Relaxin'

Boujour, folks! Here, it's now Friday, 10 April, and I have a few minutes to get started on the blog. I was not able to blog last evening, as we arrived home too late at night. But let me tell you what's been going on the last two days.

We have been running, running, running to try to squeeze in as much as we possibly can of France before going home, and yesterday, we finally got a chance to just relax a litte. We started the day with a trip to a village specializing in pottery. We got to see how various things were made, either with molds or on the wheel. And we watched the women hand paint each piece. It was a beautiful sight. We were also able to shop a little in their gift store before we left. By the way, this village was in Germany, on the way to our primary destination for the day- Caracorolla- the Roman baths!

Preparing to release a new mold

This is one of the ladies painting the designs onthe bisque before firing. They do not use paintbrushes- their tool is a sort of syringe with a nib-like tip. It"s called a "pear" because of it's shape.


This particular item is not a muffin pan-this is for making escargots!

After we left the pottery village, we went on to Baden-Baden to the Roman Baths and Spa. But first we stopped at a local park to eat our lunch. Here we had more than an hour to rest, stroll through the park and enjoy the beautiful weather. And speaking of weather, my son Matt reminded me I have not told you about the climate here in all my blogs. Very sorry! I have been so involved with the activities, I've forgotten to tell you what the weather is like here. Except for the first day or two when it was rainy and cold, it has been absolutely beautiful. But this is a country of extremes- it's either very, very cold, or very, very hot. In the mornings, one needs a jacket or coat. The temperature is in the 30's or 40's I would guess. Really very cold. I never pass a thermometer, and it would be celcius anyway. But by lunch time, it's much warmer. Mid afternoon has been in the 70's all week, and today it must be in the high 80's. Gorgeous, CAROLINA BLUE sky almost the entire time!!

This is the little park where we stopped to eat and rest. I do not know the name of the little river, but its bed was paved with large stones set very close together.

Just for me!!! This beautiful carriage passed throught the park several times.

We arrived at the Baths in mid afternoon, and had three hours to soak up this fantastic place. There is a natural geo-thermal spring here, and the water content is so high in mineral salts, one floats very easily. The facility is huge, with both indoor and outdoor pools. They are at different temperatures, also, to promote better circulation. The hottest pool was around 100°, and the coldest 60°. There is a little "river" of sorts, also, with a strong current. A kind of "lazy" river that will pick you up and float you around and around an extremely large ourdoor pool. There are waterfalls in abundance, and huge jets to stand under that pummel your shoulders and back to get rid of any tension and soreness. Underwater jets in the hot pools and spas were just the thing for our sore legs from the Eiffel tower! All the pools are round, oval, or different shapes with rounded edges. Nothing square or angular. Soft, meditative music plays, and palm trees and plantings are every where. There is a solarium, an aroma-therapie spa, and steam-room also. The aroma-therapy room is very dark, with many little cabins or oval-shaped rooms with benches to sit around on. It is VERY thick with a hot, steamy menthol mist that was incredibly soothing to my asthematic lungs. I could have sat and breathed in this room forever. It felt sooooo good- not only inside; but out as well. My skin felt fantastic when I left. And the darkend room had very subtle colored lighting changes that shifted with the gentle music and birdsong.

The entrance to Caracarolla. Sorry there are no other pictures! There

are signs everywyere inside that say "no cameras"- I guess for obvious

reasons!!!

One thing; though. You must remember we are in Europe- not America- so we were cautioned strongly to stay on the FIRST FLOOR only. Can you guess what the second floor might be for? Aha! I heard those shocked gasps! That's right, the top floor is only for those who wish to bathe au naturale- in the nude!!!! No worries, parents who are reading this. Your're kids were fantastic. Not one single child made an effort to sneak up the stairs. Besides, there are lots of attendants who would have stopped them anyway.

After the most relaxing afternoon ever, we went back to school. We arrived a little after 6:00PM, to find a dance in honor of the American students already in progress. I truly could have just gone home and gone to bed, but it was not to be! Here, a school dance lasts AT LEAST 4 hours!!!! One of the French teachers told me it is not uncommon for a dance to last longer than that! So I was stuck at a very lively, very LOUD school dance until after 10:00 PM. But I'm not complaining- it was in our honor, and the families had brought beaucoup de gateaùx (many snacks), so I tried not to look at my watch and just enjoy the company of my kids and teacher friends.

This morning, there was no school, and Cathie had arranged for us to have a cooking class with a local Chef. I confess- I've been looking forward to this since I arrived! I love cooking; I watch the Cooking Channel all the time to learn new things, and I just couldn't wait for this. So Cathie, Chantalle, her aunt, Sebastien, and I donned aprons and joined about 11 others in a master class.

Cuisine Attitude- the restaurant and cooking school

Chantalle and Sebastien





Our Chef and a few others in the class

On the menu was a roulade of crab for starters, then poisson avec une beurre blanc, et haricots blanc avec basil pesto. Then for dessert- the most amazing little thing! Chocolate "eggs" in a nest of green apple jullienne. In english, this would be small egg-rolls filled with a crab mixture of olives, sun-drued tomatoes, onion, and lemon confit. This is lemon that has been "preserved" in salt for at least two months. The flavor is unbelievable!!! I MUST try this at home! The main course was a baked fish with a white butter and wine sauce. This was served with a mold of white beans mixed with a basil pesto. I would nave never paired the little navy beans with pesto, but it was fantastic! The dessert was made by first opening large chocolate eggs that werre hollow. We have these in the states, also, and they have a little toy or surprise inside. We heated our VERY sharp knives in hot water, then separated the seam of the eggs. The toy went in our pockets as a souvenir! We then made a white chocolate mousse, and filled each egg half. These were then placed in the fridge for later. After the crab appatizers were baked, we plated our appatizers with several kinds of sauces, and went upstairs to an eating area. They were just fantastic! Very delicate and not at all difficult to make. We relaxed a while and enjoyed our first course. Afterward, back in the kitchen, we thickend some fresh-squeezed orange juice with something similar to arrowroot to make an orange pudding consistancy. We brought the chocolate egg halves back out, and used a mandolin to make tiny julienne slickes of Granny Smith apples. (or at least green, tart ones. They probably weren't actually Granny Smith, but very similar.) We tossed these with some lemon juice to keep thm from browning. We put a dollop of the orange pudding in the middle of each egg. The mousse made the egg white, and the orange pudding the yolk! We made a "nest" of the green apple juliennes on each plate and place two egg halves on top. This was a very simple dessert, but very pretty and perfect for Easter. We popped all that back into the large fridge, then began plating our main course. We trooped upstairs again to enjoy our efforts, and a server brought our dessert to us later. This was such a fantastic idea. I wish we could do the same in America! There are many wonderful chefs- think we could we get Emeril to teach like this? BAM!!

Me and Chantalle behind the food processor!

This is the chocolate egg cut in half. The bright yellow capsule

contains the toy or surprise. Opening this egg

was the most challenging part of the meal!

Our chef proudly presenting our main course. He was really

friendly, and his food was superb.

Left to right: Chantalle, Sebastien, and Cathie

This afternoon, I finally got to go to church!!! I think Sebastien has told Cathie that I miss going to church, so we attended an afternoon service today; Good Friday. I was so very, very glad. It really brought home the scripture, "I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord." I don't think I ever really knew how that felt, as I have grown up in church and attended all my life. But two weeks without it; and I know my face just lit up when Cathie told me. Maybe it's just being so far from home, but I was so very happy to just sit in the sanctuary and absorb the service. I couldn't understand a lot of it, but fortunately, I know the story real well! In whatever language, it is still worship.

It my last few days with this wonderful family, and leaving them will be bittersweet. They have been so kind and generous, loving and playful. VERY much like my very own family, whom I miss greatly. Tomorrow, Cathie wants to go to an Easter "market", so I will close for now and go to bed. We leave for home on Easter Sunday morning. We will have to be at St.Etienne's at 5:00 AM our time, and our plane should land at Wilmington around 7:00 PM your time Easter Sunday evening. (remember we are traveling backward in time coming home). I will probably make my last blog entry tomorrow night.

After dinner tonight, left to right: Annaise, Sebastien, Cathie, and Joel Amhrien

I love and miss you all!

Blessings and Peace from France,

Bonnir