Roue de secours

that is the newest word/phrase I have learned. It means spare tire, or more literally wheel of help. I learned this, not because I needed to use my spare, but because we were already using it. Yes, tragically, when Josh arrived at CERN after our wedding - way back in September - he discovered our car had a flat tire (he had left the car at CERN, then taken the bus to the airport - I had left before him and returned after him). Lucky for me, unlucky for Josh. He was stuck changing a tire after an 8 hour flight and feeling the massive jet-lag of a 6 hour time difference. To compound on that he didn't have a jack and had to wait for one of his officemates to get to work so he could borrow hers. Poor guy. Yet, I'm so glad that it wasn't me. I probably would have just sat down in the middle of the parking lot and balled my eyes out until a security guard came and took me away to the loony bin. But that's me; not him.

So, as you might have guessed we've been driving around on this spare tire for the past few months. Perhaps not the brightest thing to do, especially when the car started to sort of vibrate from the tire not being quite round, but the simplest and least expensive thing to do. This past weekend we finally got around to finding an auto shop and seeing about getting the leak in our old tire fixed. Unfortunately, the tire was so bad - bald on one edge - the guy there said, "No. eet eez no gewd." (think English with a strong French accent) We found him to be very nice, as most of the Frenchies we've met are, and to speak very good English, despite the fact, like every other French person when asked if they speak English say "a leetle, but verry bahd" (again think thick French accent- it's much funnier in my head I'm sure). And then they proceed to speak excellent English that puts my attempts at 4 year old French to shame.
But, I digress. We made an appointment for 2 new front tires and yesterday I braved this crazy French world and went to the appointment sans husband (without husband, for you non-French speakers). It really wasn't hard at all. I got to practice my French with the very patient gentleman, who speaks wonderful English despite his former protests, and learned a few words in the process. The word for tire is pneu - pronounced like new, as far as I can tell. And I already told you about le roue de secours. So, all in all, it was a good day.
Our car runs much smoother now that we have two proper front tires again. And with my limited French and his English I was able to communicate which tires we wanted changed and how we wanted to keep the semi-good front tire for our spare (that's how I learned the French word for spare tire).

Yep, it was a good day. And I ended it by making a fabulous dinner. I am getting a bit better at this stuff. Granted, I completely forgot about preparing, or even planning, side dishes - I was too focused on making my duck - until Josh asked what else was for dinner. Oops. But, with his help we managed to pull off a very good meal that I would recommend to any duck enthusiasts.

DUCK BREAST WITH DRIED CHERRY SAUCE

• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 boneless duck breasts, about 21 ounces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter (optional) 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
  
  2. Combine red wine, chicken broth, cherries, vinegar and sugar and set aside.
  
  3. With the tip of a sharp knife, score the skin of the breasts to form diamond shapes. Sprinkle the breasts with salt and pepper.
  
  4. Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium high; add the duck breasts, skin-side down, and cook 4 minutes. Turn and cook another 4 minutes. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and finish cooking the duck in the oven for 10 minutes.
  
  5. Meanwhile, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and add the liquid mixture. Boil for 8 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and a spoon drawn across the pan makes a line. Remove from heat and swirl in the butter, if desired.
  
  6. Cut duck across into thin slices; fan on plate and top with sauce to serve. Makes 4 servings.

Now, that was the recipe I found on-line, but I modified it a bit and it still turned out great. First off, I couldn't find any dried cherries, so I used dried cranberries instead - not exactly the same, but I like cranberries and it tasted fine to me. Second, I didn't have 3 duck breasts, I just had one, yet I still made the full serving of sauce. We had rice with our duck and the sauce tasted just as yummy on rice as on duck. And third, my sauce never thickened up. Yeah, it reduced down, but it was still liquid with chunks of mushy dried cranberries in it -still tasted good though!

So, there you have it. Another day in the life of a foreigner in France. Lessons learned: 1)try to speak French and you might just learn some new words and 2) you can never find what you need in the grocery store so improvise. If you add enough red wine, everything tastes good!

"A little privacy, please!"