Mercedes and Ferrari and Bugatti..Oh my!

Today was an excellent day!
We woke up early and headed out. Our first stop was Colmar. Where we wandered around the Vieille Ville (Old City) for awhile and saw La Maison des Têtes...which actually took us quite some time to find.
We got lunch from one of the little shops, and my mom got a dessert...that we quite enjoyed. It was a chocolate layered cake with ganash on top...delicious. It came wrapped in paper, but then wrapped with a plastic cover to keep it from smearing everywhere. After she had finished devouring the cake (don't worry, my dad and I did get some bits) she then licked the wrapper. My dad came over, collecting our trash and asked if she was done. She pulled that wrapper so quickly away! How dare he try to take away her chocolatie wrapper! It was quite entertaining to watch her practically eat the plastic.
After our lunch we wandered a bit more, found La Maison des Têtes, which took us more to the center of Colmar, just outside of the Vieille Ville. So we looked around there for a bit, until it was time to move on to our next stop.

We drove to Mulhouse, to Le Musée National de l'Automobile. I thought this would be very boring. But it actually turned out to be kind of fun. The museum was actually a private collection of a guy named Schlumpf. Basically he just had this collection of cars (that he had to of been working on for years and years and years) and it became a museum. Now, I'm no good at math, but I know that their was a car worth atleast $1 million...and there were a couple other cars that my dad said went for upwards of $5 million at auction years ago...plus the other probably 300 cars in the place...and your looking at a LOT of money. And most of the cars weren't modern day ones. They were original Bugattis, from when cars first came about.
At first you walk through a dark area with screens playing different videos with old cars in them. Then you walk past an area that you walk through again on your way out. At last, you enter a very large room that has rows and rows set up of cars through the ages.
As you weave through these rows, there are rooms that you can go in and see more specialty cars, or a demonstration, or whatever. But at the end of the room, there's a special area set aside. As you walk over, you can see a car on a platform that is spinning. The whole area around it is dark, except for spotlights just on this car.
For someone who knows nothing about cars...I could tell this one was a big deal. It was painted a black that had a midnight blue undertone in the light, with royal blue accents. There was a video explaining a bit about the car...and wow! Some of the things I remember are...

The Bugatti Veyron

• it goes from 0 to 100km in 2.5 seconds
• it has 16 cylinders!
• it has 1001 hp
• it is the fastest "luxury" car in the world
•  and it's worth about $1 million 

I don't know much about cars...but I do know that my little 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee, has 6 cylinders, and can't even do 0 to 20 in 2.5 seconds.

Now it was about 4:45 (16:45) and we needed to meet Justine and her parents for dinner at 7:30 (19:30) in Strasbourg. So we headed out, knowing that somewhere up the road was an extensive traffic jam. And extensive is understating it.
We meet Justine and her parents right on time though! Literally, at 7:31 (19:31). It was awesome.
We all went to a Lebanese restaurant for Justine's mom's (Viviane) birthday. Restaurant Beyrouth. I have never had Lebanese before, and didn't know what to expect.
We sat down and her parents ordered. I don't know what it was called, but it's basically a meal that you order and they bring you and assortment of dishes. You each take a bit of whatever dishes you like and eat with a very thin bread, rather than silverware. There were 22 different dishes. And I enjoyed most of the ones that I tried.
I don't know any of the names of the dishes, but there were some humus ones, some that were a bit like salsa (only not spicy), a "cucumber yogurt" they called it (but it was very tart), and lots of other different dishes.
After this, they invited us out for ice cream, in Germany! So we went back to the cars, Justine coming in ours in order to direct us where to go, and we went over to Germany! We went to a really cool ice cream shop that you go in and sit down at, or you can walk up to the ice cream  counter and just get some boules (scoop) to go.
I had zitron -German- (lemon) and vanille -German-. It was funny, because now we were in Germany. So as Justine is helping me with the flavors of all the ice creams, she has to translate from German, to French, to English. And she doesn't remember much of German from high school, so she had to ask her mom for some help (who is the only one at the table that speaks German). The best part about the whole thing...we were an American family, in an Italian ice cream shop, in Germany, out with a French family. I don't think you can get more cultured than that!
Justine's mom was telling us that the owners of the shop, are actually Italian, and go back to Italy every year to make new flavors to bring back here to sell. It was really interesting.
So all in all, a very good day! And also very exhausting!

My mom's very delicious dessert (and we counted, by the way...she had three desserts today.

1. cake
2. ice cream from colmar
3. apple strudel in Germany

The Veyron

Justine and my boules (with my mom's strudel in the background)

Getting Lost...check!

And the adventures keep on rolling!
Mom and I decided to make a lunch and take it to L'Orangerie, a good sized park just on the outskirts of downtown Strasbourg. It's just a block away from the European Parliament building, so I thought we could see that as well.
The original plan was to take a bus, tram, bus directly to L'Orangerie. But then I was like, "well, the tram stop isn't far, we can just walk, rather than get onto the bus." Then we changed our minds again and decided to go to the Parliament first, and then to L'Orangerie. Bad idea...
We got to the Parliament building just fine. Then we ended up walking allllll the way around it to try and get a bearing for where we were. Which never really happened. We ended up getting stuck in the same general area for about...20 minutes. Just walking in circles and pointing in every direction, and ruling out every direction.
Let me pause for a moment and tell you just how very much I hate standing in front of a landmark, people (French people) milling around, and looking so blatantly touristy and American, with your nose pushed into five different maps and pointing all around you...not fun. No sir...
Finally, after getting a bit frustrated, we just decided to get onto a tram that would take us to a bus that we knew would take us directly in front of L'Orangerie (this seems like a big deal...hopping from tram to bus to bus to tram...etc. But it's actually very convenient and easy. The French just know how to do public transportation the right way!).
So we hiked back to the stop we'd gotten off before, and got on the tram. The next stop, was a stop we had been standing at 20 minutes ago, scrutinizing and comparing the tram's map to our map. This was my first moment of, "wow...I feel ridiculous."
Then, we rode this for maybe...two more stops and got off, hopping onto the bus. This was about four stops...four stops that were about 20 feet away from each other. As I was watching out the bus windows, knowing our stop was next, I saw L'Orangerie. This was my final moment of..."wow...I feel really ridiculous."
We had only been around the corner from it! Just unable to figure out where to go because we couldn't see around the large Parliament building. Oh well...now we know not to try to find L'Orangerie from Parliament. The funny thing about the whole situation, is that after getting there, and seeing how to get there, we still can't figure it out on the map!
Lesson of the day:

While trying to get somewhere, figuring out your tram and bus stops is the easy part. The second you step off the platform...your lost.

We enjoyed our lunch while sitting on a bench in a rose garden. Then we got up and wandered around the park. We found  a waterfall, and a really awesome gazebo. The ceiling was painted to look like etchings. It was really neat. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the inside. But if we ever go back, I will.

You can see a little of the painting in the picture on my mom's blog.
After walking for a bit we sat and read for awhile. Soaking up some late summer sun. As we sat, a bride and her new husband came with their wedding party and a photographer and took pictures. They took some standing inside a weeping willow leaning out over the pond. Her dress was beautiful. Creamy chiffon, tapering in the front to accentuate the flow of the material.
About 5 minutes after they arrived, another newlywed couple came through with their photographer. I guess we chose the best place for taking wedding photos in Strasbourg!

The Great Fly Inquisition!

Today was another lazy down around the house. Just some housework and a quick stop at the store was all that was on our agenda.
But during the day, it's nice to have the windows propped open to allow the fresh country air to filter through... the only problem... the flies. Les mouches! None of the houses here have screens on their windows. We asked Justine's family about this the other night, and they just shrugged. They, being in the city, don't really have a fly problem. But we do.
All day long you're able to see at least two flies zooming around the living area. My theory is that they are drawn her because of the restaurant directly across the street. There's also a smell drifting around occasionally of horses or cows. It's possible that a nearby corn field uses a manure fertilizer. But, for whatever reason, the little pests are never far away.
This afternoon, it was simply too much! I closed the windows and stalked the living room with one of the small couch pillows. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that I have inherited my mothers brilliant fly killing expertise. Today, I think the score was

Mom : 6        Me : 2. 

Very sad. I'll have to find a good technique!
My mom had a few moments of down time to go fly hunting. At first, she was just using a pot-holder...then she realized how gross it was to be killing flies with a kitchen utensil. So she grabbed the manual for our washing machine/dryer, rolled it up and went on the hunt.
At one point she smacked the wall not three inches from my head, not only missing the fly, but scaring the ba-jeepers out of me. Then she saw one dozing on the floor and was on the prowl.
Like a lioness kills food for her cubs, this fly wasn't getting away, no sir! She crept up behind it...and BAM! "Got it." 5 seconds later she'd killed a second. Merrily scooping him up and saying "and your brother too!" I have to applaud her skills.

Before our little fly killing spree, I went wandering around our village for the first time (other than just walking to the bus stop and the grocery store). I wandered into the center, past our tiny Cathedral. Enjoying the beautiful flowers everywhere and the quaint, Alsacian style homes.

Our local Mairie, town hall, with gorgeous flowers spilling from every windowsill, and framing the entrance.

the Artisan Boulangerie, bakery, down the corner from us. Closed at the moment because the woman that runs it was taking her lunch.

La poste, the post office

Our local église (church), or Cathedral, if you like. I am able to see the steeple from my bedroom window.

Our only rond-point, roundabout. These are the equivalent of intersections (major intersections) in America. So basically our town is so small it has only one major intersection!

One of the more "run-down" houses. Basically, all the houses are about the same age...just well kept. This one just shows the age of the town.

IKEA

Tonight we all ventured to IKEA. My parents aren't enjoying their french style pillows (which are squares, and very flat), so they wanted to get some from IKEA.
Not surprisingly, it took us FOREVER to get to there. What is it about IKEAs being impossible to get to? You can see the big, blue building...but you can't get to it!
My dad knew where it was, sort of. Long story short...it took us about 45 minutes to get there.
Then we wandered around, found the pillows, and my mom found some tupperware. She also found measuring spoons (pictured above) and suggested we get them since there aren't any at the house, and when we return to the U.S. I can take them to the apartment I'll be moving into. It was only when we were in the car that I really looked at them, and realized that they had European measurements...as in the metric system. From biggest to smallest, it goes; 100 mL, 15 mL, 5 mL and 1 mL. I can't help but laugh at the fact that we didn't stop to think about the fact that they would be metric measuring cups. Such a stupid american mistake to make!

The Quest for peanut butter!

Slept in till 11:30 today. Got up and relaxed for a little bit. Then my mom and I headed out for the super-marché in our town. Ours is a small E.Leclerc.
We needed to get some kitchen necessities, and ingredients for my no-bake cookie recipe. This, we knew, would be interesting. Surprisingly, we found everything we needed!
The butter was easy to find...not so easy to decipher which kind we needed. Sugar was a piece of cake (pun intended ;D  ). Then we found the cocoa, which we couldn't find at first, but found by the hot chocolates. Oats were pretty easy to find. What wasn't so easy to find, was the peanut butter. For those who don't know, the french don't really eat peanut butter...like...ever.
First we looked by the nuts, no luck. My mom said, while we were standing looking over the bags of nuts, "We might have to buy some peanuts and smash them up." My reply being, to look for peanut butter even harder. Next we went to the Nutella, and voila! Peanut butter! There was one brand, one size. Ethiquable is the brand, and the peanut butter is from Nicaragua! It's some good stuff!!


Once home, my mom attempted to start working on a spreadsheet that she needs to set up as a sort of cheat sheet for helping to pay her bills. This happened was supposed to be happening while I made the cookies...it didn't happen. But the cookies turned out wonderfully, especially considering I did it without measuring bowls or spoons!
Then we had a chance to skype with Lindsey, Carter and Kenadee. Which didn't go too smoothly. We had a bad connection between the computers, but we were still able to talk for a bit. It was really nice to see them again! Carter kept saying "guess what!" and then telling us a story, sometimes he didn't have a story to tell though.

After talking with them, I ended up taking a little cat nap. When I woke up and went downstairs, my mom was skyping with Logan and Whitney (she still hadn't gotten any work done). After talking with them, it was time to get ready to go to Justine's house for dinner. My dad got home and we all left.

We had no troubles getting to their small city, just outside Strasbourg, called Illkirch. But once we got to the street, I had a hard time remembering which building it was.
They live in an apartment building that is surrounded by lots of other apartment buildings. So we ended up driving all around and I kept looking at all building going "Oh! It might be that one!! ... Oh wait...no, it isn't that color" or "Oh...no, it's not the same patios..." etc.
But after driving in a loop, I was looking at a building that I had earlier thought was maybe it, and I just knew it was the one. So I told my dad to stop a second and hopped out of the car. I ran over to the door that I thought was the door to their entrance where you take an elevator up to their floor. It was it! I remembered!
So we parked and rang the doorbell. Justine was waiting for us when we stepped out of the elevator and let us in to their apartment. Her parents and her brother (plus his pitbull, which is actually a really friendly sweet girl) greeted us with french kisses. French greeting kisses...not the kind of french kiss your thinking of!!! Just a simple air kiss to each cheek. The men shook hands.
Dinner was delicious! We sat and talked for a bit and had appetizers. Then we all gathered around the table and had a wonderful meal.
Justine's parents had prepared lamb, a potato dish, frites (french fries), and salad. It was all pretty good, except the lamb which I didn't eat. After the dinner we had cheese and bread.
They had a selection of cheeses. One of them was an Alsatian cheese, that is quite potent and stinky, but very good. I really like it, and had tasted it when I was here, living with them. My dad tried it and said he liked it. Mom wasn't feeling adventurous enough to try. They also had Babybel, because they knew that I ate it at home.
After, we had a homemade tarte fromage (cheesecake). But their cheesecake is very different from that at home. It's much fluffier, and much more airy, but has a richer taste. And it's made with cheese! WOAH! Crazy! It was delicious.
Justine's mother had also bought another cake for us to have if we chose. It had layers, and was topped with all sorts of fruits. I didn't try it, but it did look pretty good. And of course, my no-bake cookies.
The conversation was very good. They told us about all sorts of places in Europe. And also about some places we should stay away from around the Strasbourg area. They also told us about an interesting meat fact.
**Lesson of the day!**

If on a package or menu it says "rossbif", then it's not beouf (beef) it's actually...horse : (  But if it says roti boeuf then it's beef.

 I was very glad they told us this. I would hate for my parents to be eating it and then find that out later...after it is too late.

Back home, and off to bed for my parents. But then Brandon messaged me on skype, so my parents came back down and talked for a bit with them.

All in all, a pretty good day! Especially for the rainy weather and bus strike!

p.s. did I mention the key to our gate is a skeleton key?! hyper cool!!

Home Sweet Home

Welcome!

The entry way

Walking into the 

living room/kitchen

The stairs are pretty treacherous

Hallway between bedrooms

My bedroom

Love my skylight!

Don't love my dresser space...

Across the hallway to my parents room

This is where Frank (our ghost; who followed us all the way here from our house in Grand Rapids, Michigan) lives

Along with our ironing board

Yup, tiny stairs...

and our tiny car!

So that's our home here in France. I like it! With the exception of no oven in the kitchen!

So today, my mom and I braved the bus and tram routes. Not before having a very deliciously french breakfast. While my mom struggle to get out of bed, I sat and had toast with framboise jam, a cup of hot chocolate, and a small glass of juice. Yum!

We left the house sans tickets and knowledge of the routes. But once we got to the bus stop (located just around the corner from our house, conveniently enough) I was able to decipher the map. 

Once on the bus, I talked to the bus driver (in french!) and got my mom and I aller-retour tickets for  € 1,40 each. We took the #22 bus to the Lingolsheim Alouettes stop. There we got off and got onto the B tram, taking this to the L'Homme de Fer stop in Strasbourg. All-in-all is was a very uneventful, safe, non-stressful adventure. Just the kind I like! 

Then we found Justine and she helped us get a bundle of cts tickets for the tram/bus routes. After, we got lunch at Bretzel Burgard in Place Kléber. I got a sandwich with tomatoes, mozzarella, and olive oil with basil spices. The best part about it though, was that the bread was pretzel! It was shaped like a tiny baquette, but was all browned on the outside and fluffy on the inside like a pretzel! 

After lunch we wandered through some shops. I got Carter and Kenadee surprises. By now it was about 4:30ish (16:30), so it was time to head home. We bid Justine au revoir, and hopped back on our tram home. 

Walking back from the bus stop, we stopped into the boulangerie/patisserie and got a baguette to go with our dinner. As we strolled back to our house, I nibbled on the end of the baguette, thinking, "just how french I am." 

"It's obvious that your an American when you have more soda in your cart than wine!"

After waking up at 2:30 (14:30), it took a minute to get oriented. I went downstairs and found my parents relaxing in the living room/kitchen. I grabbed a chunk of baguette and nibbled it as we discussed the days plans.

It was decided that we definitely needed to go to the grocery store. So we all got dressed and ready to go.

We went to the Simply super-marché in a small town not far from ours. To abbreviate the adventure in one word...

embarrassing

I don't think there was a single person in that market didn't know we were Americans. My parents found the biggest cart they could, and filled it with their American necessities. Cereals, bags of chips and cookies, cans of cocoa-cola light, 2 two liters of pepsi max, pre-sliced loaf of bread, and a giant bag of peanut m&m's to munch on for my mom.

Needless to say, I wandered away from the cart and my parents as often as possible. But the one place I couldn't escape was the check-out. We of course didn't have any of our own "grocery bags." So we had to buy the plastic ones the store provides. But we had so many groceries (much more than probably any french family has bought on one trip to the grocery store) that we had to buy quite a few bags, not knowing how many we actually needed.

While my mom and I (mostly me because my mom kept leaning over me to try to see the total amount) were bagging the groceries, the cashier had to send our fruit away with a stocker because, of course, we hadn't pre-stickered them using machines in the produce area. Now we are standing there, waiting for our fruit to come back stickered, holding up the line, our groceries filling up the cart, and feeling thoroughly embarrassed for being so thoroughly American.

After that fun excursion, we had to hurry back to the house to prepare for a dinner at my dad's managers house. The groceries were quickly put away (my mom stating that we won't be able to buy many frozen foods because our small freezer area in the refrigerator can only hold one ice cream (at which I just rolled my eyes)) and then a quick change of clothes. We hopped in the car, and on our way we went.

The drive should only have taken us about a half hour. We were supposed to be there at 7:30 (19:30), but after getting back to the house late from grocery hell, my dad said we should get there about 8:00ish (20:00). Which, if you get lost going from Holtziem to Lamperthiem, works out just perfectly! Technically, the drive should only have taken us about 20ish minutes...we made it into about 45ish minutes.

My dad's manager, Remi, and his wife, Adeline, were very nice. They spoke amazing english (which was good for my mom) and were very welcoming. They had three children, under 9, that were very rambunctious but hyper adorable. They went to bed while we ate our dinner. All in all, it was a very calming end to a very stressful day.

Today, Sunday 5 Sept, I choose to stay at the "flat" while my parents headed out to Le Petit France. I decided I was done with adventures for a day. Plus, I need to figure out where I'm going to put all my clothes, considering I have no closet, and only a tiny dresser (that is smaller than me) with four drawers...I guess we'll see!!