Hello again! This post is will resume describing my adventure in France (last week’s post was talking a bit about Emily’s life in France, but now we are back to our regularly scheduled program).
The following day after visiting Emily’s host family, we did some more exploring around Gap to see its landscapes. We did a lot of walking around town and ended up in the grocery store parking lot, which has the best view of the mountains. Seriously, it’s crazy to me that people have views like this just while doing their daily errands. I have always wanted to live in a beautiful town like this, and if you are the same you can check out this list of the most beautiful towns in America. The mountains surrounding the town are so beautiful, especially because the skies were so blue as well. I am used to gray, overcast skies every day during the winter in Ohio but even though it was December there in Gap, the sky was a brilliant blue. I couldn’t get over the sight of the mountains the whole time I was there.
While we were walking around, we gathered different foods from the markets around town to make our dinner. When we were in France we mostly had what my family likes to call a “snacky” dinner, which is basically just a bunch of snacks put together to make a meal. Now, we weren’t too concerned with the aesthetics of our meal because we were so hungry after walking around town all day, but if you want some tips on how to make a beautifully assembled “snacky” dinner, check out this charcuterie and cheese board guide. We got fresh bread studded with whole grains at the bakery, fresh cheeses at a dairy store, fruits and dried meats at the outdoor markets, and (my favorite) delicious apricot preserves from a seasonal Christmas market. We ate this same meal for a few dinners, but it was so good that we never got sick of it. After dinner, Emily showed us how to make vin chaud (hot wine), which is a stable in France during the winter. She added a bottle of red wine, a generous amount of sugar, cloves, cinnamon, orange zest, and a bit or orange juice to a pot and simmered it for a while to get the flavors to meld. I tried a sip and still found it as unpalatable as normal wine, despite the added sugar and flavors. I am just not a fan of the taste of alcohol, but my parents enjoyed it a lot. If you want to try to make your own vin chaud (once you turn 21 of course), here is a recipe.
I’ll see you all next week!