food, family, and more family

The rest of my parents visit was not nearly so eventful as Beaune was. I had classes most days so I suppose they walked around the town and took in the sighs.

My host family invited them over for two nights, and they were definitely interesting experiences. My host parents speak only a little bit of English, though they were able to understand a fair amount, and of course my parents don't speak any French so it was mostly up to Louis and I to translate. It was hard, but somehow someone always found a subject of stumbling conversation and it rarely got too awkward. I'm sure the two families would have a lot to talk about together if they could properly communicate.

The rest of the nights of their visit I went out with them to restaurants around town, which was definitely a nice change. The first night they indulged me and I got to have Indian food (with Abby!) which was a delicious change from all the French food I've been eating. The other nights, however, I decided should be about showing my parents food of Burgundy, so we ate at two French restaurants.


The first night we found this really neat little French restaurant that played wonderful bluesy music and had walls lined with jars and various interesting food items. Sadly, we had sort of an early dinner (7:30) so it wasn't very lively or good for people watching until we left.

And now, in honor of Michael Carbone, a description of my dishes: I had steak tartare (again), this time served to me in a jar, and some of the best french fries I ever had.

Sorry, Michael, I can't do it like you can.

If it seems like this entry is laregly to do with food, it's because I didn't have much time to see my parents outside of dinner. The only other thing we did together was go (in my case, return) to the Musée des Beaux Arts. This time, however, the contemporary arts sections were open and we got to see the Impressionists, including some Manet and Monet, as well as some non-obnoxious modern art. I also learned that the streets of my neighborhood are named after some really interesting Dijon artists: Francois Ziem and Francois Pompon.

After that thouroughly educational experience, it was time for some pop culture. We met Abby near a bus stop and rode over to the El Dorado (one of the few theaters in town that show movies in their original form with French subtitles rather than dubbed in French) to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. I loved it so much ; the animation was really amazing and, well, it's Wes Anderson so of course the music was wonderful and the cast was fun. Because it was an animation it wasn't as obnoixiously obvious that it was a Wes Anderson film as his normally are. Yes, it was his typical cast transformed into woodland animals, and, yes, there were a few things that were very typical of him, but to see it like this was just adorable, I though and didn't annoy me at all. I always thought of myself as ambivalent toward him as a director, but now I think I like the majority of his movies, so I must be a fan.

And these are the times when it's easy to forget that we're in France. Thus, we head back to the center of town for another French dinner. Nathalie recommened to me a very nice place that's open on sundays and it did not disappoint. Everything was delicious. (Ok, Michael, let me try again!) We shared two appetizers of smoked salmon, which I absolutely love and could eat forever and ever, and fois gras. The latter was perfectly smooth and creamy and my parents were lamenting the fact that it's banned in the States. For dinner we all had some kind of fish. Mom and I had fried scallops in a sauce that was unbelievably good. It was the kind of dish you eat slowly. Dad had a sol stuffed with mushroom, which was a pleasant surprise to him because even the English menue was indecipherable. For dessert, Abby had carmelized pears, I had crepes with cassis (blackcurrent liquer) and my parents both got the cheese plate, which means they bring out the cheese cart and you choose as many cheeses as you want. Yes, we are in France.

I was never really sure about French food before I came here, but let me tell you, I now know what I've been missing and I'm a fan.

My parents last night in Dijon was at one of our weekly group dinners. Each Tuesday, two people from our group make dinner for everyone and for their host families. Basically, it's a chance to get together, relax, drink wine, eat great food and attempt to speak French. It's wonderful. This week the two boys were cooking for the biggest group we've had so far -- with my parents and Taylor's family there, we were almost twenty people. It was intense, but so much fun. I think it was a good way to send off my parents and I'm sure they had a great time.

une beaune journée

The parents have arrived

It's been admittedly strange to have my parents here when I myself have been here less than a month and I barely know this city. Also, I've been speaking more English this week than I have in months. But it's been very nice to see them and to discover new parts of Dijon with them.

The weekend was a wonderful example. We had our first excursion -- one day in Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy. Fortunately, two of our group couldn't make it this weekend so my parents got to replace them and come along without any trouble. It worked out perfectly. And the weather was even lovely!

First we went to the wine museum, where we saw all kinds of interesting artifacts and learned about the history of the development of wine. It got me very excited for the wine tasting we were going to do.


The evolution of wine bottles


Wine labels

The wine tasting itself was truly magnificent. Of course it was my first time ever wine tasting and to have my first time be in the countryside of Burgundy is seriously the most awesome thing ever. I'm pretty freakin' lucky. Of course my parents were loving it too. Dad said it was a completely unique experience, despite all the wine tasting he's done in California.


I definitely didn't taste anything this old, but just to see it is pretty amazing!

First we were taken down into the cave (the term used to describe the cellar were the wine is stored, but which is also very accurate to how it felt down there), where we could see some of the wines they had that were by far older than any of us. We walked through the cave, experiencing one fabulous wine after another. Each bottle was placed on a barrel with just a single candle for light in the dark, damp space. We were all of us given little metal bowls to hold our wine, which we would, in theory, taste and then spit out. Well, that didn't really happen. We had to drink if only to soak in the fact that it was legal to do so. There were only a few white at the beginning and after that the rest were red. (All the whites of Burgundy are chardonnay and all the reds are pinot noir.) It was so interesting to note all the differences between the wines. I've never felt very much like I understand wine, even though I love it, but having them all at the same time like that really made all the different flavors very evident. And we tried some of the best, more expensive wines from the region (definitely not the most expensive, though we did pass by some Romanée-conti vineyards). Well, that was all just fine until the wines just kept coming and coming and those little metal cups kept adding up. All in all, I believe we tasted about twenty wines! No one was smashed or anything, but we were definitely a little too tipsy for eleven in the morning.

After filling up a bit with a wonderful Borgognese lunch, we visited the Hospices of Beaune. It was originally a hospital during the Hundred Years War, and was in use until the sixties. What's so remarkable about it, though, is how beautiful it is, especially the roofs.


As I believe I've mentioned before, the colored roofs like this are traditional of Burgundy. There are a few of them around Dijon, but the Hospices are truly the epitome of the art.

The Hospice also has a great deal of history, but I could hardly do it justice. Thus, I have photography.


The various frightening tools used by the doctors and surgeons.


Some bottles of medicine in the pharmacy


This painting is famous enough that I studied it in my survey of Western art history. In front of it is a giant magnifying glass that our guide moved around in order to better display the incredible detail.

It was a great day, but sadly it's over and the rest of my parents visit will have to wait until another post because I have homework to do.