Weekend

I made it through my long class day by doing the Valentine's lesson and asking the ice breaker questions--both activities the kids enjoy while they end up saying really funny things!

Caitlin and her friend Angela came to Rennes last night, and we had a delicious dinner at the Crêperie Ste Mélaine, which is the best in town, or so I hear. I believe it after tasting organic cider, a vegetarian galette, and a crepe with chocolate, coconut flakes, and coconut ice cream... Yum! We lingered there for over two hours--a perfect French evening. To cap off the night, we watched the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but the other two fell asleep within the first hour, so I'll have to finish it today.

Why did we go to bed before midnight on a Friday? Because we got up at 8am to visit the market! Well, it actually took us about an hour and a half to get up and drink coffee before we left... So at 9:30ish, we braved the drizzle to go shopping. Other times that I've visited the market, I've waited until 11ish, so the streets are packed with people. At nine and under a grey sky, there wasn't a crowd and I really enjoyed it! Angela was looking for Breton caramel, so we found some at a bakery stall. I spotted mini-muffins and had to have some--pistachio, caramel, chocolate, chocolate chip, and nut!

After that, I gave my usual walking tour of the old city, and we ended up at my place around 11. They just left to catch a bus to Mont St Michel for the afternoon, and I cooked myself lunch and got back into bed to finish the movie. I'm still sleepy from three mornings of getting up in the 8 o'clock hour--how am I going to readjust to having real classes or a real job?! France time is ruining me! Lol.

Crêpes, galettes and cider--recipe incuded!

Everyone knows crêpes as the delicious, thin sweet pancakes you can put fruit, chocolate, or anything in! They originate from this region of Brittany, so there are a ton of crêperies (crêpe restaurants) here—on every street and sometimes right next to each other. Their savory counterpart is the galette made with buckwheat flour and filled with ham, cheese, egg, salad, any vegetable or meat really. They are soooo good!

Example of a basic galette with ham, egg, and cheese.

Here is an authentic French crêpe recipe to try! (This is the one I use, so you know it’ll be good!)

2 cups flour
½ t salt
2 T oil
1 cup milk
1 cup water
3 eggs
3 T sugar

-Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
-Add half the liquid in the center, and slowly stir from the center out to avoid making lumps.
-When the liquid is well-incorporated, stir vigorously for a few minutes, preferably with an electric mixer.
-Add the beaten eggs, salt and sugar and mix well.
-Add the oil and the rest of the liquid, stirring all the time.
-Leave the batter to rest for at least a half hour.
-To cook, butter a skillet at medium heat and pour a thin layer over the pan. They should NOT be so thick that you have to flip them—crêpes cook all the way through on one side.
-Top with butter and sugar, melted chocolate, banana, ice cream, whipped cream, caramel, or whatever you can dream up!

The traditional drink to accompagny a galette-crêpe meal is hard cider served in a bowl. Both dry (brut) and sweet (doux), cider is made all over Brittany and Normandy.