Day 2070 (Monday) 30th November

Shock horror it was quite overcast this morning and a lot cooler than yesterday but it’s still not coat weather, just a jacket. Huw was very disappointed because he had planned on going up to the villa to make a start on the gardening so he did some odd-jobs around the flat. I, of course, caught the train to Monaco. Just as I was leaving the flat two white vans were on our super narrow street and Huw got very excited to see that they were workers from Orange hopefully laying the fibres to increase our rather slow internet – here’s hoping.

I used the lift down to Fontvielle and it cuts down on my walking time. Eduard and I worked on more phrasal verbs and a lesson on puns and humour. He tells the most inappropriate jokes usually sexist or racist but at least he makes fun of his own Jewishness as well. As usual I had a 5-minute break on the balcony before moving into the kitchen to work with Olga. We practised using the conditionals (If I hadn’t come to live in France my French would be even worse than it is) and one of the prompt cards asked us who, in the whole world we would meet if we could. To encourage her to speak I answered first and said ‘Tom Jones’ her face lit up and she agreed that he’s a wonderful singer and then added that he had sung at their son’s wedding in Moscow! How much would that have cost? Another prompt was ‘if you had more money what would you do?’ her reply was ‘if I had more money I would decorate the apartment!’ How much money does she need? Maybe she meant decorate all their homes, the penthouse in Monaco, the villa in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, their house outside Tel Aviv and the house in Knightsbridge – then I guess she would need quite a lot of money. While we were in the kitchen we heard some very strange noises coming from the living room. It turned out that Eduard was having a singing lesson. So he is improving his English twice a week, he has a French teacher, a piano teacher and guitar lessons. So he’s certainly not an example of an idle rich man.

On the way home I took a risk and took a short cut to the shopping centre and it worked. I am usually utterly useless with directions so I was chuffed when my idea worked. To get to the lift I need to walk the full length of the rather big shopping centre and I noticed today that they have lots of Christmas trees hanging upside down from the ceiling – I rather liked them.

it's been a few weeks since I wrote about food so I hope you enjoy this article, none of the following photos are mine.

Culture of French Food

By Laurie Jo Miller Farr Professional Travel Writer, French-Speaking Tour Guide.

French cuisine is among the most celebrated on Earth and French culinary customs hold fascination for lifestyle observers too. There is a convivial nature around the entire process, with high importance placed on shopping for the best ingredients, planning the menu, and sitting down at the prescribed hour to enjoy it together en famille.

Three Square Meals a Day

The pace of the day is set around meal times, comprising a light breakfast followed by a three-course lunch and a similarly substantial dinner

Traditional French Foods

At home, French dining etiquette connected to meals is less formal than you may think. Most of all, it is important to relax and gather round a table to eat and talk. The French don't approve of grazing, scrounging around in the fridge, grabbing a snack on the go, or standing over the sink to munch on an apple. Dropping coins into a vending machine that dispenses candy bars, potato chips, and soda isn't a viable option in the accepted French way of life.

Mealtimes in France

Some say you could set your watch by meal times served in traditional French homes. Contemporary urban lifestyle and work schedules mean there is more flexibility around breakfast times. Still, it is de rigeur to sit down for lunch at 1 p.m. and to pull up a chair for dinner at 8:30 p.m. Lunch and dinner are hearty affairs and there's little need for-nor acceptance of-mid-afternoon snacking.

In Paris restaurants, an 8:30 p.m. supper is on the early side and a later dinner hour is more fashionable. Night owls can find late dining until 2 a.m. at a brasserie or a bistro in major cities. Outside the large cities, restaurants typically close between lunch and dinner and it's difficult to find a kitchen serving lunch after 2 p.m. or dinner after 10 p.m.

Bread, Cheese and Wine

Each of these three specialty items is essential to the culture and traditions of French food. Together, they make the perfect, affordable lunch to enjoy en plein air, to take with you wherever you like.

Fresh baked bread daily cannot be overemphasized as a part of French heritage. Quality selections from the bakery span the gamut from long crusty baguettes to light flaky croissants. Stopping to pick up something to bring home from the boulangerie is a simple gesture of sharing family love. And consume it they do; according to recent studies by research firm Euromonitor, France has 32,000 independent bakeries and bread lovers buy 10 billion baguettes every year.

Combine your baguette with wonderful French cheeses and a bottle of reasonably priced French wine and you've got an instant picnic. You don't need a cutting board or knife; baguettes are designed to be torn off in bite-size chunks. This all-time favourite is perfect for any season and just right for an impromptu pause to rest, chat, and conduct people-watching while seated on a park bench.

A Café Society

Join the locals when you grab a great seat for more people-watching from a table at a sidewalk café. Order coffee, a lemonade (citron pressé), a carafe of wine, or a sparkling water. The art of passing time lingering in a French café, whether in conversation or alone with a newspaper, is what lazy French days have been made of for centuries.

Nowhere does "café society" better than Paris where thousands of neighbourhood cafés are central to the ebb and flow of authentic French joie de vivre.

The Role of Meat, Poultry and Fish

In France, every proper lunch and dinner revolves around a main course consisting of meat, fish or poultry. Well-known, classic French dishes bear this out.

Traditional Meat Dishes

A wide variety of meats may command the spotlight at the centre of the table, including beef, pork, lamb, veal and rabbit. Popular national dishes include Burgundy beef (boeuf bourguignon), veal stew (blanquette de veau), leg of lamb (gigot d'agneau) and Toulouse-style cassoulet with pork and beans.

Popular Poultry Dishes

Chicken and duck are the main ingredient for traditional dishes such as chicken Dijon, chicken braised with wine (coq au vin), duck à l'orange, and duck breast (magret de canard). Turkey with chestnuts or a roast goose make up the standard Christmas meal.

Fish, Shellfish, and Seafood

The fishing industry is important and France is fortunate to have more than 2,100 miles of coastline from the English Channel to the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea.

Expect to find delicious boat-to-table dishes served regularly, including pan fried sole (sole meunière), salmon in paper (salmon en papillote), grilled tuna Provençal and broiled swordfish à la Niçoise. 

Don't miss the thick Provençal Bouillabaisse stew from Marseilles packed with shrimp, mussels, clams and monkfish. The French enjoy lobster thermidor, scallops in creamy wine sauce (coquilles Saint-Jacques), marinated mussels (moules marinières) and excellent oysters sourced from the chilly water off the northwest Atlantic coast.

The Importance of Food in French Culture

Throughout the various regions of France, dining is both a pleasure and a deep-rooted ritual. UNESCO declared French gastronomy to be an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. This cultural arm of the United Nations recognised French culinary culture as "a social custom aimed at celebrating the most important moments in the lives of individuals and groups."

Recipe for espadon (swordfish) à la Niçoise.
INGREDIENTS

12 cups water

1 1/4 cups pearl barley

1/2 pound haricots verts, trimmed

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved

1 medium-size red onion, sliced

1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

3 garlic cloves, minced

8 6-ounce swordfish steaks

2 medium-size red bell peppers, thinly sliced

2 medium-size yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced

Lemon wedges

PREPARATION

Bring 12 cups water to boil in large pot. Add barley. Cover pot; reduce heat to medium. Simmer until barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Add haricots verts; boil until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain. Place mixture in large bowl. Mix in tomatoes, olives, onion, 1/3 cup oil, lemon juice, thyme, and lemon peel. (Barley can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat broiler. Whisk 1/2 cup oil and garlic in bowl. Turn fish in oil mixture; divide fish between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Toss peppers in oil mixture; divide between baking sheets. Drizzle remaining oil from bowl over fish and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place 1 pan in broiler 3 minutes. Turn fish over; broil until fish is opaque in center and peppers begin to blacken, about 2 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining fish and peppers. Divide barley salad among plates. Top with fish and peppers and drizzle with pan juices. Serve with lemon wedges.