Before I get started after all this time away, distracted by a Summer full of time with loved ones in all this delicious heat, I have to say (is it one year already!??)
Happy Birthday Pop!
It’s a biggie, but as you know, it’s only as much as you feel. And that deserves a toast!
Have a good one and here’s to more voyages across the sea!
They came, they saw, we drank – woohooey!
It was meant to have been a BIG surprise, but in the end we knew. But that didn’t change ANYTHING in the way of how excited I was to have my parents – for the first time in 12 years!!- come and visit us.
My lovely brother had tried as hard as he could to keep it a surprise until the very last but, with all sorts of things popping up on his end and ours, had to tell us that he was heading our way with two of his kids and da da da daaaa… Ma and Pop in tow!
Since we moved here 14 years ago I’ve been enormously lucky to have had so many friends and family stay – and each time is so special as you get to enjoy each person on their own and usually over an extended time (hey, this is no quick side trip on the itinerary – if you’re going to travel from one side of the world to the other you’d better make it a decent trip!). I adore going back to see everyone in Oz, but it can get hectic trying desparately to catch up with everyone at once. This way, when people come to stay on our turf, I can relish every minute of their company and not have to juggle with a social diary.
So this was Jan and Pete’s – and Mark, Ruby and James’s turn to finally drop their bags and hang out (in the home that my parents hadn’t seen until now!)
I took them to all the places they’d rememebered vividly from twelve years ago, dined in a few lovely bistrots, cooked my favourite meals for them, introduced them to our mates and even snuck in a few drinking sessions, bien sur, with Benji’s wines (yes I’ll make it clear you don’t drink the stuff Mum).
I can’t tell you how good it was to have everyone here at last. I’m still smiling. Thanks big bro Mark for making it happen!
ps – a word of warning! there’s a few pics down below, sorry – but hell, this trip was twelve years in the making!
Mmn, ca vous donne envie?
This is the un-cooked version. I just couldn’t resist. It’s a dish called ‘Andouillette‘.
I’ve got to say that this is one of the only dishes I can’t get myself to enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I have been raised well and have of course done the right thing and tried it. I have tried it many times in fact – each time trying to savour the flavour as much as those around me (not much pressure here – it’s a Frenchie family favourite). But I’m sorry, everytime I do, I get a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ flavour. Actually no, I’m lying. I know what I taste – and it’s a taste I wouldn’t normally associate with fine cuisine. Getting me? Sorry, but it does. You should smell the fumes when these babies are smoking in the pan. I thought tripe in Mum and Dad’s pressure cooker was bad.
The first time I ate Andouillette the je-ne-sais-quoi flavour lingered in my mouth well into the following morning (I had brushed my teeth three times). I was horrified and complained to Benji about the disturbingly bad taste. “Well, it is half made of shit,” was his answer.
Am I making your mouth water by now? Look it up and see what’s in it. It’s a delicacy that, in it’s ‘purest’ (and by this I mean ‘smellier’ version) form, you don’t find often, if ever, outside of France. Strange.
As I don’t tend to serve this at home, my mother-in-law likes to get some in preparation for her boy’s arrival. They all laugh at me as they’re tucking into it with dollops of mustard, wondering how on earth I can’t adore this dish. I can only sit there and make cheap comments on the dish’s obvious aesthetic merits and delightfully heady aromas. “My poor son!” my mother-in-law consoles… “At least here at your mother’s you can enjoy Andouillette!”
Hungry?
We joined in on Benji and Trevor‘s tasting yesterday morning at the cellar on Boulevard Napoleon.
These 2011 wines are ageing in both barrel and tank – and at 10am were tasting incredibly delicious. To the point where I realised I should have had more breakfast! Still haven’t learned the spit method, more like the ‘drink and tip’ – but not enough tips.
And as Jen warned, the kids get going early in these parts too.
So what happened there?
France-Australia-France. A few days stretched into a few months… and whammo I completely lost touch with blogging. It wasn’t at all planned – and I didn’t realise how much I’d miss all of this.
Now I’m staying put right here and am so extremely keen to give you a glimpse of everything that keeps me ‘offline’!
It’s been a lot of fun, catching up with everyone back ‘home’ (my one of two) – long-overdue quality time with family and friends, Christmas, tasting Aussie wines, sampling Adelaide beaches, eating out Asian, English spoken all around me, dodging the sun, dodging the mozzies, listening to the magpies and cockies. And then the angst, the dreadful countdown and finally the tears at the airport. But I am so lucky to have made it there.
…And I am very lucky to be happy here too. Back into Winter, some snow!, back to the stove, back in my apron, hot foods to enjoy, snails to devour, red wine instead of all thse whites, vines being pruned, back to the cleaning, back into walking the village with Mat, back to school, back to French!… Now the flowers are out, Spring has sprung, the vines are budding, we’re nearing the end of the scary time for frost risk, Hollande is IN and Benji’s Picpoul is tasting mighty good in the sun!
Yep, the VW’s wife is back and I hope you are well!
The spring has come running back into my step – and I feel like the dancin’ lady clicking her pointy heels. Phew.
The Vigneron's Wife 