am I (that) weird?

samedi 10 mai 2008

Sometimes things just don't go your way.

I had checked the forecast for the weekend and knew that it would be raining in Brittay (en Bretagne) most of the time.  As soon as I arrived at the TGV station in Auray, Julien said, "It has been sunny everyday until 5 minutes ago."  Then it started to rain.

For the weekend, Julien and Hermine invited me to stay at his family's vacation home in the small seaside town of Carnac - nothing specific planned, just to enjoy a few days by the sea.  The couple had already made a five-day journey on foot in the entire region before my arrival.  A sign that Julien knows me well, he told me last week of their trekking plans and added, "This is not for you, Alex, you can't handle it."  So wonderful to have friends who know you well, isn't it?

Both Carnac and Auray were exactly what they were supposed to be - small cities by the sea, but I thought they lacked the charm of Cassis.  Maybe it was the humidity that got to me, or perhaps it was the tremendous abundance of insects on L'Ile de Moînes (the Island of Monks), which we visited.  Don't ask me about the name, I didn't encounter any monks; the closest celibate and repressed being I saw was in the mirror.

Eventually the rain gave way to right, intense sunshine after two days, and that was when I complained about the heat.  Complaining about everything, I really felt French.

One thing I couldn't complain about was our meals, almost everything homemade except for the first meal of crêpes, for which Brittany is famous.  Like my meal of soufflés, the custom here was to have two savory crêpes for entrée and plat, ending the meal with a sweet one for dessert.

Some of the highlights of our meals included a seafood quiche, with smoked salmon, shrimp, and broccoli, a linguine and legume pasta, a lentil salad, which was surprisingly good, as I am not a huge fan of salads, and of course all kinds of bread for every meal.

Julien and Hermine thought my habit of putting Nutella and peanut butter together on bread (they didn't have peanut butter unfortunately) was weird and disgusting:  too much fat, they said.

Too much fat!  This from people who put butter, cheese, and cream in just about anything.  Go figure.