BonjourParis

Day Four on the Burgundy barge: The Market in Avalon

By Sarah Gilbert Fox Neil Kirk, our driver, originally from Cambridge, but who now lives in Vermonton, France (in Burgundy) with his wife and new baby, is as unpretentious, knowledgeable and interesting as anyone could ever be.  Plus, the chap is so darned nice, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s pleasing to the eye – a nice diversion from the glorious Burgundy fields and one-blink-eye towns.  He drives us along winding roads where the houses come up to greet the cars; past the limestone cliffs with their long-ago quarries, which have such small entrances, but once inside are huge (Hitler used them as airplane hangers during the war).  Another lovely characteristic of Neil is that he never leaves anyone feeling as if they’ve asked a stupid question.  He seems to know something about everything, and if he doesn’t, his fabulous English phrasing slants out some sort of humorous response that leaves us all feeling quite satisfied that our questions have been answered.  It’s assuring to know that Neil, who has been with us since the very beginning, will see us through to the end.  He has a good integrity that you don’t often find in others.

At the market in Avalon, the typical French goodies are out for perusing.  Fromages, next to fish, next to vegetables (oh, what tremendous colors!), intermingling with cheap, plastic toys and a bizarre lingerie booth that has a cardboard cut-out woman’s torso hanging off of a trash bin, wearing lavender bra and panties. Mature and hefty French women elbow each other to dig through the pile of lacy under things, while nearby, two Frenchman are getting chewed out by yet another French woman, answering to her, “Mais, oui,” and brushing their cheeks to show boredom.  This is a typical day in a French village at the market, and we are all swarming about trying to find the best thing first, so we can show it on the bus.  All bets are on the Texan with us, who has a reputation for getting the most interesting buys so far.  Nevertheless, we all want to try.  Two hours later, we return with shoes, bonbons, oil cloth table clothes, and more.  Surprisingly, the honor goes to the quiet German woman who has traded her Dutch boy haircut for a cute French pixie.

Back at the Luciole, the table is prepared for a lunch of really exquisite fare once again.  Carlene continues to be amazing.  Today she has prepared shredded carrots in a caraway seed vinaigrette, a strawberry and lettuce salad, a chickpea and feta salad, a rice salad stuffed tomato and a penne pasta made with small, red French sausage bits.  This might be our heaviest meal, yet, because nobody can say no to third and fourth helpings.  We are really ready to pop by the time Jana comes out with her cheese tray.  But nobody can say no to Jana’s cheese offerings!

Jana (pronounced Yana) Seflova, from Prague, Czech Republic, is one of the cabin girls although she does so much more than that… and cabin girl seems like such a small title to give to such an expert in cheeses.  Jana’s knowledge is vast, and she presents what she knows in such a way that we end up having a trip-long cheese tour.  Pont L’Eveque, Epoisses, D’Elice de Bourgogne are cheese names that roll off of her tongue as easily as a small tyke singing their ABC’s. “D’Elice de Bourgogne is a really creamy cheese with a slight taste of salt,” she says, in her charming Czech accent.  “Beaufort is a really gentle, yet has a complicated taste,” she says, the next day, carrying her tray of cheeses. “Valencay is just a gorgeous cheese with a firm texture inside, with a really gentle taste of goat milk,” she tells us the next night.  Cheese, as she says, is a personal preference, and she tries to mix her favorites with a variety she thinks we will like.  Every evening she brings in a tray for us to sample, and explains how the cheeses are processed; some are double washed in brine; some are stuck in a more humid cellar; some are injected with air; some have had a bit of bread added in order to make the line of fragrant blue mold.  As she explains, some cheeses were originally created for pleasure; some were created for keeping, so people could have them for times when they needed them – they were the hard cheeses that could be preserved (especially the mountain cheeses, which are limited by the production of milk in the winter). I’ve been all over France, and I’ve lived in Paris for quite a few years, and I haven’t seen as good an environment where people can really get to know so many cheeses in one week as on the barge.  The lessons come constantly, so you don’t have to go to a shop and feel full and have your taste buds overrun fast with so many different flavors.  When you are on the barge, you have a good option to taste your cheeses slowly, over days, and with wine, too -- something that won’t happen at your neighborhood cheese shop.  As well, if you request a particular cheese, Jana will normally go looking for it the next day in the local fromageries.