January 15,2012 Montpellier France

The French are all about food and family. This combination explodes on Christmas during their Christmas feasts. (Yes, that is plural.) Families will save for months to make sure they are able to offer foie gras, oysters and champagne on Christmas Eve followed by a similar meal on Christmas Day then again for New Years Eve.

The French don’t earn as much as people in the US and they spend almost twice as much of their income (6.9% v 13.2%, in spite of the fact that food in France is somewhat less than the USA).

For the French, the definition of perfection is a good meal and good wine. Hours are spent planning, shopping and preparing. I really wondered what had taken hold of me as I immersed myself in creating an interesting meal and experience for our niece Elizabeth (visiting from Spain) and our friend, Marie-Martine (visiting from down the block) .

Our eating extravaganza started at 7 PM and ended at 2 AM with lots of time between the 8 courses and 13 plates. If it all seems a bit too much, be aware that many French families eat this way on Christmas Eve and then have the same size meal, albeit a different menu, on Christmas Day. And yet another on New Year’s Eve for friends.

Our decorations were very simple compared to that of our friend Marie Martine who had invited us over the night before for a festival dinner with her son and her son’s girl friend. Each surface sparkled with candles and silver from their childhoods. My heart was full to see this young couple together at their mother's home for a traditional holiday meal.

Christmas morning we had pancakes with Bob’s kumquat syrup he made from his tree on our terrace.

Lizze, Bob and I walked and walked around Montpellier to enjoy the lights and the sights.

and then we biked towards the Mediterranean, easily renting a bike for Lizzie at $1.25 for the afternoon. If we want to rent a bike for a whole year, it is $65,and done through our public transportation system.

Having Lizzie here was like a breath of fresh air. She is such good company. We laughed and talked and just enjoyed each other's company for the five days she was here.

Public transportation is so easy here. When we came to Montpellier three years ago, 200,000 passengers per day rode the tram: four times the ridership of Seattle for buses and light rail. We fell in love with these clean, fast comfortable trams that added color to the horizon and ease to our day. Unlimited rides for $275 a year (for those over 60), less than car insurance.

Two more tram lines will be added this spring: the gold and the sea. The gold is being introduced slowly, as though someone is unzippering a black corset so that the gold brocade of Louis XIV can show through, rather like a tram strip tease.

The <<sea>> tram is also being pretested so that everyone will know by the time it starts that it, in fact, does not go to the sea, but 10 minutes away by bike.

The trams represent each of the four elements: sky (the star blue tram), earth (the flowers), water (the sea) and sun (the gold), taking us back to the days of the gold seeking alchemists who practiced their trade in this medieval walled city. The tram lines were the idea of the former mayor and there are several more lines to come. Of particular note for those interested in whether a government can function effectively, all of the lines so far have been completed on time and within budget. The last two lines were started at the same time two years ago and go through a busy part of the city thus causing disruption of business in those regions. Part of the cost of the tram includes support for the businesses effected by the construction.

Bob and I took up a little walking to try to take off a few calories. On New Year’s Day we drove about an hour out of town to a sunny hike on Pic St Loup, a local hill/mountain where we joined lots of others dedicated to starting the year off right. Pic St Loup is one of the better regions for wine in the south and for that matter Bob likes the wine more than the more famous in France (could be that it is close to home).

During a hike two weeks earlier, Martine, our next-door neighbor, helped me to plan our Christmas repas and an aperitif dinatoire on on yet another hike next to the Mediterranean.

The aperatif dinatoire hosted12 friends to a stand up dinner, French style. The food was placed on the table and, unlike Americans, the French carefully worked their way eah course . For example, in spite of a table covered with desserts everyone placed only cheese on their plate when it was time for the cheese course which always comes before the dessert course.

So many more images and events in the last six weeks.

A world class baroque concert in a gold gilted baroque church with antique instruments.
A national award-winning Hamlet who dominated the sold out theater for three hours without intermission finishing at midnight. We understood not a word.
Another next door neighbor who yesterday delivered a a plate of cookies.
Another who just delivered four trout he caught this morning with his son.
A seven course feast with wine and foie gras (again!) complete with Las Vegas showgirls, singing and dancing. It ended with a dessert: Paris-Brest, a reminder of Bob’s 2003 4 day bike ride of 250 miles a day. This yearly event is paid for by French tax dollars to all people over 60.

The following footnote is recommended foodies only.

Some pictures of a few of the plates are shown after our Christmas dinner menu just because Elizabeth was so conscientious about trying to help us create a photo record.

Le menu

Réveillon de Noël

Hors d’oeuvres servis avec Champagne Robert de Monty

Des anchois de Collioure sur un lit of Roquefort bercé en endive

Dattes sèches farcies avec une amande au centre arrosé du sel

Foie gras et confit de figues sur des pain d’épices

Pâté de Pézenas

Entrée servie avec vin blanc

Huîtres spéciales élevées en claire avec beurre sur pain seigle

Bouchée a la reine

Escargots avec ail et beurre

Le Trou Normand

L’eau plate avec une torsion de citron

Le plat principal servi avec vin rouge

Poulet Fermier de Loue

Farci de marrons, haricots verts et carottes

La salade servie avec le vin blanc

Salade, radis et tomate et sauce

Fromage avec du pain, amandes, abricots et figues servi avec le vin rouge

Chèvre

Mont d’Or ou Vacherin du Haut-Daubs, AOC Franche Comte vache douce

Cantal AOC, Auvergne vache douce

Roquefort, AOC, Midi- Pyrénées, mouton, fort

Le dessert

Bûche de Noël avec une bougie

Café; ou tisane

Entré servie avec vin blanc

Hûtres spéciales élevées en claire avec beurre sur pain seigle