La Cantine Gourmet School Dinners

So Little T started staying at school for her lunch from last week. Second pregnancy and a law degree and twoing and froing from school 4 times a day was just getting ridiculous. So off I went to buy her meal tickets and voila my days are freed up to study or have a few cat naps.

If I was in the UK I would be very wary of the chicken nuggets and chips and most probably opt for the lunchbox option to stop her from being pumped with all the dreaded E numbers. But in France lunchboxes are not allowed. And why the hell would you bother when the menu is that of a michelin star restaurant!

When I first came to France, we would go to the canteen at work and us Brits would grab a can of coke and pizza and chips, but every single French person without fail would pick a starter salad, their main course of fish/meat and veg, a yoghurt, small bread roll, a portion of cheese and a bottle of water. This wasn't just craming in the calories to get you through an 8 hour grueling waitressing shift, this was dinner time!

This is just perfectly natural for French people because they are taught it at school. Every lunchtime the kids are given every single one of the food groups and water, no pop or juice.

This is Tiana's lunch menu for next week ...

Monday - Bean Salad, Chicken in Paprika & Parsley Sauce with Garden Peas, Fromage Blanc, Choice of Exotic Fruits
Tuesday  - Tomato Soup, Simmered Pork with Pearl Onions & Cauliflower & Potato Bake, Fruit Yoghurt, Fruit Plate
Thursday- Grated Beetroot, Almond & Chicory Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette, Chicken & Spicy Sausage Couscous with Mixed Roasted Vegetables, Camembert Chesse, Apple, Pear & Abricot Purée
Friday - Duck Pâté, Filet of Hake in a Lemon Sauce with Roast Carrots, Edam & Gouda Cheese, Coconut Milk Dessert

Most of it is organic and they get all their produce from local farms.

I bet you're thinking that must cost a fortune, sorry to render you sick with jealousy but for this gourmet array I pay ... 2€80 a day (£2.14)

Eating properly is not a privelege in France, it is considered every citizen's right so school dinners are mainly paid for by the government and parents pay this little extra to make sure it's all of the best quality.

Tiana's reply when I asked her how was it on her first day "too delicious Mum!". What did her teacher say "she had seconds of everything!"

As Stuffed as a Goose, Going on a Meat Strike!

The thing about living with an African is that meat is a must for every meal. Since we moved in together I have eaten more beef and sauces than I had in my whole life! And even though I buy fresh and good healthy ingredients, the latherings of sauce, the mounds of rice and the chunks of meat have stuffed me to my limit, and I wonder why I can't lose any weight!

Bad doesn't understand what the problem is. I mean look at him

He is naturally svelt and look at the helping on his plate, and yes he will go back for seconds! Plus meat costs a fortune, it's my biggest monthly expense second from my rent!

So as he is only coming home on weekends since starting his training, I'm going to make the most of his absence and go on a meat strike.

With a beautiful market on my doorstep twice and week selling gorgeous fruit and vegetables, I'm swapping meat for good fresh from the fields veg, fish & seafood. There are two fishmongers in the town centre, something that was sorely lacking where I used to live.

Yep, I'm saying goodbye to meat and I'm going to buy myself some new clothes with the money I won't be spending on meat and hopefully they will be a couple of dress sizes smaller!

Why Wealth Disgusts Me

When I look at the world today I can see the progress we've made, but what stands out the most is how little we've changed socially. The rich are still too rich and the poor still too poor.

We all take for granted this fantastic household item

If you've ever had your water cut off, even just for a couple of hours, you quickly realise how much we use water. You need it for drinking, cooking, your washing, to wash yourself, brush your teeth, the toilet, cleaning ... the list is endless.

Not following me, here's my point...

In Niger alone 11,000 wells are needed for the entire population to have access to clean water. The average cost of these wells ranges from $500 for a simple well able to provide 250 people with clean water to $125.000 for 6000 people.

The financial status of Niger means that the government can only fund 10% of these wells, meaning only 1100 wells can be installed.

Women and girls walk between 4-6 miles a day in search of water, and when they find it, it is more often than not contaminated. The task is so labourous that most girls don't go to school in order to help their mothers fetch the water, leaving millions of women and girls illiterate and left in the vicious cycle of extreme poverty.

When wells are installed, girls go to school ensuring that the next generation has a chance to get out of extreme poverty. Child mortality drops by 65%. Water borne diseases are eliminated by 99.9%.

Now let's look at Kim Kardashian's engagement ring

This baby was bought for a whopping $5 million.

With that $5 million plus the cost of her wedding ring and the wedding itself, Kim Kardashian could have solved Niger's water problem. Changing millions of peoples lives. Her family's wealth combined could solve most of Africa's water problem. Now imagine if every millionaire in the world stopped buying those diamond necklaces & stocking half a million $ cars in their garages to never be driven. Holding galas that cost thousands not including the expense put into the dresses, jewelery and accesories that the Ladies Who Lunch put into their outfits for these events that in the end only raise a few hundred thousand dollars. Imagine within a day how much money could be raised and how quickly world poverty could be irradicated.

It saddens me that in 2014 that this still exists

When we have people who can live like this

Beverly Hills Mansion

It's Wine Picking Season!

It's that time of year when the France's enormous wine industry turns to the public to come and help with the Vendanges. Traditionally this is in exchange for bed & board but some wine yards offer a small salary based on how many kilos of grapes you pick. Evey year I say I'll do it, and every year life gets in the way! But I do my bit by buying the wine!

One of the many reasons I don't fancy moving back to the UK is the price of wine! One of my favourite wines in France is Champlure Rosé and Lichette White. 

Averaging at between 1.40€ - 2€ depending on the supermarket. To my surprise I stumbled across this lovely no nonesense wine in Tesco on my last visit home for the whopping price of £6.99 a bottle! What is that about??

There are hundreds of "Vin de Tables" (Table Wines) for under 3€ in France, the only wine you find for that sort of price in the UK is Lambrusco! 

The French of course can be very snobby about their wine, and even though these table wines are perfectly lovely they are not what one would bring to a party! The unwritten etiquette is from 4€ upwards or at least at decent Cotes de Provence Rosé at around 2.90€ will be acceptable.

Why aren't the French always mortal at these prices I hear you cry? Well, they also have a drinking etiquette. Drunkeness is acceptable at very special occasions but otherwise it is very much looked down upon to be anything other than nicely "pompette" (tipsy). Also there are no small, medium or large glass options, wine is served in 15cl glasses, known as "ballon" (balloon of wine) compared to the buckets that you can find in most British pubs and bars!

French Wine Size

British Wine Size

Much like their eating etiquette, everything in moderation! 

New Life Continued

As part of my DH and I shaking up our lives and starting over, we have also moved out of Ile de France (Paris's equivalent of Greater London) and into the fabulous Picardie region and to france's oldest town Soissons.

Isn't it beautiful?

We are still only 45 minutes from the outskirts of the centre of Paris but the change is amazing. The cost of living is the main reason for us moving here. We've have cut over outgoings by 2/3! Over the last couple of weeks we've been slowly discovering our new town, in between unpacking thousands of boxes and all the paperwork that the French so love for you to do when you move!

So far I'm in love! We've spent the last 5 years living in a tiny village with no amenities whatsoever, so to have a whole town centre on our doorstep is simply marvelous! Everything is within walking distance, and if you are feeling a bit lazy there are no less that 14 different bus services! Corner shops are open til 1am even on Sundays! We are 800 yards from the train station, which has a direct train into Paris Gare de Nord every hour. There are pubs, bars, a nightclub, over 40 restaurants and countless lovely high street boutiques. Including a fabulous second hand clothes shop, that I have already have a loyalty card for and have kitted Tiana out for her starting school for 15€ and that was only because I got her a coat that cost 5€ ! It doesn't smell funny and has loads of high street labels in perfect condition, you've got to hand it to them, the French can even make a Charity Shop Chic.

Last Saturday we'd had our fill of unpacking boxes so after googling whats on in Soissons we found Saturday morning is market day. We took a stroll down and as with all French markets, we were not disappointed. And as anyone who knows me, knows I love my food and this was definately a feast for the eyes. So sit back and enjoy our new Saturday morning routine ....

A Family Catch Up

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks. My parents came to stay and we had a lovely relaxing time checking out lots of little towns and villages in my region. Well, we've done Paris a thousand times and I think we know it better than the Parisiens now! We found some great little places. On the Sunday we went to a village called Moussy le Neuf where they were having their annual medieval festival. It was amazing!

Stepping Back in Time

The Wine Hut

Medieval Tent

Medieval Clothes Shop!

Cauldron Cooking

Jousting

Jugglers

Herding Geese up the road!

And the food .... 7€50 for a feast! And the wine was only 1€ a glass!

Getting stuck in with Grandad

We also went to a municipal park in Crepy en Valois that I've heard loads of people raving about and it certainly didn't disappoint. There were animals, a gorgeous river running through the grounds and a play area that ... wait for it ... had swings!

A very grand entrance (which was actually the dining hall for the school across the road)

Can you believe it! We had a lovely picninc of the night before's left overs then Tiana had a good two hours play in the park before we went for a stroll around the town, which was very pictoresque and full of busy little shops on the main street.

We also visited Senlis and Chantilly while they were here.Strangely enough we didn't see any lace shops but we did get a breathtaking view of the Chateau de Chantilly.

We ate fabulous food all week long, a good mix of my mum's fab cooking, my equally delicious concoctions and some African barbecuing thrown in.

It was a fabulous week, good food, good company and Tiana throughly enjoyed having her Nanny and Grandad here to treat her like a star!