Show me the...

Monet!

As stated previously, I've been waiting to use this title on my last France trip post.  Totally worth it.  

Alternate titles were way suckier:  "Monet makes the world go round", "The Full Monet", or "How many more damn posts is she going to write about one f&%ing trip???"

These pictures probably don't need much explanation.  Dan and I spent our last day in France driving on tiny winding roads in Giverny, passing these shockingly yellow fields:

I know Monet is kind of a one-trick pony with his messy-close-up-but-pretty-far-away works.  I know that his prints of his paintings of lilypads hang in every dentist waiting room in the country because they just have to be soothing.    Still, I always thought it would be neat to visit the place he gathered his inspiration for his works.  I actually thought his gardens were almost as dreamy.

Camera use was strictly forbidden in the house, but I was okay with it because it wasn't quite as magical as the outside.  It was cute, though.  He was really into pastels, as you could probably guess from his saccharine paintings.  Like his entire dining room was a butter yellow, right down to the curtains and chairs.  His bedroom was lavender.  There was a mint green studio.  It was like an Easter basket in there.

Again, not much to explain.  Just slashes of color everywhere and wannabe Monets kneeling down to sketch, like these cute kids on a field trip.

We got to check out the lilypads and this bridge that launched a thousand paintings:

 Kind of made me want my beret and easel myself.

Anyway, fast forward a couple hours, we drove back to Paris and had one last taste of food we couldn't pronounce, while the rest of the evening was all about taking a final quickie tour of Paris at night.

We capped off our trip with one last view of the hourly Eiffel Tower light show. 

Bling blizzle.

Thanks for virtually stowing away in our suitcases!

The Art of French Eating

When Dan and I were planning our France trip, we both listed several "must do's". 

Mine kinda went like:

* Eiffel Tower

* Mona Lisa

* Eat crepes...

* and chocolate eclairs..

* and pommme tart...

* and profiteroles with chocolate sauce

Nailed it.

We're serious about eating well while on a budget when we travel.  I found a kick ass website about the best bakeries in France that I printed and carried everywhere, and Dan humored me by gorging alongside.  One thing to note for this food post: since I was trying to be as non-annoying as humanly possible (seeing that not speaking the language already set me waaay back), I kept my nicer camera put away.  It just seemed too touristy and tacky to whip it out.  I did covertly snap a handful of blurry pictures with my smaller camera, sans any flash, when the waiter was away, but I'll use borrowed pictures from the interweb to depict the dishes I couldn't capture. 

Anyway, on to the food!

Ten Best Indulgences in France,

in no particular order

1.  Drink-off tie:  This Parisian bellini that was all ready to go to a rave, glow stick and all.   Techno music time:  Mmmmm.... ssssss... mmmmm....sssss!

Tied with...

2.  The homemade cider in Brittany was no joke since it went down like apple juice and they served it in teacups that were decievingly bigger than one might think.  I'm a little loopy in the below picture after only two:

3. Escargot-  I had never had this dish before, but I loved, loved, loved it, ordering it in three different restaurants.  If you've never had it before, it tastes a tiny bit like soft calamari with a glorious garlicky, buttery sauce that you can use sop up with bread.  Plus, you can have your Pretty Woman moment when using the tongs. 

Via here

4.  French onion soup-  I mean, look at that bubbling cheese.  No, that's not my picture (see above:  photos in restaurants = justifiably pissed off waiters), but it looks like every bowl I had.

via here

5.  Beef Bourguignon-  I had always been intrigued about this after seeing Julie and Julia.  Dan and I both had it one really cold night in Dinan, and they brought out little cast iron pots of this pot roast.  Coziest meal ever.

6.  Crepes and galettes-  This was actually one meal that skeeved me out when they first placed it down because the egg yolk almost looked raw.  I guess us Americans are hyper vigilant about cooking temperatures and such.  Then, I finally started thinking "Mmm.. salmon" instead of "Uh-oh, salmonella", I resolved to eat around the center, and it was damn tasty. 

When the waitress came back, she rolled her eyes at the sight of the lone yolk, though.

7.  Profiteroles-  This was probably my favorite of all the desserts.  Nothing could beat decadent ice cream/mousse inside a puffed pastry with hot chocolate drizzed on top and fresh grated coconut.  Just... wow.   

Via here since mine didn't come out

8.  Creme Brulee-  Excuse the blurriness, but Mr. Fire Marshall was so funny about letting it burn out on his own.  Safety first!

9.  Pastries from Lauderee:

I already told you about these, but it bears repeating.  If you go to Paris, go to a store, close your eyes, and point.

10.  Jacques Genin Bakery:  Dan and I spent about an hour trying to find this place because I heard they are the best.  It was time well spent.  We ordered super soft salted caramels, bittersweet eclairs, and the most amazing lemon tart I've ever had. 

The best part though was that we went the day before Easter, so the owner had an art gallery of chocolate figurines set up.  I was too shy to take pictures inside, but I should have.  The bear in the display window was cute and all, but the inside ones, hand painted with colored sugar, were completely edible modern pieces of art.  It was the candy equivalent of the Louvre.

Side note:  I had a Lean Cuisine and a stale granola bar for dinner tonight.  I think it's safe to say that I miss the food!  :)

Pardon my French

Pardon my French trip posts because I totally get that more than, say, three posts about the same topic is a little annoying.   I'm on post four, and I still have two more I want to write, complete with really funny punny titles.  Like "Show me the Monet" for our trip to Monet's house.  When I thought of that one, I snorted because it was so lame and perfect, and then I screamed it Jerry McGuire-style to Dan, "Show me the Mo-net!!"

 I guess I kinda ruined it by telling it in advance, but it's still coming. :)

Anyway, I'm fully aware that I'm milking this topic totally dry, but I figured it would be more interesting than, say, talking about preparing my students for standardized testing or how Dan and I are thinking of getting our peeling windowsills repainted, which have been the riveting subjects of my life this past week.  Plus, I want to write all of it up just as a memory for me.   Feel free to skip the next three posts, though, if you are sick of being knee deep in croissants.

Okay, so day six consisted of us driving to Mount St. Michelle, a medieval abby on a quasi island.   I've wanted to visit ever since I saw a picture similar to this one on a calendar in the foreign language resource room:

I snapped this picture about three miles away:

It was freezing that morning, so we had on every article of warm clothing we packed.  I asked Dan to snap a picture of me out front of the abby and just as he was about to click the shutter, he called out, "Work it for the camera, girl!  Show me some of your third layer!"   You probably had to be there.  Now I'm left with this picture of me laughing my ass off like a lunatic with hair blowing in my mouth.

I couldn't get enough of the silhouette of the abby or the tide coming in around it:

But I could get enough of the inside of this little "town".  We beat it out of there pretty fast because the inside streets were absolutely mobbed and full of  touristy shops selling Eiffel Tower paperweights.  We could barely move without colliding into a fanny pack.

Then, we spent two nights in Dinan, a medieval town in Brittany, which was one of my absolute favorite parts of the trip.  We slowed down, slept in, and enjoyed a much less touristy France. 

I loved the timbered buildings.   Notice how the top levels jut out more?  Dan and I read in our trusty Rick Steves book that that's because in medieval times people were only taxed for the square footage of the ground floor, so they squeezed in extra space by building the top levels out.  I'm just happy these top heavy buildings are still around to check out.  I mean, some date back to the 13th century.

We walked the long, steep road to the port:

A few sights on our walk were this outside table for a bistro where we later had crepes:

The wall that used to protect the city:

And even artsy graffiti:

When we finally reached the bottom, we stopped by a bakery and bought pastries to eat by the small port.

Delicious apple sticky bun thing:

The rest of the day, we just hung out.  We ate, we drank cider, we rewarded our steep walk with another pastry.  Our one sight-seeing venture was the bell tower.

200 steps later and one ladder later, we reached the top.  It wasn't even that tall, but for some reason my fear of heights kicked in because the guard rail seemed so short and I got scared that the bell would toll the hour deafeningly loud and somehow we would be startled or something and fall cartoon style.  Totally rational, I know.  Needless to say, Dan took these pictures since I was gripping the hand rail with both hands and edging along the perimeter, roller skate rink style.

  

This picture might be the one I frame.  I just love the quaint village look that is going on here.

If you are reading this, you actually made it to the bottom of this post!  Good for you! 

Next post will be about the food.  Then, the infamous "Monet" title and I'll officially retire my blog passport for a while. 

Dan's Day

Want to take a pop quiz about our trip?

Try to determine which of us chose each of the below activities.

1.  Who wanted to find the pastry shop that made the goodies for the Marie Antoinette movie: 

Dan or Me?

2.  Who wanted to take photos of Monet's dreamy garden: 

Dan or Me?

3. Now, who wanted to spend eight years hours with a group of retirees touring D-Day sites: 

Dan or Me?

Answers:  Me, Me, and Dan all the way.   But you already knew that. 

Are you feeling accomplished now?

Yes, I received many smirks when people heard about our plans for the very in-depth WWII tour we had planned, and more than a few, "Hee hee, I know who wants to do that!"  I rolled my eyes playfully, but actually didn't mind going along to get along because Dan's always so great with humoring me.   Well, then us two all-stars ended up missing the tour completely since we slept through our alarm.  We're kind of a mess. On the three hour drive to the coast, I kept thinking, "Damn, now I have to make it up to him by letting him take over all of tomorrow."

"Dan's day" actually ended up being pretty amazing. We stayed in the town of Bayeux, which had this towering church that kind of reminded us of Hogwarts. 

I know that was a nerdy comment, but look at it at night.  Do you see what we're saying?

Anyway, it was an adorable town that consisted of about eight streets, a small river with several waterwheels, and several restaurants that catered to all the American and British veterans that come through.  Seriously, I saw several English signs that proclaimed, "Welcome to our liberators!"

We toured the D-day beaches and were overwhelmed by the stories at the American Cemetery:

Dan took me to the currently very peaceful Pointe du Hoc:

While it looked so tranquil now, I was surprised by the remnants of the horrible struggle with the Nazi soldiers, like craters from bombs that were dropped by Americans and barbed wire set up by the Germans.  It hit me that it wasn't that long ago, you know?

I rib Dan about being a history fanatic, but he really does make this very important event so interesting.  I never knew that soldiers had to climb up cliffs using rope firemen ladders that they shot up from below, or that they had to time this particular invasion just right to avoid being drowned in high tide. 

I don't know how to really write up about all of this because it was pretty unforgettable for a simple blog post, so I'll just say this:  I'm really glad Dan had his day. 

He also was so great with indulging me... as my portion of the trip resumed quickly after.  More pictures to come.