Rendre Grace (Give Thanks)

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! We had our very own celebration here in Ambialet...the group was happily joined by almost everyone who we have grown close to since our arrival. If you take a look at this short clip, you'll be quickly introduced to most of the people who were in attendance. Present were people from five different countries altogether; France, England, Russia, Canada, and America were all represented last night! For some of our guests, this was their first Thanksgiving, and a very special one it was indeed.

Our feast was prepared by the oh-so-talented Bernard and included turkey with a sweet apricot and white raisin stuffing, corn, salad, cranberry sauce (courtesy of Mrs. Roche who had it shipped here from the States just for the occasion), French bread, 10 variations of cheese, pumpkin pie, and lots of vin.

Dinner was followed by music and merriment in the stone room, which was historically the place where the friars in the Middle Ages ate their dinners in total silence. One might say that we broke that tradition of silence with the help of Peter, who led the singing with his guitar playing. (We were all pretty excited when Shane decided to join in too).

The holiday, while certainly much different from my typical Thanksgiving back home, was undeniably a memorable one. My life has been so blessed by the people I was surrounded by last night that I really couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate our time together.

The Fete

Cheers to the beginning of another week in Southern France! It's hard to believe how fast the weekend went by. I didn't make it to Albi on Saturday like originally planned, but that was all for the better. While having our tea and biscuits with Peter and Margaret on Friday afternoon, the students were invited to join them in the quaint town of Sainte Michel for a "fete," or town festival!

It was explained to the group that each village holds a fete at least once a year, normally during the summertime when it's warm outside. It was obvious that Peter and Margaret are fete veterans because they even brought their own silverware to use instead of the plastic cutlery given to everyone else. There was a band, food with recipes that Saint Michel has been making since the beginning of time, and plenty of vin de table. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to spend every summer fete-hopping!


The picture above is one with my aligot and I. Aligot (pronouced: "ally-go") is an infamous potato and cheese concoction that has been served in Southern France for hundreds of years. Each town has their own special recipe, which was originally fed to pilgrims passing through the area. The people began cheering and clapping when the aligot was brought out; I learned that it is certainly not a food for the faint of heart.