Normandy 2.1

Here's the rest of the photos we took while visiting Normandy.

[The tower of Mont St. Michel with its statues]

[Mont St. Michel]

[The view from Mont St. Michel]

[Me taking a picture of Mont St. Michel]

[The sandy landscape around Mont St. Michel]

[Lilou & Baptiste <3 ]

[Another shot of MSM / Lilou at the St. Malo beach]

[Hike to Cabane Vauban]

Adelka

Normandy.

So I finally got around to do this. I'm posting some of many many pictures we took on our Fall vacation at my host-family family's house. This place is like heaven on Earth - very beautiful, serene... The house is old, stone -wall, three - stories tall fairytale mansion. I didn't take a picture of it, but luckily I'm going back in just a week and so I'll try to take one. I selected only some pictures, I might do part II. Or I might not. We'll see! But here's the best of the best :) Enjoy!

[This beautiful beach is right next to the family house]

[Mont St. Michel - I've been there with my school and really wanted to see that place again. It's about 10 km far away from the house]

[What are those birds called??]

[The bay between "our" house and Mont St. Michel]

[Shade of Mont St. Michel. In the morning, this turns into sea...in the evening, you can walk from island to island on the sand]

[They are renovating the only driveway that leads to the island of Mont St. Michel]

[Mont St. Michel]

[The beach near St. Malo]

[This is near our house - in the distance, you can see the shape of Mont St. Michel]

[The bay in St. Malo]

[Me & my host family! :)) ]

[We were waiting for the parents to arrive with a car in a local café with Lilou. She wanted to be a model for a change...so this is her professional modelling pose! So cute <3 ]

Hope you guys liked it!

Adelka

Big Valentine's Date!

So it's 14th February once more. St. Valentine's Day. Even though it isn't as big over here as it is in the States, I saw some flower shops with big bouquets of red roses, red & pink candles, pillows...even the kids at elementary school had big plans for today. I heard Baptiste and Lilou laugh quietly yesterday in the car. I asked them what was going on, but they didn't want to tell me in front of their friend. Once we got home, Baptiste was all excited to tell me, that two of his classmates - a girl and a boy - are going to kiss each other on their mouths the next day (today) during afterschool activities, in front of the entire school. Everybody was really excited, excluding Lilou, she thought it was disgusting.

Well, the big day came today. Baptiste and Lilou couldn't talk about anything else while eating their breakfast. Their eyes were wide open and they were really looking forward to see this "special Valentine's day spectacle". I feel even a little bit sorry for them, as the kiss didn't happen. At least not in front of the entire school. 

This made me think about myself, at their age. I don't even remember what I was doing in third grade. But I'm sure I wasn't kissing any boys. Were you?

Have a lovely Valentine's Day, everybody!

Adelka

Bank Trouble!

When I first came to France in September I opened a bank account with the help of my previous host-father.  I should probably say that he opened it, I signed. I had no idea about what was going on, what type of a bank account I was opening, how did it work. All I knew was that it would cost me 1 € per month and that was it. They didn't bother to explain anything else to me. My phone company was taking money from that account every month, covering my phone plan with it. Which was great, I didn't have to worry about anything. Up until now. My new host-family pays me in cash, so there was no money coming into the bank account. And as SFR was taking 12 € every month out of there...well, it got to a point where there was no money. SFR (my phone company) blocked my cell phone and I went to the bank to deposit some euros. Only then I learned that I can't. My bank account is in Bordeaux and that is the only place where I can put money on there. Weird. Luckily, I found a really nice bank advisor. I made an appointment with her for this Tuesday  to solve all af this mess.

So yesterday I visited her, at 1:30 PM. I spent good two hours with her, opened a new bank account, opened another saving's account, got my first check-book, and finally closed the old account in Bordeaux! She explained everything to me, how to transfer money, how to deposit money, how to pay online and do internet banking...I couldn't wish for a better advisor. Now I just need to go to SFR and give them my new Relevé d'Idantité Bancaire, so they can take the money I owe them from my new account and unblock my cell phone!

Adelka

Chinese evening!

The thing about being au pair is that you get to meet people from all over the world. There is a chinese girl in a village right next to me. She goes to the same language school as I do, but that's not how we met. There is a Facebook group - Au Pairs in Toulouse 2012 / 2013 - the best thing ever. If I need something or if I just want to go to a cinema and have nobody to join me, I just write there and somebody always responds. So, when I asked the community (there is over 90 girls by now!) if there is anybody from my area, Candy responded (or rather S-uen - that's how you pronounce her real name). 

I was so happy to finally find a friend and somebody to talk to. She is such a sweet girl. This Friday, she invited me to a home cooked chinese dinner. It was really nice of her and I was impressed when I saw all the things she cooked for us. It definitely had nothing to do with the chinese food we find in those cheap restaurants in Europe. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to try out different things, different vegetables and sauces. This is why I love travelling. You never know where and who you'll meet! And what you'll eat ;-) We also talked about the Chinese New Year, which was happening at that time (this year is the year of a snake!), about different chinese traditions and lifestyle. We were accompanied by chinese music, and, the best part - the girls sang themselves some songs! I have to proudly admit to you guys, I ate all of the food with chopsticks!

**Thank you, Candy, for this really nice evening, I hope you'll teach me how to make those spring rolls! Those were the best ;-) I really appreciate all of the effort you put into this!**

Adelka

Why do we want to grow up so fast - 2AM Ramble

Hi Guys! It's almost 2 AM and I have to get up early in the morning. I've really gotten into the Beverly Hills show (not the new one - the good old 90's one!) and I've been procrastinating by watching it for over a week now. Even though I had a 12 - hours - long work day, I cannot fall asleep. It's a bad habit of mine - whenever I bring the laptop into my bed, watch movies or something until late at night / early in the morning, I realize afterwards, that I stayed up and got over - tired. Which means, it's so late past my bedtime, that my body already thinks it's another day, alarmes all of the systems and gets ready to go through at least another 12 hours. God I wish sometimes this happened at 6 AM instead of 2 AM! But it doesn't. Oh well.

Since I've not been sleeping, my stomach has started to claim its pray at about over an hour ago. I can't just go to the kitchen and fix myself a snack - that would wake up the whole house plus they would think I'm crazy. That is why I wish right now I was living all by myself. Because if I were, I would get up, switch on the lights, make myself a cup of coffee, some eggs and toasts, watch TV, clean up my desk, vacuum...I could get so many things done!

It's funny how we change our desires and needs throughout our life. When I was younger and had to ask my parents for permission to eat candy or to buy a sweater, I felt so dependent. I didn't realize I had all it took (plus I didn't own a computer, so I couldn't watch the TV late at night and than not fall asleep!!). Back than, the ONLY reason I wanted to grow up was that I could buy myself as much candy and chocolate as I wanted. Only when the time had arrived and I could buy myself those treats, I'd realize, that not only I have to work in order to gain some money, but that by eating three bars of chocolate in a row would make me sick. Something my mom always used to say, but I would never believe her.

Living with parents, growing up - you wish you wouldn't have to tell them about every step you take, right? Especially, if the step is headed towards a club or a bar. Now that I have this freedom, I realize there are other responsibilities that come with it and that it's not that simple. Since I live outside the city (and not only here in Toulouse, but also in Bordeaux and in Prague), I have to drive home. And I cannot drive if I drink. So, it's not the parents, there are other circumstances that make the difficulty level always the same, no matter what.

But tonight, I really wish I lived all by myself, so I could fry myself those eggs and drink maybe a little bit of orange juice with it. God, please, let it be morning already. (But then, I know what I'll be saying in four hours...)

Adelka

Rainy Days & Bus Strikes

Hi everybody! I hope you all are doing great in this brand new year of 2013! I sure am! Well, if we don't count the oh-so-famous french strikes. Last Thursday the taxis were on strike, so I thought it would be okay to get to school by bus. But boy was I wrong. Me and my new friend waited almost an hour at the bus stop, but in vain. At least we took my car and drove around where we live, visited few small shops and had a nice walk at the countryside. It would be a very nice day if it wasn't raining...I took a few pictures I thought I could share them with you! So here we go :-)

[Think also about us and slow down sign]

[This is how most villages look like around here]

[The town hall]

Adelka

Macarons

Hi guys! Since I love french macarons (and since they are VERY expensive!) I wanted to learn how to bake them on my own. This was my first try! But I have to say - I'm proud of myself, yay! At first, I thought they wouldn't turn out as good, but then I modified my oven and here's what I came up with! Definitely a success, given it's my first time ever doing such a thing!

This is the recipe I followed:

1st  bowl: 140 g of eggwhites

2nd bowl: 190 g of almond flour + 190 g of powdered sugar

3rd bowl: 60 g of sugar + 140 g of powdered sugar

Whip the eggwhites almost meringue - like, but not all the way! I actually was scared to overdo it and stopped too soon! Add bowl number 3 into the mixture and whip until the batter starts to climb up the whip tool!

Now is the time to add bowl number 2. Gently mix it all together, you can add food colorant if you'd like to. Definitely don't over mix the batter!

Preheat the oven on 150 °C, put a cookie sheet over the baking pan and put your mixture into a pastry bag. Draw small circles with your batter onto the cookie sheet. Those will be your macarons.

Tap the baking pan or smack it - this way the air bubbles get out and leave the macarons smooth. Some recipes suggest to leave the macarons on air for about 45 minutes. 

Now, in the recipe I found was suggested to bake the macarons for 8 - 10 mins at 125°C, but this wasn't enough for me. I finally baked them for 30 minutes at 150°C. Keep in mind that every oven is very different!

After you take your macarons out of the oven, let them cool of, turn the sides and fill them with whatever filling/topping you want. I chose peach jam (very sweet, but my mom liked it) and nutella (I liked those macarons better...).

[With peach jam!]

[With nutella]

[I couldn't find almond flour - so I just used shreded almonds - that's why the top of my macarons isn't so smooth. Next time I'll put them into food processor with the powdered sugar before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.]

Good luck! And be patient :-)

Adelka

Pumpkin Pie

Hi Guys! Not that long ago me and my best friend - we decided to bake a pumpkin pie! I've never done it before - no, I've never even eaten it before! - so it was a must. And how did it turn out? Let's see! To prepare the pie, we've followed this recipe.

[Preparing our pastry shell]

[Eggs, brown sugar, flour, salt, pumpkin puree, spices and milk]

[Pre - baking the crust]

[Et voila! The pie CANNOT be served without whipped cream!]

I liked it a lot, althought this pie has a very special taste to it and I can see why somebody would describe it as "dull" pie. It is definitely a fall-ish pie and I can't wait to bake it again next year around Thanksgiving!

**Have a very happy new year everybody!**

Adelka