Laval with Gloria: Day 1

June 28, 2013

I. AM. EXHAUSTED. It's 10:48pm right now (which is 1:48pm California time, so middle of the day), and I am so exhausted I can barely stay away anymore. Thus this will be a short blog post. Though in all honesty, it's quite deserving of an extensive one. But as I've been forewarned, speaking and listening in another language is EXHAUSTING. It really, really is. I've been speaking so much French and hearing people speak so much French that it's hard for me to think anymore. I am just so drained! But it's wonderful. It's so much fun and so incredible that I can actually converse in another language. Now I'm not getting ahead of myself, I have a long, long way to go. But people keep telling me my French is really impressive, and that I speak very well. And in truth, I can talk through all the basic needs, express a lot of my thoughts, and hold conversation effectively. Which is a world away from where I was just a few months ago.

Well today I arrived in Laval, France. I'm here visiting Gloria, Elise, and her family. Gloria was my nanny for around 10 years starting when I was just 6 months old. Although she is no longer my nanny (sadly), she's an incredibly close friend of the family and was always like another mother to me. So when I found out she was going to be in France at the same time I was, planning a get together became a top priority and we soon coordinated for me to stay with her at her sister's family's house in Laval for two days and nights. So here I am.

Firstly, I'm learning so much about Gloria I never knew. In fact, as close as I am, I really didn't know much about her childhood or earlier life at all. It wasn't even until now that I discovered she has three sister and two brothers! Well I haven't met all of her family yet, but everyone I have met has been fabulous. I'm staying with Gloria's youngest sister, her husband, Pascal, their 9 year old daughter, Elouise, and their 5 year old son, Guillaume. The family is really sweet. They have an adorable sweet Shitzu name Harry. In French you pronounce is ahhh-reee, which sounds like the beginning of 'haricots verts', meaning green beans. So Elouise likes to call him haricot blanc pourri, meaning rotten white bean. (not just white bean because he has brown splotches.) Haha. The kids' school is about a 5 minute walk away, down a gorgeous, adorable little green path. Every day at lunchtime, Pascal comes back from work, picks up the kids, cooks lunch, eats with them, puts aside a warm plate for Helene, and goes back to work. 5 minutes after he leaves, Helene gets back from work, eats her meal and dessert with the kids, drops the kids back off, and returns to work. The kids have a two hour lunch break and always come home for a home cooked meal during which they see each parent. Wow. Pretty cool.

So for lunch today Gloria, Elise, and I joined them. Lunch was a roast beef with mayonnaise a ratatouille. Delicious. But the shining star of the meal was.....true, authentic, delicious, incredible, local pork rillettes. Oh wow. Gloria told them that I love rillettes/pâté, so they got some specially for me!! Which was so nice, and so really truly yummy. I had a little jar/pot of noix de coco (coconut) yogurt dessert afterwards that came in a little glass jar and was very cute. And yum.

Then Gloria took me, Elise, and Elise's cousin (another of Gloria's sister's daughter), Lisa, to downtown. It was a marvelous outing. The town of Laval is really cute. Though I prefer the French word, "mignon". "La ville est vraiment trop mignone" means the town is really too cute. The roads are all small, cobblestoned, and surrounded by cute houses with tiny doors! Really, all the doors are so little. Laval is one of the safest cities in France. There are plenty of people walking around, but it's not at all overcrowded, hustling and bustling, or too noisy. It's a very small town. It wasn't until half an hour in that I really remembered and registered that this was where Gloria grew up! For 27 years she lived there. It was so pleasant walking around with her in her hometown and learning about the place she lived for her whole upbringing.

We went to le Jardin de la Perrine. It had beautiful views of the Mayenne (the main river that goes through Laval), lots of adorable animals like baby and adult goats, guinea pigs, and rabbits. The two tiny baby goats were my favorites. Rousseau's grave is there, which was kind of neat. There was on old, over 70 year old man who was drawing there. Gloria, Elise, and Lisa recognized him from last time they went to the Perrine, 4 years ago. He didn't recognize them but struck up an extensive conversation with us. He spoke with me most. He wanted me to take a picture of him and then send it to him - in the mail, he doesn't have email. I told him I can't print my pictures. He thought Gloria could get her sister to bring a picture to him at the Perrine because she then pulled out her camera too. He went on about how I was a "Petite Californiaine" and was very pleased and impressed with my French speaking. Funny little old men are great.

The four of us stopped by a little café where we got little treats: crepes, ice cream, and Ile Flottante. We didn't quite know what the Ile Flottante was but Gloria wanted to try it and it was really delicious. It translates to 'Floating Island' because it's basically an egg white meringuish square with caramel ontop that is floating on a crème anglaise, which is a thin custard like cream. Gloria loved it.

Gloria, Helene, and I went to a huge everything store for groceries for dinner. Of course, it was so much fun. (And I mean even more fun than usual grocery shopping.) Everything is so different, it's so interesting! And the best part is the aisles and walls of cheeses. So many different cheeses. Ahhh France. They also have SO many pâtés and jambon and sauccisson and delicious looking meats. There's an isle of yogurts and all kinds of little dessert cups of tiramisu, pot de crème, crème brulée, etc etc, and ile flottante - which Gloria excitedly got a pack of.

We went back and Pascal cooked dinner in very little time, and it was quite simple, yet delicious. First we had an entrée of sliced tomatoes with cheeses and crab chunks (yeah, crab chunks like in sushi!). Then the plat principal was salmon with a white lemon cream sauce (I forget the name, but similar to hollandaise) and broccoli. Of course there was wine with dinner. It was a rosé with added pamplemousse flavoring/syrup or something. It was actually really yummy. I felt so proud of myself for liking it. Hehe. Oh, me and my desire to be classy. Then came the next course: cheeses. Ohhhhh yes. Four kinds: du chèvre, camembert, une basque (similar to, but a little lighter, milder, and creamier than my family's well-loved Petit Basque from home), and another whose name I forgot, but was like a milder, lighter Brie. The cheese course was...excellent. And finally we had a little bowl of mini strawberries, with a sprinkle of sugar on top. Very delicious as well. Everything is delicious!

So that was a longer post than I expected. But like I said, I well deserving day. I have really had such a fabulous stay with them so far. And it's been less than 24 hours since I got here! My goodness. I'm so glad we were able to plan this because Gloria is so wonderful and her family is really welcoming me to the fullest. More tomorrow. It's already 11:45 and like I said, I'm exhausted!