"'cause I'm saving all my love for you..."

France - I was saving all my love for France.

Not to be down on all the great places that we've been, but this is what it's all about and today reminded us of why we chose to be here.  We've been limping along with our French, but for the most part, people understand and respond to our needs.  Often they'll be so fooled by our calm, ultra cool french demeanor (you know how I like to talk with a cocked eyebrow whilst bobbling my head) that they'll respond in rapid (normal speed) french.  Only after looking at our saucer-wide eyeballs do they get that we parles pas francais.  This just makes me want to learn it all the more.  

So began our 3 week tour around France to find a place to live and study.  First stop: Rennes.  A small town in Brittany that no one ever speaks of, but we got a tip from someone that they loved their time here.  We quickly ruled it out - not because we didn't like it, au contraire (will they accept Wayne's World french?), it was really charming and lively...only too small .  We spent the early afternoon at what I call a "tree" park, but it was really a botanical garden showcasing all sorts of different plants and not just trees.  We wound our way through the old centre in the late afternoon, studying menus to look for a dinner spot.  It was a good food day, meaning that everything that I ate was delicious and delighted me.  

For dinner, we went to a small restaurant called "le Presse Puree".  Ordered food from a hand-written chalkboard and sat back with a glass of white wine from Nantes.  I had a brochette of alternating beef filet and duck breast on vegetables and a side of frites and P had a filet of "lieu" (a white fish) in a red butter sauce, mashed potatoes with pureed broccoli.  His was the winning dish, but mine was tasty all the same.  The restaurant was lovely and the food was nice so we took our time and stayed for coffee and dessert.  Our server was kind and helpful, and sent us off to Bordeaux with a restaurant recommendation (he's from there) and 2 caramels made with salted butter (special to the region).  But this is what it's all about right?  Taking our time because it's so nice to be exactly there - pleasant ambiance, good company, tasty food from an honest menu and service that comes from a kind and thoughtful place.  Even if I can't eat like this all the time, I want to always remember that eating and dining can, and should be so.

 

Old city centre of Rennes

Lunch at the tree park.  Sandwich of jambon de pays, cornichons and beurre.  It's one of those things where you just had to be there.

Roasted chestnuts sold out of the back of a train engine.  I would not have it any other way.  

P freshens up his glass at le Presse Puree

Le Presse Puree

34, Rue Vasselot

Rennes

02.99.79.48.10

Bruges (or as the Flems would say, "Brugge")

Must talk about the dinner at Poules Moules.

I don't have any pictures, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it was the warmest feeling, skinniest restaurant (spread over 3 levels) I've ever dined at.   Determined to get some Moules Frites while in Belgium, we asked the guy at the front desk of our hostel for a good place to go - and he done served us good.

It was the best french fry I had had in my life, the curry sauce and the white wine sauce that the mussels came with made good friends with them too.  The mussels were perfect - plump, sweet and abundant.  Bonus points for the ones emerging with a thin piece of celery or onion clinging to it - like a Bond girl coming out of the water with the right bathing suit on.  P had a filet of beef, a side of frites with roquefort sauce - decent, but nothing to write home about.

At a hot chocolate/tea room in Bruges.  They bring you a giant bowl of steaming milk accompanied by a portion of chocolate chips to be stirred in...served in a little chocolate dish...also to be stirred in.  The whole affair was balanced out by a plate of biscuits and a selection of chocolates from the chocolatier downstairs.  Didn't grab a card or anything, but I (or P) can show you next time you go to Bruges with us.

An obligatory canal/bridge/old brick building shot of Bruges.  I was enthralled by an intense duck fight taking place.

Remember that surrealist poster you bought at the university poster fair?  When we all thought that surrealism was cool?  In my opinion, surrealism is NOT cool, but float THIS on your subconscious.

A proper belgian street waffle should be made of a yeasty dough (more bread-y than cake-y) with bits of sugar baked right in, then it must topped with a volume of whipped cream equal to that of the waffle.  We got this one with strawberries.

Poules Moules

Simon Stevinplein 9

Brugge, Belgium

050/34.61.19

Breaking the dam...in Amsterdam

It's almost been 2 months since I've left home and despite my hate-on for taking pictures, I've managed to document some of the last 55 days.  I have spent the last 2 days in the Amsterdam public library and the last 2 nights wandering the streets of the redlight district.  Like all the other places I've been so far, Amsterdam is peppered with both good and bad sentiments.  Today I saw 2 pigeons picking away at a piece of dog turd.  I had bad feelings towards this.  On the other hand, I was bewitched by the city when the old dutch bar owner, reprimanding some teenage Brits yelled, "Noe shmoeking in de lounge here!".  The 3 boys filed out with their heads down, like they had been sent to bed without their pudding.  Only it was 9:30 in the morning, and it was hash and not pudding they were being denied.    

So this is my first post and I'm not sure what this will all be about - sometimes me, sometimes pictures, sometimes videos, just sometimes somethings.   I'll be back-posting pictures from the first portion of my trip - (is "back posting" even a real blog word?).  

Prague

Lovely kitchen at our lovely hostel.

BERLIN - "Poor, but sexy"

We fell in love and will have to come back to pick up our melted hearts.

Berlin Hauptbanhof.  The best hauptbanhof around.

Everyone loves Berlin and Berlin loves everyone.

From the steps of the Parliament (Reichstag/Bundestag).  In my opinion, there are not enough words that sound like "bundestag".

I tried to take a picture of one sight, but my camera couldn't but help and capture 3 interesting things.  That's the way of Berlin.

Copenhagen

Watching rollercoasters at Tivoli Gardens.  They do a special thing for Halloween, kind of like "Fright Nights" at Playland back in Vancouver...only nicer.

Nyhavn.

Tivoli at dusk.

Bjerkreim forever!

After hemorrhaging money in Oslo (the CAD took a dive), we took some financial refuge on the south west coast of Norway.  P has some family in Bjerkreim and we spent a week taking it way too easy and eating way too much.  We stayed with Ola, Tora and Bjorn at Birkeland farm, which has been in the family for 300 years - always passed down to an "Ola" or a "Bjorn".  Run by Ola and Tora (both retired teachers), the farm has sheep, dairy cows, a field of rutabagas, a lake, springs and lots of rocks.

Birkeland farm makes me happy.

A scramble up Church Mountain.
A scramble up Church
The view of the house from the top.  The siding was being replaced and the hammering started at 8:00 on the first few days.

Kuli - P's grandfather's family left their farm/home on this site 6 months before he was born.  The family had survived an avalanche (or maybe 2?), during one avalanche the kids were buried under the snow and the parents (great grandfather/mother) were able to find them because they saw a hand sticking out from the snow.  The stones were the foundations from the old house.