As promised, here is the video of the Flag Thowers at the Italian Festival in Bourget. The tradition goes back centuries and originates in Siena, Italy. While I call them Italian Flag Throwers, I actually don’t know if they were Italian or French. It’s possible that there is a French Association here that teaches the tradition and performs around France. We are near the Italian border so it’s hard to know exactly where they are from. Either way, they were fantastic to watch. While I’ve seen flag throwing before in Italy, I have never seen the ‘foot work’ of these talented young men.

If you read my blog regularly you know I’m a lover of Italy and all things Italian, so when an Italian Festival came to our area, I made a point of going. It was held at the small town of Bourget, which sits on the Bourget Lake, about 30 minutes from Chambery.  I took two videos of the event. This one is an overview video showing the yummy food and wine they were selling as well as some of the entertainment and demonstrations.  The next video will show you the amazing talents of the Flag Throwers.

Here’s a recipe from my new cookbook, French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps. Buy it here on my site or on my French Comfort Food site: www.frenchcomfortfood.com .

This is a classic French recipe which I ‘Savoyardized’ with local products. But if you can’t find the Savoie ingredients where you are, I gave you alternatives.
Ingredients for 4 – 6 persons:
- 1 pastry shell, homemade or store bought, or made from a pie sheet from your grocery’s refrigeration or freezer sections
- 1 cup of Savoie lardons (as seen in the video) or 10 slices of cooked, crumbled bacon
- 1/3 cup minced onion
- 5 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups of light cream (or half n half)
- 1 cup of shredded Beaufort or Gruyere cheese
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon of smoked paprika or cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
If you’re using bacon, cook it in a frying pan until fully cooked. Pat the grease off with paper towels, and once cooled, crumble it. If you’re using lardons, you will also need to fry it until cooked and drain off the grease.
In a mixing bowl, stir or whisk together the eggs, bacon, cheese, onion, cream, salt, sugar and paprika or pepper (all ingredients). Pour the mixture into the pastry shell.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes in the oven, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes, slice and serve.

For conversions from U.S. measurements to the Metric System, see:  http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking

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Now that you’ve seen how we got to the top of Mont Blanc, here’s what the views are like once you get there. It is truly a magnificent place with awe-inspiring beauty. It makes you feel very small. Thanks to my nephew, Jon, who took some of this video from the high platforms where my fear of heights wouldn’t let me go.

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My husband, my family who was visiting, and I took a day to visit Chamonix, specifically to take the Auguille du Midi cable car up to the top of Mont Blanc.  The last part of the first cable car was a bit scary. We thought the second cable car up to the summit would be worse but it was actually a smoother ride, albeit VERY high. The views were spectacular and I would definitely recommend doing this (as long as you don’t have a serious fear of heights). Be aware that the air is thin there and we found ourselves having difficulty breathing normally, especially after walking up the stairs to the observation platforms. We wanted to do the train ride to the Mer de Glace (cave under the glacier) but it was closed due to rock slides.

What astonished all of us was that towards the summit we saw numerous people hiking up the mountain and others with their hang gliders waiting for the right winds to jump. We also saw ski trails down the mountain. Keep in mind these are 85-90 grade slopes. Once you start skiing there’s no stopping and you can’t see that far in advance to know if you’re going off a cliff or not.  When we got to the top, we also saw young men and women suiting up to scale down the cliffs.  To me, it seemed like everyone had a death wish but I’m just an old woman with a fear of heights so what do I know!

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe, peaking at 15,782 feet.  Chamonix was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. You can take the Auguille du Midi to the top of the mountain (about 48 euros) or take a train to see the Mer de Glace (glacier cave). You can also take the train over the mountain into Italy for a quick visit of the local small town (without your passport). More information can be found at:
http://www.chamonix.com/welcome,0,en.html

Enjoy the ride up on the Auguille du Midi:

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Straight from my new ECookbook, French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps, is my Pumpkin Sage Polenta recipe.  Get more great recipes from my book, which you can purchase on my websites: www.american-in-france.com and www.frenchcomfortfood.com this week. This is my personal (and favorite) version of a very Savoie dish: polenta. Polenta is traditionally an Italian dish but, given the Italian influence in the area, it is also a staple of the French Alpine region. This version is not particularly common to Savoie but it is by far the most delicious polenta I’ve ever eaten. You cannot buy canned pumpkin in France so I bring a couple of cans back with me every time I go to the U.S.  I just don’t have the time to make the pumpkin puree from real pumpkin but if you have the time, give it a try.

Ingredients for 8 persons:

2 ½ cups of milk (lowfat or whole)

¾ cup of canned pumpkin

2 cups of water

1 cup of grated fresh Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons of crème fraiche

1 ¼ cups boxed polenta

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh sage (I keep a pot of this growing on my window sill year round. It survives even through the French Alps’ winters.)

Salt and pepper

Bring the milk and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the pumpkin and salt. Stir rapidly. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the polenta. Cook for a minute or two until it thickens, constantly stirring. Remove from the heat and add ¾ cup of Parmesan cheese, the crème fraiche, salt, pepper, and sage. Stir until the cheese and crème fraiche melt, placing over low heat, if needed. Just before serving, top with the last of the parmesan cheese.

For conversions from U.S. measurements to the Metric System, see: http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking

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My sister, her husband and their son and his family came to visit this summer for 6 days.  The two days that I enjoyed the most included a trip to Mont Blanc and Chamonix, which involved a cable car ride up to the top of Mont Blanc; and a trip the mountain on the St Hilaire du Touvet funicular to watch the mountain climbers and the hang gliders.  It was fascinating to watch these very brave people.

Here’s a video of the funicular day. 

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