trot trot to normandy.

You thought I was JUST going to write about my day trip to Normandy and not include my latest food creation didn't you? Tant pis. Before I gush about Normandy and the amazing horse festival I went to today, let me just talk about the latest dinner club creation. I have to give complete kudos to Caely (as per usual) and I think the photos will speak for themselves. Wednesday night dinner consisted of mashed cauliflower, fresh market sausage, roasted tomatoes stuffed with basil pesto and a salad. I'm pretty sure the three of us were prepared to lick our plates at the end. Who knew cauliflower would be so delicious roasted and mashed with butter? I guess that is a rhetorical question ... 

Ok so today, Saturday the 15th, means I have officially been in Rennes for one month. It is seriously amazing how time flies. While it has quickly turned to Fall, today the sun came out and made for an absolutely beautiful day. A colleague of mine, Lise, who is a philosophy teacher at the lycée took me horseback riding a couple of times last year and this year we decided to venture to Normandy for the day to participate in Equidays. The best way I can describe it is a sort of horse festival for about 10 days in Normandy where barns and breeders open their gates (literally) to the public. Lise and I had the opportunity to go to a small town outside of Bayeaux, close to Omaha Beach, and visit France's largest haras - or stud farm. A stud farm is basically a farm for an extremely selective breeding process for race  and show horses. We took a two hour tour of the farm walking over 10 kilometers. The farm was only open to the public on this specific day to those who reserved a spot. There were about 35 of us that oo-ed and aw-ed our way through the fields and stables led by our guide, Christophe. It is hard to refer to Haras d'Etreham as a farm, it was more like a perfectly manicured estate with amazing views and beautiful horses. You can learn more here: http://www.etreham.com/

entrance to the "farm."

our guide, christophe, explaining a bit of the history of the "farm." 

first barn which was actually an american style barn.

stables.

this is lise looking at what i would describe as a merry-go-round for
horses. here they are trained to work by following fast paced gates in
a circle. christophe let the young kids run around in it for a while which
i think every parent was thankful for.

path to the stables.

home to the poulins - or fouls.

one of their newest fouls - only six months!

a couple of babies decided to come say hello.

this is the stable where the stallions lived. they were absolutely
stunning.this particular étalon is named poliglote and can be bred with a
mare for 6, 000 euros. the stallions ranged from
3,000 - 15,000 euros just to be bred.

isn't he absolutely beautiful? 

it sounded a bit like a high end male prostitution ring. you can find
out more information about poliglote here.

everyone wanted a turn. 

one of the stallions popping out to say coucou,

and of course we finished with a little coup de champagne.

this was the inside of the structure where the mares and stallions
are held to mate. interesting choice of location for a toast ...

and we finished the day with a late lunch in the soleil in bayeaux. delish.