Mediterranean Vegetable Soup

As you may or may not know, I absolutely love soup; making and eating it! Soup is just so easy to make and it's great for when you have a few things that need using up in the fridge.

I will be leaving France next week to go home, so I've been trying my best to 'eat out of the cupboards'. I had a few vegetables in the fridge that I'd already used some of in other dishes, that I decided to bung together to make a delicious Med Veg Soup.

I have a lot of onions to use before I go home, so I decided to put 2 onions in my soup. One was large, the other small.I also had around 3/4 of a large red pepper, 3/4 of a medium yellow pepper and half of a courgette.

I chopped up all my veggies roughly. It didn't matter too much how they were cut as I prefer smooth soup.

I began frying my onion in the smallest amount of E.V Olive Oil, just to soften them. I also added a teaspoon of easy garlic to add to the flavour. 

On further inspection of the fridge, I found a pun net of plum tomatoes that needed using, so they were added to the list of ingredients!

Once the onion and garlic were cooked through, I added all of my vegetables to the pan, just so that they started to cook.

What a healthy looking pan! Once all of the ingredients were heated through, I popped them into my new Morphy Richards Soup Maker, a lovely gift from Lewis's Nan! (Thank you!)

I added two teaspoons of tomato puree....

...and 500ml of vegetable stock.

Just as I was about to turn it on, I decided to add a tin of chopped tomatoes for good measure. Then the soup maker got to work whilst I washed the dishes!

After 20 or so minutes, my soup was cooked and blended to perfection! And it was delicious.

The soup is really healthy and so easy to make. I didn't follow any recipe, I just used left over veg that needed to be eaten. This soup made 5 hearty portions, and I've only eaten it as soup, with crusty bread, but I think you could also use it as a tasty sauce to go with pasta, rice or even potatoes.

I hope you enjoy making it as much as I enjoyed eating it!

Bon appétit!

(Père) Noël arrive à Lannion!

Salut!

After such a wonderful day at Rennes last week, how could I decline an invitation to some Christmas events in Lannion with Frances and Laura? I woke up at the crack of dawn to make sure I had enough time to find the bus stop and catch the bus on time. I was about thirty minutes early, but that's always better than missing the bus.

I passed the time by attempting to chat with a lady who was waiting for the same bus. I was really pleased with myself for making the effort, and when she got off the bus, she made a point of finding me, and wishing me luck for the rest of my time in France. How lovely?! Also, the bus is such a bargain compared to the price of the trains. It was only €2 on the bus, where the equivalent journey on the train is just under €7. I asked for my ticket in my best French and the bus driver had a big grin on his face, obviously smiling at my wonderful attempt at a French accent!

After an hour I arrived in Lannion, and I was met by Laura and Frances. The first event on the To-Do List was the decorating of the town christmas tree. Unfortunately absolutely no one was there, so we went for a walk instead. First we walked along the river and watched some people kayaking; some only wearing shorts! They must have been freezing. That said, the weather for mid December was quite lovely, brisk enough to see your breath, but lots of sun too. 

We then walked back to the apartment through the town, and I managed to get a snap of some of the town's decorations.

Back at the apartment we had pizza followed by some lovely treats that Frances had picked up from the local patisserie. I must admit that I felt like Mary Berry, sat by the table sampling Lannion's delicious pastries, with my chocolat chaud in hand!

(Lemon tart, Paris Brest and Coffee and Speculoos Eclair)

After a lovely catch up, we made some origami dragons! Thank you Carrie Hope Fletcher for the tutorial. I am so happy to have found people who are just like me in France! I loved our little origami tea party. Before we knew it, the time had come to leave the house in search of more christmas activities.

We walked a different way into town, through a wooded area, which reminded me of similar places back home. We got back to our starting point, and in all honesty, the tree was no more decorated than it had been in the morning. However, there were far more people about this time, and we could see a Mrs Clause who towered about her hubby (how bizarre?), and there were lots of people dressed as elves doing circus type things.

Behind Mr and Mrs Christmas, there was a celtic type band with bagpipes, oboes, drums and bombards (a double reeded instrument similar to the oboe but much smaller, and specific to the region of Brittany) began to play. 

The band started marching, following the lead of Father Christmas, some juggling elves and a very enthusiastic man waving a flag, and lo and behold, we became part of the parade!

Conveniently, the parade came to a standstill in the town square which was lined with tents. The band formed a circle and continued to play their music whilst the flag was being waved about.

After the band finished we had a look in the tents, and they were serving free chocolat chaud and vin chaud! Free!!! I should have picked the hot chocolate because mulled wine really isn't my things, and wasn't the most pleasant drink I've ever had. Then, along the table, people were giving out lanterns for a parade that was happening later on through the town. We made our lanterns, but unfortunately it was time for me to go home before the parade began!

Yet again, I had such a fantastic day, and maybe I am starting to enjoy being in France a little bit more than I have been previously. It really helps when you go out and make the most of your time, and experience different things that you wouldn't get at home. When will I ever celebrate Father Christmas coming to town in a celtic parade again?

This was my final weekend in France before the New Year, and it's fair to say, it has been one of the most cultural by far!

Thank you Frances and Laura for another wonderful weekend!

A bientôt!

Bises

Jess

xx

Moules

I love to cook, so one way to pass my time in France is to try new recipes. I remembered having moules (mussels) with Jacqueline at the start of my stay, so I decided to try to recreate the dish myself. I asked her for a list of the ingredients, and then got to work.

Ingredients

1kg moules

100 ml dry white wine

1 onion

A handful of parsley

Garlic (optional)

I started by throughly cleaning the moules. They must be closed shells. If they are open, and don't close with a little tap, you must get rid of these ones. 

I then started frying the onion in some butter, until it became soft and transparent.

I added the garlic and a bunch of parsley, and the wine.

Once it began to heat up, I put the moules into the pan, and put the lid on.

They steam cook in their own juices, with the added flavour of the wine. 

You know they are ready when the shells are all open.

I served them in little bowls as seen in the first picture, with a big chunk of fresh French baguette.

A very simple recipe to follow, for a very authentic and tasty French dish. The 1kg of moules recommended by the teacher was far too much for me to eat alone, so I'd say that this was a recipe for 2. Also, remember to throw away any shells that don't open once cooked.

Et voilà

Bon appétit!

Rennes

Last weekend I was finally able to visit Rennes, the capital of Brittany, after wanting to go for so long. I made arrangements with two assistants from a nearby town, who I had met on the training day. I was first to arrive by train, which gave me enough time to scout out the station for the next time I will be there, which excitingly, will be on my journey home for Christmas. The top floor of the station is almost identical to an airport waiting area, with boulangeries and cafes aplenty, which of course, is incredibly important information.

Laura and Frances arrived shortly after me, and luckily, they have both been to Rennes before, so were able to navigate. We headed straight for the centre of the city, and more specifically the Place de la Mairie. It is such an interesting town square, as the town hall has a curved indent, and the Opera building opposite has a semi-circular structure at the front of the building, and it is said that the two buildings would be able to slot together. Stupidly I didn't take any pictures, which would probably explain far better than I seem to be managing.

From there we went for galettes in a cute little creperie that Frances had eaten in once before. It really didn't disappoint, and my mouth is watering now at the memory. 

After eating, we walked around and caught up on our teaching assistantships, and then we decided to go off in search of the Christmas markets. We stopped at the tourist information centre for a map, and the woman was very helpful in directing us towards the markets, but they didn't seem to be where she'd marked them on the map! We stumbled across a drawbridge on our walk around the town. What is it with France and drawbridges?

I decided that I really like Rennes as we walked around. It is such a beautiful city, and even in the hustle and bustle of Christmas shoppers, there was something peaceful and sleepy about the city, and I'd love to go back after Christmas when all of the chaos has died down.

After searching for ages, we found a shopping centre, which was supposed to be close to the christmas market, so we decided to have a little look around. There was a really cool shop called Nature Et Decouvertes, which sold all sorts of weird and wonderful things ranging from hammocks to caramel tea leaves. Then we took in all the christmassy displays from around the shopping centre, and finally I felt like I was in the Christmas spirit...FINALLY!

We left the precinct to find the christmas market just outside, and although the scent of all the lovely christmas goodies was enough to make me feel hungry again, there was nothing that really took my fancy, and I thought that the first market would maybe have more charm at night when all of the lights were twinkling.

Eventually we found the final market, which ironically, was a mere five minutes from where we began our search. It was so festive, and really made me look forward to enjoying more festivities at home. The little log cabins were filled to the brim with le vin chaud, les marrons (chestnuts....roasting on an open fire), other seasonal foods and an abundance of cute little nicknacks.

The marché de Noël even came with its own little carousel. How quaint?!

Our final stop for the day was a Salon du Thé which again was recommended to us by Frances, who has her own blog called Crumbs to Crunch, which if you haven't guessed, is about cakes, baking and all things good! The tearoom was adorable. As you can imagine, there were teapots everywhere, and scatter cushions on little benches for the customers.

Unfortunately, the customer service was a bit pants, but I would definitely go back again just to enjoy the atmosphere and maybe a slice of cake!

There were too many different types of tea to choose from, so we all decided to try the Hot Apple Cider. I loved it! I'm not a huge fan of mulled wine, so this is the perfect alternative. It is heated cider which is spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and star anise. Delicious!

We were running out of time, so couldn't enjoy a pudding, but hopefully if there is a next time, I will sample some of Rennes finest tea and cake, in excellent company.

 I had such a lovely day, that can hopefully be repeated again after christmas. As an assistant, I have found that I enjoy France the most when I am travelling around and becoming acquainted with new places. I plan to get about a bit more following the holidays, so watch this space!

Until next time,

Jess

xx

The Countdown Begins!

We have finally reached December, which means one thing. It's very nearly time to go home! I am so excited. My week has been quite a nice one, but I'm not feeling as Christmassy as I would if I was at home.

I feel like France is lacking Christmas spirit in general. I think this is only because I'm living in a small town...maybe, but no houses have decorations, there's no Christmas music, no mince pies . I don't even like mince pies but it's all part of Christmas isn't it?!

Anyway, the week started off as per usual, I turned up to school with plenty of time, sat in the staff room for a while to then find out that my lesson was cancelled again! This meant that I had a couple of hours spare, so on my way back home I picked up my 'going home' train tickets from the station. Again, in the afternoon one of my lessons was cancelled, but this time the teacher come to the staff room with me for a hot chocolate and a natter.

After school I met the Spanish assistant who I live with and we decided to go for a drink and then to the cinema to see the Hunger Games. I really enjoyed the film, although I still haven't got round to reading the books, so I couldn't tell you how true they are to their paper counterpart. For the first time, I think I understood a lot of what was going on, and I was so proud of myself! (The film was in French by the way!) I haven't noticed much of a difference in my French so far, but maybe I am improving in some aspects after all. 

Wednesday was lovely. One of my teachers asked me to go for crepes after our class. Firstly, the crepes were delicious, quite possibly the best in town, and secondly it was lovely to get to know her a bit better. It's nice for the teachers you work with to become friends as well as colleagues, and she insisted on us talking in French, which was great for me.

Thursday and Friday rolled into one, with nothing particularly special happening, but both were good days. I have a new class on a Friday, and some of the students are so enthusiastic, which makes a refreshing change. On Saturday I visited Rennes, which I will talk about in another post, and it was lovely. 

Then on Saturday evening, I was invited around by Jacqueline for an evening meal. She came to pick me and my flatmate up and within 5 minutes we were at her house. I happened to be wearing a dress and thick wooly tights. I leisurely took my coat off, hung it up, dawdled across the room with all the time in the world, in front of the whole family may I add, to realise that I had fashionably ended up tucking my dress into my wonderful grey wooly tights. Nice one, Jess! How embarrassing?! Anyway, we had a lovely meal and I really enjoyed my time with them, and being able to attempt to chat in French de temps en temps. They are such a lovely family and I have been so lucky to have them supporting me while I was settling in to my French life.

Finally, Sunday was a washout. I'd finished my next assignment for university this week, even though it isn't due until the 11th I wanted it out of the way, so yesterday I had no go in me. It was nice to not have to worry about anything though! The only trouble is, I don't like having lazy days because I feel like time goes quickly enough as it is, without me wasting days by doing nothing. I did, however, manage a workout. Again, I will explain my new found "love" (for want of a better word) for working out and running. So by the end of the first week of December, it is the 7th, which means 10 DAYS UNTIL I GO HOME!!!!! I'm so excited that I could burst.

That's all for now folks!

A bientôt 

Jess

International Soirées, Galettes and Crêpes!

Salut!

Well the past couple of weeks have been fairly uneventful since I returned from my jollies in Paris and Troyes. I had to get a bit of work done for uni which took up a bit of time, and obviously there was preparing for lessons which takes up more time than you'll ever believe, a few crêperies were visited along the way and of course the Soirée Internationale.

With regards to lesson planning, it's not usually so bad, but I really care about doing a good job, so I take ages trying to pick something fun and interesting for the groups I'm teaching. However, sometimes you end up working with teachers who are never quite pleased with what you do, no matter how hard you try. Unfortunately I work with one. I spent all week worrying about what to do, and stressing once I had picked something because I wasn't sure if it would be good enough or not. Yep you guessed it, it wasn't good enough. I'll go into more detail in another blog post about how to deal with these situations and hopefully it will help anyone else who is in a similar situation.

The International Soirée....oh the joys. Well I'll start from the beginning (obviously). There is a man who works in the Mairie who is in charge of getting all of the international students and citizens of Guingamp together. Well at least I think thats what he does. My French wasn't good enough to fully follow the conversation. But anyway, he got in touch with all the language assistants and international students at the university. The plan was that we'd meet up at the centre social with whoever else wanted to attend and, here's the snag, we had to do presentations about the country we come from. I. Was. Dreading. It.

However, the evening came, and I was armed with my script about Le Pays de Galles. I was so nervous, but as soon as the presentation was out of the war, it was quite nice to be able to chat with some new people. It wasn't quite as I'd expected though. As ever I over romanticise things and I thought I'd end up making friends, but no, I ended up spending most of the evening surrounded by the people I know, just as the French students stayed in their friendship groups too. 

There is supposed to be another evening soon, so I may go to that one too. I was so proud of the fact that I'd actually stood up in a room full of French people, and international people who's French is 10 times better than mine, and still managed to get through the presentation. 

Anyway, apart from that I don't think an awful lot else has happened in the past few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for my post on being a language assistant. 

Toodleoo 

xx

Excursions to Paris and Troyes

Salut!

Well, as I said in my last post, my 2 weeks of holidays were only finished briefly and this is because I had to meet up with my uni lecturer to in Paris to discuss my time so far, and my upcoming university project.

So bright dark and early on Wednesday 5th November I was boarding the train to Paris, and I wouldn't be returning to Guingamp until Sunday evening. I managed to get the time off work as it was mainly for university work. After the three and a half hour journey, I arrived in Paris Montparnasse and had about 6 hours to kill, so instead of navigating the metro, I decided to pass the time by walking through Paris towards the Seine, and trying to find a Kiko on the way!

I flânered through the streets on Paris, managing not to take any wrong turnings, and ended up at the love lock bridge. I tried to find the lock me and Lewis put there last year, but I would have been there forever. I walked over the bridge, pausing to take in the view of the Seine and Le Louvre from across the river. 

There's something quite peaceful about walking around leisurely in a busy city. I felt like it really gave me a bit of time to breathe after being so caught up in everything since moving abroad. I sat around people-watching in Le Louvre for what seemed like hours people watching, and it was so relaxing, watching people eat food on their lunch break, rushing to take photos before moving onto the next tourist spot and people hastily moving towards the exits, probably running for the next train, whilst I was calm and still watching the hustle and bustle. It reminded me of the line from that poem, "What is this life if full of care? We have no time to stand and stare...".

Afterwards I decided to walk to the hostel where I was staying for a couple of nights to drop my bags off before meeting my tutor and classmates. On the way, much to my surprise I saw three "women of the night" only it wasn't the night, it was mid afternoon, in broad daylight. What on earth?!!!!

Then I caught the Metro to Saint Michel and waited by the fountain for a good half an hour before anyone else from uni turned up. The fountain was quite spectacular compared to street corners at home. 

After our meeting our lecturer, myself and my friend Dan went for a stroll around and Dan took me to the bookshop Shakespeare and Company, somewhere I have read about a few times, and always wanted to have a peak inside. It was so quaint, and for the second time on my year abroad I felt like I was in a bookshop in Diagon Alley!

After heading back to the hostel for a second time for Dan to drop off his luggage, we headed back out to see the tower all lit up. Not quite as good as the Bonfire Night I was missing back home, but it was definitely a close second!

Me and Dan spent ages trying to get decent pictures of the Eiffel Tower, hence the amount of them...

...but this is the best by far!

The next day we decided to go to Le cimetière du Père-Lachaise which was as Dan put it "strangely beautiful". I didn't take any photos as it really didn't sit right with me. We walked around for hours, paying our respects to Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison, but I was disgusted to see people clambering over graves, or standing on them in order to get a better picture. Have some respect! We continued to walk and talk for a while, and then we had to leave to meet another classmate, Izzie. 

Once we met up, we headed straight for the Champs Elysees. First stop M&S! It made me miss home so much when I saw all the food that it's so easy to buy from home! Then we had enough time for a brief picture of the Arc de Triomphe, before meeting up with our lecturer for a second time.

After our little meeting, our lecturer took us around a few of his favourite places in Paris. We headed for The Pantheon which was really interesting. We found out that very important people who have impacted on France in some way get buried here, which I had never heard of before. I felt quite honoured to be able to stand at the tombs of the Curies particularly, who's work has had such an effect worldwide on their discoveries in medicine.

We walked through Paris and ended up settling in the Jardin du Luxembourg, which felt sooo Parisian on a crisp November day at dusk, sat on the little green chairs. After an evening of crepes, baguettes and fresh cream cakes, it was our last night in Paris before moving on to Troyes, where Dan is spending his year abroad, the following day.

We were so tired by the time that we got to Troyes that we just popped out for essentials (baguette) and then spent the evening watching Love Actually. (Well it is nearly Christmas!)

On Saturday Dan decided to host a dinner party for all the assistants in Troyes, so we popped into Troyes to get some ingredients. On the way to the marked we bypassed H&M, and I had to go in because it was the first clothes shop I'd seen in France that we also have at home. Anyway...we got all our ingredients from the market, fresh fruit and veg, and it was also an opportunity to interact with French people!

We walked back to Dan's and got to work on chopping the veggies for the shakshuka we were making whilst listening to Abba. As you do! We also decided to make Eton Mess for pudding. It was more like Eton slop as the local food shop didn't have the powder to make the cream whipped cream, but still, tasted delicious! 

The dinner party was great and the food went down a treat. It was so nice to meet lots of new people and they were all lovely. We spoke French all night which was exactly what I needed! The following morning it was time to get the train home. I was a very sad to be leaving, but my time in Paris and Troyes made me feel a bit more positive about my time abroad, and that's never a bad thing!

That's all for now! I'm slowly catching up on myself on this blog, but it may take some time yet!

A bientôt! 

Jess
xx