A Cueillette-ing We Will Go!

You guys. I'm in love with a farm. (A husband and daughter too just in case any of your were worried).  But not just any farm, a cueillette kind of farm. It's a good thing I've got friends that aren't as lazy as me otherwise I would have passed all this cueillette-y goodness without a clue (as in, my friend Heidi actually looks up cool places to go even after more than a decade of living in France). I mean, I've lived here for seven years now and just found out about these things the other day. But what is a cueillette farm, you might just be asking yourself? So glad you asked. Below, ladies and gentlemen, is a cueillette: 

        cueillir

   

                       vt  

              [ +fruits, fleurs]   to pick

           (ANTHROPOLOGIE)   to gather

           (fig)   (=attraper)   

               [+malfaiteur]   to catch

cueillette

   
      nf  

   [+champignons, fruits sauvages]   picking, gathering  
la cueillette des champignons      mushroom picking  

   [récolte]   harvest, crop

     (ANTHROPOLOGIE)  

   la chasse et la cueillette      hunting and gathering  

I mean, who doesn't want to go to a farm where catching, gathering, and hunting is involved, right?? The way a cueillette farm works is basically like a glorified u-pick farm. Only instead of just berries and whatnot, they have a little of everything, including flowers! Fun right?  

They way it works is you grab one of these big ol' wheelbarrows at the entrance and head out to whatever part of the farm that has the seasonal produce you might be interested in. 

Here's a list of just a few of their products mentioned on the sign below: beans, eggplant, tomatoes, spicy peppers, zucchini, raspberries, spinach and radishes. 

And of course not an awful place to take the kiddos: 

Near the entrance/exit they had a few products already picked and get this: pumpkins were less than 5 euros a piece! That's half the price of a Paris pumpkin! (Please understand this is important news to us American expats that are forced to tramp all over Paris every year looking for a dang pumpkin to carve only to have to sell all our possessions just to buy the thing)

Spaghetti squash below: 

Putting the wheelbarrow to good use: (laziness must run in the family...lol) 

In the apple orchards, pickin' with Papa: 

As it turns out the girl is much better at picking up apples on the ground than cleaning up her toys... 

After our hard work on the farm we decided to head over to the other end where the animals and store were located. 

This, believe it or not, is an 'insect hotel'. I still haven't decided whether it is cool or creepy... 

Isn't this just the cutest chicken coop ever?  It kind of looks like a little house! 

I have to say I was pretty blown away by their store. Here I am expecting a couple zucchinis and tomatoes and this was the view that awaited us:

I mean, everything just looks gorgeous, doesn't it?? 

I loved some of the different creative displays as well. Check out the sausage stand: 

And is this not the most beautiful display you've ever seen for fresh herbs? Only in Europe would they make a fountain into a plant display! 

They also have a cafe/restaurant within the store as well. It was a little pricey for our little outing but definitely something to not rule out in the future! (Besides, who doesn't love a dog presenting you with the menu??) 

Good times were had by all. Here's our fall harvest that we took away: 

 Not too shabby, aye? 

The name of the place we went to is called Les Fermes de Gally and you can check out the website here:  http://www.ferme.gally.com/_cueillette-acces-horaires-cueillette-de-gally   There are quite a few cueillettes in the Paris area though, if you're interested, just do a google search for cueillettes in Paris and you're sure to find some! Happy picking! 

Let's score a deal

Being the stingy frugal folks that we are, my husband and I like a good freebie. Okay, let's be honest; my husband is not half as stingy as I am--just let me loose in a dollar store and I'm a happy camper :) While there are some second hand thrift stores in Paris, compared to the Goodwill/Salvation Army/St. Vinnie's lot in the States, they're few and far between. But that doesn't mean you can't score a good deal in Franceland my friends. In fact, sometimes, it's actually a better deal. Aka, free--as in nada, nilch, zero. All you have to do is snatch it before someone else gets to it...

 I give you exhibit A:

Found on the side of the road a midst a buttload of junk on the way home from the grocery store just waiting for a little TLC. 

Yes, extremely dusty, but otherwise totally fine. 

After a bit of scrubbing it was ready for my mantle... 

We actually have a ton of free stuff laying around in our place, from these dining chairs that were abandoned in our friends' basement when they moved in...

...to this dresser that was left behind with a "Free, take me!" sign in our apartment courtyard (oh yes, I totally dragged that baby all by myself up three flights of stairs--there was no way I was letting a free dresser get away!). 

This fabulous coffee table was a birthday present from a friend who'd found both the base and the top separate outside on her curb and put them together. 

Some might think a table that they found out on the street a little odd for a birthday present but in my book that only increased her awesomeness! 

And last but not least, there's the chair... 

Yep, it was totally outside, sittin' on the side walk just waiting to be adopted into a loving home....of course, this was all the way across Paris which meant us bringing it back to it's rightful place in our home... 

Okay, more like Matt bringing it back that is... but hey, it did make for a nicer chair to chill in while waiting for the metro and then regional train... 

Isn't he cute?? ;) I dared him to sit in it once we got inside the metro car but his audacity only went as far as the platform :) 

But in the end we got 'er done.