La Gare de Rodez at Dawn

As dawn breaks on a chilly January morning, what is going on at the Rodez train station?

Come with me to take a look:

At 7:40 am on a Saturday, the joint isn't exactly jumping.

A few passengers drift in; a few cars pull out of the parking lot. And there is no chance of slipping into the now smoke-free train station café -- it hasn't yet opened its doors.

But I could pick up a newspaper and an issue of L'Express with Barack Obama on the cover, and slurp coffee from a Selecta drink machine:

By the way, what yanked me out of my nice house (read "bed") so early on a freezing Saturday morning?

Was I off on an exciting little trip just for moi, myself and I?

Actually, what got me out and about this morning was the blind determination of three teenage girls, two of whom I can claim as my own, to spend the day shopping up a storm at the sales in Toulouse:

And no, I wasn't invited along!

C'est normal...

They chugged off on this sleek new TER, or regional, train:

Not so long ago, the trains to from Rodez to Toulouse were of the squat, square and sooty variety:

So the rail trip from Rodez to la Ville Rose has become significantly more pleasant.

Attention à la fermeture des portes automatiques!

Have fun, girls...

It's going to be a long, beautiful day...

Time to get back to my car:

Wordless Wednesday 9

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

Rodez Town Aveyron Years Just -- What the ****!!!

On my Google alert for "France profonde" today, I was rather pleased to see some of my content.

Until....I saw that it came from here.

I won't grace this with a screenshot -- not that I can remember how to make one.

And I'd love to shoot off an incendiary comment, but of course the "comment" function doesn't work on this new pseudo-blog, so eloquently entitled "Rodez Town Aveyron Years Just."

Damn you, "dustdiary," if you're going to steal my posts at least get the accents right! I hate to think of one of my favorite local restaurants being known as "Goats et Couleurs!"

Not That I Bother about Such Things...

I honestly wasn't going to blog anything about France's (I suppose I should say "our" since I'm a dual national) wild and crazy president and his paramour. If there's one topic I want to avoid on La France Profonde, and one "French" term I detest, it's "les people."

But my parents just sent me a quick (3 minutes, 7 seconds to be exact) NPR broadcast by Scott Simon. And if you have 3 minutes, 7 seconds (to be exact) this morning and would like to spend it chuckling, listen to "Sarkozy and Bruni, a French Love Controversy."

Paris, I Knew You Well

There was a time in my life, too many years ago, when Paris meant France and France meant Paris.

As a French teacher in the USA in the 1980s, I took a number of trips to France, including a 6-week stay in Paris on a Rockefeller Foundation Grant. My French stays always included at least a week in la capitale -- and preferably many more. By 1989, I felt much more at home in Paris than Seattle, even though the Emerald City was only 60 miles from my home town.

Sure, I had visited parts of la province, all of which somehow felt parenthetical compared to the big city.

I had even spent four months as a student at the now-defunct "Stanford in Tours" campus -- only a few hours from Paris by train, by the way, even before the TGV. In those heady days of Eurail Pass train travel, my friends and I would sometimes "hop up" to enjoy a Parisian dinner. We would leave Tours at about 5pm, get to Paris just in time to eat, and catch a midnight-ish train back.

I moved to France in 1990, with visions of Paris dancing in my head. Not that I necessarily wanted to set up house and home there... but if I had spent months in Paris while living in the USA, I was certainly going to be heading there all the time...wasn't I?

Or was I?

What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday 8

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Looking Up in Rodez

Sometimes I feel almost sick when I think that I lived in France for over fifteen years before learning to look up.




When I started La France Profonde, my goal was to share the beauties of Aveyron with...I was going to say my readers. But as I've said many times, I didn't imagine there would be any readers.





Now when I post, I know someone is out there. I have blogging friends and La France Profonde is a significant part of my life. And I have so many photos that the blogging process is, at times, paralyzing.


So my bloggy resolution for FP in 2008 is to get through my overflowing "Mes Images/France Profonde" file and share more of my pics.


Oops, this one looks like it slipped in from Pau or Biarritz:




Actually not. It's another glance up from the town center of Rodez. You really never know what you will find there.


As time goes on, I wonder if I will ever get out onto the aveyronnais backroads on the pastoral photo shoots I imagined when I started this blog. For the moment, my husband overwhelms me with visions of the aveyronnais countryside that few tourists will ever see.


And I keep snapping shots of Rodez dans tous ses états...






It's a logical division of labor. Thierry drives all over the aveyronnais countryside to work with farmers; I commute daily to la capitale, as some rural dwellers still call Rodez, to teach in a business school.

City rat, country rat? We have both sides covered.

Wordless Wednesday 7

Cross-cultural Clips 2

When I published my first Cross-cultural Clips post over six months ago, I thought it was a great idea and something I could carry on every month. I'm always collecting links to "articles of interest for La France Profonde," but time flies by and the articles get out of date. And anyway, it's a lot more fun to post cool photos of Aveyron.


But since I'm working from my laptop computer -- my desktop computer has mysteriously lost its Internet connection -- I have a manageable link list, one that can actually be perused without screaming "Abandon hope all ye who enter!" And from it, I have access to a few cross-cultural clips that should be of interest to expats, Francophiles and others inclined to compare cultures:


1. Here's a basic question for fellow expats: are you happy with your move?

According to a Dec. 20th article from Telegraph.co.uk, 80% of us are. Spain seems to be the best destination for expat bliss: over 90% of British expats say they are happy with their move there. However, "the unhappiest emigrants were in France...with nearly 19%...disappointed with their new life."


2. By now most France blog readers know that the smoking ban in cafés and restaurants has taken effect.

Personally, I've been waiting for this day for years, and one of my New Year's resolutions is to get back into the habit of frequenting cafés and restaurants that I have dropped because of smoke issues. I hope most non-smokers in France will do the same to help prove that the ban was a good idea, not only healthwise but commercially.


3. Now that the smoking issue is under control, I can turn my concern to drinking or, more specifically, "le binge drinking."

I used to think France had figured it out as far as drinking, especially among young people, was concerned: no taboos, an early drinking age (16), openness with parents -- all ingredients which led to responsible drinking for fun rather than irresponsible drinking to get drunk. But the tide is turning, with young French people increasingly adopting "the British model" for their forays with alcohol. God save us!

4. Have you noticed more service with a smile in France these days?

I think there's been a gradual improvement over the past ten years or so, but lately I've heard even more "Bonjour Madame!" as soon as I go into a shop and "Merci! Bonne journée!" when I leave -- whether I've bought anything or not. Apparently, though, there is still progrès à faire on the French service report card. "Foreigners rank France's cultural attractions and food as its top draws while hospitality gets the last spot on the list," reports Brigitte Hagemann on Dec. 22 2007 for Agence France Presse.

Have a good day! And if you're one of the unhappy expats here in France, remember that Spain is right across the border!

Bonne année!

This piercing blue sky shone over the Causse Méjean in the Lozère department on January 1st, 2008.

I hope it brings all of my readers a very happy and healthy New Year.

Meilleurs voeux!

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.

Wordless Wednesday 6

(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.

Wordless Wednesday 5

(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!

Wordless Wednesday 4

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.

Wordless Wednesday 3

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.

Wordless Wednesday 2

(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...

Wordless Wednesday

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.")

Delicate details

Before I started writing La France Profonde, this sort of architectural detailing would just pass me by.

Now it piques my curiosity: what did this house, duly lined up alongside a number of non-descript dwellings, do to merit such intricate features?

And why the blue and yellow, so out of tune with the general color scheme in "le Bassin," or the Decazeville mining area?

Sometimes I'm tempted to just knock on people's doors and ask them these questions -- while there are still residents around who know the answers! But I'm not sure how warm the welcome would be...

Tasting Aveyron in Paris

Last week, I posted about an Aveyron food festival that had gone on in Paris recently. Since I don't always read the local papers -- and I'm duly ashamed of that fact -- I managed to find out more about it by visiting one of my local butchers.

I was standing in line waiting to pick up a few steaks for lunch when I heard one of M. le Boucher's customers ask him "Vous vous êtes bien amusé à Paris?"

My ears pricked up. And, much to everyone's surprise, I started asking questions. It turns out that Alain Ginesty, who runs an excellent boucherie-charcuterie-traîter in Sébazac near Rodez, had been to the festival -- and had indeed had a great time.

He was kind enough to lend me the brochure about the Marché des Pays de l'Aveyron which took place in Paris the weekend of October 5-7. Over 75 local food producers were plying Parisians with Aveyron's fabulous food specialties, such as aligot, fouace and Marcillac wine.

For those of you -- and from your comments I know you are out there -- who haven't yet experienced aligot, know that you can do so in Paris:


These are just two Aveyronnais restaurants in the City of Light, but I'm sure there are many more. Remember, you really haven't lived until you've tasted aligot!



Many thanks to Mr. Alain Ginesty for lending me the brochure about this event!

It is indeed a special place

If you read my blog, you know I think that Aveyron is just about the greatest place in France.But don't just take my word for it....

This week the writer of A Juicy Life shared her experience of cycling through part of Averyron:

"The landscape was so different from where we were and we instantly fell in love. It took us about 2 hours to get there and once we did we knew we definitely stepped up in terms of beauty, the landscape is like a dream....

Our original itinerary was to spend 1 week here and then head back to Spain and spend 1 week in Girona. Well, after 3 days here we have decided to extend our trip here and not spend 1 week in Girona. We have found the area we love...we don't want to leave...

We made some great friends on this trip and the Aveyron and around could be the best place we've yet been."

My parents feel the same way. They have visited quite a bit of France: Paris, the Loire Valley, Provence, Normandy, Dordogne, Alsace...but when asked what their favorite place in France is, their answer is always the same. And it starts with an "A."

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)