue cheese
Fromage des Chaumes:::Tasteless
Gouda Jeune:::Great with a subtle flavor for beginners
Mimolette Jeune:::Very good
Mimolette vielle:::Better version of the above
Morbier:::Boring
Pave d’Affinois:::Camembert clone
Pecorino:::The best cheese everrrrr
Red Leicester:::British, but still worth eating cos it's yumm
Roquefort:::mmmmmmmmmmm
Tomme de Savoie:::Best with tomatoes. Actually, only with tomatoes!

Snow-side Living 23 Janvier, 2007

The other night, Sam was en route to the corner store when after a few steps he started wondering where all the dust in the air was coming from. He re-arranged his scarf, and after a few steps later thought, 'man, it must be absolute zero tonight!'. He picked up his pace, turned the corner, and a cloud "dust" hit him. 'Damn, that's so uncomfortably cold', he thought, and with a big smile, bolted back to the house with the good news.

Mayan was so excited, she took a few seconds to jump up and down cheering, before scurrying to get her jacket, scarf, beanie etc., so we could go play in the first snow of the year. She kept yelling to Sam, incase he needed some explanation, 'it's snowing, it's snowing, yay, it's snowing'. Later that night, on our way home from the bar, she continued singing those same words over, to the tunes of various songs.

But it occured to me (Mayan) today that a normal lifestyle cannot be fulfilled in cities where it snows often, and the temp. is constantly below zero for 3-6 months each year. For starters it is impossible to get out of bed in the morning. Then there is the problem of hunger: always being hungry means one cannot concentrate at university. Not to mention, food is an expensive basic necessity.

But my new belief was really confirmed when i arrived home that afternoon at 2pm. Sam had met me after school and told me he had nearly recieved frost bite upon doing some handwashing after i had left in the morning. He said 'May, you should see the clothes- they're frozen!'. You wouldn't believe that clothes could actually freeze, and at 2PM??

Do you believe it now?? haha

Sam's Birthday 13/01/07

This happens every single year. It's incroyable! As long as I can remember people keep giving me stuff every January 13, and make sure I have a great time. Wierdos.

This year France got in on the act too, making it the most welcome 20 degree mid-winter saturday Aix has ever seen. And who would waste that opportunity to eat lunch in a great outdoor restaurant? There was a whole bunch of people wanting to eat at the same place as me today.

Unfortunately, not everyone in France got the "treating Sam like a king" memo, and thoughtlessly set some exams around the same time, so the day wasn't all giant salads and pichets of rose. But that night also provided me with a bunch of friendly faces, and TWO birthday cakes (counting up all the candles, I'm supposed to be thirty).

We partied like rockstars and ended up trotting home around 4 in the morning. Not a bad effort for a thirty-something, eh?