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hopalog

Feb 4, 2007, 4:56 PM

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The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Along MX129, between the Emerald Coast and Martinez de la Torre, you'll come across the pueblito of San Rafael. French is spoken (along with Spanish) and almost everyone is a rubio or rubia. Amazing! There is also a large cottage industry of cheese production and the best cheese we've tasted yet in Mexico. Very sharp flavors; simply wonderful. We found a true Mozzarella cheese there and he couldn't give it a name; only what it was used for. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the cheese makers; no large fabricas but simple small, well, honestly, artisans. Tomorrow we're going to see about butter....

Hell's Half Acre

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Bubba

Feb 5, 2007, 5:23 PM

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Re: [hopalog] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Interresting since the French do not know how to make Mozarella and as most of the population is not blond.

hopalog

Feb 5, 2007, 7:03 PM

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Re: [Bubba] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Yeah, I KNOW! But they are of French descendancy and make an amazing Mozzarella! I was so hoping for Brie as all the kids ADORE Brie. But even though I'm allergic to dairy, I couldn't help but taste the cheese. It was amazing and like nothing I've tasted in Mexico.

Hell's Half Acre

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"El Gringo Jalapeño"

Feb 7, 2007, 12:51 PM

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Re: [hopalog] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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¡Hola, amigos costeños! and Hopalog...
You really need to check out the village of Jicaltepec, which is about 5 minutes west of the town of Nautla. Jicaltepec was also settled by the French and the architecture(i.e.older homes) is like something from the French countryside in the late 19th century. Fantastic! There is also a very nice lady who receives french visitors every year and she has a really nice garden with orquids, vanilla and cacao. It will be a veritable classroom for you kids.
Also check out the Istirincha Ecotourism hotel(http://www.hotelistirincha.com/) owned by a fellow Rotarian named Juan Carlos Stivalet Colinet(who is from Jicaltepec). Istirincha is about 5 minutes south of Nautla on the left hand side of the road(there is a big sign and an arched entrance. You have to drive in about 2 minutes on a narrow road to the hotel. I don't know how much they charge to use the swimming pool, but your kids will love it. Also a walk along the beach is great.
Send me a private message so we can get together when you are here in Xalapa.
¡Hasta pronto, amigos!
Roy B. Dudley "El Gringo Jalapeño" See more about Xalapa at www.xalaparoy.com

hopalog

Feb 9, 2007, 10:54 PM

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Re: ["El Gringo Jalapeño"] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Mil gracias, Don Gringo!

I'm off to check those places out. The pescaderos are saying a norte may be coming through but they've changed their prediction of this weekend to Monday or Tuesday. So it looks like a tiny road trip is in the works for this weekend!

The farmers are getting ready to plant their watermellon crops, if it doesn't rain; the bananas are in their glory and the coffee just keeps getting better. We found two cafes in San Rafael with espresso machines. Life is good. :)

Again, thank you Don Gringo!

I'll be very interested to see the homes in the first town; I swear I'm looking at plantation homes just east of San Rafael. Boggles the mind. Now that the sun has returned to this coast I'm going to have to take some pictures.

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(This post was edited by hopalog on Feb 9, 2007, 11:00 PM)

Bubba

Feb 11, 2007, 9:17 AM

Post #6 of 10 (2726 views)

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Re: [hopalog] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Thanks for the info ! We will check them out next week on "our way" to SC. It sounds interresting, they are supposed to have come from Franche Comte (it borders Switzerland), where the Gruyere comes from. I spent a year there as a kid in a Sanatorium and I am really currious about their accent and their French.

sfmacaws

Feb 11, 2007, 11:37 AM

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Re: [Bubba] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Boy do I wish we'd had you around last week Brigitte. A bunch of really rude Quebecers came into the RV park we were staying at in Merida. They are so snotty and unfriendly and rude. I was walking down the road with my dogs on a leash past their campsite and one of the men picked up a rock like he was going to throw it at my dogs. I yelled ¡Puesto abajo! at him and he yelled something back at me in French. They are infamous in RVing circles for being rude to everyone, and for claiming to speak no english. We have met some very nice people from Quebec but when you run into groups of them it is almost always difficult. Our Quebec friends said that they usually do speak some english but refuse to. As he said, "they buy gas and food all the way to Florida every year". Anyway, when we encounter rude RVers from Quebec we always amuse ourselves with stories about how badly they are treated by the real French and how they are told their French is incomprehensible. I hope it is true.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Feb 12, 2007, 1:55 PM

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Re: [sfmacaws] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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Now, Jonna, I hope I don´t get into trouble here but:

To French people there is nothing more low class and redneck than a Québéquois. Brigitte tells me she can´t understand what they are saying most of the time. I am going to get in trouble for saying this.

None of this is fair, really.

In the Alabama of my youth, we were considered a subhuman species and maybe we were. After all, humans are not worthy of emulation. Maybe immolation.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Feb 12, 2007, 1:56 PM)

sfmacaws

Feb 12, 2007, 2:56 PM

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Re: [Bubba] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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I hope you don't get in trouble but I do appreciate it. It adds another point to our conclusion that they are just acting out their own language insecurities and treating others badly because they expect the same.

It's odd though, we stayed at a park in PV once that is known as a Quebecer park, ie don't go there if you speak english. We didn't care, it was close to a laundry and WalMart and that's all we were there for. Anyway, walking around the park I always said Buenas Dias and smiled when I passed anyone. I never once got a smile in return or an acknowledgment. Most people literally turned away from me. For me, it is difficult to ignore someone smiling at me or to not respond with a smile. I think it takes practice to keep your face so immobile.

There were quite a few very expensive RVs around us, the really huge ones that cost half a million US. They all had big screen TVs in their outside bays and most days all of the TVs would be on with the volume on high, playing what I can only describe as the french version of Jerry Springer. The odd part was that no one would be outside watching them. They would be inside the rig with the TV outside blasting away. That RV park was louder than a Mexican neighborhood on the 12th of December but a lot less fun.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

raferguson

Feb 12, 2007, 6:10 PM

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Re: [sfmacaws] The French of San Rafael Veracruz

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I knew somebody that taught at the English language university in Montreal, McGill. If he tried to speak French, he said they would come down hard on him and correct him. So he didn't use his French much. (I found the French people pretty tolerant of my limited French, I just had to remember all the formalities).

We were walking on a trail in Canada, and a large group of people came by speaking French. I said that they must be from Quebec. The professor said "No, I can understand them. They are from France." I could not believe it, that somebody living in Quebec found it easier to understand the French than the Quebecois.

When I watch TV news from Quebec, I can understand the announcers, but not the people on the street.

Quebec French is obviously very different from Parisian French.

For what it is worth, I have not found the folks from Quebec unfriendly, but I have not run into a lot of them.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com