Hooray for internet.

Miercoles, Avril 29

Today was…interesting. Consisted of getting off the plane from our eleven-ish hour flight, waiting three hours to get on the bullet train because apparently it takes from 7am to 11am to cross the terminal, and rididng the train for another three hours. Luckily I got to sleep on the train since I didn’t on the plane. Then we got to the apartment and settled and such. I got the smallest room, but it has a wall against the back of the bed so I’m good with that. We grabbed a little bit to eat at that point, I got a sammich that I’d had the last time I was in France. It was a soft cheese inside the bread and a harder cheese melted on top, and I’m fully aware that my mother will kill me for eating her favorite sammich. Then we went to eat at Numero 75, Chef Brunel’s restaurant and the place I will be staging at. It was very cool. I have pictures, they’re dark, but there. Ummm….I’ll figure out the picture situation somehow too, that may be a little problematic until I get home.

Numero 75

Black olive tapenade-salty, olive chunks, good texture and variety

Yellow olive tapenade-slightly sweet, didn’t like as much, similar texture

Dried tomato pesto-salty, sweet, indicative of sun dried tomato

Mint crème brulee-like a very buttery custard, almost a sweet mint compound butter brulee

Coconut panna cotta with berries-Mild, creamy, not overpowering in flavor, smooth

Chocolate tart-Bitter layer, followed by a caramely crunchy layer, and a sweet fluffy one, with a creamy caramel sauce (high cream content?)

Apple crumble-Made with duck fat instead of butter, creamy and crunchy/soft

Oh, and I slept like the dead. I was completely out. Need more sleep.

Jeudi, Avril 30

Went to a market this morning. It was awesome. I love those little markets. We got cured meats, cheese, baguette, fruit, gummies (If you know me, you know the significance of this), and a couple rotisserie quails. Which are very cool. One of our classmates bit the head off his quail. We did a walking tour of the city, and had a kind of tasting lunch at Les Halles, which you WILL get a picture of, it’s a vertical garden on the outside. It had tons of meats, cheeses, olives, oysters, breads, etc. It was very cool. Very good wine too. Oh, and I got a bottle of wine at the grocery store for 1€85. Be jealous, all of you. ^_^ Then there’s a wine tasting at the Pope’s Palace.