after hours

Besides all-day classes on teaching French, the CAVILAM has organized a large selection of "after-school activities."  You can sign up for a walking tour of Vichy, watch movies in the amphitheater two evenings a week, or meet others to practice different sports.  There are bus trips to Clermont-Ferrand, visits to castles and outings to the horse races.  And then, there are the trips associated with regional cuisine.  Can you guess which ones I prefer?!

Last Tuesday, T and I signed up for a dégustation of wine and regional cheese.  Having already lived in Auvergne as a student, I was familiar with the cheese, so I was ready!  Saint Nectaire, Fourme d'Ambert, Bleu d'Auvergne, Cantal... Miam miam!  At the tasting, we met up with some of the other Americans, and through our mutual love for cheese, we became fast friends.  Last night, there was another event, this time with charcuterie, pâté de pommes de terre, a regional brioche and, bien sûr, cheese.

Saturday, we hopped on a bus with 40 others to visit the town of Saint Pourçain under the heat of the midday sun.  There, we visited the Musée de la vigne - or museum of the vine - and learned about how wine was made throughout the centuries.  Then, we visited the co-op where 85% of Saint Pourçain wine is made.  We tasted a rosé and a vin gris.  The white wine is made with the tressallier grape, which can only be found in this very small region.  If there's room in my luggage, we'll be tasting it at my wine club soon.

Sunday afternoon, we visited a 14th century paper mill, the Moulin Richard de Bas.  We toured the mill, and learned that the secret to making paper was protected in many ways: the mill operated at night, the miller locked his apprentices and workers in their bed (a niche in the wall)...later, they realized that all the millers in the region did the same things to protect the same secret recipe.  This mill is still in operation today! In fact, I realized that when I was a student in Clermont, I bought several items from the mill, including a poster of La Marseillaise that I've been meaning to have framed for the past 18 years!

From there, we went down the road to Ambert, where the famous Fourme d'Ambert cheese comes from.  The Cheese Museum was informative, but a bit disappointing.  We were behind schedule, and were rushed through.  Then a quick stop in a restaurant to taste three different varieties of Fourme, and we were back on the road to Vichy.