Month: March 2024

Faith at Assisi, a bit of hope

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Europe, Trips and travel2 Comments

Last Monday we returned to Assisi. We went down the stairs in the Basilica of Saint Francis to the chapel of his tomb. Two priests were there, quietly available, they handed out prayer slips to those who wanted to submit a prayer, or they just acknowledged your presence with an encouraging nod. I sat in a pew midway back and pondered what I saw. As I sat there, other people came in and also sat quietly, some with heads bowed, some looking at the sarcophagus where St Francis laid.

No one seemed to care about theology nor denomination, no one cared about politics, no one cared about Protestant or Roman Catholicism. This was just a place for each person to feel and express their faith and to seek some comfort or a bit of hope in their lives.

What I realize, is that for most of Christianity’s history, most followers just expressed their faith, seeking grace, mercy, and hope. Their leaders may have been corrupt. The scholars debated non-essential questions of theology, and sadly, the politically inclined used the church for their own objectives. But the person in the pew recited the Our Father, said a rosary, verbalized their faith through the Creed, and tried to live life as best they could.

Jesus prayed for unity, while Paul feared that wolves would come in to distort and divide the church. True to his fears the church has a history of division, distortion, and even evil. Yet through it all the faithful have continued to express their faith.

The Apostles left us documents to refer to, the early councils combined the essentials of the faith into easily memorable creeds, churches displayed icons and cut-glass images to teach and remind us of the Biblical stories, and a liturgy was developed that repeated the heart of the Gospel week after week.

Each week the liturgy proclaimed “the Lord’s death until he comes.” Even corrupt clergy proclaimed the message each week as they recited the liturgy of the Mass, and the faithful responded. Paul said in Philippians that some preach out of selfishness, even with a desire to do damage, yet he was thankful that even then Jesus was proclaimed.

Jesus said that the gates of death would not prevail against the church, and for centuries people have distorted the message and attacked the church, still, this week, there were people sitting in a basilica expressing their faith. The human-tainted side of the church may be a sad demonstration of the selfishness of humanity, yet the hearts of many common people, the kind of people that Jesus has always sought, still express their faith.

We have visited so many cathedrals, basilicas, and churches during our travels. Fortunately here in Europe the doors are often open so we can go in. The architecture is amazing and there is wonderful art. Some are magnificent places like Chartres or Assisi, some quite simple like the Église Notre-Dame-sur-l’Eau in Domfront, yet each draws people to sit for a bit and take it in, I call that faith, and it gives me hope.

Michelin, more than tires

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink, Restaurants, Trips and travel6 Comments

Yesterday we returned to Assisi to visit the Basilica of St. Francis. The weather had changed from sunny Sunday to Normandie rain. We parked at the end of the city near the Basilica, which we discovered was the end with few restaurants. Lunch being a higher priority at the moment, we searched for food. We did pass a couple of places with groups of people standing outside eating some pizza or something, but that is not our idea of a good lunch, bien sur.

After climbing up some long flights of stairs, our app said eight flights, I saw a restaurant sign on a wall – Il Frantoio. Tired of walking, we decided it was perfect, without knowing anything about it at all. To our pleasant surprise we had stumbled upon a Michelin listed place, a sure sign of good dining. Here is the photo Tricia took from the main entrance, we entered from the other side so had not even looked at the menu until we were seated at our table.

Most have heard of Michelin restaurants and stars, here is a bit of the background. If you are an auto racing fan, or even just a drivers that appreciates quality you know that Michelin is first and foremost a tire manufacturer. To increase tire sales they produced a driving guide in 1900, correctly calculating that if people drove more and longer distances they would wear out their tires and need new ones. The guide listed hotels and places to eat all over France.

Just being included in the guide was an endorsement, this was long before Yelp or Google Map comments. Eventually they began to evaluate restaurants giving a star to those deemed most worth, the system developed into 1, 2, or 3 stars.

  • 1 Star: “A very good restaurant in its category.”
  • 2 Stars: “Excellent cooking, worth a detour.”
  • 3 Stars: “Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”

Il Frantoio does not have a star, but it must be close. We had an amazing experience. The first thing they brought was what the chef called a “welcome plate.”

Well it was actually four plates. In the distance, to the left of the bread, were two red potato chips, thin and hollow in the center with two different mayonnaise drops on top. There was a mini-taco, and a red pepper crème brule.

For our entree we asked to share scallops. No bringing the dish with two forks here, nope, the chef split it between two plates for us.

For Mains Tricia had gnocchi, I had pigeon.

We were going to pass on dessert but a cocktail on the menu was just to interesting for me to pass up – and I am not a big cocktail fan.

It had Cointreau, lemon sour, olive oil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar, and one egg white. I had never heard of olive oil in a beverage so was interested. It was beyond good, not overly sweet, a hidden taste of the oil, with a texture that was silky smooth – perfect desert. It was actually invented by our server, which was a nice touch.

Thanks to being in Italy, as opposed to expensive Geneve, it was not a terribly expensive meal, less than we thought it would be when we first realized we had settled in to a Michelin listed place.

After a satisfying meal we visited the Basilica, a bit of food for the soul made the day complete.

La cuisine chez nous, II

On By Terry ChristophersonIn cooking, Food and drink4 Comments

Started my day a bit off, but then, on the way to the Intermarché, Tricia reminded me that she was making pasta for lunch, it completely brightened my day; food is so important to us and our frame of mind. So now, thoroughly rejuvenated, I am writing while she is creating one of the best comfort foods in my life. I know we will be in Italy in eleven days – after stops in Paris, Lyon, and Geneva – yet her pasta is what has my attention today.

These last few weeks in Normandie we have eaten well, see my blog “La cuisine chez nous”. Since that post I wanted to report on the state of la cuisine chez nous.

We have gone out to Le Bistrot St Julien, it remains our favorite in the area. We also went to Auberge de la Source, another of the places we like, in fact it seems we rarely go anyplace else. The entree, a basted egg in a camembert sauce with bits of andoulette, was stunning.

We have both admitted that when we are home we would rather eat at Chez Nous, and eat we did. Tricia did the shepherd’s pie that I wrote about on my last post, since then she has posted the recipe, give it a try. For a Sunday lunch I made compte gougères for and entree, then Mushroom Bourgogne with polenta for the mains.

One of my other contributions was broccoli and compte on puff pastry. This one is defiantly a do again, unless of course our friend Dave is near, he calls broccoli “sticks of death”, not his favorite veggie.

Tricia followed this with another of the comfort foods she does so well, sole meuniere. She has never posted the recipe but since it is a classic French dish you can certainly find it with an online search. It is one of those dishes that can seem intimidating, but there are simple versions. The caper sauce is what makes the dish, so rice pilaf was the perfect accompaniment.

Saturday I made crab cakes for the main,

Yesterday for Sunday lunch Tricia made salmon chowder which I had with spicy coleslaw. I made parmesan shortbreads for the entree- the only entree easier than the compte gougères which I made earlier. Someday I must post the recipe as they are always a hit with guests, and easy to take when visiting. To complete the meal I made Parmesan toasts, and a roquefort salad.

When I started writing Tricia was making pasta. Most often our pastas are vegetarian, Tricia loves a lot of veggies, thankfully I do as well. We cook some pretty hardy meals with vegetables, nothing wimpy about them at all. Here is the finished dish.

So it has been a good few weeks here in Torchamp, we head out on Thursday for the train in Flers which will take us to Paris and then onward. Lots of trains on this trip, one through the alps between Geneva and Milan that I am particularly looking forward to.

We are grateful that we live in a place where travel is easy and much more affordable than in the US. Yet we have always traveled, even just day trips driving around the Pacific Northwest, or here in Normandie. The important thing for aging joints and healthy attitudes is to keep moving, I even read just this morning that moving reduces the chance of dementia. Some days I can’t remember much of anything, so we need to keep moving, and we will.

I hope your journeys are a joy, short or long. And look for good food along the way.