Beignet Bliss

Ok here is pastry numer 3. This one was a doosey. It is a beignet with little delicious gifts on top. So I pass this cart every Wednesday on my way to class. It's a part of the Marché aux Fleurs (flower market). I've been looking at these things for a few weeks now and decided to go for it. My housemate got one a few weeks ago with chantilly (whip cream). But the gentleman said it was too hot for chantilly so I got it with confiture framboise (raspberrry jam). It is bascailly a doughnut without a hole in it. It was probably the heaviest pastry I've bought here. But worth it.


So also today marked the start of the Soldes! It is basically where all the magasins (stores, department stores, boutiques) get rid of all the winter stock. There are some pretty good deals, however I am shopping around like usual. I might miss out on some good deals because I am waiting. I did try on a Hugo Boss & Giverny suit this afternoon. Not sure if it's worth the hassel and stress when I don't understand EVERY word they're saying. So I told the guy I would maybe come back tonight. We'll see.

Well tonight we have a group farewell dinner at "Au Lapin Qui Fume" or the bunny who smokes. I am not sure if we'll be eating bunny or other things too? I guess I'll have a story to tell later.

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Pastry #2

So I know this is two posts in one day, but I've got another delicious pastry to share with all y'all.

This one had a long name that I cannot remember. Although it did have the word "chocolate" and "lait."

In my book those are 2 words that go together really well.
I bought this one from my favorite boulangerie here in Tours.

It was delicious and smooth. It had a hqrd chocolate shell with a soft chocolate mousse in the middle. The crust resembled that of a homemade cheesecake. Kind of gritty from the graham cracker.

So far I am 2 for 2 on my quest to try as many pastries as I can this week.

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Personal Mission

Ok. So this week I am on a personal mission to try a different pastry every day this week.

Yesterday I tried this wonderful treat. It was called "Caramel au beurre salé." It tasted like crème brulée.

It wasn't all that great. I don't think this is my "inner pastry." It still was delicious and I am excited to try more yummy treats.




So I do have a funny story to tell you about my dinner on Sunday. So we had turkey legs and rigatoni pasta with spaghetti sauce. It was kind of different. But my French mom asked if I wanted some Dijon mustard with my turkey. And I thought sure I guess I'm up for trying new things. So I stirred up the sauce and put some on my plate and then took a big piece of turkey on my fork. HOLY MOLY! It was like taking a big ball of wasabi and eating it plain. WOW I though that my eyes were going to pop out of my head. They watered so bad and my nose ran, I sweated, and my throat hurt. It was the most odd sensation ever! I don't think I want to do that again. I can't really describe the sensation. It was so intense.

Needless to say I didn't eat much more of that mustard.

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OK. This post just couldn't wait.

Last night I had one of the best meals ever. We had a fondue party at the restaurant "Le Souris Gourmand." How genius non?

So it was organized by the institute and there were only 9 of us. We ate in the basement of this restaurant and it was magical.

We had the choice of 3 different cheeses/plates. We could choose a Raclette, Savoyard, or Camembert. I chose the Camembert but shared the Raclette with the girl next to me.

It truly was a gourmand experience and I am very glad I did this. I looked at the box from the cheese and it said "270g" so I ate 270g of cheese...no problem. It was facile (easy).

And then for dessert we received this little gift from heaven. It was a chocolate tart. Oh my heavens. It was kind of like a warm custard texture. And the ice cream was extremely flavorful. I think it was a vanilla flavor but trop fort!

It was a great end to a perfect meal.

Fete de la Musique...ou de la bière.

Bon Bons Galore @ Fete de la Musique

OK. So last night was the Fete de la Musique. Or the French call it a Nuit Blanche (all nighter). There are 4 of them year and this was one of them. This was a pretty crazy night. It "starts" at 19:00 and lasted until 5:00am. I obviuosly did not last that long. I went out at 21:30 and stayed out until 1:00. It was prorably the most crazy thing that I have done.

There was so much drinking and smoking who knows what. Tons of underage drinking. We decided that this is probably one of the nights where many kids get drunk for the first time.

So I did have to recount a story of horror. So there is this square called Place Plume. It is the "hip" place for all the young adults to hang out. And some old adults too. But we made our way there to see what lusic was playing there. So we get to one of the skinny French side streets and it is wall to wall people and no body is moving. So Liz, Lydia, and I try to get through this wall of drunk stinky people to get into the square and I thought I was going to die or at least get beer dumped all over me.

Liz was gutsy and plowed her way through while Lydia and I weren't so agressive. Lydia and I were stuck behind a bunch of drunk French people and a women behind us pushing her baby stroller into our legs. So some "D.A." decided to get angry and starts pushing every which way. Lydia got trapped by the stroller and I couldn't move anywhere so I start falling and grab onto her to help keep my balance and then she is trying to hold drunk people off the women's stroller who is screaming that she has a baby. Phew! We didn't get trampled or beer on us and once we made it through there we left Place Plume decinding that it wasn't a very good idea. In fact, it was a "bad idée".

Needless to say Fete de la Musique was a good experience but nothing stupendous.

Last Saturday we also visited Amboise & Blois. I have visted Amboise before so I didn't want to go into the castle and 2 other girls didn't either. So we decided to take a walk through Amboise to find the Pagoda. Yes a Chinese pagoda in the heart of France. I didn't quite understand the history behind it but we created our own story which was better.

After the pagoda (which was like 5k out of Amboise) we met the grouo at Chateaux Clos Lucé. This is the house of Leonardo di Vinci. It was amazing! And the gardens were even more amazing. I loved it so much. In the garden you were able to play with his inventions. It was very interactive. I was happy to have spent 8,00 euros on it.

Blois was just that Blois. We didn't have a lot of time to visit that town. The castle had already closed so we walked through the town and I had a great grand chocolat chaude! Délicieux. Maybe I will go back some other time. It was a very quaint little French town.

At many of these chateaux the walking on the grass is 'interdit' or forbidden. But the French, like the English, are so polite about it.

The sign at the Clos Lucé said "thank you for respecting the grasses." Very funny. I instantly thought about my mother and her lawn. That she needs one of these signs.

Finally my house mates. Danielle & Laurent Mauclair, and Kerstin. They are great to live with. I really get a long with them all. Laurent is a joker and loves to make fun of us. And I am beginning to get him back. Danielle explains things to us when Laurent speaks too fast. He is like the ever ready rabbit!

Kerstin leaves this Friday night so I am going to be alone at the Mauclair's for one week without her to help me...Yikes!

I did go to church this past Sunday. It felt good. It is a very small branch of about 30-45. They are usually excited for the summer to have many students from Utah come to populate their congregation. There were 8 students there on Sunday. And they made me say the prayer during sacrament. And believe it or not. I did it in French! Yep and I was copmplemented by my family. Oh that brings something else to mind. My host family rotates saying the prayer and they always ask Kerstin to say it but she doesn't. And I say it occassionally too. I am getting some good practice. A least that is something that they don't make fun of me. Or attack me on.

France is going great and I am loving being bilingual. I love speaking French every day and learning new things all the time. I better find a job here so that I can learn to make viennoiseries and other pastries.

Well until next time.

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Bonjour...Another enstallelent in the Tours saga.

The above picture was taken at the most plus chic McDonald's I've ever been in. Look at that landscape! It's gotta be chic non?

Anyways we (Kerstin & I) decided to walk home from Tours- probably 4-5 miles. And we stopped at McDonald's (They call it Mac Doh's) to get a frappe. Basically what we know as shakes. Mine was peach. The interior was all mahogaony wood and stainless steel. It was amazing.

This is the facade of one of the buidling at the Institute de Tourraine. This is a pretty cool school to be going to I think. In some of the top rooms they are all decorated like typical French buildings. They are guilded in gold and paintings with giant chandeliers in the middle.

The other week. I think last week. I went to eat at a new place.

So to give you some background. There are a ton of restaurants here who advertise Kebabs. There is a lot of Indian influence here. So some friencds said that we were going to try this kebab place. And well they are not kebabs. If you look at that picture. That's a pita with french fries.

It was very greesy and a little messy. But still pretty delicious. Also do yo notice that plastic thing on the side? It FRY SAUCE! Yeah fry sauce in France at an Indian restaurant. It was pretty good. Nothing like our fry sauce at home. But still it was fry sauce.

Last week I also visited Chenanceau. This is a castle that I have already visited back in 2005 when Haley, Mme Horsley, and I traveled there. The only reason I wanted to see if something was still there. When we were there before Haley & I carved our names on some columns near the castle. So I went on a hunt to try to find them. And voila! They were still there at eye level. It was worth the money and time. I truely adored it.

On Sunday our host family took us to Usee. It's about 20km from Tours in the direction of Villandry. Anyway this is the castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty. So this castle is now one of my favorites. Because they have Disney music playing throught the castle and there are manequins throughout the castle dressed in costumes. It was really cool. We got to climb to the top of this castle and look at the wonderful country side of this quaint town.

I also had my birthday this past Monday. How lucky is that? I have been able to have 2 birthdays in France in my life. I turned 19 in 2005 in Paris. And now 24 in 2010 in Tours. GREAT! And I had some of the best food in my life that day. Well let's just say pasteries.

That is what is called a religieuse. It is basically two round eclairs stacked on top of each other. Probably the most amazingly delicious thing I've ever put in my mouth.

In French I have not been able to find a word or an expression that corresponds to what I've just told you. So imagine that. 2 scrumptious eclairs filled with delicious chocolate creme. One on top of the other. Probably about the same calories as a Big Mac or a Carl's Jr cheeseburger. But obviously the better choice.

This week has turned out to be a good one so far. Although it is raining and cloudy. Could someone please tell the weather man to make the sun come out in Tours. Please. I'm cold.

Until next time.

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A weekend in Paris

Oh my heavens. I just just got back from a weekend in Paris! It was probably the best time ever! I left Tours on Friday afternoon right after school and rode the TGV to Paris. I don't understand why America doesn't have a TGV these things are amazing. It took me about 1 hour to get to Paris from Tours by train and by bus it was 3 hours!

So I arrived before my friends and went to check into the hotel. After I had to go play cat and mouse in Gare du Nord. I thought it would have been easier to find them there...nope. It was so difficult. But finally found them and took them back to the hotel.

As soon as we dropped our bags off...we were gone outta there. We did so much on Friday night. We went to get a crepe first thing of course. After that we walked to the Eiffel tower. Met some professor and his daughter from BYU in line and walked to the top. Yes we walked to the 1e etage and then took the elevator to the very top. This was so fun but very exhausting! After spending a few hours there we walked to the Arc de Triomphe.

By this time we needed some food so we found a cafe to eat at. Jeff (my friend) and I split a fois gras and I got chicken.

After recharging we headed out again. We went to the Eiffel tower again. Then to Sacre Coeur and Montmartre. Afterwords we braved the red light district and walked to the Moulin Rouge. This was a little scary on a Friday night in Paris. We had one girl and 3 guys so I told Emily to walk between us because those men were eyeing here. Disgusting!

We finally got to the hotel at 2am. What a night!

Saturday was fun too, of course. We went to Roland Garros hoping someone would feel bad and give me a ticket. It didn't happen. But we wandered the grounds and looked for stars. I took lots of pictures.

We then did a lot more walking.

This was a crepe/gelato filled weekend. I have never eaten so much in my life. It was 2-3 hours between "meals." But I am not complaining one bit. It was super amazing! I love crepes and think I should open a crepperie in SLC. Don't y'all think it'll work? I do.

Sunday my train was delayed 2 hours. So I didn't get back to Tours until 10:30pm. That wasn't too bad. The train was quiet and confortable...except for the bathroom. I almost lost it in there. It smelled like an outhouse and my feet stuck to the floor. It was a little gross. Actually it was a lot of gross!

Now I am back to school finished with another day. I am going to try to go to Family Home Evening here with the missionaries. It should be fun. Also next week is stake conference in Le Mans, France so I might be going there next Sunday.

Well until next time.

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Bonjour Tours

I have arrived in Tours.

I arrived in Paris at 11h in the morning. The flight was OK. It was direct from SLC to Paris. I dat next to a man from Texas who was originally from Uzbekistan. So he had a thick Russian accent but he instited on talking the entire flight. So he did. He told me that he only speaks the scientific language so he wanted to practice his conversational English.

After we arrived at the airport we waited for 2h until the bus left for Tours. The bus ride was too long. I think I would have rather taken the train, much faster. I think I slept a lot on the bus...it was i,possible to stay awake.

Finally we arrived around 5h-5h30. So when we arrived there was a festival of wine in the geande park. So there were a lot of people there. The families would come and pick us up at the bus stop. I waited and waited and waited for my family and they never arrived. Finally the bus driver had to call them and finally we found that they were waiting at the train station...not the bu station. So they came racing over to get me. It was quite funny. They were very apologetic. They said that all the other students they'd had arrived by train. So they were not expecting that I would come by bus.

Finally we arrived at the house. It's a great little house. It's further from the town centre than I would've liked...but I guess that is what you get for living with Mormons.

I am living with Danille and Laurent Mauclair. They are very French. They don't speak English...or at least not much. It makes it pretty hard to express myself at the house. But I think it will be better for me. But I feel BAD because I can't understand everything or respond intelligently to them either.

Yesterday for lunch we spent too many euros. I spent 10 euro on an omlette. But today I spent I bought a sandwich for 3 euros. At a delicious boulangerie. It was a chicken sandwich in a pita. The baguettes here cost 0.80 euros. They are very cheap!

Yesterday we had to buy a bus pass. So we went to the place to buy them and that was interesting. Because I was a translator for another girl who didn't speak French well enough to understand the lady at the desk. It was a little hard. But we got a great souvenir now. It is a "multi-pass."

Today after class got out. Which by the way is VERY long! I thought it was going to be 4h/day. No it is more like 5-6h/day. I am very tired at the end of the day. In the morning there is written comprehension and expression. In the afternoon there is oral comprehension & expression. Then a class of our choice. I went to français juridique. Which is like French law...or something like that. We talked about some seriously hard things. So after school we went for a walk and it rained. So we found shelter under a café and drank some hot chocolate. Mine was with orange syrup...delicious.

We finally made it home tonight around 7h30. And we are tired. We ate soup and egg pancake things. They were pretty good. We eat bread and cheese everynight also. I don't know how they stay thin. At dinner we have 3-4 choices of cheese. And they eat a lot of yogurt too. Every morning and evening.

Well it is now 22h23 (10:30pm). I should get to bed.

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à bientot.