Elections Round 2

The Valley News has my latest reaction to the recent regional elections in France. How about in the New Year we discuss lighter stuff again? Sounds good. Meantime, thanks for reading and enjoy the holidays.

Daube of Wild Boar

Two views of the whole shoulder

While I know everyone wants to know my thoughts on the second round of elections...patience is required. Should have something by the end of the weekend. You can read my reaction after the first-round here. And then judge the wisdom and accuracy of my observations.

When you get a phone call asking if you want a shoulder of wild boar, do you really have a choice? The answer pretty much has to be "yes," right? Even when your friend says it is the shoulder that took the bullet. Even when he says it weighs about seven pounds. Even when you've never butchered something that big before. Even when you've never cooked wild boar (though you have eaten it). It just has to be yes.

Soulagée, la France?

Les Champs Elysées vus de la grande roue place de la Concorde

Ce weekend, à Paris, la une de Marianne figurait dans tous les kiosks de presse de la capitale. Il paraît que la belle photo de Mme Le Pen dans les vêtements présidentielles a fait suffisamment peur aux français qu'ils ont voté pour "pas ça" lors du deuxième tour régional. 

Elections Part 1

The reaction to Sunday's first round of regional voting in Burgundy has not been terribly surprising. In the wake of record success for the Front National (FN, or National Front for English speakers), a few thoughts are on the tip of every tongue.

1. "C'est un sanction." This mean, essentially, that the vote for the extreme right was more than anything a rebuke of the politicians already in power, namely the Socialists led by President Hollande, and those who have recently been there, namely former President Nicolas Sarkozy. (As an aside, it is wildly amusing to watch a former president actively campaign against the man who defeated him. With a nation of more than 60 million citizens united behind one single idea -- it's time for big changes in France -- it is hard to envision going back to a president you voted out of office. In U.S. terms, imagine George H.W. Bush running for president against President Clinton in 1996 or Jimmy Carter running against President Reagan in 1984. Defeated presidents generally don't get another shot in American political life, except for good ol' Grover.) One man said, "This vote is, more than anything else, a vote to emmerder [piss off; annoy] the politicians." 
2. "It was predictable." There is unanimity that voters were moving more and more in the direction of the extreme right. This is stated as pure fact, devoid of emotion.
3. "I'm still not sure the politicians got the message." Burgundians are pretty well convinced that politicians are a, well, less than honorable lot. They are also persuaded that this vote -- on the heels of many others that showed increased support for the FN -- did not really get the attention of the men and women in the other parties. They are probably right. I am not hearing a lot of "The people have spoken, and we need to listen to what they said and make sure that our priorities are their priorities." I am hearing a lot of debate and anguish about whether to fuse lists or join forces with other moderate parties to stop the FN. It feels like a knee-jerk, tone-deaf, save-my-political-skin reaction. Another voter told a reporter, "We're trying something we haven't tried yet. Every election it's the same thing: right and left fight, but everything stays the same."
4. "The people who sat out the first round of voting will show up to vote the second round now that they've seen the results." Everyone has posited this idea with me. Is there any greater prayer than "the apathetic will finally motivate"? I am not holding my breath. If the farmer in my village, the winemaker in Gevrey-Chambertin, the baker in Beaune, or the restaurateur in Dijon sat out the first round of voting because they were either a) disgusted with politics (99% of the population) or b) preoccupied with their own lives and obligations, why on earth would a second round of voting motivate them to go to the polls? Maybe I am wrong, maybe not...we'll see. My bet is that absenteeism, which was 50% in the first round, will be right around 45% for the second round. (Five years ago, participation went up a few percentage points for the second round.) That could make a difference, but we'll see...

But make no mistake, people are nervous, unsettled, and a little bit scared by these results. Some are more subtle in their appraisals, some are more direct. The female mayor of one small town in Burgundy opened her window on Monday morning and yelled to the reporters gathered outside, "If you're here about the elections, my only reaction is, 'Merde, I'm ashamed!'" (Side note: I love that they print curse words in the newspaper here.)

She is far from alone. And reactions like hers are getting a lot of attention here. There are also a lot of people saying things like a woman in the local paper: "It's important to vote, but one needs to reflect ahead of time. You can't just vote for anyone." In the next breath, she says,  "If this doesn't work, we'll vote differently next time." Is she an FN voter? I cannot say, but she understands why people are voting that way. 

But how much longer can it be before we start seeing testimonials from people who voted FN and are proud to have done so? Because for now, outward support for the positions of the FN is still rare. When it becomes commonplace, I wonder about France's future.

Merci

Note: An English version is below the French one.

J'allais vous parler encore de la nouvelle vie en France après le 13 novembre, mais, vu la date, j'ai changé d'avis. Aujourd'hui, aux States, c'est la fête nationale préférée des gens: Thanksgiving. C'est ce jeudi que l'on se met au tour de la table avec des amis et de la famille pour dîner ensemble et pour dire "merci" pour les bonnes choses dans la vie. La star de la fête, c'est la dinde. Ce soir, chez nous en Bourgogne, nous allons faire un poulet avec "stuffing" (cubes de pain trempés dans le bouillon de poulet avec des carrottes, des branches de céleri, des onions, le tout rôti avec le poulet), de la sauce canneberge, la purée de pommes de terre, et des petits pois. Ça va être sympa.

Et pourquoi pas vous remercier au même temps? I am thankful. Je suis reconnaissant. Pour...

• l'accueil que ma famille a reçu depuis notre arrivée en Bourgogne en 2013
• la vraie amitié que nous avons trouvé ici
• la générosité des bourguignons. Vous nous avez invités chez vous pour les anniversaires, pour les repas de famille, pour les repas du quartier, pour l'apéro, pour les gaufres, pour nous montrer votre savoir-faire (les terrines, la chasse, la vinification, le chocolat, etc.). Vous nous avez logés quand on a eu un petit souci avec notre logement. 
• la chance de parler de la vie américaine à l'antenne de France Bleu Bourgogne et d'écrire des articles pour le Bien Public
• les compliments pour notre français (reste du chemin à faire!)
• le patrimoine français
• les gens qui lisent ce que j'écris ici et ailleurs
• et, bien sur, pour la gastronomie et les vins de Bourgogne!

C'est impossible pour nous de savoir combien de temps nous allons rester parmi vous. Quoiqu'il arrive, merci pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour nous. Comme on dit souvent à la radio, "on est bien ensemble."

I'm thankful for this guy.

Ah, Thursday. At least that is what it feels like here. Our children are both at school, the woman in the local cafe had no idea what Thanksgiving was, and I still have never seen a whole turkey for sale anywhere in France. (This doesn't mean I don't have a full fridge today; there is a 7 pound wild boar shoulder waiting to be butchered in there. Stay tuned...)

Nonetheless, distance and language cannot keep me from thinking of everyone in the US. And, of course, how obvious it is that the Cowboys are about to ruin Carolina's perfect season.

Naturally, I pause on this day to be thankful for...

• Family and friends
• Health
• The extraordinary good fortune we have to be American. No matter the messes in the world, it is still a blessing -- everyday -- to be from the USA. 
• The ability to see and live beyond my own borders, outside my comfort zone. 
• The people of Burgundy who have welcomed me and my family with such incredible generosity. Consider this brief list: they have invited us into their homes for family meals and birthday parties. They have let us mourn with them, both in reaction to recent events but also to other sad moments in their own personal lives. They have given us an entire house for seven weeks while we had a brief interruption in our housing situation. They have taken us hunting, walking, snail-gathering. They have shown us how to make terrines, chocolate, wine, and waffles. They have helped us immeasurably with our French. They have shown us secret spots that no one else knows about. They have given us entire shoulders of wild boar (stay tuned!). They have helped us with our vegetable garden. They have babysat for us in a pinch. They have given us work, advice, friendship, guidance, and uncountable memories. They have taught us how and when to give les bises. They have paid us housecalls when our kids are sick. They have taught us how to make regional specialties. They have interviewed me. They have translated some of the writing you read here into their own tongue. They have allowed us to enter -- and win -- cooking contests. They have divulged their secret recipes for parsley butter for snails. They have left leeks, cucumbers, and carrots on our doorstep. They have let me write articles in French for the local paper and invited me on the radio. And more than one of them has said to us, "You're like family."

It was a crazy decision to move here, and we will have to deal with all the challenges of pausing our careers in our prime, our new financial reality, our American homelessness when and if we return home. But for now, on this day, that list of experiences makes whatever comes next worthwhile.

Peace to all of you on this day. I'll pretend that someone is actually reading...please stop! Fix yourself a drink, eat a lot, and watch football.

The Road Ahead

I read this New York Times story and, well, um, kinda what I was saying in my piece in Saturday's Valley News. 

I recognize how important security is right now. It is the number one priority of every politician in France, Europe, the US, and beyond. But watching the French people quickly issue their stamp of approval to their government's swift actions only to begin scratching their heads a few days later is déjà vu. 

Shall We Lighten Up a Bit? We Shall.

Second snowfall of the year

For better or worse, I have added my voice to the conversation about how France is coping with the attacks in Paris. You can see my latest Valley News article here. But today, let's talk lunch. I laughed uncontrollably at the panic surrounding Matt Lauer's turkey adventure. (I am really scared that this information made it to me in rural Burgundy.) I have talked about the French's slightly different approach to public health codes. I thought about it this afternoon while I was making a pork roast with mushroom sauce.