J'adore Paris: Day Two (Morning)

Day Two

After planning and plotting out each day (as previously mentioned) we woke up early Saturday morning to begin our adventures in Paris. 

On our list for Saturday: Touring Chateau de Versailles  (morning) and Notre Dame (evening)

Morning:

Dave and I both agree that touring Versailles is a 'must see' when in Paris and for us, was one of our favorite days.  

Chateau de Versailles (or in English " Palace of Versailles") is not only famous for the building (it is simply stunning) but is the building where the 'Treaty of Versailles' was signed on June 28th, 1919 by the Germans to end World War I. For many high school students (particularly in Canada) this is a staple 'history' lesson and both Dave and I remember learning about the Treaty while in school. It was an incredible experience to be standing in the same room we had learned so much about growing up.

We loved the architecture, the paintings and decore, the history and simply just the feel and look of the entire little Paris town (Ile-de-France) that Versailles is in; picture horse and carriage, starbucks in hand and beautiful fall colours (all of which happened while we were there....truly breath taking).

Rather than writing about our time, I am simply going to share with you some of the most beautiful and precious memories of our trip at Versailles.

Our First View of Versailles...yes it was breath taking.

King Louis XIV

Palace Entrance

Over looking the city from within the Palace gate

Simply Stunning!

So Excited!

Gardens...excited to see these next.

These painting were massive and stunning to view. Luke 7:37-38 ( I was in awe that I was standing in front of this).

In the 'Hall of Mirrors' where the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th, 1919.

Us in the 'Hall of Mirrors'.

I told you: Fall leaves, starbucks and carriage rides.

Amazing! We are blessed.

Touring the Gardens

A treasured memory for sure!

So stunning...oh the gardens were nice too!

"Apollo's Chariot". I was VERY excited to see this!!!!

My husband is so handsome!

A beautiful day together!

J'adore Paris: Day (night) One.

While many of our Canadian family and friends were celebrating Thanksgiving this past weekend, Dave and I were celebrating the end of midterms (Dave excited that he is finished, me excited that I get to see my husband!)

Because of Dave's intense school schedule we are only given a few times throughout the year where he truly feels he can relax and have a break (this past weekend being one of the few times).  As we arrived at the airport on friday night, we were not surprised to see about 10 of Dave's classmates also boarding our plane! When you are only given a select few days off, you take every opportunity...and EVERYONE was taking this weekend as some much needed time off.

After frantically packing all morning friday (as I was teaching all week and Dave studying for exams) Dave rushed home from his last exam at 4pm and we headed to the Metro to catch the first train to the airport. Although a little bit rushed, and some what anxious on the Metro praying that we would make our flight in time (boarding closed at 6pm and without delay we would be at the airport at around 5:15pm....I was having a heart attack lol) we made it without any major hiccups! (Although I did finally see where the 'Large Tesco' was and will be going there very soon hahah)

We arrived in Paris around 9:30pm (there was an hour time difference so 8:30pm our time) and prepared for the adventure of figuring out how to get to our hotel. 

Our first true experience of Paris: trying to figure out the metro system in french, while Dave stared at the Military men in the Paris airport carrying AK 47's "Do you think they would let me take a picture with them" is all Dave could say....this sight simply was not comforting and no, I didn't want our first picture in the most romantic city in the world to be of Dave with two military men holding an AK 47!

After "asking information" (which turned out to be no help at all) we boarded our train. Although normally this train would have taken us right to our hotel, at 10pm at night we learned that Train 11 (which would take us to our destination any other time) simply passed by our stop and kept going, and going, and going! 

About a half hour after boarding the train, the train finally stopped and we decided to get off!

We found another information desk, asked which train we needed to take (platform 2 we were told) and headed that way. Only this time...to find out our train tickets only work one time (you put your ticket into a slot and a gate will go down if your ticket is valid...ours was not).

So on our second trip to information (yes with the same attendant) we finally discovered that we needed to buy a weekend pass that would allow us to have access to all trains, metro's and buses!!! We were actually really thankful this whole situation had happened, as it ended up saving us quite a bit of money throughout the weekend!!!

We boarded the second train of the night, headed back in the direction we came and learned that from the airport our hotel was only one stop away....we got off our train and now had the task of figuring out which direction our hotel was in. The hard part....there was no one around. 

Thankfully I have a very patient husband (my solution was to take a taxi...how we would have called one I am not sure lol) who after looking over the map and seeing a bus driver simply asked for directions.  With a very strong french accent, said bus driver informed us that our hotel was (through the use of hand signals) in a circle (which we figured out meant 'go through that round about') and the hotel is to the "gauche" (which I some how remembered from high school french meant "left). It was quite a scene but once we found our hotel...were thankful we didn't call a taxi.  It was about a two minute walk from the Metro exit.

At about 11:30am we finally arrived to our hotel room and were ready to call it a night. Our room wasn't the largest of rooms, but was very much our style of traveling. 

One of the decision we have made while having this opportunity in England is to do as much traveling as possible. However, we are on a budget and this means our traveling might not be the most glamourous....basically we need a clean place to rest our heads, hopefully have a shower (hahah) and somewhere we feel safe. Well this is certanily what we paid for!

So 'Bienvenue au Paris' as we share our first traveling experience and you look at our three packed days of touring, walking, picture taking and simply embracing every moment while there...we are so thankful that we get to create a whole set of memories together while on our 'Safari Kubwa'.

This is our teeny room...there is no picture of the bathroom, but this room looks massive in comparison lol!

Figuring out the Metro map and where all of our stops are for the next day.

Before leaving, I made a list of all the places we wanted to see and do while in Paris. (There are some incredible websites that gave us some really great travel tips on how to make the most of every day/budget etc.) We composed a list of what we would do each day....I know I have OCD..but we did EVERYTHING we wanted in three very packed days!

Very tired and up very early but excited for our first day to explore Paris.

***Three posts to follow documenting the remainder of our trip....however the following posts will not be quite as long!

It's Midterm Week!

So this week in our household (flat) it's a bit of a stress-ball of a week. Dave is in the middle of writing his first set of midterms and is studying like crazy. And I thought that I didn't see him before when he just had class....this week it seems I have had A LOT of time to myself (I shouldn't complain though, I am getting a lot of things done and organized and am so proud of how hard my husband works....I could never do what he does!).

This week I wanted to do something for Dave to try and ease the stress of exams. I started thinking and realized that the one thing that my husband LOVES (well one of many things) is home cooked meals and baked goods. He isn't really a chocolate person (which is just wrong in my opinion) but instead loves home baked cookies, pies, muffins and so on.

This week my task was to find some new recipes to try and to have a new dessert every day this week...my goal was for him to be excited to see what we were having each night and hopefully make him think less of exams...although I think it only worked for about 20 minutes (the time we were eating) and then back to the books for him...and dishes for me!

Every week (although I usually have this done about two weeks in advance) I create a meal plan and a grocery list to help try and organize our lives. To be very honest, this really is the first year of our marriage (although we have been married for four years) where we have some what been able to establish a routine. 

Our Photo, Receipts and Menu Board! I am a 'visual learner' so all of these things aid in my need to be organized! (And Mama and Papa your post card arrived...it's right above our "travel" envelope)

Our weekly Menu along with the recipes for each meal attached and easily accessible!

This weeks Menu! The times on there are not me being crazy of when to start dinner...it's so that I know when Dave will be home that day from school!

During our first three years of marriage both of us were in school and both working two jobs. Having a meal plan, let alone a dessert plan was not our #1 (Thank goodness we had Mama's Kitchen fully stocked in our freezer!!!).

I am a creative person by nature and I have found that I am loving 'creating' in the kitchen. I have realized with a little confidence, a loving and supportive husband and time...anything is possible!!!

I feel as though for the first time we are "falling" into the routine of married life and have a glimpse of what our lives will be like for the next few years (although with so much "unknown" at this point...who knows what will happen!).

One of the things that is a little hard to get use to here in England (and can be a very tiring process) is that you have to do groceries almost weekly and it isn't a "one stop shop"...Oh how I wish there was a Target!  I spent 3 hours monday trying to locate all the ingredients that I needed for this week...hence why I need to have a list (and basically a GPS that shows me the exact location of each item...hmm I wonder if there is an App. for that???).

So on today's Menu:

Dinner: Three Cheese Chicken Alfredo Baked with Buns
Dessert: Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies.

I am obsessed with the site Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) (It's a love/hate relationship at this point lol) and have been getting all of these great ideas and recipes for our meal plans off of there. I actually tried two recipes yesterday but unfortunately do not have pictures to show.

But I thought I would add the pictures from today to show just how easy each one was. Both recipes turned out amazing (the Alfredo is definitely for at least a family of four. We're a family of two. You do the math of how long we will be eating this!).  And the dessert was AMAZING!!! I loved it because after words I individiually wrapped the dessert so that all you have to do is grab it and go and you have a sweet treat in your lunch.


Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Baked:

First you cook chicken breast (add seasoning as desired) and cook your pasta (I did Penne)

Cut your chicken into small cubes or strips (Leave this for now)

In a bowl you are going to mix: 1 cup Sour Cream, 2 cups Ricotta Cheese, 2 1/2 cups Alfredo Sauce ( I would add a little more), 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 eggs and fresh parsley. Basically add as much (or little) of each  depending on how much sauce you want. Then add your chicken and pasta to this sauce.

After mixing in the chicken and pasta with the sauce and sprinkling Mozzarella on top, this is what it will look like! Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Dave was very excited! He approved!

Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies:

So I couldn't find Graham crackers anywhere...and when I asked, no one knew what I was talking about. I found this "graham cracker pie crust" and thought...yep this will have to do.

I broke the crust apart and added a little melted butter to make it all stick together.

Cut three snickers bars into small pieces (and set aside)

Added the graham crackers and packed them down to create a "shell or crust" for the filling

Baked the graham crackers for 5 minutes at 350 degrees

This is the cream cheese filling (sorry no photos of the process). Basically cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, sugar and caramel all combined and the snickers bars crumbled on top (once cream cheese filling is in the graham cracker crust). Then you bake these for 25 minutes at 350.

Individual cheesecakes! So Yummy. Wouldn't these be so cute wrapped for little gifts...hahah girls you may be getting some gifts soon!

Added a little whip cream and caramel (not in picture).

One teeny tiny bottle of vanilla...yes everything is small in England!

I had to go everywhere searching for caramel sauce! But this sauce was REALLY good!

We LOVED this dessert. We will certainly be making it again...once we have eaten all the dessert currently in the house lol!

What did you make for dinner tonight? Perhaps it will be our next meal and make it onto our "Menu Board".

Octoburrrrrr in Cananda!

This morning when I woke up, I was checking facebook and noticed that a few friends and family had posted that it had snowed today in Canada!!! This is not surprising to say the least.

Growing up in a small town in Ontario, we got use to the idea that come October it meant winter was on its way.  This meant that it was time to "winterize" the cottage and the final weekend was spent at the lake (right around thanksgiving) until the spring months rolled around again, and the snow had melted!  (Usually the first 'swim' of the year is right around the time that the ice starts to melt, but still cold enough that you can't feel any part of your body when you get out (and you break the ice chunks as you try to swim!))

Octoburrrr in Canada Means:

* the bears prepare for hibernation and I wonder if this will be the year that I hit a deer with my car!

*You switch from AC/to heat all in one week.

*You get everything out for winter attire: including stocking up on plastic bags to line the inside of your winter boots so you don't get a soaker!!

*The snow tires come out.

*Half of the men go missing because hunting season has arrived

* Your Halloween costume is based solely around the premise of "will a snow suit fit under this?". Halloween in Cananda is less about the 'candy' and more about the prevention of frost bite.

*You start to see more 'snowmobiles' in the parking lot at school than cars.

* Snow days occur, but since there are more 'snowmobiles' in the parking lot than cars, this really is no excuse to miss class.

This is Octoburrrr in Canada!

So October 1st officially marks the first snow fall of the year...but we aren't in Cananda this year!  As I think about all our family and friends that are watching the beautiful snow fall, we are enjoying the amazing (almost summer-like) weather here in Newcastle. 

Girls on our Picnic in Jesmond Dene park (right by our flats)

Jules and Kimmy

I love this park!

Where's Waldo?

Isn't she gorgeous? Sorry boys, she's taken!

On the patio in October!

The three of us enjoying every minute of life in Newcastle!