This blog has moved to www.chardetc.com. See you there. :)
I named my blog "Chard, etc." so I would have the option of writing not only about simple, tasty preparation of readily-available, healthy and interesting ingredients ("chard"), but also about anything else that might come to mind ("etc."). Having just returned from a particularly enjoyable two weeks in France, the first in Provence and the second in Paris, I feel compelled to write a post that fits the "etc." part of the blog title.
Travel with Friends and/or Family
Mark and I have had the great good fortune of finding a lifelong travel companion in the form of a dear friend from high school. We have made several trips together over the years, and our travels have been made all the richer by sharing experiences with her. Terri is not as delighted by food and wine as we are but she fully supports our interest. We are not as taken by antiques and shopping as she is, but we enjoy engaging with her in her pursuit of beautiful and/or quirky old things, and her appreciation of interior decorating. She is an attorney, Mark is a physician and I recruit and train volunteers to tutor and mentor middle schoolers so there is always something to learn about each others' vocations. Other common topics of conversation include children, politics and religion; we are generally on the same page politically and have a common-enough background theologically that discussions on those topics don't ignite sparks but neither are they boring. Maybe our most important common interest is the love of learning and the pursuit of new experiences.
We are also fortunate to enjoy traveling with our siblings. Times spent together in Colorado, Oregon, North Carolina, New York City and at each other's homes in Omaha, Milan and Bend, Oregon have been rich, and always include cooking together and enjoying extended times of conversation and exploration of whatever area we find ourselves in. Since we are in our 50's, our conversations frequently include a good number of stories of past travels as well as recent cooking or dining out adventures, books or articles read or movies watched, etc.
We made the choice early to cut back wherever needed (furniture and home items, eating out, drive-throughs for drinks, etc.) so we could afford to travel as a family and we have not regretted it. The memories we have of traveling with our daughters, beginning when their ages were measured in months, are truly priceless. Seeing things through a child's eyes, even if we'd seen it ourselves several times before, makes things new and interesting all over again. The bonding that happens in a family through going on a new adventure together, and weathering the joys and challenges encountered, is most decidedly worth the effort and expense. When Mark was between residency and fellowship we took Lauren (then 2 years old) with us to Europe; that time of daddy-daughter bonding absolutely would not have happened otherwise during his medical training. Our daughters have now married, and our time together last summer in Estes Park and this spring in Breckenridge with an equal number of boys and girls at the table (and hiking, climbing, etc.) was particularly thrilling for Mark, who has been outnumbered for so long. What a wonderful way to get to know our new sons-in-law.
Maybe one of my favorite features of traveling with others is the opportunity it affords me to learn something new about Mark. Other people ask him questions I haven't thought of, and quite frequently his response includes an opinion or insight I haven't heard, or an experience from his childhood that is new to me. We've been married 33 years, so I find this a particularly delightful side benefit.
Take Advantage of Opportunities to Meet the Locals
Occasionally when it comes up that we are going to a certain place, someone will say, "Oh, you should meet so-and-so; you would really like them." For many years, we tended not to take people up on the offer of an introduction and I have learned this is a mistake. On a previous trip with Terri to Provence we met some friends of hers who live in Paris, and had a perfectly enjoyable time together. The couple stayed with us in Provence for a few days this time and we saw them again in Paris and had an absolutely delightful time together. Their insight to the culture and their city made our experience so much richer. And getting to know them a bit more was delightful on a personal level, as well. I hope to have many more adventures with them in the future.
My sister in Milan gets together with friends often for dinner, and when we are there, they are kind enough to include us in their gatherings. We have met some truly wonderful people as a result. Her friends have been remarkably generous; one couple offered their beautiful flat near St. Moritz last year, and after she had mentioned it three times, Mark asked Gretchen (my sister) if it would be appropriate to accept their offer. When she said it would be fine, he did accept, and we went that weekend. Those three days resulted in one of our favorite memories ever... two stunning hikes, in the Swiss National Forest and across from Piz Bernina, a particularly tasty dinner involving fennel three ways, and discovering (to background music of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concerts cranked up a bit) that a full moon was rising over the mountains opposite in a crystal clear night sky. It sounds a little silly, but another particularly satisfying memory from that trip was remembering to do the grocery shopping before we left. Dairy products in Switzerland are terrific, of course, but we have not found produce there to be as good.
The note-to-self from this trip regarding "locals" is that the manager of a rental home is probably a local. We had a delightful conversation with Sarah Kennet, the manager of the fabulous home we rented near Sablet (north of Avignon), and if we there are no actual "locals" where we are staying sometime in the future, I might just invite her equivalent for a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. In addition to being a delightful person, she was an excellent resource regarding all things Sablet and Vaucluse. The prettiest restaurant we visited was not a Bib Gourmand but was at the top of her list.
Stay in Apartments if Possible
Friends from college happened to be taking a sabbatical in Paris and we stayed in their tiny but pretty apartment in the 15th arrondisement, off the beaten tourist track. We experienced a new side of the city as a result. If we are staying in one place in Europe for more than about three days, we usually rent an apartment through vrbo.com or homeaway.com. Popping down to the corner for the morning baguette and/or croissants and shopping daily at the vegetable and fruit stands for the ingredients for that night's dinner (or picking up one of those fantastic roast chickens) give those who enjoy cooking the opportunity to interact a bit with the neighbors, and be exposed to interesting varieties of produce, meat and fish that are not available at home. (Granted, if we lived in New York City or San Francisco, etc., this would be nothing new, but this midwesterner gets pretty excited about this concept.) The other great advantage of staying in an apartment is the ability to pack lighter - most accommodations have a washer and some have a dryer.
Do It Now
When an opportunity presents itself and you have the option to take it, do. Don't save it until later. I learned this about 30 years ago in Cortina. We arrived on a stunning day with a gorgeous view, gorgeous weather, well before the existence of weather.com. Mark suggested skiing half the day, since we had arrived in the late morning, and I thought for some unknown reason that it would be better to just go the full day the next day. Of course the next day the weather turned and I still haven't seen the beautiful view I had the opportunity to see that day.
Bib Gourmand is Your Friend
We discovered the Michelin Red Guide (to restaurants in France) many years ago, and our favorite feature then, as now, is the Bib Gourmand designation - good food at moderate prices. It's amazingly reliable and we have planned entire trips around these gems. Not many years ago there were few Bib Gourmand restaurants in Paris, but this year we were happy to discover Michelin has published an entire book of Bib Gourmands in France, and there are now a plethora of them to choose from in Paris. The interior of the restaurants is quite varied, as is the cuisine (our last evening in Paris was at a Flemish restaurant), but the common factor is a chef who cares a great deal about food, and its presentation, and cares enough about the ambience to make for a pleasant atmosphere in which to enjoy that wonderful food. The wine lists in these restaurants frequently match the concept, as well - good wine at moderate prices - and although Mark knows enough about wine to make good choices, we have asked for and taken the recommendations of the staff with good results.
Pace Yourself
I think the balance we maintained on this trip of time spent sitting and chatting with friends or family, frequently over a meal, and times spent exploring Paris or the Vaucluse (the area of Provence we were in) was pretty great. There were plenty of options for activity but rather than the activities being the goal in themselves, they were the vehicle for more time with friends or family. That slight shift in paradigm was significant.
Eat Well Without Breaking the Bank
We are finally at the stage of life where we can afford very nice restaurants, but we get much greater pleasure out of dining out at the Bib Gourmands and picking up sandwiches or cheese, salami and greens, fruit, and a bottle of wine at the local markets and having what is essentially an indoor (or outdoor, if the occasion presents itself) picnic. There's something very satisfying about opening sacks or pulling this and that out of the fridge and spreading it all out, or dressing some greens or maybe preparing a simple pasta. And of course since Mark is such a good cook, we love to support any efforts he cares to make in that department, which happily for us is often. Very good olive oil, garlic, onions and herbs are readily available in France and Italy so it's very easy to make a more than passable meal.
It's an Adventure, Not a Problem
When things happen that weren't in the plan, I've learned to choose to see it as part of the adventure. We prepare the best we can for the unexpected (carry an umbrella in Paris in the spring, take more than one credit card and be prepared with cash since Europe now uses credit cards with a chip instead of a strip, Icebreaker carries amazing products for packing small but staying warm, get rid of the car as soon as possible on the outskirts of a big city and take the metro the rest of the way, leave an hour earlier than you think you need to for the airport) but otherwise, we assume things will come up that we didn't expect and if we come out on the other side of the experience having learned something, that's a good thing.
Keep a Diary or Journal
I've tried over the years to keep notes or a diary of our trips and now that my memory isn't quite as sharp as it used to be, I'm so thrilled to have even cryptic lists of the activities of the day and/or an expenses list. I also required my daughters to keep journals and coming across the girls' journals from time to time over the years has brought great joy. They've both moved out now, and taken their journals with them, but every now and then they report coming across them themselves and have told me they are glad I was so adamant about that. Katharine (our younger daughter) conducted weekly adventure camps for a small group of boys one summer and she had them write notes at the end of each day and then start the next morning using those notes to write a journal entry. Brilliant.
