It's just been one of those days

...Or maybe it's been like this for months. I'm tired, really really frekin tired. I usually take comfort in baking, but when I'm tired I don't feel like doing anything. I s'pose I like complaining about it. I want to make a really delicious strawberry bread. I think I'll go do that after I finish this post. 
I guess I have an obligation to relate this post to food, so here ya go:
Last night we invited some friends over and made a delicious dinner. The whole thing was kind of last minute, but it turned out pretty perfectly. When I went to Walgreens to get the wine the cashier had a lot to say about the size of the bottle I selected. 
He started with, "oooh, looks like someone's gonna have a good night." 
Me, "ahah, yeaaah." 
Him: "Well, maybe it'll last until midnight." 
Me: *thinking, "or for like a month?" 
Him *with a smirk on his face: "Would you like anything else?" 
Me: "No, I think the wine'll do it...and it's the only size you had...and it's for me and five other people!" Him: *chuckling "Well, you enjoy it!" 
Okay, so maybe the bottle was the size of a rather plump baby, but it was only ten dollars! and I wasn't drinking it by myself. 

It was a very, very delicious dinner. Wine included. We made roast chicken, sautéed green beans, roasted potatoes, and homemade biscuits. There were some hilarious mishaps, like when Maggie set the PLASTIC cutting board on the STILL HOT burner and it melted on to it. But what's cooking without hilarity?...Nada. 

I'm going to start updating this guy more often. 

Also on my list:

I'm going to keep up with boot camp 

I'm going to shy as far away from drama as I can 

and I'm going to keep up with hwk (specifically reading) 

PRODUCTIVITY

Peace out girl scouts. 

It is sososososo sad that I haven't updated this guy in over 3 months. I'll give you a lil update on what has been going down. 
For Easter weekend five of us took the midnight train to España. Ayayayay. We left Angers early Thursday afternoon and made our way to Paris. We spent the afternoon exploring Montmartre and saw the glorious Basilique du Sacré-Coeur. Though what's another basilica really once you've seen about 50...Just kidding! It looked like a Buddhist temple on the outside and was filled with ornate, gilded objects on the inside. And of course there were the swarms of "gypsies" selling trinkets along the walkway leading up to the basilica. After getting our fill of yet another cathedral, we headed to Montmartre and oggled at all of the sex shops surrounding the moulin rouge. It's not as pretty in person as it is in the movie, but I can say I've been there. Woot! We had afternoon refreshments at Amelie's cafe and headed back to the station to catch our night train to España. 
The train bunks were actually veeeery cute. We had one traveling companion who just had to explain to us that he had been on trial in Paris for shooting someone, though he assured us it was his boss and not him who had committed the crime. We were five against one in case he tried to pull any funny business. We arrived unscathed in Valencia Friday afternoon. The food was OHMYGAWD soooo good. We had delicious seafood Paella and plenty of tapas and sangria to sedate a horse. Valencia definitely made my list of top 3 place I've ever been too, despite getting the worst sunburn of my life from Valencia's vicious beach sun rays. Seriously, I couldn't move without cringing at the pain. The people were friendly and I got to practice my spanish. We saw a beautiful flamenco show with a band that sounded like the gypsy kings. Tres Bon! After enjoying Valencia, we made our way to Sevilla for a night and a half a day. We saw another cathedral and ate more delicious food. 
Our trip was SUPPOSED to end on Tuesday and we were SUPPOSED to arrive in Angers Wednesday morning. Of course some plague HAS to befall upon any trip taken in a foreign country. Our train from Sevilla to Madrid was delayed therefore causing us to miss our train from Madrid to Paris. The train station was of NO help and closed at 12 that night. We very luckily found a hostel for the night at a very cheap price. It was an extremely bizarre experience. We made our way to the hostel and made it to a building with one tiny tag saying that this was indeed where the hostel was located. We made our way up the marble staircase to the top floor and were greeted by a rastafarian-esque young spaniard dude. The lobby/living room was filled with friendly looking twenty-somethings drinking wine and socializing. We mustered up enough energy to go get some more paella and slept until 5 am then headed to the train station to wait for an available train. Minus our little Madrid mayhem the trip ended alright. 

Spring Break '11: I love to hate you

Angers to Paris (train), Paris to Milan (plane), Milan to Venice (train), Venice to Milan (train), Milan to Paris (plane), Paris to Angers (train). You've already got a headache, right? I don't know what we were thinking when we planned our spring break trip of 2011. Well, actually I do. But who would've predicted the mishaps that occurred? Let me tell you, NO ONE.
Milan is a nice big city full of different nationalities, wonderfully cheap pizza, and delicious gelato. We toured the breathtakingly beautiful Cathedral (Duomo), watched "gypsies" attack old women and children alike with bracelets ("free" until tied with a knot around your wrist, then it became "just one euro"), saw the set-up of a fashion show, and discovered that Italians actually say "mAma mIa."
*Interesting tid bit of info: You don't have to speak Italian to be understood by Italians who speak very little English. Even better, you can understand Italians who respond to you in Italian. I don't know how it works, but there's some magical connection between the two languages.

On to Venice: The island is extremely gorgeous, despite the constant drizzle and chill that followed us for four days. CAUTION: stay away from slippery terraces/balconies, Tragedy WILL STRIKE- I'll leave it at that. The Venice Carnival was quite the experience. We mingled with the costumed carnival-ians, stopped at gelato counters (there's one every few feet), and enjoyed the streets of Venice.

Favorite Gelato Flavors:

Nutella, Chocolate Mousse, Stracciatella, and some creamy kind with raisins and nuts.

Venice, because of this pizza, I will visit you again. Next time I plan on basking in the sun and eating gelato while floating the rivers in a gondola, k? Thanks.

Ciao Bella.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

                                         

Items Necessary for a Successful Valentine's Day:
-Wine or Cider (I had both)

-Cheese
(brie is delicious!)

-Bread

-Chocolate

And they should be consumed in the order listed above. Valentine's day was relatively uneventful. We had a girly get together with good conversation and a lot o' laughs.

Lunch de jour:

1 boiled egg

2 small red potatoes (boiled)

Shredded parmesan 

Salt and Pepper

Dijon Mustard

Combine in a bowl and enjoy the wonderfulness of it all. 

Song de jour: 

"Neon Bible" -Arcade Fire

Kiss kiss, Muah muah

Paris!

Paris was...interesting. We arrived Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. We did the customary touristy things like "Le Louvre" and "La Tour Eiffel." I was on edge the entire weekend, weary of gypsies and pick-pockets that I had been warned of and seen. The gypsies that our group encountered lured people in by asking a simple question, "do you speak English?" If you responded with a "yes,"they would bombard you with a story about their family and small children back home and conclude with a, "Please, just a few cents." I feel bad for the gypsies who actually have children back home, but I believe the majority of beggars are playing their part in a game of how much money can I get from these stupid Americans. Then there were the men harassing tourists every few feet under the Eiffel Tower, selling trinkets: "For You, Only ONE EURO!" I did give in and bought six miniature Eiffel Tower key chains for ONLY ONE EURO. 

We ate lunch on the first (or second, I'm still not sure how far up we actually made it) level of the Eiffel Tower. The food was delicious and the set up was a bit unusual. The waiter took our drink order then gave us a ticket which had to be brought down to the half-partitioned kitchen to order our entrees and dessert. The cod fillet with risotto was absolutely wonderful. And for dessert, a chocolate praline cake. So yummy! And everything was cutely placed into individual containers which were brought to our table. 

And at the other end of the spectrum, a mouse. 

Shimarah and I stopped at "Quick." More like, quickly get out. I was enjoying my milkshake and cheesesticks and Shimarah was munchin on her fish sandwich when I saw a shadow of something on the floor. I looked down and saw a teeny tiny mouse. It scampered away when we both quickly jumped up onto the bar stools. Disgusting. We left soon after that. 

Despite the beautiful architecture (Notre Dame is breathtakingly gorgeous!) and the wonderful art, the streets of Paris are grimy and nerve-racking. I was continuously checking my purse for my wallet, camera, and passport. 

I did enjoy the food, minus the mouse, and the sites were definitely worth the trekking. I suppose I need to give Paris a second chance. 

I'll report back to ya'll when I do. 

2 stove-top burners and a microwave

We've all been placed in single person efficiency apartments for the semester. My room is a good size and I have an excellent view of the main street from my window. The kitchen, however, is a little tricky to use. I quickly learned to wash dishes as I used them after attempting to wash and rinse a sink full of dishes with only the aid of ONE sink. Water was spilled and exasperated curses were muttered that first night. I've learned to efficiently use the space I've been given while simultaneously learning how to cook using the aforementioned resources, stove-top burners and a microwave. Toast is toasted and eggs are scrambled and omelet[ed] in a skillet, rice and pasta is cooked in the big pot I was lucky enough to have been left by the previous owner, and cheese is melted and vegetables are steamed in the microwave. Google-how-to's are used on a daily basis: how to saute zucchini, how to steam vegetables and broccoli, how to cook white rice, how to make an omelette...And the list goes on and on.

sandwich du jour:
-Toast 4 slices of baguette face down in a skillet on high heat(approximately two slices of sandwich bread)
-Put as much, or as little, comte(or your favorite cheese that'll melt) as you desire on the toasted slices and microwave for 15-25 seconds. 
-Slice avocado and spread over the melted cheese
-Spoon a little bit of tomato sauce on top  
-And DEVOUR


Last night's dinner: 

Zucchinis and white rice

La Coupole!

One of our friends organized the first "dinner out" night yesterday. We went to this semi-fancy-smancy cafe called "La Coupole." The waitress/owner kindly arranged three tables together to seat all eight of us. Thankfully, a few of the girls are quite good at speaking french. I ordered pasta au saumon in a cream sauce. It was Deeeeelicious. We all ordered our own desserts and sampled a little of everything. I ordered un verre de glace au caramel and crème brûlée. So goood! I tried the actual dessert crème brûlée et mousse au chocolat. Both were the best I've ever had. The meal lasted for, quite literally, four hours and no one minded, not one bit. 

The French know how to portion their dessert!

Faux Pas All Around

Bizarrrrre happening of the week: 

Shimarah and I were perusing the shelves of bread at the small grocery store down the block from our residence when three teenage girls approached us with a long detailed question in France. I managed to get in a "Je parle un petit peu francais." One of the girls turned to the other two and said, "Oh, anglais." They started to walk off, but stopped and started to ask us the original question, this time in english..."We have these two beers and this bottle of wine, would you buy them for us?" Oh good God. As far as I've seen, no one, I mean NO ONE, gets carded here. Why on earth would they choose the foreigners to commit the crime? I gave them a sympathetic look and said, "Sorry, no. I would NOT like to get into any kind of trouble with the law, especially with a foreign law." They pleaded with us for a while then walked off with a rolling of the eyes. Pshh. Then we heard a smash, shatter, and gasp. They dropped the bottle of wine by the deli meats and decided to make a swift exit. Karma? 

Yummy looking, but not so yummy sandwich of the week:

I tried a new boulangerie down the street from the University on Monday. The owner was laying out a whole line of freshly made vegetarian sandwiches when Shimarah and I walked in. I chose one with gruyere cheese, sliced apples, raisins, and lettuce.  I've had gruyere cheese before, but not like this. I bit into what tasted like a whole slab of butter sandwiched in between two slices of bread. The gruyere cheese was a bit too much for me, but the apples and raisins were nice. That's the first, and hopefully the last, "meh" sandwich I've had here. 

Vegetarian-Faux-Pas of the week Part deux:

I returned to the above-mentioned bakery this morning to get lunch. The quiches were neatly lined on the shelves, the cheesy yellow and delicious tops beckoning me to them. I chose quiche Lorraine thinking that I was safe because the title did not include "jambon" ou "poulet." WRONG. It has bacon, onions, and cheese. I tried as best I could to savage what little of the quiche didn't have ham. What I had was good. Next time I'll just man up and ask, "sans viande?" Luckily, I also bought a baguette looking bread with chocolate chips while purchasing the wrong quiche. Voila, Lunch!

le marché!

I ventured to the street market this past Saturday to see what I would come across and what I could actually effectively use French to buy. 

I walked to the corner of Boulevard Foch and saw the tables and tents lined up along the street. It was intimidating to say the least and I failed at first trying to wait in line for les pommes. Those french old ladies are feisty! This very nice man, who resembled Bono, offered to let me cut in line but I was a petite bit flustered at this point. I gave up and moved on to some cheaper oranges and VOILA! 4 oranges paid for and whisked into my backpack. I had to cross through the meat/fish part of the market (pue!) toget to more vegetables. I bought two big platefuls of carottes et courgettes for two euros. So CHEAP! I hope I wasn't scammed into buying poor quality vegetables. The vegetable man seemed very surprised when I said "Je suis Americain." 

I bought myself a pain aux raisin on the way back to the residence and defrosted myself sitting next to the heater.

We don't have ovens to cook with, but we do have a microwave and stovetop. I've steamed broccoli and carrots, cooked copious amounts of pasta, and made a cheese and avocado omelet for dinner last night.

boulangeries, pâtisseries, cafés, ô mon!

Most of my encounters with French employees have been somewhat humorous, flustering, and slightly uncomfortable. I'm trying to learn all of the useful phrases to respond to the questions they pose in french. I can order, but as for responding to their question..."Je ne sais pas??" 
On our way into Angers from Paris, we stopped at a gas station (a swanky one at that) for lunch/snacks. I ordered un sandwich végétarien. Turns out this doesn't always mean it includes vegetables. Sans vegetables, I devoured the delicious cheese and bread. 
In the 11 days since then, I've consumed more than enough pains au chocolat, a few eclairs (un chocolat et un café), deux cafés, trois cappuccinos, France's version of pizza hut, vin, et sandwiches sandwiches sandwiches. 
I now know that I can survive, or at least order food, in France without knowing more than a few key phrases. 
Of course I'm trying to learn as much of the language as I can in four months, but for now I'm using "Je parle un petit peu francais" quite a bit.