teresaenge's blog

living, cooking and eating in provence

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 I am living my dream for the next four months.  Call me crazy (and believe me, some do), but I am on sabbatical leave from my teaching job and spending six months in Arles, France.  I have been here since June.

What on earth am I doing and how did I get here?  I am a French teacher at a private school in Durham.  I would be starting my 29th year there if not for being given the fall semester off by my school.  A very generous family donated money a few years back for one lucky teacher to take time off and this year I was chosen. 

I am working at a cooking school and bed and breakfast in exchange for room and board.  Obviously, I would not have been asked to do this if I didn't speak French, but I am finding out that my French has lots of room for improvement!  Luckily, I have found many new friends who are willing to help me with my pronunciation and vocabulary.  My cooking skills are vastly improving, also.  I can now make my own mayonnaise, I am happy to report.

I came to Arles and Chef Erick Vedel's Atelier de Cuisine et de Traditions (www.cuisineprovencale.com) for the first time in the summer of 2005.  Van Gogh spent time here painting and I wanted to see the actual spot where he painted "Starry Night Over the Rhone."  The Roman history and architecture were also a big draw.  Upon my return, I talked about my trip so much that a dear friend and colleague asked me if I would offer a trip back for adults.  We found three other wonderful new friends and I returned to Arles and Provence in the summer of 2006.  I was the only French speaker, so I translated for the group.  We met someone else here, a biology professor from Ole Miss, and we all became very good friends.  If you have ever traveled anywhere with any other human being, you know that it can be a challenge.  The Arles 6 was born, however, and we had a wonderful time!  Later that fall, I was asked to come back to Arles and be Chef Vedel's translator for the summer of 2007.  I gladly accepted, prayed that my two wonderful sons would understand and spent my entire summer vacation in Arles. It was, at times, a humbling experience (learning kitchen vocabulary- I never needed the word for ladle before, and trying my best to understand the Provençal accent), an exhausting one (there is a lot of work involved in running a 5 room B&B/cooking school with no dishwasher or clothes dryer), but always a rewarding one.  

I decided to ask for the faculty sabbatical for the fall semester and, once again, hoped that my children would understand if I got it and left them for 6 months.  One of my sons is in college and the other begins his sophomore year in high school next week.  Their dad is remarkable and takes great care of them. 

So, here I am.  I am easily recognized as l'assistante américaine, but have made many new friends and I feel as if I belong here.  Arles is amazing.  Every Wednesday and Saturday there is an outdoor market.  The sights and smells are incredible.  I never miss market day, even if it means that I do not have all my work done by noon, which is my goal.  Well, or at least by lunch, which usually occurs around 1:00 pm.

 In honor of my colleagues who started faculty meetings yesterday, Wednesday, August 13, I made myself the most amazing tomato sandwich possible for lunch.  At my school, we do not have a cafeteria so everyone has to brown bag.  What a chore some days.  At the market, I saw the biggest, fattest tomato I'd ever laid eyes on, la Russe or Russian, it was called.  I sliced it.  We had a baguette left over from breakfast and I sliced it in half.  I placed the tomato slices on the baguette.  Simple so far, right?  Then I placed goat cheese on the tomatoes, sprinkled on herbes de provence and drizzled some olive oil on top of the herbs.  Oh là là.  The taste of Provence and summer.  So simple, yet so delicious.

 So, this blog will be dedicated to my quest to eat and drink well in the south of France (I am quite fond of dry rosé and have rarely missed a meal in my life) while cleaning toilets, washing dishes and hanging clothes out to dry on the line outside the second story living room of the house I am living in.  I promise to fill you in on some of my adventures and share recipes in the process!  I am a very lucky woman, n'est-ce pas?

Filed under: Travel