I already think my life is strange because 1) I never thought I would live in France. 2) I never thought I would in France and have kale or any cabbage be something I talk and think about regularly. 3) I never thought I would travel out to the far west side of the country, to film a gardening show that wanted to talk about kale.
So yes, my life at times is weird. Last Monday evening, I trekked out to Valognes by myself and found myself in a tiny little hotel with no wifi (not that I cared but really? No wifi?) where the view from the window was Jersey. Set to talk all things kale the following morning for Silence Ça Pousse, I settled in for an early night with a homemade dinner of (you guessed it) kale salad and chick peas. Thankfully I’d had a day of recipe testing with Rebecca and was able to bring the dish as the town was less than ideal for a post 8:30pm dinner.
The following morning, bright and early, the show’s two producers met me at the hotel and drove me to the beautiful country house of Stèphane Marie, the host of the show. Nervous with my plastic container of kale chips to share with the hosts and crew, I tentatively stepped inside with a smile. The stone house was lively inside with crew members attaching microphones and organizing props. The dining room table was covered with papers for upcoming shows and off to the side was Stèphane himself having his makeup done. He sa-shayed out to introduce himself to me and immediately pushed towards the makeup artist. Although I’d made an extra effort that morning, which just means I put on a little more blush and actually was wearing eye makeup, he insisted that I needed a bit more cover up and more rouge for the camera. I hadn’t had my makeup done in years but it was an enjoyable memory of my childhood theatre days where we would head to the stage with bright red cheeks to stand out underneath the bright stage lights.
The entire crew and Stèphane rejoiced when they saw that not only had I brought a bunch of kale but three different varieties. We began to walk out towards the back garden, the day blossoming into a bright blue sky with vibrant sunshine, and placed the kale in a wooden crate. Stèphane’s garden was small (perhaps I did not see all of it?) but impressive with towering stalks of choux des Bruxelles. His co-host Noëlle, fixed her curly hair one final time and we were off.
The questions were mostly simple, I didn’t understand the word for blood, even though I know the word for blood, but normally people don’t ask me that question when it comes to leafy greens (although I’ve been known to talk about the detoxifying benefits). I made a Madonna & Gwyneth joke in reference to macrobiotics and we laughed about Americans being obsessed with ridiculous food fads. The French always like when I make fun of my own culture, which I’m happy to do in regards to our lack of food culture. And before I knew it, I was back on the train to Paris. Just like that.
And voilà! That’s that. Check it out tonight if you want and tell me what you think!
France 5
20h45
Follow along on Instagram via #BehindTheChoux and #SavezVousPlanterLesChoux and by following @thekaleproject or @rebeccagenet