The Month of May

In addition to the weather warming up and beautiful flowers blooming everywhere, living in France during the month of May has a lot of advantages. The #1 advantage? Holidays! The month of May has a lot of French holidays, which equals days off of work for Matthew and me! May 1st was the French version of Labor Day and May 8th was World War II Victory Day. May 21 is Ascension Day, but since it falls on a Thursday, the french "Faire le Pont" (make the bridge) and take off Friday as well. It is not even an option to work on these holidays, Michelin tells the employees they are not allowed to work.

On Friday May 1st, we had the Pages over for an early Cinqo de Mayo dinner. Saturday, Jen, Sophia, and I headed to Ikea. After Ikea we went to an Emile Henry outlet store that another expat told us about. Emile Henry is a french brand of ceramic cookware. In the US it is only sold in a few stores, such as Williams Sonoma and Crate and Barrel. In the US, Emile Henry products can be very expensive, but we were told the outlet prices were excellent. I bought a big, dutch oven, type pot that can be used on the stove or in the oven. As I am typing, I have the french classic "coq au vin" simmering on the stove top in my new Emile Henry pot. I was able to buy the 6.3 qt oval pot for 58 euros. When we got home from the outlet, I googled what the same pot would cost in the US, and it sells for $200+!!!!

Last night we went over to the Pages for a delicious lasagna Jen made. The Italian theme of our dinner last night is a great hint at what is to come when we go with the Pages to Italy in a week and a half! Since there is no school on Wednesdays, Thursday is a holiday, and then Friday is a "faire le pont" day, we are taking advantage of the long weekend and going to the Cinque Terre area on the Italian Riviera.

Today Matthew and I headed to Vichy, a town that is about 45 minutes from Clermont. Vichy is known for the mineral water. In the 17th century, Vichy's mineral water attracted the Paris Haute society, and the city has kept its sense of elegance even today. In the middle of town there is a great park that has a beautiful arched covered walkway that runs around the perimeter and even continues across a street to connect to a nearby sidewalk that runs in front of many sidewalk cafes and boutiques. At the end of the park is a big glass building that contains rows and rows of fountains with taps where you can sample the different types of water. For about 20 cents you can buy a plastic cup from a vending machine and sample the different water. Because it was a holiday weekend, the building was open, but there was no one there to let us into the middle area where the majority of water fountains were located. We only tasted from one fountain, which Matthew thought tasted salty...I got more of a bubbly taste (if there is such a thing as a bubbly "taste"). Unfortunately it was drizzly most of the time we were in Vichy, and most of the stores were closed. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful city.

Although May has lots of great things going for it, there are also some downsides to living in France during the month of May. So far this month, we missed Matthew's mom's birthday (May 3), Matthew's little brother, Mike, graduating from UGA today, and tomorrow neither one of us will be able to give our moms hugs on Mother's Day tomorrow. Luckily, Matthew's parents and brother will be here in a month for a 2 week visit!