Rhône-Alpes Things to Do

The Ardeche

by freya_heaven

The Ardeche is a beautiful area sitting in the foothills of the Alps, with meandering rivers & high vertical cliffs, this is a very popular area with holiday makers in the summer, both French & other Europeans. There are many caves to be explored here both independently & as organised tours, local tourist offices will have all the information you need. In 1980 this area was made in to a national park to preserve its beauty

Prepare your fondue

by JLBG

Everybody knows the fondue (I had a real good one in California !). It is a typical dish from the Alps and Jura mountains. It is sometimes called "fondue savoyarde" (Savoy fondue) or "fondue Suisse" (Swiss fondue) while in fact it is coming from the Jura mountains (Swiss and French). There are many possible variations of the recipe. The general principle is cheese melted in wine to give a smooth "sauce". Based on that, you can imagine various possibilities.What cheese ? Basically, use Beaufort, Comté, Emmenthal, Gruyère or any other so-called "Swiss-cheese". Generally, it is said that you should use 3 sorts of cheese : one as the basis, one to add taste, one to bring softness. If you have a really good cheese, soft, well done, tasty, one will be enough. But as a security, to be sure it will give a homogenous paste, you can add some easily melting cheese like Raclette or even...

Prepare fidés a la rouille : pasta rusty style

by JLBG

Fidés à la rouille (say : fidy) : pasta rusty styleIt is an old recipe from Savoy that was half forgotten. A few years ago, the main pasta producer of Savoie reminded this recipe and introduced a type of pasta that fitted well with the process. When you have not these, you can use any pasta that will roast easily : avoid those that are twisted like tortellinis or hollow like noodles. Spaghetti broken into 4-6 cm pieces will do.Servings : 4400 g pasta. 300 g sweet onions4 garlic heads (about 40 garlic cloves)1 liter any really good meat or poultry broth (better to prepare it yourself than the commercial stuff)olive oilpepper, no salt (broth brings enough)- Slice the onions and simmer gently until soft- Roast quickly the pasta in some olive oil until medium brown ("rusty")- Add the onions and the broth. The pasta should be just covered with the broth. Simmer gently.- After 20 minutes, add...

Prepare your gratin Savoyard (Savoy style)

by JLBG

Servings : 41500 g potatoes (a kind that will not mash)400 g grated cheese (Beaufort, Comté, Emmenthal or any other so-called "Swiss-cheese")0,5 l any really good meat or poultry broth (better to prepare it yourself than the commercial stuff)Pepper, no salt (cheese brings enough salt)- slice the potatoes (2-3 mm thick) and arrange one layer in a gratin dish.- grind some pepper, add cheese- coat with broth.- add a second layer of potatoes, etc… In the end, the potatoes should be coated with cheese and broth- in the end, the dish should not be to full : when boiling, it would overflow.- bake for 60-90 minutes 210°C until well cooked.-in the end, grill to make the top crunchy.

Prepare your dandelion salad

by JLBG

Servings : 4Young dandelion (before they have any flower)4 hard boiled eggs (medium hard is better)200 g smoked pork breastpepper (no salt, pork breast is usually salted enough)oil (olive or walnut) and vinegarmustard, mayonnaise- Wash and drain the dandelion. Cut into 4-5 cm pieces.- Steer vigorously a desert spoon of mustard, a desert spoon of mayonnaise, grind some pepper, add drop by drop one large spoon of oil and very little vinegar. You will get a creamy sauce.- Chop finely the hard-boiled eggs. Add to the sauce.- Pour the dandelion in the sauce and steer. You can do that a little in advance (1/4 hour), that will soften the dandelion.- Serve.- Cut into cubes a one cm thick slice of smoked pork breast. Fry in some (it usually does not need much) olive oil under lightly crispy and brownish (not too much !). Poor the whole thing immediately on the plates of dandelion. If you pour on...

Prepare your ravioles du Royans (Royans's ravioles

by JLBG

A few years ago, you could only find "Ravioles" in the Royans region (30 km from Grenoble). Now it is more popular and has spread over the whole Alps but not much further. Ravioles are the local form of the Italian "Raviolis" but much smaller and sold as sheets of 48 (2 sheets / person). They are 2-3 cm wide pastas stuffed with cheese, eggs and parsley. They are sold fresh (never dried nor canned). The preparation is very easy and fast.Bring the broth to the boil in a pan. Drop Ravioles (one serving at a time) in boiling broth. They sink. Keep boiling. When they come back to the surface (2 minutes), its ready. Take them off with a skimmer, and serve the first guest. He may add some grated cheese and taste.Proceed for the second serving, etc...If you cannot have ravioles on your own, you can have it in a restaurant.

Prepare your gratin Dauphinois (Dauphiné style)

by JLBG

Servings : 41500 g potatoes (a kind that will not mash)0,5 l whole creammilk if not enough cream (or for weight-watchers !)4 garlic heads (about 40 garlic cloves)Salt, pepper- slice the potatoes (2-3 mm thick) and arrange one layer in a gratin dish.- Crush the garlic and put some on the potatoes (keep for other layers)- grind some pepper, add some salt- coat with cream (keep for other layers)- add a second layer of potatoes, etc? In the end, the potatoes should be coated with cream or cream + milk- in the end, the dish should not be to full : when boiling, it would overflow.- bake for 60-90 minutes 210?C until well cooked.-in the end, grill to make the top crunchy.

Prepare your kid Dauphiné style (Easter dish)

by JLBG

Servings : 41500 g kid (no, no, we do not eat our childrens anymore !) (lamb can be used instead of kid)4 garlic heads (about 40 garlic cloves)Salt, pepper, laurel, thymedry (really dry) white wine- Cut the kid in large pieces.- Saute a few minutes in olive oil, to pale brown.- Add the wine to nearly cover the kid, garlic, salt, pepper, laurel, thyme- Simmer gently 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the meat is well cooked, take it off and keep separately- Take off thyme branches and laurel leaves.- Crush the garlic. If the sauce is too liquid, add some thickener (corn flour for example). The sauce should be moderately syrupy- Put the kid back into the sauce and serve with boiled potatoes or with pastas ("crozets" do very well)

procesion for finish war algeria, france

by ines2003

every year in february for last 48 years is the procesion in the area, conmemoration all death in the war and defence your country.

Rafting

by YannickPeeters