France… again
Hi guys. Well once again (for the third time in two months) I am off to France for a conference. But never fear, I will back on Thursday and haven’t got any more trips planned till July (although something might come up before then). I am hoping to get a bit more settled back into a routine of some sort then, as much as I like travelling sometimes it can be a bit bad taking off every other week. So I am quite looking forward to actually having some length of time in Stockholm for a few months. Anyway, enough rambling… I’ve got to go to bed since I have an early flight to catch tomorrow. Meh… and a Sunday too 
I want to sleep in instead.
Byee!
I love how you are getting so blasée about these trips to France, Verity. “Off to France, loveys, ta ta!” *waves last three fingers*
Seriously, I would hate all that traveling. I don’t like traveling at all unless it’s to stay. The amount of time spent getting there must be insignificant in proportion to the amount of time spent there.
You’re probably even getting sick of the petit pain au chocolat breakfasts. Try a chausson aux pommes.
I’m with Lothere… as much as it would rock to see the world, I would definitely miss being in one place for more than a week or so’s time. Plus, I’d have to have one hell of laptop that could run games/etc so I could bring my interests with me!
Hope you have a safe trip!
Oooh France, I miss Paris so much have a safe trip Verity.
How do you handle all of the traveling?
I know it is getting terrible. I don’t want to ever get blase about travelling. It is just when it is so condensed in such a short time and I am going for these meetings where I don’t get enough time to actually see any of the place I am visiting, I do get a bit homesick. I am officially temporarily sick of the pain au chocolat. I’m sure I will get over it though
I didn’t see any Chausson au pommes at the conference, what exactly is it?
It is a really wonderful opportunity to travel for work, I am so bitten by the travel bug I don’t think I will ever be cured (just today I was dreaming of the Kamchatka peninsula… I really want to go there… it sounds like the most amazing place. Like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft novel… wild, untouched, slightly eery with volcanoes all over the place… at least that is how I imagine it to be). But I must admit when I travel a whole lot in a short time, for work I get quite tired of it. I think particularly the coming back for a few weeks and then going again, I never get in some sort of routine which can be quite hard. And I miss my boy so much when I go travelling. If he could come with me it would be fine. Of course then I would still miss the sims (which I really get serious withdrawal symptoms when I am away… must… play… must… write).
I shouldn’t be heading off for a while now (at least nothing is planned), till July when I am going on a holiday… to ICELAND!!! I am so excited. It has been number one on my list of places to go forever but from Australia it is one of the most unreachable places. But now I live in Sweden… so hurrah. Of course it is so massively expensive there it is going to break my budget but I don’t care, it will be wonderful!
Paris is so beautiful Devin. It is one of those places you really can’t get enough of. I will always go back over and over. How long were you there for?
Chausson aux pommes is errr… I think it is called an apple turnover in English. It is a square of flaky pastry folded over a filling of apples. In France they don’t put cinnamon, which is usually in everything apple-related on this side of the Atlantic, so it’s really good to actually taste the apples for a change. It also fits into that “It’s fruit therefore it’s healthy” sort of pastry breakfast.
The best pastry of all (now that you’re home!!) is the religieuse au café. It involves two little balls of choux pastry (the same thing proper eclaires are made of), one smaller than the other, both filled with coffee-flavored cream, and topped with coffee-flavored frosting, and then stacked the little one on the big one like a little snowman. (A religieuse is actually a nun and I’m not sure what the shape has to do with nuns, but whatever.) (And a snowman is when you roll up two or three giant balls of snow and stack them on each other, and put some rocks for eyes and a carrot for a nose. In case you never made one.) That was the first pastry I ever ate in France and I could not believe earthly food could taste so good.
ICELAND! That is awesome. Actually, yes, that is very cool, but seriously, the number one place to go? It’s the rocks, isn’t it? Admit it!
Oooh… now I am hungry for pastry. Mmmm… pastry. And I got a pain au chocolat pang so apparently my craving for them has come back.
Yes… it is the rocks *looks sheepish*. But it is the most rock awesome place. I don’t know… something more primal too… the land of ice and fire and such, stuck out in the middle of nowhere on a mid-ocean ridge. I mean it is where two continents are tearing apart, how can it not be completely awesome. Okay so I am back to rocks again
. I am also hoping to see whales and puffins. But I am definitely not going there for the rotten shark meat!
One of the best things I have ever eaten was in France, at upmarket patisserie, Fauchon in Paris (totally recommend anyone going to Paris to find it and park yourself out the front with one of their eclairs. Or if you don’t mind spending a bit more go upstairs in the fancy salon. But the hot chocolate is seriously a killer, two people needed at least… I think a spoon would stand up in it, it is so rich!). We had the petit four there and omg it was one of the most amazing things I ever tasted. All of the different ones.
Speaking of pastry I am just about to walk down to the bakery and buy our Saturday morning croissants and Danishes… mmmm pastry… I look forward to Saturday mornings all week.
Don’t feel too silly about the rock fetish — I would like to go to Iceland, too, but to listen to the language. Though I would be up for some puffin-watching. They have puffins?
They have puffins coming out of their ears! Apparently 60% of the world’ puffins go there to breed in the summer. So unless I am really unlucky I will hopefully see some.
*sigh* Puffins and whales! I’d go there just for them.