Saturday, 25 Sept - Orcival, Murol, Vallee de Chaudefour, Farges

On Saturday the school sponsored a trip in the country for the international students.  We have been on this trip before, but not with fellow students.  Fred and I were both able to go.  The first stop was in Orcival, site of a 12th century church, famous for its statue of Mary, which is said to be quite old (older than the church).



Chateau Murol



From Orcival, we went to Murol, where this is a 12th century fortified chateau on a hill overlooking the town.  The chateau is in restoration, and during the summer there is a group of people who dress in period clothing and present shows.  It is always an interesting stop with great views of the countryside from the chateau, but it is a long climb just to get to the gates.

Village of Murol from the chateau

View from the chateau

Upper walls of the chateau

My colleagues

Beekeeping at the chatear

After Murol, we went to lunch at Le Buron in the Vallee de Chaudefour (valley of the hot oven).  This is a small restaurant in a regional park, where hiking is common in summer and skiing  or snowshoeing is common in winter.  At this restaurant we are always served truffade, and traditional potato dish of the region. 

It is potatoes, cheese, and garlic, made in a large frying pan and is wonderful.  It is always served with green salad and slices of air-cured ham also of the region.

After two hours for lunch, we went to Farges, near St Nectaire, where there is a working dairy farm and where St Nectaire cheese is made.  There are also caves where the cheese is aged that are open for tours with historical programs about the history of the place and the making of St Nectaire cheese. 

 St Nectaire cheese can be either Fermier or made on the farm from unpastuerized milk or industrially made from pastuerized milk.  In order to carry the St Nectaire name, the fermier cheese must come from a single herd of cows.  This cheese has been made in this area for hundreds of years.  The original aging was in caves like this on rye straw.  Now much of the cheese is aged on wooden shelves at the farm or at a location specializing in aging.

St Nectaire cheese is aged for about 2 months. During the process, it is turned and the furry mold is brushed off. 

We had not seen this presentation before and it was very interesting.  The farm and cheese fabrication are operated by an association of local people making the special cheese that only is made in this area.  They have 100 dairy cows and make and sell 45 metric tons of cheese per year (about 99,000 lbs), most of which they sell on site to tourists and locals.

Equipment on the dairy farm

 

Cows wear bells



The barn at milking time

The cheese is made twice daily, morning and evening.  The milk is put in a vat with starter culture and rennet.  The milk is heated, but not cooked.  Within 15 to 25 minutes, the milk curdles.  The whey is then drained off, and the curd is put in molds and pressed.  The cheeses are again turned out of their molds, salted, wrapped in cheesecloth and put back in molds and pressed for 24 hours.

  

Making St Nectaire cheese

Flowers on the path to the barn

When we got back to the bus, we met a goup of antique car collectors who where on an outing.  Saw some great cars!



We returned to Clermont about 6 pm and were tired, but had a great day learning about the area.







Thursday, September 2 - School and Shopping

Fred learned at 8:15 am he has a meeting at school at 10, so he got up, got dressed, and walked off to school.


Have I said yet that we do not plan to have a car here, only occasionally we will rent one for a weekend trip. But here in Clermont, we will walk and take the bus or tram. There is a nice electric tram that goes generally north and south and around the center of town.


I set out for shopping, but first must have some coffee and something to eat. I head down the street toward the train station with my shopping basket (which the landlords have supplied with the apartment).


I scope out some of the shops and find just a block from our apartment a baker, a fruit and vegetable seller (the "fruitier"), a small grocery and all kinds of bars and restaurants.


I stop at a brasserie for cafe au lait and a baguette with butter - that will fortify me until lunch. Typical french breakfast is normally a roll or croissant with butter and jam and espresso.  I prefer the large coffee that is about half frothed milk - cafe au lait.


Then I am on my way to Leader Price. I haven't been in one, but am guessing it is a discount type grocery and I am correct. This is where I will buy paper and cleaning products, toothpaste, food storage bags, shampoo, bath soap, etc. I do find they have wine, so I select a bottle of Cotes du Rhone for 2.6 euro (about $3).


I find the coffee filters I need, and most of the other items on my list. I also pick up some food items I can't resist like Cantal cheese, a semi hard, white cheese from this region which is one of our favorites here.


I almost pick up more that I can carry and lots of it is heavy - so I purchase a Leader Price plastic bag with handles and then when I get outside, I move the bottles to my back pack and am ready for the walk home.


Recycling is encouraged here, so there are no "free" bags available at checkout at most stores. You bring your own bag or purchase one at checkout.

When I return home, I put away my purchases and head back down the street for vegetables, eggs, yogurt, etc.


In the small shops on my street, I get chicken for dinner, lettuce, eggplant, tomato, fresh strawberries, eggs, etc.


I also buy some instant asparagus soup for my lunch and head home. Fred has gotten free and is home as well, so we make a salad with blue cheese crumbles and a cup of soup for lunch.

Our next task is to open a bank account, so after lunch we set off for the bank where Fred had an account previously, thinking that would be a good place to start.


There is no one available for this sort of transaction, but I know there are other locations in town, so ask if it might be possible at another "branch". They say the earliest is next week and set an appointment for the following Monday. I am anxious to get this done when we are both available, so we go to another bank and ask the same question. We get the same answer - too busy today, but could make an appointment for Friday. Again I ask if someone might be available at another location in town.


They check the online calendars and find someone at the main Clermont location of Credit Agricole who can take us now AND there is an English speaker working there as well.


So we walk about 10 minutes to the other location to meet Angelique and Laurence, who speaks English. We have brought along everything we think we might need: passports, lease, work contract, etc.


They take our documents to photocopy, but on returning, tell us there is a new policy and the proof of address must be approved by another department and can't be done until tomorrow.


Good thing we didn't wait until Monday to start this!


So we ask about renters insurance (which is required by most landlords here) and get a quote on that as well, then make an appointment for Friday afternoon.  It feels like we have accomplished a lot even though we still have no account.


We walk back home, change clothes and go back to school (ESC) for a reception. When we return home, we report to the landlords that we have started the account process, but must return to finish on Friday. They have asked if there is anything we are missing or anything else we need, and I tell them we could use a can opener and a hall tree or someplace to hang our coats.


They search immediately and come up with the can opener, but will get a hall tree on the weekend.


We start dinner with an appetizer, then salad and bread, but decide we are tired and almost full, so we skip the chicken and rice and go straight for dessert. I have purchased a Chausson au Pomme at the bakery - this is like a small single serving apple pie and is delicious. We split it and are quite satisfied, but Fred thinks coffee would be good - he has had no caffiene today, so we have a small coffee and are off to bed - what a day!

Wednesday, August 18 - Bought Tickets

Well, it was a trial, but I bought the first set of plane tickets - it is a bit late, so there are not many seats remaining and they are going fast.  As I described before, I use Kayak.com to check general rates and find the most likely carrier with the best rate.  

I found some sort of reasonable tickets, but when I went to the airline website, it was showing a layover time of 20 or more hours!  In other words, we would leave home on Tuesday evening and arrive in Paris on Thursday morning - with the 20 hour layover somewhere in the states.  So I tried another carrier and by the time I entered all info, the price had jumped by $1000 for the two tickets - so... on to carrier 3.

I got tickets on Continental for a sort of reasonable price, booked them without selecting seats so I could get the transaction done before losing the price.  Then I went back to select seats and found none available (except for the exit row seats, which are not assigned until check-in). 

I know the airlines overbook flights, just like hotels overbook to compensate for no-shows.  Anyway, they sold me the tickets, arriving on September 1, which is better than the original itinerary I looked at that would have me arriving on Sept. 2 after the 20 hour layover!  We'll see what actually happens.  I grabbed seats on the return flights then as well.

I also heard from my contact for my program at ESC and started to complete the application - I need to gather a few bits of information yet and will send that back tomorrow.   I need a passport type photo for the application, so that is next on my list.     

Thursday, August 12: Preparation

We have actually been preparing for this trip for the last ten years, building relationships with our ESC colleagues so this year would be possible. The ESC is a graduate school of management in Clermont-Ferrand, France, about 4 hours south of Paris by train.

Clermont has a city population of about 140,000. Adding in the surrounding towns and suburbs brings that to over 400,000. Clermont is the regional capital and a center for commerce and education. With the world headquarters for Michelin tires and several universities, there is an abundance of activities and lots of opportunity for international experience.

My husband had an exchange teaching position at ESC in the 2000-2001 school year and we have both been teaching there for a week in the spring each year since. This year he will be teaching some marketing and management short courses, doing research, and doing some committee work while I plan to pursue a masters degree (in English) at the school. We know this will be a very busy year, but we are so looking forward to it.

I have been on an extended vacation this summer and we have done some other traveling, preventing us from getting too caught up in prep for this trip, but NOW is the time. We are away from home a lot anyway, so we know how to prep our home. We also have good neighbors and relatives who will help us by keeping an eye on things here at home.

So, today, I am scanning documents that I may need for admission to the school program and researching travel options. It appears today that plane tickets will be a bit expensive, so I am watching several departure and arrival cities to make this more reasonable. I use Kayak.com, which searches the other travel sites and compares the results. I have set up fare alerts for 4 or 5 most likely itineraries and will purchase tickets in the next few days.

That's it for today - see you tomorrow!