A. Fain Books

Happy Birthday to Me: Part 1

Annie Fain — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:01:42 +0000

As some of you know, and some of you don’t, I had my 30th birthday last week. I received many a “Happy Birthday” email, which tickled me pink. These next couple of blog entries are in response to the frequent requests to know “What did you do for your birthday in France? Tell me all about it.”

Well…Once upon a time, there was this girl named Annie Fain. She had two wonderful hosts who serenaded her in both English and French on the morning of her birthday.

…and took her out for a birthday lunch at one of their favorite restaurants called Frenchy-Wok Grill.

It was there that she experienced her first glass of kir (Champagne with a little bit of black currant liquor) and a French-Chinese Buffet. What a combination eh?

…then to an island on a boat. It was pretty cold and windy so they had the entire island to themselves.

After wandering for a while they needed a break, but not just any break; a chocolate break!

Then home for a nap and Crepes (imagine an accent mark over the first “e” of “crepe”). Joelle and Daniel showed Annie Fain the tastiest way to eat a crepe: smear it with fromage blanc, sprinkle it with sugar and then squeeze fresh lemon juice on top. Mmm…

The day ended with a Bal Folk dance in town. Since it was Annie Fain’s 4th time going to the dance association with Joelle and Daniel she felt really comfortable finding a dance partner, jumping into dances she didn’t know, attempting to speak French (by now they all knew her as “the American girl” and were very, very friendly and patient about speaking with her) and playing my banjo with Lou Strings. A very nice day indeed!

Stay Tuned for Part 2: A Weekend in Nice

*NOTE: For those of you who receive these entries via email and were confused by the blank spaces in the last post, those spaces were where I had included video clips. If you are interested in checking out those videos go to: http://afainbooks.com/blog/ and got to the previous post called “Bal Folk.”

Bal Folk

Annie Fain — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:05:09 +0000

Bal Folk is the name for a traditional French dance gathering, often with live music. The first time I met Joelle and Daniel was at a Bal Folk while I was still in Paris. My then host, Dale, was brave and came with me though I’m not sure if he realized that we’d be whisked into a dance within the first ten minutes of arriving.

Joelle and Daniel are great teachers and I’ve already learned many traditional dances done in sets, circles and as a couple. The dances come from all over France and tunes come from all over Europe.

My favorite so far is the Mazurka! It’s done with a partner to 3/4 time, but rather than dancing the waltz step (1,2,3) the pattern is: 1-2 lift, 1-2-3, 1-2 lift (which is now on the opposite foot from the last time you did a 1-2 lift), 1-2-3. It’s brain-stretcher that’s for sure. I’ll try to get you a video of it soon, but for now here is Lou Strings playing a Mazurka.

Typical instruments found playing traditional French music include the fiddle, hurdy gurdy, accordion, recorder and even fife and tabor. However, Joelle and Daniel’s group, Lou Strings, is made up of guitar, banjo-guitar, hurdy gurdy and a drummer. Joelle also adds her own flare by wearing Moroccan raddles on her ankles and tapping a tambourine with her foot while she plays. In the following clip they let me play too!

Traditional music and dance are a big part of Joelle and Daniel’s lives (making us a perfect match!). They are very disciplined about practicing regularly at home. They are the president and secretary of their dance association and can often be found playing, dancing or organizing dance gatherings for both adults and children.

To hear more by Lou Strings check out their myspace page.

Food Glorious Food

Annie Fain — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:18:55 +0000

Joelle and Daniel’s Paradise

Annie Fain — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:50:45 +0000

As promised, here’s the outside of Joelle and Daniel’s house. I know it looks all sun-shiny and warm, but it’s still pretty cold. Which is a bummer since they have a lovely, lovely swimming pool (the cover of which you can see in the last picture).

Headed South

Annie Fain — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:28:37 +0000

I left Paris last Thursday morning. My new hosts, Joelle and Daniel, picked me up at 7:30 am at a beautiful fountain near Thom and Dale’s apartment. Joelle stood by the fountain in the snow with a fur hat on, about 3 layers of thick sweaters and a coat, and playing the harmonica. I thought to myself, “These are my kind of people!” I realized early in our 8 hour ride from Paris to a small town on the southeast coast (that’s the Mediterranean sea ya’ll!) that they were incredibly friendly, lively, generous and fun.

The trip was lovely. We stopped at a cafe/gas station for a croissant and coffee just outside of Paris, had a very tasty and colorful pick nick in the car (even potato chips taste better here!), took naps and traded lots of French and English. It was the beginning of learning tride-and-true French from tride-and-true French people. (I remain both excited about and daughnted by the long process of learning French. )

Here’s one my cafe drawings I added color to during the car ride. Apparently drawing food is my new favorite thing.

We arrived after dark, had a quick dinner and ran off to a Bal Folk Dance at the cultural center in their small town. (Joelle and Daniel are the ones in the back center of the picture wearing navy shirts and blue jeans. They are great dancers)

And this is what I saw when I woke up the next morning!!!!

Wait til you see the outside! To be continued tomorrow…

Happy Valentines Day!

Annie Fain — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:09:13 +0000

Mmmmm….These valentine’s desserts really did taste as good as they looked (I’m sure that’s hard to believe). They have Valentines day in France too, though it’s not even 100th of a percent as commercialized as in America.

I had a great time in Paris and as the last days of my visit arrived a couple of things happened:

IT SNOWED!…but not just any snow. Instead of individually floating flakes they looked like teeny-tiny-eentsy-weentsy snow balls.

WE WENT TO MONMATRE…
Apparently the place to buy fabric (le tissu) is in Monmatre. There were fabric shops a plenty packed with people a plenty. My favorite shop was Reine Tissus (Fabric Queen). I was mightily impressed my the small mannequins with small hand-sewn dresses and coats made proportionately to fit them, like large doll clothes (this might only be impressive to you sewers out there). AND don’t forget, Monmatre is also where Amelie was set and filmed (though on a warmer day I’m sure).

AND THE SACRE COEUR…
It’s a couple hundred steps up the big ol’ hill to get the the Sacre Coeur, but it’s worth the very nice view of Paris once you get to the top.

AND, OF COURSE, A CUP OF ESPRESSO…
Thom and I were getting pretty frozen by then, so we were excited about a warm something to drink. We were amazed by our waiter who spoke to us in English, to the table on our left in French and to the table on our right in Italian!

A Walk to Arc de Triomphe

Annie Fain — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:47:08 +0000

It took about 3 hrs to walk (briskly!) from Ile St. Louis, past the Louvre, up the Champs Elysees and to the Arc de Triumphe and back again. It was gray and pretty cold, but totally worth it. I wasn’t the only one out either. Paris is clearly a constant tourist attraction no matter the season. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to be here considering.

A French Lesson

Annie Fain — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:44:10 +0000

I’m fully aware that, like learning to play the fiddle, really learning a language is a life long process. I don’t expect to master french in the next half year, but since a person has no choice but to start exactly where they are, here goes…(keep in mind my keyboard doesn’t include french accent marks)

UNE BAGUETTE: stick, rod, batton, loaf of French Bread

baguette de tambour: drum sticks
baguette magique: magic wand
baguettes (pl.): chopsticks

LE CANICHE FRANCAIS

These are the two French poodles, Maggie and Mushka, I’ve been living with the last week (and their owners too of course). They are really fun and a great hit with tourists. This is the day we picked up Mushka from a six hour grooming session. I wish I’d taken a before and after picture. He was amazingly metamorphosized and I’d say quite proud of his new look.

Here’s Thom on the bridge to Notre Dame getting attention from one of the kabillions of tourists that took pictures of him and his cutie-pie dogs. It was like being a celebrity. Thom handled it so well, he made it fun rather than annoying. Ok, back to the french lesson…

UNE TRES PETITE VOITURE

I’ve been offered a ride south with my next hosts which is so generous. I’m a little worried about getting claustrophobic in a small car for an 8-10hr car ride (or tour de voiture, shall we say). Though if they are going to fit themselves, an accordion, 2 banjos, my bag and myself their car it is surely larger than this one….ah!

LE CYGNE

To be found at the bottom of a ramp to the Seine near my host’s apartment. They are such a bright white in contrast to the gray February sky.

Ahhh…Paris!

Annie Fain — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:11:27 +0000

Ok everybody. Here we go. Entry #1 of “Oh my gosh, Annie Fain’s actually in France” blog entries. Though I normally keep blogging mostly art/business related the next succession of entries will have a more personal slant because I’m far, far from home and can’t help myself. After all, it is a great way for a non-facebooker like myself to “tell stories with pictures” right?

Yes, I’m finally and officially here in France (still getting used to the idea). I’ll skip the travel details, because clearly I made it here well enough and head straight to one of the most important topics of our lives….FOOD!

Hey! Everybody whose anybody is doing it, especially the French. Thom, one of my two incredibly sweet and generous hosts, took me out my first night here to exactly the type of little restaurant you are imagining in your head right now. It was lovely! (Remember, my intention is to share, not to make you jealous.)

We sat at a little table literally squeezed between a railing and the front window (from which to better watch the tall, slender, perfectly dressed, young Parisian men smoke their cigarettes out on the street…this particular stereotype is so completely true).

We started with Fois Gras, of course. I really liked that it was served with fig jam and a little pile of crunchy seasalt.

…accompanied with a sip of red wine, of course.

After a main course of Coq au Vin, which Julia child went on about in her book My Life in France, we had Creme Brulee, (once again) of course.

Full and pink-cheeked we closed the evening out with a saunter by the Seine on Il St. Louis (which is smack dab in the middle of Paris and where my hosts have an apartment) with Notre Dame in the background. Wow!

Here’s my first journal entry using the mini-watercolor set that my friend Melissa gave me. All I could think to draw was that wonderful meal. I know that are many more such meals in my future, but the first will always be special.

YARN CIRCLE

Annie Fain — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:19:57 +0000

If you ever happen to find yourself in the Peachtree community, just outside of Murphy, North Carolina, and you see a sign that has a humorous looking sheep (his name is Maurice in case you were curious) balancing precariously on an unraveling ball of yarn you should definitely pop in. Even if you are not a fiber and color addict you will be offered a cup of tea and, hey, they might even be having an old-time music jam session. You never know what they’re up to at Yarn Circle.

I should let know here and now that I am somewhat biased about how wonderful Yarn Circle is. Truth be told, it’s a shop run by my parents and some friends of theirs. I think it’s just great!

They have what they call “The wall of color” from which you can select from an incredible array of yarns.

It doesn’t stop with yarns, needles, looms, spinning wheels and felting supplies. They also have awesome hand puppets and even a few of my handmade books.

My dear mother, Martha Owen, has been a professional knitter, spinner, natural dyer and sheep raiser for the past 30 years. She purchased her first sheep the year I was born. Her name was MawMaw (tee hee) and she lived until I was 17, a pretty long time for a sheep eh?

Here is some of Mom’s work: (She teaches regularly at the John C. Campbell Folkschool if you want to learn how to do this yourself.)

And finally, a picture of herself wearing a hand-knit, Fair Isle sweater from her travels: