Ok, I know, I’m woefully behind on my blogging. How I managed to let this happen amid two 8-hour trans-Atlantic flights, I have no idea. I will attempt to fill you in on the notable events that closed 2010, leading up to and including John’s visit to Toulouse, my Christmas at home, and the crazy New Years I spent back in Paris with my cousins Loren and Dyan, hopefully without being too longwinded.
Leading up to John's visit there were several notable events:
Gisele, (the woman I live with,) celebrated her 58th birthday with a fabulous traditional French dinner chez nous. She invited over friends and family to our house to celebrate along with Gabby (my other roommate) and I. She is an extraordinary cook and prepared the whole meal herself except for the desserts. There was an appetizer of foie gras served on sliced bread, followed by a main dish of duck confit – which is cooked duck meat preserved in its own fat in jars – that she had prepared herself over a year ago* and then re-cooked over an open flame in our fireplace – that she served with with braised carrots, broccoli, and Jerusalem artichokes. We then indulged in a stellar cheese platter, and for dessert we had the choice of apricot tart, choclate mouse, chocolates and Anise cookies. Gisele’s boyfriend, who is a wine aficionado, brought several different wines to accompany the different dishes, including a white from 1973!! It was a really delicious and enjoyable meal, if not a bit overwhelming sitting around a table with a dozen French adults and trying to keep up with conversation.
*(This is the woman who grew up on a farm and could cure you cold cuts and sausage if you gave her a pig).
The first Sunday of December the museums in Toulouse were free. I finally entered Les Abbatoirs which is the creepy modern art museum that I live next to and walk past everyday that I might have forgotten to mention thus far. Modern art isn’t necessarily my thing, but this place had piqued my interest since I first moved in. To sum up some of the numerous, attention grabbing exhibits that were not wasted on me: When they made an “art” exhibit of placing dumpster-loads of clothes outside the front of the museum and leaving them there for a week. And again when they had a trailer parked out front with a sign inviting people to come dance inside of it and be part of a filmed montage. Or when they blared an apocalyptic-sounding monologue out onto the streets in front of the museum with barely discernable words (to me) except “You will all die soon.” The exhibits inside were as weird as it they appeared to be from the outside, especially after I learned what “les abbatoires” actually means –slaughterhouse. So to add to the creep-factor this huge building next to my house used to be an animal slaughterhouse. Apparently though this wasn’t as bizarre as I originally thought because my Spanish friends who went to the museum with me told me they had abbatoires in their hometowns in Spain that had been turned into various other cultural buildings like libraries. Very European. I guess this is what you do when you have buildings that are too old or well built to destroy; don’t abolish the neighborhood slaughterhouse when you can turn it into a reading room or contemporary art museum.
On a more pleasant note, Toulouse started preparing itself for Christmas. The Christmas markets opened up in the beginning of December at the Place du Capitole (large square in the center of Toulouse) selling artisan gifts ranging from marzipan fruit arrangement to pocket knives. Carts selling hot roasted chestnuts also began cropping up on street corners, and at 6pm nightly the city’s Christmas lights started going on –garlands between traffic lights and lampposts, Christmas trees in all the squares and places, the whole shebang. Quite charming.
Thanks to Bonnie for the photos of Les Marches du Capitole!
No comments:
Post a Comment