The Big Cheese

We had our last weekly class with our French teacher today.  And we had to turn in our papers on “Cheese Laws in the United States.”  I am not making this up.

Basically, we had to read an article about the FDA trying to change the rules on how cheeses can be aged.  Then we had to write a paper commenting on it.

Val, of course, wrote a brilliant and incisive analysis of US cheese legislation going back to the early 19^th century.  She compared French and American cheese making techniques, quoted famous figures in the history of cheese, and threw in a fondue recipe for good measure.

I, on the other hand, was happy just to have translated Monterey Jack correctly (Jacques de Monterey).

Our French teacher took one look at Val’s lengthy tome, as compared to my few skimpy paragraphs, and immediately put a big star in her notebook next to Val’s name.

Val is such a teacher’s pet, sheesh.

Final grades come out Friday.  I fear for my GPA.

KVS

Final Exams

We had social events on four consecutive days, all in French.  I felt like it was exam week and I wanted to do well.

First there was lunch with Philippe and Claire, then dinner with Chloe’s family, then Sara’s birthday party.  Plus we hosted an apero for some friends.

Altogether it was hours and hours of talking, drinking and eating, with lots of different people, often with multiple conversations going on at once.  We got to see many of our friends plus meet a bunch of new people.  And it was 100% in French.

I learned a few things along the way.  I found out all about the Shadoks, a cartoon that ran in the 1970’s and which is still a cultural touchstone here, kind of the way Monty Python is in the US.  I watched a few episodes on YouTube and they were hilarious.

And I got lots of book recommendations.  When people found out I read some French they all had favorite authors to recommend.  I was encouraged to read Jules Verne, Zola, Daudet, Voltaire.

Wait a minute, Voltaire?

“But of course!  You can’t truly understand the Age of Enlightenment until you have read Voltaire!”

Well, ok then!  I guess I’ll put him on my reading list.  But maybe not right at the top.

One nice thing is that several people complimented me on the progress I have made in French, compared to where I was when they first met me.

I think the compliments went something like, “You’re not as much of an idiot as I thought.”

Or maybe it was, “I used to think that perhaps you were an idiot.  But now I’m sure.”

Now I’m not sure which.  Hm, I guess I need to keep working on my French.

KVS

Family Feud

The Front National (FN) is the racist and xenophobic party that was France’s big winner in the recent European elections.  But they’ve been in the news recently for a different reason and it’s been very entertaining.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder and now honorary president of the FN, has a well-established reputation as a racist.  One of his specialties is anti-Semitism.  I think it might have been his major in college.

When talking about Jews he dislikes - which is redundant - he has a habit of slipping in the word four (oven).  He is clever enough to never say it directly – instead he uses words like fournée and Durafour – but everyone knows what he means.  And it is the reason he has been convicted at least six times for hate crimes.

Every week Le Pen does a video blog where he rails against all the evils of the world.  This blog is posted on the FN website and this week he was up to his usual tricks, using a variation of four to describe what he would like to have happen to a Jewish entertainer.  It caused a big stink but the stink came from a new direction this time – his family.

First, the scorecard:  Jean-Marie started the party years ago and stepped down as president in 2011.  He handed the reins to his daughter, Marine, who has tried to clean up the party’s image by kicking out the skinheads and the most obvious Nazi sympathizers.  Marine’s compagnon Louis Aliot (kind of her common-law husband) is the vice president of the FN.  This party really is a family business.

After the video blog was posted, Louis called Jean-Marie’s remarks “stupid”.  Then Marine said that Jean-Marie had made a “political error” in his choice of words and banned the video blog from the FN website.

Wait a minute!  Nobody slings mud at Jean-Marie Le Pen – that’s his job!

Jean-Marie responded by calling his son-in-law an “imbecile”.  Then he said he was cutting off all communication with his daughter.  I’m not sure she was really broken up about that.

Part of the back story here is that dad is jealous of his daughter for leading the party to far greater electoral success than he ever could.  And dad and son-in-law have always hated each other.

Now Jean-Marie has written an open letter to his daughter, whining about how unfair it all is and that it is really the media’s fault.  But because he is such a big-hearted guy, he will put this all behind him if she will just put his blog back on the website.

Jean-Marie goes on to say that they need to work together because only the FN can save France from the big problems it faces.  And what are those?  First, “general decadence”(?)  Then “massive immigration” (ie, Muslims).  Then “insecurity” (ie, law and order).  Then he finally gets to the actual big problem of unemployment.  But why deal with real problems when you can rabble rouse?

It has all been pretty hilarious and fun to watch this family food fight.  And the media has been loving it. 

The only problem is that it makes Marine look reasonable by comparison to her nutcase father.  Hm, maybe that was their secret plan all along?

KVS

Happy Birthday!

It was Sara’s 60^th birthday party and we were invited.  The evening was warm, the food was copious and the wine was flowing.  What could be better?  Plus I learned some new funny expressions.

Everyone had so much fun that the party didn’t end until the next day.

KVS

The happy birthday girl

 

 

No one went home hungry or thirsty

Flame On

Our friend Chloe invited us over for dinner with her parents and grandparents.  It was a pretty amazing dinner, with most of the fruits and vegetables from their garden and orchard.

The highlight was the grilled shrimp, finished with a flambé of pastis.  Here are a few photos of Chloe’s grandfather in action.  

Surprisingly, he still has both of his eyebrows.

KVS 

 

 

Tasty

This is from last night’s dinner – foie gras topped with apricot preserves and some kind of lettuce doodad.

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

KVS