It’s a TINY town with large fields of… nothingness.
But it was fun to walk around. A child always gives a better perspective.
Orleans is known for a couple of things. OK, I lied, One thing and here it is.
Jeanne D’arc (Joan of Arc to us Americans)
She helped turn the tide for France in the Hundred’s Year War in Orleans and now they have this huge Cathedral dedicated to her.
BTW, that cathedral is fucking enormous. And WAY cooler than Notre Dame.
It is being refurbished right now but the stained glass windows are amazing.
I mostly spent the holidays trying not to do anything “unfrench-like” and indulged in a lot of WII.
It is so addicting and a perfect way to sweat. YES YOU CAN SWEAT WHILE PLAYING WII GOLF. The boyfriend and I are very competitive.
I also had my first 4×4 cart experience.
*NOTE this picture was taken for you my readers to show HOW ridiculous I can look.
But it did give us the opportunity to drive around the area
And see this house with it’s own moat!! Why does America have nothing like this??
And craploads of cows.
Christmas was lovely as even I received gifts from his family.
BTW I never believed in Santa Claus but apparently his nephew does so it was hilarious to hold this over his head for a week.
“Si tu ne faites pas bien, on va appeler Pere Noel!” (If you do not behave, we’re going to call Santa Claus!)
The right side were presents for him. ALL OF THEM.
And still, he asked “Mais ou est-ce que le ______ que j’ai demande?” (Where is the (have no recollection of what he wanted) that I asked for?) after shredding TEN gifts.
Kids these days.
Alex was pleased with his gifts.
It was a comic book on Jean Claude Van Damme. It’s a big french joke here that he’s always on drugs and speaks in the weirdest mix of french and english and thereby making no sense in either language.
Example:
BTW, I know this is kind of perverse, but I LOVE taking pictures of french children.
Of course, being only 2 hours away from Paris by train demanded that we go. So we did.
BTW this is scary for kids. Two monkeys killing a man?
Then a stroll through the outdoor zoo they had.
I’ve ALWAYS hated zoos, as the animals alway look depressed
but this one had guinea pigs! With bunnies for some bizarre reason.
(It started out with two…then…)
And my first ever sloth sighting.
And the boyfriend meeting up with some old friends
We walked on the Champs Elysses
and to my HORROR…
McDo has invaded le champs elysses. Why aren’t more parisians pissed? Where is Jose Bové ?
We ate at a Korean/Chinese owned restaurant with some decent kimchi….but OMG
I ate fucking dduk. 7 EURO dduk!!!
Then impressed the shit out of the boyfriend at the Eiffel Tower. He didn’t want to go and be a tourist, but he was the one most excited when we got there.
No matter how much I bag on Paris, it is goddamn beautiful.
SO, I failed miserably in finding a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. I went to a boucherie (butcher) and was quoted a price of 80 euros.
SO I settled for turkey legs, which cost me a mere 2 euros per leg.
I brined the legs overnight and cooked them in the oven. Then on to mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, stuffing, and I made a whole fish baked in salt for the vegetarian/fish eater in the group.
We invited the boyfriend’s friends and 2 other english assistants.
Jim and Mathieu provided most of the entertainment.
And this is Niko, who tasted American stuffing for the first time and never fails to ask me about it when I see him.
The evening ended with Mathieu smoking a joint on our balcony and proceeded to eat his way through all the leftovers. My first thanksgiving with no leftovers!
