This last week

So this past week we visited the Notre Dame. It's a monument in which we always pass by and have visited several times. However, we rushed to visit the cathedral this time because they were in the process of changing their bells. They had all of their new bells displayed down the center of the aisle. They're huge! And to imagine that they are only held up by pillars of wood. Each bell is named after a saint and creates a different note. It was extremely crowded, but I still managed to catch a couple of pictures....ignore the strangers in the photos =P

Musical bells of the Notre Dame

The underside of a bell (See how big they are compared the that lady's head!)

This one is named St. Denis

There was also mass going on so we saw the first part of the service. It was interesting because the Notre Dame is in possession of 3 relics of Christ that have been passed down through the ages: a nail, a piece of the cross and the crown of thorns. During the beginning of the mass (at least this one) they had all three relics out and people went up to kiss the crown of thorns. We were only on the outskirts of the congregation so I could barely see it....here's a picture.....but it's miniscule.

The nail and the piece of the cross are on stage and the crown in somewhere in the middle of the crowd

This past weekend we went to Cannes to visit Germain's parents. It was a short and busy weekend, but we were able to fit in a good meal! On Saturday night, Germain's parents took us to a restaurant in Mougin to celebrate Germain's very belated birthday.

Seafood bisque in a flaky pastry (Vol-au-vent)

Filet mignon of Porc with a caramelized onion sauce; pumpkin puree, kale chips and sauted cepes wrapped in cabbage

Goat cheese, fig preserves, candied sage leaf and homemade cookie

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate........need I say more?

And surprising so, it was snowing in Cannes. Supposedly it is a rare thing for it to snow big flakes in Cannes....and for the snow to stick. So I wished for snow and I get snow in an unusual way!

It was dark so I could only take a picture of the snow on the leaves.

Dinner

For the holidays (chinese new years), Germain and I went out on a date for dinner....not really, it was just an excuse =P I've been craving a good juicy burger for days, and they're not as common here in France as they are in the States. In the States, I can just go to Five Guys and my craving will be fulfilled. But here, fast food burgers just don't cut it. So we went to a restaurant where we ate a good juicy BIG burger before. It was yummy!

Some kind of melted goat cheese dip. It was good.

My Big Juicy Burger with a slice of Foie Gras and Home Made Fries ^_^

Germain's Big Cote de Porc with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Dessert: Creme Brulee

Chinatown

Earlier this week, I took a trip over to Chinatown to grab lunch with a friend. Since it is so cold outside, a warm bowl of Pho sounded wonderful! And boy was it!

House Special Pho

Afterwards we stopped by for boba tea. I should have gotten warm tea, but hehe....I got cold lychee boba tea ^_^

Lychee Boba Tea

Taiwanese snack from my friend

And here's a pretty picture I forgot to post a while ago. It was a couple days after our big snow. We took a walk towards the Louvre and this was one of the ponds in the Tuileries. Part of the water in the ice was still frozen. Hehe....I don't think I've seen that before!

Half frozen pond