Monet's Garden at Giverny

I spent some time this weekend working in my rose garden. As I picked off the newly withered blooms and watered the thirsty plants, I felt a sense of connection growing between my garden and me. The drooping blooms looked like sleeping heads lolling forward on a warm autumn afternoon until the water I brought woke them from their slumber. They seemed to spring to life once again, renewed with energy. I felt a responsibility for my garden; to nurture it and to help it thrive. There’s a special relationship between a gardener and his garden, and one of the most famous relationships like this I know was between the Impressionist painter Claude Monet and his garden in the town of Giverny, France.

Monet’s relationship with his gardens thrived for the forty-three years he lived and painted at Giverny. He had two gardens that he spent his time tending - the Clos Normand and his famous Water Garden with the Japanese Bridge. He meticulously designed Le Clos Normand, the garden in front of his house, so that the colors, heights of the flowers, and growing seasons created a living canvas for him to enjoy. Ten years after he moved to Giverny, Monet bought the land next to his property on the other side of the railroad tracks. He dug a pond for his second garden and populated it with beautiful water lilies. Monet was so particular about how pristine the lilies needed to be kept that his gardener would take a boat out early in the morning to clean the soot off of the water lily’s petals that the trains had left behind the day before. Monet loved his water garden and focused on painting it for the last thirty years of his life, creating 250 paintings that have delighted the world ever since.

Monet’s love for Japanese block prints, which was a popular and exotic interest to the artists of the time, influenced his desire to install a Japanese Bridge over his lily pond. With this addition, he created a Japanese-style garden filled with wisteria, weeping willows, and bamboo. Monet created his masterpieces twice; once in the planning and planting of the gardens, and then again when he painted them. Monet’s interest in painting the effects of light and color that reflected in the water, rather than focusing on painting the flowers themselves, made his water lilies one of the most recognizable works of art in the world. After World War I, the day after the armistice, Monet gifted eight large panels of his water lilies, or Nymphéas, to the French people. These paintings are a permanent fixture at the Orangerie in Paris. You can view the fabulous Nymphéas at the Orangerie here.

In The Suitcase Adventures: Paris - Behind the Peacock Gate, the main character, eleven-year-old Brianna Dubois, has a poster of Monet’s Nymphéas in her room. Brianna’s love for art comes from the time she spent drawing with her dad, a French artist in his own right, who taught her all about his favorite French painters. When Brianna goes to Paris to meet her French grandmother, Mamie, she tucks a sketchpad into her backpack so she can sketch the sights she sees as she discovers more about her French family history.

I look forward to telling you more about Brianna’s adventure in Paris in future blog posts.

À bientôt!

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Lavender

I have the most beautiful places to write. When I’m at my writing desk, I look out the window and see two rectangular Lavender beds. In the summer, the buzzing of bees creates a noticeable hum as thousands of them hover over the flowers and sip the sweet nectar. When a gentle breeze wafts through the open windows, the scent of the flowers hangs in the air and reaches my nose. It creates a calm haven as I write, transporting me to the fields of Lavender I remember from traveling to Provence, in Southern France. I have always loved Lavender for its beauty and scent, but I didn’t realize how interesting its history was until I began writing The Suitcase Adventures: Paris-Behind the Peacock Gate.

As I learned more about Lavender, I discovered it has been a natural kind of apothecary for over 2500 years. Ancient herbalists used Lavender for its many medicinal benefits, such as antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Roman soldiers would take Lavender into the battlefields with them to treat and heal their wounds. I find it interesting that the Latin root “lavare”, which means to wash (where the French verb se laver comes from) is so closely linked to Lavender. Romans used it to scent their baths, hair, beds, and clothes. It was used as a perfume and room freshener as well. The scent of Lavender also repels moths and other insects, which is one of the reasons small pouches of dried Lavender, or sachets, became popular to place in dresser drawers.

The healing properties of Lavender are still used today. The use of Lavender oil is said to provide antioxidant protection, heals cuts and burns, improves acne, and alleviates headaches, migraines, and motion sickness. It is commonly used in aromatherapy and in skin care and bath products. The calming effect of Lavender is known to soothe anxiety, alleviate stress and depression, and relieves insomnia. It’s truly amazing that this beautiful plant has so many effective uses.

Since Lavender is part of the mint family, it is used in cooking, too. It can be found in Herbes de Provence - a mixture of herbs from the region of Provence, and is added to give a unique freshness to cheeses, desserts, drinks, meat, salads, seafoods, and soups . Because of its rich purple color, it is a naturally beautiful adornment in the artistic presentation of foods. You can find some unique recipes that use Lavender here: http://www.lavendersense.com/index.php/Lavender/Recipes

In my upcoming novel, The Suitcase Adventures: Paris-Behind the Peacock Gate, Brianna finds out that her French grandmother, Mamie, owns the Dubois Soap Company. Mamie’s company makes soap from the Lavender fields the family purchased long ago near the town of Èze. Brianna discovers that in the days leading up to the French Revolution, Roland Dubois, her great-great-great-great grandfather, was King Louis XVI’s chief soap maker. He became a confidant to the king and was one of the only people he could trust. As a gift of thanks to Roland for his loyalty, Louis XVI gave Roland land near the town of Èze. Since Roland had the noble name Du Bois, which indicated he was part of the nobility in France, which was under attack by the revolutionaries at the time, he fled Paris and escaped to Èze. It was there that he began planting Lavender on the rolling hills of Provence, and the Dubois Soap Company was born.

Generations later, Mamie still runs the company, owns the Hôtel de la Paix in Paris, and manages the Dubois family fortune. Mamie has conducted herself with the highest of moral and ethical standards…until now, or at least that’s how she feels. When Mamie disappears, Brianna must use what she’s learned about her family, and herself, to save Mamie and the family fortune before it’s too late.

I look forward to sharing another glimpse of Brianna’s adventure with you next month.

À bientôt.

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Le Pain au Chocolat

One of my favorite pastries in France is Le Pain au Chocolat - or Chocolate Croissants. I look forward to un pain au chocolat accompanied by un chocolat (hot chocolate) as the perfect start to my day each time I visit France. Le Pain au Chocolat has an interesting history that seems to be influenced more by the Austrians than the French.

In 1683, the Austrians were under attack by the Ottoman Empire in Vienna. During the siege, a baker was in his kitchen, beginning his daily routine of lighting the ovens to bake the morning bread, when he heard the Turks, tunneling under the walls of the city. To alert the militia, he rang an alarm which allowed them to collapse the tunnels and save the city. To commemorate the Viennese victory, the baker created a crescent-shaped bread - representing the crescent-shaped moon on the Turkish flag - and so the crescent-shaped pastry was born.

Legend has it that another Austrian influenced the making of the croissant in France. Marie Antoinette came to France as a fifteen-year-old Archduchess from Austria. She was the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was to marry France’s king, Louis XVI, in order to strengthen the relations between France and Austria - two countries who had been long-time enemies. It is said that Marie Antoinette missed her homeland’s “kipfel” - German for crescent - so much that she requested the royal baker to create a French version of it, and so the croissant - French for crescent - came to be. This version of the croissant’s history seems to be more legend than fact.

A version of the story that seems more believable is that of another Austrian, named August Zang. He was an officer in the Austrian artillery who founded a Viennese Bakery in Paris in 1839, 46 years after the French Revolution, where Marie Antoinette met her demise. It is said that he is the one who introduced the “kipfel” to the French, which later inspired the French bakers to create their own tasty version. Whereas the “kipfel” is more like a crescent shaped cookie, the French claim the croissant is a French invention because of its puff pastry texture.

And so, you may ask, why is the pastry we’re learning about today not called un croissant au chocolat? A pain au chocolat differs from a croissant because it has a stick of chocolate cradled inside the layered pastry dough. It is not rolled into a crescent shape, but rolled in a straight line, like a jelly roll. Because the shape of the pastry is not in the form of a crescent, the word crescent - croissant - has been removed from its name, and it is literally translated as “chocolate bread”.

In my upcoming novel, The Suitcase Adventures: Paris-Beyond the Peacock Gate, the main character, Brianna, enjoys a pain au chocolat for breakfast on the morning of her solo trip to Paris. She sits on the backyard patio next to her mom who reassures her that she is ready for the adventure ahead. The warm, buttery croissant oozes delicious chocolate into Brianna’s mouth with each bite. Her fears are held at bay… at least for awhile.

If you would like to make your own pain au chocolat, there is an excellent recipe with photos and a video below that explains all the steps. It’s a relatively easy, but long process. The dough has to be rolled out, then it must rest in the refrigerator several times for many hours to get it ready for the baking stage. Here is the link:

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-chocolate-croissants/

If you would like to make an easy, less traditional, but still delicious, pain au chocolat, you could use refrigerated crescent rolls and baker’s chocolate pieces. Roll out the crescent rolls and separate the dough into triangles, following the perforations. In the center of each triangle, place a small piece of the baker’s chocolate. Roll the triangle beginning with the longest edge towards the pointed edge, and place on a baking sheet. Bake according to the directions on the can, and voilà! You have created your own scrumptious treat. Enjoy!

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BIENVENUS!

Welcome!

I am a French teacher-turned-writer who has a passion to share my knowledge of French language and culture with children and adults alike. It is my hope that you will find this blog both fun and interesting.

This blog will give you a sneak peek into my novel, The Suitcase Adventures- Paris: Behind the Peacock Gate, as well as providing a mélange of fun cultural and historical information about French. I will be pulling back the curtain to the main character Brianna’s adventure in Paris as I share recipes of the French food she eats, snippets about the posters of French artwork she has on the walls in her bedroom, French words and expressions she learns and uses, and tidbits of French history she discovers during her week-long visit at her grandmother’s hotel - L’Hôtel de la Paix, near the Galeries Lafayette. I will be sending out free culture puzzles and mini-French lessons as well, so sign up for my emails to get on my mailing list.

The Galeries Lafayette is the large department store pictured above. It is located in the 9th “arrondissement”, one of the most elegant “neighborhoods” in Paris. The Galeries Lafayette is 120 years old and has a beautiful stained-glass dome. The open architecture lets you see from one floor to another. In The Suitcase Adventures, Brianna sees the “Man with the Grey Silk Scarf” here for the first time.

The Galeries Lafayette holds a special place in my heart. When I took my students to Paris, I would always visit the Galeries Lafayette to buy our children a French outfit and then I’d go to the souvenir department to buy a Paris ornament for our Christmas tree. The last time I was there I bought a new outfit for our first grandchild. We didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl, so I bought an outfit for each! It turns out our grandchild was a boy, and he was so adorable in his Catimini ensemble.

If you’re in Paris, the Galeries Lafayette is a great place to stop and view beautiful clothes, grab a bite to eat at one of the restaurants, or even see a 30-minute fashion show on the 4th floor on Mondays and Fridays. You can purchase tickets online. If you’re interested in looking at the latest French clothing, you can click on the link below. Here are a few vocabulary words to help you understand the website: Nouveautés= new designs, Vêtements=clothing, Enfants=children, Filles= girls, Garçons= boys, Femmes=women, Hommes=men, Chaussures=shoes.

https://www.galerieslafayette.com

Et voilà! There you have it - your first mini-French lesson. Hope you visit again, and don’t forget to sign up below to get on my email list to receive notifications of the next post and to receive the free culture sheets.

Merci et À bientôt!

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