Chateau de Chenonceau

Another day of exploration=perfection in my book!

About a month ago we ventured out to another area of France and our first stop was Chateau de Chenonceau (point A on the map). Other than the Chateau de Versailles, it is said to be the most visited castle in France. It was built between 1515-1521 over a bridge of the Cher River and was nicknamed "Chateau des Dames" (Castle of the Ladies) due to the strong history of the women who lived there. 

 I really enjoyed that this castle allows you to see areas of daily life, like the kitchen, the fireplace where bread was baked, and the butcher room. They even had fires going in some of the fireplaces which was fabulous since it was a cold, rainy day!!!

The castle wasn't as "grand" as the Palace of Versailles but I really enjoyed seeing all of the tapestries and architecture! The grand gallery was one of my favorite parts of the castle.

A couple of interesting facts-during the First World War the owner turned over the chateau for use as a hospital for the injured; and during the second World War, one end of the castle's gallery was in the Occupied Zone and the other in French Free Territory- and this corridor between the two zones was used to move people between them. 

After visiting the castle we went for lunch in a restaurant that was built into rock, which is typical of places in the area. As we were driving you could see homes built into the side of the cliffs. It was quite impressive.

Lunch consisted of a starter, main plate and desserts. I chose the salmon for a starter, one of my favs!

The desserts all looked great and between all of us there was quite a variety.

After lunch we continued on to the city of Tours (point B on the map). This is the city that one of our nieces lives and attends school. We spent some time walking around the city and my favorite part was the "old" area with some really great style of buildings.

We were also able to see the cathedral before ending our walking tour.

We finished the evening making sushi with the family and hanging out at our niece's apartment. It was another great, adventurous day!!!

Christmas is getting close!!!

I was walking around the grocery store the other day and it was the first real sign that Christmas was approaching. I love the Christmas markets here in France but without snow and lots of lights and decorations everywhere it feels a little low on the "wow" factor.

Here are some of the common goods waiting for you if you want to come grocery shop in France with me!

Foie Gras

Bûche de Nöel

Ferrero Rocher and Kinder=some of the most beloved chocolates

The Kinder Surprise are a BIG hit with the little people. 

The sight of Christmas makes me oh so happy, especially since we have some VIP visitors arriving right after Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving recap

I know that Thanksgiving feels like forever ago, especially with Christmas just around the corner but I wanted to share a tidbit of our celebration here in France.

This was the 2nd year that I prepared a full Thanksgiving meal and it was a success. While I love to cook and bake, for the big holidays back home I often brought one of the simple items needed, like buns! So to be responsible for the FULL meal is a new role for me!!!

The menu:
Turkey
Mashed potatoes and gravy
stuffing
Green bean casserole
Baguettes (from the bakery)
Pumpkin pie
Apple pie

So to most of you back home this seems like a simple menu without much difficulty to execute! Oh so not the case! The first obstacle is to find all of the ingredients! Thankfully prior to returning to France this fall I had a light bulb moment in which I remembered how difficult it was to find ingredients last year. So, thanks to my grandma I returned to France with some of the basic essentials: canned pumpkin, cream of mushroom soup, and stuffing mix.
In spite of having these ingredients, I still had to make a trip to the American store to get a cooking bag for the turkey and also picked up one of the 1-time-use thermometers. To give you a point of reference, had I needed to buy pumpkin or other items, you can guarantee multiplying the cost by about 5 of what you pay for it in the states.
Now for the turkey...last year we learned how difficult it can be to secure a full turkey. Yes turkeys exist in France but they are a typical item for Christmas so to request one a month in advance is not the norm! Thankfully James took care of this and was able to order the turkey from the same store as last year. The cost 50 Euros for 10kg (which is about $70 for 20 pounds). The other interesting factor for the turkey both years is the question of will it fit in the oven?! The answer has been yes, both years, but just barely!

Comparing size and ready to dig in!

The rest of the preparation went great! The pies and side dishes turned out well! Everyone reports enjoying the meal and there were few leftovers remaining, which is a very good sign!

I of course would love to celebrate this holiday in the US and enjoy having the days off of work to share with family, but I am very grateful that my family here in France joins in my excitement and helps me to celebrate the American holiday!

Date night first

It is almost embarrassing to admit but in the 2+ years of living in France, I have never been to the movie theater! Back in the states I really enjoy going to the movies. I know it's expensive but the experience of seeing it on the big screen with a fountain diet coke and movie theater popcorn is the best!!!

Not long ago someone told us that the movie theater in our town plays the original version of some movies once or twice a week. We decided to look into it and quickly discovered that "The Butler" was playing and we decided to end this drought!

The movie was shown on a Monday night at 10:05p.m. That's rough when I had to wake up at 5:45a.m. the following morning, but I was up for the challenge!
We decided to go for a little stroll on our way to the theater.

The lady selling tickets was super friendly and had to tell us all about her daughters spending time in the US over the summer and how much they loved it (don't blame them)!

After browsing the small selection of snacks and refreshments (which does NOT include even a tenth of the selection in an average American theater), Our theater was open so we made our way in.

James and I were placing bets as to whether we would have the entire theater to ourselves. We ended up being 2 of the 4 people in attendance for the movie! I wanted to high 5 the others as it felt like we had some connection by being there watching a movie in English!
Here we are all settled in and ready to enjoy!

We both enjoyed the movie and it ended up having subtitles too, which was helpful for James as some of the accents were quite strong.
I hope to be able to have a date night like this again sometime soon!

***sorry for the low quality pics, the Iphone is all we had with to document this event :)

Paris in the Fall

Recently I had a day off during the week. I made the decision to spend the day walking around the city and exploring instead of the list of things that I could do at home (laundry, prep for classes, clean, etc). I am trying to be better at taking time for myself and take advantage of the little things that are at my disposal. I know that we won't be in France forever so I am sure when I look back on this time I am not going to regret the days that I made the decision to wander around Paris and soak it all in. I think you would agree, right?!

So if you'd like to join me for a walk around the city on this Friday afternoon, please do. We'll start with a walk along the Seine River. See the Eiffel Tower peaking through the trees!

The colors along the river are so vibrant.

 There are many dinner boat cruise options to consider.

 The Tuileries are a perfect place to spend some time soaking in the sunshine and crisp fall air.

The Louvre is grand and amazing any time of year but the colors of the Louvre against the blue sky and colorful trees is extra magical.

 This group of ladies make me smile from ear to ear. They know how to enjoy life!!! I want to spend my afternoons in Paris, with friends, and soaking in the sun, anyone want to join me?

 In addition to some amazing fall colors, the Tuileries have a fun art installation going on.

 A walk past Notre Dame is good for the soul.

 This park has beautiful mums adding some fall cheer.

 My last stop of the afternoon was Shakespeare and Company. This is a famous landmark bookstore in Paris and it was my 1st visit. I didn't go looking for it intentionally but stumbled upon it. It's a great story as to how it started out, you can read about it here.

And I know it isn't very Parisian but it was VERY exciting that Starbucks of Paris had PSL on the menu! Just a little familiarity and comfort from home to end this great day!

Happy Friday and Bon week-end mes amis!