Thursday, December 30, 2010

Le Rugby!

Yesterday we took a bus from San Sebastian, Spain to Bayonne, France. We'll write about San Sebastian in a couple days - too many photos and awesomeness to process right now. After getting settled in the hotel we decided to go for a quick walk around before sunset.
We found hordes of drunken, light-blue clad rugby fans roving the streets and spilling out of the bars. Rugby is a huge deal in southwestern France so we decided to see if we could get tickets to the match. We followed the masses to the stadium and found tickets for the "Pelouse" (lawn) section were only €10. How can you pass that up? The pelouse sections are standing areas located at the four corners of the field. We got there early enough to score spots up front on the rail. Neither of us know anything about how to play rugby. We didn't really learn anything by watching, but it was great fun. Here is a video of the 12,000 seated and untold standing Aviron Bayonnais fans singing their rouser.


Below is the guy who was standing to Lia's right. He's so stereotypically Basque-French it makes you want to weep. Or sing along with him, cause he's got a great voice.
"Allez! Allez! Les bleus et blancs de l'Aviron Bayonnais..."


Here's a too-dark photo of us.


Aviron Bayonnais beat Toulon 20-9.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Bon Nadal!

The weather has obliged us by turning beautiful, so we have been getting our fill of sunshine and warmth here while France is apparently taking another walloping. Yesterday we went to the Park Güell, designed by Gaudí (the same architect who created most of the designs of the Sagrada Família) with amazing mosaics made of broken tiles and buildings that look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book. Here we are at the highest point of the park:

(That's the Sagrada Família in the background behind Jeff)

Afterwards we went out and ate an absurd amount of seafood. As Midwesterners, we feel it is our duty to eat as many fishy and crawly things as possible when near the source, even though we are not sure how to do it elegantly or if some parts of it will kill us. We wished for the camera to document the giant mess of shells for you, but you can imagine.

Today we visited some of the many gardens on Montjuïc, a hill in the southwestern part of the city. Unfortunately the camera battery died, so we don't have much proof, but rest assured that the sun was shining gloriously, the sky was perfectly clear, the views of the city and the Mediterranean were amazing, and we had a great time.



We did get these photos in the awesome older botanical garden, which is built into this weird little gully on the hill. You will unfortunately have to rely on the internet for more pictures of this area.

In honor of Christmas Eve, there's a choral rendition of Christmas carols on TV, and right now a special message from the King (he looks very serious, I think he is talking about how much he likes Spain even if the economy's in the tank, or something like that), and we are having a big dinner. At the Boqueria Mercat off La Rambla, we got some gorgeous steaks and local "bloody milk cap" mushrooms (so-named because a red liquid seeps out when you cut them, not because they are poison), and Jeff is going to work his magic upon them pretty soon. Here's the before shot:


Tomorrow we're off to San Sebastian, so we'll be spending most of Christmas on a train, thinking about how much we miss you all, no doubt. Happy Christmas, joyeux noël, feliz navidad, bon nadal (catalan!), and much love to everybody.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Barcelona 2: Sagrada Família

After our first lovely, sunny day in Barcelona, the rain has caught up to us. Don't get me wrong, this is better than the frozen slush that has been inundating Paris and apparently ruining the Christmas break plans of thousands. But wet weather does somewhat hamper our usual touristic adventures: exploring neighborhoods and wandering for hours without any particular destination, hitting up the food markets for snacks or dinner supplies, and checking out the parks. We try to stroll romantically under an umbrella, but I think that only works in movies or for couples around the same height.

So we've been checking out some of the quite impressive indoor offerings here. One of them is the Sagrada Família, quite possibly the coolest church you're likely to see. Sure, Notre Dame de Paris is incredible, but to me, it feels very much like something from the past, like something that meant a lot to people a few hundred years ago. But a contemporary design, still under construction, being built now, relevant now - that's far more engaging and interesting. You get a sense of what it takes to build something so huge, the money and man power involved, the dedication necessary.

I hope I'll get to see it when it's done, when it should have a whole nother facade and a giant main tower, taller than the rest by about a third. I read they're hoping to complete it by 2026 for the anniversary of the original architect's death.

Here's some of our pictures:
They just got the organ in this year, in time for consecration by the Pope in November.

The roof of the nave, just totally enclosed this year.

The altar and the crucifix.

Turtles: at the basis of everything. 
What's underneath the turtle? Another turtle. Obviously.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Barcelona and the Three Miracles




Miracle #1

We arrived at Gare de Lyon in Paris an hour before our departure to find that none of the ticket machines take American credit cards and that the will-call ticket line was about two hours long. We bought tickets online but had no way to conjure them physically. This resulted in much panic, running around and the brief cussing out of an old woman. She interrupted me while I was trying to talk to the information person- it was somewhat deserved. Five minutes before the train took off, we discovered the "just get on the train and figure it out later" method. This is the method we will use from now on. The super friendly train guys voided our e-tickets and sold us new ones, at a lower rate. They even found us seats, saving us from five hours perched on benches in the train bar.

Miracle #2
Due to another dumping of snow on northern France, our train had to go slower than usual, putting us behind schedule. We were going to arrive about forty-five minutes late to meet our connecting train in Figueras. Resigned to spending a night in what I'm sure is a quite lovely town, we arrived to find our connecting train waiting in the station. I guess it makes sense, but it was stressful at the time. Also, even though we had not bought a ticket for this leg of the trip, the ticket guy seemed to think we had, even when looking at the ticket that said we had not. It was confusing, but we did not correct him.

Miracle #3
About 11:45 we rolled into Barcelona, bought subway tickets and got on our train. In desperate need of food and drink, we wondered what, if anything might still be open in the rather quiet neighborhood where our hotel is located. After check-in and a brief look around the room, we went searching. Luckily, it didn't take long. Directly across the street, the only light for kilometers, stood a purveyor of the classic late night trash food: Doner Kebab. Gyros, basically. In some sort of combination of English, Spanish and French, I ordered our dinner and a bottle of Rioja to go. It was kind of like the loaves and fishes thing, if I am remembering the Bible correctly.



Barcelona is lovely, sunny and warm- about 60°F today. It's a welcome, relaxing change from the cold, gray rain and snow of Paris. Today we walked down to the beach and had a huge lunch from which we are now recovering. Our hotel is amazing- the best I've ever stayed in. Check it out here: Eric Vökel Barcelona Suites. It's going to be tough to leave, but the plan is to head to San Sebastian on Christmas day.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Noël, Noël

 Last night we went out to see some of the holiday lights that have been put up around the city. There are decorations on a lot of the streets - Oberkampf, for example, has some lit up stars hung across it that remind me of the ones they hang up on the main street in Virginia, MN. But some areas are particularly known for having light displays. One of them is the Place Vendome, below.


Another is, of course, the Champs Élysées. From the Place de la Concorde to Place FDR, there is a big Marché de Noël with a tons of stands selling cheap jewelry, jars of foie gras, chocolates, and piles of useless trinkets, mixed in with others selling mulled wine and hot chocolate and other snacks. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun to see.


Père Noël, the big man himself, was hovering above the Marché in his sleigh (with a crane to er, supplement the reindeer power) and giving a rousing speech, describing his Christmas routine. It was much as you might expect : "Je mets tous les cadeaux dans mon gros sac noir, et puis je l'installe dans mon traîneau..." etc. (I put all the presents in my big black bag, and then I put it in my sleigh...)


Here's the Champs Élysées with the trees all lit up, and us standing on the pedestrian island between lanes of traffic.



After this we went to the Relais de l'Entrecôte to complete our tourist adventure with steak frites. For those unfamiliar, this is a restaurant that serves nothing but steak with fries. The first thing the waitress asks you is "quelle cuisson?" (how do you want it?) to which you reply, "bleu" or "saignant" (rare or medium rare). The sauce is supposed to be some kind of secret recipe, light yellow-green and definitely containing some tarragon and a little mustard, but we weren't sure what else. Internet searches later suggested chicken liver and cream as well. In any case, we heartily enjoyed it and went home stuffed.

Even if we weren't going anywhere, there wouldn't have been space for a Christmas tree in the apartment. However, we did pick up one little bit of festiveness. Here is our new, official Champignon de Noël.

(it is actually a Finnish mushroom, but I guess that's appropriate)

 Tomorrow, however, we are packing up our Christmas Mushroom and going to Spain (although there is a snowstorm threatening to mess up our plans, so I'm knocking on wood as I type this). We plan to walk around on the beach and maybe visit the Sagrada Familia cathedral. We will be in Barcelona until the 25th, then in San Sebastien for a couple of days, then Bayonne, then back to Paris for New Year's Eve. While Christmas in Spain sounds sort of glamorous and lovely, I'm quite certain it won't be as wonderful as rushing around around Minneapolis and St. Paul and having the very great privilege of seeing all our family and friends.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Bois de Vincennes

Now that the weather has been unseasonably cold, rainy, snowy and gray for a couple weeks, I think it's important to remember the recent past, when it was less freezing cold and there was a sun. These photos are from a couple weeks ago, when Lia and I decided to revisit the Bois de Vincennes.

We explored the arboretum, which is small but nice, even when most of the leaves are on the ground. We were there for a pine fix anyway.

downed tree, the perfect setting for a senior photo

and a cheesy couple shot

sun!


This is the Allée Royale, which is, by Paris standards, an unfathomably large green space that leads to the Château de Vincennes. That's the 14th century castle you can kind of make out in the distance.


Saturday, December 4, 2010

Il neige!



The snow has since turned to slush and rain, but this morning it was lovely.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Oven Appreciation

Do you love your oven? We love ours. Here it is, hanging out in the corner with the water heater, calmly cooking away while Jeff whips through the tiny kitchen area with a dish towel.



The apartment didn't have one when we moved in, so we bought this little 19-liter mini-four to supplement our two-burner stove after a couple of weeks. We didn't have terribly high expectations. But you know, it is amazing the things you (and by "you" I guess I mean "Jeff") can do with this glorified toaster oven.


For example:
you can roast some pork belly!

or a guinea hen!

you can take your leftover meats and make a shepherd's pie! (or a parmentier if you want to be French about it)
(Jeff wafts furtively)

It also works well for the kind of easy fruit desserts that I like to throw together. This is a buckle with raspberries and pear.

you can, in fact, make an entire Thanksgiving dinner! Which Jeff did. It was rather amazing. I had to work all day so I didn't even help. Turkey leg, stuffing, green bean casserole, dressing, and potiron (pumpkin) pie all made in our little oven. Mashed potatoes and gravy also pictured.

Here it is on a plate:


And here I am trying to be good and not pick at it until Jeff finishes taking pictures:


Especially when it's cold out (which it is, in both Paris and Minneapolis), doesn't your oven maybe deserve an affectionate little pat?