Tuesday, May 3, 2022 Company's coming

 Not much to say today - Except Happy Birthday to daughters Katie and Christie. We wish you were here with us. 

We're home today getting ready for company. Doing laundry, grocery-shopping, and a bit of cleaning. It's hard to believe we've already been here 2 weeks already. 

I took a couple of photos of shopping - not sure they're very revealing as I think American grocery stores are becoming more like European stores. Bring your own bags, pack your own groceries. We're still searching out things we're used to but that are not apparently used in France. For example, beef (or chicken) stock which I use all the time for making soups and stews. Here the only option is to use bouillon cubes. But for the most part, we can find what we need to cook.

Dave choosing lunch meat

Janis choosing cheese (notice eggs aren't refrigerated and needn't be refrigerated because they are not washed and therefore a protective external layer called the cuticle has not been removed. In the US, eggs must be washed by FDA regulation and that washes away the cuticle, which requires eggs to be refrigerated to avoid growth of salmonella.

Dave packing groceries into our bags

Home again to unload, do some cleaning. Janis made chili for tomorrow's dinner. Dave took a hike into Commarin. He got back just 5 minutes before Dan and Paulette arrived. And 10 minutes before the rain started. 

The bakery in Commarin where we get our croissants most days. Like most bakeries, it opens early and closes shortly after lunch.

Paulette brought a Belgian dish for dinner: chicons au gratin (Belgian endive, wrapped in bacon with cheese and breadcrumbs). But first we must have apéros and wine (Oh, sommelier Clark....)

Dinner was delicious (Janis and I both want the recipe, please Paulette) and we sat long at table talking about this, that, big things and little things. Paulette brought delicious cookies from Brussels which we sampled for dessert. 

Dan, Paulette, Janis, Clark, Lynn

Tomorrow we are visiting Paulette's cousin who works at the Cistercian abbey at Citeaux. We are really excited to learn more about the Cistercians, their work, and the abbey at Citeaux. Then tomorrow evening, we pick up Ron and Chris at the train station in Dijon. Janis' chili will work wonderfully for all this activity.