At this point I seriously was under the impression that I must be an insomniac or something. I went to bed before anyone else hoping that I would just crash and be out all night. Too bad I was wrong and it took me over four hours to actually fall asleep. Though, it never helps when everyone else is still up and things are loud, but I'm beginning to learn that Europe is not a very quiet place at night. Not one bit. Today's destination was a small town about half an hour away to visit some cool church. Funny story, on our way there there were a bunch of construction workers adding more asphalt to the roads, so naturally we had to drive around. The first vehicle made it through just fine, but the van, the vehicle I and five others were in, definitely got stuck. So stuck to the point where one wheel wasn't even on the street anymore. Pretty hilarious. We all got out to try and push the car and the workers were so friendly and were helping too. Armon decided to help push too, but he was the driver. I, being the only one other than Armon and Easton who can drive stick, got to hop in the driver's seat and drive the car out of the ditch while the others helped weight it down and push. Natasha took video of it, so maybe I can get a link to that on here sometime. I probably never will though so that sucks for you. So that was a fun experience. We got there, and the church was pretty awesome. It was like dug out of the limestone rock on the side of the hill or mountain. There were also a bunch of old graves and things. Dead people. I like dead people and zombies and things. That was a short visit, and Natasha was lagging behind us while we were hustling to get to the church in time before it closed for lunch, and she ended up getting lost and we found her an hour and a half or so later. It's a small town, so she couldn't really go too far. Glad we eventually found her though. We headed back to Johnny's for a scrumptious lunch:
Salad with various sorts of lettuce, olive oil, feta cheese, and avacado
Grilled rare duck (one of the most delicious things I think I've ever tasted)
Ham & cheese on bread (bread and cheese are serious french essentials)
& more tea and coffee for me
So clearly, I could easily get used to dining in France every day of my life. The food is perfect for me. I love it all. (except for the really weird things like pate and eggplant and seafoods or whatever)
After lunch we headed out to a basically a down town area which was actually really fun. We kind of got lost on the way, but it's whatevz and actually happens a lot. We're fairly used to it by now. Haha I'm kidding mom. The town, once we got to it, can easily be compared to Chicago. Think of it this way, Paris : New York & [the town we were in today] : Chicago. Kapeesh? I had one goal and one goal only whilst in this town- real coffee. I stopped at the first coffee shop I saw, that being Le Petit Cafe, and ordered a cafe au lait, which here just means a shot or two of espresso with a wee bit of steamed milk, so it's what a traditional machiatto would be back in the states. It was absolutely delicious. Just the punch-in-the-face drink I had been dying to have since I had arrived in France. After that I really didn't care about anything.
After being in that down town area and being more comfortable around the french people, I had kind of discovered on my own that it's okay in the smaller towns in france to smile at strangers. After experimenting with it I realized that they'll acknowledge me and exclaim 'Bonjour!' with a friendly smile. I love that, and I think that's actually true for any small town area. I have a feeling though, that Paris will be nothing like that. Much like being in Kansas compared to the busy streets of NY.
Once we got back to Johnny's, I showered. yaay. It only took me 5 days. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't have. It's just that word kind of got out that I still hadn't, and people were a little grossed out even though I didn't smell or anything. My hair had started to get a little matted and stringy though. Oh well. On the menu this night was:
Appetizer: Those same goat cheese on toasted bread with maple syrup, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, but with PINE NUTS this time. YUM
Dinner: Steak with a blue cheese sauce & salad with a balsamic vinegar breakdown
Dessert: bread pudding & vanilla creme brulee
At this point Johnny had even taught me how to make tea without his help. That should go to show how often I was drinking tea. He had a huge selection of fabulous english teas and of course I can never say no to that. Duh. Thankfully everyone went to bed pretty early that night, we also had to get up at 4am to head to the train station back in Bordeaux. It was the last night in the 13th century monk place, so sad.
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