Today was my first official day in the countryside. I can get used to this.
I woke up a few times this morning, but was convinced that it was early because it was still pitch black in my room. I finally decided to get up and check my clock. It was 10:30! I was sure that Marcel and Caroline were already up. I brushed my teeth and hair before opening my door. I was surprised that there were no lights on in the living room, and that the kitchen door was still locked. I came back inside my room and edited my pop and histories rewrite before opening my door again. I heard the bell on Lily's collar and was sure that someone was outside. I opened the door and found the dog, in the dark, in the living room. She bounded into my room in a frenzy and immediately went under the bed. She popped out again and started snarling at me. I was convinced that she needed to go outside so I wandered into the kitchen and found her leash. I put her on the leash, figured out how to open the door to the garden, and then took her out without even putting on my boots. When we got outside she just stood there. I sat down on a bench in hopes that she would wander out into the grass. No such luck. I decided to bring her back inside after a few minutes of freezing. Since no one was up I came back into my room and read a short article about flags for my histories class before studying for French.
I had run out of things to study so I went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. I found Lily on the table eating a piece of chocolate that Marcel had left out. I got her down from the table and went to work getting water to boil for my coffee. Just as my water was starting to boil, Caroline came in wearing her robe and slippers. She had literally slept until noon. We made coffee and then sat at the table to talk and play with Lily. I had a piece of baguette with homemade jam and a yogurt with two cups of weak coffee. I finally decided to get a move on for the day. We went to get dressed and then met back out in the living room. Caroline helped me find a pair of rubber boots and then we set off with Marcel and Lily to get Juliet from the nearby farm.
The farm was right down the road, and I held Lily's leash as Marcel and Caroline got Juliet out of her pen. Her poor boyfriend Romeo was sad to see her go. I walked around the farm with Lily to explore; there were geese, chickens, and a dog. We got Juliet and started on our walk. Caroline let me hold Juliet as we walked down the road. She is such a gentle horse and was perfectly fine being held on a leash. The countryside is so beautiful. There are perfectly rolling hills and the trees are all golden in fall colors. There's even a train that runs through the valley. Caroline told me that it's hunting season, and we even heard the guns firing as we walked. She wore a bright orange vest so that the hunters could see us as we walked. Marcel was walking between us when all of a sudden I see Lily run up, and I was nearly run over by Juliet. Lily was almost squashed! From then on Marcel walked so far ahead of us that we could barely see him.
We walked passed horses and small farms with all stone buildings, up small hills, and through the forest. It was so peaceful her. After awhile Caroline took Juliet's leash so that we could walk her through the village. The village is called Le Cormier, and it's exactly what you'd expect when the word "village" is used. The buildings are all stone with mortar with lots of land and rose bushes. There's a small restaurant, a hotel, and a mechanic in the center of town across from what used to be the school. There were more cars than I was expecting, and everyone stopped to look at Juliet as we walked her. She's a beautiful horse even if she is covered in mud. We walked all the way home and let Juliet loose in the garden.
Caroline changed her boots and grabbed her purse before we piled in the car to go grocery shopping. While in the garden waiting for Caroline, Marcel and I were casually chatting. He asked me if I play sports, and I told him not anymore. He told me "you're not like those middle class Americans who play sports. You're an intellectual." I've never thought of myself as an intellectual, but I suppose it's better than being middle class. First we had to stop at the mechanic in town because there is a problem with the seatbelt light in their car. It turns out that Lily had chewed through the wires underneath the passenger side seat and disabled the air bag and the wire that keeps the seat belt tight. What a bad dog. The mechanics looked at the car, but didn't fix it because they have to order a special part. We got back in the car to go to town, but had to turn around to have them disable the light that flashes when someone isn't wearing their seatbelt. We finally got on the road and drove about 15 minutes to town. It was so an amazing drive. We drove through the woods with their fall leaves and over the valley with the train tracks beneath us.
We got to town and parked the car. It's exactly what you'd expect from a small town. It's one long road lined with every kind of artisanal shop imaginable. We parked in front of the shop that sells wine, spirits, and house roasted coffee beans. We walked up the street to the cafe and were happy to see that it was open. We were less thrilled to find out that they weren't serving lunch because their cook wasn't there. The only food to be had were croque monsieurs with salad. I was happy because croque monsieur has been on my to do list and I've been putting it off. Perfect time to try. We ordered three, and two beers for Marcel and me. The croque monsieur was delicious! They were covered in cheese with perfectly crispy bread and some kind of white sauce inside of unknown variety. I'm so glad that I waited to have one. I even ate the salad like a grownup. I've been eating a lot of salad this weekend. After our lunch we were ready to go grocery shopping, but Marcel wanted to stay and have coffee. We left him to go next door to the patisserie for our dessert.
After Marcel finished eating, he went to get our shopping bags. When he came back he told Caroline that he had picked up a special treat for me for dinner from the patisserie while he was getting the baguettes for dinner. We went to the patisserie to get the rest of our treats. I've also had a claflouti cerise on my list of things to try also. I was excited to see one sitting behind the glass. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get it, and Caroline suggested that I get a traditional Normandy cake. The cake has apples and a special type of apple alcohol in it, and is a specialty in the area. I couldn't make up my mind so we got both. I'll eat the claflouti tomorrow for breakfast. Caroline got flan. We walked down the road eating our treats with childish smiles on our faces. I was slightly tipsy from lunch.
Our first stop was the butcher. We walked into one butcher and then left because it was the wrong one. It turns out that that butcher is dishonest, so we walked to another butcher. Marcel went to the car instead of going into the butcher. There was a long line so we chatted while looking at all of the different meats in the display case. It was finally our turn so we picked up some chicken for dinner and pâté for lunch tomorrow. Our next stop was the fruit and vegetable market. When you go in, one of the workers comes to help you. You tell her what you want and how much and she wraps it up, weighs it, and puts it in your shopping bag. I looked around while Caroline shopped. I hadn't seen half of the things in the store before! There were spreads and oil olives and what I'm pretty sure were dates. There were even small cookies. Caroline picked out three potatoes, leeks, clementines, and avocados which were all weighed and put carefully into our shopping bag.
Caroline wanted to show me the old church, but Marcel was ready to go home. He is quite the princess. We drove by the church instead. It was the most adorable, village church. All white with wood trim and stonework. We drove home and unloaded the groceries. We made a fire and then everyone retired to do his or her own thing. I sat next to the fire attempting to read my book, but mostly petting Lily who made a bed on my lap. Caroline was in the kitchen, and Marcel had gone upstairs. After reading for awhile, Caroline came out and brought apple cider. She sat down in a chair next to the fire and read a script for work. Poor Lily just sat on her lap before wandering off to throw up on the rug in the corner near the wine rack. Too much cheese and chocolate for her today.
After awhile Caroline got up to finish dinner. Marcel set the table and I continued to read in the chair. A bit later I got up to help set the table. Soon enough we sat down for our first course of potato, garlic, and leek soup in which we put dollops of creme fraiche. Of course there was more red wine and baguettes served. After our soup we moved on to chicken with onions and tomatoes and a salad. After our main course we had more camembert before having dessert. Caroline opted for clementines while Marcel and I tried my special dessert. It's a layered dessert called "mili feuilles" that has custard layered with flaky pastry and topped with a thick layer of icing. It was so sweet that I could only have a bit. I was full by this point. I had a clementine for good measure, and then Caroline and I cleaned up dinner.
I'm exhausted. Tomorrow we have to leave by two so that we'll be on time for the theater. Caroline and I might go to the market and look around. Time for some alcohol induced sleep. This is the good life.
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