Grocery Items Explored

Some of you may never use Crisco for anything. We have a few recipes that use it, for example chocolate chip cookies!. I was able to purchase Crisco a couple of times in Indonesia and also carried a small container back from the US in a checked suitcase one time. Unless we order it online at a hefty price tag, we must do without here. My research says some folks have had success substituting a type of vegetable margarine product. This one, Planta Fin and also one called Primavera are the two we will try.

We visited the great market ( Marché Saint Pierre) within an easy walk:  Chickens!

The cheese! The number of cheese varieties continues to amaze us. 

I don't know whether this vendor stocks these at all times, but prior to Easter they had this collection of glacéed fruits including whole small limes, clementine oranges and so much more.  I have to figure out something to do with them. They look so pretty!

This vegetable intrigued me. It looks a lot like a reddish ginger or galangal. It is actually something called oca and is originally from Peru but based on the sign, they grow it in France- probably in the mountains. This is a tuber and tastes like a potato and sorrel. It is eaten cooked. It's sometimes called a sour truffette. We haven't tried it yet! Anyone know it?

Those who know me well know that I don't enjoy mushrooms. In fact, my mushroom knowledge is quite limited despite taking a college course in mycology (study of fungi). So, here's a question for you mushroom lovers: Is there a difference between the pure white and brown varieties of this type of mushroom? Inquiring minds- non-mushroom leaning minds- want to know.

Weather, etc.

We have experienced major swings in temperature and really interesting skies for weeks. For example, on March 13 we had a rainstorm move through. What a sky! Still bright blue above but black in the distance. We had a lot of days with warmer temperatures.

We woke to a winter wonderland on March 19.

The next day we could still see snow on Puy-de-Dome but the snow had disappeared in town.

We had many days in late March and early April in the 70s- even 79. More recently we have had cold days again, even below freezing temps in the early morning. Typical spring I guess.

Everything started to transition from blooming to leafing. These trees are down the street below our larger balcony. Pear trees? I don't know.

With the warmer outdoor temperatures we have had many days where instead of just airing out for 10 minutes, we have had multiple windows and doors open much of the day. They don't have screens here so we've had a couple of insects come in. These must not bother many of the French but at a fabric store I took note of screening fabric in stock. 

Obviously, here we don't have to be concerned with mosquitoes carrying deadly diseases like Dengue and I don't expect to see that many mosquitoes anyway. But, I am not in favor of inviting bees, flies and the like inside. I might decide to fit a couple of windows with screening at some point.

By the way, mosquito in French is moustique.

Apartment

Happy Post-Easter Greetings.

This post was written in early March but was never published. Ooops. 

We finally found an area rug for the living room. it matches the tuffets extremely well.

During the winter, the window near the dining room table was consistently cold despite using the metal exterior shutters overnight. It was also cold on non-sunny days. The solution? We found a system to mount a rod onto the metal box associated with the exterior shutter using a sticky pad and friction pressure. We found a thermal curtain as well. So far, the rod appears to be well-fixed and the curtain makes a HUGE difference! Keeping this curtain closed overnight keeps 1/3 of the living room/dining room combo much warmer. 

Note: This system worked great until the outside temperatures got warmer and then the double sided tape released on one side of the exterior shutter box and the rod wouldn't stay up any longer. We ultimately took it down and put the sheer shade back up. That will be fine until late fall when the temperatures cool back down. At that point, we shall try to mount this rod again.

After experiencing some nice days, we were in need of a small table and chairs for at least one balcony. We located a very large garden shop which also sold furniture. The chairs are a grey-green and the table is charcoal grey. They aren't a matched set but work well together. The day after we purchased this set it was sunny, but only 30 degrees. Nevertheless, we sat outside bundled up in coats long enough to drink a coffee! Note: We have used this table and chairs multiple times now. We've seen temps as high as 79 so it was nice to have a spot outdoors.

We finally hung the framed photograph of the plant B built in Indonesia. Next to it we hung the clock, handcrafted in Indonesia, that he received as a gift on our departure. It had basically been boxed since we received it so we hadn't noticed  that there was something a little odd about the clock. Can you spot it in the closeup? Note: it isn't the British spelling of tachometer. 

On one of our walks on a nice day in early March, we stopped to sit on the benches across the street and I snapped a few photos of our building. If you look closely, there are skinny, pink arrows pointing to our two balconies. It looks like we are on the top floor, but we aren't. There is one apartment on the 7th floor but they have a wide balcony that we think spans the length of the apartment.

This is the view down the street next to the apartment building.

This is the view looking to the left from our bench.

Groceries

We  would probably not want to visit this place on a Saturday due to the crowds (even without COVID), but we discovered a really nice market within walking distance. On a Friday afternoon B happened to have a gap between meetings so we checked it out. Fruits, veggies, really nice meats, cheeses, bakeries, bread shops, etc. A few stalls were empty likely due to COVID but there isn't a lot of room for customers. We will definitely make use of this place in the future.

The hunt for cream cheese. They do actually carry Philadelphia brand cream cheese here but we tried a local type of "white cheese". It seemed to have  higher water content, but still created a nice cheesecake. I could always strain it in cheesecloth overnight to remove some of the water. Big difference in cost! It comes in 3 fat content levels.

This is the chocolate aisle in the large grocery store we frequent.

Out and About

 Random buildings as we walk around town.

Here is a tiny little street.

Another interesting door.

This is a new thing! Right near the apartment there is a pizza vending machine. You can buy a refrigerated version to bake at home delivered in 30 seconds or a hot pizza in 3 minutes. I guess the box is dispensed at the horizontal slot. We may just have to try it because it's there.

Jardin Lecoq and Spring

Jardin Lecoq (Lecoq Garden) is a nice spot for a walk or a rest on a bench. The idea of a botanical garden in the city was floated as far back as 1745. One was opened in 1781 but was later moved to this site in 1786.  By 1826, the garden was being managed by Henri Lecoq. Many expansions and improvements took place while Lecoq lived. He died in 1871. More renovations took place between 1877 and 1905. 

The garden is located very near our apartment. We can easily walk there in about 7 minutes. We've actually visited the garden a couple of times. We took these photos on February 7. Looks like Spring has arrived, yes? In actuality, it was cold and windy.

Not so fast! Here's a photo from February 11.

On another visit to Jardin Lecoq on February 21 the very early pansies were flowering and the weather was very nice. We took the opportunity to find a bench and sit a bit.

In 1915 the door and corner turret from the Bien-Assis Castle was reconstructed in the garden. The castle was destroyed in 1914. 

A lion's head fountain from the castle was also relocated to Jardin Lecoq.

Spring was still not really obvious for another week during which we had very spring-like weather. Spring growth had begun!

Here is the first sighting of a live fly for the season!

And here are a few shots from March 6. Lots of things are blooming by then--even right across the street from the apartment! Daffodils have fully bloomed but I don't have any photos. No wonder my allergies have run amok!

Flowering trees everywhere!

Forsythia  or forsythia-like bushes in the medians are even in bloom.

I am posting this on March 11 and many, many bushes are leafed out already. There is a row of trees on our street filled with white flowers.  Ah, spring! Here comes the rain!