I’ve been in a bit of a rut, in more ways than one. I was sick for quite a while and have been slow in getting back into the habit of running and (ahem) walking up the stairs in my apartment building rather than opting for the elevator. And, I’ve been watching far too much TV (specifically Top Chef) rather than doing healthy and beneficial activities such as painting and writing and generally being a productive human being. But, the seasons are changing and I can feel myself shaking off my heavy winter skins and gearing up for the changes that spring inevitably brings.

So, in the spirit of spring cleaning, I’m rearranging my apartment and my attitude. I started tonight by boldly stepping out of my comfort zone and (gasp) ordering a different galette than usual (hey, baby steps get you there in the end too – I’ve always been a big fan of the tortoise). As is evident by the name of this blog, I adore galettes. I actually think it’s mandatory to adore galettes if you live in Brittany – otherwise they’d chuck you out, like a dirty Parisienne. But, and this is my problem with food in general, when I find something that I love, I have trouble ordering anything different as I might not love it quite as much. This has been the case with galettes.

When I first arrived in Brittany, I was overwhelmed by the choice of galettes on the crêperie menus. However, I quickly found my favorites and carved myself a comfy little galette rut that consists of galette saucisse (when I buy it from the market to eat on the go) and galette chèvre et salade (when I’m in a restaurant). I’ve told you before how I feel about chèvre, so you can imagine how difficult it is for me to break my goat cheese habit and order something different. But I did (only with the encouragement of  a friend) and I’m out of my rut and have a new best friend: the galette de St-Jacques.

Holy heaven, this is some good business. Imagine a galette, filled with cheese as per usual. But it doesn’t stop there. Now, cook up some scallops and mushrooms, smoother them in a decadent cream sauce, and heap all of that onto the cheese galette. Oh, and throw on some salad as an after thought. Voila, the magnifique galette de St-Jacques. 

And what my friends ordered wasn’t too shabby either…

Rue Saint Melaine is one of the oldest and quaintest streets in Rennes, and is capped of with an ancient and grand cathedral at either end

This was a particularly poignant meal as well because some of my friend’s are on the eve of their departure back to the United States, and there aren’t many crêperie outings left in our near future. But, we all took comfort in the epic portions of galette that the Crêperie Au Boulingrain served up for us tonight. As we sat outside enjoying the dwindling hours of sunlight and the fresh spring air, we also had a beautiful view of one of Renne’s best streets to distract us from our sadness.

Seeing Rennes and it’s beautiful cathedrals and quaint winding streets through the eyes of my friends who are on the verge of leaving it all behind (though hopefully not for long) is making me appreciate it all over again. That, more than anything is kicking my butt out of this stupid rut! Who in their right mind could be distraught and in a rut when there are so many things to appreciate about the simple, everyday rhythms of life in such a beautiful city?

Oh, and as for the international meal I promised to write about in my last post – it never came to be. The students were so busy learning their dance routine that us teachers were quite relieved when the nice woman who worked at the center announced that she forgot we were going to cook our own dinner and had already ordered one for us at the cafeteria. 4 days into supervising 24 kids for 24 hours, the last thing we wanted to do was orchestrate a 5-course meal with all of the kids acting as chefs. So, there was no cooking, but there was a whole lot of dancing…

And eating…

And hanging out with horses (we were staying at an equestrian center just outside of Rennes in a small town called Bruz)…

And generally being silly…

The international meal will supposedly happen before the year is out, so you may read about it here one day soon. Until then, I’ll continue with my own international culinary adventures. Next up is a salmon and leek quiche (when in Rome…or Rennes, I guess).