I went downstairs and made myself breakfast, the american way with two eggs sunny side up. I even figured out how to make a latté with their high tech coffee machine. After breakfast I went to the other side of the house to get some ironing done. I ended up ironing for four hours which seems like a lot of work but it isn't. It's really quite relaxing for me, especially with my music playing. Most people wouldn't think to put on metal while they're ironing but for me, it's motivational.
After my ironing marathon, I went got ready for the day. Just as I was finshing up, Didier's father called me back to the kitchen for lunch. Today, we had steak--medium rare with fried potatoes. We finished up with more wine and cheese as usual. It was delicious as always. I offered to take Didier's boys to town with me that day. I was supposed to meet up with Danielle and didn't feel like leaving the kids at the house to amuse themselves. The triplets were with their father for his birthday and Gregoire was taking a nap, so it was just Nicholas and Antoine with me.
We found some free parking on the Cours Sextius and walked down to Danielle's. We went up to her apartment and I had the kids try some american foods before visiting a bunch of shops en centre ville. Danielle had the idea of playing card games at a café with the boys so we stopped at a bunch of toy and book stores. The playing cards we found at these establishments were extremely expensive at about 9 euro for a pack so we ended up going to Monoprix where they were only 3.
We walked to Carrefour, our favorite bar by school. It was a nice day so we sat outside. Kendra joined us soon after we arrived. Once we ordered our drinks we asked Antoine and Nicholas to teach us a french card game. We took turns teaching each other games and played for about two hours. You wouldn't really think so, but it was so much fun! I really bonded with these kids. It's sad that I only see them twice a month.
While walking to the store for groceries, I saw a homeless man sitting with a sign on the side of the street. I see him every day on the way to school and I never give him anything. His sign said something about needing food so I made everyone stop. I turned around to the boys and said (in french) 'Do you see this poor man? It's really important for me to teach you something about life today. I want you to go inside this store, buy this apple and some bread for the man with your money and give it to him."
We left Kendra and Danielle and headed to the Gare Routière to see if Jacob had arrived yet. I looked around for about 20 minutes and didn't see him anywhere so we went back to the car and started to make the journey back home. This was the first time I experienced what will be remembered as the WORST traffic jam ever. People were cutting each other off. Some traffic wasn't moving. A lot of people were hitting each other and just moving on. I went nuts!!! I feel so bad for the boys because I was cursing left and right. Good thing they don't know those english words yet...We finally made it out of the bouteillage and stopped at a boulangerie to get some bread for dinner.
When we got home there was a splendid spread on the table. Tonight, we had a "Raclette" dinner equiped with boiled potatoes for mashing, sausage, cooked ham, raw cured ham, fresh bell peppers, pickles, and the Raclette cheese. Instead of explaining it myself, I've decided to copy the definition from Wikipedia for you.
Raclette (
/rəˈklɛt/) is both a type of cheese and a Swiss dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off (racler) the melted part. In French, the word for the cheese is masculine, le raclette, whereas the word for the dish is feminine, la raclette.Raclette is a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese - most commonly used for melting. It is usually fashioned into a wheel of about 6 kg (13 lb).
Raclette is also a dish indigenous to parts of Switzerland. The Raclette cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates; the term raclette derives from the French word racler, meaning "to scrape". Traditionally, it is accompanied by small firm potatoes (Bintje, Charlotte or Raclette varieties), gherkins, pickled onions, and dried meat, such as jambon cru/cuit and viande des Grisons.
“Raclette” comes from the French racler, “to scrape,” a reference to the fact that the melted cheese must be scraped from the unmelted part of the cheese onto the plate. Traditionally the melting happens or happened in front of an open fire with the big piece of cheese facing the heat. One then regularly scrapes off the melting side.
In the Swiss canton of Valais, raclette is typically served with tea or other warm beverages. Another popular option is to serve raclette with white wine, such as the traditional Savoy wine or Fendant, but Riesling and Pinot Gris are also common. Local tradition cautions that other drinks - water for example - will cause the cheese to harden in the stomach, leading to indigestion.
Raclette was mentioned in medieval writings as a particularly nutritious meal consumed by peasants in mountainous Switzerland and France (Savoy region). It was then known in the German-speaking part of Switzerland as Bratchäs, or "roasted cheese." Traditionally, the Swiss cow herders used to take the cheese with them when they were moving cows to or from the pastures up in the mountains. In the evenings around the campfire, they would place the cheese next to the fire and, when it had reached the perfect softness, scrape it on top of some bread.
A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables and . These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese. Alternatively, slices of cheese may be melted and simply poured over food on the plate. The accent in raclette dining is on relaxed and sociable eating and drinking, the meal often running to several hours. French and other European supermarkets generally stock both the grill apparatus and ready-sliced cheese and charcuterie selections, especially around Christmas. Restaurants also provide raclette evenings for parties of diners.
I rushed through dinner tonight because Jacob was in town and waiting at the hotel. I felt super rude leaving my family, but I also felt rude leaving Jacob at the hotel while I was eating. I would've brought him to dinner but since his flight to Marseille was delayed, his arrival in Aix was also delayed and the kids were starving so we couldn't wait. I drove to Jacob's hotel to pick him up. We parked the car in a Plaza behind the Cours Mirabeau and went to the Augustins apartment to meet Danielle and Kendra. We all walked to Lydia and Maggie's apartment and spent a few hours hanging out there before heading out to the bars. Julie, Kari, and their posse went to Le Mistral--a dance club the rest of us decided to skip out on because they charged a 20 euro entrance fee.
Lydia, Maggie, Jen, Jacob, and I ended up at O'Shannon's. We were sitting extremely close to a table of cute french guys so I decided to be friendly and talk to them. Lydia and Jen said a few words to them but it was mainly me talking. Normally the girls are much more social than that, but they were sitting in an awkward spot in the bar. The guys were pretty cool. I can't believe how much french I used, lol. I swear, being an au pair has benefited me in so many ways.
“Raclette” comes from the French racler, “to scrape,” a reference to the fact that the melted cheese must be scraped from the unmelted part of the cheese onto the plate. Traditionally the melting happens or happened in front of an open fire with the big piece of cheese facing the heat. One then regularly scrapes off the melting side.
In the Swiss canton of Valais, raclette is typically served with tea or other warm beverages. Another popular option is to serve raclette with white wine, such as the traditional Savoy wine or Fendant, but Riesling and Pinot Gris are also common. Local tradition cautions that other drinks - water for example - will cause the cheese to harden in the stomach, leading to indigestion.
Raclette was mentioned in medieval writings as a particularly nutritious meal consumed by peasants in mountainous Switzerland and France (Savoy region). It was then known in the German-speaking part of Switzerland as Bratchäs, or "roasted cheese." Traditionally, the Swiss cow herders used to take the cheese with them when they were moving cows to or from the pastures up in the mountains. In the evenings around the campfire, they would place the cheese next to the fire and, when it had reached the perfect softness, scrape it on top of some bread.
A modern electric Raclette grill with various accompanying foods
A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables and . These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese. Alternatively, slices of cheese may be melted and simply poured over food on the plate. The accent in raclette dining is on relaxed and sociable eating and drinking, the meal often running to several hours. French and other European supermarkets generally stock both the grill apparatus and ready-sliced cheese and charcuterie selections, especially around Christmas. Restaurants also provide raclette evenings for parties of diners.
I rushed through dinner tonight because Jacob was in town and waiting at the hotel. I felt super rude leaving my family, but I also felt rude leaving Jacob at the hotel while I was eating. I would've brought him to dinner but since his flight to Marseille was delayed, his arrival in Aix was also delayed and the kids were starving so we couldn't wait. I drove to Jacob's hotel to pick him up. We parked the car in a Plaza behind the Cours Mirabeau and went to the Augustins apartment to meet Danielle and Kendra. We all walked to Lydia and Maggie's apartment and spent a few hours hanging out there before heading out to the bars. Julie, Kari, and their posse went to Le Mistral--a dance club the rest of us decided to skip out on because they charged a 20 euro entrance fee.
Lydia, Maggie, Jen, Jacob, and I ended up at O'Shannon's. We were sitting extremely close to a table of cute french guys so I decided to be friendly and talk to them. Lydia and Jen said a few words to them but it was mainly me talking. Normally the girls are much more social than that, but they were sitting in an awkward spot in the bar. The guys were pretty cool. I can't believe how much french I used, lol. I swear, being an au pair has benefited me in so many ways.
I was pretty beat from spending the day with the kids and Jacob had a long trip, so he and I left around 2h00. I know...Lame...At least it wasn't midnight!!! (ahem! Danielle!!!)
Good night world
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