Mars 15-17: Indian/Japanese/French/English/American weekend

On my first Saturday, I went grocery shopping with Chantal after dropping the girls at swim practice. We then watch a bit of their practice at the St Lo municipal pool which was really, really nice. It seems that cities and towns in France are the ones with pools as opposed to the U.S. where it’s more often the high schools and universities. The team wasn’t huge and not very competitive-looking, but it was fun to watch a swim practice and remember my long days in the pool.

Chantal then dropped me at L’Auberge where I met up with the American WWOOFers who are working there now (Robert and Megan who used to work at Thomas Keller’s Buchon in Las Vegas), the Japanese chef on a stage (who we called Francois), and the Japanese pastry chef (Eku) and the English sous chef (Ashley) who both live here. After a tour around to see the green-building house, the natural water filtration system, and the pigs, I went back to the kitchen where I mostly watched the preparation of that night’s dinner. L’Auberge is only open for dinner on Friday nights, plus the first Saturday of every month. That Saturday, however, was big Indian dinner for friends in celebration of the chef/owner’s son’s birthday and their recent return from holiday in India. Eku had gone also, and Ashley had spent three months in India a while back, so there was some experience on hand, if not anyone who actually grew up with Indian cooking.


The food was delicious and a spicy change from the Normandy fare I’d been having. Rice, fish curry, onion baji, cauliflower masala, tandoori chicken, interesting coconut/potato porridge, raita, lassis, and naan cooked in the wood-fired oven. And on top of all of that, there was a strawberry birthday cake, rice pudding (made with Camargue red rice), and incredible chai. And all of the meal save dessert was eaten with our hands, most even sticking just to the right hand, as would be done in India.


After cleaning up the kitchen, Ashley drove Robert, Megan and I back to his house near Avranches on the coast. The next day dawned and stayed grey and rainy, so we scrapped plans to see Mont St Michel and instead spent the day cooped up inside the house eating, talking, drinking, playing board games, listening to the BBC and watching some Eddie Izzard online (who knew he was that funny?). Robert and Megan are moving to the Boston area when they get back, so we talked a bit about the organic/local food scene there. I also took a walk along the coastal path in the grey bay sand. The island of Mont St Michel is visible across the bay even from near Avranches, 20km away.



The next day we drove there, and Robert, Megan and I had a walk around the small town, then through the abbey itself. I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed with the abbey, especially for €8,50. I suppose the architectural style itself is more pared-down than other sites I’ve seen, but it just didn’t have the majesty of, say, the Palais des Papes. But then again, it was an abbey and intended to be a place of reflection for monks rather than a showcase for the Pope. The town was over-run with Spanish and English teenager groups, so we were glad to leave at the end.