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March 20, 2006
A great trip to France
It's good to be back! We had a fantastic week in France. I didn't knit much, I was to busy eating and drinking most of the time. We stayed at the Auberge de la Truffe in Sorges, near Périgueux.
It's a lovely place, with a very friendly staff. The rooms we were staying in were at the back:
Very nice, with a patio area and comfy folding chairs. We even got to use them because the weather was so great.
We were there for a 'stage culinaire'. This meant he chef of the place taught us how to cook different dishes from the region. The village of Sorges is known for its truffles, so we learned how to use them in different ways.
I had never tasted a truffle before. It was quite good, although I would pay the kind of money they're asking for them. It was interesting to see how it can be used in all kinds of different dishes.
Of course, the region we were in is also known for its foie gras, goose liver, which is made by force feeding the geese in a terrible way. I did taste a bite of foie gras and it didn't taste special at all to me, so I decided not to eat it anymore.
On a lighter note, we got to taste and drink lots and lots of great wine!
We had wine with every meal except breakfast. I don't think I have ever eaten and drunk so much during one week!
As I said, the weather was great, and getting better every day. In the end, the temperature was as high as 17C/62F! Compared to the 2C/35F over here, it felt like summer. We even saw some butterflies, like this Peacock Butterfly [dagpauwoog].
In the Écomusée de la Truffe in Sorges, I spotted this picture:
click
It's called 'La chasse aux truffes', which means 'the hunt for the truffles'. The old lady on the right seems to be holding a truffle in one hand and her sock knitting in the other. I wonder if people really were knitting their socks toe-up at the time, or if the artist thought it would look better to show the sock this way?
Tomorrow I'm back at work, trying to adjust to normal life again, with knitting of course!
Posted by saartje at March 20, 2006 1:51 PM
Comments
France sounds lovely! It's so interesting that you noticed the toe up sock. I've never seen any vintage patterns knit that way but it seems that to be frugal people would have done that.
Posted by: Janet at March 20, 2006 3:45 PM
ohhhhhhhhhh you made a wonderful trip
nice eating, nice winw wow!
Ca cest la france ..
i keep this nice place i a corner of my pc ..i know about foie gras and feeding the gesse or duck it shown
horrible ,but the gesse and duck they not suffered ,but it is not nice and i think it's not
normal to do this .
You right foie gras is good but not too much to do this with animals..
how much for the cuisine stage and room for 7 days i try to find the price but i do not find the pacakge price for this?
Posted by: monique/Engalnd at March 20, 2006 3:49 PM
This sound like a very nice week in France!!! Nice cooking , nice place!!! I love foie gras. I prepare it my self, it's not difficult at all !!!
(I don't feed the geese!!!)
Posted by: dominique(08) at March 20, 2006 4:07 PM
Hello! Ik ben een Nederlandse vrouw die in San Francisco leeft. Mijn Nederlands is niet zeer goed maar ik wilde zeggen uw blog groot is!
I study fashion and costume in san Francisco and wanted to let you know that they did, in fact, knit toe up socks back then!
De groeten!
Amber
amberlandia (AT) gmail (dot) com
Posted by: Amber Steen at March 22, 2006 4:50 AM
Heerlijk Saartje, een non-knit-item! Leuk dat je het zo naar je zin hebt gehad. Die temperatuur zou me ook goed doen.
Posted by: Irma at March 22, 2006 10:50 PM
Een mooi verslag met mooie foto's!Wat een prachtig weer! Ik kan me heel goed voorstellen dat jij een fantastische week hebt gehad.
Posted by: Berthi at March 27, 2006 11:16 AM
Hey there Saartje,
Super cool flower! I saw that knitting book for kids in the last edition of Rowan International and thought I would like to have it as well. Looks like there are some really nice patterns in it. Am knitting a dress for Fenna at the moment, but it is very boring (all one color and just stocking stitch) so I am not inspired to work on it that much. Only have one sleeve left to go though so I should really get a move on and finnish it before it does not fit her anymore! And I guess the lesson learned is that no matter how sweet the thing looks, if it is not interesting, I will not want to work on it!
Lets get together and knit again or go on a "knitting adventure" soon! We always talked about a weekend to Londen to look around!! Let's go!
Groeten,
Amy
Posted by: Amy at March 28, 2006 12:49 PM
