happy new year

Happy new year...may this coming year be one of good health for everyone, happiness and me coming home...ooops i mean and everything our hearts desire,...
love yehuda and jessica...
ps jessica will probaqbly blog later

("SUR LE PONT D'AVIGNON"....)

Hello .. (greetings from Jessica and Yehuda)

Yehuda is typing, the brackets are Jessicas comentaries from bed (even though we are writing together).

Waking up at 6am after not napping the day before, which was busy, is not easy to do. But we made it to the station on time, got on the right train to Avignon. I caught some sleep on the train (while Jessica stayed up to make sure we didnt miss our stop). We arrived in Avignon and took the bus to the old city, which is surrounded by a brick wall dating back to the 1300's. It was useless when it was built because the way it was built and the defence options for the city were outdated at the point in time for the wars that were waged in that era. But it is still beautifull to see. We walked straight to the Tourism office, got our maps and information and walked to our hotel. Dropping off our luggage we headed out to the bus station to catch a bus that wasnt there because of the school holidays. So instead we took the nxt bus headed to Carpentras.

Carpentras is a small old village in Provence, that has the oldest shul in operation in all of France. It was built in the 1300's and was almost entirely destroyed many times, but the jews kept rebuilding it and everything is still there from the 1700's. It was absolutely magnificent. It even had a mikvah and bakery for matza but they were under renovations so we couldnt see it.

I was on the hunt for Truffles. Truffles are worth their weight in gold. A truffle is a mushroom that grows under ground, it is grows in a very short season and the best fresh black truffles grow in the Provence region of France, or right outside Carpentras. They are extreamly expensive and can run up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for 1 kilogram.

Another thing we were looking for is a postcard from every city I visit. While buying postcards, as friendly as she always is, made a new friend. (I was asking her about where to find the specialty of the region, (berlingot - hard candy), and of course Yehuda piped in asking if she knew where to buy truffles). She was really nice and shows us a very good shop to buy the candies and then took us to a bucherie where she knew the owners, and knew they had some hidden away. I bought 16 grams of this culinary delight, and they even packaged it up for us so it would last the flight to Toronto with jessica until I can cook with it (another reason for yehuda to come home).

We were very excited.

We went back to the candy store to buy the Berlingots, when we bumped into the helpfull woman again, who had baught us antoher Carpentras specialty as a gift. (Also on the way to the shop she gave us a tour and histroy lesson about the city, our very own tour guide complete with souvenier). We had a quick lunch and headed back to Avignon.

Our afternoon in Avignon was spent with a fabulous tourguide named Jessica, (yep thats me). She took us through the streets explaining the sites as we went along with her trusty map she got from the tourism office. We found a shul there but it was closed. But most importantly we.....(SUR LE PONT D'AVGINON, ON Y DANCE .... ON Y DANCE ON Y DANCE) .. yup we went and danced on the famous brigde of avignon, which is only a half a bridge..and I have the video to prove it..(against my better judgement)...but dont worry its not going on facebook or youtube). We went to dinner at a place recommended buy the travel book I have, called La Fourchette. The food there was delicious and we met some nice people from Miami Florida, who are going to come to my restaurant tomorrow for New Years dinner. Just in case anyone is wondering I had Lamb Tripes and Lamb trotter for dinner (that is lamb feet and lamb stomache lining/GROSSSSSS!!!!) Then we walked by the Palais de Pape to see the lights and we went to bed. (p.s. Best shower with the best pressure ina hotel ever)

Today we woke up around 7 to head the market. It reminded us of st. Lawrence market in Toronto, and I gave my number to someone who might be able to help me stage somewhere for a month.

We then went to tour the Palais De Pape, which basically is a massive ginormous castle that the popes used to live in starting in the 13th century. It is mindboggling the size of the palace and what they had back in the day. With a bit of time to spare we checked out of our hotel and headed to the bus to Aix En Provence. We arrived in Aix (pronounce ex) tour guide jessica (dont know who invited her - yehuda speaking in this brakcet)(made her second appearence with her new trusty maps from the tourist office). We walked the streets getting explanations as we went, and managed to see most of the sites (I do tours in Toronto for groups up to 10 max). We went through the MArche De Noel, and because Yehuda was still infatuated with Truffles, we continued the hunt for this precious fungi. We passed a person who grows truffles and gave us samples to eat. (Probably about 5 -6 euros worth of truffles). He was even munching on them himself as if they were his afternoon snack. (did we mention how expensive they are on the market?)

We saw some really nice sights in Aix and even took the little tour bus they have that runs around the city. (I somehow lost yehuda in a bookstore while he was buying a postcard for me. Appearently its not safe to leave a chef in a store that sells cookbooks, and he found a really good book with old regional provencal recipes that was first published in 1897).

We then took the bus to the train to the metro and are finally home. (it was a double decker train and we sat on the second level, too bad it was dark and we couldn't enjoy the view).
We are exausted and heading to sleep. Tomorrow is a holiday here in France Called St. Sylvester, not sure what its for, but sounds cool. So Happy new Years every one, may 2010 be a year of good health, happiness, prosperity and true love.

Love Yehuda and Jessica (ZZZZzzzzz/just kidding but close)

From Lyon France

Nothing beats a home cooked meal!

Hello everyone! We have not blogged in two days...miss us? hahaha

Anyways, the days have been good, a little chilly and rainy but not too bad. Let me see, what did I, jessica, get up to? Well yesterday I went (wow I had to actually stop and think about it for a few mins because I am getting all my days confused since I am doing so much and so little at the same time! haha) to the aquarium. I took the metro and a bus to get there, it is kinda at the end of town. I got there just in time to see a feeding of turtles, which was cool. Then i walked around and saw some cool fish. My favourite was one called a cow fish. It is not very big but has horn things sticking out of its head. It was sooooo funny looking!! Then I took the bus back into town and walked around. It was sunday and EVERYTHING was closed. I was walking on the big shopping street and not ONE store was open. Oh well, I walked and found the opera house, the city hall and a museum. Then I walked back to surprise Yehuda and meet him outside his restaurant when he was done work.

Yehuda was in a good mood so I somehow convinced my scared of heights husband to go on the big ferris wheel in the main sqaure downtown!!! He loves me a lot!! So we go on and his eyes are closed and he is holding on for dear life, but eventually opened his eyes and enjoyed the beautiful view. It was really funny and the people in the cartthing with us had a good laugh. We then walked home and relaxed. Yehuda went back to work and I hung out here, since nothing was open.

Yehuda's roomate had a friend over and she made crepes for him, and of course, how can anyone say no to a crepe so I had one also. Then yehuda came home just in time to have one himself! They were soooo good!! How much fun are the french!!

Today was rainy.....and cold...YUCK!! I was going to go on an adventure to another little town but was not feeling up to it, so I slept in and headed out around 1130. I went for lunch around Yehudas restaurant (not at his place because i will go there on Thursday) but to some pasta place. Needless to say....it was yucky and bland. Oh well. It was then a little too late to go the the museum like I was planning on (because I was going to meet Yehuda after work) so I walked around (stores were actually open!) and bought an umbrella because of all the rain! I went to the museum to see if they will be open Thursday (they will! ) so I will go then! I met Yehuda after work, we came home, only to head about 30 mins later.

We went to his friend/rabbi's house for an early dinner. it was SOOOOOO good! We had great zucchini and leek soup, chicken and rice. It was one of the best meals ive had in awhile, I guess nothing beats home cooking! Then Yehuda was off to work and I headed home to clean/organize for tomorrows trip to Avingnon.

Well thats all for me, Busy two days, but fun as always. I am very excited to spend the next 2 days with Yehuda travelling.

Things with Yehuda at work are good, he ran some of the line today, which was fun for him. He was calling out the orders and working his own station because they were short a person. Then the sous-chef told yehuda that he is not going to come back for dinner service because Yehuda is going to call the orders, do his station and the station the sous chef was working! hahah Wow that is confidence! I am sure he showed up though and it was fun for Yehuda to take charge like that. I think that is about it from Yehuda but he might add more later (he will probably be really tired when he gets home because he didnt nap) or we will write when we get back.

Miss you all
Jessica and Yehuda

One blog, two voices

Hello all,

So instead of writing two seperate entries, Yehuda and I will write one together. To start will be me, Jessica. My morning was good, I slept in a little again, then headed out to Croix Rousse, the old silk district of Lyon on top of a hill. I walked around and got this map that kind of gave me a guide of what to see in order and descriptions, so that was nice, as opposed to walking around aimlessly stareing at things I have no idea what they are. I saw some old silk machines, a church, this cool big painting on the side of a building and more. I had lunch at a little cafe and had coq au vin with fresh pasta. It was pretty good. Then I walked around a little more and took the train back to meet Yehuda after work to try and go to this museum about the resistance in France during WW2. Too bad it is the holidays because it was CLOSED (like soo much else around here)! BOOOOO!!! We had really wanted to go there together. Oh well, Yehuda will have to go without me because they open again the day I leave. So of course we came back here and napped! Then Yehuda went off to work and I relaxed, ate dinner at home then went to a movie. I saw the Soloist. It was a good movie. Then I came home and waited for Yehuda as always. And speaking of waiting for Yehuda, here he is now!!

TADA!!! just like magic im here...work was ok for the begining of the day, I had a ton of prep to do, and there were so many people in the kitchen I was getting clostraphobic...but it was just ok..but dinner service was amazing and went very well. I stood up to a bully in the kitchen which was fun and exilerating because I usually dont do that. But of course I did in french with jessicas dictionary in my hand flipping pages until I could form a full sentence of my insult in French...haha..pretty funny and everyone got a kick out of it. But in the end chef was on my side and told the guy off and to stop harassing me so it all worked out in the end.

I love comign home to my wife every night...as she stands over me telling me what to write..haha...such a controling wife...haha << that she didnt tell me to write...lol However all in all its amazing coming home at the end of work to see her smiling...
Good night from Lyon
Yehuda

thank goodness one of us relaxed!!

I didnt relax at work, man i dont think I have ever cooked so much scallops in my life...i go through about 6kg a day..its nuts, especially since its also the most tedeous jobs to prep for since the veg for it is cutting up endives...it sounds easy but when u have to jullienne 4 cases of endives every day its quite a bit of work to do often.

The chef didnt order enough turkeys for christmas well..he actually did just enough but he wasnt sure if it would be enough so he went this morning to buy 2 more..the store only had one so he bought it as well as another kind of bird....In France though the birds come with the head on and guts inside, soi I had to chop off the head adn feet and clean out the insides with my hands...eww.but at the same time cool...but anyways work is work...i definitelly want to finish it, as I want to move on to the next thing and come home already...
yehuda

To work or to read....that is the question!

Hello again from Lyon as always. I wrote that I (Jessica) would blog again today telling of my adventures...well here they are!!!

Yehuda worked like always and left me to sleep in, so sweet of him! Then I finally decided to move around 11 and went on the computer, followed by brunch, a pizza thing i bought the other day. It wasnt too bad but figureing out how the oven/microwave thing worked took some time. Then I booked our hotel for Avignon, and decided to read today. This was probably around 1230 that I started reading, only to be disturbed by Yehuda at 315 when we came home from work! hahaha Then we chatted, and yehuda napped while I, you guessed it, READ! Yehuda headed off to work again, and I finally got out of my pyjamas to shower, only to get back in them once I was all clean! I played on the computer, made a boring dinner of pasta (nothing is open today really) and then watched some TV online. I will also fold the laundry tonight and maybe read a little bit more.

Tomorrow I will head out to another area in Lyon to explore in the morning then catch up with Yehuda on his break.

I really enjoyed my relaxing day! I dont think Yehuda can say the same about working but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.

my other half

Im sitting here with jessica and she says I shouldnt blog blog shes a great wife and blogged for the two of us, (and Blogger by the way), but I wanted to say my side of things..we are really enjoying ourselves here, and jessica is relaxing and getting good walks as she says, which everyone should be happy about because she can walk for hours before her legs start to get tired so that is a big plus in the sense of her health. She is eating healthy here as well, but also trying foods she wouldnt normally eat...just dont tell her how it got to her plate and shes a happy camper. Ok she may not be eating as healthy but she makes up for it in all the walking she does...its my regiment as well...(you can tell by how many lemon squares are left). Anyways Im working hard and I get three days off next week but I have to work 6 days in a row to make it work out.
anyways we are headed to bed and jessica will blog tomorrow. (she's the official blogger while shes here because she has better spelling than me).

Work for one, fun for the other!

Hello again, Jessica here, reporting for the Goldbergs in France.

Today was a nice day, even though looking at the skys, you wouldnt think so. Yehuda again was off early to work and I slept in. Then around 1030, headed out to do some sight seeing. The weather was mild, cloudy and rainy but I went anyways. I took the train to Vieux Lyon and walked around all the old streets. It was very nice. Then I took the tram-thing up to the top of the hill to see the big church and get a nice vieux of the city. I also stumbled uopn some old roman ruins of an arena, which was pretty cool. Then, I walked back down, crossed a bridge and headed into the main part of the city. I found myself close to where Yehuda works, so I hung around there (stopping for a nutella crepe) and waiting for yehuda to get off work at 3. He met me and then we started the walk back to the apartment. We stopped at the train station to buy our tickets for our next mini vacation on Tuesday to Avignon and Aix En Provence for two days. With both of us tired and with sore feet (me from walking and him from working), we came back and took a nap. Yehuda has headed back to work, I relaxed reading, and will soon head out to dinner.

The day was nice and relaxing. It is fun to walk around and see the different sites. Tomorrow is christmas so I am not sure what will be open but there are a few things on my list that I want to see here, including the aquarium, the silk district, the jewish museum (with yehuda one day between shifts) and just more walking. I will probably just walk tomorrow and do the other things on Saturday and Sunday when things are open.

Other than that, I am happy to be here with Yehuda but also miss home, so dont worry, I will be coming back! hahaha
Merry christmas to all those that celebrate and I will write again tomorrow!
Miss you all
Jessica and Yehuda

Jessica, Wine and Trains...plus 2 years of marriage!

Hi Everyone

Actually this is jessica typing since Yehuda is at work and i am here all alone filling time until he gets home. ACtually it is quite nice, sleeping in, Yehuda bringing me fresh breakfast....but oh im getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

So my plane ride was GREAT! I love first class, it is everything like the movies says it should be, hot towels and great food! Anyways, my plane arrived a little late but that is ok because Yehudas train was late as well so we met each other with perfect timing. We kissed and hugged and headed out to catch our train to Bordeaux. We ate lunch at this very cute restaurant by the train station. The waiter laughed at me because i ordered two appetizers for lunch instead of an app and an entre, but I told him im canadian and we are weird like that! either way the food was great. We then headed to our train and were off.

Once arriving in Bordeaux, we left the train station with no map and no real idea where to go, but, adventurous as we are we looked on a big map and started walking. About an hour and a half later, asking for directions only twice!, we got to our hotel. It was a nice place with a small room, reminded me of a dorm room with only the essentials, but it was perfect. After showering off all the stinky travel smell, we headed out to walk more and eat dinner. We ate at a nice place with morrocan food, huge portions and pretty tasty. Then being sooo tired we went back to the hotel to sleep.

THe next day, we woke up around 1030! soooo nice! then headed out to explore bordeaux. We ate a baguette in a park for breakfast and just walked all day, seeing the beautiful sights. There was a christmas fair going on with lots of little stands selling nice things. Yehuda bought some foie gras (duck liver...i tried it, it was good! :S) and some other pates. Then we went to the tourist office to find out about any tours to vineyards. After talking with the people there, we decided to rent a car, (yes, RENT a car!!) and do it our selves the next day. We we went to the trainstation, booked a car and books some tours at some chateaux (old vineyards are called chateaux, and the buildings they are in look like old houses and castles too). THe rest of the day was spent walking along the water, in and out of the old streets of bordeaux, eating dinner then heading home to bed. p.s. yehuda ate tartare, RAW meet mixed with veggies and spices...SOOO GROSS but we likes it. Who would have thought that mr. welldone steak would be eating raw beef!

Wow, ok so the next day we picked up the car and headed out to St. Emilion, a medievel village surrounded by vineyards....oooo and the car we got...A SMART CAR!! soo cute but they forgot to add the back to it! just joking, there is no back! It was quite interesting to drive. Without getting lost, we made it to our first vineyward, a pretty big one. We went on a tour, saw how they store the wine underground in limestone caves, and then had a tasting. Too bad for me because the area is a red wine area, but we tried it and Yehuda bought a bottle. Then we went into the old city of St. Emilion to walk around, have lunch and go to another chateau. This one was a small family run business. They live and work all in the same place. The guy was super nice and explained a lot. He had so much passion. Their seller was soooo cool, also underground, and they even had wine from the 1960s that they made. His great grandfather made wine, so it has been in the family a LONG time. We tasted their wines, also really good and bought a half bottle, because their wines are a little pricier. Then we headed on a tour of the underground parts of the city, seeing a monks house, catacombs and a church. Pretty cool to see except the tour was in french, but we had an English paper explaining it all anyways. Then we headed for Planet Bordeaux, a kind of museum about the region with lower grade wines to taste and buy. It was very interesting and very high tech, with movies and lights and stuff. We then drove back to bordeaux for dinner, and we were so tired we went back home to bed.

OK almost all caught up, we sure did a lot! ok to the next day we transisted back to Lyon. We returned the car, (aww good buy smart car! ) and headed to the train station,. Our first train left at 12. Then when it was time to transfer, our new train was late an hour, but only ended up being late by 20 mins. We arrived in Lyon at 8:30 I think, so 8 hours on a train..ugh! but we made it. Then Yehuda took me to his place, very cute for sure! we showered, got dressed and headed out for our romantic dinner for our 2 year anniversary!! We went to a resaurant that is owned by the same person who ownes where Yehuda works, called Leon de Lyon. It was a 2 star michelin restaurent. It was DELICIOUS! we went all out and had a 4 course meal, including of course a cheese course for Yehuda! The cheese he got was a very specail cheese that he loves, but to me tasted like stinky feet! Anyways, dinner was DELICIOUS! Very simple but yummy. Then Yehuda showed me where he works, and I met a few people there (most were gone because it was almost midnight by this point). We then did his daily walk home, such a lovely walk, then went to bed.

This morning, as I said in the beginning, Yehuda left for work but not before picking me up some fresh pastries for breakfast for our anniversary! so sweet. I am relaxing at home, waiting for him to come home from work for his break, then I will walk him back to work and explore a little bit more of Lyon myself and again see things tomorow.

It is so nice being together, thanks to all who made that possible. OK, I will blog again soon. Miss you all!
From Jessica and Yehuda

yey

so im leaving in 5 minutes for paris to pick up jessica, and I barely slept last night i woke up the same time she boarded the plane, fell back asleep then woke up when she was taking off..and then i was up at 5 am..so I barely slept but hopefully ill catch some shut eye on the train. Anyways Jessica and I will blog soon together...thanks everyone.
yehuda

1 more day!!

This is soo exciting!!

Anyways today I went over to the rabbis house again today to help cook for shabbos, something i promised I woudl do a loong time ago but couldnt because of work...so I went ove rthere during my break and made challas, adn latkas for shabbos as well as a side dish... Stuffed eggplant with peppers and onions, it actually tastes good.

I went back to work eary though because the menu changed yesterday and my station has gotten pounded and I was worried about not having enough prep. It all worked out in the end and I hope everything continues as normal although I know tomorrow will be hectic, because Friday is fish day...the french are very big on not having meat on friday...so about 75% of the orders come off my station on friday lunch which means ...hoodas working very very very hard tomorrow and better bring his A game.

im falling asleep so ill blog again tomorrow hopefully or maybe the next one will be with jessie

thank you

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone for all the emails and warm wishes.

New menu today and of course the first dishes went out with of course a problem because the chef didnt feel that the food was hot enough, (I burned my finger on one of them) But the other wasnt as hot, so I got a bitof a tongue lashing ( The legend of the French Chef screaming). Whatever I figured out the problem and we are working on it to fix the kinks on my station because of the way and quatities I can reheat at a time. Also bare in mind the chef wants only 3-4 portions heated up at a time. Keep in mind that during lunch ill go through about 50 portions of some things and to keep re heating only 3-4 at a time i might kill myself..well I spoke to him and we are going to work things out...diplomacy in the kitchen does work..just a tip dont do it as teh chef is screaming at you it doesnt work...I havent tried it (im smart) but i watch others do it and the result isnt nice.

side note everyone might find funny: in a kitchen of about 12 of us im the 5th oldest...hows sad is that?? IM ONLY 24!!!!!!!

i miss everyone so much so thanks for keeping in touch and reading this blog

love yehuda

happy channuka

So I know its been a while, but I have been workign and there really isnt much to talk about there.

The new menu starts tomorrow and I am ready and I have some cool things like canadian scallops, choucroute fruit de mer and bacon wrapped salmon. The cools tuff are the sauces the main dish is nothign new to me..lol.

But I dont knwo if anyone remembers but when I first got here I would spend some time with the rabbi here and his wife on weekends, but because of work I havent gone over in a while. Anyways I decided that since I keep saying I cant come over I would go over one day on my break. So Today was that day. I went over to make latkas for the channuka party they were having that I of course couldnt go to because of work. So I offered to make latkas which I did, and I also helped out doing other stuff like setting the place up, organizing things and cooking a few other stuff. Of course I left for work before everyone got there which kinda sucked but meh what can you do.

Ill email them to see how things went but im sure they had a great time. 3 days left!!!!

fete de lumiere

So there is this festival here in lyon called the festival of lights (Les Fete De Lumiere) and it is based on the story that mary the mother of jesus saved the city of lyon from a plague that ravaged the rest of france (or something like that). In past times they would light candles on the 8th of December, but it has now turned into a tourist thing where people come in from all over Europe to drink party, see the sights etc. Now the thing is, now the festival is about conserving energy and light shows, exibits etc. I just dont get it though. Every night going to and fromw ork the streets were packed i mean jammed packed it took so much longer to get from my house to work and back. But I decided that today, being my day off i would go. So I did. I watched the fireworks, wasnt that great, and i didnt find the light shows that cool either but i took pictures and videos on my phone and now I just have to figure it out how to upload them onto my computer so I can put them on facebook or something.

Otherwise I do miss everyone so much and I cant wait to come home... (not yet though) the stuff I wanted to do I still want to do although It wont be for a few more months since I need to make some money first.

BTW a shout out to Shanna and Todd...Please upload some pics of your condo...i think im the only one that hasnt see it yet...I'm so excited for the two of you, and I hope I can cook a nice dinner for you guys when i get back in ur kitchen....dont worry jessica will do the dishes...lol

it feels like...

...my week is never going to end...but it will tomorrow. Which is good because I need two days off to relax and recoup. I have been under the weather lately, although I have been sleeping as much as I can, although it hasnt been much, which just meant a slow recovery. but its on its way.

btw for the record last night for dinner service we did about 475 covers for dinner. and for teh whole day we did between 750 and 850 covers.

and that is that.

yehuda

just a quick update

work is great hours are a bit extended now for the festival of lights here, so I am working even longer if that is possible but they will credit us a half day but i will try to get a full day out of it for when jessica comes. The festival is nuts, the streets basically closed down to cars adn people come from all over europe to this festival so lyon is jammed packed..ina way lucky for me that I am working because on the last night (tuesday night) when its the main event im off work so I am going witha bunch of friends to see the festival then since it will have quieted down by then considerably. Anyways been feeling a bit under the weather lately might have caught something in switzerland or something. SO I will write in a few days.
yehuda

GENEVA

Yupp at 6 am yesterday I went to Geneva Switzerland for the day. Why? Because I have an amazing wife who reminded me that I am here in Europe, and that I should take advantage of it and explore and see europe. And switzerland is only 1.5 hours from Lyon so I went.

I toured the old city, going to to visit museums, took lots of pictures, adn of course visited the red cross and the United Nations. Now at the UN, the tour guide wasnt very good but it was still cool to be in the UN buildings. I als o met a guy from Oakville ironically enough on the tour. I did some shopping and this tiem took the right train back to Lyon. Got back in time for dinner with my canadian friend and went to bed, sinc eI didnt get much sleep the night before.

Overall it was a good trip, and I enjoyed myself and I hope the enxt oen will be just as fun.

different this time

This saturday lunch was very busy again only this time I did a juggling act and and was more organized. my chef realized and complimented me on teh turnaround.

For lunch I made a cassoulet (which is a traditional french dish, that I used to lots of times at le select) so I made it with a small yehuda twist...a few of the guys said they felt the beans were undercooked and gave me a look, which kind of made me sad a bit. But my chef during service said he liked how i made the cassoulet (without pork), and felt the beans were perfectly cooked since most ofthe time people over cook them and they are mushy. He said they were perfect with gave me the pick me up of the day that i needed. But all in all things turned around for me after the way my week started. But everything is good.

on a side note: I burned the palm of my hand (only a smalll part though) and I actually felt my skin melt...never knew it was possible...before I get so many email asking if im ok...I AM FINE. in no pain at all.

anyways im thinking of having another dinner party this week.

wow!! thats all I have to say

Man was I welcomed back to work well today!

It appearently was slow the last couple days , so chef told me not to prepare so much foor dor the daily special. Me being the one that likes to be safe and prepare enough just in case (some people think im over cautious but hey it hasnt done me wrong), anyways to make things quick, It was busy very busy, but only on my station. I was like a horse with his bum on fire..!! lol. I was flying and everyone stood there and laughed as plates were literaly flying off my station..it was pretty funny. I was on a high, as things were just going..we all had a good laugh and the chef was enjoying the sight. But all in all it was a good fun day.

I also got an official contract today as well, which was good to see. The chef sat me down to explain it to me and my rights as a employee here in france. Although I dont understand all the technical lingo on the page he explained it to me so I would understand. Albeit in French..lol!!

But all in all it was good and enjoyable and a fun day. Also I learned today that if its slow and you are about to have your weekend, chef would let take an extra half day off. Doesnt happen often but he does it. Too bad for me i start my weekend when the chef is off and the sous chef doesnt do that...meh. well im heading for a nap.
yehuda

dinner last night

As I mentioned in an earlier post i met a canadian girl ( shes from quebec though, so maybe not canadian..hehe jk) who is here alone. She lives 3 blocks from me and goes to school around hte corner at the university. Anyways since she is here by herself and doesnt have many friends here i invited her over for dinner last night so she wont just eat pasta but have a real cooked meal. (and of course have wine and eat cheese afterwards). So I made a small salad to start adn dressed it with Extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vineager and a bit of rock salt. For the main course we had braised chicken leg with coconut rice, melted leeks and a roquefort cream sauce...mmmm it was delicious thats for sure. Afterwards we had two different kinds of cheeses on fresh bread and drank wine...but I had a good time.

Tonight though I am going to a dinner party and i actually dont know anyone there which will be fun. I am making an appatizer while everyone is cooking, just bruscetta with tomato salsa and fresh goat cheese...(keyword fresh), but because i have work in the morning i wont get drunk tonight.
although i do have to clarify that i havent been getting drunk all that much, its just the wine is good and you can get it anywhere for so cheap ( i pay 2 euro max per bottle) how can you say no?

thats that though.

cool

so i bought a new phone that has free internet everywhere, so I figured out how to blog and i did tha talll the way home and then pressed the wrong key and lost everything!! haha at least it kept me busy on my walk home and i didnt spend the time singing songs...lol

Anyways today was a bit slow so I helped out a bit in Pastries, adn the guys were a bit surprised I knew what I was doing. But I explained tehm ive worked in every station in the kitchen...haha that didnt stop me from learning a few new recipes though. and some cool tricks. I also got to see a dessert ive alwasy wanted to make but is apearently too outdated for north america its called teh baked alaska in english or ouefs norwegian in french. Basically its biscuit (cake) ice Cream cover it with Merangue and then cook it in the oven for 30 seconds at a high temperature pour some brandy on it and flambee in front of the customer. Really cool, very old and just beautifull. Anyways They offered to let me help them next time the make it so I can make them as well.

otherwise everythign is going well. Tomorrow ngiht im cooking dinner with some friends hopefully watch some movies or something afterwards. and I wasinvited over to a friends house to cook dinner for all his couple friends... and him and his gf..i guess ill be the only single person there unless jessica wants to come...hehe...no date for me, especially since gary is upset at me for taking pictures with other girls!!! such a protective father gary. Anyways time for me to take a nap.

yehuda

cool

bounce back

work is going a bit better today though, and I am back on track. hope everyone is nejoying themselves doing what they do...and thanks everyone for keeping in touch

it happens

Today started out well but then went sour once service started most of the orders came off of my station and thats when it hit the fan. a few pieces of fish came back saying it was underdone but i knew they werent, but I cant argue. But when the 2nd piece came back the chef looked at mea seriously adn said thats the second one yehuda. I knew I had to turn it around. And I did. I finished service with a bang, but i still felt bad. Then dinner service started out the same way and I was getting swamped with orders, only this time i wasnt drowning and I had everything under control then about an hour into service the sous chef started laughing. I asked what was so funny and he said its interesting how this morning i could barely put out a piece of fish and tonight its totally differant. I said its past and its good to laugh about it it. The chef agreed but in the end the day ended out very well.

But the main chef came to me today and said he wanted to complkiment me on my french learning and how things were going here.

beaujolais neaveau

So as I said in earlier posts i was very much looking forward to being a part of the experience of beaujolias neaveau. Now although Iw as warned that the wine would be crap (french standards) and Iw ould be sick in the morning, I didnt believe it, oh how very right my friends were.

Lets start again from the begining. I spent a big part of my day with my friend anne. We went to the market and bought stuff for the dinner we were cooking together. We paired our food with a vin blanc from chatteau neauf de pappe. An amazing wine from the 1980's. So anyways we were cooking for her parents who were in town from spain. So we cooked for about 3 hours, as I was giving her lessons on knife handling and cooking techniques. For apperatif we had a carrot terrine, (not carrot cake) with a nice subtle but tasty Muscadet wine. For the main course we had Scallops with a puree of celeriac, potatoe and raison sec, and artichoke and swiss chard. For dessert we took one of her mothers old recipes for similar to poached pear,. but ten million times better, and I gave it a bit of a twist so it would look nice on the plate. When we presented it to her she thought it was amazing what we had done, adn of course loved the dinner. But before we started cooking Anne showed me a few cookbooks of her which her greatgrandmother wrote and used in the late 1800's. of course all the pages were brown adn faded and written in french but i was so happy to see it, turned out to be difficult to convince anne to elt me write down the recipes, she said those recipes mean the world to her and she doesnt want anyone just taking them. So I pretty much spent the next 7 hours trying to convince her and her mother to let me have some recipes at least. After the meal anees mom said she would email her recipes from when she had a restuarant in the hills just north of lyon, and anne agreed that next time I came over she woudl spend time with me translating the recipes but i have to promise not to bastedize them and keep true to the auther of the recipes, (her great grandmother). Dinner was really amazing, most of the conversation was in french and when i got stuck they translated but we held conversation pretty well through out the night. At around 1130 I left to drop my knives back at work, and head over to Place Antonin Placet for the party. The square was already packed with people but I was able to sneak my way through the crowd to the front.

And that is where the fun started!!!!

Suddenly there is a tap on my shoulder I turn around adn this girl says to me, "You're Canadian arent you?" I wa sshocked because first of all I didnt know her, second how can I be picked out of a crowd with more than 100 crazy screaming frenchies that Im Canadian? And it wasnt because I was the only one not wearing a jacket, just a short sleeve shirt!! SO I asked her, and she said she recognized me from my profile on couch surfing.com!! kinda wierd but she was lost and didnt have a phone and was also looking for the couchsurfers group. She is Canadian as well but from montreal. So we stayed together. And just like it was described at midnight the barrels of fresh beaujolais wine were roled into the middle of the square with a band and cheerleaders in front of it dancing. When the barrels where brought to their place, music started to blare and everyone broke out into song and dance as fireworks started going off in front of us to welcome in the new wine....VERY TACKY BUT FUNNY!! Finally the music start and they started a countdown and with a big pop the first bottle of Beaujolais neaveau was broken open and miss rhone got a drink first and thats when the cases of wine started getting open adn glasses were passed around. Everyone was pushing and singing the beaujolais song and dancing it was so cool. Finally we found all the couchsurfers and we all joined up on another side and the wine started to flow It tasted like a watered down wine, not bad but definteoly not good! I must have drank about a bottle and a half with the group, (that being we each drank about a bottle adn a half each and it was free!!!) around 1ish I said I thought I shoudl go home since I had work in the mornign but the group wouldnt hear it. There was a tradition to drink a certain wine after beaujolais with these people...First let me say it was a baaaaaaaaaaad idea that wine tasted discusting. But anyways we crossed the bridge to the side that I live on and walked along the river about 7 of us toa bar ona boat on the river rhone.
But on the bridge were the riot police because the algeria soccer team won a game and the algerians here are really crazy. There was teargas beign thrown to dispurse the crowds, it was funny. So while on the bridge I went over to the police and asked if I can take a picture with them. They asked me for money adn a bribe. I said i had no money on me, but they wanted canadian money. I laughed and told them the canadian dollar is terrible against the euro, so they let me take a picture for free.
We all piled into this little bar boat and these guys started buying bottles of this wine and little shot glasses its call chachonne, IT is probably the worst drink I have ever had but I was having fun and I thought what the hey, so we drank for an hour or so laughing joking singing beaujolais songs and just talking and taking movies and pictures of everyone. Eventually I had to turn myself in because i knew I wouldnt be able to function at work today if i didnt.
So I came home made sure I had my alarm set, and yes I WOKE UP THIS MORNIGN WITH SUCH A STOMACH ACHE IT WAS FUNNY. But at least I experienced beaujolas neaveau in lyon with friends and had a blast. Even though I got plastered and had way too much to drink, I wasnt hungover!!! yey me!!! but it was fun.

anyways that is the long of it and i will try to upload the videos of beaujolais neaveau onto my facebook page and I will post pictures as well from last nights dinner and party, although I will probably ask some friends for their piuctures as well so you can see different views.

enjoy

later

I am going to make this quick as I dont feel very well, (too much terrible wine, not a good combination when mixed with the line of, Whatever you only live once and I am here so lets go). That is reffering to when I thought I would go to the party for beaujolaise neaveau drink one glass, then go home and go to bed. I will write more later about my whole day(its going to be long and you will all get a good laugh at me), but right now I have to get ready for work, and my stomach hurts.

But I hope everyone has a great day and I'll post either tonight or tomorrow what happened yesterday......
yehuda

I have some interesting thoughts that I think some of you might find interesting, although I know I most definitelly did. Anyways it's a bit of an addition to yesterays post.

So yesterday should have been a quiet day but it was pretty busy. We had a banquet and two very large tables. But the part that amazed me the most, was what was happening in the kitchen. I was reading in one of my many cookbooks written by one of the most popular and innovative chefs of today Chef Grant Achatz of Alenea Restaurant in Chicago, how he went to work at El Bulli restaurant in Spain (arguably the most advanced kitchen both thechnologically and innovative in the world now a days), and he was amazed how the kitchen was quiet from begining of the day until then end. You didnt hear a pan sizzle, no one spoke a word etc. (The machines that they used instead of using stoves and ovens etc.) To him it was amazing. I very much respect that because I feel that it is important to constantly move forward and build on the classics.

Having said that, last night at work it was very busy, pans were sizzling, the chef was calling out orders his voice raised over the noise of the kitchen and for a second I stood back and just looked at the kitchen and tried to take everything in. Pans were sizzling, water was boiling and we were all plating our own dishes gently but quickly and turning over the restaurants seats. Everyone was communicating together and through the chef. It just felt relaxing and like that is where I belonged. The noise is what was fueling my fire, and it felt amazing. Just a feeling of fullfilment.

OF course after that I have two days off, but I am sure it will eb the same when I get back.

But as you all know I got a new phone number today.

Tomorrow is a BIG day for me. For one I met a girl here whos mother is a real authentic french cook. What I mean by that is she owned a restaurant a while back cooking old french recipes in a small city north west of LYon. Then when her husband got sick she sold the restaurant to take care of her husband. Anyways her husband passed away and she eventually met someone and lives in spain now. So I met her daughter last week and shes coming to Lyon tomorrow, so I am going to cook dinner for her, her boyfriend and her daughter, and hopefully I'll get her to share recipes with me and tips and stories. This is exciting!!! I also got a message from someone that lives about an hour north of Lyon that wants me to come visit him and his wife, so I can meet his aunt, who has been cooking old classical french cooking for years and years, and wants to share recipes that arent around anymore, as well as ones that she has made up herself. I really hope I can maybe go there next week on my day off as its not far from Lyon at all in a city called Saint Etienne.

Ok its getting late over here, but I just wanted to share those things with everyone.

Yehuda

new day

I got a new cellphone number since I got a contract, if anyone feels the need to randomly msg or call me its 011 33 6 58 34 77 99

Yehuda

catch up

I havent been able to log onto the blog the last couple of days so sorry for the absence.

There realy isn tmuch to report on since I have just been working such long hours. Although I have been writing down recipes and the people are amazed by my french although I am sure I am not being gramtically correct. OH WELL! But they understand what I am saying adn I am at least able to formulate sentences in order to get things.

Today we got a nice surprised when we came to work as it was literally pouring inside!! YUPPERS!! somewhere in the building a pipe burst and caused a lot fo damage to the restaurant. So we closed a section of the restaurant then, and shut the water to the building so tenants were coming to us asking for water.

Its my weekend now so I hope the weather holds up, because I want to go on a bike ride to the big park here. As well as Beaujolaise Neaveau (however its spelled) arrives wednesday night.

Just a bit of background. Beaujolais wine is the only wine that is released 6 weeks after the grapes are harvested. ( it can not be released earlier as that is the soonest as french law permits). It is basically fermented in the grape which allows it to be made into wine so quickly. It is appearntly not the greatest tasting wine (accoring to the french) but its the experience as tehy ahve been doing this for a very long time.

But its basically like a show. They bring the barrels of beaujolais down the river soane by boat then role the wine through the streets of lyon to Place Bellecour. They hoist the barrels up and at the stroke of midnight the taps are cracked open and its turned into a massive party, celebrated all over the country. Pretty cool, and its something i am looking forward to thats forsure.

otherwise I am just going to relax wake up when i wake up etc. if anyone has any ideas tell them to me...lol

regular day

HI nothing really to talk about today. Just moving along as usualy. We had a party for 20 (no biggie) but The chef thought i wasnt prepared for it and was surprised when I had had enough product ready and hot for plate up. All he did was nod and that was good enough for me as I knew that meant he was happy. Thats about it.

I also got my banking information today, I have an international bank account now!! lol

Yehuda

dinner last night

Since everyone is going to be wakign up soon and I know Grandma reads this blog first thing in the morning, I am going to write one now about last night.

So I put a post on Couchsurfing.com (for anyone that wants to check it out) saying im new to Lyon and want to host a dinner party to meet new people and make some friends. So at first about 10 people answered saying they would liek to come, so I replied saying email me personally to confirm whos coming. And yesterday in the morning not that many answered so I went to the market and bought food for about 4 people (read yesterdays blog about the experience). But then other people started emailing me asking if they can come. so I had to run to a store to pick up more stuff. But it was a holiday here yesterday (memorial day) so I had to walk very far to find a store. Thinking I knew a short cut to come back home I took a street that I though was going south. Which it did but it also went east. So by the time I realized what I had done i was very far from the destination of choice. (oh when will I learn that streets here in france dont run north and south they are mostly diagonal.)

Anyways I finally got home and started to cook. I made a ratatouille, not cut up into a dice but nicely presented into a design, white rice and chicken. Everyone else brought somethign from their country of origin being appatizer, or dessert as well as wine. Oh and someone brought a wine from Alsace, it was amazing. Bonus that she sorta knows the winemaker, and puts in orders, and said if I wanted she will tell me next time she orders from him so I can get a few bottles for less than the store price. You have to belive me when I tell you it was a really delicious crisp wine that wasnt too dry and just enough flavours of the fruit. Just amazing!

ok back on track. So we had a yogurt appatizer from Switzerland, as well as a swiss beer. Wine from different regions of france, my dinner and I supplied the cheese. (dinner cost about 10 euros for me including the cheese) , then for dessert we had an asian black tea jello, fruit crumble (from the american inthe group) and finally we had a brazillian dessert, tough to explain but it was kind of like a taffy. Its basically condenced sweet milk, butter and coco powder. But we didnt have coco powder. What do you in france? Add NUTELLA!!! (It was my idea) and it tasted really good. You are supposed to cool down the dessert, but we all just ate it warm. HAHA!!

And in the end everyone had a great time. We all enjoyed ourselves, and the conversation flowed all night. Tonight though I organized a small get together at a bar near my old appartment so more people can join.

Now my roommate got some bad news, the french public system is screwing her over and shes a bit down so I am going to go cook lunch and drink wine and hopefully help her see the positive side of things.

Funny how even the french hate their own system and hate all the strikes and protests and paper pushing, and delays in everything...Even they think its kind of extreme!!

I posted the pictures from last night on my facebook!!

salute

dinner

I decided to host a small dinner party in my appartment. As I mentioned earlier about the couch surfing thing (pretty cool btw), and I invited people over for dinner ill cook someone is making dessert another bringing wine and another cheese, games etc.

HOWEVER today is a holiday in France (memorial day for ww1), so most things are closed here. But there is a big store called Carrefoure open today (its like a mini wal mart, shanna might remmeber it). So I was on my way to the subway station when I see the open air market here in Jean Mace. I didnt know that it was here during the week, btu its appearently here Saturday and Wednesday. Pretty cool. It was smaller than the one in Croix Rousse, but still nice none the less. So I bought a lot of really good food for very little money. For example I bought 2 kilos of onion for 1 euro and 4 eggplant for 1.50, because you can buy a plat, which is basically a prewieghed otu amount of an item for a smaller price, usually I think. It was very nice products and I practiced my french and it seemed to be able to communicate although people could tell I wasnt french and asked where I was from. But I dont understand, when I say Canada, the y ask if im from quebec. You'd think I can speak french though if I came from quebec though, meh beats me.

But I got some fresh turkey and I am going to make a Ratatouille with Tagliatelle pasta and turkey. I also got some more of my favourite cheeses ( I think I may be getting addicted to the cheese thing, and its not eve hurting my tummy!!). Its really good though! and I hope I'll hav a few people over. Right now only 1 person has confirmed, but others said they wanted to come as well, so I hope it will expand to more people.

Tuesday

Nothing really interesting to report today, only the same stuff. I am really enjoying myself. The language barrier is slowly coming down in regards to me understanding but the chef is very patient which is good, and explains things to me more than once if i dont understand. Plus there are things that some co workers told me how to do but the chef wants done differently, so he just says next time you are going to do it tell me and I'll show you. Which is very good.

Otherwise the weather her kinda sucks, its been raining for a few days now in a row, so its kind of drab, but its ok i guess better than being below zero!! But I am told its about as cold as its going to get here. I am now officially in the rotation of work which is good I work 5 days straigh then get 2 days off in a row that way my days off change every week, which is a good thing as well.

An interesting thing they do here is they make you sign off on your hours. So basically you are booked and work for a certain amount of hours and get 2 days off a week. So after the week you sign that you only worked the amount of hours you were booked for and if you work extra then you sign that you did overtime. Pretty cool in my opinion. Also the chef has asked me for my banking information, so that they can send it into the government so I can get paid on time and not have to worry about anything.

thats about it that I think of but then again I have to go back to work soon anyways for another 5 hours.

yehuda

hello

Everything is going fine and its all good. Appearently the french dont eat pork anything less than well done of the chemical that is injected in the pig before they slaughter it. WHO KNEW? Well I didnt because I figured it should be medium the way I was tought...O How wrong I was. A customer sent it back saying it was underdone and then the chef told me why. Eh! know for the future.

but on another note, I always wanted to know a good recipe and method to make Pate En Croute, and voila now I have. Today one of my friends here was making it so he showed me and gave me the recipe to make it and the method.!!! yey cant wait to make it myself when I get back. I will hopefully try a piece tonight during dinner service.

Working is going well. I am getting the hang of it and I am able to speak french better and I am conversing better with the chef, as well as understanding the directions. Although these people speak very quickly and its tough some times to understand.

AH. So today in walks Chef Jean-Paul Lacombe (he owns the restaurant and has 2 michelin stars) and he starts talking to me in french after a few sentences I told him I dont speak french that well. So he's like oh yeah your the Canadian! You speak english? I told him yes. And he asked me if I was enjoying my time in Lyon and enjoying my job, and if there was anything I needed just ask. He asked how long my visa was for, and I answered a year. He then said he read my resume and liked it and hoped I stayed there for the whole time. So we'll see.

otherwise its just raining here so it's kinda blah!

I am trying something new though. There is something called couch surfing. Its basically people who let strangers stay on their couch for a few days while in the city. It's a good free way to meet new people. Well I already have a place, but the Couch surfing community her in Lyon is very big and they all get together for parties once a week (monday night), and post on forums for cooking parties etc. So I figured I would try it. Worse comes to worse I have drinks with wierdos and best scenario I meet nice people and make good friends.

those are my thoughts for the day

saturday

I set up a bank account and somehow I made it through the whole meeting without needing a traslator. There were some parts I didnt understand, however the girl used simpler words so I would understand, and it all worked out well so nowI have to wait for my papers to get processed (about a week, this is france after all).

I then went to the rabbi for lunch, nothing great. I did go to the mall though afterwards though, as I am looking for a hat but I couldnt find it so I instead walked around for a while.

I came home and for dinner I made ratatouille adn opened a bottle of semi dry riesling from Alsace (3.45 euro) and the wine actually tastes really good. Although to be honest from all the wine I`ve had here (about 10 varieties (I didnt buy them all don`t worry)), I havent been dissapointed yet. The wine tastes slightly fruity not too dry with a hint of sweetness and granny smith apples. Its a subtle tasting wine but delicious as well.

Just in case everyone likes to knwo what culinary things I have learned, here is two things. One I learned a while ago how to do the other a new technique. So I learned a long time how to do whats called turned potatoes. Basically you peel the potato into the shape of a barrel basically. And the chef was knocking them off like 5 seconds a potato and it was taking me about 30 seconds at least. So I looked over and saw how he was holding the potato and it just made more sense and in no time I was knocking off turned potatoes a lot quicker than before, however I of course do have to work on my technique but it was cool to learn that little tidbit. For the second thing. All sauces start off with a stock of some sort. Now all dark stocks are made in different ways, roasting the bones,poaching, or just adding the bones to water, of the animal of which the stock is made. Someone told me in toronto that he made hi sstocks with half meat half bones. (the bones add gelatine and the meat adds flavour). Here they just use meat. I will be honest with you the stocks are just as gelatinous and more flavoured than using the bones. So theres another thing I learned.

Those were some things I wanted to share today.

yehuda

bon weekend

My day starte dout like every other one..wake up early shower go to work. The begining of the day went smoothly, I got my prep done quickly so started doing prep for the weekend as well to get ahead and so I dont leave the otehr guys in the weeds or anything like that. So an interesting thing is even during service we do prep to get ahead and everyone jumps in and gives hand.

Because I stand practically next to the chef I have conversations with him. Interestingly enough we are able to converse with eachother in french and actually have dialogue. Funny because my french still sucks although I am now able to converse better with my co workers.

anyways things are going well, glad to have a few days off now as my knees are starting to hurt. have a great weekend everyone

bonjour

So today was fun. It was good as I got a lot of work done for tomorrow. Again im working hard and learning lots.

Although for everyones enjoyment I will share an interesting thing.

We weren`t able to get a fresh shipment of fish today so I used frozen backup fish. the thing is we dont usually sell that many cod during the day so I figured 20 portions all day would be enough for the day and to start for tomorrow in case the fish shipment came late. well it was a great idea until 1030 when a large table came in and most of the customers ordered cod. Now I had 2 pieces left and 7 orders, do the math. I was kind of embarassed even though no one could have predicted it. I told the chef in frenglish and he said to just get some more from the freezer, and defrost them and get them in the oven as quickly as possible. I appologized and the chef said it wasn`t a problem and the fresh fish will come tomorrow morning, and not to worry. Thinking that they would say we don`t have cod left to any future customers, I didnt think of defrosting more fish, I was wrong, and of course the next two customers ordered cod as well. What luck!!

Anyways it was funny and the chef was really good about it all.

anyways it late and im tired and im going to go to bed, sorry for the short blog

chef

ok so in case anyone wants to hear some funny things well funny when it happened and as jessica calls it hooda funny(meaning i find it funny everyone else not so much) so I was talking to the chef earlier as I was cutting carrots on a mandolin. I turned to look at him for a second and nipped my nuckle onthe blade pealing off some skin. I jumped back thinking i cut myself bad, and the chef says to me in french, this container is for carrots only not fingers. The reason why I am saying this is because I realized somethign very interesting today. The chef is a very nice guy, but when its time for business he serious. He starts the same time as everyone else and doesnt go sit down and have a coffee and do paperwork, instead he gets changed and starts helping everyone out on their prep list so that we can all sit down for lunch at the same time. That is something I find admirable. This is the first chef Ive worked for that doesnt sit around and saying oh i have alot of paper work to do. He teaches simple techniques and if you ahve a question he encourages you to ask not just say yes chef, but understandthe reasoning behind the technique. I really hope to emulate this kind of attitude when i come back home. Everyone works together as a team, if one person is done their prep first they ask to help otehrs out, and they dont just go out for a smoke while others might be struggling. and if someone offers to give a hand no one thinks less of one another for that, unlike what I have previously experienced at other jobs. So I am not just learning about cooking here but learning about how to work as team and seeing how a team works. anyways I need to go take a nap before i go back to work.
so Salute

work

HI everyone
So it seems I am like a magnet. I for the next two weeks will be on fish station because it seems to be calling me everywhere I go. HEHE It`s ok though, I get to do other stuff though as well like the daily special (Plat De Jour, sounds better in French). So tomorrow I actually get to cook peacock (not sure how its properly spelled). And I make other dishes as well besides for fish but i`ve quickly become the designated fish guy. Whatever. I am having fun. The people are great here and I am enjoying myself and I think that is the main thing. I am also now being put on weekends (busiest times) which is a good thing. and of course I am learnign new thigns and new techniques.

I dont know what else to write about so I am going ot head to bed since I am tired.
yehuda

first day wrap up

So my first day is over, and I had a great time. I worked the line myself and although I had soem difficulty with the language barrier it was in the most part ok. It was fun and I had a great time. Some high points were using only copper pots.. now I am not sure how many people can appreciate it but I loved it. Everyone sits down and has a meal together before service. Also when a mistake happens the chef doesnt scream!!! he just asks kindly to fix it, or something liek that. But I will have to see if the Executive chef is the same way. Otherwise I am tired and want to go to bed. I didnt have that much of a break between lunch and dinner so I am going to go to sleep.

Work!!

YEY!! so I started work today and its nice. I like that way the kitchen is set up and the way things are done. For example everyone has certain dishes on the menu that they are responsible for from the protien to the start to the veg which I think is a good thing. That way you are always thinking about the whole plate and not just your individual part of the dish.

Also everyone is friendly and when they say something in french that I dotn uderstand they show me so I know for the next time, and I am learning the words etc, not fast enough but the cooking lingo is pretty much the same.

Otherwise I am on break now until about 6:15 which is good then i go back for 5 hours and then im done!! yey!! lol

so i`ll update later on how my full day went

settled in

Ok I am settled in and feeling at home. It is quiet here but I guess its ok. I am just having a quick dinner and probably going to head to bed early as I am very excited about tomorrow being my first day here. I can update my resume and hopefully when chefs see that I am working in France they might be more inclined to hire me. Also my room mate was kind enough to show me some temp agencies just for chefs, that I will look at tomorrow on my way home from work in the afternoon. I am very excited to start work and cant wait to get my hands wet in the kitchen. Otherwise everything is the same and things are going well.

so Salute
yehuda

moving day

Today i move into a more permanent residence and tomorrow i start my new job. Things are settling down, and now I need to make more contacts and friends. Otherwise just getting used to the french way of life. I kind of like the relaxing mentality but I someitmes miss the fast paced life i grew up in. But to be honest I am liking the new way, where eating cheese and wine is fun. Anyways I am going to go pack and eat breakfast.

back home FINALLY!!

Well as I'm sure some of you heard I had quite a day today. I woke up early to come back to Lyon and ended up on the wrong train.....HOW is that possible ? Well the sign said Paris Lyon and I thought that was the line and I figured that makes sense. Now there werent any conducters or people around to ask at that hour so I sat down. Someone was in my seat but i figured that since it was early I wasnt going to bother him. But as we went to the next stop and the train started to fill up I said to the guy he was in my seat. He looked at my ticket and said, " no sir, you are on teh wrong train. This train is going to Paris." I said to himthat it stops in Lyon adn he told me it doesnt. And at that moment the doors closed and the trains tarted its express track to Paris. And I was stuck. So I went to Paris and had to buy a new ticket to come back to lyon. But my luck would have it that all the 2nd clas trains were booked for the day adn I had to get back fast to meet with the chef. There were limited 1st class seats so with my discount I didnt pay that much but it was a lot to swallow. I guess I am lucky in a way that the conductor didnt make me pay full fair to Paris, as they usually would because he was impressed by my french. HAHAHA Well I am back here and I start work on Monday working 2 -3 days a week So I will try to maybe get a second job.

And now I am home. The owner here is making dinner for a bunch of people so I helped out a bit, bought some wine and cheese to go along. We are having Thai green Curry. Anyways gotta run
talk to you all later

marseille

I need to head back to Lyon because the chef where I am working asked me to come in for a meeting tomorrow and hopefully start on Saturday so I have to go back early. Its ok I can always go back.

Today was fun as I spent the day on the water following the race that the guys daughter was in some college olym[ics and she was on the american team. They came in 10th place in teh first race and then 2nd in teh next race (which took 4 hours). Although all in all I had a great time.

I then went out for dinner and had bouillabaisse agian for dinner ( ithink im bouilabaissed out) to make sure that the product was consistant from restaurant to restaurant and it was. Supperb. Although I think all the seafood made my stomach grumble!!! lol not used to it i guess. Anyways the food si great here, wouldnt mind coming back. But this mrnign I saw the coolest stuff. The fisherman all come back to port around 9 adn bring back the fish they catch out in the medditeranian ocean. And then they line up and sell the stuff with the fish still splashing around and jumping. For me it was really cool others maybe not feel the same way. When I get back to Lyon Ill upload the pictures from Marseille.

ok imgoing to bed gotta get up early tomorrow to catch the early train.

au revoir

Marseille

IT is a good thing I am here in Marseille today. First of all the train ride was fun because for msot of the trip the area aroudn me was loaded with chinese girls that wouldnt shut up...Me adn the person in front of me kept looking at each other thinking the same thing. JUST BE QUIET ALREADY!!! but they werent. At least they got off earlier than me at Avignon so for the next half hour it was peace adn quiet for me. But when I got here I went to the hostel I called last night near the train station and they were fully booked!! well i guess the french side of me kicked in because I laughed. It ended up beign a good thing. The area aroudn the train station is heavily populated by arab gangs and is kinda sketchy/dangerous at night. So they directed me to another oyuth hostel, which right now is really full as well and a lot cooler and probabyl the coolest hostel I have stayed in yet... oh wait I've only been to one other one, but you get the point.

Anyways I checked in put my bags down adn left right away for the beach (2 minutes from here) A really cool nice beach. After all this is the mediteranian over here. (I will put the pics on my facebook) so I walked for an horu and a half up the coast line (magnificant view adn so beautifull at night) in search of a certain dish that MArseille is famous for. Bouilabaisse is a fish soup made form the fish from the medditeranian. anyways jessica might remember my intesting interaction with the chef from 398 west regarding bouillabaisse which was funny. Anyways the point of the matter is that I found a place and ordered it. It was really good although not like what I was told it would be. Mainly because the people who told me how it would look and taste have never been to Marseille or anywhere close to here and therefore dont knwo what they were talkign about. Anyways I really enjoyed my dinner. So as I was ordering dessert a guy sitting at the table behind me strikes up a conversation with me. Turns out hes an exchange student from Seattle here in France for one semester learning French. As I am leavign though this tabel next to me asks me to come over. They thought my accent was american but I corrected them and told them I was Canadian. Its a good thing that they didnt get offended because they were from Rhode Island. Why were they in MArseille you ask? Well turns out one of them lives there, her mother came to visit and stayed because her grand daughter is on the American Olympic rowing team and they are competing her in Marseille!!!! How cool is that. Anyways the girl is practicing tomorrow so the family rented a sail boat and they invited me to come sailing with them tomorrow all day here on the medditeranian..!!!how awesome is that?? In return I cook them dinner. I said you dont have to ask me twice. So I guess I am going to have some fun tomorrow!!! everything happens for a reason, thats forsure. And that is what happened to me today.

catch up

I couldnt log onto here yesterday but jessica showed me how so I am back...I am trying to learn french. So I bought a book that is supposed to help with grammer and it has i guess a bit although I am not really sure how one is supposed to learna new language so any input on that is greatly appreciated.

otherwise i dont really have much to report on since I dont know what the future holds for me here in France which is somewhat exciting but also frustrating so I walk around a lot going from place to place etc.

Croix Rousse market

Ok so At downsview park there is a "farmers market" for those who have ever gone to a farmers market you have not gone to one until you have gone to one here in France. The one near where I live is actually the most famous one here in Lyon. So when I was told about it my eyes grew wide adn I decided I was going. And so I did. My flat mate has been very nice to me so I decided to cook dinner for him and his girlfriend, as well as another person maybe not sure yet.

But anyways the farmers market spans like 4-6 streets and its all locally grown foods from the hills around lyon and its really nice to see. Everything is fresh, and about 85 percent of the stuff looks divine. they have fresh fish meats cheeses etc. all looks really good and very appetizing I posted some pictures on my facebook becasue I cant put them on here for some reason. So I will try to describe some things here although I am sure i am probably going to be the only one so excited about what I am writing about. In canada and the US we are very lucky to get alot of products from around the world, however because the shelf life is so short the products are usually frozen or dried out and the chef would need to rehydrate it, how you loose some of the flavours. So here I am standing in middle of the market looking at differant varieties of mushrooms some of them I have never heard of becasue they are exclusive to this region as they grow only in the hills of Lyon and are not known outside the region. And other mushrooms that are only really grown properly here in France adn the ones that are grown in north america have such a short growing season and usually the stuff doesnt look good. So I bought for dinner Black Trumpet mushrooms, lyon chantrelles, golden chantrelles and another mushroom I dont know what its called but it looks like a Lobster mushroom. we will see how they come out when i cook them but im so excited. Another thing I am so lucky and honoured to be a part of here in France.

Ok I have to go look at an appartment so I will be back later

Dinner

So dinner was great. Great food, great wine, great company all around great.

But it seems I may be getting accustomed to some french customs and I like it a lot. For example, a cheese course. We had one for dinner tonight after our main course and I really liked it. The French eat only soft cheeses like brie, chevre cammembert etc. and with the right wine just brings out the flavours. I dont know what the other people at the dinner table were thinking when they ate the cheese, but I had a sip of wine with mine (wine was Saint Joseph from Cote De Rhone) and the flavour of the wine brought out the earthiness of the cheese and I really liked how it went from being just a soft melting cheese to a world of flavours that seemed to just go on and on. But dinner was simple just stuffed eggplant. My host who likes to cook a lot has a lot of disgust towards chefs and it turned into a long conversation about why chefs in the world are so egotistical. I tried explaining why a lot of chefs are so possesive of their food, but i think it fell on deaf ears. OH WELL what can you do? But I brought dessert from my favorite patissierie (bakery) here near my appartement and I was once again very pleased with the pastries. I had a Tart de Citrn (lemon tart) Praline de Chocolate, Praline de Chocolate avec Cafe, and the last one not sure what it was called but it tasted really good with a cracker crust. Very good.

and that is that just overall good.

today

Good afternoon for me at least...Today was pretty uneventfull as I went to shul and then to my brothers friend for lunch. I think his wife thinks that since I am not french I eat a lot cuz she makes a lot of food...mind you its delicious so I don't argue. PLUS she even plated some of lunch because here in france presentation is everything to these people. Otherwise I am heading out soon to go to dinner with some friends they are cooking for me so I will bring dessert. Of course it has to be chocolate based. Otherwise things are I guess going well I am constantly reading my french dictionary/handbook adn I even watched french tv and although I didnt understand I am trying to listen and speak as much french as possible so it will sink in maybe while i am sleeping.

chocolate

I asked my landlord if he can help me get a bank account. He says no problemadn walk to the bank. (here in france everythign is a beaurocracy so we made and appointment). On our way back he stops in front of a chocolate shop (pretty common here as well) and says he knows the chocolatier and feels that he makes the best chocolate pastries in all of lyon. So we go in adn I buy one thing and he buys one thing. So I bought a chocolate prailine and let just say you can only take about a bite or two adn then you are done. This thing is so chocolaty and delicious and rich that there is only so much you can eat before it becaomes too much.

Just thought id share that with everyone.

Good morning

So for everyone waking up now. Today is a great day in Lyon. After two days of torrential downpour (which in turn means the streets are relatively quiet) The sun is shining without a cloud in the sky. Which means only one thing I have great news for everyone.
Pending of course confirmation of my passport and visa.....Hooda got a job!!! I got a one month contract at a restaurant working as chef de partie (station chef) for Garde Manger (cold kitchen) Now I am only going to be working 2-3 days a week but its a start. The way the french work is you work for lunch service go home sleep and come back for diner service! How cool is that? So now I have to learn French hardcore. Any suggestions?

So my take on Lyon so far: It is a beautifull city. I walked up the hill a few times (really good for cardio) its about 1000 steps to take to go up to the place I am in. Interesting facts about lyon in case anyone wanted to know: There is about 1 pharmacie, 1 lingerie store, one condom stand per 2-3 streets! wierd eh?

On the weekends the squares are full and everyone is milling around shopping enjoying themselves, there are street performers and its all very nice and interesting. I am really looking forward to going to the farmers market on sunday though.

so for now au revoir et salute

woke up at at 2 am

so when I got home there wasnt any internet connection so I went to bed. But I woke up a few minutes ago don't know why So i checked my computer and voila there is internet so I figured I would blog.

So today took me on a great adventure walking back to one of Chef Bocuses restaurants outside the city limits (dont ask why I didnt take the metro) but I went hoping to meet with the girl in charge of HR. I did and she was very hesitatn but a lot of persistence and she said as long as I learn french adn get my visa worked out(which I did) then she will think about it. So I will email her and try to convince her to give me a job. Otherwise I had a great dinner as well had a piece of fish with pasta. Presented very nicely, tasted very good adn they even said I can come back in the morning to talk to the chef. But I also want to learn how they make crepes here so I think I will try to spend some time tomorrow at a creperie and see if someone will teach me.

Yehuda

new day

Well yesterday it rained as if it didnt rain all summer here in lyon and the streets became empty because the lyonnaise people dont like rain. I still had a great dinner and really enjoyed the food met some very nice people got a lot of information that I will excersize today but I first need to go to Pual Bocuses office because they are hiring for cooks in the kitchen so we will see and do my best to get a job there.
on other notes things are I guess just taking them as they come. Walking around learning things talking to people etc.

Anyways otherwise just enjoying my self I went to the museum yesterday which I am sure I wrote about it was interesting thats forsure. IT is of course very nice to be able to get in places free because I am under 26.

Otherwise I am off I got things to do, people to see adn places to go.

yehuda

lyon

well I went to the Jewish area even the lubavitch area of lyon but no one could really help me out with either a job or place to rent so Jessica pushed me to go out and make it a Yehuda Day. So I went to the art museum and walked around for a while looking at some interesting pictures and sculptures...WOW the french are really enamoured with womens breasts!! haha!! but anyways it was nice and free since I am under 26. I am exasuted though so I think I will take a short nap and go out again later and go for dinner as well, hopefully a job will come from this dinner though.
wish me luck I kinda need it.

yehuda

Chef Bocuse

SO I will try to write properly and with the proper grammer what I did today adn what I kind of came to the conclusions about Lyon so bear with me please.

So as some of you know I have beena bit down lately which hasn't been good for my morale. Trust me it is tough walking around a city askign people in broken French for a job or looking for an appartment in a city where you are lucky if a shoe box is empty to live in. And top that off with coming back to a small expensive hotel room with bare walls to look at (not the biggest morale booster). But anyways on to the probably best and highest point of my tripso far! Iam sure everyone is waiting for it....

As promised I went to have lunch at the top chef in the worlds restaurant here in Lyon. What an amazing experience it was.
Now for the whole story....

When you make reservations they tell you to take a taxi for one also that to book off two hours for your meal. SO you get there they bring you the menu etc just like a normal restaurant. Then when you order they bring you an amuse bouche .. A REAL AMUSE BOUCHE (a little something to wet you appetite) which was pumpkin soup with chesnuts and a small brioche bun. Now the soup was great but it tasted like melted craft cheese!! haha but that is only because of the amount of cream that was in it. To be honest though it tasted amazing.

Then for my entree (first course in France) I had three kinds of duck.
1) Duck Terrine stuffed with Foie Gras, pistacchios and truffles.
2)Foie Gras terrine
3) Duck consomme gellee with celeriac and Black Truffles

To put into words how delightfull and delicious that tasted I think is impossible, they were simple flavours that just meshed into one amazing dish.

Although I have had a lot of duck lately I think I may be getting ducked out a bit.

That is when the fun began first Mrs. Bocuse came into the dining room adn welcomed the guests and says she hopes you enjoy her husbands food. about 5minutes later Chef Bocuse came into the dining room and introduces himself to me. Of course I recognized him so I stood up shook his hand and introduced myself. In my best French I explained who I was and what I was doing here, but he didnt understand me so he said merci adn continued onto the next table. He took some pictures with some patrons. MY waiter saw what happened so he calls the chef over and in a much better French he tells the chef who I am and why I am there. Chef Bocuse looks at me smiles, takes the napkin off my lap, takes me by the hand and stands me up. I thought he wanted to take a picture with me standing up thats all. But he doesnt let go of my hand and instead leads me through the entire dining room and straight into the kitchen. Everyone stared at me wondering who I was that I was being led by the hand by Chef Bocuse.

When I got into the kitchen Chef introduced me to his Chef De Cuisine and his Sous Chef. Suddenly one of the cooks cleared off the pass (plating area) and Chef called over his Chef De Cuisine and Sous chef to join in the picture with me and him. After we took the pictures Chef told his Chef De Cuisine (main guy in the kitchen) to give me a tour of the kitchen. Which I got and when I was done I thanked everyone and went back to my seat getting lots of stares from the customers. I sat down at my seat and my meal was served I had:
Pigeon with cabbage stuffed with mashed potatoes and I believe a quanelle of calf's liver and a sweet potato chip with a sauce for the gods. How to describe pigeon. I guess it tasted very earthy but really good. I think its definitelly an aquired taste. But either way the pigeon leg was wrapped in pastry adn a design cut into the pastry which I thought was cool.

(skip ahead an hour)

When I was done eating I was waiting outside for the taxi and chef Bocuse comes back from visiting another one of his restaurants. He sees me outside and tells me to sit down on teh bench next to him. He asked me a few questions and I answered them but then he asked me some things i didnt understand in French so I politely told him I only understand a little french. So he asked me for my resume. When I opened my knasack I told him I had come fully prepared in hopes that he woud let me stage for the day. He smiled looked over my resume and he asked me another question and then said he would call me at a later time. He walked inside the restaurant and thanked me for coming.

Even if he never calls me I learned some very valuble information today. Simple food is better than all the fancy things chefs are doing these days. The food was simple not too many ingredients on one plate but nice and tasty. The cooking was very classical flavours but simple and I liked that. I also realized what I wanted as chef and how I wanted to be as a chef.

The rest of the day I walked around old lyon and handed out resumes getting turned down left and right so that wasnt good but i focused on the positive and teh day adn it helped clear my head and know whatI wanted for the future and for the rest of of my stay in europe.

yehuda

tomorrow

hi everyone
todays post wont be long because I didnt have the best day possible I walked around handing out resumes and getting sad at the fact that I am now in limbo with what the future holds over here in france but I hope tomorrow will bring better news so stay posted for tomorrows because tomorrow I will go to the restaurant near Lyon which is the whole reason for coming to France, and pretty much beg for a job. So we will see how it works out and I'll take it from there. I guess I do have to get used to doing things as they come my way, so I am learning and trying to come up with solutions to the situations that arise. any words of encouragement are greatly appreciated

bon noit

SO its been a long day btu a very productive one at that. I have been directed towards some good restaurants and tomorrow i start my search for a job. I have made some friends here which is good.

I had dinner with a friend of my brother srulik tonight. Turns out he is married toa friend of my sister in law and she also went to school with my sister devora..what a smal world. Thats all that I can think of. otherwise things are good on this end and I am really excited and ready to start cooking

found an appartment

Yey so all my worries are now out the window. I found an appartment to live in, in Lyon. I am staying int he fourth district its a quieter one but still very close to downtown Lyon. What I realized quickly is this city isnt as big as I thought. SO I really can walk everywhere I go. So anywyas since im sure everyone is wondering I am renting an apartment from a nice guy he is divorced has a gf (that has her own place so shes almost never over) a son (who is there 2 weekends a month. and down the block on weekends they have a farmers market. YES A REAL FARMERS MARKET!! not like the fake ones at downsview park or downtown. This stuff is brought in fresh from Burgonge brittany bordeaux madoc beaujalais etc. so how could I say no? The owner of the flats brother was a chef and father was a chef, and he has some contacts and he said he would call some people for me. But tomorrow I will get the key and probably move in on Wednesday. Anyways I am out to go find work now. wish me luck

Lyon a beautifull city

Although I woke up late this morning I still made it in time for my meeting. Turns out there is a film festival for Clint Eastwood this weekend in Lyon so the Metro is free! That doesnt mean I took the Metro all day. I walked quite a bit today. My journeys took me to the 4th district here in Lyon, and as soon as I got out of the station this si what was happening. Pretty much a circus, there were rides, games, they were on the streets , sidewalks it was so cool. It doesnt look like a particularly crazy neighborhood but it was nice. I like the layout of Lyon so far and I can really walk anywhere. SO I found agencies today but they are all closed until monday So I am going ot enjoy myself tomorrow and explore the city. I am sure there are some interesting tourist sites.

So while wlaking back from the 4er to the hotel which is in 1er I walked through Place de Bellachure. So yesterday when I was there the place was deserted but today packed with a safety fair. It was basically a fair of the police force, ambulance, fire, safety etc etc. But teh funny thing about it was, just on teh other side of the fence was a rally being held for teh distruction of Israel by a bunch of Palestinians. I thought that was kind of interesting to see. Of course I took pictures. Its getting dark outside, so I am in my hotel room for the night.

oh and by the way I have a cel phone now adn can be reached any time, just please keep in mind France is 6 hours ahead of Canada (times wise but light years away otherwise)
33 6 34 64 37 35

day un in lyon

So I arrived here ok but on the train ride and it was great. But the interesting thing about my trip is that on the train was riding fast past the many farms and chateauxs it was amazing to see how they were all seperatedinto small plots. Animals grazing and of course seeing the french country side it was a ll beautifull to see and take in. I havent tried the lyonnaise food yet but I almost walked into my first micheline star restaurant today adn i think I will drop off a resume there

Lyon

I just arrive lyon, checked in well, nice room nice people fits the budget now im off to find a place to rent for the time that I am here.

answers to comments and closing notes for today

SO today ended off very well, having drinks with some people in the middle of paris, friends of friends and having more frenglish conversation!! haha but it was good had some good beer during happy hour for cheap.

so yes jessica is right!! I walk all day and take the metro only if the destination is too far although I have walked at least one of the two directions. I also walk about 5-6 hours a day which means I have lost weight. (Have I mentioned the area im in is pretty hilly?) I plan on sending home some food if not in december at least earlier since some of the stuff is sooooo good and delicious but to rest everyones worries the amount of butter/cream/cheese etc, that gets consumed here I am yet to see any overweight or obese frenchies because they walk and bike everywhere tehy go...which means a lot of cardio!! anyways the next post will probably be from lyon as I will be traveling there in teh morning!! yey

so Au revoir et salute and good night from Paris

museum of national history

so can you imagine I went to the museum of national history? Neither can i. But Jessica said I should go out and do something since I feel kind of Blah toda, so I knew where I could get free internet and knew there was the museum next door to it. I sorta know my way around the latin quarter now, to a degree, well at least from my hostel to the Gare De Lyon about 2 km away.

So anyways I went in and its free if you are under 26. So I walked around to take pictures and look at wooden skeletons of differant animals. Eventually I got bored of it and now I am outside the museum on the internet.

Just a funny thing this morning, I spent about 2 hours trying to find the appearently jewish restuarant industry in paris, (I first got directions but they were wrong) and I stumbled upona side street that had olden day shops and store. I stopped in one to watch the fish monger shuck scallops, saw fish that I have only dreamed of in Toronto. And also fish that you can only get frozen in Canada and the US. other stops included the butcher and boy do I have some cool pictures of pheasants partridge and real quail not teh fake stuff thats called quail in canada. But most of all I walked intoa Charcuterie ont he street and saw pates, terrines, chaux faux (I think thats how its spelled) anywyas blew my mind and had to taste the food. SO that was lunch couscous with delicious fresh mergues stewed chicked and a meat ball made up of three differant meats witha sweet harrisa sauce..mmmm tasty now I am going to just continue goofing around on the internet to kill time
au revoir

2 days into paris

So many things to write about but only thanks to jessica do I now know how to properly blog...so anyways .... I went to the bathrooms here and although they are expensive to use ..they are cleaner then my own bathroom...so i think im bringing a french maid back with me to clean my house....hahah... so much to talk about though!!

Ive walked through most of Paris in the last two days .. which is good because ive lost my spare tires..which is good!!

Anyways I had dinner last night, which right away reminded me as to why I am here in France. Although the food needs an aquired taste I loved the meal and witha bottle of wine dinner cost me less then 25 euros, and it was absouletly amazing.

Today though had me walking through paris as I said. But I think I forgot to mention how gorgeous it is to walk down the street and see pretty much an open market with such delicious artisanal foods, made fresh in so many differant parts of France. I had a great cheese although I dont know what kind it was. But as part of the open market I was tasting a lot of food. I stopped at a shop that was selling spreads. I tasted one...loved it and then I started talking to the vender in Frenglish (half French half English), and I tasted a bunch of the spreads and by word of god I felt like I was in a candy store. so I bought a few of them and got a fourth for free!!! I continued down the street and saw a foie Gras vendor. So for the rest of my breakfast I had Foie Gras and Duck Pate!! The guy just kept giving em Foie Gras on a Fresh Baguette (from the vendor next to him) so I bought a container of Duck Terrine.

I saw many sites along the Seine river but didnt go into the buildings.

For dinner I bought fresh and I mean fresh baguetts, they just came out of the oven and still very hot!! and made subs for a few fo my hostel mates and we drank wine and had subs. All for less then 5 euros a person.

Anyways I will get better at writing and not be so scatter brained when I write this blog but tomorrow I am off to versaille and to get a cell phone as well, so i'll update then.

au revoir et salute

And its here

Tonight I actually am off to France. It has been a dream of mine and Jessica's for about 2 years. It is exciting that this is actually happening. I promise to be a better blogger than this post.