Gradually Approaching the Millau Viaduct

The light of autumn...



...the Millau viaduct...

...what more is there to say?

(Photos courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau -- click to enlarge)

A Hundred Posts! To Many More!

(Click on photo to enlarge)

I don't know where I'm going, but I know where I've been...

...to Rodez, Millau, Montpellier, the end of the earth, the school supply department of the local supermarket, farms, Toulouse, elegant restaurants, my own back yard, work, rooves, shops, the Aubrac plateau...

For my 100th post, I want to say thank you to all of the expat bloggers (see sidebar) and French Daily Photo bloggers (also see sidebar) who click by and take a look at my little corner of the French countryside.

Also thanks to my husband Thierry who travels all around the Aveyron countryside and provides some of the photos for my blog.

And I've decided to give my blog a new name for the 100th post. La France Profonde is where I am; "an American in Aveyron" is who I am.

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Sheer Isolation

(click on photo for full view)

Although I write about life in rural France, the truth is I am not that isolated. I live in a village of over a thousand inhabitants; I go to work in a dynamic medium-sized town. Some Aveyronnais, however, live and work in sheer isolation. Could you do it?

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Bread-baking Time

The weather in Aveyron has turned grim and damp, so all over the département, villagers are firing up their old stone bread ovens to bake a few weeks' supply of pain de campagne.

Did you believe me? Actually, the truth is not quite as romantic. Aveyron does boast many stone bread ovens, or fours à pain, some "communal"-- belonging to a whole village or hamlet. Others, like this one in an old farmhouse, belong to individual properties. Most French people don't bake in these ovens anymore, but some are still in use.

I am personally looking forward to baking some bread this fall and winter with a much more modern contraption: la machine à pain:

Difficult to find in France ten years ago, bread machines are now sold in many hypermarchés and specialty shops. I wonder if the French know that the concept originated outside their borders?

(First photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

School Supply Madness, suite et fin

My daughter has a friend who had a terrible first day of school. Having carefully purchased the dozens of items on her liste de fournitures scolaires, she suddenly realized she had bought cahiers à petits carreaux (notice the patch of small squares at the top of the notebook above) rather than the required wide-lined notebooks. A catastrophe.

My previous post on school supply madness in France brought in a number of comments, but I'm not finished with this issue yet. Yes, I did survive the six trips to buy notebooks and pens, although I'm not so sure about our pocketbook. I read that the average cost of going back to school for a middle school student, including PE clothes but not books, is around 200 euros, or a little over 250 dollars. And what is this money spent on?

A lot of it goes to notebooks and binders -- cahiers et classeurs. Angela told me of a new system in her son's high school in Southern France which sounds wonderful:

"...last year the school encouraged the students to buy a bloc notes pad. The lessons were done on the pad and the sheets then transferred into the relevant classeurs at home. It really works and no excruciatingly heavy bags."

Unfortunately, that system hasn't been adopted here yet. Every class -- and the students have up to 12 -- requires its own notebook or binder. That may sound simple enough, but the choice of model is overwhelming. Don't forget, you can't just go pick up ten notebooks. Each teacher gives his or her own requirements, so you have to make sure to:

- choose the correct size -- 24 x 32 cm, 21 x 29.7 cm, 17 X 22cm...

-choose the right type of lines, the cahier à petits carreaux apparently being there just to fool people like my daughter's friend as teachers usually don't ask for them...

-select the appropriate number of pages -- 96, 140, 198. This has been a sticking point a few times as stores do run out of certain models.

-sometimes, choose the type of binding, but this is fortunately rare

So you can see that the margin for error is large, as is the budget. You also have to buy protège-cahiers, or notebook covers, which are notoriously out of stock in our area. One year my older daughter started talking about driving to Albi (over an hour away) where she had "heard they had transparent 24 X 32 notebook covers." I did not entertain the idea.

Finally, this post wouldn't be complete without a description of the epitome of the French school supply system: le cahier de brouillon, or the scratch paper notebook. I know this sounds like an oxymoron, but it really does exist. It guarantees there will be no sloppy work on feuilles volantes -- literally "flying sheets of paper." We couldn't have that, could we? So all "scratch paper" work is done in a little notebook, that can thankfully be used for all classes.

I must admit I have a soft spot in my heart for the scratch paper notebook. And it's one of the cheapest things on the list.

Do you want to go to Millau?

The construction of the Millau viaduct has put Aveyron's second-largest city on the map in a big way, and certainly must be attracting more English-speaking tourists and residents, as this Millau real estate agency indicates.

The San Jose Mercury has just published a three-part series about the city and its viaduct, and if you're interested in the area, you might want to take a look at the articles.

"A bridge to France's hidden charms" deals with the viaduct and the surrounding tourist sites and villages; "Millau Viaduct" gives a few statistics about the bridge, and "If You Go" gives advice and links for potential tourists.

If you miss out on these articles -- they may be taken off line soon -- take a trip down the A75 freeway, complete with photos not only of the viaduct but also of the freeway rest stops, thanks to the France section of Abelard.

Interestingly, one of the above San Jose Mercury articles finished with a quotation from a Belgian businessman who spends his holidays in the Millau area:

"'We returned because of the beauty of the area,'' he says. ``And because the area isn't overcrowded by noisy people.' Take that, Provence."

One of the original premises of this blog was that Aveyron could become the next Provence. Time will tell, but if it happens, the Millau viaduct will certainly be a factor.

School Supply Madness, Part One

I'm certain that somewhere in France this week, a parent is having a nervous breakdown over school supplies. French teachers demand uniformity in the type of notebooks, binders and paper students use, and the resulting school supply lists are notoriously daunting.

My youngest daughter has just started 8th grade. Her list -- handed out at the end of 7th grade -- contained 46 different items. We attempted to buy them all on one shopping trip, but gave up, exhausted, after purchasing about 29. So this meant another trip back to finish up --at another supermarket, of course, because the first one lacked plenty of key items.

My eldest just started high school and faced a different system. The school doesn't send out a list in June; on the first day of class each teacher announces what the students will need . The problem is, with 10 different subjects and teachers, the "first day of class" lasts all week. And generally, the message to the students is clear: you need this for yesterday. So every evening this week, we have gone on a school supply run. We've made a total of five so far, and our enthusiasm is definitely diminishing.

The Write Stuff for Expats

I was recently asked to write a story about wine for a new expat website, blueVicar . I don't really have time to work on stories now as I'm trying to get more business writing jobs, but the site's concept is clearly of interest if you would like to try your hand at writing stories that go beyond a simple blog post.

"ABOUT blueVicar.com
blueVicar is for people with stories to tell about life abroad…and for those who like to read them.

Living far from our home lands, we love to hear the experiences and perceptions other people have while living here. Their stories remind us of things that have happened to us; things that were funny, poignant, scary, or just plain memorable. We live more fully knowing what others have seen; the world becomes a little richer when we pay attention to details that we might otherwise have missed.

blueVicar is a forum for people who live abroad to tell their stories. Those stories are posted on blueVicar.com and then anyone, anywhere can read them."

Another interesting aspect of blueVicar is that your work will be edited by a professional, and that is worth gold for incipient writers. So take a look at blueVicar. Their first call for submissions is for stories about wine -- and I'm sure some of you have a few tales to tell!

Red on Red

What is happening in this aveyronnais field? Any ideas?

PS on September 1st : I didn't know a bunch of dirt could get so many comments! See below for the answer -- and some creative ideas.

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau, taken on May 30 2006. Nothing is that green here now! )

Thoughts on temperatures

You've seen it in winter , so now how about a look at what I see from my home office window - what I have come home to. The dryness of late August here always shocks me, but for the moment it is mercifully cool -- temperatures in the 70s.

The Aveyronnais are quite "frileux" -- they don't care much for feeling cold and often harangue their children about covering up. My French colleagues are often in huge pullovers when I am wearing a T-shirt.

Today I took my daughter and a friend to a local outdoor swimming pool, and there were fewer than ten people there. It's a beautiful sunny day, the school holidays are still on, but few locals dare swim outside unless it gets well into the 80s.

Last glance back

I just got back from six weeks in Olympia, Washington, where I spend all of my summers. It always takes a few days to get in the swing of life in France, and I know it will be the same this time.

A friend from Aveyron visited me for a day while I was there. It's the first time anyone from my French life -- other than my husband and children, of course -- has seen me back in Olympia.

I picked him up at the Greyhound station, having thrown on jeans a casual T-shirt. I hadn't bothered with make-up either. Later he told me I looked so great, relaxed and at home that he could feel that I was just that -- at home.

His comment puzzled me. Was there really an obvious difference? After 16 years in France, do I still seem somehow unnatural there?

All I could find to answer was: "Here, I'm not a foreigner."

This Blog Still Exists!

In case you're wondering, La France Profonde still exists. I'm just not finding a lot to say about Aveyron from Olympia, Washington. Wouldn't this be a good time for you to delve into my archives?

Goat Cheese Starts Here

Aveyron has a huge number of dairy farms, especially sheep's milk producers who supply cheese-makers such as the huge Roquefort industry. The neighboring Lot department is more famous for goat cheese, but Aveyron produces some.

These Aveyronnais goats seem curious about what lies ahead for them. Probably the usual: milking, eating and a few trots around the farm.

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

And the answer is....

I received a few guesses about my last intriguing old ad. But I didn't really expect anyone to come up with the right answer: the ad is for the old aperitif St. Raphael -- which I had never even heard of! Apparently it is still around and even becoming increasingly popular in Canada and perhaps elsewhere. Have you ever tasted it?

The site Cigar Aficionado tells us:

One of the oldest names in aperitifs is St. Raphaël, which dates from 1830. It was invented by a French physician named Jupet, who, legend has it, was concocting a quinine-flavored aperitif wine when he suddenly lost his sight. He prayed to the patron saint of the blind, Archangel Raphaël, and his sight was restored. Grateful for the miracle, Jupet named the potion St. Raphaël Quinquina, and it became immensely successful. St. Raphaël is based on mistelle, a mixture of grape brandy and grape juice, which is flavored with quinine, bitter orange peel, vanilla and cocoa. It is sweet in style and is made in gold and red versions.

Much as I hate to promote any form of smoking, this cigar site presented a great article about old French aperitifs.

Washington State in Le Monde

I get a daily newsletter from Le Monde, and sometimes it is worth it to scan down to the very last line. Today the French daily presents an article about Washington State , where Olympia is, where I am at this moment.

If you speak French, take a look -- but don't delay, their articles only stay available a few days.

Intriguing Old Ad

I count on my husband for some of my photos of Aveyron, because his job as a financial consultant for farmers gets him out in the country a few days a week. He just sent me this intriguing trace of an advertisement from the past -- but does anyone know what this bottle represents?

This isn't a guessing game! I don't know the answer myself -- but maybe you do.

Update: Okay, now I do know the answer because my hubby- photographer told me! But I still would like to make you guess...

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

What I Miss About Summer in Aveyron -- and Don't

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For six years, I have been spending most of the summer in my home town -- Olympia, Washington.
So my two-month teacher's vacation happens away from "home" -- or "back home" , in another sense.

I miss the summer activity in Rodez. It's the only time we see many tourists around, and they add a festive note. I don't get to go to the summer music festivals, like Estivada, a fun weekend of music and other performing arts which focuses on Occitan and other traditional languages and culture.

There are also great classical music festivals in Conques and Sylvanes which I would love to go to someday -- and if you're in Aveyron this summer, think about getting tickets!

I don't miss, though, the increasingly searing heat Aveyron experiences in July and August. Although Rodez and my village are at an elevation of about 2,000 feet and don't get as horribly hot as Albi and Toulouse, residents still suffer. This summer is looking especially dry, although we may not be in for the canicule of 2003 -- which I fortunately didn't experience as I was in the cool Pacific Northwest!

Gastronomy in Aveyron

When I talk about Averyron with my friends, be they French or English-speaking, one theme recurs: "On mange bien ici!" It seems to me that people eat well all over France, but Aveyron is especially well-known for its gastronomical pleasures.

If you want to take a look at -- or even buy -- some of the area's specialties, click to Made in Aveyron. Since my husband works in agricultural finance and management, we personally know or know of a lot of the producers represented on the site, and the products are of very high quality.

I'm wondering if all of my expat readers also feel that they live in an area with great food. Is every part of France as proud of its culinary heritage as Aveyron?

Meeting with Anntoinette (Trapped in Trappes)

I've been in Olympia since Thursday after a grueling Madrid-Chicago-Seattle flight. After a slow start, I definitely plan to get back to blogging, although that involves getting used to a QWERTY typewriter and my parents' hopelessly slow Mac. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "I'm doing the best I can."

But now to the real news. In my last blog, I alluded to a meeting I would be having with a fellow blogger -- actually an ex-Blogger blogger -- and it was Antoinette of Trapped in Trappes! I know a lot of you in our little expat blogging community read her hilarious but sad take on French life, which disappeared suddenly a few months ago. A lot of you were, like me, worried about her.

So imagine my surprise when I got an email telling me she and her family were spending their holidays in Aveyron -- mainly because of my blog -- and that she would like to meet me! Despite my crazy pre-departure schedule, I managed to have lunch with her, her charming husband and darling three-year-old son. The blogosphere is an amazing place.

It's not up to me to tell you how she's doing or to give you any update, but maybe she will leave a comment on this post when she gets back from vacation. Here's to you Anntoinette!

A Little Personal News

Usually I don't use this blog for personal news, but a few interesting things are happening that I wanted to share.

First, today I am having lunch with a fellow blogger who chose to spend her vacation in Aveyron because of my blog! What a treat! I will tell you more about it after the lunch if she wants me to share the information.

Second, Saturday evening I was able to enjoy a "double fête" -- we were invited to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday AND that evening, France upset Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals. So the local paper's predictions of gloom and despair were wrong. I don't know if my friends want to appear on my blog, so I'm providing an almost dark photo of the birthday party! It will give you an idea of the atmosphere though -- it's been so hot that at midnight, we were still eating outside.

Finally, I am leaving for the States on Wednesday and will be there with my daughters until August 17th. I do plan to keep up on this blog, although I'm not sure exactly what form my summer posts will take. Keep on clicking by...

Traces of Cafés Past

(Click on photo to enlarge)

What I wouldn't give to snoop around this abandoned "Café Restaurant." I wonder if any vestiges of its heyday are strewn around the interior. An old menu? A few dusty plates and glasses? An empty bottle of Suze?

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Oncoming Storm

You may be thinking this photo has been touched up, but it is exactly what we saw from our window a few evenings ago at about 8:30 pm, when an oncoming storm darkened half of the village.

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Hope Springs Eternal

I bet most of the Daily Photo bloggers in France are blogging about the "Fête de la Musique" today, so I'm not going to post my dusky shots of this yearly music festival.

Instead, let's have a word about something that inspires me much less: soccer. Today's headline in the local paper, Centre Presse, was:

"Pourquoi l'équipe française est désespérante."

Roughly translated: "Why the French team is driving us to despair."

This Rodez resident, at least, is keeping the faith. And we'll know tomorrow evening if the French team will survive the first round of the World Cup.

POSTSCRIPT JUNE 24th: The French team surprised their morose fans by making it into the second round, where they will play against Spain next Tuesday.

How far do you think the French team will go?

Learn about Languedoc

One of the interesting aspects of living in Aveyron is the department's great geographical diversity. It is part of the Midi-Pyrenées administrative region, but only the western part of the department really has the feel of that area. Just north, we have the cold and mountainous Cantal department, which is part of the Auvergne. And the south of the department turns to Montpellier and the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

I used to feel a stronger link to Toulouse, where my husband did his studies, but lately I have been going to Montpellier more often and have become quite a fan of the Languedoc. If you are interested in this region, I can recommend a great site that will give you all the information you need. The Languedoc Page is bursting with tips, links, and just about everything you need to know about this small but fascinating region of Southern France. Enjoy!

Restaurants in Aveyron: Goûts et Couleurs

You may be wondering what this obviously culinary post is doing on La France Profonde? Shouldn't I have placed it in Cuisine Quotidienne? I decided not to because there is nothing quotidian about a meal at Goûts et Couleurs , the only restaurant in Rodez that boasts a Michelin star. If you ever come to Aveyron, I do recommend a magical meal at this quiet establishment. For 32 euros, you can order the "Menu Maison" and savor a feast for the eyes and the palate that you may never forget. Here is what I enjoyed last week:

Le gâteau de hareng marinés, fenouil et poivrons,
Raisins secs, pomme verte et radis:

La "ventrèche" de thon au bouillon d'algues et citron vert,
Feuilles de chou au gingembre et champignons crus:

Tome de brebis, Chapelure romarin/genièvre et gelée de framboises :

Salade d'oranges à l'huile d'olive, chocolat blanc à la fleur d'oranger,sorbet citron poivre vert:

I'm not going to attempt to translate the menu items, but I can refer you to a review by fellow Internaut who did a write-up of the restaurant and provided English translations for the dishes he tasted.
Aveyron has three one-star restaurants and one three-star restaurant. I have been to all of them, and hope to get back to them now that I am blogging so that I can share the experience with my readers!

Vie Quotidienne

When you're a tourist, France is all about châteaux, scenic villages and museums. But when you're a resident, your life here becomes a vie quotidienne: the kids go off to school, you drive to work, and somehow you have to get the grocery shopping done.

I thought it would be interesting to give my readers a few glimpses of French schools. This is a primary school in a suburb of Rodez. Decorating school entrances with pencils must have been a fad at some point; my daughter's junior high school has them too.

It would be easy to say this is a "typical modern French primary school", but it's not accurate to generalize.

For my expat and French readers: how about posting a photo of a school in your area? Send me the link so I can do a summary of them.

Family Resemblance

Okay, I promise you La France Profonde is not turning into a "cute animal photo" blog. But my husband Thierry came home with these "family photos", and I loved the way mother and child took the same pose.

By the way, Thierry is a private consultant specialized in farm management, and he gets out and about in Aveyron, especially in farm country, a lot more than I do. Some of the photos on La France Profonde, and occasionally on Cuisine Quotidienne, are his. Look for the credit at the bottom of the post.

(Photos courtesy Thierry Jouanneteau)

How Dry It Is

Weather in Aveyron was fairly cool in May, so cool that we didn't even notice the lack of rain. In one week, with a little more heat, the countryside -- and lawns -- have dried up. Rounded haystacks are everywhere: a beautiful sight. Yet we can only hope for some precipitation this month. 

Time of the Signs

This road sign has been cracking me up for years on my drive to work.

"For your safety -- experimental road marking."

Somehow, this doesn't reassure me!

Also, the sign has been up for about ten years. I wonder how long the experiment is going to last? 

Family Ciné, what will become of you? Fauré Carrelages, what became of you?

Plans are afoot for a major multiplex cinema in Rodez, which will no doubt be a great attraction for the town's growing student population. I can't help but wonder, though, about the fate of our three existing cinemas, especially "Le Family", the only movie theater right in the town center.

A quick look on the Internet gave me no information about the history of this theater, so it's a subject I'll have to look into in the city archives. I imagine it was built over fifty years ago, so the half English name is rather surprising. Using English every which way in shop and business names is quite the fashion in France these days, but I don't think it was then.

Part of the building is covered with exquisite mosaic work, and the artisans left their signature:


Ever interested in French businesses of the past, I took a look around the Internet for anything written about the Toulouse "Fauré Carrelages" (tileworks) company. No sign. Another French company of another era, long gone and forgotten.

Take a video trip to the Millau Viaduct

A number of my readers have expressed interest in the Millau Viaduct, so I thought you might enjoy a trip around it in a convertible bus. Click here for a link to a France 3 video of delighted tourists trying out the new vehicles. (Once on the site, you have to click on the video link, identifiable by a little video camera.)

Everything's in French of course, but the pictures tell the story...have fun!

The Pink-framed Door

I think one really could spend a lifetime taking photos of French doors. This one in Rodez is framed with the most beautifully colored stone. Some find Rodez drab, but when I look for color, I find it. We could almost imagine we're in La Ville Rose.

Doors, windows, storefronts, shutters: take a look at the collection of strikingly artistic photos on the subject taken by my fellow American-Aveyronnais expat friend Tom Smith-Vaniz.

Another Type of Pool?

Speaking of swimming pools, which I just did for Expatica, more and more Aveyronnais are having them built. I recently took the plane from London to Rodez, and as we were descending toward Rodez, I could see so many swimming pools that I wondered if we weren't landing in Toulouse.

It looks like this local resident has found another solution for cooling off over the summer.

(photo courtesy Thierry Jouanneteau)

Coming out....of my pseudonym

When I started my two blogs five months ago, I was reluctant to reveal my real identity. I wasn't that clever, though. How many Americans with the initials B.C. have been living in Aveyron for 11 years? Just me, myself and I -- as far as I know.

With the publication of my first freelance article on Expatica, which includes a bio linking to this blog, the gig is definitely up.

Au revoir, bcinfrance. Hello, Betty Carlson.

Field Art

Was the farmer aware of the patterns he was making as he ran his tractor over this field?
(photo courtesy Thierry Jouanneteau)

Aveyron Number One -- if you're "a certain age"!

I know I am living in a gorgeous, unspoiled part of France. Often I think Aveyron has got to be one of the greatest parts of the country. Yet, as you know, I am drawn to big cities and frequently have the sneaking suspicion that there is a whole French world out there that I'm not experiencing.

Now I know why. According to a major study just released by L'Express magazine, Aveyron is indeed the best department to live in in France -- for senior citizens! Overall, we come in 26th, which is pretty respectable, but I can take comfort in knowing the situation will improve with each passing year of my life.

So why is Aveyron so great for the elderly? Take a look at the chart that ranks the department (out of 95) on different criteria:


Rankings for Aveyron

Commerce 61
Coût du logement (Price of housing) 21
Culture 68
Dynamisme économique 44
Enseignement supérieur (higher education) 77

Internet 89
Météo (weather) 26
Offre de soins (available medical care) 80
Puissance économique (economic strength) 74
Réussite au bac (success rate in the Baccalauréat exam) 18
Sécurité 5
Environnement 4
Situation sociale 2
Santé des habitants (Residents' health) 1

So despite medical offerings towards the bottom of the list, Aveyron's residents are the healthiest in France. We live in a "secure" atmosphere -- read little crime -- and have an excellent "social situation", whatever that means -- I won't even attempt a translation! And the department is green and clean.

If only I were 75 years old, I could appreciate all of this more fully!

(If you live in France, you may enjoy checking out how your department ranks by clicking here.)

Nature Adjusts

Wouldn't you say nature has a mysterious way of adjusting to its surroundings?

(photo courtesy Thierry Jouanneteau)

Spring springs up in surprising places

Warmer weather and rainy spells mean that greenery is growing everywhere. I'm not sure how this gargoyle feels about the mini-lawn sprouting up on his back, though.

Haircuts of Days Past

As you know from my "Time of the Signs" posts, I love French signs. I always get a little thrill from finding one for some long-forgotten shop or business.

Andrée must have been quite the hair stylist in her day. I wonder what became of her and her salon.

Big City Bis

My blogging friend Emily from What's for Lunch, who lives in Paris, took me to task in a recent email for saying that I just had to get out of the sticks! She dreams of the countryside, but I dream of the big city -- much as I love Aveyron. So don't be surprised when you hear that three days after getting back from London, I headed off to Montpellier for the day.

I was able to get a peek at some of the city's inner courtyards, but also, as always, the unfortunate "artistic" creations of the city's taggers. I don't know if all French cities are this full of tags, but in Montpellier, you can see this urban phenomenon everywhere.

Back from the Big City

Yes, I did go to London and had the most fabulous of times.
Yes, I am having trouble getting back into the swing of work, housekeeping, family and daily life...and blogging.
No, I won't bore you with amateurish photos of my trip.
Yes, I will soon get back to writing about the main subject of this blog, Aveyron and life in la France Profonde.