Far, Far from Vichy

Okay, I know that I have been saying that I am plumping out a bit, I blame the grande cafes and the brioche, but you should see my legs, the part below the knee at least. Richard Simmons would be so proud. Man, those things have some muscle. It's excellent. Overall, I'm in pretty good shape. I am really sore every morning, but once I get up and moving, things are okay. I have no idea how the guys in Iraq do it.

My shoes on the other hand, the Vans, are taking a beating. When I wear them to walk like a normal person, they are fine. When I start hiking in them for hours, it's a little tough. On them, on me. But that is when I go into full America mode and put on my Pink Nike Free's. Wow, but at least then I am unstoppable. I wish I had worn those today. You'll see why.

This is gonna be a short post I think, we'll see. So below is a picture of Brandon's refrigerator. Everytime someone opened it.... it was bad. Really bad.

What we found that had to go:

Open can of canned tomatoes covered in foil

Cheese

Open package of shrimp

Cheeese

Ham, expired 3/30

Cheese

Turkey, expired 3/30

Ricotta cheese, expired 2/15

Cheese

Open container of sauce BBQ

Open container of sauce Mexican

Eggs, expired 2/23

Cheese

I am sure you can use your imagination here.

Meanwhile, it was actually time to eat something that was in fact not expired.

Hmmm, looking better?

For lunch, we were doing chili, as mentioned yesterday. It turned out really well. Claire cooked while Brandon purged the fridge, while I did what I do best. Here's where it all happens. And to be honest, writing these things takes forever. Thankfully, I have people at my beck and call to keep my nourished.

Here they are, travailing away. Altogether, we had the chili, we/they made cornbread, and then Claire made these amazing cookies out of muesli. I have eaten like 10 at this point and I'm not kidding. Actually, for breakfast this morning, I had Special K Dark Chocolate cereal, two slices of chocolate chip brioche, and one of those cookies. No wonder I feel so gross.

Here's the cookie batter.

And the cornbread.

And the finished product.

Don't forget the cookies.

So, all of this looks all well and good, and it was. But I will leave you with something for your imagination that may nor may not be too much information. If you are a faithful reader of my blog, you will remember that two days ago, we had vegetable soup, which consisted of vegetables and beans, yesterday we had the same vegetable soup, and today we are eating chili. Alright, ready, set, go! Where do you think I am going with this. I think that you can figure it out. Add that to quantities of French cheese and I think you can go ever further.

In other news, Coachella finished up this weekend in California. It was the first year they did two weekends. The lineup seemed great, as did all of the clothing. I now feel like I should buy even shorter shorts to compete with the heat this summer. Also, I can only imagine how many drugs were consumed in this two week period. A Google search only led to me to see that Vanessa Hudgens and Rhianna are on the outs. What will France do without their precious Rhianna!

Claire's train left for Lyon at 2:30, her last week of work before she moves to Paris! We finished up our food, yes, and dashed for the train station. Mind you, the only thing I had done so far that day was blog and eat, and then scramble for my "big" pants to look half European-decent for the day. I put on my uniform of a black hoodie, brown leather jacket, black purse, jeans, and vans with extremely dirty socks because I only have three pairs that don't show, and we headed out.

Notice my outfit below, it's the same thing I wear everyday, with the exception of my undergarments and my shirt. Today, I opted for my over sized, "Save the Music" billabong t-shirt over an american apparel tank top. Because I know you were dying to know that.

And here is Claire through the window of the train. Many people, including Claire, found it bizarre that I was taking a picture. But I am a bit bizarre and so that is that. Hopefully, we'll get to see her again in Paris for a day, as Brandon and I will be flying back through there on our way back to France from Budapest. We are also coming into the airport that is right next to Disneyworld, but I think it's a pretty fat chance that we'll be going there. I can dream.

We left the gare with no plans. And then the sun came out and it started to rain. Strange combo, but apparently in Vichy, you can have rain and sun, or no sun and no rain. 

Brandon decided that he should buy a backpack for our upcoming trip. Decathalon, the sporting goods store, is in the next town over. You can get there by bus, however, we decided to walk. But not without first getting our daily dose of candy.

Brandon's

Mine

So we began our walk. Okay fun story.... joke. Last Christmas, I went to buy my mother a Longchamp, Le Pliage bag at Nordstrom, basically the only place that sells them in the US. These bags are uber! popular in France. Literally, everyone has one. They are great, huge, super durable, the whole nine yards, whatever.

Well, I go to Nordstrom and they feed me some story about how Longchamp is no longer making these, they are discontinuing the line, buy as many as you can now, crap. I was shocked, to be honest, this is like Starbucks ceasing to sell coffee and only service frappachinos. So, so, so bizarre. I meant to ask Claire about this at the time but forgot. Fast forward to now, I do tell Claire about it and she freaks. She has like four of these bags. So, immediately, we march over to Galleries Lafayette to ask.

When we tell the salesladies this, they freak out more than Claire. I would go so far to say that they were appalled by the blasphemy that is being circulated in America. And then they assured us that in no way was the line discontinued. That would be a catastrophe!

Fast forward more... I see them in shops everywhere. So Nordstrom you suck, get your information straight, I'll be calling you soon to voice my thoughts.

Like I said earlier, it's flower planting week in France, really pretty flowers.

So we started walking. It's raining, thank god it's not too cold, it's a pretty view, but mostly it's really far.

And walking....

This is a chain here... so weird.

Altogether, Decathalon was closed and we walked for two hours, about six miles. But the time we made it to a cafe, I was done. My god, my feet were killing me. Brandon and I went, ironically and without intention, to the cafe that creepy english dude had suggested the night before. It was fine. We tried to read, but ended up talking about something, can't really remember what it was.

After, we headed to Monoprix to get some food and found this. So weird again! It's popcorn kernels to pop, fine whatever, but look at the image in the top left corner. They are suggesting you put it on salad! Has anyone ever heard of that? Those French!

Afterwards at home, Brandon and I sat down to actually start planning our trip. Yeah, it's getting kinda late and close to when we're leaving, but what are you going to do. Then, like always, my hand is shaking and Brandon says, "Britt, your hand is shaking."

Um, yeah! My hand always shakes. And then he asks, "Why?"

This was the most bizarre event. I am always shaking! So weird. Anyway, I was hungry, obviously, so I went to make food. Can you tell what we are having tonight.

And then the planning continued. We did this for hours and I feel like we made a 2% dent in what actually needs to happen before we leave.

But yeah. We did that until about 12:30. I ate a million cookies and Brandon still had to prep for school in the morning. But it was fun. We have a bunch of cool plans, the hardest part is not finding what to do, but the best things to do. I am sure that it will be great and all of this will pay off.

Now, I better get off this computer before Brandon comes back. I have basically been living off of it for days. It's my oxygen. I would be getting annoyed with myself!

Thanks to everyone who is reading, I hope that you are enjoying it. As much trouble as it is sometimes to sit down and write this, it is always fun in the end. Let me know what you think!

Britt