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!

Chocolate Mousse

Living in France you would think that I am a pro at French cooking by now, this however is not true. James doesn't really love French food and so I just haven't spent much time learning the traditional dishes. However, I have been learning some of the traditional desserts.

One of the simplest desserts here in France is chocolate mousse. It only requires 2 ingredients, minimal effort to make, and some time to chill in the refrigerator. I remember the first time I had chocolate mousse in France and thinking it must be so complicated to make and I was intimidated to try. This quickly changed when the recipe was shared with me. So I feel that it is my duty to pass on this delicious chocolate piece of heaven to all of you.

Recipe for Chocolate Mousse
serves: 6 | prep time: 15 minutes (plus 3 hours for it to chill)

Ingredients
1 bar dark chocolate (200g, I used the Nestle dessert brand here in France)
6 eggs


Directions
1. Separate the egg whites and the yellow into 2 bowls.
2. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until white peaks form.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate bar over low to medium low heat on the stove.
4. Once the chocolate is fully melted add the egg yellows to it. Stir quickly and remove from heat.
5. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg whites. Stir this together by hand until mixed.
6. Place in 1 large bowl or many small bowls that you intend to serve it in.
7. Chill in the fridge for a about 3 hours to allow it to cool and set.
8. Garnish with your favorite fruit or it is perfectly fabulous without fruit too!

Enjoy!!!

Note
***if presentation is important to you be sure to place in individual dishes prior to chilling as it isn't as "pretty" if you let it chill and then scoop it into separate bowls.

I hope you find this an easy addition to your dessert options. If anyone gives it a try I would love to hear what you think!

Seaside Adventure Part II

After leaving Mont St. Michel we continued our adventure with a quick stop in Cancale before continuing on to St. Malo.

Cancale is a city that is famous for oysters. It is the oyster capital of this region of France and is said to harvest 25,000 ton of oysters a year. These oysters were even the oysters of choice for King Louis XIV as he had his delivered to him at Chateau Versailles.

Here is the view coming down the hill along the coast into the village.

 Right next to this pier is the small seaside market that sells nothing but oysters!

 Oysters are one of James' favorite foods so this was like Christmas morning for him!

 You have the option to buy them to go or to have them opened and eat them right on sight. James knew that he wanted to grab a dozen to go but also couldn't resist trying a "wild" oyster while we were there. Here is the "ostréiculteur" (oyster farmer) that we bought our oysters from and he is opening the oyster for James to try.

James said that the oyster was amazing and he was so excited to have a dozen to go. I am not an oyster fan (something about the texture) but if you are this is THE place to go.

From Cancale, we continued on to St. Malo. St. Malo is a walled port city along the English Channel.  It the past it was notorious as a pirate city. The city is very charming with lots of shops and cafes to enjoy. We decided to take an intermission from walking around to enjoy a drink and share a dessert.

 After dessert we walked along the wall of the sea. There is just something about water and waves crashing into shore that is magical to me. It didn't matter that it was raining or windy we loved every minute of our time spent here.

 Another view of the wall and the homes and buildings right behind it.

 We decided to have some fun and be playful with the canon.

 Some of the boats in the port and there was even a large cruise ship docked here too.

We ended our time in St. Malo with buying some wine and bread to make our meal complete once we arrived home with those dozen oysters. Oh, and one last look at the port and boats!

I would definitely return to St. Malo if given the opportunity. I have a long list of "to visit" cities here in France and this one definitely earned it's spot on the list.

Mont St. Michel, and adventures along the coast Part I

Last Friday was a national holiday in France and James and I didn't have to work. This seems logical but it is not uncommon for James to work on holidays. I had been mentioning for about a month that we should try and explore some area of France I have never seen. So Friday was the day we had our adventure.

We got up early and our first stop of the day was Mont St. Michel! It is about a 3 hour drive from our house but in my opinion, rode trips are what you make of them and ours was fun! The weather was rainy and gloomy our entire drive there but to our delight it stopped raining during our time at Mont St. Michel.

Mont St. Michel is a church with a very small village surrounding it and it is on an island that is now connected to the mainland with 1 road (but no cars are allowed on the island). The high tide is well documented near the island as at those times the island is completely surrounded by water.

Here is a picture of the island as we approached it.

 As there are no cars allowed on the island there are large parking lots available and then shuttles that take you closer to the island.

Here is a "close up" of our view as we walked onto the island. Mont St. Michel is named after the arch angel Michael. There is a legend that is told about how this angel influenced the church being built. You can read more about those details here. The church was built over a span of 500 years (1017-1521), the main church was completed in 1144 but other buildings were added in the 13th and 14th century to accommodate the monks and pilgrims who flocked to the abbey. It served as a prison for a period of time after the 100 year war and was handed back to the French government in 1874 when they began preserving it.

Once we were on the island we wandered through the small village making our way up the hill to enter the abbey. The city is charming but quite touristic as more than 3 million people visit each year.

 Stairs, stairs, and more stairs...

 Here is the main street on the island. It has lots of little shops and even a few hotels are available.

 Here is one of the views from the top of the church. It feels like there is nothing for miles and miles!

 A trip wouldn't be complete without some door shots (I've got a thing for doors)!

 We were able to witness part of a service going on in the chapel area of the church. It was quite magically to be part of something that has been going on for hundreds of years in this space.

 Here is the cloister (the garden space in the middle of the building).

 We loved all the detailed design of these arch-like poles that surrounded the perimeter of the garden.

 Here is one of many hooks in case you need to tie your horse up while you are in the church.

 There were many alters and areas with benches throughout the church.

 

 One of the other unique feature was the "human like hamster wheel." The picture below shows you the part that was considered the "sledge" in which the good (likely heavy) were pulled to the church by animals and then raised by the manpower provided on the "hamster wheel."

 Here is one of the many fireplaces located through. I can't imagine the amount of wood needed to provide even a small amount of heat to this massive building.

 Here is a statue of St. Michael and the following are a few pictures to show you the gilded statue of St. Michael on top of the spire of the abbey.

 

Cannons which I am sure served a very different purpose than a resting spot back in the day :)

One of the views of the outside of the abbey as we made our way down all of the stairs.

 A few more pictures of charming buildings in the village (which is said to have only a population of 44 people as of 2009).

It was fantastic to see this amazing landmark of France. I hope the pictures give you a small glimpse of this beautiful and magical place but I am sure that my pictures also do not do it justice and you should all visit it for yourself! The next stops of our day were Cancale and St. Malo. I will share pictures and details of the seaside towns soon! Happy Friday everyone!!!