well, its Friday morning and we are ready to head back to Nantes.
as usual at the end of things it suddenly seems like its past in an instant and there are further plans making themselves known ..what about that place , we haven't been there, we haven't seen that ...!!! ah well...
We do have further plans for more posts about Paris ,they are queuing up to be published . We aint mentioned the 3 music festivals we managed to "bump" into ..!, there are still a lot of places i wandered around and into ... the buildings , the fashion, the women, ....and of course there's more food to write about...oh ...and gardens on walls ..!!
It was far too tempting to be in it than talking about it , so we'll try and catch up!!..
we're back in Nantes this afternoon and after the weekend i have two weeks intensive French course, so it should progress my conversational skills. Julie will continue to work on the shop opening and we will be trying to finish sorting the flat out.
it will be good to return to our own place even though Paris is a lot of fun and not nearly finished.
we are still setting up our telephone / internet at the flat so hang in there for more posts , it might be sporadic .....
Friday, 27 June 2008
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
A French Wedding..........
..SURPRISE......!!! ..no , its not ours ...!! ( I can feel a sense of shock/surprise/incredulity/outrage and general astoundingness subside as it ripples past St Malo....ah, a billow in the curtains and its arrived....heheh..!)
It was julie's sister's wedding , which took place a week after I arrived and its time to relate some non Paris , non food orientated stories.
I was told it was going to be a relaxed affair, and it being held beside a beach on a mobile home campsite certainly led me gently. Julie's parents and some of their friends rent mobile homes at this campsite every year and on arrival I knew why. It is about 1-2 hours south of Nantes on the edge of a beach with protected natural dunes covered with very beautiful grasses and wild flowers unknown to me.There is a central area with a bar /restaurant and multiple pool area inside and out.
Hey, there was even crazy putting which wooshed me right back to one of my first holidays en famille..!
( cala san vincente- if I remember well)..
The wedding commenced at the town hall in Nantes presided by the depute mayor I believe and it runs similar to our registry office ceremonies and then it was off to the coast.
It was a cracking weekend weather wise , hot n sunny so I appreciated the location.
Without following a step by step detail of the occasion let me say it was a very relaxed, informal and joyous affair, the meal began around 2pm with drinks + nibbles and carried on with 4 /5 slow and very sociable and relaxed courses lasting into the evening. There were also a few games organised throughout the day which I believe is generally customary and which iIenjoyed, it makes the occasion a less formal, serious business and keeps you focussed on the celebratory and joyous nature of the event , oh and so did the free bar ..:)
One of the games had a search and find elimination aspect where there was a group of "the chosen" with 12 rounds of finding requested items ( a shoelace, lipstick etc) and last person back is out. The other side of this is when you are out you are given a forfeit comprising doing something for the newly weds throughout their first married year ( there were 12 contestants relating to the 12 months so each person would do something for the couple on their designated month and generally related to a traditional theme for that month) .The game naturally and enjoyably immediately descends into chaos as all suddenly race for a needed item amongst the rest of us, restaurant and outside. Its here I must duly thank Julie for getting me out of that one as all requests were obviously in French and I would have had to run to Julie first for a translation ...
.. But not the second game... I didn't know there was another game until I heard my name through the loud haler ( yup , loud haler at the wedding ..well, it worked!!)
So this game re-enacted a story of a king + queen on a journey in a horse drawn carriage with the horses , King + Queen driver etc depicted by the people involved in the game on chairs in the middle of the hall. The newly weds were obviously the king +queen. Every time your name was mentioned in the story you had to run round your chair and sit down again. The central character seemed to be the driver of the coach (...ME!!!) which resulted in the central character doing most of the running round the chair , there still remains a feeling of intentional choosing for that game...!
and i managed to inveigle myself thankfully out of singing scots songs to the whole party.. possibly through a pretty good impression of calvinistic abstinence ( on the singing front , not the drinking i may add..!)
It was a lot of fun and the whole group certainly celebrate without candour; there was some impromptu Breton songs sung wholeheartedly during the meal ( that's where my singing invitation came in - a tad out numbered surely!!); impromptu banging on tables by all for the next course - well, it is France , there is joy, wine and there needs to be more food: and finally ending in up with a whole latter part of the evening in weird and wonderful dancing - no names , they all know who they are!!!!!!!.. oh and Brioche served warm near the end (??!!) of the evening ...nice.
and just when i thought that was it , I was introduced to a couple of scots folk holidaying there, who we found out came from Partick, Glasgow, just round the corner from my flat ..!!!!!
( thanks to Gaetan for that one ..)
That was the Saturday ....and after a relaxed start and dip in the pool on Sunday , we all met again and re-commenced the celebrations , admittedly not to the same degree but a leisurely lunch taking up the whole afternoon. It is one thing I am learning that is done here extremely well, the leisurely meal ...fantastic.
So, my first French wedding and it was wholeheartedly joyous , lovely , and all were very welcoming and warm to a Scots interloper with a natural ( scottish..?! ) fondness for free drink and not much French, tho it must be accepted that I started out sporadic in my french conversations and near the end I would have it for the record that I was far more voluble ..I insist it works ...!!( so just remember that bottle of wine with the dictionary next time you go to learn a language)...
Thanks to both families + friends for all of the above..!!!!
..a special thanks and all goodwill to the lovely couple -Sandrine + Jeff ( and capucine ..)..xx
...and a unique mention to the " gypsy quoi's " ....
It was julie's sister's wedding , which took place a week after I arrived and its time to relate some non Paris , non food orientated stories.
I was told it was going to be a relaxed affair, and it being held beside a beach on a mobile home campsite certainly led me gently. Julie's parents and some of their friends rent mobile homes at this campsite every year and on arrival I knew why. It is about 1-2 hours south of Nantes on the edge of a beach with protected natural dunes covered with very beautiful grasses and wild flowers unknown to me.There is a central area with a bar /restaurant and multiple pool area inside and out.
Hey, there was even crazy putting which wooshed me right back to one of my first holidays en famille..!
( cala san vincente- if I remember well)..
The wedding commenced at the town hall in Nantes presided by the depute mayor I believe and it runs similar to our registry office ceremonies and then it was off to the coast.
It was a cracking weekend weather wise , hot n sunny so I appreciated the location.
Without following a step by step detail of the occasion let me say it was a very relaxed, informal and joyous affair, the meal began around 2pm with drinks + nibbles and carried on with 4 /5 slow and very sociable and relaxed courses lasting into the evening. There were also a few games organised throughout the day which I believe is generally customary and which iIenjoyed, it makes the occasion a less formal, serious business and keeps you focussed on the celebratory and joyous nature of the event , oh and so did the free bar ..:)
One of the games had a search and find elimination aspect where there was a group of "the chosen" with 12 rounds of finding requested items ( a shoelace, lipstick etc) and last person back is out. The other side of this is when you are out you are given a forfeit comprising doing something for the newly weds throughout their first married year ( there were 12 contestants relating to the 12 months so each person would do something for the couple on their designated month and generally related to a traditional theme for that month) .The game naturally and enjoyably immediately descends into chaos as all suddenly race for a needed item amongst the rest of us, restaurant and outside. Its here I must duly thank Julie for getting me out of that one as all requests were obviously in French and I would have had to run to Julie first for a translation ...
.. But not the second game... I didn't know there was another game until I heard my name through the loud haler ( yup , loud haler at the wedding ..well, it worked!!)
So this game re-enacted a story of a king + queen on a journey in a horse drawn carriage with the horses , King + Queen driver etc depicted by the people involved in the game on chairs in the middle of the hall. The newly weds were obviously the king +queen. Every time your name was mentioned in the story you had to run round your chair and sit down again. The central character seemed to be the driver of the coach (...ME!!!) which resulted in the central character doing most of the running round the chair , there still remains a feeling of intentional choosing for that game...!
and i managed to inveigle myself thankfully out of singing scots songs to the whole party.. possibly through a pretty good impression of calvinistic abstinence ( on the singing front , not the drinking i may add..!)
It was a lot of fun and the whole group certainly celebrate without candour; there was some impromptu Breton songs sung wholeheartedly during the meal ( that's where my singing invitation came in - a tad out numbered surely!!); impromptu banging on tables by all for the next course - well, it is France , there is joy, wine and there needs to be more food: and finally ending in up with a whole latter part of the evening in weird and wonderful dancing - no names , they all know who they are!!!!!!!.. oh and Brioche served warm near the end (??!!) of the evening ...nice.
and just when i thought that was it , I was introduced to a couple of scots folk holidaying there, who we found out came from Partick, Glasgow, just round the corner from my flat ..!!!!!
( thanks to Gaetan for that one ..)
That was the Saturday ....and after a relaxed start and dip in the pool on Sunday , we all met again and re-commenced the celebrations , admittedly not to the same degree but a leisurely lunch taking up the whole afternoon. It is one thing I am learning that is done here extremely well, the leisurely meal ...fantastic.
So, my first French wedding and it was wholeheartedly joyous , lovely , and all were very welcoming and warm to a Scots interloper with a natural ( scottish..?! ) fondness for free drink and not much French, tho it must be accepted that I started out sporadic in my french conversations and near the end I would have it for the record that I was far more voluble ..I insist it works ...!!( so just remember that bottle of wine with the dictionary next time you go to learn a language)...
Thanks to both families + friends for all of the above..!!!!
..a special thanks and all goodwill to the lovely couple -Sandrine + Jeff ( and capucine ..)..xx
...and a unique mention to the " gypsy quoi's " ....
Friday, 20 June 2008
Macarons, religieuse et autre patisserie francaise...
Here we are again...I knew we should have just signed up for a foodie blog !
Before coming, food+ wine were already our favorite French topics...and it seems like we both trained each other and built up a mighty need of trying EVERYTHING you could ever dream of eating in France :)
Unfortunately, choices need to be made...
But you know us, we know where the good stuff is :)
I almost forgot about macarons myself, and really wondered how I could possibly forget about such a wonderful delight ..The great thing about macarons is that, getting back into fashion again, the best patissiers of France are now competing to create the most original flavour and its matching colour.Well informed by Mel a few months ago, we knew where to find the most amazing macarons of the world...
La Duree, of course.
And if you were in Paris, you just couldn't miss it..their little green bags wandering everywhere in Paris, carried by every true connoisseur ;)
(Along with the blue bag of Mariage Freres teas...which I still have to find.
..might be the mission of the week end...)For a start, you don't have to look for it for too long as the LaDuree restaurant chose the most famous avenue of France to display their sweet art, Les Champs Elysees. As well as the most famous, it's also one of the longest avenue, so you have to walk for quite a while before finding the place. (I suspect the greediest of us would learn which underground station is the closest to be able to get in the shop as soon as you arrive on the avenue..) Basically it gives you a pretty good excuse to reward yourself from a very boring walk ( Champs Elysees not having any other interest than LaDuree, especially when it's the only reason you're going there!)...
So, we eventually got there and went in..to find out we had to queue (who said French people didn't queue again???) behind about 30 other guilty people. I guess we were all in the same state deep inside." My GOooooooooooooood! So many choices! So many colours! What am I going to chose? How much should I spend? Look at that! mmmmmmm I want it! I want it! "
Cerise, Cassis, Framboise, Citron, Praline, Vanille, Chocolat, Caramel, Reglisse, Anis, Pistache, Menthe, Orange, vert, rose, rouge, jaune, noir,blanc, marron,violet...you don't know where to look and you have absolutely no idea which one you're going to get. It's good you have to queue to give you a bit of time to calm down and start thinking again :)
Anyway... enough words.
Here were our final choices...
Dark chocolate, Rosanis, Salted Caramel, Lemon, Blackcurrant, Cherry, Vanilla and Liquorice
White Chocolate + CherryPave
Cherry and Almonds religieuse
Voila..I thought we should share :)
xxx
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
A LIL INDULGENCE FOR A FRIEND.....
Firstly ,
this is probably not you're common or garden Paris post.
It is a more individualised affair, uniquely focussed on one particular shop i found once in Paris before and which i have been regaling particular friends with ( yes , Kelsie+ Mel its YOU...!!! ) for some time . It is wholeheartedly nothing but cooking implements , and if you knew Mel , then you would understand the salivating desire it will impart to her.!! It's also a wee postcard for Kelsie + Mel cos they were due in Paris this weekend but cant make it now .., so, sorry guys , you have to make to do with the piccies......
It's on about three floors and jam -packed ( pun(net ?intended..!)
with every concievable gadget , pan ,mould etc from the miniscule to the pre- revolutionary banquet..there are alleys just for different shapes and sizes of butter cutters ...!!!???
Anyway, its an unmissable thing for those afflicted with an overwhelming prediliction for all things culinary, kinda like a cooks pornshop ..?! ( admittedly its all staffed by middle aged guys in brown coats - i dont know if that helps or not...!!)
All i'm saying is i've been in at least
three times already ...!!!
for those that enjoy this kind of thing
..enjoy ( i guess i mean Mel ...!)
for those that dont ,
more regular postings to follow ...
this is probably not you're common or garden Paris post.
It is a more individualised affair, uniquely focussed on one particular shop i found once in Paris before and which i have been regaling particular friends with ( yes , Kelsie+ Mel its YOU...!!! ) for some time . It is wholeheartedly nothing but cooking implements , and if you knew Mel , then you would understand the salivating desire it will impart to her.!! It's also a wee postcard for Kelsie + Mel cos they were due in Paris this weekend but cant make it now .., so, sorry guys , you have to make to do with the piccies......
It's on about three floors and jam -packed ( pun(net ?intended..!)
with every concievable gadget , pan ,mould etc from the miniscule to the pre- revolutionary banquet..there are alleys just for different shapes and sizes of butter cutters ...!!!???
Anyway, its an unmissable thing for those afflicted with an overwhelming prediliction for all things culinary, kinda like a cooks pornshop ..?! ( admittedly its all staffed by middle aged guys in brown coats - i dont know if that helps or not...!!)
All i'm saying is i've been in at least
three times already ...!!!
for those that enjoy this kind of thing
..enjoy ( i guess i mean Mel ...!)
for those that dont ,
more regular postings to follow ...
Monday, 16 June 2008
Comment c'est arrive...
I didn't think I could ever be distracted from writing for so long..but I now know that you can be so busy that you almost forget the internet exists!!
I remember getting off the plane at the beginning of May and then time started running..While Ian was busy packing, packing, packing, I was busy trying to find a place for him to unpack :) It seemed to be quite hard work to find the perfect place as we imagined it...we first had to say a definite good bye to the castle..and then the farm house went away too, taking the huge oak table away with it..but I eventually found a flat near the river and now that i'm writing to you from our temporary tiny Parisian flat, I can fully appreciate the loveliness of it!
And after a week of painting, cleaning, Ikea(E-kea in French :)) visiting, stairs climbing (literally) and camping...we had to leave everything to dress up for my sister's wedding, eat, drink, party, then get on the train to Paris (just the time to recover) and start working again ( as if i ever stopped!!!)
I'm sure you'll be updated very soon with some new ramblings on our French way of life :)
Remind me to blog about Parisian women (in case Ian doesn't...) !
A tres vite!
bisous fous :)
jul
ps: Bon anniversaire Stuart!
I remember getting off the plane at the beginning of May and then time started running..While Ian was busy packing, packing, packing, I was busy trying to find a place for him to unpack :) It seemed to be quite hard work to find the perfect place as we imagined it...we first had to say a definite good bye to the castle..and then the farm house went away too, taking the huge oak table away with it..but I eventually found a flat near the river and now that i'm writing to you from our temporary tiny Parisian flat, I can fully appreciate the loveliness of it!
And after a week of painting, cleaning, Ikea(E-kea in French :)) visiting, stairs climbing (literally) and camping...we had to leave everything to dress up for my sister's wedding, eat, drink, party, then get on the train to Paris (just the time to recover) and start working again ( as if i ever stopped!!!)
I'm sure you'll be updated very soon with some new ramblings on our French way of life :)
Remind me to blog about Parisian women (in case Ian doesn't...) !
A tres vite!
bisous fous :)
jul
ps: Bon anniversaire Stuart!
j'arrive.......
Well, the first post , a little belatedly due to numerable factors some of which will be mentioned in posts further down the line, and some due to a willingness to embrace the French way of life immediately ..du vin, du cafe , a french wedding , du vin , du cafe...i think you get the idea...:)..
We are in Paris at the moment untill the end of June , Julie is working and , well, ..i'm not...and enjoying every minute ( more posts from Paris with more interesting stuff very soon..)....and a return to Nantes after that where our life commences.
So, have a look, check in to see whats been happening , where we've been , what we've been eating and drinking ( bisous a kelsie et mel!!!), who we've met, and hopefully lots of photos of the above and more ......
ps. hello to all friends and family , you can post messages here too....!
and now i'm hungry..............
We are in Paris at the moment untill the end of June , Julie is working and , well, ..i'm not...and enjoying every minute ( more posts from Paris with more interesting stuff very soon..)....and a return to Nantes after that where our life commences.
So, have a look, check in to see whats been happening , where we've been , what we've been eating and drinking ( bisous a kelsie et mel!!!), who we've met, and hopefully lots of photos of the above and more ......
ps. hello to all friends and family , you can post messages here too....!
and now i'm hungry..............
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