Margo and Steve's Visit: Auvergne

With so many places to visit during their visit to France, Matthew and I were really excited that Steve and Margo wanted to come to see where we lived.  After Bordeaux, we drove back to Clermont-Ferrand for a few days. 

Monday morning Margo and I enjoyed a relaxing morning before going to the grocery store.  Matthew and Steve were up bright and early for an 8:00am tee-time at a local golf course that overlooks the volcanoes.  After a great lunch of quiche Lorraine at our apartment, Matthew took our guests to the local village of Thiers.  Thiers is known world-wide for their knives.  Matthew and I visited Thiers a few weeks ago and found a knife-maker that customized a set of steak knives for us.  Steve and Margo love to cook, and set off to look for a chef's knife from Thiers.  I stayed at the apartment to finish preparing food for our cookout at Mark and Silke's house that night. 

When they returned from Thiers (brand new chef's knife in hand), we drove to Riom to Mark and Silke's house.  Mark and Silke had graciously agreed to let us have a cook out at their house, since they have a wonderful outdoor space with a yard and everything (this is a luxury to us after a year and a half of apartment living)!  We had a great time introducing Margo and Steve to some of the friends we have made here.

Steve's ready for dinner!

Matthew grilling sausages and chicken/vegetable kebabs.

 
My first attempt at making "German Potato Salad', being served by a German!  Talk about pressure!

Tuesday morning, we took Steve and Margo to the Chamalieres' market to buy ingredients for our dinner that night.  We strolled through the open air market, before stopping in our favorite boulangerie for Matthew's favorite bread (and of course some beignets aux pommes for our hike that afternoon...), our favorite patisserie for each person to pick out an individual sized dessert, and our favorite boucherie for some steaks.

One of the bouchers cutting off our steaks...mmmm....

After dropping off our purchases at the apartment, we headed out for a hike to show off the Auvergne's beautiful volcanic landscapes.  The hike we tried was a new one for Matthew and I as well.  It was less of a hike, and more of a gentle stroll through a beautiful countryside, with impressive rock formations looming in the distance.  There were waterfalls and streams, and even a mineral water source.

 We had a few rain drops fall on us, but the rain held off long enough for us to have a picnic lunch.

The tree where we had our picnic lunch.  What a beautiful setting!

On our drive back, we passed these 2 cows.  I think they were mad at each other...

 
We really wanted to introduce Margo and Steve to the wonderful Auvergnat dish known as truffade, but we knew that with a week of restaurant eating still ahead of us, we didn't want to go to another restaurant.  There was only one thing to do...attempt to make it myself.  We made salade au chevre chaud (Margo's new favorite), grilled steaks, and my attempt at truffade (but honestly how can you go wrong with basically potatoes, bacon, and cheese???).  We finished our meal with our treats from the patisserie (Margo and Matthew had tartes aux framoises, Steve had tiramasu, and I had a tarte au citron), delicious!

Up next, our journey to the south of France, including our visit to Nimes and Nice.