Here's the slideshow that we showed at the wedding:
Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
10:16pm Thursday January 15
Yesterday we took the RER to Versailles to see the Chateau de Versailles. This is where the French royalty lived until the revolution. We saw all the sites where Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman did stuff in Marie Antoinette...oh yeah, and all those real kings and queens too. All the Louis'.
Can you tell I'm not a history buff.
Today we ate at the city's best creperie, Le Creperie Josselin. Ang had a jam crepe, and I had the Maraichere. It consisted of sour cream, spinach and cheese inside and a sunny side up egg and bacon on top. It may actually be my favourite breakfast food I've ever had.
We then headed over to the Jardin du Luxembourg and did a walking tour around La Sorbonne, the oldest school in France (since 1257 I think). We then headed over to Ile St. Louis and did a walking tour over there and partook of some famous ice cream. After doing some shopping on Rivoli, Ang and I headed over to Eglise St. Julien-le-Pauvre, one of the old religious buildings in the city for a concert featuring the music of Liszt, Choping and Mozart by pianist Miho Nitta. It was one of those cool moments to hear some amazing music played in this haunting old building and hear the notes reverberate around the room.
Two more sleeps and then we head home.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Ang with her big choco.
Here we are at Fontaine de Vaucluse. I believe the Vaucluse is a region within the larger area of Provence.
Me and Sausage at the market in Apt. Yes, I meant to capitalize Sausage as if it were its namesake.
Ang smelling a huge bouquet of lavender, one of Provence's major crops.
This is my poorly photographed langoustine with two langoustine ravioli (bottom of the picture). Of note is how these little guys are stabbing themselves with their pincers. This was my dinner at a really nice restaurant in Bonnieux called L'Arome. I had an artichoke and bacon dish with a sort of chunky soup-like reduction with lardons to start, this dish as the main, a cheese course of honey drenched roquefort cheese (I think it was roquefort) in a pastry shell and then Crepes Suzzette for dessert. Ang had eggplant, red pepper and goat cheese wraps to start, some sort of jellified chicken thing for the main and then pistachio ice cream in a hard pastry shell for dessert. Her words: "I think it was the best dessert I've ever had in my life."
This is at the end of our meal at L'Arome.
Yesterday, we tackled the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomph, Champs-Elysee, and Montmarte/Sacre Cour. We were power tourists. We also accomplished a couple other mini little goals of ours (well...mine): rode the metro, ate a plate of assorted charuterie for lunch, had a niçoise salad, had a drink at the cafe used in the film Amelie, walked by the grocer used in the movie as well and best of all, bought a chubby pigeon ornament. Thanks to those walking tour cards, we also walked by Van Gogh's house, the subject of one of Renoirs paintings, and a place where Picasso and Renoir used to hang out (the Lapin Agile).
We finally made it to Paris. This is looking at a little patch of water at the Bastille intersection.
Yesterday, we tackled the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomph, Champs-Elysee, and Montmarte/Sacre Cour. We were power tourists. We also accomplished a couple other mini little goals of ours (well...mine): rode the metro, ate a plate of assorted charuterie for lunch, had a niçoise salad, had a drink at the cafe used in the film Amelie, walked by the grocer used in the movie as well and best of all, bought a chubby pigeon ornament. Thanks to those walking tour cards, we also walked by Van Gogh's house, the subject of one of Renoirs paintings, and a place where Picasso and Renoir used to hang out (the Lapin Agile).
At the cafe in Montmarte (called Tabac des Deux Moulins), I ordered a glass of white wine and Ang ordered a Limonade, though she speculated that Lemonade in France might be different than what we call lemonade in Canada. We had been walking all day, shopping along the Champs-Elysee, climbing the eiffel tower and we looked forward to just having a nice relaxing drink in the mid-afternoon. When it came to our table, Ang took a sip and exclaimed, "Wow!!!! that's refreshing!!!". She was hooked on this French style lemonade. To me it just kind of looked like San Pelligrino and a lemon inside (which, I might add is what we had to drink for lunch).
So I took a sip...and realized...it was 7-up.
Those French really know how to make a lemonade!
Okay, today we're off to Versaille to see the Chateau de Versaille. Tonight we may check out a trashy, chic bar mentioned in the tour cards. They have some live jazz. Could be fun. Could be a bust. We'll see.
Missing you all back at home but loving it here!
Missing you all back at home but loving it here!
Pics
Here are some pics:
Ang at the top of Menerbes in front of a cathedral from the 16th century.
Me in a snowy Menerbes on the first full day.
Ang on one of the roads into the Centre Ville de Menerbes.
Ang in apartment in Menerbes upon arrival.
More to come but we have a tower to go see. I heard it's pretty nice.
Monday, January 12, 2009
11:25pm - Monday, January 11: Paris
A small little funky eclectic restaurant like something you'd see on Main or Commercial. We wanted steak frites. They had a special of steak frites, a glass of red wine and a coffee for 9.90 Euro. Pretty good deal right? Too good to be true right? Well, it was.
Th steak was stringy and undercooked and tasted like it was cooked on a grill that had never been cleaned. It was tough but soft all at the same time with the worst color on a steak ever. The fries were okay but undercooked, again, lacking nice golden brown color. The wine tasted like water that had gone bad. The bread that came with the meal was at least a day old (a major faux pas). Well, we saw that they had a standard coffee maker and so we thought that they couldn't screw that up.
They did.
It tasted as if they ground up their coffee beans, spilled the grounds on an old dirt trail and proceeded to scoop all of mixture into the brew machine.
Spew.
In a city where every second step is filled with the words, "Oooh, that looks like a nice restaurant! Let's go there," it's a marvel that for some reason we felt drawn to this spunky little restaurant. Maybe it was because of the 3 other tables that were seated with patrons or the fact that it's in a part of town with infinite competition, but we had high hopes for it. I can't remember the name of the restaurant because we ran out of there like the place was on fire but we know now: if it looks like it would fit in with restaurants on Commercial Drive or Main street, just keep walking.
This evening we went to see the Notre Dame and were pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a church service in progress. It was haunting and beautiful. Definitely one of the best tourist attractions I've ever seen. Lives up to all the hype to see it in person.
Tomorrow: The Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysee and Arc de Triomph. Oh yeah, and buying a USB cable. Seriously, there are no electronic stores in Paris.
Th steak was stringy and undercooked and tasted like it was cooked on a grill that had never been cleaned. It was tough but soft all at the same time with the worst color on a steak ever. The fries were okay but undercooked, again, lacking nice golden brown color. The wine tasted like water that had gone bad. The bread that came with the meal was at least a day old (a major faux pas). Well, we saw that they had a standard coffee maker and so we thought that they couldn't screw that up.
They did.
It tasted as if they ground up their coffee beans, spilled the grounds on an old dirt trail and proceeded to scoop all of mixture into the brew machine.
Spew.
In a city where every second step is filled with the words, "Oooh, that looks like a nice restaurant! Let's go there," it's a marvel that for some reason we felt drawn to this spunky little restaurant. Maybe it was because of the 3 other tables that were seated with patrons or the fact that it's in a part of town with infinite competition, but we had high hopes for it. I can't remember the name of the restaurant because we ran out of there like the place was on fire but we know now: if it looks like it would fit in with restaurants on Commercial Drive or Main street, just keep walking.
This evening we went to see the Notre Dame and were pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a church service in progress. It was haunting and beautiful. Definitely one of the best tourist attractions I've ever seen. Lives up to all the hype to see it in person.
Tomorrow: The Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysee and Arc de Triomph. Oh yeah, and buying a USB cable. Seriously, there are no electronic stores in Paris.
4:15pm - Monday January 11th - Paris (Rue. St. Gilles)
Okay, so we're going to buy a USB cable so we can unload our camera and hopefully post a couple pics of our time here so hopefully by tomorrow, we'll have some pics.
We're in Paris in the 3rd Arrondisement, just steps away from the Picasso Museum and the Bastille Opera House. Our apartment is great: high ceilings, clean modern look, nice comfy bed, and warm. Too bad there's no running water! When we got in last night after fighting Paris traffic for two hours (yes, I drove in Paris and yes, it's intense), the owner told us that there was no running water because one of the pipes had frozen and burst. All day today, they've been in and out re-rerouting the plumbing on this side of the building. The other side works fine so we've been given the key to the apartment just one floor up so we can use the bathroom (toilet and shower). It's weird that, because of the language barrier, we don't actually know who this person is and where she is. Every time I come out of the washroom, I think I'm going to see her standing there completely freaked out that a scruffy haired asian man is standing in her bathroom.
We had a quiet night last night after a long drive to Paris so we got up early this morning to drop off the car and start exploring. We did two walking tours from the box of walking tours we got for Christmas from Garth and Jackie. On the tours we found some cool places that we ended up eating at. For lunch we went to La Tartine, famous for it's Tartines (open faced sandwiches). I had the Andouille tartine which I thought was just a tripe sausage. Turns out Andouille is not just tripe (cow's intestine) but it's pig...and it also includes the rectum.
Awesome. And delicious.
So for those keeping score at home, that's one dish of rabbit, one with Langoustine, and one with a pig's rectum.
Ang had the less disgusting, arguably more tasty, Eggplant and Red/Yellow Pepper open faced cheese sandwich.
Okay. We're going to go out for dinner and then going to see the Notre Dame all lit up at night.
A bientot!
We're in Paris in the 3rd Arrondisement, just steps away from the Picasso Museum and the Bastille Opera House. Our apartment is great: high ceilings, clean modern look, nice comfy bed, and warm. Too bad there's no running water! When we got in last night after fighting Paris traffic for two hours (yes, I drove in Paris and yes, it's intense), the owner told us that there was no running water because one of the pipes had frozen and burst. All day today, they've been in and out re-rerouting the plumbing on this side of the building. The other side works fine so we've been given the key to the apartment just one floor up so we can use the bathroom (toilet and shower). It's weird that, because of the language barrier, we don't actually know who this person is and where she is. Every time I come out of the washroom, I think I'm going to see her standing there completely freaked out that a scruffy haired asian man is standing in her bathroom.
We had a quiet night last night after a long drive to Paris so we got up early this morning to drop off the car and start exploring. We did two walking tours from the box of walking tours we got for Christmas from Garth and Jackie. On the tours we found some cool places that we ended up eating at. For lunch we went to La Tartine, famous for it's Tartines (open faced sandwiches). I had the Andouille tartine which I thought was just a tripe sausage. Turns out Andouille is not just tripe (cow's intestine) but it's pig...and it also includes the rectum.
Awesome. And delicious.
So for those keeping score at home, that's one dish of rabbit, one with Langoustine, and one with a pig's rectum.
Ang had the less disgusting, arguably more tasty, Eggplant and Red/Yellow Pepper open faced cheese sandwich.
Okay. We're going to go out for dinner and then going to see the Notre Dame all lit up at night.
A bientot!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
1:09pm - Saturday: Apt
We went to the market this morning in Apt. The market has been going on every Saturday for 900 years. It sprawled all throughout le centre ville, through the narrow streets and courtyards. We wandered in and out but because we're leaving tomorrow morning, we thought that it wasn't wise to buy much produce. Everything looked really healthy and delicious but we didn't need anything.
We did however buy lunch. Ang bought a large pizza (of the fluffy crust variety) and I ventured into unknown territory and bought some Lapin de Provence avec Riz. Rabbit stew with Rice. It was a toss up between the rabbit, le tripe, le canard or the paella. Even though the paella looked the tastiest, I thought it best to leave that for when I visit Spain.
I just had a taste of the lapin and guess what? It tastes like chicken.
Okay, we have dinner reservations in Bonnieux for tonight. Ang called to make reservations and she did an amazing job conversing with the man on the phone.
Tomorrow we head off to Paris for a change of pace. Goodbye French countryside...helloooooooooooooo City of Light!!!!
We did however buy lunch. Ang bought a large pizza (of the fluffy crust variety) and I ventured into unknown territory and bought some Lapin de Provence avec Riz. Rabbit stew with Rice. It was a toss up between the rabbit, le tripe, le canard or the paella. Even though the paella looked the tastiest, I thought it best to leave that for when I visit Spain.
I just had a taste of the lapin and guess what? It tastes like chicken.
Okay, we have dinner reservations in Bonnieux for tonight. Ang called to make reservations and she did an amazing job conversing with the man on the phone.
Tomorrow we head off to Paris for a change of pace. Goodbye French countryside...helloooooooooooooo City of Light!!!!
Friday, January 9, 2009
11:39pm - Friday: Menerbes
It's the end of Friday night here in Menerbes and we have one more night before we head to Paris.
It's been a great time here exploring the region, meeting the locals, etc. Of course, meeting the locals when you live at the top of a hill with pretty substandard snow tires means that you are most likely meeting them as you're being pulled up by a cable attached to their jeep.
Our on Thursday was spent visiting Avignon, Isle Sur Sorgue and Fontaine De Vaucluse. Avignon is an old city and we were told that they have a market there so we decided to go there and explore. It turns out the market was a covered hall and everything had closed down by the time we got there at noon. The city was very old and run down and just downright lacked a certain charm found in other places in France. There was not one thing about the city that captured either of our hearts. Well, maybe the kabobs.
On our way back home, we visited Isle Sur Sorgue and Fontaine de Vaucluse. Both are along the Sorgue river. L'Isle Sur La Sorgue is a small town known as the antique capital of France. Too bad we got there closer to 1pm after a major snowfall. Pretty much all the shops were closed. There were some very nice looking shops with some beautiful pieces in the window sill but alas, snow: 1, Ash and Ang:0.
Fontaine De Vaucluse is just a little north on the river. It is a huge spring whose depths have never been fully explored. Very magical and mysterious. It's also magnificent, marvellous, mouthwatering but what it ain't...is mundane.
After the Fontaine, we drove home and found that the roads still hadn't been cleared. It's one thing to think driving in the snow is a piece of cake going downhill, it's another to go back up. The main road into town consists of three long steep grades with two sharp switchbacks. The first switchback, we were able to make it up but by the second switchback, we were screwed. A man and his wife (or possibly mistress?) in a jeep in front of us pulled over and helped push. After little success, a man and his family in a mercedes SUV came and he helped too. Things got worse and worse the higher we got, so much so that as we were almost nearing the town, we ended up having to actually attaching a cable to the front end of our vehicle to the back of the jeep to pull us up. We just barely made it...the weight of both vehicles with not enough traction made for a slippery ride.
Today it started to warm up so the snow was starting to melt a little bit. A great day for driving out to Aix-En-Provence and Marseilles.
On the way out to Aix in Cavaillon, we stopped at a boulangerie and got breakfast. I had a brioche saucisses (hot dog weiners baked into a declicious pastry and a slice of pizza. Ang had what was known as a "big choco". It was so big that there was no French word to describe how big it was. They had to use English. The pastry was bigger than her head and could make grown men weep with it's taste and stature.
Aix-En-Provence is a beautiful college town with towns of flavor and charm, in the city. The outskirts seemed too newly made up and contrived. But once in the heart of the city, it is one of the coolest shopping districts in the world. The main shopping area is through the small narrow streets of the old town. Modern shops line these old streets for a strange yet comforting juxtaposition. The hustle and bustle today was all part of Les Soldes, a 6 week govenerment regulated, nation-wide sale. 30, 40, 50, even 70% off some items. I bought a warm winter jacket and a scarf for 35 bucks and Ang bought a dress for under 15 (and we're not even in Paris, yet). We ate at a nice little restaurant on a heated patio called Le Terminus. It was recommended to us by an employee of a store called Agnes B. as a good place to eat lunch. We trusted her because it turns out that she had lived for 10 years in BC. Meeting us really brought her back to that time and she was very warm and friendly. It's quite weird how people from opposite ends of the world can have stuff in common.
After Aix, we headed to Marseille. We were already tired from all the driving and shopping but since we were already in the area, we decided to do a quick stop in. The quick stop in turned out to be a leisurely stroll along one of the most beautiful ports, with towering cathedral spires and endless sailboat lines crisscrossing every which way. We stopped in for deux grande cafe au laits and then headed back up the main drag where we did a little more shopping and a little more walking.
On our way back into town, we stopped in Cavaillon for a late small dinner. We ate at Manu and shared a chorizo pizza and a salad.
Whew!!!
What an action packed couple days.
I'm off to bed to wake up early tomorrow morning for a market in Apt, one of the biggest markets in the whole region.
Bonsoir!
It's been a great time here exploring the region, meeting the locals, etc. Of course, meeting the locals when you live at the top of a hill with pretty substandard snow tires means that you are most likely meeting them as you're being pulled up by a cable attached to their jeep.
Our on Thursday was spent visiting Avignon, Isle Sur Sorgue and Fontaine De Vaucluse. Avignon is an old city and we were told that they have a market there so we decided to go there and explore. It turns out the market was a covered hall and everything had closed down by the time we got there at noon. The city was very old and run down and just downright lacked a certain charm found in other places in France. There was not one thing about the city that captured either of our hearts. Well, maybe the kabobs.
On our way back home, we visited Isle Sur Sorgue and Fontaine de Vaucluse. Both are along the Sorgue river. L'Isle Sur La Sorgue is a small town known as the antique capital of France. Too bad we got there closer to 1pm after a major snowfall. Pretty much all the shops were closed. There were some very nice looking shops with some beautiful pieces in the window sill but alas, snow: 1, Ash and Ang:0.
Fontaine De Vaucluse is just a little north on the river. It is a huge spring whose depths have never been fully explored. Very magical and mysterious. It's also magnificent, marvellous, mouthwatering but what it ain't...is mundane.
After the Fontaine, we drove home and found that the roads still hadn't been cleared. It's one thing to think driving in the snow is a piece of cake going downhill, it's another to go back up. The main road into town consists of three long steep grades with two sharp switchbacks. The first switchback, we were able to make it up but by the second switchback, we were screwed. A man and his wife (or possibly mistress?) in a jeep in front of us pulled over and helped push. After little success, a man and his family in a mercedes SUV came and he helped too. Things got worse and worse the higher we got, so much so that as we were almost nearing the town, we ended up having to actually attaching a cable to the front end of our vehicle to the back of the jeep to pull us up. We just barely made it...the weight of both vehicles with not enough traction made for a slippery ride.
Today it started to warm up so the snow was starting to melt a little bit. A great day for driving out to Aix-En-Provence and Marseilles.
On the way out to Aix in Cavaillon, we stopped at a boulangerie and got breakfast. I had a brioche saucisses (hot dog weiners baked into a declicious pastry and a slice of pizza. Ang had what was known as a "big choco". It was so big that there was no French word to describe how big it was. They had to use English. The pastry was bigger than her head and could make grown men weep with it's taste and stature.
Aix-En-Provence is a beautiful college town with towns of flavor and charm, in the city. The outskirts seemed too newly made up and contrived. But once in the heart of the city, it is one of the coolest shopping districts in the world. The main shopping area is through the small narrow streets of the old town. Modern shops line these old streets for a strange yet comforting juxtaposition. The hustle and bustle today was all part of Les Soldes, a 6 week govenerment regulated, nation-wide sale. 30, 40, 50, even 70% off some items. I bought a warm winter jacket and a scarf for 35 bucks and Ang bought a dress for under 15 (and we're not even in Paris, yet). We ate at a nice little restaurant on a heated patio called Le Terminus. It was recommended to us by an employee of a store called Agnes B. as a good place to eat lunch. We trusted her because it turns out that she had lived for 10 years in BC. Meeting us really brought her back to that time and she was very warm and friendly. It's quite weird how people from opposite ends of the world can have stuff in common.
After Aix, we headed to Marseille. We were already tired from all the driving and shopping but since we were already in the area, we decided to do a quick stop in. The quick stop in turned out to be a leisurely stroll along one of the most beautiful ports, with towering cathedral spires and endless sailboat lines crisscrossing every which way. We stopped in for deux grande cafe au laits and then headed back up the main drag where we did a little more shopping and a little more walking.
On our way back into town, we stopped in Cavaillon for a late small dinner. We ate at Manu and shared a chorizo pizza and a salad.
Whew!!!
What an action packed couple days.
I'm off to bed to wake up early tomorrow morning for a market in Apt, one of the biggest markets in the whole region.
Bonsoir!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
2:05pm - Wednesday: Menerbes
The wedding was a whirlwind. I can't remember half of it. What a blur. I do remember though how awesome of a day it was and that we were so happy to have so many people come out and support us. The Fairmont Hotel was nice but the time we stayed there was way too short. Barely had time to put our bags down before they needed to be checked in.
After about 12 hours in and out of planes and 8 hours on the road, we arrived in Menerbes last night to the most beautiful old apartment. It's a studio apartment...maybe about 500 square feet. The bedroom is up in a loft over the main living area.
We stayed up for a little bit sipping on the not-so-great bottle of wine that was here waiting for us from the caretaker.
Our plan for the day was to stay local and stay local we did! We haven't ventured out further than a couple blocks from the apartment because...yep...you guessed it: snow.
About a foot at least. In some wind swept areas, it's closer to a foot and a half. The owner called us here and said that it snows one day of the year and of course it has to be this, the first full day in France on our honeymoon. I guess it followed us from Vancouver.
So we've had to make do with the substandard boulangerie (bakery) in town here. The baguette wasn't anything spectacular and the criossant ang had was burnt. We also ended up buying some tagliatelle (dried, not fresh), some tomato sauce and 2 pork sausages to make for dinner tonight. It's not what we had in mind but considering the weather, people aren't going to be opening up the restaurants in town and the conditions aren't safe to be driving to a larger town.
Hopefully we can get to a market tomorrow and buy some fresh stuff.
It's hard to think that life is back to normal for many people this week because life here is so much different.
Take care,
ash
After about 12 hours in and out of planes and 8 hours on the road, we arrived in Menerbes last night to the most beautiful old apartment. It's a studio apartment...maybe about 500 square feet. The bedroom is up in a loft over the main living area.
We stayed up for a little bit sipping on the not-so-great bottle of wine that was here waiting for us from the caretaker.
Our plan for the day was to stay local and stay local we did! We haven't ventured out further than a couple blocks from the apartment because...yep...you guessed it: snow.
About a foot at least. In some wind swept areas, it's closer to a foot and a half. The owner called us here and said that it snows one day of the year and of course it has to be this, the first full day in France on our honeymoon. I guess it followed us from Vancouver.
So we've had to make do with the substandard boulangerie (bakery) in town here. The baguette wasn't anything spectacular and the criossant ang had was burnt. We also ended up buying some tagliatelle (dried, not fresh), some tomato sauce and 2 pork sausages to make for dinner tonight. It's not what we had in mind but considering the weather, people aren't going to be opening up the restaurants in town and the conditions aren't safe to be driving to a larger town.
Hopefully we can get to a market tomorrow and buy some fresh stuff.
It's hard to think that life is back to normal for many people this week because life here is so much different.
Take care,
ash
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Whoa...time went by fast.
Okay, so I last posted on Aug 13. So much has happened that I don't even know where to begin.
So I won't.
I'm sitting in the hotel room waiting to start getting ready. The big day has arrived. Can't sleep. Oh well.
Boom.
Outta here.
So I won't.
I'm sitting in the hotel room waiting to start getting ready. The big day has arrived. Can't sleep. Oh well.
Boom.
Outta here.
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