De Danu

I mentioned a few posts ago about an Irish pub Dave and I had found, De Danu. Well, since then we must have gone to it at least 6 times, I feel like I live there. The staff is going to start knowing our names soon. It'll be just like Cheers! We've caught a few of the Eurocup games there and it's always a good atmosphere. Here are a few pics of the place:

Gets very crowded for the Eurocup

Since being in France, I kept seeing people (especially girls) with beers that appeared to be red in colour. I asked the bartender at De Danu what this drink was that everyone was ordering. It's called a Monaco, and everyone in France drinks them. It's beer, lemonade and grenadine (hence the red colour). The French LOVE grenadine and I keep seeing them put it in everything. Sometimes they put straight grenadine into beer and the other day we were served champagne with grenadine in it. I decided I had to try this drink everyone was drinking.

 It was pretty good. It kind of tasted like cream soda in a way but less sweet. It was refreshing. I don't think I ever would have thought about putting grenadine into beer, but it was pretty delicious, I have to admit.

Other weird things they do in France? Eat hamburgers with forks and knives. Seriously. At first I thought we were just seated beside overly polite people, but after seeing this phenomenon more than once and on several different days I realized that EVERYONE in France eats burgers with a fork and knife. It's so weird. Look, here's some photo evidence from De Danu:

Weird

Last time Dave and I were there we tried the charcuterie and cheese plate and it came with a bottle of wine. It was soooo good. So many meats, we were in danger of getting the meat sweats. And the cheese was delicious. One of them had a ribbon of blue cheese in the centre, which I was wary of trying as I'm not a fan of blue cheese, but I'm so glad I did because it was really good. Not too strong, just right. I could get used to all this cheese, I've never been so thankful that I'm not lactose intolerant! The French do cheese right.

Half eaten charcuterie plate

 I seriously love this place. So many delicious beers and I've loved everything I've tried on the menu. Come visit, we'll take you here.

Until next time...

Au revoir

Music Festival

Dave and I have been busy over the last few weeks exploring our new surroundings and trying to get our lives set up here. So, I have a bunch of new  blog posts to share in the next little while. Last week we went downtown Toulouse because a colleague of Dave's mentioned that there was some sort of music festival going on. I guess every year on the first day of summer everywhere in France celebrates with a music festival. We made our way to the Capitole building in the centre of downtown Toulouse and sat outside at one of the restaurant patios that surround the Capitole. It was nice to have a drink and people watch and there were lots of people downtown for the festival. We had a good view of the stage too, where different bands were playing throughout the night. There were also tons of people playing instruments, DJing and singing along the many side streets downtown. We even came across a drum line at one point. It was neat to see the variety of musical talent being displayed.

This was the view from our table, not too shabby.

We listened to this band rock out on the clarinet and accordion.

Later we came across this drum line, it was really cool. 

After listening to some music for awhile we decided to grab a gelato at this really yummy gelato place that we had been to when we visited last summer. The cones they make our delicious and beautiful too, as they shape each one into a flower. I got raspberry, chocolate and dulce de leche. Dave got mango, vanilla and yogurt. They were so good!

It was a fun night!

Until next time...

Au revoir

Week One in France

After arriving in France, Dave and I had been up for more than 24 hours and we could feel it. We were so exhausted that when we went to bed we decided not to set an alarm....15 hours later we woke up at 2pm. I guess this jet lag thing is real.

Our first week was a busy one, with lots of ups and downs. Trying to get Dave's Carte de Sejour (basically a residency card that allows Dave to stay in France) proved to be our most challenging experience. We made our way to the prefecture a few days after arriving in France, only to discover that every sign in the prefecture was in French and all the employees in the prefecture only spoke French (how weird it's like we're in France or something). After trying to figure out how to get the Carte de Sejour, we left feeling quite defeated and confused.  We decided to take pictures of the signs in the prefecture and try and decipher them at home, before returning later in the week.

We returned a few days later, feeling slightly more prepared with our translations and a few phrases ready in French. We got there early, knowing it would be busy and waited in front of the prefecture with many others for it to open. After waiting about an hour for our number to be called, we went up to the ticket window. We showed the man Dave's visa and said "J'ai besoin de carte de sejour". The man looked at Dave's visa and said "Etes-vous un etudiant?" .....I've got this one Dave, I thought. He's asking if you're a student. "Oui" , I replied.  This french thing is easy.....

The man replied in a stream of French (Holy cow he talks fast....what is he saying!?!).  After several minutes, picking up a word here and there, he handed us a small piece of paper. The paper had an internet address on it and from what I gathered it said Dave had to go on the website to make an appointment for his Carte de Sejour. Great....only not so great. According to the website appointments can't be made until August 15th and the appointments won't begin until sometime in September. Looks like this Carte de Sejour thing isn't going to be so easy. Hopefully, someone at the school that speaks better french can help Dave out with it. Until then, I better start learning some more French. Turns out it's helpful to know French when living in France...who knew?!

Besides that stress, it's also been quite difficult trying to get a bank account here. We've tried a few times, but with the language barrier it hasn't gone so well. We hope to track down an English speaking representative at a bank soon and hopefully by next week we'll have that figured out. France's business hours are different. Last time we went to the bank to open an account we were told the representative was on lunch and wouldn't be back til 2pm. It was only about noon when were there...that's some lunch break. Many establishments close for several hours in the afternoon so people can take long lunch breaks. That will take some getting used to, especially since most stores also close for the night at 7pm here.  All well, it's all part of the French lifestyle. We'll get used to it I'm sure. Hopefully, by next week we'll have our banking sorted out and it will be one less thing to worry about.

Now that I'm done with the stressful part of our first week, let me get onto the good stuff. France really does have a bakery on almost every corner and the baguettes are still warm when you buy them. GLORIOUS! I literally ate a whole baguette myself the first day in town. Hopefully all that walking I'm doing will counteract the bread I'm sure to consume. Not only that but wine and beer is cheap and is sold EVERYWHERE. I mean everywhere: grocery stores, gas stations, all over the place. Our mission is to buy a different wine every time we get groceries and keep track of our selections and likes/dislikes in our little wine journals that we brought with us. After one week we already have two entries and three bottles of wine waiting to be enjoyed. Life is good.

Good point number two. Not only do the bakeries have delicious bread, they also have other delicious treats and pastries. Let me introduce you to what I can only describe as Heaven. Meet the Beignet Creme:

Soft, sugary donut on the outside, light, fluffy whip cream like filling on the inside....that's right Ellen, everything's gonna be alright as long as these babies are around. I literally ate these two days in a row, somebody stop me.


While wandering downtown Toulouse we also randomly came across a clothing store that had an amazing roof top view, one of the best in the city in fact.

Beautiful!!

Last but not least of good discoveries in France we ran into this awesome Irish pub called De Danu.
http://www.dedanu.com/ 

This little taste of home had plenty of beers on tap, good food, and even a few English employees. It was a little nice hearing people speak English after struggling with our French all week. We ordered massive burgers that were delicious and had a few pints. The place was packed for the Eurocup, a match between France and Ukraine. It was fun watching this sport with the locals. Felt almost like how the stanley cup is back home. Everyone was so into it and chanting. Funny fact, they chant the first part of The White Strips "Seven Nation Army" anytime France gets a goal. I also decided that I can get used to watching soccer (or football as they call it in Europe). After all it's only an hour and a half and all the boys wear nice shorts. Plus, the atmosphere at De Danu was really fun and exciting. I think this will be our new go to pub. In fact we plan to head back there this weekend to watch France play again. I imagine many a night will be had here.

Wine, beer, baguettes, amazing scenery, pubs, beignet cremes ....I think I'll survive, even if I don't speak French yet :P

Until next time....

Au Revoir 

Flight to France, Let the Adventure Begin

Hello blog world! We're finally in France! I've decided to try this whole blog thing out mostly for my own benefit, so I can look back and remember all the adventures we've had here, but also for any friends or family who may wish to keep updated on our travels.

We arrived in France last Tuesday, June 12th after the longest travel day ever. We were supposed to fly directly from Toronto to Brussels, and then from Brussels to Toulouse, France shortly after. However, our flight turned out to be one from Toronto to Montreal, Montreal to Brussels, and finally Brussels to Toulouse. We also had an unexpected 5 hour layover in Brussels because there was a mix up in our flight scheduling and we arrived too late to catch our connecting flight. On the bright side we were met at the gate by airport personnel who offered us each 16 Euros worth of airport vouchers.

What does one do with 5 hours to kill in Brussels airport?

1) Find wifi station to check email and inform those picking you up in Toulouse that you will be much later than anticipated.

2) Discover that wifi station is some sort of Brussels torture device designed to exhaust your already exhausted post flight body. To get internet and power one must plug computer into station attached to bike, to keep power going one must peddle, if one stops peddling power and internet shut off. WHY??????

Dave and I spent the next 20 minutes taking turns to keep our internet running. Finally able to send our important email, legs burning, lungs out of breath we searched for something else to pass the time....

All that biking brought on a thirst that needed to be quenched, which brings me to the next thing to do when passing time at Brussels airport.

3) Find a pub and order beer. We ordered two beers that seemed to hit the spot and while enjoying them at a little pub in the airport it hit us....I wonder if these vouchers are only for food? And that's when we made our greatest discovery, the vouchers could indeed be used to purchase beer. Thank you airport gods!! We spent the majority of our remaining time in the airport enjoying Leffe Blonde and Bruin and also nibbling on some snacks.

 

Finally, our flight was ready to leave. We were so exhausted by that point that we slept most of the flight to Toulouse. When we arrived we were greeted by two school colleagues of Dave's who kindly offered to drive us to our new place in Toulouse. Here's where we encountered our next problem. Picture this: Dave and Ellen packed for one year away in France. Ellen is a girl. Dave and Ellen have 4 suitcases, plus carry on luggage. Europeans have very small cars. Very small car + four people + four suitcases + carry on luggage = not enough room in the car. By the time we maneuvered our luggage into the car we realized that three people barely fit in there. That meant, one of the students who came to pick us up had to take the bus home.
After all that we managed to make it to our new place. Which, although smaller than we expect, and lacking a kitchen sink (didn't expect that one), isn't so bad.  In fact, now that we purchased some house hold items and created our own kitchen sink out of a large plastic bin, it's cozy enough to feel like our little home away from home.

Well, that just about covers our adventure getting here, which is enough for a first blog post I think. Next time I shall tell you about our first week adventures.

Until then....

Au Revoir