I was standing in line yesterday at Carrefour and, in an effort to keep everyone calm and entertained while waiting 20 minutes to get to the checkout register, the store was showing a kind of televised trivia pursuit game: Questions de Culture Générale.
One of the questions was: Un collectionneur de fèves s'appelle…
It was all I could do to stop myself from jumping up and down, yellling: I know, I know! Pick me, pick me! Because it was the very first time I'd been standing in line at Carrefour and knew an answer to a Culture Générale question. So, if anyone at Carrefour would have cared – although I was looking around and I didn't see anybody appearing to care in the least – the answer is:
Fabophile
Furthermore, I would have told the Nantes-area Carrefour shoppers that they have the great good fortune to be living close, within an hour, of France's one and only Fève museum: a destination of very small interest – pun intended – unless you, like me, happen to really love the Galette des Rois season, known to the religious as Epiphany and as January to the rest of us.
I'm going to remind you, whatever you happen to be thankful for, to celebrate this month that most French of holidays, Thanksgiving. Most French? Well, yes, of course, a holiday the ritual celebration of which revolves entirely around the table — how French is that? It would be the perfect bridging-the-gap holiday to celebrate here except for one little problem: it falls in the wrong month.
KID-TESTED FRANCE My French husband lived in Paris for seven years in his 20s. But he climbed the Eiffel Tower for the first time this past summer only because our seven-year-old daughter begged him. He'd never bothered with the Eiffel Tower because it's obviously so NOT a fun thing to do. Strictly for tourists.
But she begged. And we went. And everything went wrong. We'll never forget that day.
KID-TESTED FRANCE I come from San Francisco where Halloween has always been, honest, bigger than Christmas. And it's always been our family's favorite. I even paid to transport three boxes of costumes and assorted crapola when we moved here.
What a let-down.
The French have tried to adopt Halloween. But they're just not quite getting it. So, like many American customs they don't quite get, they end up dismissing it as "too commercial" or "only to sell candy". Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Or so I've been saying every year since we got here.
But then San Francisco last year "canceled" Halloween for security concerns. And my sister tells me nobody goes Trick-or-Treating anymore. Too scary, but for real. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
This leaves us as Franco-Americans as the last defenders of this great tradition. Here's the game plan.
FRANCE EATS Ever tried to cut up a magret de canard in complete, can't-see-your hands-in-front-of-your-face darkness?
Dans Le Noir, around the corner from the Centre Pompidou, has gotten a lot of press as the only restaurant of its kind in France; the wait staff is blind and you eat your meal in total darkness.
I have to be honest: I ended up eating my magret de canard with my hands. Plus, I thought I was eating beef. Bottom Line:Gotta Try It Once Try this place for a truly memorable experience but knowing that you'll be shelling out EUR 45 for a mediocre meal.
I live close to Nantes, a city that would really like for more tourists to come but that doesn't have, frankly, all that much to show them. But while people on full-length vacations head up the river to the famous castles or out towards the Breton coast, Nantes really is a good Long Weekend city, especially with kids.
One reason is our castle, specifically the really good history museum inside the castle. Even after having lived here a few years, my first visit had me walking away, saying: "Wow, Nantes is a lot more interesting than I realized." Even my kids wanted to stick around longer and they are not remarkable for their long attention spans.
Bottom Line:A Great Afternoon If You're In the Area This castle is not a destination-location, but if you come through Nantes it's definitely worth a stop. And the museum is both entertaining for kids over six and a good way to teach them about two tough subjects, slavery and Nazi-occupied France.
I was standing in line yesterday at Carrefour and, in an effort to keep everyone calm and entertained while waiting 20 minutes to get to the checkout register, the store was showing a kind of televised trivia pursuit game: Questions de Culture Générale.
