French Stamps: Tropical Fish

Tropical Fish Stamps, 2012

It’s still raining!  We’ve had one beautiful picture-perfect day in the past month and the rest have been filled with rain!  Did I mention that I’m sick of rain?  I want to get outside and explore some!  I’d like to show you the Mont Saint Michel again.  The access road and the parking lot at the base of the island are now closed.  This latest move comes as part of the multi-year project to turn the Mont back into a true island.  Visitors can now walk or take a shuttle from the mainland (apparently working only so-so from what I’ve read in the local paper but I’d like to see for myself).  I’ve got plans to visit Combourg Château-Chateaubriand’s home and a local postcard favorite.  I’d like to tell you about the wonderful Malouinières in the area but I want to show you pictures as well.  I’ve got plans.  Unfortunately, so does the weather and we don’t seem to be on the same page!

In the meantime, I thought I would share this new stamp mini-sheet from the French Post.  Just looking at it makes me feel like I’m on vacation.  We went snorkeling in the coral reef around Mauritius as part of our honeymoon there.  I was amazed at how close we could get to the fish.  It might sound silly but I expected them to be afraid of us!  Instead, we could practically touch them.  The sheet contains four stamps–an Emperor angelfish, 1.00€; a Clownfish, 0.60€; a Pennant Coralfish, 0.77€; and a Leafy seadragon or Glauert’s seadragon, 0.60€.  If you look closely, you’ll find the words “Les fonds marins sont fragiles, protégeons-les” (“the seabed is fragile, protect it”) hidden along the top of the shark.  Even better, or cooler if you prefer Laura’s point of view, the sheet contains a glowing mermaid that only shows up in the dark!  The clownfish can be bought individually, however, the rest of the stamps can only be obtained by buying the entire mini-sheet.

Keep your fingers crossed for a break in the weather and lovely things to share!

 

Happy May Day!

Floral Map of Japan (Postcard)

Happy May Day!  Today is not only Labor Day in France, and a public holiday, but the Fête du Muguet!  Looking through my postcard album today, I couldn’t help but be drawn to so many flowers.  Japan has any number of traditions associated with specific flowers, the cherry blossom season in particular comes to mind, as does France!  May 1st here is synonymous with the Lily-of-the-Valley (muguet).

Lily-of-the-Valley

While it was only in the 20th century that May 1st became Labor Day, the tradition of giving your friends and loved ones Lily-of-the-Valley has been around since the Renaissance!  Charles IX gave his friends muguet in 1561 as a porte-bonheur or good luck charm–it has been a symbol of wealth, happiness and luck ever since!  Originally, families would go out to the woods and hunt for their own muguet to bring home.  Today, wherever you go in France, you will find little stands or even just random people on the side of the road selling lily-of-the-valley bouquets.  Normally to sell anything in France, you must have quiet a bit of official paperwork in order, however, French authorities tolerate these little one-day stands.   80% of France’s muguet production comes from Anthony’s home city Nantes.  It is also the only flower whose sale is associated with a single day of the year here–getting it to flower at exactly the right moment is practically a science!  As I head off to buy a bit of luck, I wish you and your family all the happiness and love in the world!  Enjoy your day off!

Saint Malo: Tampopo

Mousse de foies de volailles/Chicken Liver Mousse

If you’re looking for a special evening out in Saint Malo and want to try something different, head to Tampopo in the walled city (Intra-Muros).  I’ve been dreaming about going there since last November when my Japanese friend sent me photos of her Shogayaki Teishoku night out and I started hunting for local Japanese restaurants.  I wanted a chance to try something other than sushi and yakitoris without having to get on a plane.  Tampopo is not your traditional French Japanese restaurant–to begin with, it’s not a sushi bar and the chef is actually Japanese!  Instead, the owners, a husband-wife team, take local Breton produce, fish and meat and give them a Japanese touch!  Dashi, saké, soy sauce and wakame seaweed meet asparagus, veal, crab and turnips!

Sashimi de carrelet et seiche façon du chef Naoko/Chef Naoko's Flounder and Squid Sashimi

Each month, Naoko et François Evangelisti offer a 7-course themed tasting menu for their guests (41€ per person plus drinks).  We took a “Promenade de l’arrivée du printemps” for our anniversary, a chance to taste spring’s bounty if you will.  Expect to spend 3 hours discovering the different dishes at a relaxed pace with plenty of time to enjoy your dinner companion’s company.  (If you are looking for a quicker and cheaper meal, they offer a bento lunch for 21€ on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and public holidays.)

Soupes d'algues wakame fraîches et foie de lotte/ Wakame Miso Soup with Fish Liver

The restaurant is intimate and painted in neutral tones with a few discreet Japanese prints adorning the walls.  Due to its small size, I would recommend reserving.  While there are a couple of tables downstairs by the entrance, the main seating area is on the first floor.  Last night, the room was full.  We were one of five couples and one group of four friends enjoying a culinary trip together.  We were also not the only ones taking photos of our food; although Anthony was the only one complaining that he didn’t have a tripod on him!  While Naoko runs the kitchen, François takes care of diners and introduces the various dishes.  His explanations, humor and smile put everyone at ease, Naoko’s food does the rest!  The food is light, healthy and delicious.

Feuille de cerisier, cocos et crabe/Omelet Stuffed with Crab and White Beans, Wrapped in a Cherry Leaf with a Spinach-based Sauce

One of the nice things about a set menu is that it forces you to try new things.  I can honestly say that I would never have tasted, much less ordered, at least two of the dishes if I had been given a choice.  It would have been my loss too!  Our dinner started with a Japanese aperitif and chicken liver mousse served on a rice galette with beets, a grilled sardine and asparagus.  I have to admit that I tend to avoid anything with liver in it so I was a bit nervous when it arrived.  It was delicious.  I ate it in layers.  The only utensils available were chopsticks and a Japanese soup spoon.  François did offer a fork to the man at the table next to us (which he declined) so don’t despair if your chopstick skills are lacking.  Each of the dishes was a discovery.  The stuffed omelet wrapped in a cherry leaf stands out in my mind as well as much for its taste as for the difficulty I had in eating it with chopsticks.  I managed to “cut” it into pieces with my chopsticks but I’m not sure how graceful I looked!  Naoko’s miso seasoned veal was a clear standout–each bite practically melted in my mouth and the accompanying vegetables were cooked perfectly.  I wasn’t as impressed with the two fried snails served alongside the veal (too chewy), however, Anthony loved them.  We finished our evening off with a steamed matcha cake and a white chocolate Armignac mousse–the night’s only calories–before heading home with the vow to come back again!

Tampopo, 5 place de la Poissonerie, Saint Malo. 02.99.40.87.53

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Promenade de l’arrivée du printemps

1. Mousse de foies de volailles
2. Soupe d’algues wakame fraîches et foie de lotte
3. Sashimi de carrelet et seiche façon du chef Naoko
4. Feuille de cerisier, cocos, et crabe
5. Veau au miso et escargots
6. Riz et navet nouveau
7. Dessert du jour

Saint Malo: Flags and Coats of Arms

Saint Malo's Coat of Arms

Souvenir hunting seems to go hand-in-hand with sightseeing and vacations in general.  I’m not a big souvenir person–taking photos is more my speed and postcards are my stock items–but I am curious to see what symbols, buildings, etc. show up the most.  When you approach Saint Malo’s Intra-Muros via the Porte St Vincent, a plethora of symbols greet you!  Flags fly from the castle keep and Coats of Arms proudly watch over the gates.

Saint Malo's flag

Saint Malo briefly declared itself a republic in the 1490s with the motto “Ni français ni breton, malouin suis” (“not French, not Breton, but Malouins”).  The republic didn’t last but it’s symbols and attitude have.    The ermine shows up on the Coat of Arms and on the city flag wearing a gold scarf.  The flag is divided into four quarters, three blue and one red, by a white cross. Even if it looks white, the cross is technically speaking silver–under Louis XIV, all French military ports including Saint Malo flew the Croix d’Argent or Silver Cross.  The ermine links Saint Malo to Brittany while the red background symbolizes the cities’ corsair past.  Corsairs flew red flags when they were attacking.  (While not technically pirates, today’s tourist shops seem to have no issues selling pirate-themed souvenirs to anyone walking by.)  Today, the city standard is the highest flying flag in the city–it tops the castle keep far above the French and Breton flags on the wall below!

Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Brittany

Despite Saint Malo’s independent streak, Breton symbols are also alive and well.  The Duchy of Brittany has its Coat of Arms displayed over the gate.  I’ve been wanting to talk about the Breton flag for some time and today is my chance.  Brittany’s flag is a very popular symbol and souvenir.  It even flies from the castle wall alongside the French national flag!  Once linked to Breton separatists, today the flag is a popular symbol for the entire region and all those who are proud to be Breton.  It flies in front of city halls all over the region, you can find it on French license plates, and, of course, you can buy it in every shape and size imaginable.  I think I lost track of the number of times we saw it for sale while walking around!

A Trio of Flags-Saint Malo, Brittany, and France (Unfortunately the Wind wasn't Cooperating!)

The Breton flag is called the Gwenn-ha-du, black and white in Breton.  The flag’s current design is relatively recent, however, the colors and symbols date back to the 13th century.  Morvan Marchal designed the flag in 1923.  Does the layout look familiar?  Marchal looked to the American and Greek flags for inspiration.  The black stripes represent the French and Gallo speaking dioceses while the white stripes stand for the Breton speaking ones.  The ermine canton, on the other hand, comes from the Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Brittany.  We’ll be exploring a bit more of Brittany this coming weekend if the weather holds–more castles are calling!

Day Tripping: Saint Malo’s Ramparts

Ramparts (Port Side)

We’ve been having a week of rain mixed with sunny moments!  Basically the sun comes out and we immediately run outside to enjoy it all the while praying that the wind won’t blow another shower our way until we’re safely indoors again!  After voting and a light lunch, we made the most of the sun by heading over to Saint Malo and Intra-Muros.  Intra-Muros, the walled-city, is the city’s most popular tourist destination and one of my favorite places to go for a walk!  The city, despite its appearance, is by and large not that old.  Most of the walled-city was reduced to rubble during WWII (80% of the buildings were destroyed) and it was carefully rebuilt following the war.  Today the citadel is alive with cafés, stores, bars, and window-shopping opportunities galore!  Take your time perusing the boutiques, check out the cathedral and then sit down for some ice cream or a crêpe.  If you have small children and are bringing your stroller, expect a bumpy ride; the cobblestone streets while lovely are not designed for strollers.  You can push yours–I have plenty of experience–but it is not a lot of fun.

Looking Down at Grande Plage from the Ramparts

While I love walking around the inside of the city, today we decided to take the high road and explore the ramparts.  If you are willing to carry your stroller up the stairs to get started, the ramparts are actually the most stroller-friendly part of the city.  The walkways are smooth and the few steps you encounter going around are easily surmountable.  The ramparts run from Porte St. Vincent to Porte St. Thomas.  The castle, now a local history museum, sits between St. Vincent and St. Thomas.   For centuries, as a walled city, anyone entering Intra-Muros has to pass through one of the citadel’s eight gates (portes in French).  Today, they remain open welcoming residents and visitors alike.  In addition the Porte de Dinan, the Grande Porte and Porte Saint Vincent all have stairs leading to the ramparts.  (There are other access points as well which you can come across while wandering around the city.)  Once you make it to the top, you will be rewarded with great views of the port, Dinard and the open sea beyond.  You will also get a crash course in Saint Malo’s favored sons.

Surcrouf Statue (Ramparts)

Several statues line the ramparts including those of Jacques Cartier and Robert Surcrouf.  Cartier (1491-1557), was a Saint Malo native and explorer.  He claimed today’s Canada for the French king laying the foundations for francophone Quebec.  He is interred not far from the ramparts in St. Vincent’s Cathedral.  While Cartier left his imprint on the other side of the world, Surcrouf (1773-1827) is more of a local character.  Known as the Roi des Corsaires, King of the Corsairs, Surcrouf successfully captured 47 ships, majoritarily British.  As a successful privateer, Surcrouf amassed both a reputation for gallantry and chivalry as well as a sizeable personal fortune!  His statue is located in a garden along the ramparts.

Vauban's Fort (Petit-Bé)

Several canon are on display here recalling the ramparts original military role.  The guns point out toward the ocean, Grand-Bé, and Petit-Bé island and the views from the ramparts are breathtaking.  If you want to get a closer look, from the Plage de Bons Secours below, you can easily walk out to both Grand and Petit-Bé at low tide.  Chateaubriand, a famous 19th century French writer, is buried facing the sea on Grand-Bé while Vauban’s 17th century fort perches atop Petit-Bé.  I find the fort a more interesting destination but judging by today’s crowds, Chateaubriand’s tomb is the more popular destination.  As you continue heading around the ramparts, yet another fort appears before you.

Fort National

Fort National, another one of Vauban’s forts, was built in 1689 to further improve Saint Malo’s defenses against the British.  You can walk up to the Fort at low tide and it is open to visitors daily from June to September.  (The Fort is also open for holiday weekends in May.)  As a simple rule of thumb, the Fort is open to visitors when the flag is hoisted.  Admission includes a guided tour.  We visited the Fort several years ago and enjoyed the visit in French.  While our guide attempted to help the visiting English-speakers, his language skills were very limited and they had to make do with a basic English language handout.  To be fair, I don’t know if any efforts have been made since then to help non-French speakers learn about the Fort’s history–the poor English on their website, however, is not a good sign.  Regardless of whether or not you wish to visit the Fort itself, admiring it from the ramparts is already a neat moment.  The ramparts end at the Porte St. Thomas.  From here, you can wander out onto the beach to explore the forts, see Chateaubriand’s tomb or just relax and build a sand castle.  If you’re feeling peckish after the stroll, simply turn into the walled city and pick the first café that strikes your interest!  Enjoy!

 

Life in France: Election Day

Sticks the Monkey (Traveling Toy) Checking out the 2012 Candidates

Tomorrow is the last day of school vacation and, more importantly, the first day of the Presidential election here in France.  Instead of traveling, our day will involve voting (and in the case of A’s Dad counting ballots), relaxing and waiting for the results at 8pm!  There are 10 candidates in this year’s race and today’s post will be a crash-course in French presidential elections.

To begin with, in order to qualify as a candidate, a French citizen must collect 500 signatures from elected French officials.  You do not have to have been born French to run–Eva Joly one of this year’s candidates was born Norwegian and later became French.  (As an aside, you do not have to be French to qualify for all elected positions in France.  Mayors can also be European Union citizens as long as they are French residents.)  There are over 47,000 possible signatories including Deputies, Senators and French European Members of Parliament, however, mayors are traditionally responsible for the majority of qualifying signatures.  (There are approximately 36,000 mayors in France!)  Each elected official can sign for only one candidate and the signature lists are public.

Campaign Posters on Display

This past week, everyone on the electoral roll received an official envelope from the Minister of the Interior containing each candidate’s program/statements.  If you go by any Town Hall in France right now, you won’t be able to miss their campaign posters on display.  Like everything else in France, even the order in which the posters are displayed is regulated.  Following the 500-signature cut-off date, all of the qualified candidates names were randomly chosen one by one creating an official election order.  This order is then used throughout the campaign and on election day itself.  For example, tomorrow when a person votes, the ballots will be laid out in this official order.  This year’s candidates are:

1. Eva Joly, Europe Écologie–The Greens
2. Marine Le Pen, Front National (FN) English: National Front
3. Nicolas Sarkozy, Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) English: Union for a Popular Movement
4. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Parti de gauche (PG) English: Left Party
5. Philippe Poutou; Nouveau parti anticapitaliste, English: New Anticapitalist Party
6. Nathalie Arthaud, Lutte ouvrière, English: Workers’ Struggle
7. Jacques Cheminade, Solidarité et Progrès, English: Solidarity and Progress
8. François Bayrou, Mouvement démocrate, English: Democratic Movement
9. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Debout la République, English: Arise the Republic
10. François Hollande, Parti socialiste, English: Socialist Party

With so many candidates running, tomorrow is about narrowing the field down to two candidates for the second round.  While it is theoretically possible to win the election on the first round by winning over 50% of the vote, in reality this is highly unlikely.  Based on polls thus far, Nicolas Sarkozy, the current President, will likely be facing François Hollande in the run-off election in May.  Aux urnes citoyens!

Gotochi Postcard: Chiba 2009

Gotochi Chiba Postcard 2009

Laura and Elise discovered peanuts today, not the toasted salt-covered snack but the M&M’s variety covered in milk chocolate!  While I wasn’t worried about food allergies, I had been putting off letting the girls try them thanks to their choking-hasard status.  I gave in today–after our bout with the flu, I wanted to surprise them with something new and tasty.  I think it’s safe to say that they enjoyed them and are more than willing to eat more peanuts in the future.

My friend Evita surprised us with this wonderful peanut-shaped 2009 Chiba  Gotochi card last year.  The Gotochi “Regional Form Cards” highlight the traditions, foods, landmarks and other icons of Japan’s 47 prefectures.  Post offices in each prefecture sell their own regional card.  Simply put, you can only buy the Chiba Regional Form card in Chiba!  If you want to collect all 47 cards, you either need to go on a tour of Japan or swap, trade and barter your way to a complete set!  To further complicate matters, there are now four series (2009,10,11,12) of cards to collect.  I have no illusions about getting anywhere near a complete set but I am having fun trying to build my own collection.

Why did Posta Collect choose a peanut to symbolize Chiba?  Chiba is Japan’s largest peanut producer and the peanut has become one of its symbols.  In Chiba, peanuts or rakkasei in Japanese, are often eaten as a snack after being boiled in salty water.  Another popular peanut dish, rakkasei miso, is made from roasted peanuts with sugar, miso, and sake.  I was surprised at just how popular peanuts are in Japan–national production is not enough to keep up with demand and Japan is one of the world’s top three peanut importers behind the European Union and Canada.  Peanut butter is also available in Japan although it is apparently sweeter than the American version.  I’m not much of a fan of peanut butter but I do enjoy peanut butter cookies and I think we’ll be making some tomorrow while thinking of Evita and this nutty card!