As if all the holiday eating weren't enough, there's another food-related holiday celebrated the first week in January in France: Epiphany. Originally there is some religious significance, but the laïc frogs dropped that and kept the best part: the cake. Starting just after new years all over France the pâtissieries start cooking up these special galettes that have a tiny trinket baked inside. The tradition goes that the youngest person at the table hides underneath and calls out who gets what piece as someone doles out the cake above. Whoever finds the fève is the king, or roi, and wears the paper crown. There's 2 kinds of galettes in France and some invisible demarcation of who celebrates with which one- there's a briochey kind with large grains of sugar or dried fruits baked on top, and a flaky kind with a layer of almond paste in the middle. In the Southwest however, we don't discriminate, and celebrate with both. So all this month I've been having these cakes with friends, colleagues, etc.
Saturday I went skiing in the Pyrenees with my high school. Some of the more motivated gym teachers organize a few weekend field trips over the winter where they rent a coach bus and take a bunch of kids to one of the stations around here. We got wind in the English department that it was only 20 euros to be a chaperone so we showed up in force: Aurélie whom I went to the Alps with over Christmas, Sandrine, and myself, plus the 6 gym teachers.
I must say, it was a bit awkward seeing my kids outside of school, let alone at 6 in the morning wearing snowpants. I mean, interactions outside the classroom in the hallways are at best passable, so this was pretty weird. I can never tell if they think I'm cool, or not. Sometimes they cry out "hello!" from across the hall, and sometimes act like they've never seen me before in their lives. Who knows. Luckily "chaperone" was a loose term and we really didn't see them once they got off the bus and got skis strapped on them.
Still, the day was a bit long. I need to really lower my expectations after a week in the Alps of incredible skiing. First off, I got myself going at 5:30 on a Saturday to be at the school ontime for the departure, which was late. Then, we took over 2 hours to get there. THEN renting equipment for 20 kids from a store that was the size of my bedroom, no exaggeration, with only one 60-something year old guy working, worked about as well as it sounds. Plus the equipment was from 1989. And he gave me skis about half a foot too short.
There was unfortunately no real snow as its been so warm here, so we were skiing on manmade snow and icy slopes, surrounded by brown scenery - not at all mode Alps. Just when I was getting good and cranky, we stop for lunch.
The professors picnicked apart from the kids, and it had been suggested to bring a little something to share with everyone, pot luck style. We settle down and someone brings out a bottle of white for a little coup de blanc to start with the duck fritons, paté, and assorted dried sausages. Then someone pulls out a homemade quiche, a savory cake, charcuterie, 4 kinds of cheese, and a few bottles of red. Then its cakes, another bakery galette de rois, coffee, chocolate, clementines, and homemade pear liquer to warm us up for the slopes.
I'm telling you, with the French, you don't joke around with meals. All in all it was a good day, not the intense skiing I'd hoped for, but a sunny day with new colleagues and a very traditional French "picnic."
A plus!
Linz
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