Finding a Cheese Shop- PARIS FRANCE

Now of all the things to do in Paris, I would think that finding a cheese shop would be one of the easiest! WRONG! I dont know if we were in the wrong area, or just kept missing them but we walk for 2 hours before we found one!

(Thank you Levis Street!)

But boy was this cheese shop worth the 2 hour saunter through Paris. It is situated on a small little market style street that made our hearts sing! Rotisserie chickens spinning away right on the street, cheese, wine, and wonderful cafes line the edges and Sarah and I walk right through out little piece of heaven in Paris!

I feel horrible now because I cant remember the name of the Shop, but its the only on on Levis Street!

When we walked in that horrifically amazing smell smacks us in the face and our little slice of heaven is made so much better! We got way to much cheese, and even some awesome cured duck sausage and a wonderful black fig compote :) AND IT WAS SO CHEAP! I Swear the only thing that saves me from being a cheese-a-holic at home is the price of the good stuff in Canada! I dont think I should be allowed to live in Paris! 

So after our long trek we went home with bags full of our Parisian dinner and enjoyed a wonderful night with our adoptive French family!

Musee Du Louvre : Paris France

While in Paris, Musee du Louvre, or The Louvre is a must see, at almost 9 million visitors per year. Opened since 1793, this gigantic structure brings art enthusiasts and just curious visitors such as our selves together for a truly beautiful experience. It’s most popular attraction is; The Mona Lisa, but it is filled with many other treasures, so many in fact that it would be impossible to do in one day.
    So off we went on our second day, taking the very extensive, but easy to maneuver Paris metro system to the Louvre. The first thing that strikes you is the building itself, it is its very own piece of art work, and many people gather around the court yard for photo ops with the giant pyramid.
    It costs us 11 Euros to enter, giving you access to four giant wings of the museum. Having only one day to take it in, we head for the one with the Mona Lisa. There are sculptures and paintings that look as vibrant and colorful as I’m sure they were when they were first made, pottery and artifacts from many different cultures and eras, and my favorite people setting up easels in the hallways to take a crack at painting like artists of years past. There is definitely something for everyone here. 
     But ok I’ll get to the good part, a little over 2 hours, and four floors later we see her. Off in a little side room, packed with people, there she is, the Mona Lisa. Now I have been warned about this, but it still took me by surprise, that this legendary painting is so small! Being placed in a room with several other paintings that are the size of my house doesn’t help I am sure, but it really is tiny. Guess it just goes to show you good things come in all sizes.
    So Day 2 not being totally over, and already having checked off 4 things on our Paris must see list, we set out for more excitement and fun. Keep checking back for all our adventures in Paris, there is much more to come.
   
   

Paris : we are ready for you!

The bus ride from Barcelona to Paris was awful! Fifteen hours over night, and neither of us slept a wink. We couldn’t get seat beside each other, and both of us felt pretty awkward sleeping beside strangers, not that they minded, the guy beside me was practically on my lap, and so was the lady beside Kristen. It also didn’t help that our bus driver seemed to have a small bladder, and stopped every hour and a half, kicking us off the bus when he did, to stand in the pouring rain to wait for him.
     We arrive in Paris at 10 or 11 in the morning to notice that Paris is not very wheel chair accessible. This becomes apparent when we have to lug my giant hockey bag I am using for luggage (we have now lovingly dubbed it the Beast) up many flights of stairs to get out. Next problem, we need internet, BADLY! We are meeting up with a friend of Kristen’s, Emmanuel, after he gets of work, and since our phones only work with internet...well. So we set off with Beast in tow walking almost 12 blocks of streets you would not want to find yourself at night, until we find one. I should add that when we returned to the bus station almost a week later to depart, we saw the commercial center right beside it.
    So we find our cafe, and sit to enjoy our first cappuccinos in Paris, and since we have several hours to kill, our first half liter of wine. The server was friendly, the day was beautiful, we were way to over tired to be tired at this point, so there we stayed. Finally hearing from Emmanuel, we chugged our way back to the subway to meet him at a more downtown location, and this is when the real fun begins. I am one of those people that people randomly approach and talk to on the street. I am friendly by nature so no big deal right? Wrong! The people that want to randomly talk to you on the street are generally people you do not want to talk to. Years ago I developed a defense for this; don’t make eye contact, and just walk a bit faster. Unfortunately for Kristen though, my method leaves her to deal with them. So for 12 blocks we had some guy following along, getting so desperate for Kristen’s attentions that he offered to buy her a car if she simply took him back to Canada, sounds fair.
    We get to Opera station and the same problem persists, we need internet. But we find a Pizza Hut, yes a Pizza Hut, in our defense there was a McDonald`s across the road. We get our free internet, and pizza, and wait until around 5 when Emmanuel picks us up, and to our delighted surprise...he`s got a car!
        He takes us on a short tour around, which is where we learned that the traffic in Paris is insane, and we make several stops to get the necessities; cheese and wine. But upon returning to the car, we find the keys locked in. Just to show you how much patients and humility we have learned on this trip, because we did not sit down and cry like you were all expecting, we went for beer. An hour and a half later, we were showered, relaxed, had a glass of wine in hand, and a giant plate of cheese. Ok Paris, we are ready for you!

Catalonia - the end of our visit to Barcelona!

We all know Barcelona as Spain, but in fact it once was not part of Spain at all. It was, and many say still is the capital of Catalonia, which was founded in the year 800 and includes; Gerona, Ampurias, and Sardagne. It later became part of Spain during the Spanish war in the early 1700’s. Today the fight wages on for the independence of Catalonia, Kristen and I don’t take sides, so instead I will tell you a little of what we learned about the Catalan traditions.
   First we learned the story behind the flag. The flag has 5 horizontal red strips on a back ground of gold that is said to stand for blood on a golden shield. The story we were told by or travel guide, is that after the battle againt the Muslims in the 800, a mortally wounded soldier returning victorious was granted a finally wish from the king. The soldier wanted nothing more than a flag to commemorate their victory. The King put his hand inside the soldiers wound, and with bloody fingers, made the 5 red strips thus creating the flag. Is there truth to this? Probably not, but it is the story.
   Next we learned of a very remarkable Catalan Christmas tradition “Cagatio” or the pooping log is a must have for families at Xmas. They take a log, and draw a face on one side, they put a blanket over top of it. Children feed the log cookies and milk for the 24 days leading up to Xmas. On Xmas eve the real fun begins, the children beat the log with sticks while screaming and yelling for it to...well poop. They remove the blanket to find treats and presents that their parents insist their log has pooped.

   Ok, but if that wasn’t fun enough, for many years there is yet another pooping figure in the Catalan Christmas traditions; Caganer or The Pooper, is a figure added to their nativity scenes of a pooping farmer. No I am not kidding. Some people hide Caganer in the back, sort of like a “Where’s Waldo?” type deal, and some place him right at the front. Caganer was added to represent farmers, and down to earth people, and to remind them that everybody poops. Today you can buy Caganer, and much more. Figures including the Queen, the Pope, the entire Barcelona Football team, and our favorite Sponge Bob Square Pants, because even he has to go eventually!

Stay tune for our adventures in Paris France!

L'Aquarium Photo Reel - Barcelona!

Park Guell - Barcelona

Its our last day in Barcelona and an overcast, damp kind of day to boot. So we decided to check out Guell Park first thing in the morning in order to beat out the rain. After navigating the much more complex metro system then back home in Toronto, we followed the signs for a rough 15 min walk down a very ordinary street. The next sign tells us "Park Guill Left" so we turned and standing before us is the crazy virtical hill we had been herd about that is the only way to get up into the Park! We push through and made it to the park entrance and boy was it worth it. Swimming with people, even in the off season, all there with the same intention standing there smiling or jaw dropped. Even on a cloudy day its really impossible to hide the talent and sheer awesomeness that is Mister Gaudi! Most of his work in the park is done in the style of Mosaic, small pieces of a material ( in his case ceramic or glass) pieced together to create art!

 We walked pretty much the whole park and took some wonderful pictures (its one of those places where its really hard to take a bad picture). and pretty much stayed silent for a couple hours to soak in the architectural beauty that was surrounding us at every turn!

The wind and rain were starting to pick up so we decided to make our way back to the metro and have some fun at an indoor activity, we headed over to the Barcelona Aquarium!

Side note, on our Free Walking Tour we got shown Antonio Gaudi's first public work of art in Barcelona...quite different from the wile and crazy buildings he is world famous for!

To read more about Park Guell or Mr Gaudi himself, click here!

The Travel Bar- Barcelona!

  
 When we first arrived in our hostel in Barcelona, we were presented with tickets for a free meal with the purchase of a drink, at the Travel Bar. Located just off La Rambla, so our maps told us, we eventually found it. For future reference, if you are headed towards the water, you make a left at the building decorated with the umbrellas.

   There was not much to the Travel Bar, it was a pub like any other, but all the servers spoke English, and well they gave us a free meal. The free meal however was just a bowl of pasta, with chicken and pesto, so after our pasta, we gave in and split on fish and chips, witch were surprisingly tasty, so far we have not been very impressed with what we call regular food in Spain.

   But now for the best part, the Travel Bar runs free walking tours, as well as Spanish cooking classes, and Flamingo Dancing tours for a price. I guess I don’t have to say that the next day we joined the free walking tour, but if I didn’t the next part may confuse you.

 

   At 11:00 am we set out to roam the streets of Barcelona and learn some history along the way. We were quite fortunate that day; we actually had 2 guides, because one had been late due to sickness. Like most cities in Europe, the history is vast, beautiful and horrifying. We visited at primary school that had been riddled with machine gun fire during an execution during the time of WW2, learned of great debates about religion and politics, and about Catalonia, and its true separation from Spain, which I will save for its own entry.

   The story I will tell you is about Santa Eulalia; a thirteen year old Christian virgin, subjected to 13 tortures, for her thirteen years during the persecution of Christians in the year 303. They say the first stripped her naked to shame her, but snow fell from the sky and covered her so she was not shamed. The next put her in a barrel with knives and glass, and rolled her down the hill, but she came out without a scratch, the cut her and burned her, and well I won’t go on, it’s pretty gruesome, you can google it, but let’s just say she became a Martyr and is worshiped for her cause. If you visit the Catedral de Barcelona, which we did next, you can see the crypt were it is said that her burned bones are kept.

   Now I won’t leave you with such awfulness, we went back to the Travel Bar after our 3 hour walk and split a burger. It may be because we have been burger deprived since coming to Europe, or that we were starving after our tour, but I tell you... that was the best burger I had ever had! It was juicy and cheesy, and only cooked until medium rare (which I love). I liked it so much in fact; we went back the next day so I could get another. If you are ever in Barcelona check it out!

The Travel Bar