Paris, Je T'aime. {Day Ten}
At 9 o' clock that morning, we drove down to Nice, about three miles away in total (but a twenty minute drive). I feel that right now, before assumptions are made that we're probably just slow drivers (we aren't), the streets here... are insane. Even asking a young French-man directions, he said he much preferred driving in America to driving in France "as you never know what they will do." That, my friends, is a very good way of putting it. You have no idea if someone decides to pull in front of you (blinkers are on the cars but might as well be non-existent), or step off the side-walk right in front of you to cross the street. As Alexandrea pointed out, "they're probably just in a hurry to linger for another few hours over the next meal.." :) I love my sisters.
Anyways. In the Rick Steve's Guide to Nice, we found a woman mentioned: Rosa Jackson, a food-reviewer, writer for a magazine, and, most-recently, a cooking teacher. Born in Canada, she lived in several countries and places in France before settling down in Nice. There were seven of us besides her in the class. First, we started off in the markets, selecting ingredients for the day's three-course meal, which we would be learning to prepare. She taught us about how to select the freshest vegetables, and we sampled the olive tapenade, breads, and many different kinds of salt, exclaiming over the (just as) many different attributes of them all... yum.
After our successful market trip, we went on to her home, where she hosted her cooking classes. The menu for today's class included a cherry tomato tart, a fish stew, and a fig tart for dessert.
About noon, we all jumped around the table as a cannon went off. Rosa laughed, and told us the story of the tradition: "A Scottish man who moved to Nice asked the governor to start the cannon every day at noon. You see, his wife would be out all morning gossiping with the other ladies in town, and would forget to come home. He paid them to lit the cannon in order to call her home: 'I want my lunch, woman!'" We laughed as she finished. "That's sad," someone said, "that she would answer to a cannon." "I think it's sad that she was out gossiping all day in the first place!" another answered.
One of my favorite dates that my mom and I have ever had was when we attended a cooking class in the desert. However, unlike this class, we only sampled the dishes, and we only watched someone teach us how to prepare it. Here, we were hands-on- which I thoroughly enjoyed. It might sound silly, but I always feel like the food tastes twice as delicious. It was indeed scrumptious. The cherry-tomato tart was colorful, and all the food was rustic- a delight.
It was just after four when we left...but it was about six by the time we got home. The area was just so lovely, and of course we stopped to smile at a wedding taking place at the church just outside Rosa's lovely home. Certainly, an enjoyable day. Another favorite to write down..
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