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Thanksgiving Getaway & the Marché de Noël

On Tuesday I called to make reservations at Pumpkins for their Thanksgiving dinner for a group of five. Booked. They told me to try Café Mari which was also doing Thanksgiving. Booked. Of course; there are two restaurants in anglophone-ridden Grenoble serving the T-day’s feast; best reserve at least a month or two ahead!

Then I thought of cooking a large stuffed turkey in haste… which didn’t seem like a good thing to try last minute. No luck finding an obese turkey anyway:

Just kidding… I know it takes more than the yellow pages to find a big mama turkey in France…

But, it ended up working out because I was then able to accompany the BF to Provence on Wednesday morning and stay in the South all through the weekend. I looked a little less odd while in the south speaking my French sud-Occitan mixed with American accent because ever’one be speakin’ with a southern twang. Three star hotel with breakfast included, sunshine, blue skies, no pollution, warm personalities, shopping, art history, new places to discover; ‘was a nice change.

Now, I have a LOT to update about. I just returned to Grenoble last night and have a lot of experiences and photos to share since Barcelona a few weeks ago!

But, if you don’t hear from me, it may have something to do with the marché de noël opening in Grenoble, which looks much bigger than it was last year! And I thought I didn’t like Christmas…

My 1st day back in Grenoble since Tuesday of last week.. Skipped breakfast and went right to the diot line for le déjeuner.

I must say, Grenoble’s Christmas market (over 120 vendors!) makes the one in Aix-en-Provence look pathetic. If you haven’t visited Grenoble yet, you should come this winter! Also, the Alps = amazing winter food! And Grenoble’s the Alpine capital!

A few posts I hope to get to soon:

Barcelona; photos (Flamenco included!)

Thanksgiving in Provence and the funny thing I ended up eating

Aix-en-Provence, highlights/recommendations

Weekend in Arles, Camargue & Saintes-Maries de la Mer

Weekend in Aigues-Mortes and Le Grau du Roi

Stuffed pepper recipe

Grenoble, Christmas Market photos &  highlights

6 Comments

  • Ella Coquine
    November 28, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    Ahahahahah! You’re so cute with the yellow pages! Did it work?! : P
    So funny!

    Xmas seems so quaint and festive over by you! Lucky you!

    Reply
    • grenobloise
      November 28, 2011 at 8:02 pm

      No not at all! I was not really serious though. It was a bit too last minute. I’m thinking of trying to order one this winter though, if possible, and do a trial-run.

      Yeah it’s really nice here in the winter!

      Reply
  • gojulesgo
    November 29, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    Ooh I can’t wait for the upcoming posts! Grenoble does sound like a lovely place to visit in winter! I’m glad your Thanksgiving worked out in the end.

    Reply
    • grenobloise
      November 29, 2011 at 5:08 pm

      Thanks for your enthusiasm Jules! Honestly, I’m so busy these days it sometimes takes a bit of encouragement to keep up with the posts. There aren’t enough hours of the day! Keith from atasteofgarlic.com was very encouraging with his weekly updates, and from him I’ve gained some viewers (and friends!), but he had to stop his website unfortunately.

      Reply
  • laura
    December 1, 2011 at 10:30 am

    Oh the southern accent sounds so weird to me! Why do they ad Gs to their words?
    Glad you had a good Thanksgiving away. I love the marché de nöel, but we only have like 25 cabins….Also, what’s a diot?

    Reply
    • grenobloise
      December 1, 2011 at 1:54 pm

      Coucou Laura!

      I’m not sure which southern accent you’re talking about. I’m familiar with the Languedoc and Provençal ones. I don’t like the one from Grenoble (called the accent Dauphinois); but I don’t hear it often anyway. The accent I make often when speaking French with my bf is the “wang” sound, like, loin would not be “Lwauh” it would be “Lwaing” haha. It’s less strong in Provence. I just find it amusing and can’t stop using it; it’s how his father speaks (and all relatives on that side) so I’m used to it.

      Les diots!!! A diot is a sausage from Savoie, the department north of this one (Isère). The diot is often cooked in white wine with onions and bay leaves.

      Another thing popular from this region, other than diots, potatoes and cheese (reblochon, tomme de savoie, st. marcellin…), are walnuts. I eat them all the time now! They even make nut wine! Speaking of booze… There are monks near here that make the liqueur Chartreuse (since 1605)… Okay way too much info!

      Reply

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