I've learned a couple things about 'the toast' while we've been here. Some of it may be folklore but this is what I've heard from my French buddies here at work.
As it turns out, we do a lot of toasting at work. There is drinking at lunch and then drinking again around 4pm everyday. However, we NEVER drink in the morning. We draw the line there.
Shortly after arriving here I was told about the importance of looking someone in the eyes when toasting with them. This was explained to me as being as somewhat of a common custom here in France but a very serious custom in Germany. If you look down or just don't acknowledge a person, eye to eye, in Germany, it's considered very disrespectful. The guys here tell me that if eye contact isn't made here, you could be cursed with 7 years of no sex. This sounds like a joke but we all look each other in the eyes religiously, each and every time a toast is made.
I learned a couple other interesting things regarding toasting since then. Ya know why we clink each others glass when we make a toast ? The meaning goes back hundreds of years. Way back when? it became a common practice in medieval terrorism tactics to poison someone's drink to 'do them in'. This was typically someone in a higher social status, like the King or the Pope...someone who was difficult to physically approach/attack and in a position of power. But it became widespread in the Middle Ages and people started clinging their wooden or metal gobelet together before drinking, in hopes of spilling into each other's drink, as a kind of a 'fair play' gesture.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
trois, deux, un ...Happy New Year !!
On Dec. 30th we drove 5 hours north to the Loire valley. This was just a day after returning late from London. But this was a bigger chunk of time that we had off and wanted to try to get to Loire Valley before the adventure ends.
Upon arrival to the area we went right to Chenonceau castle.
Being the first of many we would see on this trip, it was an awe-inspiring site. By time the weekend ended we would walk into a castle like we were at an Edina Realty open house...only we were asking "is there a private chapel?...does the Queen's bedroom have a walkin closet or a separate room for shoe storage?...and how many thousand square feet of garden is there?"
We stayed in a gite which was a 15th century manor home in a small town called Saint Georges Sur Cher.
We were really amazed with the accommodation there. It was an incredible piece of property. Besides the 15th century chateau, there was also a 12th century chapel and a winery on site. This is definitely a gite we would highly recommend, in case someone has plans to see the Loire valley. The owner, Danielle, was very nice to us and very helpful, with things to do and with making dinner reservations for us every night. Her English was not great but her step-daughter, Pascal, who is about the same age, spoke English fairly well. We had dinner that night in the picturesque town of Montrichard.
During the day of New Year's eve we went to see Villandry and then Azay de Rideau...both beautiful starter homes for a royal family.
That night Danielle made reservations for us at Les Truffles for dinner but before leaving she told us to come back after our dinner for drinks with her and her 20 friends/family. The dinner reservation was for 8:30pm and knowing the French's typical extended dinner service, we knew we would easily still be eating at midnight.
We were upstairs, in a small room with just a few other tables. As midnight approached hats and streamers were passed around and then the unforgettable countdown, in French started. Dix neuf huit sept six cinq quatre trois deux un...Bonne Année !! It seemed so crazy to hear that. It sounded like a big group practicing their French lessons...and we know our numbers!! We moved around the room giving the dual kiss move. From there we went back to the gite and found everyone there in very good spirits, dancing around in Danielle's living room. As representatives of the US, we made sure they could see that we could handle an unusual amount of Champagne.
I might have gave the impression that American men have some awkward moves and seem very aloof on the dance floor though...this was not done by design. I was just taking in the scene and marveling at Randi's universal charm. They realized that the party atmosphere kicked up a couple notches with the arrival of the cute American newcomer who wants to dance :) At one point the timelessly lame YMCA song came on and a few of the French folks there were curious to find out what exactly the letters YMCA meant. So there I was, trying to explain what the youth mens organization was, feeling like I was representing the Village People, somewhere in the middle of France, wondering to myself 'how did my life come to this!' :)
On Jan. 1st there was not much open but we found online that Cheverny still was. We were excited to go there because they still kept a hunting tradition and with that, they had hunting dogs...a whole bunch of em! I think they have 75 dogs and they all look alike. Randi wondered if they all were given names or not...that would be sad if they didn't :( We love dogs.
On Saturday we drove to the town of Ambroise, to see Clos Lucé and the royal Château d'Amboise. Built in the middle of the fifteenth century, Clos Lucé was acquired by
French royalty in 1490. In 1516, Francis I (Frank) invited Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise and provided him with the Clos Lucé as a place to stay and to work. Leonardo (Leo) arrived there with three samples of his painting, namely the Mona Lisa, Sainte Anne, and Saint Jean Baptiste. Leonardo lived at the Clos Lucé for the last three years of his life, and died there on 2 May 1519. It was really cool to be in his house and stand in the room he used as a studio...where one the most creative and talented men ever to live, would dream. Frank and Leo were best of friends. Frank had unlimited money and Leo was a genius, with unlimited talent. Frank had a 550 yard underground passageway made, so he could visit Leo frequently without having to leave his royal chateau down the block. And just because one man digs a long secret underground tunnel to frequently visit another man, doesn't mean they're gay. 
After walking the outside grounds of Clos Luce, that has models of some of Leonardo's ideas and machines, we made our way over to the Royal Chateau of Ambroise. This is another giant fortress built along the Loire River in what was said to be 'Gothic Flamboyant' style...the two words don't seem to go together. Leonardo da Vinci is buried there, in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert, adjoining the Château.
On Sunday Jan 2nd it was time to drive home but we weren't done castle hunting yet. We still had one big mother of a castle to see in Chambord !! Even though it's the largest castle of the Loire, it was built to be a hunting lodge...like a cabin up north, except different.
It was built by King Francois I, who was into this sorta thing. He had two other castles in the area. They said he barely ever stayed in Chambord though. Probably because it was too dam cold inside. They had fireplaces everywhere in it and they had them in use while we were there but it didn't seem to make a difference. Like the rest of the people touring the castle, we spent a lot of time trying to warm up in front of the fireplaces. By the time we left our tour of it, I really did smell like I had been sitting around a campfire. But Chambord proved to be one of the most intriguing castles we saw. One because they don't know for sure who designed the castle, as all records were lost during the French Revolution. 
They suspect that it was designed by Francois's good buddy...the painter, the sculptor, the architect, the musician, the scientist, the mathematician, the engineer, the inventor, the anatomist, the geologist, the botanist, the writer, the Renaissance man and overall just a really good guy...no other than Leonardo da Vinci. This suspicion is based on the design of the grand double-helix staircase. Nobody does double-helix...NOBODY! It really was the most amazing feature of the château. 
The other thing we liked about the tour there was the story told of how Chambord housed many of the world's masterpieces of art, during the WWII German occupation of France. That included the Mona Lisa and one of my favorite, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. They had a exhibition there showing pictures of them uncrating these irreplaceable works of art there, which are now found in the Louvre. They told the story of the French's secret missions, moving the artwork around France and playing keep-away from the Nazis. The incredulous bastard protectors of art. Cool story.
Upon arrival to the area we went right to Chenonceau castle.
Being the first of many we would see on this trip, it was an awe-inspiring site. By time the weekend ended we would walk into a castle like we were at an Edina Realty open house...only we were asking "is there a private chapel?...does the Queen's bedroom have a walkin closet or a separate room for shoe storage?...and how many thousand square feet of garden is there?"We stayed in a gite which was a 15th century manor home in a small town called Saint Georges Sur Cher.
We were really amazed with the accommodation there. It was an incredible piece of property. Besides the 15th century chateau, there was also a 12th century chapel and a winery on site. This is definitely a gite we would highly recommend, in case someone has plans to see the Loire valley. The owner, Danielle, was very nice to us and very helpful, with things to do and with making dinner reservations for us every night. Her English was not great but her step-daughter, Pascal, who is about the same age, spoke English fairly well. We had dinner that night in the picturesque town of Montrichard. During the day of New Year's eve we went to see Villandry and then Azay de Rideau...both beautiful starter homes for a royal family.
That night Danielle made reservations for us at Les Truffles for dinner but before leaving she told us to come back after our dinner for drinks with her and her 20 friends/family. The dinner reservation was for 8:30pm and knowing the French's typical extended dinner service, we knew we would easily still be eating at midnight.
We were upstairs, in a small room with just a few other tables. As midnight approached hats and streamers were passed around and then the unforgettable countdown, in French started. Dix neuf huit sept six cinq quatre trois deux un...Bonne Année !! It seemed so crazy to hear that. It sounded like a big group practicing their French lessons...and we know our numbers!! We moved around the room giving the dual kiss move. From there we went back to the gite and found everyone there in very good spirits, dancing around in Danielle's living room. As representatives of the US, we made sure they could see that we could handle an unusual amount of Champagne.
I might have gave the impression that American men have some awkward moves and seem very aloof on the dance floor though...this was not done by design. I was just taking in the scene and marveling at Randi's universal charm. They realized that the party atmosphere kicked up a couple notches with the arrival of the cute American newcomer who wants to dance :) At one point the timelessly lame YMCA song came on and a few of the French folks there were curious to find out what exactly the letters YMCA meant. So there I was, trying to explain what the youth mens organization was, feeling like I was representing the Village People, somewhere in the middle of France, wondering to myself 'how did my life come to this!' :)
On Jan. 1st there was not much open but we found online that Cheverny still was. We were excited to go there because they still kept a hunting tradition and with that, they had hunting dogs...a whole bunch of em! I think they have 75 dogs and they all look alike. Randi wondered if they all were given names or not...that would be sad if they didn't :( We love dogs.On Saturday we drove to the town of Ambroise, to see Clos Lucé and the royal Château d'Amboise. Built in the middle of the fifteenth century, Clos Lucé was acquired by
French royalty in 1490. In 1516, Francis I (Frank) invited Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise and provided him with the Clos Lucé as a place to stay and to work. Leonardo (Leo) arrived there with three samples of his painting, namely the Mona Lisa, Sainte Anne, and Saint Jean Baptiste. Leonardo lived at the Clos Lucé for the last three years of his life, and died there on 2 May 1519. It was really cool to be in his house and stand in the room he used as a studio...where one the most creative and talented men ever to live, would dream. Frank and Leo were best of friends. Frank had unlimited money and Leo was a genius, with unlimited talent. Frank had a 550 yard underground passageway made, so he could visit Leo frequently without having to leave his royal chateau down the block. And just because one man digs a long secret underground tunnel to frequently visit another man, doesn't mean they're gay. 
After walking the outside grounds of Clos Luce, that has models of some of Leonardo's ideas and machines, we made our way over to the Royal Chateau of Ambroise. This is another giant fortress built along the Loire River in what was said to be 'Gothic Flamboyant' style...the two words don't seem to go together. Leonardo da Vinci is buried there, in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert, adjoining the Château.
On Sunday Jan 2nd it was time to drive home but we weren't done castle hunting yet. We still had one big mother of a castle to see in Chambord !! Even though it's the largest castle of the Loire, it was built to be a hunting lodge...like a cabin up north, except different.
It was built by King Francois I, who was into this sorta thing. He had two other castles in the area. They said he barely ever stayed in Chambord though. Probably because it was too dam cold inside. They had fireplaces everywhere in it and they had them in use while we were there but it didn't seem to make a difference. Like the rest of the people touring the castle, we spent a lot of time trying to warm up in front of the fireplaces. By the time we left our tour of it, I really did smell like I had been sitting around a campfire. But Chambord proved to be one of the most intriguing castles we saw. One because they don't know for sure who designed the castle, as all records were lost during the French Revolution. 
They suspect that it was designed by Francois's good buddy...the painter, the sculptor, the architect, the musician, the scientist, the mathematician, the engineer, the inventor, the anatomist, the geologist, the botanist, the writer, the Renaissance man and overall just a really good guy...no other than Leonardo da Vinci. This suspicion is based on the design of the grand double-helix staircase. Nobody does double-helix...NOBODY! It really was the most amazing feature of the château. 
The other thing we liked about the tour there was the story told of how Chambord housed many of the world's masterpieces of art, during the WWII German occupation of France. That included the Mona Lisa and one of my favorite, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. They had a exhibition there showing pictures of them uncrating these irreplaceable works of art there, which are now found in the Louvre. They told the story of the French's secret missions, moving the artwork around France and playing keep-away from the Nazis. The incredulous bastard protectors of art. Cool story.
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