Mind the Gap Between the Platform and the Train (Adventures with MooReece and Jill con't)

London England is the BEST! Ok, so I'm just overly JACKED about the weekend that I just had. No I would not want to live in London permanently, as I would not want to live in Paris permanently - BUT London (as Jill and I are keeping score) is MAJORLY kicking Paris butt (what is it like 32-5 or something?) AND we were only in London for 48 hours or so. I can just imagine how I had the chance to hang around longer. We were speed-tourisming but our main reason for eurostarring it across the Channel was to go see Wicked the Musical. Everything else was just gravy (ok so I don't like gravy but I did have the BEST Cottage Pie EVER and it had gravy and it was FANTABULOUS!)

It surely wasn't all smooth sailing from the get-go. Before even leaving Paris I open my big mouth at lunch and tell Jill that I bring my "gift" with me whenever I travel for 2 reasons (and these 2 reasons ONLY I SWEAR!):

1) It's the 1 thing other than my passport that I'm terrified to lose so when I travel I wear it so I know where it is (you all know how paranoid I can be... this saves me the stress)

2) It's brought me good luck when travelling. I have not run into any real "travel" problems since being in Europe.

HA! That'll teach me! Don't we get to the train station only to be trying to fetch our tickets from the wrong kiosk - TWICE! And after finally asking the info desk and told to go up to Eurostar (holy DUH AMY!) we find a specific Eurostar kiosk and our tickets spit out with 3 minutes to spare before the train is set to leave (I thought they would all give me our tickets... NEVER ASSUME FOLKS - I should listen to my own rules). Little did we know there is "check-in" with Eurostar and it closes 20 minutes PRIOR to departure - we missed our train. Luckily the lady working at the counter was nice enough to exchange our tickets free of charge...who knew you had to go through airport-like security to get on this baby? Happily the next train leaves only 30 minutes later and by the time we get through security and passport control (2 more stamps!! WOOHOO) we just make it to the 3:13pm train. Arrival in London 4:36pm (it's a 2.5 hour journey but London is 1 hour behind so we gained an hour which was nice). The Eurostar is a nice train, comfortable, roomy and fast. It doesn't seem to go that fast from inside the train but we cross the Channel in 20 minutes MAX! You aren't in the dark for very long that's for sure. Super cool to go from Paris to London in less time than it takes to drive to Barrie (and just as cheap too if you get your tickets early enough). SWEETNESS!

Our first mission in London: figure out the transit system. Our 2nd mission: ABBEY ROAD! We found it without much trouble at all - a little walking never hurt no one (except our blisters) and it is a BEAUTIFUL and PEACEFUL end of town. Leaves all over the place, kind of felt like the Fall. Not too hot either for once - BONUS! It's plain to see that the locals are used to people crossing the street back and forth all day long and they are really quite patient (at least they were when we were there). There was no crowd though so that's always nice too. Jill and I each crossed and then grafitied the Abbey Studios gate wall with some love for the boys!

We had dinner in Leicester Square at Chiquitos. Yes we had Mexican in London ok? It was TERRIFIC! We then made our way back to the Hotel. What they don't tell you is that in London they use the weekends to work on the underground lines and so there are often, if not always, lines that are completely non-functioning. Luckily for us we didn't run into too many problems but we were staying near Heathrow and well it was a long haul. What a treat to stay in a lovely hotel though. Hey - when you've been sleeping on a 6 inch piece of foam for 2 months and a pillow that's flatter than a crepe - you look forward to staying in a hotel. PLUS we get continental breakfast... SCORE! AND ENGLISH TELEVISION!!!

Saturday consisted of a delicious breakfast complete with real English Bangers! :D We then headed to Madam Tussaud's wax museum but were floored to find a minimum 2 hour lineup outside. Hugely dissapointed we go search for the planetarium but can't find it so we head over to the London Eye where we spend the rest of the afternoon by the Thames. After our ride on the giant ferris wheel we go out to eat before the main attraction. We stumble upon The Albert this cute English Pub where you order your food from the bar and they bring it to you. In our case we ordered from the specials which are served from a buffet and we both got the Cottage Pie with peas and carrots. Gluttony at its FINEST! The plate was ENORMOUS and I ate every last bite. OY! :D We stuck around longer because we loved the atmosphere of the pub so much and ordered tea and sat there together and enjoyed tea time. I LOVE THE BRITISH!! What a lovely LOVELY day! Now to the theatre!

WICKED was WICKED! Nothing else can possibly describe this musical and do it justice. It is AMAZING and MAGICAL and FANTASTIC! We had goosebumps and tears and left there GLOWING we were so moved by this performance. By far the BEST stage performance I have ever been to and probably in the top 3 shows (concerts included) I've ever seen in my life. The show alone was worth the trip. Everything else was like I said - gravy. We were buzzing back at the hotel and not even tired and didn't get to bed until after 2 am I believe and had to be up early because we wanted to try and get to Tussaud's early enough. No luck - we got there but still had no time to see it so we decided to explore London some more before heading back. Another lovely day, we walked through St-James' park, seen Buckingham, Trafalgar Square, the Canadian Embassy, the Quebec Embassy?, and a building we are curious to know what it is... I also bought myself a whole pile of stuff! I know, I know... I have NO IDEA how I am going to bring everything home.

Home... now that's a sad thought. I am in denial everyone! Europe has won me over and GB has won my heart! I may be ready to go home but that doesn't mean I want to anymore. 4 more days... 4 more days..............

Guten Tag, como estas mon ami? I'm well, gracie. Tchuss! (Adventures with MooReece con't)

So many countries, so little time. My head is spinning! I spent the weekend visiting my friend Genevieve (from Sudbury) in Germany. Finally made it to the vaterland. I'm so happy I made it there even if just for a few days. My séjour would have felt incomplete without at least a pitstop in the land of my ancestors. But before I get into that, I should explain the title of this blog. For some bizarro reason, I could not for the life of me speak and stick to 1 language in Germany. Everytime I went to a restaurant, store etc and spoke to someone I kept having to pause and contemplate what I wanted to say, not because I couldn't remember the German words but because I kept wanting to speak a freaky-deaky hybrid language of Italian, French and some German. Not to mention the French and Italian tendency to say "please" when they bring you something so I kept saying "Danke Bitte" when someone would bring me something instead of "Danke Scheun". Good GRIEF my poor brain cannot keep all these languages straight. And THEN Genevieve wants to take me to the Netherlands to hear some Dutch!

European culture is so much fun. In the time it takes me to drive from Sudbury to North Bay I can drive across 2 borders and go from a region that speaks only French to a region that speaks only German and with not much of a buffer zone in between. In fact you can often clearly see the dividing line just by looking at the architecture. No I won't get into an architectural seminar right now (although I do have this new wealth of knowledge about it) but know that if you ever need to know anything about any of the buildings in Paris - you know who to call! (No, not Ghostbusters!)

After a very pleasant train ride with some entertaining and stimulating conversation with my cabin mates and a bottle of Jack, I arrived in Germany around 7pm on Friday and after looking mighty confused staring at the train schedule and REALLY CONFUSING transit map of Aachen Germany (and surroundings), a rail worker came over to ask me where I was looking to go and politely informed me I missed my train by 30 seconds or so and the next would be in 20 minutes. Note to Aachen: I would not have missed my train had your schedule been more CLEAR! And NO that's not due to my lack of proficiency in German thank you very much! I finally make it to where Im supposed to be and Genevieve comes to meet me *insert happy reunion and giant hugs here*. She cooks me dinner and then takes me to a party that could not feel more like home. Beer Pong and 25 drunken German men singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the top of their lungs. Not a dull moment. They were all very nice and welcoming to the foreigner and most speak English quite fluently and were more than happy to chit chat with me - this is by far my favourite passtime in Europe - talking and meeting people from every corner of the globe! I have lived such a sheltered life by comparison - UGH. A late night of catching up had us sleeping in much later than we'd planned but we still made it out the door and to the Netherlands by 1pm.

Maastrict is such a CUTE city! It is sooooo DUTCH! Everything there is like you see in the movies. It's clean, quaint and adorable. It makes you want to skip. The weather was unbearably HOT which made for an uncomfortable promenade and the town square was closed because André Rieu was performing. We didn't pick the best day to visit apparently, but I had a great time anyways AND I got to visit the world's largest bookstore inside a cathedral. HEAVEN ON EARTH! The only thing it didn't have was a Starbucks (which is where I am currently sitting as I type this up). We shopped, I bought some stropfwaffels (Mmmmmmm) and we had Thai food for dinner. We attempted the unattemptable in Canada (or anywhere else for that matter) but SOMEONE (not me) didn't have her ID! SHHHHAMMME!!!! HAHAHA Turned out to be a good thing though in the end as Gen was starting to feel ick!

Sunday was spent touring Aachen with my own personal and very knowledgeable tourguide. Again, WAY TOO HOT, I couldn't even eat my ice cream fast enough before it turned to gespacho. We decided to catch a play "Der Eingebildete Kranke" (by French playwrite Moliere) to a) escape the heat and b) because why not see a German language play while in Germany....when in Rome right? Didn't understand a word (except for the few that excerpts they kept in French - go figure). Nevertheless it was still very entertaining. We finished off the night with another homecooked meal and the world's most BORING World Cup Championship game. YAAAAWWWWWNNNN! You've never seen 5 people more restless for a game to end. Even the people in the stands looked bored out of their minds. We prayed for a shootout - at least that would have made it interesting... nope they wouldn't even give us that. Eh bin! No more foot...

Germany and the Netherlands were fantastisch! And getting to visit them (even if only for a few days) with an old friend from back home made it that much sweeter. DEFINITELY a highlight of my trip thus far. And before you ask - of COURSE I had beer in both Germany and Holland and YES I kicked BUTT at Beer Pong!

5 Days in Italy with Only 5 Words in Italian... (Adventures with MooReece con't)

Going to a country when you don't know the language is obviously guaranteed to cause you a little stress. I mean how do you find out where your hotel is? How do you find anything really? Sure coming to Europe for 2 months on my own took a little courage on my part (and a whole lot of RA-RA from my friends) but I didn't cross the ocean totally undefended - I chose France for a reason - I can UNDERSTAND the language, I can READ the language and for the most part I can SPEAK the language (at least à la Québecois - although my parisian is getting pretty good if I do say so myself). So coming here, although scary and stressful at first I had an advantage to all my counterparts as I am fluent and can easily communicate to get what I want. In Italy - not so much. Of course being 3 people and a stuffed cow makes travelling in a foreign language country much easier, it was definitely a learning experience.

I learned that if you at least try to get your point across in their language they will be much more willing to help you even if you only know the basic words. These are the 5 words that got me through my 5 days in Italy: Bonjourno!, Graci!, Prego!, Pizza, Ciao! Knowing only these 5 essential words allowed me to communicate with the Italian folk who then sympathized with the struggling tourist trying to make an effort to not look like such a tourist. AND (and I know you should never start a sentence with AND) by day 5 I was getting asked for directions - too bad I had NO IDEA what he was asking, I might have been able to help! HAHA.

Italy was a great and fun idea although we never anticipated having such difficulty getting a train to Paris from there. There is only a night train directly from Verona (at a small fortune of course). We decided to take the June 30th train and only arrive in Paris on the morning of the 1st meaning we got to spend an entire extra day in Verona. Not that we did much as it was the HOTTEST day I have EVER lived through. The Gattopardo Hotel people were nice enough to let us take refuge in their lounge all day so we could keep our luggage there and hide from the heat (although they didn't have AC down there and we still DIED!) I kept going out for walks - at least there is air outside and I got to explore the Dossobueno area. Of course I found a train station not 2 minutes from our Hotel (when we had been taking cabs and busses all week), I found a peach orchard (where I snuck in like a garden raider and stole one right off the tree :D), I found a huge sports complex, my future house and a grocery store. I enjoyed some of the best ice cream yet and relaxed on some benches to people watch. However the heat was definitely not helping my ever worstening head cold and I was slowly starting to feel the effects of minor hyperthermia so I spent the remainder of my time indoors. Italy is so very different from France, and the food is MUCH cheaper, although the variety isn't there. My biggest shock was that beer is MUCH MUCH cheaper in Italy than anywhere else AND MUCH MUCH cheaper than Wine. Wine is expensive in Italy (by comparison to France anyways...).

The midnight train from HELL! We reserved 3 beds and we should have reserved 6 just for our luggage. What a mess! We had no idea what to expect and were really hoping that we would have a cabin all to ourselves. NOPE! We board the train only to find 3 kids already in our cabin and very LITTLE room for our luggage. Did I mention my head was pounding and I was slightly nauseous? After about an hour of debating and moving stuff around we finally came up with something, not bearable but at least workable. Note to EVERYONE - if you are claustrophobic - DO NOT EVER take a night train! We managed to open up the beds but when all 6 are open, no one can sit meaning you are stuck in a coffin like position for 10+ hours with no where to go. No air circulation and you can't just open the windows or doors or move around because you have 5 other people in there with you and no room ANYWHERE because luggage is stacked in every inch of spare space. Needless to say not much sleep happened and I finally dragged myself out of the cabin around 630am and stayed out until we pulled in at around 10am. Never been so happy to get off any moving vehicly in my life! I was ready to kiss the ground - 11+ hours on a train is TOO FRIGGIN LONG!

Did I mention someone stole my money? Don't know how, don't know when... my purse never left my side and I still have my wallet (and my credit card THANK GOD!) But I took out 120Euro at the train station and when I got to my new apartment to pay the cab I had NOTHING left. Even my Canadian money was GONE! I had 10Euro, my receipts, some spare Franks from Switzerland and a bit of Euro change. I was losing it! How did that happen? Could be worst - but still a major piss off! Someone went into my wallet in 2 different places, took the money and put it back. WHAT THE???

Anyways... that's why I've flooded all your inboxes with my screaming and complaining and crying to come home! My toothache (if that's what it is is still around) but at least I'm rested and I did groceries and eating right again. Although I now have to go buy jeans because the zipper on my favourite (and ONLY) pair here is broken. FML! Going to see Les Misérables hopefully tonight if I can get tickets. It's raining so why not?

Hot compresses and talking to you all makes me feel much more normal so THANK YOU!

p.s. I really AM sorry for flooding all your inboxes with my unnecessarily long emails - but you all know me by now - and that's why you LOVE ME :) and *cough cough* MISS ME!!! Well at least I miss ALL of YOU!!!

My name is Amy and I am Cannedian! (Adventures with MooReece con't)

After much debating MooReece and I decided to stick closer to home this weekend (as a trip to Avignon would have been mostly spent on a train). Instead we opted to spend the day in Cannes. We had only walked through it on the way from the port to the train station and with our very packed schedule (I hate going to sleep because there is still so much to do and so little time to do it in) and I really wanted to see it before I left. Can't come to the Riviera and not visit the city of the biggest movie festival in the WORLD! Did I mention there was a 16h30 Power Yoga class on the Fitlane schedule in Cannes - SOLD!

Originally the plan was to tackle it solo but I invited 2 friends from class (I got 2 free passes with my membership) to explore the city with me and hit up some Yoga and they were more than thrilled at the opportunity. What a FANTASTIC DAY! Probably one of our best days here, if not EVER! We got there just before 9 and spent the entire day exploring the city, museum de la Castre (filled with ancient artifacts from cultures all over the world from ancient greco-roman and egyptian times to more recent North American and Inuit hunting tools - best museum I've been to yet! So many amazing things...OH and a tower climb with the most breathtaking view - a 360 panoramic view of Cannes and the Mediterannean - INSANE) and EATING! We discovered 2 VERY HAPPY places: 1 charcuterie (butcher shop/prep food shop) with all these French specialties. I of course had Quiche, Ratatouille and Lentil Salad :) Best lunch of LIFE! 2 was this chocolatier/patisserie with the most BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING deserts we've EVER SEEN! (Pictures to come...) We purchased our treasures and headed to the park overlooking the port and stuffed our faces and watched people play Pétanque (Bocci). Three very happy girls and a toy cow were very much LOVING LIFE! Doesn't get ANY BETTER. Did I mention there was a market there too? There are markets ANY and EVERYDAY in any town you go to. Definitely the place to be if you're a bargain hunter :)

Yoga was next on the agenda. What a treat! What a challenge... not only have I not done Yoga in FOREVER, I really had to concentrate when she would say things like "Chien à tête renversé". I was so relaxed at the end of those 90 minutes of bliss I fell asleep during meditation. The three of us (yes MooReece sat this one out) walked out of there completely blissed out. We finished with a little shopping and all bought an item from this Rock N Roll store - a very SUCCESSFUL expedition indeed!

Sunday was hiking and seakayaking from Theoule sur Mer to La Trayas (just beyond Mandelieu La Napoule)...if that means NOTHING to you...no worries, it doesn't mean much to me other than yet ANOTHER beautiful spot along the coast. We hiked for 3 hours or so and picnicked up in the mountains. Everything here is STUNNING! I thought Canada was beautiful (and don't get me wrong - it IS and I LOVE IT!) The hike made me feel like I was back home again, in my comfort zone, doing what I love most. The only thing missing was my BFF. Next time I decide to go "find myself" in another country, I'm bringing you with me (you know who you are!) LOL! We hiked to a beach in La Trayas where we rented kayaks and I took off Adam vanKoeverden style to explore the coast. Definitely not Lac Cache let me tell you. Thank goodness I'm an avid canoe/kayaker because the waves are BIG!!! It was bumpier than the Beast at wonderland after a rainstorm! We got to go out for about an hour and about 35-40min in the seasickness started to sink in. NOT PLEASANT because now I'm like 2 miles away and the waves only seem to be getting bigger. (Note to self: next time - GRAVOL!) I was quite happy to get back to shore. Took a nap on the beach and finished off the day bobbing about in the salt water. I CAN FLOAT!! I can see why all you bobbers love it so much. What a COOL feeling.

"And look Ma! NO NOODLE!" ;)

Loving LIFE but missin' y'all (just a bit)... à bientôt!

"WOOHOO!" en français = "ALLER!" (Adventures with MooReece con't)

My search for a gym that has real LMI programs has finally come to an end. Last night MooReece and I took the Bus #10 upto Sophia Antipolis to go find Fitlane. I was informed that it was only a 2 minute walk from the bus depot up there (but I was not told in which direction). Of course I had 3 to pick from. So I "eenie meenie miney" it and start walkin'. In no time I'm in a town square but no gym in site and of course no map. AWESOME! So I keep going until I see someone coming towards me and ask for directions. Low and behold I was going in the right direction and Fitlane was literally around the next bend. More like 5 minutes from the bus depot.

I walk in and ask for the lady I had been in contact with but she was teaching. So I waited. I sat and read LMI pamphlets in French and learned the names of the tracks and moves en français. The colours of Fitlane are Red and White (sound familiar?) Very nice place actually - quite new I would think. So I finally meet with Magali and I get signed up for a much reduced price with the "ok" to get on stage when if I want to. WOOHOO!! PUMP wasn't until 630 so I hung around town and made my way back. They have the cool plates with handles which are SO MUCH easier to handle (except the DONS... the DONS still SUCK LOL!) The instructor taught 73 so I knew it all and it was just so nice to be back on familiar ground (even if he was calling everything out in French). Note a "single" is a "siingel" hahaha and "WOOHOO!" is "ALLER!!!" (for those of you dying to know). I followed it up with RPM! Like Sudbury PUMP and RPM seem to rule the schedule so I have LOTS to pick from...but only 2 ATTACK. I did RPM and PUMP tonight again but in reverse order. It's good to be back!!

Tomorrow I'm ATTACKING - I can't wait to hear/learn all the french lingo. Too much FUN!!! The instructors seem to look at me like I'm from a different planet though (maybe it's my Celine Dion accent.... yes they keep telling me I talk like Celine! Too bad I don't sing like her too. EESH!) The instructing is really strong, cuing and technique dominate here whereas fitness magic (fellow instructors know what I'm talking about) is seriously lacking. I will cut them some slack for now, I've only done 4 classes... stay tuned for an update!

Going back to Monaco tomorrow. Where the streets are paved with Rolls Royces and Ferraris :)

À la prochaine!

p.s. Today's cooking "class" was Ratatouille and "fleurs de courgettes". Although the flowers can only be purchased at this time of year, Ratatouille is FANTASTIC and I will definitely be making is often at home :) WOOT WOOT!

Hey Michael, aren't you supposed to be in Genoa City? (Adventures with MooReece con't)

As previously mentionned St Tropez, Ventimiglia Italy and Monaco Monte Carlo were on the menu this weekend - and what a weekend it has been. MooReece and I have been trekking all over the Cote d'Azur and now we're tired. Here are the highlights of the last few days:

For those of you who know me, most of you know I've been following the Young and the Restless for my entire life (and I mean that very LITERALLY). For those of you who know me WELL or follow Y&R yourselves you will be totally JACKED to learn that Michael Baldwin was ON MY FERRY to St Tropez :D (his real name Christian Leblanc). Michael has always been my FAVOURITE character on Y&R and I was totally taken by surprise when I realized it was him.

I was taking picutres of the scenery on the boat when this man came up from the lower deck to do the same. He politely stopped as to not get in the way of my picture, I smiled, said thank you and told him to go ahead. I then thought to myself "man, he looks just like Michael..." and never thought too much about it after that UNTIL this lady walks up to him and he takes off his shades and shakes her hand. HOLY CATFISH IT IS HIM!!!! I started freaking out (in a very subtle way of course, I surely am not about to show my geek side when my favourite actor is like 2 feet away). So I try and get a picture (the paparazzi that I am) but his back is always turned. DARN! So I tell the girls and they all encourage me to go say hi (which I don't cause I'm a CHICKEN SHIT!) He goes back down and later as we're approaching I go down to go take pictures from the lower deck (and hopefully get a picture or 2 of him to PROVE he was there and I'm not making it up) So here you have it peeps- MICHAEL BALDWIN on MY boat (to and from St Tropez - he's staying in Cannes and doing the tourist thing just like me :))

So if that wasn't excitment enough (although it really WAS the highlight of my weekend and possibly my trip) St Tropez was great too! A HUGE market that we got lost in and this "tarte tropezienne" that puts Krispy Kreme to shame! (YES I'm in France and so I'm INDULGING and I DON'T CARE! Besides I put at least 10 miles/day on these legs...) I DID step in Trozienne waters but with my blisters I didn't swim and had to "operate" when I really I got all this sand in it. GAH! The day started off overcast but when that sun comes out she's intense. All that sunshine, excitement and fresh air had me literally passed out, fully clothed on my bed by 9:30. I had intentions of going out...oh well...

Today: Ventimiglia and Monaco Monte-Carlo!

Up bright and early again to head off to the train station to meet Joanna. Off to Italia we go. At first sight we were worried (didn't look too impressive from the train station...) Luckily making our way to the water front lifted our spirits. Stores here are still closed on Sundays for the most part, so there is very little to do if you don't have a gameplan (which we didn't). The beach there is unbelievable. Rock beach with jumping fish. We stopped to watch what the people on the beach were looking at (sparkling things in the water). Fish were jumping everywhere. TOO COOL! We also decided that if in Italy, we should eat italian. So after pacing and running into some technical difficulties finding FOOD (despite the countless restaurantes along the shore) we settled for some Ravioli and eventually (after more walking) some Gelatto (in Italy = Gelatti... so MooReece asks me why the heck did WE change it to an "o"? Je n'ai aucure idée!) So now when someone asks "what did you do last Sunday?" I can say "I took the train down to Italy and had myself some Ravioli and Gelatto!" Life is GOOD!

Did I mention I set off an alarm in the italian supermarket? Like Mother, like Daughter hahahaha

Monaco Monte-Carlo (in search of some millionaires)

CARS, CARS and EXPENSIVE CARS!! Ferraris left, right and centre and Rolls Royces to drool over. $$$$$$$ Very touristy up by the palace but definitely worth the HIKE (like anything good around here it involves a very long hike UP and then back down...) We didn't pay the 8E to get in though. We made our way to the Cathedral which is hosting an exhibit of Iconographs. BEAUTIFUL! I will go back - my camera died and so I have no pictures. I'd love to go to mass there one day... the Cathedral was only built in 1853 but it's beyond words! My favourite site so far.

Of course to get to the casino we have to walk all the way back down, across town and back UP the other side of the port to get to there. At the top of the hill we are greeted by Valentino and Prada and cars that are worth more than the most expensive house in all of Sudbury. I suddendly feel like I'm in Casino Royale (and only slightly underdressed...) We poke our heads in to check out the Casino only to get as far as the grand entrance and the mini slot room. It's 10E to go in to LOSE your money in Monte Carlo. Neither of us gambles so we passed it up. The millionaires are probably in there but we gambled our chances were slim to none of actually nabbing one. Oh well...next time

Ciao ciao!

Move over TUTTI FRUTTI this girl can make CRÈPES :) (Adventures with MooReece con't)

French cuisine is quite something. It is all over the map, from raw seafood to super thin pancakes covered in nutella. The Rivièra has a really strong Italian presence (being so close to the border and all - like Sudbury to Verner close) and that comes through in alot of the menu options found here in Antibes and the surrounding areas.

As a part of my program we have weekly cooking sessions with Kristin (our program director) who introduces us to a famous French dish and teaches us how to make it and allows us to cook it ourselves. This week was CRÈPES and GALETTES! I could hear MooReece cheering from inside my purse. So after class we made our way over the the CEA office where we spent the afternoon making galettes (buckwheat crèpes filled with anything savory - we had ham, eggs, tomatoes and cheese at our disposal) and crèpes (typical sweet pancake-like treat filled with anything sweet at your disposal - we had bananas, strawberries, nutella and ice cream (or glace en français)). It should be noted that galettes and crèpes are about the only things that aren't automatically served with wine here in France. They are served with Cider which still has some alcohol in it, but very little. Did I mention you can drink ANYWHERE here? Public intoxication is frowned upon and yet you can walk down the street with a beer in your hand? Do I really have to come home?

There WAS a twist to Kristin's treat however. In order for us to get to make and eat our yummy French concoctions, we had to try ESCARGOT! *GASP* Now of course MooReece is laughing and obviously grateful he doesn't actually have to eat. I put up a fight (sort of) but Kristin said NO CRÈPES sans qu'on essaye l'escargot. So I sucked it up Princess and went for it. Then I had 2 or 3 more. THAT'S RIGHT!!! If you don't think about it - they are really quite good. And NOT slimey which is what I was most afraid of.

Today we ventured with Kristin to Nice and were treated to Socca a specialitè niçoise. It's another pancake, this time made with chickpea flour. Quite delicious at first but very oily and heavy. In other words - good at first, not so much after the fact. But definitely worth trying. Must be high in protein right?

One thing is certain, you can't get sick of eating the 'same' thing here in France. There are so many restaurants it's impossible to know where to start. Of course there are many different international cuisines around as well. Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese, British to name a few... And yet I still can't find a coffee à emporter. Can I get a large black to go ANYWHERE? I should have stopped at McDonalds today when we walked by....hahaha NOT! Maybe I'll kick my habit while I'm here. Unlikely...

À la prochaine...

Apparently I'm the one with the funny accent? (Adventures with MooReece con't)

First day of school officially starts tomorrow but today we got our orientation and were given another guided tour of Antibes, Cap d'Antibes and Juan-les-Pins (by bus thank GOD - my feet are soooo blistered it's making it miserable to walk around). We then had our placement test to see which France level French we are at. They consider my accent "très jolie" - I didn't even know I had an accent! Little do they know - THEY are the ones with the adorable speech, it really is quite charming. (Also I learned that "tomber en amour" is a phrase that the French find absolutely adorable - apparently they don't say that here - I have yet to find the equivalent - will keep you posted on that one)

We toured the Cap d'Antibes which is like the Beverly Hills of the area and the road goes all the way around the peninsula. I figure 10-12 km - guess who's going for a run?! MooReece might stay back for that one though. He did very much enjoy the journey up to the lighthouse and Garoupe a chapel up on the mountain which provides us with an amazing view of the entire region. Not to mention we all know how much I love ancient architecture - the chapel was fascinating.

MooReece and I spent the remainder of the afternoon gathering supplies for the apartment and doing some grocery shopping (yes it's still my favourite thing to do even in France!) And you really can buy ANYTHING in a "marché" here. There is a daily "marché" that we have yet to explore but is apparently "the place" to shop in Antibes. The only thing that I can't seem to get here is a COFFEE! Our coffee pot is cracked (which I found out today as I was happily making my first pot and it leaked EVERYWHERE!) and it's not like I can just pop into a Starbucks for a Venti non-fat no-foam dark cherry mocha or even a MickeyDs for a large black! Cups here are literally CUPS like 250 ml... and just as expensive as an XL back home. I think I might just kick my coffee addiction yet seen as it's been 48 hours sans caffeine. Doubt it.

School starts tomorrow and we need to get up extra early to find out which building our classes will be in (fingers crossed mine is in one of the building in the old town...SO CLOSE!) So better wrap it up for the night.

Signing off! A la prochaine :)