Paris

After Andrew's parents arrived, we took a walk around the Ile de la Cité, one of the islands in the middle of the Seine River. Mark and Anne's hotel was very close to Notre Dame, so we started our tour there, where we showed our French savvy by jumping to the front of the “line” that all the tourists were waiting in. While it may not seem good etiquette to cut in front, the kilometer long line that the tourists make is completely self-inflicted, as there is neither an admission price nor an official demanding this line to enter the cathedral.

We exited the cathedral and headed to lunch at a nearby café, where we enjoyed hot bowls of onion soup topped with a slice of rye bread and swiss cheese. Heaven! Fortified, we hopped onto the metro and stopped off at the Moulin Rouge to see if we could get reservations for a show this weekend. Unfortunately everything was sold out.

We trekked up Montmartre, passing by the Café des Deux Moulins, where Amélie was filmed, before getting caught in the rain at Place du Tetre, the lively square where all the artists sit and paint Bohemian scenes and tourists' portraits. We ran for refuge at Sacre Coeur, but the church refused us and the other hundred wet tourists entrance! We stood out in the rain under my poor broken umbrella and waited until the storm abated. Thankfully, that didn't take too long and then we were rewarded with a blue sky and bright sun and a lovely view looking out over Paris. And then Sacre Coeur decided to let us inside. Figures.

We ate dinner at a really amazing little place just at the bottom of the “l'escalier de la butte” called “La Taverne à Montmatre.” Amazingly, they had a three course menu for only 12€! This is completely unheard of in Paris or anywhere else in France I've been, especially for the evening service. I started my meal with another bowl of onion soup, which didn't compare to the one I'd had earlier, but everyone else raved about their delicious salads. I had a salmon filet in a bearnaise sauce and stole some of Andrew's delicious boeuf bourgignon. For dessert there was a heavenly plum tarte and red fruit tarte, which was worth the 12€ by itself! Exhausted, we returned Andrew's jet-lagged parents to their hotel and did a late night trip to Carrefour to buy some supplies for Easter dinner the next evening.

Andrew's parents started their Easter morning by going to mass at Notre Dame. Andrew and I decided to skip it, being neither religious nor inclined to get up super early and make the long trek to the cathedral. But they enjoyed the mass. After a quick breakfast at a café, we walked to the Louvre. I can't describe how much I love this museum. The building is so grand and majestic and beautiful that sometimes I want to cry. The line was outrageous. I imagine the wait would have been over two hours, but being wise to their ways, we had a different plan. There's a secret entrance to the Louvre that not many people know about. You must have a special pass of some sort, such as a Museum Pass, a yearly pass, or a teacher card. Andrew and I both had ours, and we smiled nicely and the guard let us take Anne and Mark with us. No line! No waiting in the cold and rain! And to make things sweeter, it was the first Sunday of the month, so the museum was free!

We spent about 3 hours in the Louvre, visiting the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Hamurabi's Code, Rembrandt, El Greco, and my personal favorite, Winged Victory. For those who don't know, Nike was the Greek goddess of victory, and is where the name “Nicole” originates from, so I have a special fondness for this little angel that could fit in Athena's hand.

Feeling sufficiently artsy, we popped over to the Marais intending to eat lunch at L'As du Falafel, which is my personal favorite for quick and tasty and cheap lunches. My thinking was that being in the Jewish quarter, it would be open on Easter Sunday. Not so. In fact, pretty much everything in the Jewish section of town was closed, which was a little irritating. Jews don't celebrate Easter!!

Instead, we popped into a nearby café, once again to escape from the rain. I ordered a pastrami sandwich which surprisingly came with hard boiled egg inside it. It tasted fine at the time, but made me feel a little ill later. We walked over to the Bastille monument after lunch, which was a little disappointing for Mark, seeing as how there isn't anything to indicate the famous prison once stood there except a very tall pillar. We finally got some bright sun, so we stopped by Berthillon for some of the world's best ice cream, and I have officially decided that they deserve that title. I had gingerbread and honey nougat, and the gingerbread was out of this world good, with chocolate running a close second. It was worth the 15 minute wait in line. We were a little rushed for time after that, so we walked over to the Conciergerie, the former prison where Marie-Antoinette and Robespierre were kept until their beheadings. We once again used our mad skills to sweet-talk the guard into letting us in, since they were getting ready to close and didn't want to let anyone else in. And Andrew and I got in free! There were some interesting parts to the museum, including a recreation of M.A.'s cell and a list of everyone who was executed during the Revolution.

We headed back to the apartment where Andrew and I are staying and I prepared a yummy Easter dinner of herb-crusted lamb, mashed potatoes, and green beans. We also had some bread and cheese and a bottle of Reisling. For dessert, chocolate éclairs and macarons. Andrew then took his parents back to their hotel, stopping to give them a petit tour of the Latin Quarter on the way.

Our final day in Paris was a little rushed and involved a lot of walking. We had a nice, clear day for once, so we headed to the Eiffel Tower and stood in line for 2 hours to ride the elevator to the 2nd floor (the top floor was closed).

Still, at 115 meters above Paris, it's impressive! Unfortunately every other tourist in Paris was also there so it was very crowded. On the way back down we decided to stop at the restaurant on the first floor and eat lunch. We were expecting to pay a lot of money to eat there, but we at least expected to get good food in exchange. It didn't work out that way. The portions were tiny, the selection was small, and the taste wasn't anything exceptional. But for the atmosphere, it was excellent! I would recommend 58 Eiffel for drinks, but not food.

After taking some crazy photos in front of the tower, we went to the Arc de Triomphe and then walked along the Champs-Elysses enjoying the sun and shops.

We made a slight detour to try to find the spot where Princess Diana died, but we didn't really have time to look for it. Instead, Andrew took his parents on a walk through the Place de la Concorde and the Tuileries and I headed back to the apartment to pick up our bags.

We took a 5pm train into Orléans and installed A's parents in a friend's apartment. (These friends are currently in L.A. staying Chez Wallace, as per our arranged house exchange). Mark then took us to dinner at La Petite Marmite, a wonderful little restaurant on rue de Bourgogne. The menu was very local, including game from the Orléans area and wine from Chinon. For 36€ each, we each had a choice of entrée, main dish, salad and cheese plate, and dessert. Because everything was so amazingly delicious, I've included a list of what we ate for your drooling pleasure:

Anne: Peach and white wine kir, foie gras on toast (duck liver paté), duck breast with foie gras in a truffle sauce, pear crème brulée.

Mark: Black currant and white wine kir, apple and foie gras pastry tarte with truffle sauce, veal medallions in a cream sauce, coconut tarte

Andrew: Black currant and white wine kir, apple and foie gras pastry tarte with truffle sauce, scallops in a cream sauce, stewed chilled prunes in a red wine syrup, armagnac brandy

Me: Red port, escargot with roquefort sauce, duck and mushrooms, pear crème brulée

We all had a three-cheese platter consisting of a very sharp brie, a mild goat cheese, and a mild St. Nectaire. My favorite entrée was the foie gras, and Andrew's scallops were so delicious that everytime he took a bite he closed his eyes and sighed in pleasure. The crème brulée was also amazing. What was most shocking about this experience was the service; the waiters were very attentive, we never had to ask for more water or for the next course, and they gave us a free digestif, a concoction of four different fruit flavored alcohols (raspberry, cherry, etc.). I would highly recommend this restaurant for anyone who comes to Orléans.

C'est parti!

Our vacation has officially started, but first an update about what we've been up to the past two weeks before I bombard you guys with more interesting updates.

Our English friend Amy had a birthday party in which everyone painted on themselves with UV paint and then glowed through the night thanks to the help of strategically placed black lights throughout the apartment. Andrew decorated me à la Avatar, for which I repaid him with a poorly executed Cal insignia. Go Bears!

We had planned on going to the Salon du Chocolat the next day, but after hearing from friends that it wasn't worth the admission price, we decided to instead buy the admission price worth of chocolate from a shop in Orléans instead of paying to get in and just look at chocolate. We hung out in the town square at a café and enjoyed our delicious treat.

The next party was a Carnavale of sorts, with a “Decades” theme. Everyone came dressed as a different era, Andrew and I representing the 20's/30's. We looked quite sauve, if I do so say.

Jennie, Organizer of All Things Assistant Related, looked awesome in her flapper dress, Caitlin was an awesome hippy, and Samantha pulled off the Grease look quite well.

Anna was a little crazy in her 80's workout outift, but we love her even though the colors hurt our eyes.

Seamus, being Irish, was maybe a little confused and came dressed as an old Mexican.

Patrick had an interesting Zack Morris vibe going on with his jeans, sneakers, and suit jacket. All he needed was an oversized portable phone.

Our potluck this month was “British Food,” which mostly meant those not from the island tried to create something that might be considered British for the purpose of humoring those who were in fact from Great Britain. I made cucumber tea sandwiches, and a horrible rendition of scones (French flour is EVIL!), and Andrew presented fish and chips. We also had a selection of smoked salmon sandwiches, a sort of oatmeal crumble, cheddar cheese and crackers, and the obligatory tea. After the party we all headed to the cinema to see Alice in Wonderland (my second time seeing it). I really enjoyed it, Andrew was disappointed.

Our last party of the month was a dinner with four of Andrew's colleagues. It was a little (OK, a lot) stressful for me to cook chicken pot pie and apple pie for six, especially considering I had to work that entire day, and then speak in French with people I'd never met for five hours. It was still fun though, even if Andrew forgot to tell me one of the guests was a vegetarian (thus, no chicken pot pie for her). Andrew made up for it by force-feeding her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

We're currently in Paris, awaiting the arrival of Andrew's parents. Here are some pictures of the Easter displays at the chocolate shops around town.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Sorry things have been a little quiet here. We've mostly been hanging around Orléans, working, and reading books. Starting this weekend things are going to get a little crazy for the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more interesting posts in the future.

We've had three days in a row of lovely, warm weather. Dare I say it...spring is here! It's so nice not having to pile on layers of coats, scarfs, hats, and gloves to go outside. It's amazing the (seemingly) overnight difference in temperature. People are out in the streets, soaking up the sunshine. We went to the center of town on Monday and just sat in the sun talking for a while.

We had an Asian potluck two weeks ago with the other assistants. It was a success! I made tempura and Andrew made California rolls, and we had a great range of stir-frys and other yummy treats. Unfortunately, I was glued to the stove and didn't take any photos until after the food had all been eaten.

I made homemade bagels for two French friends, Emilie and Thibault. Emilie lived in San Francisco for a year, so she was very familiar with them, but her boyfriend Thibault had never had them before. It was a fun treat, and they're so easy to make! I made seasame, poppyseed, garlic/onion, chocolate chip, and cinnamon.

We went to a raclette party at Sandrine's house with the other assistants. It was fun, even though some assistants got a *little* tipsy and broke glassware. I was, I think, the only sober one there as I had a bad cold and didn't have the stomach for booze. I'm really thrilled about my 5€ raclette grill that I bought oh so long ago and would love to take it home with me! We'll see how much room Andrew's parents have in their luggage when they leave France. Maybe we can bribe them with chocolate to carry some extra stuff!

Andrew and I decided to do the French summer program and head to Italy for three weeks after, thus flying out of Rome to China. The Italian program was being really picky about our schedule, and the fact that we may still be dealing with Chinese visa issues in June means that we should stick around the embassy in France until that's all sorted out. But I'm excited to go to Italy and visit some friends I have there and to FINALLY see Italy. It just seems wrong, having been a Classics major, studying Roman history and Latin for so many years, that I have never been to Italy. Well, it shall be remedied.

My sister will be having her baby really soon. I wish I could go home to see her!

The Great Italy Debate

Things are finally falling into place for China. All our medical forms are done, our diplomas have been found, and we're just awaiting the working permits to go to the embassy in Paris to get our visas, which I'm sure will pose a whole other set of problems. In the meantime, we're trying to decide the best course of action for the summer. We're pretty bummed about our lack of travel this year, so we've decided to make up for it in some way with the extra cash we should be getting right as our contract ends (our last months salary and housing deposit, plus most likely our housing subsidy which hasn't arrived yet and Andrew's university pay which is also taking forever).

The situation is: we've been offered jobs as summer counselors in southern France from May 16-June 18. The job doesn't pay as much, but it's something, and we might get to live in a chateau for the summer! However, we also applied to be counselors in Italy, which pays more money. We're going through the interview process and are pretty sure we'll be accepted. But they want us from May 30-July 7. As you can see, the dates overlap. Add to this our desire to travel a bit before heading to China on July 8. As much as I want to see more of France, I'm a *little* frustrated with it right now and Italy is looking better and better. Our contract here ends April 30, we'll probably move out May 2 or maybe even 3 and stay with a friend in Orléans until the 8th, which is the last day of the Joan of Arc festival in Orléans. At this point we're considering traveling Italy for three weeks before doing our program for five weeks, or alternatively, traveling one week in May in southern France before doing the summer program until the 18th, then heading to Italy for three weeks as tourists only before flying to China.

The Italian program pays more and gives us a full two months in the country, but requires us to do our traveling before we get paid as counselors, while the French program would be paid before we headed to Italy, thus theoretically giving us more money, and it will allow us to see a little more of France before we leave and feels a little more comfortable because we already speak French, know the culture, etc. Another option is to do the French program and then head to China/Asia three weeks early and travel around there. But honestly, I really, really want to go to Italy, and I want to soak up Europe before I head to Asia.

What do you think?

Option 1: Travel Italy for three weeks, then do Italian summer camp for five weeks before heading to China.

Option 2: Travel southern France for one week, then do French summer program before heading to Italy for three weeks.

Option 3: Do French summer program, then head to China three weeks early and travel around there.

Woe is me for having so many cool choices before me!

*P.S. Did I mention that Andrew got a (fourth?) job teaching English to masters students at the university here? It's only 2 hours a week, but eventually it'll bring us some extra cash, once all the paperwork gets settled.

Birthday Treats

Thanks to everyone for wishing me a happy birthday. It was indeed a great birthday for me. I especially love my birthday because it comes right after Valentine's Day, which I'm sure drives Andrew nuts, but then again his birthday is always around (and sometimes on) Thanksgiving, so it all evens out.

Delicious Valentine's Day candy from Andrew

On Valentine's Day I made ricotta pancakes with banana pecan syrup. Yummy. I managed to get a few small pancakes heart shaped. I think we watched some movies before heading to Jin Restaurant for some delicious sushi. It was wonderful, and not as expensive as we expected.

Ricotta pancakes

For my birthday we took a really long bike ride along the Loire River. It was really nice and kind of fun biking over snow. Then we ate some chocolate fondue and watched some more movies. Andrew prepared a delicious dinner for me which included shrimp cocktail, bacon wrapped goat cheese, scallops on a bed of leeks and panchetta, salad, white wine, and three different types of cheeses.

After all that food we and some friends drank champagne and ate chocolate raspberry cake.

I received some lovely birthday gifts, including three books in the Wheel of Time series from Andrew, an electric blender, also from Andrew, a butterfly necklace from Amy, a recipe notebook from Catherine, a wonderful coffee maker from Sarah, excellent Silver Forest earrings from my mom, and two books from Sue.

Me on my rented bike

Yes, those ducks are walking on water; the river was partly frozen

The next day we went into Paris with the idea of spending the day at the Louvre. Apparently it's closed on Tuesdays. Oops. Then we waited an hour to get in line at the Museé d'Orsay, where all the impressionist paintings are, only to get to the front of the line and be told that Andrew's teacher card wasn't valid because he didn't have the "newest" version (which his principal ordered for him but hasn't arrived yet) so we had to pay 8€ to get in.

Van Gogh

At this point I was super pissed, especially since we only had about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet a friend. I moped around the museum, seriously considering defacing one of the priceless works of art, and then took off on my own to meet my friend. I stopped at the English bookstore in town and bought cream soda before heading to an awesome falafel place that was recommended in Clothilde's "Edible Adventures in Paris." It was truly yummy. We then found Andrew again and wandered a bit through the Jewish quarter before going in search of Berthillon, supposedly the world's best ice cream. On the way, we stopped in Cacao et Chocolat, which is supposedly the world's best chocolate, and bought a bar (we have yet to consume it, so the verdict is still out). We finally found Berthillon, but it, too, was closed. We settled for buying some (very expensive) Berthillon ice cream from one of the many surrounding restaurants, but our mood was spoiled when they wouldn't let us stay in the restaurant to eat it. We braved the cold again and ate our ice cream in the sunniest spot we could find in front of Notre Dame. We then went to St. Chapelle, a museum built by Napoleon to house the relics of the Passion of the Christ, but alas, it was closed.

Ice cream in front of Notre Dame

At this point it was getting late so we headed back toward the train station with the intention of passing through the lovely Jardin des Plantes on the way. We got halfway through the park before a guard told us to turn around and go back the way we came. It was closed.

In need of reinforcements, we stopped at the Grand Mosque of Paris for some overpriced (but hot) mint tea before giving up and heading home. Paris had defeated us.

In other news, we made our first batch of cheddar cheese. It is now in the process of drying and forming a rind at which point we will wax it and age it for about six weeks. We'll let you know how it turns out.

Drying the cheese

Yesterday we went and had lunch at Sandrine and Alex's, which was, as always, full of delicious food and drink. We started with some basic appetizers, like fresh mushrooms with a fromage blanc dip, pistachios, and guacamole. We had paupiettes, or little bundles of meat with a vegetable charlottine, a mound of vegetables wrapped in bacon and baked. There was of course the usual cheese platter afterwards, followed by a lovely chocolate pear birthday cake with candles that Léo helped me blow out.

They also gave me a nice necklace and earring set.

I thought I was going to explode from all the food, so we went out to Châteauneuf and visited the Maritime Museum, which was okay, and then walked around the park while Andrew taught Léo to do really annoying things like hit people with sticks.

And the winner is...

Thanks a million to everyone who gave advice on our China dilemma, especially Emma, Nicole, Sabrina, and Meagan. Our decision was made a lot easier by the fact that the school in Xi'an found other teachers in the area before we could make up our mind. So we've decided to go to Qinhuangdao! We've already told the school and they're working on arranging everything for us. Of course, now we're entering into the bureaucratic nightmare that is China. Apparently we need to show proof of our diplomas, which are in storage in Santa Monica. Andrew is trying to bribe his brother into climbing into the attic and going through the dozens of unmarked boxes we have looking for two slips of paper. We might have to re-order them from Cal, but that would be very expensive and supposedly takes three months, which is too late. We also have to do a bunch of medical stuff, which we already did in November but doesn't count for China.

I've been reading the blog of the couple who are there now, and everything I've read re-affirms our decision to go there. Also, they have pictures posted of them holding baby pandas. Perhaps not entirely ecologically sound, but unbelievably cute and something I'm definitely going to do. Andrew says that if we can hold pandas the whole year in China will be well worth it even if we end up in a Chinese prison for owning a Lonely Planet guide that doesn't include Taiwan as a part of China. The trick is getting to the pandas before the police get to us... :)

We've also been offered positions at a French summer camp from May 16-June 18, which definitely helps us in terms of finances. I'm hoping we'll get to do this Italian summer camp from June to July before we head to Beijing around July 8. Still a lot of details to work out, and if for some reason we can't get our diplomas, we might not be able to go, so we're keeping our options open and our fingers crossed!

Amboise

The city of Amboise

We're on break right now, and while we don't have a lot of money to travel around, we did take a day trip to Amboise, famous as being where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last three years of his life. He's also buried in Amboise. Amboise was a typical, cute Loire town, but smaller than other cities we've visited, like Blois and Tours.

Nicole and Justine

We went with Justine, our friend who lives in Tours, Catherine, and her Canadian friend who was visiting for the weekend. Our first stop was Clos Lucé, Da Vinci's workshop/house. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was full of replicas of some of his more famous inventions, mostly a lot of war machines. The outside would have been excellent if it hadn't been below freezing, but at any rate we had fun playing on some of the replicas in the garden area.

When we were sufficiently frozen, we had lunch and then split into two groups. Andrew and Catherine's friend headed to the château where Da Vinci is buried while Justine, Catherine and I high-tailed it out of there for the warmth (and free-from-cost) of the train station to await the next train to Orléans. Andrew took some pretty cool photos in the château, but honestly after seeing 5 or 6 castles, really you've seen them all!

Outside of the château

Andrew on the ramparts

Beautiful city view

Andrew on one of the towers

Da Vinci's Tomb

We returned to Orléans to find the city covered in snow. When will the coldness end??