Week 15

Monday: Overall, today was a fairly normal day: I got up late, had breakfast, hung up my laundry outside, got ready, etc. The only big difference is that I decided to sleep in so late that I ate breakfast at a rather ridiculous time and chose to just not have lunch. Instead, I went to class early, used the extra minutes to write some postcards/try to read for class/etc, and bought some little snacks on my way back to the house afterwards. If I remember correctly, I came home right after class. I got off of the bus a stop early to hit the bakery on Boulevard Tourasse and bought a warmed-up Croque Monsieur (a sandwich with ham and cheese sauce inside, and is topped with cheese that is baked like a crust)- which I ate on the walk... something the people around me did not appreciate- and Pain au Raisin (a french-type cinnamon roll with raisins) for under 5 euros. Once at the house, I turned the laundry that was drying in the house over and sat myself down at the dining table with my laptop and a cup of chicorée. Guilhem was happy to accept a piece of my raisin bread when I offered it to him; Christine wouldn't allow herself, though. =P

For dinner tonight we had a terrine of eggplant and another taboulet with mint leaves, mushrooms, cheese, and more. The terrine was cold and was about the consistency of ground eggplant, eggs, and cream- which is quite shocking, considering that's what's in it. It was very very yummy! The only problem is that Côme kept asking me questions during dinner, and I was starting to figure out the hard way that here is a guy who hasn't yet learned that people cannot understand the jumble coming out of his mouth when he talks as fast as he can without hardly opening his lips. Oh the frustration!

Terrine d'Aubergine

Taboulet

After dinner I had some time to talk to my family and finally recount some of my incredible weekend. Then it was off to bed!

Tuesday: The majority of today was like yesterday: pretty normale. I did have lunch today though and it was super duper tasty. I don't know why I haven't demanded that this be made for me before now, considering how much I love the whole grain mustard!: Christine sautéed thin slices of chicken and then marinated them IN the mustard! This with some green veggies was a perfect lunch.
After class (don't you appreciate how I skip over that part?) I had about two solid hours to kill before my cuisine class started. I decided to really get down to business on the postcards I have been putting off. So, I did, and I completed about 20 of them! It was pretty incredible if I do say so myself. :) Finally, it was time to go to class. "Whoopi!"- Julia Child.
The menu tonight started with a salad that was mixed with tomatoes and corn, but I didn't care much about that. We were making quiche!! And guess what... we made three of them! There were only four of us there to eat them but who cares! We had enough filling for two Quiche Lorraine (cheese and bacon) and enough for one divine spinach, cheese, and cream quiche. For dessert, we made crêpes... I couldn't believe it! We are not skilled enough to make real crêpes (big rounds that are spread into a perfect circle with a long metal spatula) but Françoise did bring a nifty contraption that allowed us to pour and spread baby crêpes into circular forms. It was so much fun! The way this turned into a dessert sounds ridiculous even as I write it: start with one crêpe, top it off with slices of pear that are laid in a sort of sundial on the crêpe, layer on another crêpe, top this with a heaping spoon of creamy vanilla ice cream, put on ANOTHER crêpe, drown the entire concoction in hot chocolate sauce that is made from melting an entire dark chocolate bar in a bowl of the pear juice. Phew! Our stomachs swelled with pleasure.

Ingredients at the ready!

First quiche :)

Second :))

Third sitting ready :)))

Me pouring crêpe batter!

I'm so good ;)

Our lovely table

It's eatin' time!

Dessert- believe it or not, there is food under there

Told you there was food! Even if it is ice cream XD

I couldn't let the chocolatey ice cream sauce go to waste; so I had two more crêpes topped with chocolate sauce to help the matter :)

On my walk home.... I hope I've mentioned how beautiful Pau is and how much I love it

I took some leftover crêpes and quiche home to the family, but when I got there they were still munching on a crab quiche that Christine had made. They did manage to get the slice of spinach quiche down but the large slice of Lorraine was going to have to wait for the next day. At least they ate the crêpes for dessert: with jam of course. :)

Christine let me know before I went to bed tonight that her and Lionel would be going away the next day and wouldn't get back until late Thursday evening. And since Guilhem is away at Scouts, that meant that Côme and I had the house to ourselves. Oh great. You mean I am going to be alone in the house with someone I can't understand for the life of me and who is continually asking me questions?! Mon Dieu...

Wednesday: Today was a wonderful day! Not only was there no Business in the EU, but there was no class for a fabulous reason: we were touring a local chocolate factory instead! =D Pau is the home of many interesting things, and it seems she also is the birthplace of Verdier Chocolatiers- a chocolate making, molding, and packaging facility that was started by Monsieur Verdier at the end of WWII and continues to be family owned and operated. Monsieur Verdier's son and daughther-in-law (a darling Mrs. Sees-looking woman) now own the chocolate factory. And to my great delight, Madame Verdier was there today to welcome us to her chocolate factory! She even set out two large bowls full up to the brim of a rather varied assortment of chocolates for us to eat at our pleasure (delicious!). If we had purchased all of the chocolate she set out for us today, it would have probably cost up to 100 euros. I love this woman.

To get to the factory, our Business in the EU class (including our instructor Ryan) met at the université bus stop together to hop on the 15-minute bus to the facility. Once there, it was a delightful experience of shaking Madame Verdier's hand (she shook every hand, though there were at least 17 of us), getting a guided tour of the chocolate making and chocolate packaging rooms (very busy with Easter preparations), having the chance to ask questions about Monsieur Verdier and how he started his chocolate business, and then getting to eat and buy as much chocolate as we should like! Ryan tried to use this opportunity to relate back to our class; he wanted us to ask questions about how business changed with EU health regulations. We did ask a few questions like this, but most of us were counting the seconds until we were released back into the gift shop.

EEEEEE!!!

Oh. Mon. DIEU!

On the tour

That's one of Monsieur Verdier's grandsons. Besides the Easter and Christmas seasons, the factory is operated by about 12 individuals- all are blood-related to Verdier or if they're not, are very close family friends. 

This machine is a Verdier original (like from about 60 years ago) and continues to be a critical component of chocolate and candy making here. Though, the parts for repairs are becoming harder to find.

That picture there was painted by Verdier's son... with CHOCOLATE.

The packing room- getting ready for Easter!

"Master's Degree" awarded to Guy Verdier at his confectionary "Verdier Candies/Treats" certifying him as a Master Confectioner 

Monsieur Verdier holding his great-grandson, with his son on his left and his grandson on his right

Me and Chai with Madame Verdier. :)

We were given a good 20 minutes in the gift shop after our tour and most of us filled that time with ogling the window displays and devouring Verdier's delicious chocolates. I made sure to taste and buy Verdier's most famous creation (and it is famous): Raisins Dorés ("Golden Raisins"). This delicacy is made by soaking golden raisins in the local sweet white wine from Jurançon, coating them in powdered sugar so they don't stick, and then drenching them in Verdier chocolate. They were without a doubt the best chocolate-covered raisins I have ever tasted! I bought a large bag to leave with my host family as a parting gift and two smaller ones to bring home with me. I also bought a small bag of piment-covered almonds because of Lionel's and my obsession with putting the pepper on everything. Plus, since I knew I would be missing Easter with my real family, I bought three chocolate eggs (milk, dark, and white chocolate) for my siblings and I to share when I get home. The eggs were also filled with other Verdier chocolates.

Then, sadly, it was time to leave this lovely place. We made sure to thank Madame Verdier for her hospitality and she shook most of our hands once again. Then we all headed to the bus together. Once back in Pau, everyone got off at different stops but a few of us were together in that we didn't have plans for the rest of the day. The only thing I was planning on doing today was heading to the train station to see if I could get money back for that train I missed back in February (it turned out that I needed more than a whole month to recover enough from that terrible day to even think about this ticket again). But besides that, all I wanted to do today was get some sun and some lunch. I decided to just take the bus straight to the station and then would meet with Carl, Andrés, and a few others for food downtown. I got to the station, walked up to the counter, and explained my situation. I told the guy what Christine had instructed me to say (that we had spoken to a conductor that same night that I missed the train and the conductor said he was going to call and cancel the ticket), and he said it wasn't a problem. But, after scanning the ticket, all the guy behind the counter had to say to me was that the ticket was not, in fact, cancelled; so it was impossible for me to get any money back for it. I walked away from the counter with my shoulders up by my ears, completely frustrated. After a few deep breaths, I decided that money didn't have to be so special to me. Up until that point, I had gotten over the negative happenings of that first day of my week in Italy, I had had an unforgettably good trip there, and I was back in a city I love, in the sunshine, about to have food with friends. What the heck was the big deal? It took me a few minutes to relinquish all of my irritation at losing a good chunk of money, but I did it. There was no longer anything to be done about it, so what was the point in even thinking more about it?

Taking the funicular from the train station to the bus stop

After that little episode, I was on my way to the heart of downtown. I got off the bus and called Carl to see where everyone was at. He met me not a minute later, and the two of us walked to this neat little noodle place where I had one of the best pasta lunches ever. The way the menu works is simple: pick your noodle, pick your sauce, pick what cheese you want on top, and then pick what size to-go box you want. I selected ricotta and spinach stuffed raviolis, creamy/cheesy Alfredo sauce, topped with Gruyère cheese. YUM!

Now that's a good lunch right there

Carl, Andrés, Molly, Rodney, and I all sat there soaking it in for a while before Molly and Rodney had to take off. I think the two boys and I sat in the sun for another half an hour before I decided that I wanted to head back to my house. Why? It had suddenly dawned on me that today was a perfect day to lay in the backyard in my new bikini!

On my way home

The boys joked about a "tanning party at Sam's" but I was able to get rid of them. :) Once at the house, I threw open all of the windows, changed into my swimsuit, turned up the classic radio station, and laid on a long chair (one of those old-fashioned wooden ones with a strip of canvas down the center) for about half an hour. Ahhhh peace.

When I felt good and toasty, I decided to throw some clothes on and put my laundry out on the clothesline (I had forgotten there was a load of mine in the washer from the night). I finished with that and then went up to my room to turn on some music and find things to do on my computer. I spent the next couple of hours in my own little world.

Côme arrived in the early evening and I was [reluctantly] present downstairs to say hi. I was expecting a terribly awkward evening so I had planned ahead: I had all of the dinner supplies ready and set up on the coffee table with the intention of telling him, "Oh, Guilhem and I love to eat at the coffee table in front of the TV when we have the house to ourselves." He seemed to think this was kind of a weird or improper idea, but I had absolutely no intention of eating at the dining table with no distraction but his impossible questions for the next hour. If he wasn't cool with my plan, I was still going to eat there- by myself! I felt kind of bad about all of this, but I just felt too nervous about this little evening situation. Not that I was afraid at all of Côme- it is just more difficult than you might think to interact with someone you feel you can't communicate with. He even asked if I wanted to go for a walk downtown- such a sweet idea... if only I could understand one thing out of his mouth!

After dinner (the rest of Christine's quiche, the quiche from my class, green salad, and yogurt) I told Côme some sort of excuse. I think it was that I needed to go up and talk with my family. I felt bad again to back out of this whole situation instead of confronting it head-on, but once I had made the decision to handle it that way I committed to it for my own sake. Phew- at least it was over.

Thursday: Today was a typical day until the afternoon. After Business in the EU, I decided not to head home but to hang out with a couple of the guys from my class instead. Tyler, Andrés, and I walked across the street to the Carrefour market to buy some snacks and then headed back over to the university to find a patch of shady grass. The three of us sat there munching, talking, and laying out in the shade for at least an hour.

Part one of my after-school snack: a quiche with cooked black olives, onions, and bell peppers- surprisingly delicious!

Part two: an eggy bread-pastry with chocolate chips inside =)

Toasting life with a couple of beers

Haha Andrés and Tyler

Around 5p, I called Roshanna to see if she wanted to meet up with us too. Her and one or two other USAC people found their way to us, and the group of us somehow ended up sitting in a circle with some French hippies for the next 45 minutes; one of them playing and singing original compositions on his acoustic guitar (they weren't half bad). It was actually a very happy little scene, and it is weird to think back to it now with all of those faces so clear in my mind, knowing I will never see those people again...

Eventually, Roshanna and I were freezing cold out on the grass without sweatshirts, and we were also getting hungry for dinner. Having called ahead to let Christine know I would be eating downtown, we were able to take our time finding a place. The two of us girls hopped on the bus and headed to Place Clemenceau to look for a good restaurant. Roshanna knew of a neat little American-style bar/restaurant right there in the center called Au Bureau ("At the Office"- so when you call your spouse and they ask where you are, you can honestly say you are "at the office"). It looked pleasantly busy inside so we decided to try it out. Unfortunately, my camera died before I could take a picture of my food, but not to worry! Roshanna covered me and will get the pics to me at some point. For dinner I had a real cheeseburger and fries! It was actually quite nice to have something so filling and familiar; the only difference was the slab of goat cheese on top of my patty. Still amazing! Rosie and I sat at dinner for a while but knew we needed to head home soon as it was so chilly out. So we walked ourselves over to the bus stop at Pole Bosquet (shivering from head to toe) and headed home.

Once at the the house, I walked in to find Christine, Lionel, and Côme just finishing their dessert. I went up to put all of my things away and then came down to say goodnight. Sadly (fortunately!), Côme was leaving in the morning, so I had to say bye to him tonight. He kissed me again on both cheeks and that was that. I had survived the difficult Parisian invasion! hahaha!!