Walls in France: Une soiree chez Loriane

Loriane Vanhoove is a wonderfully fun friend who participates in my adult English class every Monday morning. She has lots of energy and is extremely enthusiastic about learning English so is a joy to have in the group. In addition to being a mom of adorable 10-year-old twin girls, she works at a cool outdoor furniture store in Eygalieres. She is also talented artistically and is currently on a kick of designing and producing beautiful cloth bags, one of which I was lucky enough to receive as a gift!

Loriane and her husband, Michel, invited us over for dinner on Saturday and included our mutual friends, the Dupres. We got there a little bit before eight and had drinks as the children ate delicious-looking croque monsieurs. Once the children had been fed and were stationed in front of a movie, the adults settled at the table for a wonderful meal of traditional aioli. The aioli sauce is an emulsion of olive oil and garlic that is prepared and served in a mortar. It is accompanied by steamed or boiled vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and potatoes), boiled fish (usually cod) and hard-boiled eggs. It is very provencal and fun to eat 'en famille.'

We then had cheese and salad, followed by ice-cream cake. As Loriane was clearing the dessert plates, she hollered with exasperation that she had forgotten to serve the sausage with the cheese. She mentioned that she didn't want the sausage to go to waste, so she put in on a plate with a knife and brought it to the table. I translated for Bucky and basically warned him that he would now be eating sausage after his dessert. Philippe, who was sitting next to me, cut into the sausage and Loriane couldn't contain her giggling...the sausage was not sausage afterall, but a tricky chocolate dessert she made to look like sausage! It was so cool both Annick and I snapped lots of photos! It was also delicious!!!

The evening ended after midnight with a glass of champagne and a toast to the hosts! We had a delightful and memorable time and look forward to seeing more of the Vanhoove family! Merci!