Old reflects against new

What is one of Rodez's oldest food shops selling for the holidays?

Farm-raised capons, boar, ready-made dishes...and ostrich steaks which, contrary to what you might believe, could very well come from Aveyron.

In the shop window opposite, the English word "authentic" reflects a different approach to commerce.

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(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Christmas Wishes from France

Merry Christmas to all of my family, friends and readers!

Joyeux Noël à toute ma famille, et à tous mes amis et lecteurs!

Joyeux Anniversaire à La France Profonde

Deux ans déjà!

Let's face it, my timing for starting this blog was not that great. It's a little like those kids who have their birthdays around Christmas -- a lot to handle at a very busy time of year.

But here it is, December 22nd, and I am celebrating La France Profonde's second birthday.

La France Profonde has been a labor of love from the beginning. It is by far my favorite of my three blogs, and I only regret that I don't have more time to devote to it.

Of course, I can hear you saying, if I gave up my other two blogs I could have more time for FP. But each of my blogs fulfills a different purpose and a particular need, and each one has developed its own network of readers, acquaintances and, yes, friends. And I can't imagine giving any of them up.

I started my blogs as an outlet for writing and, quite honestly, as a way to get some writing clips up on the Internet. And my blogs have led, directly or indirectly, to a bit of freelance writing work that has been an enjoyable complement to my teaching job.

But by far the richest return from blogging has been my contacts with other bloggers who have become regular readers...and an important part of my life, which is something that non-bloggers can't seem to understand.

There are the fellow expats, especially Ken, Walt, Katie and Meredith, whom I keep up with regularly and who have provided plenty of comments and support over the past two years.

Then there are the American Francophiles, readers I've picked up more recently and with whom I love to compare notes. Marjory, Randal, Belette, Colleen -- thanks for your faithful comments and I hope my occasional reality checks don't discourage you from your unfailing love for France!

And Ali, I've said it before: I really learned what blogging is all about from you.

There are so many others who drop in from time to time, and that I drop in on. How I love your visits, but also clicking into your little corner of cyberspace!

Finally, you may have noticed that some of the blog's best photos, like this one and this one, are marked "courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau." As you might have suspected, Thierry is my husband, and his job gets him out and about in the aveyronnais countryside -- thus allowing me to share views of la campagne that I wouldn't otherwise have.

Merci à tous et à toutes!

And if you've made it this far, stop by my very favorite post. It didn't elicit that many comments -- no accounting for some people's tastes, especially mine I suppose -- but it gave me shivers.

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(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Aligot Travels Well

After Paris, Toulouse.

Last Saturday, I happened to run into some happy Toulousains lunching on aligot, Aveyron's cheese and potato specialty, as they enjoyed the Christmas market on the Place du Capitole.

At first I wasn't absolutely sure what these Saturday shoppers were savoring, but a quick look around the market stands revealed potatoes and tomme fraîche all dressed up for the holidays:

I had hoped to get a closer look at the aligot operations, but couldn't break through the crowd at the highly popular stand. I guess aligot is a hit wherever it travels.

Big City Vitrines

'Tis the season. And if I were having any trouble getting in an appropriately festive mood, yesterday's day trip to Toulouse solved the problem.

I generally do most of my Christmas shopping in Rodez, but this year I had the chance to spend Saturday in La Ville Rose, and enjoyed soaking up the holiday atmosphere.

I'm pleased to announce that I got a lot of my Christmas shopping done -- which was the main purpose of the trip. But a Christmas shop window trip for blogging purposes would also be a great way to spend the day...

Tempting as the displays in French librairies are, I refrained from buying too many books this year :

And I didn't know candy canes even existed in France! Really, I have to get out a bit more:

A little Southwest sun left me feeling as jaunty as this gal:

Only a little over two weeks until Christmas! Santé!

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Going, going...

A little over a year ago, I caught Rodez's historic "Grand Hôtel Broussy" in a good light. I was lucky.

Last week, as I passed by on a damp, grey afternoon, the downtown institution wasn't looking so grand:





In fact, I'm wondering if it will ever be "GRAND" again:







I know. No need to press the panic button. Le Grand Hôtel Broussy is only being remodeled, and I'm sure it needs it.


Yet as I saw traces of its bright red past being tossed unceremoniously out its windows, I felt a wave of personal regret. I would never see it in all its delapidated glory.

Or could I glimpse at the interior, before it was too late?

I walked up toward the dusty lobby entrance, where a narrow door was, miraculously, open.



I dared to step in. The lobby was dirty and dreary, with a few pieces of wooden furniture strewn about. An immense dining or breakfast room lay to my right, bereft of furnishings.

Too quickly, a burly worker stomped down the main staircase. He looked at me. I scurried out.

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Rodez by dawn

Although I'm often in Rodez around dawn, I'm usually rushing across the Bourran viaduct to get to work after dropping my daughter off at her high school.

Last Sunday, though, I had the unusual opportunity -- yes, I'll call it an opportunity -- to be in Rodez before 7:00 am on a Sunday morning.

It's a very quiet place at that time, and the cathedral looms even when it isn't illuminated:

A surprising number of cars were out and about, perhaps because at least three buses were scooping up passengers for outings, including my daughter's to see an opera in Toulouse.

Only two businesses had opened their doors: one of the town's larger bakeries and a tobacco/press stand.

Not a single café was serving yet -- of course how many Ruthénois really want to be seen in public at 6:45 am on a Sunday morning?

The city was timidly opening an eye; some say it never entirely wakes up on Sunday. Perhaps it deserves a day of rest.

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(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Ten Reasonably Random Things About Me

I've been having some interesting comment exchanges with My Inner French Girl, and she has tagged me for the much-circulated "Ten Random Things About Myself" meme. I generally don't post much personal material on La France Profonde, but the timing of this meme will also allow me to give you a better look at my new winter thumbnail!

1. I'm not a very random person. That's why I immediately organized this list around three main themes: French stuff, food stuff and really random stuff.

2. My first trip to France was to do a semester overseas in Tours. We got a two-week break in November. Most of my friends took off to sunny climates, but I found one taker to go to Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

3. The worst mistake I've ever made in French was to announce that I had cooked something "à poil" instead of "à la poêle." No translation will be provided!

4. After driving for 14 years in the USA with a perfect record, I failed the driving part of my first French driving test...but passed the written.

5. I was the very first person at my current workplace to "brownbag" it for lunch, and I took some flak for it. Now many of my colleagues, both French and anglophone, eat lunch at work. The times they are a changing...even in La France Profonde.

6. I know how to make confit de canard and terrine de foie gras, but don't know how to put them up. They're awfully good "fresh" anyway.

7. The only drinks I truly enjoy are water, coffee, wine and beer.

8. I used to be a college radio DJ at KZSU. This means I had some type of radio license and actually knew how to turn on and shut down a whole radio station.

9. My husband, two daughters and I have all of our birthdays in a two-week period in June. Mine is last, so it usually goes by the wayside.

10. I have gone by a nickname all of my life because my parents made the conscious decision to "officially" give me a regal name but "call me" Betty. It has held. And by the way, in France it's my "Saint's Name Day," or however you translate that. So since I know not much will happen on my birthday, maybe someone will remember ma fête!

Now for the fun part: tagging. It wasn't really clear how many bloggers to tag, so I'm going to go with three...and will be surprised if any of them come up with a list:

The Empathic Rationalist to see if he can blog about something other than politics and philosophy.

Paul from Jeannot's Weblog, in the hopes he won't write a list in computer programming language.

Brandon and Jessica Haskell, ESL teachers in South Korea, whom I found in a totally random way -- you see I can be random if I want to. I opened up Blogger and watched the "recent posts" float by, clicking on everything that looked potentially interesting. It took me 13 minutes to find an appropriate candidate. There is a lot of junk out there!

Musical Memories

I just wrote an especially fun post about musical memories on And So Forth, my "just-for-fun" blog.

I realized afterwards that no French songs made the list...strange.

Yves Thuriès and Le Salon du Chocolat 2006

I've always wanted a pink chocolate shoe. And it was one of the many fabulous creations that tempted me at last year's Salon du Chocolat, which was the first event of its kind to be held in Rodez.

This year's edition will be held on Saturday November 24th and it should be a good chance to stock up on end-of-the-year gifts -- chocolates are a traditional cadeau in France, especially among colleagues and business acquaintances.

You will no doubt be able to admire some original creations, such as this saucisson au chocolat:

Don't worry, no pork was included!

Last year, I also got a chance to listen to one of the area's most famous chocolatiers, Yves Thuriès. Thuriès is also famous for his two restaurants in Cordes, Le Grand Ecuyer and Bistrot Tonin'ty, as well as his decidedly upscale cooking magazine.

Who knows how he does it all? Thuriès now has chocolate shops all over France, including one in Rodez -- which I believe is used in the photo on his "Points de vente" page. He has also expanded his chocolate business to England, Canada and Japan.

If this post hasn't satisfied your chocolate photo fix, spend a little time on the Thuriès chocolate site...

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Scathing satire

I guess this is supposed to be oh-so-funny, but I must say I think it is just plain nasty!

And no, I'm not British -- but I know a lot of my readers are.

Since the original post, I've learned from the very knowledgeable My Inner French Girl that the article is an extract from a book that has actually been written by a fake "translator" -- British herself (read the comment below.)

I suppose that makes it a little funnier -- I know the British love biting humor/humour.

What do you think?

Sleeping under a thin sheet

September and October were lovely in Aveyron, but November has come in with frosty mornings and chilly evenings.



I wonder if Notre Dame's bell tower is warm enough at night, sleeping under this thin sheet?

Halloween in France: Dead or Alive?

Well, what would you have done if you had had fourteen 14-year-olds celebrating Halloween "American-style" -- whatever that means -- in your French living room and kitchen?


I hid out in my office and started to reflect on the diminishing presence of Halloween in France. Google searches ensued.


Do you know what? Halloween has been around in France for quite a while now. Somehow I still feel like it's vaguely new. But I just happened upon an article from exactly ten years ago commenting on the rather strange arrival of Halloween in France:

"In one of the stranger manifestations of globalization, Halloween fever has abruptly gripped the French, sending pumpkin prices soaring and sorely testing the Gallic ability to pronounce "trick or treat," wrote Roger Cohen on October 31, 1997.

Ten years already! Yet apparently the bewitching party is almost over. Last year on this date, John Stodder reported that "Le Halloween, c'est mort," citing Forbes.com:

"The major dailies Le Monde and Le Parisien reported on Tuesday that following some short-lived popularity, the Halloween holiday has been 'pretty much buried.' The reasons seem to be a mixture of falling sales and anti-Americanism. Perchance a smattering of protectionism too. 'Our Halloween sales have been falling by half every year since 2002,' Le Monde quoted toy retailer La Grande Recre as saying."

Flailing perhaps, but not totally dead -- or why would we have a bevy of teenage French girls dancing around our house tonight, or a group of "treek or treetears" who just knocked at our door?

Sunday Scribblings: Hospital

I usually post my occasional contributions to Sunday Scribblings over on my catch-all blog, And So Forth.

But I can really deal with this week's prompt, "hospital," only here at La France Profonde. Because I've already done it.

I know it may seem a little lame to write a Sunday Scribble consisting of little more than links to previous posts, but this is just the way it has to be on this subject.

So come with me to my corner of France and discover my definitive Rodez hospital series:

Good-bye, My Hospital

Combarel Hospital, the Old

Combarel Hospital, the Incongruous

Rodez Hospital, the New

(Click here to read more musings on the theme of "hospital.")