Cats & scents

I recently found that cats probably like the smell of argan oil. I used some to massage my foot last Sunday afternoon. Then the scent stayed on my palms the whole day. So when I went out in the evening, I ran into two stray cats at different occasions. On approaching the cat, I reached out my hand and it smelled my hand and seemed to like the scent. I knew that cats like and dislike certain scents and it didn’t surprise me that they like argan oil. But what really surprised me was when I read that cats like the smell of bleach!

Summer Action Movies

You probably already knew from our earlier posts that we are movie buffs and we like watching different genre of movies.

This summer, most of the movies that we saw were “action” or “adventure” movies.

Some are quite good while some others are just entertaining.

This a short review of these “summer specials”.

“The Mummy – tomb of the dragon emperor” staring Brendan Fraser and Jet Li, is quite fun and based on some historical points, like the real tomb of the first emperor and its buried army.

“Wanted”, with Angelina Jolie, James Mac Avoy and Morgan Freeman is the story of a fraternity of assassins, with a lot of action. It’s so unreal that it becomes finally very funny.

“The incredible Hulk”, with Edward Norton, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler and William Hurt is probably the best “Hulk” film ever made. Special effects are really impressive and the characters, especially Dr Banner, are quite intense.

“The dark knight”, the latest Batman, with Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman.

A great movie, 3 years after “Batman begins”, Christin Bale is back in Gotham city.

This episode is probably the darkest one; the main characters (Batman, the Joker, and Harvey Dent) are particularly interesting. It’s probably the masterpiece of this summer.

“In Bruges (bons baisers de Bruges)”, with Colin Farrel, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson. It’s a totally crazy movie, where two “hit men” are sent by their boss in the wonderful city of Bruges, in Belgium, after a disaster in their previous contract. Collin Farrel is absolutely incredible, very funny, and the city is really a part of the story.

We also particularly liked this one.

Our Little Neighbours

Our neighbour, Miss Cat, has been mentioned in our blog several times. But recently, we had (I'll explain later why a past tense is used) a hedgehog our new neighbour!

Here, he was spotted from our bedroom window at night. He's probably taking his supper, at this time of the night.

In fact, we have seen him several times in one week. Until one unfortunate day, we found him in broad daylight (something is very wrong to find a hedgehog out in the open in the day). So we approached him to check if he's ok. He didn't move when we tried to catch his attention with a broomstick. So my husband went out to him, only to find him injured and bled to death. Poor guy.

We don't know what happened to him. Perhaps he got himself caught in some hazardous objects usually found in cities. We live near the countryside but not quite there yet. So it's not really a hedgehog-friendly place for him.

I later read up about how to make our environment safe for these little garden-friendly creatures. Some tips and advices are found on this site and I hope that those who can and who have a garden, contribute to the preservation of hedgehogs.

Forest gems

This summer, we have a better weather compared to last year's. Despite that, we stayed back in our region most of the season as we are only taking our long holiday at the beginning of autumn (as it's less crowded and less expensive to make holidays when everyone returns to work).

We are fortunate to live near one of the preserved forests in our region. On some lazy weekend afternoons, to avoid direct heat and stuffiness in the city, we like to take some fresh air in the forest. As it is protected, its natural habitants live freely and safely. We even managed to spot a rarity in the forest - wild stawberries.

Wild strawberries found in the forest near Port Royal. It's very small compared to our usual strawberries. However, it is very fragrant and sweet.

Colourful butterfly

Blackberries

BRIGANDVILLE- our kind of place

We all have some favorite places where we like to go from time to time.
Bringandville is one of these places, a cute restaurant located in a small village near home, in the regional park of “Vallée de Chevreuse”.

This review will be in French, as it’s probably more useful for our friends in France.

J’ai découvert ce petit restaurant il y a quelques années et Meng-Sun a également été immédiatement séduite.

Par le cadre, tout d’abord, une maison ancienne, au cœur du village de Rochefort en Yvelines, niché dans le parc régional de la Haute vallée de Chevreuse.
La salle est décorée de créations d’un artiste local (miroirs en mosaïque, lampes), qu’il est possible d’acheter. Elle est très agréable et chaleureuse, particulièrement l’hiver.
Pour l’été, les tables sont dressées dans le jardin ombragé, au milieu des fleurs, au pied de l’église du XIème Siècle.

L’accueil, ensuite, presque familial, est également très sympathique et participe à l’ambiance détendue qui rend cet endroit attachant.
La carte, enfin, si elle n’est pas très fournie en quantité, recèle des trésors gustatifs.
Un seul menu présentant 5 entrées, 5 plats et 5 desserts, qui évoluent au gré des saisons et de l’humeur du chef, à l’exception d’un plat, spécialité de la maison, le poulet « saint pierre », inamovible.
Il s’agit d’un poulet gratiné, à la crème et aux champignons, servi avec du riz.
Pour le reste, les mots d’ordre sont créativité et découverte de nombreux mariage de saveurs.
Nous y avons, par exemple, dégusté une soupe de melon à la cannelle et copeaux de jambon de Parme, un Loup de mer à l’huile d’olive sur lit de fenouil et oignons braisés, servi avec un flan de chou-fleur et un cake de légumes, ou un tajine d’agneau aux herbes.
Quand aux desserts, on y trouve aussi bien un classique fondant au chocolat qu’un crumble aux pêches, des sorbets divers ou un clafoutis d’ananas.

Et qu’il est bon, après le repas, de flâner dans le vieux village ou dans la forêt voisine.
Nous y revenons donc régulièrement avec plaisir, en sachant que nous y passerons à chaque fois un bon moment, à deux ou entre amis.

Brigandville
1 Rue Eglise78730 ROCHEFORT EN YVELINES Tél. : 0130414831

The French Paradox

Among the questions which the natives of my adoptive country pose to me, this is interesting and yet most delicate to answer. What do I think of the French?

For a start, they are paradoxical.

Camping (the movie)

At first impression, they are to me, creative and open-minded. On the contrary, there is also a portion of the population that is stubborn and fermé. Not long ago, the French people only started to travel out of France. They are at least 2 generations behind in terms of travelling and having international exposures. I have not many acquaintances here, and out of 30 people that I know, 4 are afraid of taking the plane. That makes 13.33% in statistics by simple population sampling. There is even one of them who have never been out of France….ever.

My grandparents emigrated from China to Malaysia in the early 20^th century. Even after they have settled down in Malaysia, I remember that my grandmother travelled occasionally to China and the neighbouring countries in Asia for holiday. My grandmother is not any different from an average south-east Asian. However, it is not a norm in France. That’s what I meant by the 2-generations analogy. We just beginning to see my French peers tipping the statistics; being savvy travellers, discovering countries that offer something other than Alps, lavender, cheese, and Renaissance.

I like the movie Camping. It’s about regular holiday-makers who spend their summer religiously in the same camping ground year after year. The funniest line I have heard from the film is when an unusual face who stumbled upon the camping park, asked the regular guests: “why don’t you just buy a holiday home here since you like the place and come here every year?” The answer was: “we like moving about with the camping car to see different places”. Ironic, isn’t it? The answer was absolutely logical. But what about the part on “seeing different places”?

Camping is a microscopic analogy of what was mentioned in the earlier paragraphs. I don’t deny that French people travel a lot. But, I mean yes, they do travel a lot around France. Yes, France the same giant camping park. 

David Guetta & Croquettes

What is the difference between David Guetta and Croquettes? Guetta is French and the croquette (even au fromage) is foreign. And what is common between the two then? Both are new ideas and not easily acceptable in France. House music is now beginning to get the attention in Paris, however I think we are about 10 years late in accepting new music. This is an analogy that I like to use to illustrate that new (and foreign) things are not easily acceptable in France. Furthermore, something French (e.g. Guetta) may not be readily acceptable by the average French. By the way, the famous DJ has nothing to do with croquettes. A comparison is made just to amplify the point.

We are about 10 years behind in appreciating foreign cuisine. I remember when I was in England between 1995 and 1998, sushi and Japanese udon (noodles) were beginning to be popular in London. Yet, many Parisians today have never frequented a sushi bar.

The Forefathers

So how did we have in the same population, the “camping people” and the sorts who spearheaded the high-speed train, philosophy and haute couture? Who are the ancestors who discovered that frog’s legs can be a delicious dish? I’m certainly awed by the geniuses who founded Renaissance and the European Union.

I adore the country and am trying to learn more about the people (is there anything else hidden that I don’t know about them?). For one thing that I hope is that the French people continue to be “so French” and for more of them to look beyond the camping park. As your forefathers have proved that you can be marvelous, I’m convinced that not all French people are camping people.

Cat on a tree

Here’s another episode inspired by the stray (but cute) cats in the neighbourhood. I bet this would please our friend’s 4-year-old son, Jordan, as he was absolutely fascinated by the Sly and Tweety story a few weeks ago.

 

One night while we were reading on the bed to help us doze off, we heard a sudden cry outside our window. It was a cat’s “scream”, a very angry one. Out of curiosity, we opened the volet to see what was happening. We were surprised to see no cat on the grass or anywhere nearby. Then we heard a noise coming from the tree just in front of our window. Up there, we spotted a cat! I have never seen a cat up on a tree before (as I have always lived in cities). I often hear about the firemen in the countryside rescuing silly cats who managed to climb up a tree but not having the courage to come down.

 

It seems that our neighbourhood’s cats are pretty courageous and savage. They roam about, climb the trees and hunt the birds freely in our compound. The next day, I checked the tree again and was relieved that he wasn’t there anymore.