Soleil et argent
Je suis en France. It is wonderful to be in France. Surrounded by the language I have been studying. Everywhere I look there are new words to learn. My pronunciation of words still needs improvement and I haven't figured out how to pronounce "fous" yet. This is a difficult sound for me to make. I spent last night in the bar with my French friends trying to pronounce "fous." Très difficile pour moi!
Email in Strasbourg has been a nightmare. There are only a few internet cafés and they are very expensive. Plus the keyboard in France is not in anyway similar to the QWERTY keyboard we Americans have grown to love. So I am typing this entry with my laptop on the train to Paris. Yes, to Paris.
Strasbourg was wonderful and I look forward to returning there in a couple weeks. It was so nice to visit a foreign city where I have local friends. We took Marko out to dinner last night in Strasbourg. He recommended a place called La Cloche A Fromaçe. He described the restaurant as a "cheese restaurant" and after eating there, I must admit his description is quite accurate.
We walked into the restaurant and I almost passed out from the smell. In the main lobby of restaurant was a large glass dome with eighty different types of cheeses. We sat down and ordered our cheese plates. Here is how the cheese restaurant works:
Step One: Choose which cheese plate you want. Each cheese plate has a certain theme. For example Mark ordered the cheese plate with each of the seven different cheese families. Where as I picked the cheese plate made of different goat cheeses. Marko, however, picked the super strong cheese plate.
Step Two: Choose which wine you want to eat with the cheese. Mind you each style of cheese prefers a different type of wine.
Step Three: Take your bread basket to the bread area and fill it with your choice of breads.
Step Four: Learn about your cheese. Once the cheese plate as been prepared, the waiter tells you the history of the cheeses you are about to consume.
Step Five: Eat the cheese. BUT there is a certain way to eat the cheese. (see How to Eat the Cheese)
How to Eat the Cheese:
Each cheese plate has approximately 12 different cheeses laid out in a spiral on the plate. Start eating the first cheese which is to the left of the cucumber slice. This is the lightest, mildest cheese on the plate. Continue eating the cheese counter clockwise on the plate until you reach the center cheese which is, of course, the strongest cheese on the plate. Each cheese will get slightly stronger, so it is best to not skip a cheese.
I did fine with the first three cheeses on my plate. The fourth and fifth cheeses were starting to get a little difficult for me. By the time I hit my sixth and seventh cheese I was beginning to have some serious issues. My taste buds where overwhelmed, scared, and asking the brain why they were being tortured. Sometimes I had to close my eyes when eating the cheese so my brain wouldn't notice the mold which covered the cheeses. By the time I got to the last five cheeses I felt like I was in a war; me versus the cheese. I decided that the only way I was going to make it through the 'French cheese battle' was to eat them all very quickly. In my left hand I had my glass of red wine -- cocked and ready. In my right hand I had the bread. I took a deep breath (through my mouth, I wouldn't dare do it through my nose) and preceded to eat the last five cheeses as fast as I could. Once the last and final cheese was consumed, I sat back, and relaxed because I thought the war was over. Just when I thought everything was finished, Marko announced that it was a requirement that everyone try the last and final cheese on his plate. This was the strongest cheese in the entire restaurant. A type of cheese only found on a small island in France. It is referred to as the "boom boom" cheese. I had no choice. There was no out. EVERYONE was to taste the "boom boom."
It was painful. I cried. The taste lasted in my mouth for over twenty minutes. I don't know how many of my taste buds survived the "boom boom." But I am sure there were a lot of casualties.
I do hope that George W. Bush doesn't continue to piss of the French, I don't think he realizes the power of, "the boom boom cheese."
Email in Strasbourg has been a nightmare. There are only a few internet cafés and they are very expensive. Plus the keyboard in France is not in anyway similar to the QWERTY keyboard we Americans have grown to love. So I am typing this entry with my laptop on the train to Paris. Yes, to Paris.
Strasbourg was wonderful and I look forward to returning there in a couple weeks. It was so nice to visit a foreign city where I have local friends. We took Marko out to dinner last night in Strasbourg. He recommended a place called La Cloche A Fromaçe. He described the restaurant as a "cheese restaurant" and after eating there, I must admit his description is quite accurate.
We walked into the restaurant and I almost passed out from the smell. In the main lobby of restaurant was a large glass dome with eighty different types of cheeses. We sat down and ordered our cheese plates. Here is how the cheese restaurant works:
Step One: Choose which cheese plate you want. Each cheese plate has a certain theme. For example Mark ordered the cheese plate with each of the seven different cheese families. Where as I picked the cheese plate made of different goat cheeses. Marko, however, picked the super strong cheese plate.
Step Two: Choose which wine you want to eat with the cheese. Mind you each style of cheese prefers a different type of wine.
Step Three: Take your bread basket to the bread area and fill it with your choice of breads.
Step Four: Learn about your cheese. Once the cheese plate as been prepared, the waiter tells you the history of the cheeses you are about to consume.
Step Five: Eat the cheese. BUT there is a certain way to eat the cheese. (see How to Eat the Cheese)
How to Eat the Cheese:
Each cheese plate has approximately 12 different cheeses laid out in a spiral on the plate. Start eating the first cheese which is to the left of the cucumber slice. This is the lightest, mildest cheese on the plate. Continue eating the cheese counter clockwise on the plate until you reach the center cheese which is, of course, the strongest cheese on the plate. Each cheese will get slightly stronger, so it is best to not skip a cheese.
I did fine with the first three cheeses on my plate. The fourth and fifth cheeses were starting to get a little difficult for me. By the time I hit my sixth and seventh cheese I was beginning to have some serious issues. My taste buds where overwhelmed, scared, and asking the brain why they were being tortured. Sometimes I had to close my eyes when eating the cheese so my brain wouldn't notice the mold which covered the cheeses. By the time I got to the last five cheeses I felt like I was in a war; me versus the cheese. I decided that the only way I was going to make it through the 'French cheese battle' was to eat them all very quickly. In my left hand I had my glass of red wine -- cocked and ready. In my right hand I had the bread. I took a deep breath (through my mouth, I wouldn't dare do it through my nose) and preceded to eat the last five cheeses as fast as I could. Once the last and final cheese was consumed, I sat back, and relaxed because I thought the war was over. Just when I thought everything was finished, Marko announced that it was a requirement that everyone try the last and final cheese on his plate. This was the strongest cheese in the entire restaurant. A type of cheese only found on a small island in France. It is referred to as the "boom boom" cheese. I had no choice. There was no out. EVERYONE was to taste the "boom boom."
It was painful. I cried. The taste lasted in my mouth for over twenty minutes. I don't know how many of my taste buds survived the "boom boom." But I am sure there were a lot of casualties.
I do hope that George W. Bush doesn't continue to piss of the French, I don't think he realizes the power of, "the boom boom cheese."