American cake

Not long after we moved to Chartres, June showed me a cake that he wanted me to make. He told me that they bought the cake mix when they were in MN this past summer and asked if I would be willing to make it the next time everyone was over. Of course I agreed and thought it would be a moment of redemption for me after the cheesecake situation.

So I checked the back of the box to see what ingredients were required, the basics of eggs, water, and oil (I was so happy to see instructions in English, ahh it's the little things). I asked if there was a certain type of frosting that they would like for the cake and vanilla frosting was suggested since it was a white cake. So the next trip to the grocery store I had set out to grab a container of frosting for the cake.  At this point, based on my grocery shopping experiences here, I should have had minimal expectations going into to my hunt for frosting. However, I assumed that this would be the same as in the states where you have 50 different kinds of frostings to choose from in the baking aisle. Not the case, I couldn’t even find ONE container of frosting in the baking aisle. It figures that in a country of amazing desserts that all of the baking is done with real ingredients, not pre-made.

So my backup plan was to make frosting from scratch. I turned to one of my BFF’s (best friends forever), Pinterest, and found a couple of options.  I decided on one that required minimal ingredients (butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk). Those ingredients were not too difficult to find other than the powdered sugar I found wasn’t exactly the same as I am used to back home. Thankfully I brought measuring cups with me to be able to bake using recipes from the states so it was pretty smooth sailing from there.

The only other challenge was to convert the oven temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius. I have an app on my IPhone (which is now really an IPod Touch since it isn’t being used for phone service) that does conversions.

The cake and frosting appeared to have turned out well and got rave reviews from the family. It’s good to know I can still make a box cake mix turn out alright, thanks Betty Crocker!!!

Dino's got skills

So while my visitors were in town, one of the areas that we did some sightseeing in was the Montmartre neighborhood. This artsy neighborhood is situated at the top of a hill overlooking Paris. The view from Sacre Coeur overlooking Paris is beautiful.

There is one area that is all set up with artists displaying their work and creating work as people walk by.  There are also many artists walking around the neighborhood looking for a tourist to be enticed by a personal drawing or silhouette cut out.  I have gotten pretty good at saying a firm NO when approached by people in the city.  During our ascend up to Sacre Coeur I was approached by a handful of people wanting to show me their work and to give them a minute to showcase their talent. One person was even bold enough to grab my arm in the midst of my broken record of “no, no, no!”

Just before reaching the church I was approached again by an artist. I am not sure what it was about this person that I allowed him to get more than 2 words out of his mouth before I completely shut him out. However he did, his name was Dino. He told me that he rarely sees blonde and loves curly hair, he continued on to say that he wanted to draw me just for his collection, no obligation from me to buy anything. So the MN nice slipped out and I sat down next to Dino and allowed him to start drawing.

He asked me where I was from, what brings me to Paris, and was I married. Dino stated that my husband was a very lucky man and quickly followed that by telling me that he was also married. 

Dino is originally from Italy and makes his home in Paris now. We had a cordial conversation with a little bit of Italian charm thrown in. At the completion of his drawing Dino told me that he wanted me to have it. That he didn’t want any money from me for it, just that I should keep it. In turn he also gave me his business card and asked that if I have any free time he would love someone to practice his English with.

All the while this was taking place, Dawn and Sara roamed the area and of course took pictures of Dino and I to prove that I gave in to Dino’s request to draw me.  They haven’t shared those pictures with me yet but if they ever come my way I will try to remember to share them.

What I do have though is a lovely drawing completed by Dino. He obviously has some mad skills in making people look better than they do in real life!!! I appreciate his viewpoint and will strive to look like the diva he created on the paper.

P.S. I kept Dino’s card in case any of you need a portrait drawn of yourself while in Paris!!

Market day experience

This past Sunday we went to the city of Saint Germain la Coude (near Alençon) to have dinner with James’ brother and his girlfriend at her home. The city had a large market (that happens once or twice a year) going on as well. The best way to describe this market, and give a visual of what it would be like in the states, is a cross between a garage sale/flea market/gold rush sorts of thing.

We had a great lunch and then walked around for a while taking in all of the items being sold and of course did some serious people watching. Some things definitely stood out for me, as it isn’t something I feel like I would see anywhere at a flea market in the US.

The first being crepe stands! There were multiple locations that were making crepes on site and selling them right off the griddle. I think we could adopt this sort of thing from the Frenchies.

On the other end of the spectrum was a booth that was selling meat products. For those of you with weak stomachs you may want to skip over the next 2 pictures. I witnessed the “butcher” funneling the meat into casing and twisting it every so often to make a “sausage.” James tells me that the meat is pork and that it is so dark in color because they also add in blood from the pig that has been boiled. Now, why in the world would such a food exist amongst all of the amazing things that French cuisine has to offer?

It wasn’t until later in the evening I found out that James’ brother enjoys this meat and that he had bought some to have for dinner. It was cooked in a pan with apples (as if that is going to make it more edible) and then served with the apples. He INSISTED that I try it. Keep in mind that the 3 other people at the table refuse to eat this meat. However I obliged and took the smallest bite possible. Needless to say there was a 4^th person now at the table that refused to eat it. I am not sure how to describe it other than the texture (and taste) was all wrong! So it’s official I have found a food in France that I do not care to brag about or share with my American friends and family!!!

In addition to noticing the food booths there were many fun and interesting items. I am told that the item below is a machine that was used to separate wheat grain from the plant prior to having machines do this for us.

The other item was something I could have totally seen buying had I any small children nearby or it didn’t cost a ton to ship to my favorite little friends back in the states. How fun that these school desks had a built in buddy right next to you?

So there is what a market experience was like for me in this city of approximately 800 people. I really do enjoy walking around and looking at things. I think it will be even more fun to go to these markets when we are in our own space and start to need things to make it a home!

My first visitors

 Last week I had the privilege to hang out with some familiar faces from MN. Dawn and her daughter Sara (who is actually studying in Spain this semester) jetted over to France for a few days and we traipsed around the city. I was able to share some of the sites that are familiar to me in Paris(the above photo is a site that is still mesmerizing to me even after seeing it numerous times).  In addition to working on my tour guide skills (that I hope to be using with ALL of the friends and family visiting) these few days in Paris also allowed me to check out some new spots which was really great.


One of my new favorites was seeing the beloved Eiffel Tower lit up at night. In addition to lighting up it does some fun blinking light show every so often as well.  I can envision sitting at a cafe with this in view and sharing some coffee and dessert, anyone want to join me?

After walking through the Montmartre neighborhood and seeing Sacre Coeur we headed down the hill and walked to the Moulin Rouge. Conveniently there was a Starbucks located right across the street that allowed us to sit outside and enjoy a little taste of the states while looking at this fun venue.

We also went to the famous Louvre. I had seen the Louvre during a river boat tour in the past but up close this building is bigger than I could have ever imagined.

 They say that it takes a whole day to get through the museum. I can completely understand why after seeing it. Being a resident of France there is little in the site seeing department that makes James excited to see repeatedly. I had texted him while we were sitting outside the Louvre and he responded that it was one of his favorites. So it is on the to-do list that we will be spending a day here in the future for me to experience all the amazing art that is within.

After a few days in Paris, Dawn and Sara came out to spend the day in Chartres with James and I. It was really fun showing them around the city, hosting them in our home, and trying to jam in as much French experiences as possible before they left the following day. Sara really wanted to learn how to make crepes so James and her spent a little bit of time in the kitchen and there is video to prove that by the end she was able to flip a crepe like a pro.

Of course these experiences also included amazing desserts (macaroons, religieuse, and too many others that I have yet to know the names of), the best French baguettes in town (so good that they both took some back with them on the planes), and of course a little French wine with (our Korean) dinner.

It is amazing how spending time with friends from home even in a foreign land feels familiar. Thank you to Dawn and Sara for all of the laughs and for allowing me to finesse some of the tour guide skills for the next round of visitors.

P.S. There are more macaroons waiting for your next visit (or an apple croissant or chocolate eclair)!!!