Dinner party

Wednesday night we cooked a dinner for a few French friends. We toned down our usual healthyvegetarianunappetizing food and made some pasta so as to not scare the French. They were still a little uneasy but after we added a baguette and wine they were comforted. 

The Limoges Basketball Team

Can you find me? They uploaded this to their Facebook fan page right after OMG CELEBS: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Limoges-CSP-Page-Officielle/166206516768216

The other day I had the opportunity to tag along with my students and go meet the Limoges professional basketball team. Believe it or not, Limoges basketball used to be the number one team in all of Europe! I served as a translator for the three American players (ZomG **<3 professional athletes <3?!) which was pretty hilarious.  Oh and the other teacher thought I was a student.

Did you know that in order to be a professional sports coach in France you have to be bilingual?

Donnez-moi SUGAR

Image from pinterest

Not sure if we've been over France's love of all things chocolaty, creamy, fluffy, and sweet.  I know I know. French people are supposedly thin because they eat small portions of really delicious food (and that thing about big lunches and not snacking). I've heard it too. I have never ever seen this in action. My students are always eating Prince cookies.  The other teachers have rich cake in the teachers lounge almost every day. I see high school students walking around eating madelines and croissants.  My roommate eats nutella crepes almost every day twice a day. Portions at restaurants are pretty massive and I have a hard time finishing them*.  It's scoffed upon if you don't order dessert.  I've made my point. Anyways I'm at an American style cafe called "Columbus Cafe" and you would not believe the amount of whipped cream and cookies I've seen consumed in the past hour. The whipped cream towers at least three and a half inches above the top of the cup and everyone orders it. It's pretty wonderful that no one harbors guilt about ordering whatever the hell they want.

The cookie I'm eating is the size of my face. Meant to be shared? Maybe...

In other coffee related news...We hit up Starbucks in Paris** and had an encounter with infamous Parisian customer service values.  We go in, order our drinks, pay...normal order of things right? What comes next? Oh they make your drink? No! Really?! Cause the barista thought that the way things went were...I order, I  pay, she doesn't make drink, I wait, we notify her of her mistake, she gets super angry and says we were supposed to wait next to the bar or else she doesn't know we need our drinks. Although I think the whole ordering and paying thing should have been an indication that drinks were needed. Anyways in the US we'd have come out of this with a $20 gift card. Here we got our money back, no coffees, no apologies, and left. 

Finished the cookie. BAM.

* Who are we kidding- of course I finish them.

** Yadayada you're in France and go to Starbucks?! Sometimes I just need it ya know?

Paris in January

Last weekend we took an impromptu approximately 30 hour trip to Paris. I insisted on consuming everything in sight. No treat was safe from my grasp.  Last week also marked the start of the "soldes" in France. It's actually a government mandated sale that almost every store and mall abides by. And let me tell you, it's taken very seriously. Shopping would be a french holiday. 

Nope. Not a chateau or museum. The inside of the mall "Gallerie Lafayette" 

These images do not accurately depict the crazed sales shoppers. It was a quiet moment. 

Road leading to our hostel.

Wine and cheese shop.

Cheese.

Les Vacances de Noel

I was lucky enough to get to return home to NY for Christmas break. 

In a few short days I squeezed in: 

Mexican and sushi in DC. 

Getting blinded by SO many colors.

Touristy Rockafeller Center, Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes and food truck scrounging.

Skiing and a bonfire in Lake Placid.

"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"

Reunion nights frolicking around NYC with my best friends.

New Years walk in Central Park.

Instantly found crepes in NYC.

Saks windows what are you?!

Paris in December

Dec 16th-18th. 

Katy and I spent a rainy Friday in Paris before our flights home. Her flight was that Saturday so I spent two days in Paris alone (tout seul) wandering the Marais, meeting up with a few friends, and trying to lounge confidently alone in cafes. 

Limoges Early December

Photos courtesy of Eric.

En route to "our" bar.

Our door. That hole leads to our basement.