first, research projects:

 Ethnography #1: La Semaine du Goût

this is “taste week” in france, and i have been milling about Grenoble- taking notes, doing interviews, snapping pics, and of course, samlping the finest of the regional cuisine.

here i followed around some schoolchildren as they did tasting workshops:

then yesterday i went to a choco-demo:

other events i went to included a tasting scavenger hunt and a neighborhood foodfest on saturday; tomorrow it’s beer and chocolate tasting. 

Ethnography #2: Slow Food

i’ve been assigned by my academic advisor at BU to do some research for him on Slow Food (www.slowfood.com) in France.  this means going to meetings, talking to people, etc… pretty standard fieldwork, only i get to partake in artisanal cheeses and specialty wines while doing it.  when the president of the Slow Food Lyon chapter told me to go to an adress, ring the buzzer, and say “Good food and ideas,” i thought i had entered into some kind of secret society.  turns out it wasn’t so secret:

Ethnography #3: Street musicians

my idea for this project is to ask street musicians what they think about passersby and vice versa.  on friday i took my violin to the streets to see what it was like for myself; i made 8 euros before i had to make way for a Romanian accordionist.  apparently i was on his turf.  in Montpellier (southern coast) i interviewed these Gypsy musicians:

this is not a street musician, but a baker in Valence.  it was good advertising at the market.  Amanda and i went to this charming little city a few weeks ago, where they had things like escargots and squirrel parking and kings of sandiwches:

and who could forget the regional favorite, a doughy swissman?

the weekend before we went as a group to Annecy, another adorable location.  it reminded me of norway with its fjord-like lake and overall picturesque mountaininess.

the weekend before last was all about Montpellier:

in an shady alleyway restaurant i lost my crème brûlée virginity:

(before and after i did the deed)

and the next evening i drank muscat near a cathedral.

now i must scurry like the wind to my francophone literature class.  à tout à l’heure!

m. tv

entrance to the puppet museum in lyon

dog grooming salon
“spécialiste de l’epilation” = waxing specialist (?!)

Restaurant Names

“l’ar-ti-cho” (artichau = artichoke) ; hippopotamus

authentic pirate resto…”savage cuisine” complete with pegleg chopsticks

+++

pretty sights

rustic european-ness embodied in a window

“in the past…”

after a long and fun night out, i surprised myself by waking up at 9am, ready for action. saturday is the day when everyone goes to market, so i joined in and walked to the biggest outdoor market in grenoble. it is near a major road, underneath the railroad tracks. this is what i discovered:

entrance to the market.

dried codfish for bacchalau.

olive marchand.

charchuterie.

chicken lady.

cheese bus.

cute children!

breads.

this was the last picture i took at the market. after snapping it, i was yelled at by a marchand who said people shouldn’t just take photos like that. i scurried away terrified. but really, they’re just tomatoes.

…and here is a very contrived shot of the kitchen table:

… and now i am off to have a pique-nique.

thursday and friday was spent getting to know the city, campus, and each other (13 girls(!)), and on saturday morning our host families picked us up.  mine is a middle-aged couple with no children, unless you count their yorkshire named ploume.  they seem very proper; everything in the house is tidy, and they laid down the rules from the beginning.  i am the first girl they have ever hosted, since when they began hosting students a few years ago, they thought girls were too difficult and “complicated.”  claude is an engineer, softspoken yet very conversant, and we have talked much about french history, music, and food.  my host family is passionate about food, which is why i was placed with them.  christine leads a cooking class for students in the program, and she is, of course, an excellent chef.  for example, lunch on saturday:

° biodynamic red wine 

° mousse of artichokes, garnished with pistachios and diced green peppers

° grilled beef kebabs (“brochettes”) and sautéed cubed potatoes on a plate encircled by sliced cucumbers and yellow grape tomatoes

° cheeses, of course

° a pudding (i forget the name) made of eggs, milk and sugar

groceries are rather pricey, but wine is tres cheap and abundant. 

tonight there is a fête at a pub called “couche-tard.”  tres fun.

à bientôt!