We are off to Brussels this afternoon. As a beer geek, I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the weather holds out for us. We might get wet this weekend but judging by the forecasts across Canada, a little rain would be a welcome change for most. Hope everyone has a great weekend and stay warm. Talk to you on Monday.
db
Friday, 15 March 2013
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Andouillette
I wasn't sure I was going to share this with everyone because it's rather unpleasant, but it's a funny story so I thought I should. On Saturday, we were tired from touring Dieppe and the surrounding area so we decided just to eat in the hotel restaurant. It was a very nice restaurant and everything was very good. Everything except my main course that is. I'm a pretty adventurous eater and I'm always willing to try new things. Almost every time it's a success, but this night was the exception.
I ordered the Andouillette sausage. I assumed it would be similar to Andouille sausage, but I was wrong. When I ordered it, the waitress asked if I have ever had this before. When I said no, she warned me that I may not like it. In fact, she tried to talk me out of it. She described it as having a very strong taste. Strong is not the word I would use. Vile or disgusting would be more appropriate. I thought maybe she meant it would have a gamey taste so I asked if it was made with Venison or other wild game. Unfortunately her English was only slightly better than my French and she couldn't remember the English word for the main ingredient and I didn't recognize the French word. I ignored her warning and went for it.
With some further investigation we discovered the English word the waitress couldn't remember was tripe. Tripe is the lining of a cow's stomach and in my humble opinion, it is not fit for human consumption. I'm not sure dogs would eat this. I will spare you the gory details of the smell and taste, I will simply say that the next time I pass a cow pasture on a warm summer afternoon, I will have a much better understanding of where that smell comes from. It took every bit of strength and willpower I could muster in order to get my one and only bite down and keep it down.
I'm not discouraged though, I will continue to try new things and expand my culinary horizons. I'm not worried about an experience worse than this, because quite frankly, it would be impossible to have an experience worse than this one. We're going to Brussels next weekend and fortunately for me Belgium is known for beer, chocolate, waffles and fries.
db
I ordered the Andouillette sausage. I assumed it would be similar to Andouille sausage, but I was wrong. When I ordered it, the waitress asked if I have ever had this before. When I said no, she warned me that I may not like it. In fact, she tried to talk me out of it. She described it as having a very strong taste. Strong is not the word I would use. Vile or disgusting would be more appropriate. I thought maybe she meant it would have a gamey taste so I asked if it was made with Venison or other wild game. Unfortunately her English was only slightly better than my French and she couldn't remember the English word for the main ingredient and I didn't recognize the French word. I ignored her warning and went for it.
With some further investigation we discovered the English word the waitress couldn't remember was tripe. Tripe is the lining of a cow's stomach and in my humble opinion, it is not fit for human consumption. I'm not sure dogs would eat this. I will spare you the gory details of the smell and taste, I will simply say that the next time I pass a cow pasture on a warm summer afternoon, I will have a much better understanding of where that smell comes from. It took every bit of strength and willpower I could muster in order to get my one and only bite down and keep it down.
I'm not discouraged though, I will continue to try new things and expand my culinary horizons. I'm not worried about an experience worse than this, because quite frankly, it would be impossible to have an experience worse than this one. We're going to Brussels next weekend and fortunately for me Belgium is known for beer, chocolate, waffles and fries.
db
Monday, 11 March 2013
Dieppe
We had a wonderful weekend in Dieppe. Picking up the car on the outskirts of town worked great. Navigation was a breeze thanks to Mr. Garmin and his wonderful GPS contraption. By the way, if anyone is traveling to Europe and plans to drive, you're welcome to borrow our GPS. I was a little concerned about the traffic circles or roundabouts at first, but not only am I a pro now, but I'm also a huge fan of them. If you think that every traffic circle would normally be a stop sign or traffic light, where you're sitting still wasting gas and time, traffic circles make much more sense.
Saturday morning we toured the town and specifically the sights relating to the raid by Canadian soldiers on August 19, 1942. Right across from the hotel was the Square du Canada war memorial.
The Dieppe raid was conducted by 6000 troops who were mostly Canadians from the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. The main goal was to take the town temporarily in order to prove that it could be done and to gather intelligence. It was never the intention of the Allies to hold Dieppe. The raid was not a success. Of the 6000 men, almost 60% were killed, wounded or captured. When you see the beach heads, you can understand why it wasn't a success.
Later one of the British Commanders, Admiral Mountbatten, said that the lessons learned at Dieppe were put to good use on D-Day, claiming "I have no doubt that the Battle of Normandy was won on the beaches of Dieppe." I don't know if he truly believed that or if he was simply justifying what happened in Dieppe.
There are 707 Canadians buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery. This cemetery is unique from other Commonwealth war cemeteries. It was actually created by the Germans after the raid and was set up in the fashion of German war cemeteries. The headstones are placed back to back in rows. After the war, the headstones were replaced but they did not want to disturb the bodies. It was a sobering experience, to say the least, but I think it's an experience all Canadians should have.
Later in the day, we drove up the coast to Boulogne sur Mer. It made Lori feel right at home because the fog was as thick as pea soup. It was a very lovely town but I don't have any pictures because they would have been completely white. We had a late lunch and then headed back to Dieppe.
The next day we headed in the opposite direction along the coast and visited the Juno Beach Centre in Courseulles sur Mer. It opened in 2003 and not only commemorates the Canadian contribution to the D-Day landings, but the entire war as well.
It's a great centre with lots of interactive displays. It seemed to be geared towards teaching children and young Canadians about what happened here on June 6, 1944, which I think is great. We need to keep those memories alive.
db
Saturday morning we toured the town and specifically the sights relating to the raid by Canadian soldiers on August 19, 1942. Right across from the hotel was the Square du Canada war memorial.
The Dieppe raid was conducted by 6000 troops who were mostly Canadians from the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. The main goal was to take the town temporarily in order to prove that it could be done and to gather intelligence. It was never the intention of the Allies to hold Dieppe. The raid was not a success. Of the 6000 men, almost 60% were killed, wounded or captured. When you see the beach heads, you can understand why it wasn't a success.
Later one of the British Commanders, Admiral Mountbatten, said that the lessons learned at Dieppe were put to good use on D-Day, claiming "I have no doubt that the Battle of Normandy was won on the beaches of Dieppe." I don't know if he truly believed that or if he was simply justifying what happened in Dieppe.
There are 707 Canadians buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery. This cemetery is unique from other Commonwealth war cemeteries. It was actually created by the Germans after the raid and was set up in the fashion of German war cemeteries. The headstones are placed back to back in rows. After the war, the headstones were replaced but they did not want to disturb the bodies. It was a sobering experience, to say the least, but I think it's an experience all Canadians should have.
Later in the day, we drove up the coast to Boulogne sur Mer. It made Lori feel right at home because the fog was as thick as pea soup. It was a very lovely town but I don't have any pictures because they would have been completely white. We had a late lunch and then headed back to Dieppe.
The next day we headed in the opposite direction along the coast and visited the Juno Beach Centre in Courseulles sur Mer. It opened in 2003 and not only commemorates the Canadian contribution to the D-Day landings, but the entire war as well.
It's a great centre with lots of interactive displays. It seemed to be geared towards teaching children and young Canadians about what happened here on June 6, 1944, which I think is great. We need to keep those memories alive.
db
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Weekend
We are heading out of town for the weekend. We want to get out and explore the countryside and smaller towns of France, so we are going to Dieppe on the coast of the English Channel. We are both missing the ocean as well. Lori came up with a great idea, we are renting a car close to where she works, which is on the outskirts of the city. I'll just take the metro and meet her there and that way we won't have to drive in the congested city centre. We bought our train tickets to Brussels yesterday as well and we are going there next weekend. It will be my birthday treat. I'm looking forward to both trips.
db
db
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Good and Bad
I've lived in enough places to know that there are good and bad things about where you live. We've been in Paris for six weeks now and I think that is long enough to decide what's good and bad about living here.
Smoking
Good - They have passed a law banning smoking in public places, which means you no longer have to eat your meal or drink you coffee while sitting in a cloud of smoke.
Bad - Everyone still smokes. Now they just smoke as they walk from work to the cafe or from the cafe to home. When you walk down the street you pass through clouds of smoke everywhere.
Dogs
Good - There are dogs everywhere in Paris. Big ones, little ones and every size in between. Lori and I are dog lovers so it makes us happy to see dogs everywhere.
Bad - No one picks up after their dog. Once again there is a law and I do see people scooping in the middle of the day, but late at night or early in the morning, they just pretend they didn't see anything. You have to keep your eyes on the ground constantly.
Groceries
Good - The food here is excellent. The oranges from Spain, tomatoes from Italy, seasonal mushrooms from France are so good. Even simple things like potato chips are better than in North America.
Bad - It is ungodly expensive to buy food. The general rule is; everything is half the size and twice the price.
Petit Déjeuner (Breakfast)
Good - The coffee is excellent, the croissants are delicious and the pain au chocolat is out of this world. I know I will crave it as soon as I'm back in Canada.
Bad - No bacon. We have found a reasonable facsimile of bacon but it is really thin and doesn't have much taste. Life can be wonderful in France but if you're not eating really good bacon on a regular basis, I'm not sure what the point of it all is.
Smoking
Good - They have passed a law banning smoking in public places, which means you no longer have to eat your meal or drink you coffee while sitting in a cloud of smoke.
Bad - Everyone still smokes. Now they just smoke as they walk from work to the cafe or from the cafe to home. When you walk down the street you pass through clouds of smoke everywhere.
Dogs
Good - There are dogs everywhere in Paris. Big ones, little ones and every size in between. Lori and I are dog lovers so it makes us happy to see dogs everywhere.
Bad - No one picks up after their dog. Once again there is a law and I do see people scooping in the middle of the day, but late at night or early in the morning, they just pretend they didn't see anything. You have to keep your eyes on the ground constantly.
Groceries
Good - The food here is excellent. The oranges from Spain, tomatoes from Italy, seasonal mushrooms from France are so good. Even simple things like potato chips are better than in North America.
Bad - It is ungodly expensive to buy food. The general rule is; everything is half the size and twice the price.
Petit Déjeuner (Breakfast)
Good - The coffee is excellent, the croissants are delicious and the pain au chocolat is out of this world. I know I will crave it as soon as I'm back in Canada.
Bad - No bacon. We have found a reasonable facsimile of bacon but it is really thin and doesn't have much taste. Life can be wonderful in France but if you're not eating really good bacon on a regular basis, I'm not sure what the point of it all is.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Eiffel Tower
We left here yesterday morning and headed towards the Eiffel Tower, but we got sidetracked a couple of times along the way. First we had to cross the Paris Half-Marathon twice. There were thousands of runners and it was tricky trying to weave our way through them.
We finally made our way onto the islands in the Seine. We crossed Pont Saint-Louis, which is a bridge connecting the two islands. It's one of several bridges in Paris where lovers place locks on the rails and throw the keys into the river to symbolize their everlasting love.
Once on the other side of the river, we stumbled onto the Great Canadian Pub. Adam told me about it when I saw him the other day. We went in for brunch. They serve Tim Hortons coffee and Caesars. We had the Great Canadian Breakfast. The bacon was pretty good but it still wasn't the same we get back home. The door handles are hockey sticks.
As we walked on the Left Bank of the river, we had a great view of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Eventually we made it to the tower, but because it took us so long, the lines were enormous and I wasn't in the mood to wait. It was the first sunny day since we've been here. I think everyone was out yesterday.
Lori is off to the Kurdistan region of Iraq for a couple of days. She'll be back on Wednesday.
We finally made our way onto the islands in the Seine. We crossed Pont Saint-Louis, which is a bridge connecting the two islands. It's one of several bridges in Paris where lovers place locks on the rails and throw the keys into the river to symbolize their everlasting love.
Once on the other side of the river, we stumbled onto the Great Canadian Pub. Adam told me about it when I saw him the other day. We went in for brunch. They serve Tim Hortons coffee and Caesars. We had the Great Canadian Breakfast. The bacon was pretty good but it still wasn't the same we get back home. The door handles are hockey sticks.
As we walked on the Left Bank of the river, we had a great view of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Eventually we made it to the tower, but because it took us so long, the lines were enormous and I wasn't in the mood to wait. It was the first sunny day since we've been here. I think everyone was out yesterday.
Lori is off to the Kurdistan region of Iraq for a couple of days. She'll be back on Wednesday.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Marais Walk
We have a guide book of Paris and in it there is a walk through our neighbourhood of Marais. We thought it would be a good way to further explore the area and learn a little history as well. We started at the Place de Bastille. This monument marks the spot where the Bastille was stormed in 1789, triggering the French Revolution. There is nothing of the Bastille left today.
It seemed appropriate to stumble across a protest in this area. A group of cyclists made their way around the traffic circle a few times before heading off. I'm not sure what exactly they were protesting but it had something to do with cyclists rights I think.
Our tour took use into the Place de Vosges, past the Carnavalet Museum and through the Jewish Quarter. We constantly said to one another that this would be beautiful in the summer. Winter in Paris is very grey. The sky is grey, the buildings are grey and the roads are grey. We're ready for some sunshine and some colour.
The tour ended at the Pompidou Centre, which houses a library and the modern art museum. The building was built with an exoskeleton, meaning the structure, ventilation and electrical systems are on the outside of the building. Personally I think it looks ridiculous, but what do I know.
We're supposed to see the sun today so we're heading across town to the Eiffel Tower. We've never been up the tower but today we'll brave the long lines in order to ride the elevator to the top. I'll have photos tomorrow.
db
It seemed appropriate to stumble across a protest in this area. A group of cyclists made their way around the traffic circle a few times before heading off. I'm not sure what exactly they were protesting but it had something to do with cyclists rights I think.
Our tour took use into the Place de Vosges, past the Carnavalet Museum and through the Jewish Quarter. We constantly said to one another that this would be beautiful in the summer. Winter in Paris is very grey. The sky is grey, the buildings are grey and the roads are grey. We're ready for some sunshine and some colour.
The tour ended at the Pompidou Centre, which houses a library and the modern art museum. The building was built with an exoskeleton, meaning the structure, ventilation and electrical systems are on the outside of the building. Personally I think it looks ridiculous, but what do I know.
We're supposed to see the sun today so we're heading across town to the Eiffel Tower. We've never been up the tower but today we'll brave the long lines in order to ride the elevator to the top. I'll have photos tomorrow.
db
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