Q & A

Q: When did the French stop using the guillotine?

A: 1977!

Chez Achard

Went to Justine's house for dinner tonight!
We were supposed to be at their house at 7:00 (19:00) and my mom wanted to pick up peanut butter (for our sandwiches for the train tomorrow) on our way. So we left here about 6:15ish (18:15). Long and frustrating story short, we didn't get peanut butter and we arrived at the Achards at about exactly 7 o'clock.
Claire and Marion were there as well. It was so good to see them! We sat down to Chinese soup. It was quite good. I've never had it before and didn't know what to expect. I don't know how it is typically done, but we ate it serve-yourself style. They had a big bowl of the soup, which was mostly broth with some cut up peppers, some mushrooms, etc in it. Then they had little bowls of; bean sprouts, green onion, egg, ham, steak, chicken, shrimp, and such, plus a bowl of chinese noodles with seaweed. Basically you took some broth and put whatever of the other ingredients in that you wanted. It was delicious.
After the soup, we had cheese. Of course. They had 4 different kinds, two of which were goat. All delicious.
After cheese they brought out the chocolate fountain. YuuUuummm...
Justine's mom was in the kitchen, putting together the fountain and making the chocolate and we kept hearing lots of noise. Finally, Justine's dad comes out, to show us that her mom had broken the third bottom tier to the fountain. At first, I was sad cause I thought we wouldn't get to do the fountain. But then he just shrugged and said "oh well." Once everything was ready, they brought it all out.
They had; kiwi, apples, pineapple, banana, clementines, and marshmallows. My mom really went to town on the marshmallows (she also had the messiest plate by the end). After having our fill of delicious chocolate covered fruits, we all finished digesting and talked for a bit. It was a very enjoyable evening. Justine's parents gave us a book about Strasbourg (in english, thankfully, so I don't have to attempt to translate the whole thing), and her mom gave my mom a gift for my mom's birthday. It's a chocolate pumpkin, filled with fancy chocolates (picture coming soon). I also borrowed three movies from Justine; How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Chocolat, and Blue Crush. This will be good for mom and me over the next few weeks to relax and enjoy while eating her chocolate pumpkin.

Off to Italy tomorrow! We travel all day tomorrow, Saturday we wander, Sunday to a gallery, and Monday traveling home. Going to be a fun weekend!

A Tale of Me and My Big Fat Mouth

Well, I'm officially an idiot...

Last night, John and I were talking and he was telling me about a conversation he had with a buddy at work...

"So, what if Taylor says 'no'?" buddy from work asked

"Yeah, what if I say 'no'?" I said, jokingly...

"Well, then I will leave you at the airport and drive away." John

pause...

"What was that?" me

"I said 'then I will leave you at the airport and drive away'.." John

another pause...

"But how will you know at the airport if I say 'no'?" I ask... already knowing the answer

In short...John ruined his plan for how he was going to propose. But I feel like the idiot, because I helped ruin it. I should have kept my big mouth shut, and then he would have still been able to do it. I'm so mad...it would have been so cute! And now it's ruined... Stupid me.

Loire Valley Adventure Part 2

Sunday woke up and got breakfast. Then we met our taxi with our luggage and set out for Chenonceau. The ride there was pretty. Our taxi driver didn't say a peep the whole time because he didn't speak any english.
Once at Chenonceau, we got our tickets and left our luggage at the check. I got an audio guide, and then we wandered all through the castle. It was really cool. I didn't know anything about the castle, just that it was really popular. And now I know why. It is super cool.

It was really interesting to listen to the audio, and learn all about the things that happened. It also explained the hall over the river, and why it was built. After wandering through the castle, we got lunch in the cafeteria, in what used to be the Royal Stables. Then we wandered through the old farm, along with the vegetable garden where they grow vegetables and flowers used for arrangements in the castle today. We also wandered through the two gardens, one for Catherine de' Medicis, and one for Diane de Poitiers. These weren't quite as beautiful as they would have been had we gone in the summer. But it was still easy to imagine how gorgeous they probably are when they are all blossomed. It would also have been better had the backside of the castle not been covered up with renovation work.

Then we found the maze built for Catherine de' Medicis and had fun finding our way through it. After that we visited the gift shop, and then it was time to meet our taxi to go to the train station.
On our train from Amboise to Paris, there aren't assigned seats because it's an intercity train. Luckily, we got on one of the first stops, because a few stops after us, there were tons and tons of people waiting to get on. There weren't even enough seats, so people were standing at the doors and even down the aisles. They had to stand for a little over an hour. While my parents and I sat comfortably in our seats.

Loire Valley Adventure Part 1

Saturday morning, 5:15 wake up time, and off to Val de Loire. Our train from Strasbourg got into Paris Gare Est at 9:04, then we had to get to Gare Austerlitz for our 10:48 train. So we got metro tickets and rode to Austerlitz. Once there, we tried to find our train on the listings...but it wasn't there. My dad found an info desk to ask about it, only to discover that it was cancelled...awesome! Luckily, there was another train leaving an hour after our original scheduled one. So we hopped on that one. Huge misadventure averted.
We got into Amboise around 2:00ish (14:00) and walked from the train station to our hotel. Unfortunately...our hotel wasn't open until 3:00 (15:00). How this makes sense...I have no idea. But anyways, we were left with our suitcases. Luckily, they were small carry-on sized ones. So we found our way to Chàteau d'Amboise, figuring they would have a luggage check. The castle is conveniently located 5 minutes walking distance from our unopen hotel.
We got tickets and left our luggage at the front desk (including our coats), one misadventure averted...only to create another one. After you leave the ticket office, you walk back outside to get into the castle. Just as we had been entering the ticket office, it had started to rain. So now, we had to go quickly into the castle entrance to avoid getting cold and wet. Once inside, a nice surprise was waiting. There was a private (english) tour going on. So we followed after them and learned more than we would have about the castle.
Amboise doesn't have many rooms open, and the ones that are aren't as exciting, as say, Versailles, but it was still interesting. After going through the castle, people generally take time to walk around the gardens and grounds...seeing as it was raining and cold with us not having coats, we decided to make our tour of the grounds quick. Especially once I discovered that my umbrella enjoys turning inside out when the tiniest of breezes blows at it.

We went into the small chapel, where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried. Then we visited the gift shop, and finally deciding to head to our hotel. We collected our coats and luggage and checked into our hotel. We asked the guy at the front desk how to get to Chenonceau the next day, and he told us there was a bus, but he didn't know what one; so he suggested we go to the Office du Tourism. This we did, only to discover that there is no bus, or train (like I had thought) from Amboise to Chenonceau. Terrific! The woman at the tourism office told us the best way (unless you have bicycles and time) to get there is to take a taxi. Yay for our simple trip suddenly becoming very expensive!
After there, my mom wanted to find a wine tasting room. So we wandered down the road for a bit and found a good place. They tried Chinon 2004, 2005, 2006, Bourgeuil 2004, 2009, 1989, and Montlouis 2009. They bought a Chinon 2004 and Montlouis 2009. After this, we wandered through the little streets lined with cute shops. Then we found a good place for dinner.
We each got a Galette. Mine was with 4 cheeses, and delicious. The place we ate was teeny-tiny with probably only about 12 tables and one young kid serving all of them. It was really nice and cozy, and then at 8:00 (20:00) the owner (we think that's who he was) started playing the piano. He was a funny old guy. He would stop in between songs and drink some wine, or meander through the restaurant and talk to the customers. He came over and talked to us for a bit. My dad and him got to talking about jazz in America, and he said he'd play an Armstrong song that he could sing and play. He winked at my mom and said it was for her. After he finished playing, he came back over and shook my dad's hand and kissed my mom's hand. When he went back, she said all flustered, "He kissed me!" I just rolled my eyes...