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
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
("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to the 1300's. It was useless when it was built because the way it was built and the defence options for the city were outdated at the point in time for the wars that were waged in that era.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
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
Monday, December 28, 2009
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
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
Saturday, December 26, 2009
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
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
Friday, December 25, 2009
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
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.
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.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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).
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).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
