Basque Country

The word Basque was not in my vocabulary until one day in Bruxelles I walked by a parade of Basques who were handing out tickets. A woman handed me a ticket:

I didn't even know what the ticket meant at the time, I was just being my normal self, and collecting about anything and everything that could be a reminiscent souvenir of my trip. I was intrigued by the language that I could not identify, and the cool looking flag. I had no choice but to ask questions, and seek answers. I would later find out the ticket means "Freedom for the Basque Country." I am still not sure of the pronunciation.

I researched the issue, and found out the Basques are located mainly in eastern Spain, also western France. Their language is Basque. The town made famous by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises, San Sebastian, is Basque. The famous game of Pelota is Basque.

A cycling team of my beloved Tour de France, Euskaltel-Euskadi is Basque with its star courer, Iban Mayo.
Its funny how once you learn of something you start to see it everywhere. I started to hear many stories on the news about the Basques. The news often labeled them as terrorists. It seems there have been many bombs planted by Basque separatists. The "terrorists"usually called in the bombs to make sure no one was in the area of the explosion.

I can see how the Spanish government would be quick to label the Basques as terrorists. I can see how the Basques in despair might erroneously think violence is the only way to get what they want. I am not passing judgment on any group, I am just thankful for the Basque woman that handed me the piece of paper, and opened my eyes to a new culture.

Maria Callas

Maria Callas. She was a beautiful woman with an amazing, haunting voice that gave me an aesthetical experience many times when I listened to her recordings.

Although I recognize haut couture as a high form of art, and appreciate its beauty, I am not the kind of man to spend a lot of time looking at or thinking about clothing. However, When I attended a Maria Callas exposition in Paris, I found one of her dresses on display to be quite striking. I found it so striking that I purchased a post card of the dress. It is my only post card on the subject of clothing. Maybe it was because I had heard so many excerpts of her recordings, and saw many photographs of her throughout the morning. Staring at the dress in real life, I was imagining her alive: wearing the dress, moving, and singing. It was intoxicating experience.

I thought about the idea of scanning the post card from time to time, and somehow incorporating it into my blog, but the idea was intermittent and fleeting. Then, yesterday morning my friend MonkeyPosh told me of the death of Luciano Pavarotti. I think I was the last person on earth to know. I was surprised how many of my friends that normally listen to pop, rock, country and other non-art music made comments throughout the day about how they had been touched by Pavarotti's music. Inevitably, I read about Pavarotti's life and accomplishments, and my thoughts naturally came back to Callas, one of my favorite opera heroines, and the beautiful, striking dress I saw in Paris. Here it is:

(Click to Enlarge)

Butte de Chalmont

Latitude: 49°12'50.81"N
Longitude: 3°24'39.86"E

The Butte de Chalmont is the site of a work of art by Paul Landowski. It is located in the Picardie region of France, in the Department of Aisne. It lies within the triangle created by Reims, Soissons, and Château-Thierry.

Map View (Must have Google Earth). Photo Copyright 2007 Water Into Wine.

Historically it commemorates the 2nd battle of Marne, July 15 - September 16, 1918. The 2nd battle of Marne is known as the last German offensive, and would become the Allies first offensive. Casualties in the battle were estimated to be French (95,000), British (13,000) and United States (12,000) German (168,000). For detailed historical information, there are excellent sites here, here, here, here, and here.


At the bottom of the butte, there is a large statue of a woman, who personifies France, facing northeast over the Plateau du Tardenois. The inscription says "La France". There is a rocky trail that leads up the terraced butte. At the top of the butte is a conglomerate of many statues, which personify those lost in the battles. The inscription reads "Les Phantomes".


From the top of the butte is a beautiful view of the Plateau du Tardenois. One can easily climb on top of the phantoms for a photograph.


The site is a wonderful place to have a pique-nique, or even a casse-croûte, and a fantastic area for a ride on the bicyclette. Arrive via bicycle from Beugneux from the north, or Walée from the south. The perfect starting points for a bicycle ride/pique-nique are Fère-en-Tardenois (birthplace of Camille Claudel) due east of Butte de Chalmont or Neuilly-Saint-Front, due west.


A little slice of Pâté de Campagne on baguette with a few cornichons, Saucisse sèche, and a chausson aux pommes for dessert while overlooking the Plateau of Tardenois: very relaxing.

Le Repas Français (d’invitation)

I absolutely adore to eat dinner the French way. The Anglophile way of eating is to bring everything to the table at once. I ate this way my whole life until I visited France. The first time I ate dinner with a French family, approximately six hours after arriving in France for an eight month stay, and a plate of cold cuts was brought to the table, I thought for sure I would die of starvation. I did not realize that meals are brought to the table in courses. In short, I thought cold cuts was dinner.

Another reason I thought that was the whole dinner, is that the French actually take the time to sit together and talk. There is usually what seems to be an inordinate amount of time for the Anglophile between each course. Although dinner is by no means timed, I provided educated guesses at the length of time that might be spent per course to give you an idea. A typical French dinner consists of an apéritif, followed by hors d’œvre, a plat principal, salade, fromage, dessert, café. When guests are invited, they do not generally know what will be served, and do not find out until that course is brought to the table. That is part of the magic. The full French dinner goes something like this :

1. Apéritif
2. Hors d’œvre/ Entrée
3. 1er Plat Principal
4. Trou Normand
5. 2ème Plat Principal
6. Salade
7. Fromage
8. Dessert
9. Café
10. Digestif

Let me break it down for you :

1. Apéritif

This could be a lot of different things. In an informal setting, the apéritif often takes place in a living room around the coffee table. Often times a selection of liquor is offered including Martini & Rossi, whisky, cognac, etc. A modern take on the apéritif is to drink champagne. Amuses-bouche usually go along with the apéritif. In an informal setting, this may be nuts, processed cheese such as La Vache qui rit, or sausisse seche. Formally, canapés, or other fancier appetizers may be served.

Time : Up to an hour to sit, talk, snack, and drink. Then the party normally moves to the table.

Friends share champagne, and American dishes learned during their time as exchange students.

2. Hors d’œvre/ Entrée

This can be anything from soup, to a slice of smoked salmon with capers, dill, and crème fraîche, crudités, or the plate of cold cuts I mentioned above. It is usually a small portion. If champagne was served for the apéritif, it is often carried into the hors d’œvre/ entrée. Another option is to serve a wine which will carry over into the 1er Plat Principal.

Time : About 15 minutes to eat, and 15-30 minutes down time while the chef prepares the next, and first large course.


3. 1er Plat Principal

This is the first large course. I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule about what must be served, but it seems like it was usually seafood. For example, Stingray with capers (to die for), sauce, potatoes with butter and parsley. Of course, baguettes are served sliced on a bias, and it does not seem to be rude to sop up the sauce with the baguette. Of course, if seafood is served, a white wine such as Sancerre would be served.

Time : About 20 minutes to eat, and 20 minutes to sit and talk.

Paella

4. Trou Normand

The Trou Normand is a shot of eau de vie that is taken between two large courses. I am told that it helps when one is stuffed to the gills by helping digest what is in your stomach to make room for the next course. Traditionally Calvados is drank, but I have seen other eau de vies. The modern twist on the Trou Normand is to pour a shot of Calva on apple sorbet. When I ate with young Parisians, the sorbet Calva combination was almost always served. When I ate with people of the older generation, or people in small villages, it was often times a shot.

Time : About 15 minutes. At this time, some dinner parties I went to even pushed the furniture aside and danced for about an hour before moving onto the 2ème Plat Principal.

5. 2ème Plat Principal

This is the last large course of the dinner. Again, . I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule about what must be served, but in my experience, it was usually a red meat dish, such as Tournedos Rossini, again in sauce, with some type of vegetable dish on the side. I also saw pork, lamb, or even a second seafood dish such as langoustines served. Unless seafood was again served, a red wine such as a St. Emilion would be served.

Time : About 20 minutes to eat, and 20 minutes to sit and talk.

Poule au Pot

6. Salade

I thought this was very strange the first time I experienced it. I was so used to eating salad at the beginning of the meal, and thought it strange to eat it at the end of the meal. I am told that the French believe eating salad after the meal helps with the digestion, whereas if it is consumed before the other food, it cannot "help the food pass." After many many meals in France, I believe salad should be at the end of the meal.

Time: 15 minutes.

Fresh is best

7. Fromage

At this point, a plate of different cheeses are brought out. One can take as many different cheeses as one wants, and as much as one wants, but it is considered rude to leave it on your plate. For this reason, my practice was to take only a sliver of unfamiliar cheese, then ask for seconds if it pleased me. The rule when eating cheese is start with the least strong and make your way up to the strongest. Of course, the French eat their cheese with red wine, and baguette slices, never crackers.

Some of the cheese will linger on the palate for a long time after consumption. A sip of red wine will recall the stronger cheeses over and over. It is for this reason that the French say, "a real eater of cheese stays with his cheese." Translation : "No dessert for me please.

Time:15 min. There is often a pause between fromage and dessert.

Farm Cheese

8. Dessert

However, I have heard that saying every time I ate dinner, but rarely saw anyone refuse dessert. A dessert at a daily dinner would consist of whatever fruit is in season, and yogurt. At a full meal, it could be a tart tatin, a crème brulée, pears poached in red wine, well, you know all the classic French desserts.

Time: 20 minutes.

9. Café

This is served in a very small cup, but is still very strong coffee. Coffee is not usually served with the dessert.

Time: 15 minutes.

10. Digestif

The final drink of the night. Usually something strong like cognac, whiskey, brandy, mirabelle eau de vie, etc. Myself I prefer Grand Marnier.

Time: Up to several hours.