Paris: Half the excitement is getting there

On June 17th Indy and I hopped a fast train to Paris. In a mere 3 hours and 20 minutes we would be strolling the streets and munching on authentic croissants (they really do taste better in France, trust me). Or so we thought. We made our connection with no problems and things were zipping along fine (except that our seats were rear facing and despite taking 2 Dramamine, I was feeling queasy) until we got to Kaiserslautern (K-Town). We stopped at the station and didn't move. For a long time.  The conductor finally came over the intercom and said something in German.  I thought I understood him, but then realized I had to be wrong.  He couldn't have said that, could he???  A passing train worker walked by and I stopped him to ask what was going on.  He confirmed what I thought I heard:  the train in front of us hit a PERSON on the track.  Shut the front door! 
We finally arrived in Paris 2.5 hours late, but since the Louvre is open late on Friday's and that was our plan for the evening, we didn't mind.  We checked into the hotel and off to the Louvre we went (this was Indy's idea BTW).  The next few hours were spent looking at painting, sculptures, and antiquities.

If you've seen The DaVinci Code, you'll recognize this:

After walking through the Medieval Louvre, the first place we headed was of course the Egyptian exhibit:

Like his father, who got in trouble at the Louvre about 12 years ago for touching a piece of art, Indy couldn't resist the lure of this ancient piece.  To be honest though, Indy didn't actually touch it (he just pretended).  James Bond, did touch and in about 5 seconds a guard swooped out of nowhere and told him not to touch the art.

Being a silly monkey:

And a Pharaoh:

Finally, finally, after passing thousands of objects and dozens and dozens of sarcophagi, during which time Indy sang the Indian Jones theme song, louder and louder, we made it to the one thing he was most excited about:  The mummy! He's seen it before, but was still crazy excited:

Once I was able to drag him from the mummy (seriously, I had to grab his shirt and pull him away), we headed for the Roman and Greek sculpture.  It was his idea to pose like the statue:

After about 800 miles and 30,000 stairs (if you've been to the Louvre, you know I'm not exaggerating that much), we ended up at what is arguably the most famous work of art houses at the Louvre: The Mona Lisa.  It's almost impossible to get anywhere near her.  Being small and intrepid though, Indy wove his way toward the front.

Since we spent a full week studying DaVinci  last month, we also went to see the 5 other DaVinci paintings that are there and discussed how he used shadows, light and blurred edges to create depth, where other painters of the same era often had little or no depth in their paintings.  Indy was particularly fascinated by his painting of John the Baptist:

We sat on one of the big round sofas for a few minutes to rest and then went over to one of my favorite sections, the large scale art.  I'm fascinated by these HUGE canvases.  One I particularly like is the painting of Napoleon crowning himself.  I had Indy stand in front of it so you could see how massive this thing really is:

Can you imagine how much time it took to paint that????  And, not only that, but the artist painted a second one the same size that now hangs in Versailles.  He made one change to the second painting though.  I'll show you that when I post about our day at Versailles.

Sadly, my hands down, absolute favorite exhibit was closed for renovation.  Nooooo!  What is it, you might wonder?  The crown jewels of course!  The had a few on display in front of the section with a big sign telling us that the full exhibit would reopen in early 2012.  I think I would look fabulous in either of these:

By 8pm, we were done.  D-O-N-E, done.   We were hungry, but also exhausted and I didn't feel like going out on the street to find a restaurant.  There is a high end (and pricey) international food court in the underground maze of shops connected to the Louvre, so we opted to eat there.  The variety of foods is amazing.  There is Middle Eastern, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish and American.  All the restaurants offer sumptuous national dishes.  What is America represented by?  McDonalds.  D'Oh!  I decided to have Ratatouille (yum!) and Indy wanted squid salad????  He got incredibly excited when he saw it.  Since it was  €9 for a small plate, I questioned his choice.  He put his hands on his hips and said "Mom, it's France.  We have to eat squids and snails!"  Okay.  He ordered it (and a slice of brick oven pizza from the Italian place) and we sat down to eat.  It felt so good to sit!  I couldn't let him dive in to his squid salad though before getting a photo of if:

He ate every bite of if!  Crazy little boy!

I hope you enjoyed our first day in Paris.  I've got more to come!

Popcorn Love and Kernel Season's

Do you like popcorn? We do. We LOVE it. We eat it all the time. A few years ago, our microwave was on the fritz so we had to resort to actually popping it on the stove! You know what? It was FANTASTIC. It tasted so much better than the bland over salted, under popped, microwave popcorn we'd gotten used to. Since then we've always popped it on the stove. We've found Orville Redenbacher pops the best and biggest kernels. As much as we love our popcorn, it wouldn't be the same without our favorite topping, Kernel Season's White Cheddar Popcorn Seasoning. We first discovered it in a movie theater in Illinois and had to buy some to use at home.  It made popcorn even better without adding a ton of fat or calories.  Yay! 

***Let me stop right here and say this is NOT a paid advertisement. I have gotten nothing for writing this,was not asked to do a review, was not offered a sponsorship and not expect anything for my thoughts.  I just think if you find a great product and a great company, you should tell people about it.***

Okay, now that that is out of the way, let's move on.  We could not find our favorite topping overseas, so I had my family ship some to us, but the stores where they live are frequently out of the white cheddar (because it's so freaking awesome) .  One day, quite by accident, I found their website, where I could order it online and have it shipped directly to me!  Oh, happy day!  Several months back, I ordered 5 bottles of it and a week later a lovely box arrived at our post office with the return address for Kernel Season's.  You'd have thought it was Christmas we were so excited.  When we opened the box, we discovered not 5, but 10 bottles of white cheddar topping and a note that read "Thank your for your service.  We've doubled your order so you have some to share."  Unbelievable.  I sent a few bottles to a friend of ours in the sandbox and he was extremely grateful.  We recently were down to our last bottle (gasp!) so I ran to the internet to order more. This time, I ordered 10 (it came with free shipping and was only $5 more than buying 5 and paying shipping).  A box came today and instead of the 10 I ordered, there were 20 bottles!!!!  Holy guacamole!  Once again there was a note to James Bond thanking him for his service and stating that they had doubled our order so we would be able to share a taste of home.  What an amazing company!  It's rare these days to find a for profit company that shows their appreciation in this way to the military.  We will be sending a few bottles to friends who are deployed and absolutely enjoying the rest.  They have 16 different flavors of topping, both savory and sweet, and they can be used on more than just popcorn: vegetables, dips, casseroles, etc (they have great recipes on their site).   They also carry other popcorn related products and amazing gift packs.  You can order online or use their store locator to find them locally.  Please support companies that support our troops and their families.
James Bond (popcorn popper extraordinaire) is whipping up a batch for us right now. 

Cravings

First, I want to thank you all for the congratulations that have been pouring in since my last post.   You're all too sweet.  I should also say (because I was asked), that no, this was not planed at all, and yes, we were completely shocked and surprised.  I promise that my blog will not become all about pregnancy and babies.  I know you come here for my charm and rapier wit (and occasional rhapsodies about shoes), and that will continue despite the fact that I apparently have an Olympic gymnast doing an elaborate routine inside my body cavity.  Today, though I do want to chat about pregnancy.  More specifically the cravings that come with pregnancy.
When I was pregnant with Indy, I didn't have many cravings, just some weird food issues.   I spent several weeks unable to eat anything hot.  Not that I couldn't eat cooked food, I just had to wait for it to get cold.  It drove James Bond crazy.  I also drank gallons of chocolate milk.  I have no idea why, but I HAD to have it.  We went through so much milk and chocolate syrup it was kind of ridiculous.  Toward the end of my pregnancy, I ate so many blackberries it's a wonder I didn't turn purple.  I was lucky that they happened to be in season and growing wild along the paths that wound behind our housing complex.  James Bond and I would go for a walk and come back with grocery bags full of them (and I may have come home with a wildly purple tongue, but that's kind of all a blur).

This time, I only went through a (mercifully) short phase of eating my food cold and taking a bite of something only to discover that something I normally loved made me queasy.  Being pregnant is WEIRD.  For the past several weeks, I have wanted fruit.  Fruit, fruit, fruit!  Any kind of fruit: grapefruit, mangoes, plums, cherries, strawberries, you name it.  If it's a fruit, I want it.  My absolute favorite though is clementines.  Oh, sweet, sweet, little clementines!  I sat down one day and ate an entire 2lb bag of them (thank goodness they are crazy low in calories and I have treadmill).  I buy them every time I go to the store and they only last a day or two at most.  James Bond is a HUGE fan of clementines, and I have to make myself NOT give him the stink eye every time he eats one.  In my mind I think How could you eat that?  You know I'm pregnant and love them!  You hate me, don't you?  Then I calm myself down and remember that he has to eat too.  Or something.  Fortunately, clementines are good for me, so it's not such a bad craving, I guess. Side note, I had to pause in typing this post to go eat 4 clementines.  YUMMY!

Tomatoes are another strange craving.  Mmmmmmm.....tomatoes.  Maybe I really need lycopene?  I don't know, but there have been evenings where I couldn't stomach the thought of whatever I had made for James Bond and Indy for dinner, that my entire meal consisted of sliced tomatoes followed by several clementines.  Delicious!

My other craving though, is sooooo not good, but I can't help myself (just looking at the photo makes my mouth water-seriously).  It started back before Halloween, when I bought several bags of candy to hand out to the little goblins who would come looking for goodies.  I picked up a bag of Willy Wonka Mix-ups, that included Nerds, Sweettarts and Bottle Caps.  Oh, sweet, yummy, bottle caps!  Before Halloween had rolled around I had eaten every little 3 pack included in the bag.  At one point I was so desperate I went to the store to pick up another bag only to find that they had sold out.  I almost cried.  On Halloween night, Indy went through his candy bucket and pulled out all the little packets of Bottle Caps he'd gotten and gave them to me (is there any wonder I adore that boy?)  Unfortunately, I can't find them anywhere over here.  I even tried to buy some from Amazon (I'm desperate here people!) only to find that they won't ship them to an APO (Army Post Office) address.  WHY AMAZON?  WHY???  Do you hate pregnant women?  Do you???  I thought about sending them to my mom and having her ship them to me, but the cost of that could become insane.  My mom and step-dad (bless them) even went store hopping to find some for me, but couldn't.  I am awash in sadness.  Whatever shall I do??

Don't those look delicious?  :(

In search of the perfect (veggie) burger

You may or may not know this about me, but I don't eat beef or pork. It icks me out. Sadly, the last real hamburger I ever ate was from Hardees. I was 12. The year was...a long time ago. For some reason something about that last burger just put me off meat and while it bothers some people (Mr. HH being first and foremost among these, though I have no idea why), I've never looked back. I do eat veggie burgers and find them delicious. I'm not a fan of the Boca brand, as I think they taste weird (a bit metallic IMO), but I really like MorningStar Farms. In fact, I like most MorningStar Farm products. Even Mr. HH likes the riblettes. Indy will eat pretty much anything, so he's on board with whatever I put in front of him.
Many restaurants now offer a veggie burger, usually either Boca or MorningStar Farms. Indy and I went to McDonalds for lunch today and they now carry a veggie burger. Yay for me! It looked different in the ginormous photo than what I'm used to seeing, but for €1,10 (about $1.30) what did I really have to lose? I ordered Indy a cheese burger Happy Meal and a chicken burger (not really a chicken burger, just a small chicken patty on a bun) without sauce and myself a veggie burger ohne (without) mayonnaise. I loath mayonnaise and do not understand the European obsession with it. When you order fries in Europe, they ask if you want ketchup or mayo for them. Ewwwwwww! Anyway, we sat down and tucked in. The veggie burger was...not quite what I expected. When I think veggie burger, I think of something brown made from veggies, soy and stuff and resembles a typical beef burger. Sounds reasonable, right? Yeah, not so much in Germany. When they say veggie burger, they literally mean veggies. There were red peppers (slightly spicy), green peppers, carrots, corn and what I'm pretty sure was zucchini, all held together with some sort of...glue like substance that I think was corn meal, but I'm not sure. It was surprisingly good, but tasted nothing like what I thought it would. The texture was unexpected, as were the large chunks of vegetables, but overall, something I would eat again and was happy to have as an alternative to salads. BTW, you can see the veggie burger here.

Oh, here's a weird thing about McDonald's in Germany. You can't order cheese on anything unless it's an option (ie. burger or cheese burger). Indy likes cheese on his chicken sandwiches, but they will not put it on there. When I asked why, the cashier looked at me like I'd lost my mind and said "Because it's not an option on that." Well, that explains it. Or not. I mean how hard is it to slap a piece of cheese (which they HAVE) onto a chicken burger? So, maybe there's no button on the register, but why can't they charge for 2 extra ketchup packets and call it a day? That's another thing, you get once packet of ketchup with a menu meal or Happy Meal. If you just order fries or want an extra packet, they charge you for it. €0.25 per packet. Madness!

No kitchen for you part zwei: the McDonald's version

TOM had surgery the other day (he is seriously broken, I think this is surgery 4 or 5 in the last 3 years) and the Contessa ran away because OMG are men babies when they're wounded stopped over tonight to pick up some books and have a glass of wine. She said last night they were hungry but she didn't feel like cooking. TOM (still on drugs because he would never have said this if he weren't) told her just to go to McDonald's and grab some cheeseburgers. She went up to the counter and there was an older Turkish woman at the register. Contessa ordered 8 cheeseburgers from the 1 Euro menu and OTW (Old Turkish Woman) told her "Nein!" Contessa said she looked around to make sure OTW was talking to her because um, why not? Contessa said there was no confusion in her order. She ordered in German and even pointed to what she wanted, holding up 8 fingers. Sometimes we do the most ridiculous things to make sure we're communicating correctly. Even if we have the right words, our "accents" often get in the way. Contessa ordered her 8 cheeseburgers again, and OTW shook her finger in Contessa's face and said "Nein! Nur eins!" (No! Only one!). The guy behind Contessa backed up. Apparently he was afraid the little American woman was going to go crazy on OTW (perhaps he was my painter from a few weeks ago and had some experience with crazy Americans?). Contessa said (in English) "Go get your manager" which OTW had no problems understanding and headed off to the back, returning with Manager who spoke perfect English. Contessa explained that she wanted 8 cheeseburgers and he said it was "not a problem" (a very German answer) and started to ring her up. OTW, told him nein and again asserted that she Contessa could only have 1. Manager babbled back at her in German and she was firm that Contessa could NOT have 8 cheeseburgers. Manager sent OTW to the back but before she went, she tossed a towel on the counter, said some unflattering things in German (it's amazing how we may not speak fluent German, but we KNOW the bad stuff) and stalked off. Manager rang up Contessa and completed her order, apologizing for OTW. Contessa still has no idea why OTW didn't want her to have 8 cheeseburgers and everyone else seemed just as perplexed. Isn't that odd? If only she'd said "No kitchen for you!"

A trip to Aldi and a look at "American" foods

After I dropped Indy off at summer camp (squeeeeeee!) I went over to one of our local Aldi's (seriously, they are everywhere) to pick up a few things. I mentioned the other day how they had all these "American" items for sale, presumably to celebrate the 4th of July. Who knows? I got a super duper cool new phone yesterday that has a 5mp camera (with zoom!) and I decided to take a few photos to entertain you. The Germans thought I was nuts. Nothing new there. Snap on crazy American. Snap on.



First we need a cart. See them? They're all chained together. If you need one, you have to put in a 1 Euro coin to release the chain. To get your coin back, you have to return the cart and chain it back up. No loose carts scratching up the paint on your car or blocking a parking space. Brilliant, isn't it?


I often forget or simply don't have a 1 Euro coin, but have been blessed with this happy little guy. Isn't he cute? He fits on my key chain and is always handy. Look closely at the white eyes and mouth. What could that be?


Why, it's a little coin made to fit in shopping carts! Genius!


Let's have a look at some "American" items, shall we? American Sandwich bread. Whole Wheat.



Blueberry and Cranberry juice. Have you ever seen blueberry juice in America (other than Whole Foods or some other such store)?


Plain and Garlic wraps.


Sandwich pickles (they are NOT dill, but more like bread and butter pickles-ick).


Blueberry and Chocolate Chip muffins. Yummy!


Peanut Butter! Crunchy and Smooth. This is a HUGE deal. Most Europeans don't eat peanut butter, but the ones who do, love it. Worship it, almost. Probably because it's so hard to find. My friend bought a gold and diamond bracelet in Italy (not off the street, at a real jewelry store) for a case of Jiffy. Can you imagine? The store owner knew they were Americans and told them his grandchildren loved Jiffy, but couldn't get it. If they got him a case, he's let them have the bracelet. When I go to Italy, I'm bringing cases of the stuff!
There was a guy in the store who was loading his cart up with jar after jar of peanut butter and giving me the evil eye. I had to take the pic before he wiped it out. If I knew the words in German I'd have told him he had nothing to worry about because I loath peanut butter.


Marshmallows are an American thing. I did not know, but it has been confirmed by several European friends. I also didn't know there was a "Traditional BBQ" style.


This is quite possibly the most disgusting thing there. Just the thought makes me shiver. It's swirled ketchup and mayo (which I have to admit does look very patriotic), or swirled ketchup and mustard. Ewwwww. Click on the photo for a close up. That so does not look appetizing.


Sweet popcorn? Yuck. The butter popcorn was sold out.


Donut mix? Do we make donuts?


Apparently, we do. There is even an American Donut maker.


I cruised over to the frozen foods, but all the American ice cream was gone. Probably the same day it was put out. Germans LOVE American ice cream. I prefer the German style. Funny, huh?
They did have BBQ spare ribs though.


And Ribeye Steak.


And popcorn "shrimps" in little containers that look like Chinese containers. Wonder why?



After Aldi, I walked about a block down the road and braved 2 lanes of traffic and strassenbahn tracks to get to Mantei. What is Montei, you ask? Heaven, I say. Heaven.


Okay, maybe it's just a bakery, but what a bakery.


I was drawn in not by the healthy breakfast offerings, but by this little temptress:


Choices, choices! It came down to this. No, not the "American" style donut, but the 2 types of chocolate croissant. The one with the chocolate on top is quite sweet, so I went with the flatter one that looks like it needs a bathroom. Yes, that's dark chocolate oozing out of it. Bliss.


Look at it, so pretty, nestled in its little bag, just waiting for me . In the immortal words the cutie pie Justin Timberlake (don't worry Johnny, any affection I feel for JT is purely familial, like a little brother, my heart still belongs to you. And Edward Cullen but we won't talk about that right now), in the song Love Stoned, which I was listening to in the car: "Hot Dayum!"


Want to see it again? Well, okay, here it....wait? Where did it go?

Oh, yeah, I ate it! And it was AMAZING! If you've never had a chocolate croissant, I feel sad for you. I won't rub it in your face that I can get one pretty much anytime I want (which is completely true), I will honestly feel bad that you can't have one too. They are soooooooooo freaking good. If you ever see one at Panera, Whole Foods, or a really good bakery (good being the key word there), buy one. No, buy two. Run away squeeling and eat it with sheer joy.