Moirax

D and I went for a visit in the country when I first arrived here. We went and stayed at his Mothers house while they were away to the mountains. While we were there we went up to the town nearby called Moirax.



Standing in the center of this town is a church that is approximately 1000 years old.



Now I don't know about you but I have never been inside a building that old. Where I'm from they don't make them that old ^__^ Next to the church is an old abbey and a huge courtyard between the two.



I really enjoyed my visit and just love the architecture. I think this is when it finally started sinking in. Yes Diane, you are FINALLY in France!
BTW~ I took a lot of fabulous pictures while I was there but D has put Linux (Ubuntu ) on the comp. Since he has done that all my pictures show up in their file as being right side up, but half of them when loaded are sideways. I cant for the life of me figure out how to turn them right side up. Damn I miss windows sometimes. I wouldn't even have to think about it then, it would take 2 seconds. >.< So...sorry but you're left with the ones that loaded right side up.

French Lesson

My sister sent this to me today and I know it's a bit old but I certainly found a few laughs from it *^_^* Enjoy!

we'll be riiiight back....

Sorry for the small delay in updating this blog. I feel like I'll never catch up. I still haven't written about our visit to the old church in Moirax or our visit to the mountains. The truth is I barely spend any time on the computer these days and when I do it's been on my language software. I am going CRAZY not knowing French. I hate going places and not understanding anything. We had to go do our blood tests for the marriage Friday and I sat there listening to D and the doc talk and didnt understand a word. I HATE IT! Seriously. I'm beginning to wonder if my methods are even going to work. I guess I am being a bit hard on myself though. I have only been here a little over a month LOL! Anyway...I'm back to practicing French, I promise I'll tell you all about my travels soon ^___^

of Raclette and wandering into the countryside

I am slowly starting to get my frog legs! I have already ventured out for a dinner with one of D's friends and then we had a dinner party ourselves. We had a raclette night! D's good friend from Moirax is on vacation and he and his girlfriend drove up to see us. Since they were coming D invited another friend over also and decided raclette would be perfect. Raclette is a type of cheese but it is also this sumptuous feast of potatoes and cheese and different types of meat (like different luncheon meats mainly), etc. They have a special appliance that has a grill plate on the top and a second tier below that you stick little trays into with your cheese sliced up into them. They sit there and bubble away till they melt into wonderful cheese goodness, then you take the tray out and pour the cheese over the top of your meat and potatoes. The grill on top is to heat up different selections of bacon, etc that you might want to include. This stuff is divine! :p I swear though...I couldn't move afterwards *grin*



All in all this evening went well. Everyone was very kind to me and after warming up a little with an apperro they all tried out their English on me. Good thing as my knowledge of French is still so tiny I cant really even speak sentences yet.
After an enjoyable evening our guest bedded down in the livingroom and we all prepared for an early rise in the morning. We were going to stay for a week or so in Moirax at D's parents house. They are spending a month in the mountains so the house is just sitting there empty.
The drive to Moirax was quite fun (more work on my French :p) I finally had an opportunity to view some of the countryside. On arriving to the parental home...who do we see but this little old man watering away around the house. D's grandfather was there taking care of the flowers and such...so here I get to meet him without even getting a chance to get all nervous and such. D tells him immediately that I don't understand French. He says "Not even a little?" With a shocked look on his face. I sadly shook my head. Well, that didn't seem to phaze him at all. He took one good look at me and started rambling away in French with a big grin on his face! D tried to translate as much as possible and I have to tell you, he is a charmer. Funny as can be! I really enjoyed his company and I cant wait to learn French just so I can talk to him. LOL!



The countryside there is beautiful and we enjoyed many long evenings of peace and solitude with a few barbeques thrown in ^_^



I think D is in love with the idea of Barbeques since we have had several since I've been here.



I got a chance to know his friends a little better as we had several evenings with them. Also one wonderful afternoon meal with his grandfather at his house. I commented on an old kerosene lantern that he had there. My father collected lanterns but I had never seen such an unusual one. Well...he tried to give it to me...and then he tried to give me half the other dishes in his kitchen! HE served a very tasty meal of white fish, potatoes, tomatoes and...some of his very own foie gras. He insisted I needed mre and more until D took the plate away and put it in the refrigerator(also taking back some of the huge pile he had stacked on my plate) After filling my glasses several times with a red and then a white wine, he brought out a bottle of brut and a bottle of Almondnac ( and yes Im SURE Im misspelling this one) His eyes lit up as he told me how wonderful this drink was...and that two would knock you on your ass ^_^ I think D's grandfather was trying to get me drunk! Well I have to admit, after a few glasses of that and the walk back to the house, I took a nice LONG afternoon nap. Ah I am having way too much fun ^^

Bordeaux

On Friday, after resting up the entire week, D took me into the city center to do some exploring. When we got off the tram at the square it was full of little booths. They were mainly of clothes and shoes and we wandered down the street past them and tried to steer through the HUGE crowds of people. D explained that it was Friday afternoon and most people got off work early and they were all out enjoying the beautiful day. We finally arrived down in the cities center and found a nice plaza where we sat down at one of the many cafe's located around the edges and imbibed in a drink. I had much fun people watching. The atmosphere here is so different from back home. Everyone seems so much more relaxed.

After our drink we wandered down to the water mirror, which is an amazing area along the river where they have created a large surface area covered by about 6 inches of water. It is constantly refreshed by pumps and it looks like a large mirror. There were many people wading through it when we arrived and so we joined them ^_^
Bordeaux is truly a beautiful city and I really think I will enjoy living here. We wandered for hours through the winding little streets seeing MANY beautiful sights.



Afterwards we dined at an interesting little mexican restaurant on the plaza outside. Once again it was a plaza with several establishments having their tables and chairs set up around it. This one with a small church on one side.



During our meal a small group of musicians set up in the middle and serenaded us. The appetizer was brought out on what looked like long cutting boards with handles on them. They had 8 small bowls hollowed out of the surface and in each one was either a small tortilla filled with different ingredients or an ingredient to top them with. IT was delicious. They also brought us a large pitcher of Sangria with two VERY LONG straws. They were so long we couldn't really use them (about 3 foot long) but it was very funny to try. After our main course (steak and chicken fajitas) D informed me that the meal included two desserts 0.0 I was so full I could barely move but who can resist their first dessert in France? so..I indulged ^_^
All in all it was a wonderful first visit into my city. I think I will enjoy living here and I cant wiat to do more exploring!