More New Years Eve Photos

Only shot I got of Notre Dame since the line was so long

 

Daunting view down the stairs you climb to the top of the Arc de Triumph.  Over 250.

Eiffel Tower from Arc de Triumph

 

Champs Elysee from Arc

 

Grave of the unknown soldier and eternal flame.  The flame has only gone out twice, once by a Mexican peeing on it and once by Austrailans roasting sausage over it.

 

Blurry photo of the both of us at Montmatre on NYE

 

 

 

Bonne Annee...Kinda: New Years Eve

Warning, This post contains a lot of ranting about the incompetency of Paris.

Well, how to begin...my New Year in Paris was...unexpected.  I knew there would be a crap ton of people, I knew things would probably close early, I knew lines would be crazy, but figured I could pass them up with my Pass Education for the most part like in Versailles.  What I wasn't expecting was how much all these thing I knew would happen would annoy me to no end.  Oh and that friggin Pass Education doesn't let you cut lines, super lame.  Especially since we bought Matt the Paris pass just so we could cut lines.  I learned that no matter how much I prepare myself for utter chaos, doesn't mean I will be able to tolerate it.  I also learned that when I comes to New Years, I'm staying at home where it's warm and dry and watching other people freeze their asses off as the ball drops in New York. 

Dec 31st: New Years Eve

We decided to start the day off a bit late since Matt wasn't feeling good, and we had already gone to bed at like 10:30 the night before.  We got up around 10am and then took our time getting ready and went to the store for breakfast stuff (yay pain au chocolate and OJ, Matt's favorite).  We wanted to take a guided tour of Notre Dame our Free Europe Tour guide had told us about.  It said they were on Mondays at 12:30 so we hit the metro around 11:30 to get there in time.  Once we got there we were first horrified at how long the line was to get into the church alone.  Thankfully I later found out it goes very quickly so no big.  But then we found out our tour guide was wrong and the tours were not on Monday at all, but on Wednesdays at 2:00 (1st irksome thing of the day)  We ended deciding to skip going to the top of Notre Dame since the line was so long.  Maybe a good thing, because we would have been more pissed to find out once we got inside the cathedral, the line for the tower was actually on the other side outside the church.  And this line I also later found out was just as long as the second, only it moved at a snails pace.  So maybe avoiding that was a good thing. 

Instead we went to the Arc de Triumph to see the view from there since it was in Matt's Paris Pass.  Once we got there we were excited to finally get to skip a ticket line, yay!....Not so yay.  Matt got to skip but for some stupid reason I had to go wait in line just to get a free ticket with my Pass Education.  I only had to wait about 15 mins, but I was still baffled at how troublesome and just pointless the French have to make some things.  I understand they may want to keep track of how many free pass they give away, but why not instead just have someone, I don't know, take tally at the entrance?  Very simple, makes sense, gets the same job done but makes people happy.  But oh no, we can't have that.  Making things simple is just not the French way.  Thing must always be complex and full of silly rules.  (2nd irksome thing of the day)

Anyway, I wait, we go up, see the view for all of 10 mins (totally not worth 9.50 euros, btw).  Then we decide to get lunch before going to the Organgerie Museum (not about Oranges, it has impressionist art, mainly Monet's Water Lillies).  I wanted Matt to try Quick since I actually like it a bit more than McDonald's, at least in France.  First off in Paris they have the name completely wrong.  It is no Quick.  It is quite non-quick actually.  How about instead we call it Slow, Very Slow.  Because that's what it was.  I really want to know why Paris restaurants are jam packed at all hours.  we had lunch at about 2:30 and there was still a hoard of people in the place.  I placed our order on the cool kiosks they have to hopefully makes things faster.  Nope, they have no clue what they are doing when fill orders.  McDonald's would wipe the floor with these people.  You would think they would fill orders in the order they get them right?  Nope.  They just do whatevs, a sandwich here, a drink here, some fries here, all at a slow very French pace.  Then the woman filling orders as the gaul to get huffy when people are pissed it was taking so long.  I ended up waiting for about 30 mins in line for 2 sandwiches, drinks and fries.  Redic.  Then my sandwich ended up being cold and she gave us no ketchup so the burger wasn't as good as usual.  I spent most the meal eating in anger and ranting, which a French woman overheard and then asked if we were American.  Yes French Lady, I am American, and today I am embodying a stereotype of them by complaining about how much things suck and how much better we do it in the US...BECAUSE WE DO.  When it comes to customer service and getting shit done, we reign supreme above France.  Deal with it. (3rd irksome thing of the day)

After lunch I made the terrible decision of walking down the Champs Elysee instead of taking the metro to the museum and was accosted by crowds of people which I was already too pissed off with to deal with.  It took about 30 mins just to cross about 6 blocks.  Once at the museum I was at last happy to see the guy at the first line would let me through the fast lane with my Pass Education, just for getting in the museum.  I guess they actually monitor how many people go in to make sure to doesn't get crowded since there were people waiting behind a rope.  That I'm cool with and understand.  Don't need people so squished in you risk hitting a painting.  However I was not cool with the snooty French hag in the museum ordering we to get in line for my free ticket, refusing to say a word of English to me.  I tried saying the guy up front said I could get through with just this but she barked back, no I'm telling you you have to get in line like everyone else.  I tried explaining again but then just finally yelled " will someone please just speak English to me?!"  I  was tired of translating crap and never understand half of what I hear and just wanted someone to talk to me.  To this the woman replied as I walked away (in French of course)  This is France you're not in the United States anymore, to which I turned around and replied in English a phrase everyone knows "Blah Blah Blah!"  I really wanted to say it's snobby French bitches like you that gives the rest of the country a bad name.  That and I really wanted to push her down the stairs she was standing by, but I refrained.  I got my friggin free ticket, and Matt waited for me once again, there by defeating half the purpose of his Paris Pass, and gave the woman a death stair as I passed her again, still refraining from pushing her.  (4th irksome thing of the day)  Oh, and nothing was in English in the museum and I was too annoyed to read in French, fml

By this time I had had it and was fed up with Paris.  I couldn't even enjoy the art in the place, thought the Monet Water Lillies were cool.  Much bigger than I pictured.  I felt like the whole day had been a waste and it was all due to my terrible temper (but also due to the stupid rules.  Gotta blame the French somehow, right?).  It was already about 4:30 so we just decided to call it a day before I killed someone.  Thankfully we had a nice plan for dinner which ended up working out.  We bought a nice roasted chicken and some potatoes, then a king cake and ice cream for dessert.  Plus I also had the Christmas wine I bought back in Orleans at the Food and Wine expo.  We ate in our hotel after I had a nap to cool down.  I think the stress what getting to my immune system because my light cold I got from Matt started to feel worse.  We ate dinner and watched Doctor Who, and wore little paper crown hats as we ate king cake.  The chicken and potatoes were amazing, I must learn the secret behind the French roasted chicken.  Even the Foyer in Orleans makes an amazing one so they've gotta put crack in it or something.  Slowly the even started to get better.  We were so comfy after dinner we almost didn't want to go out for New Years to see what was up.  But my stubbornness to do something different this year over took me and we went out...in the rain...and cold...bad idea. 

Fun crown hats came with our Gallette du Roi

Wonderful dessert and Doctor Who

 

Matt got the little guy in the cake, he looks so happy about almost choking on it

We left around 10:30.  My one umbrella I had was shot so we pretty much got soaked.  I wanted to go to Montmatre since I read the view was best from there and you could see the whole city.  you might be able to, if there were everyone else in the way of your view.  We hiked all the steps to the top by Sacre Coeur, then spent about 20 mins just trying to find a good stop.  Pretty much every decent spot I could see was taken and none of them had a view of the Eiffel Tower.  Too many trees or stands left over from the Christmas market where in the way.  We ended up opting for a tight place on the steps going up to the church, which wasn't too bad.  no one could see much so we were all in the same boat, then some in a boat filled mostly with booze.  It was actually quite hard to tell when midnight actually happened.  People kept going in random uproars and I just ended up going by my watch.  which was probably a bit off.  I prefer the count down ball in NYC.  Finally we just said happy New Year and had our New Years kiss. 





Mass mob of people out that night

 

                                                 Matt at Sacre Coeur after midnight

Everyone seemed to have brought their own champagne.  We just had little horns we bought at the store.  There actually were little things of fireworks around the city we could see and a few random ones up where we were by random people.  The Eiffel Tower doesn't do much more than it's normal twinkling light show from what I heard.  All in all I was a bit unspectacular if you just for got about the fact you were in Paris.  If it were any other city everyone would have considered it tres lame.  Though maybe it was a super magical night to those who were just drunk enough to vaguely remember it.  We stayed after midnight for about 20 mins to let the hoards go down a little.  Sadly the drunk people must walk slow because we caught up to all them in the metro and it took about 5 trains before we could actually get one.  Once we literally crammed ourselves into the metro car, I finally learned what it must feel like to be clothes in a suite case, getting pushed back and forth, back and forth.

While waiting for the train is when I really started to feel the cold coming on even more.  My legs were aching and I couldn't get warm even though we were out of the rain.  I felt soaked to the bone even though I knew my coat wasn't that wet.  The overall crappy feeling that comes with the start of a cold washed over me.  Once we finally got back to the hotel I just jumped into bed and tried to warm up, which seemed to take forever.  I took NyQuil and Matt made me some tea and, God love him, he rubbed my feet to make them warmer.  I feel asleep around 2am and sadly the feeling of crapiness didn't end there. 

Vin Chaud (French)

I tried this delicious drink for the first time when I was in Amsterdam.  There it is called gluhwein, and it is also a popular winter drink in France, and really most of Europe.  Traditionally it's made of red wine, but you can also do it with white wine, apple cider, or apple juice for those who prefer no alcohol.  Even if you don't like wine a whole lot you might like this since you add various fruits and spices to the drink.  My recipe is a variation of one from Ina Garten from the Food Network.

I found the original recipe had too much apple cider in it and sweetened it just a little too much.  If you don't want to buy all the spices separately you can also use a premixed mulling spice mix.  You might just need to still add the star anise and juniper berries.  Most just heat this drink up in a pot, but you could also do it in a crock pot to keep it warm for a party. Just don't let it come to a full boil or the alcohol will start to cook off. There are many ways to make this yummy hot treat, so feel free to add or take away whatever things you think you might like.  Maybe experiment with different fruit or add some juices.  Some recipes even like to put slivered almonds in their wine.  If you find a new combo you like, please share it in the comments section so we can all try it : )

Vin Chaud (Hot Spiced Wine, aka Mulled Wine)

750 ml sweet red wine (1 bottle, Cabernet Sauvignon is good)
2 cups apple cider or juice
1/4 cup honey

Juice and zest of 1 orange
2 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
4 whole cloves
1 Tablespoon juniper berries
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1/3 cup cognac (optional)  
                                                                                  
Mix all ingredients in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Do not allow the wine to boil or else the alcohol will cook out of the wine. The mulled wine is hot enough when the sugar has dissolved. If desired, add the Cognac to the saucepan when the sugar has dissolved and ladle the mulled wine through a tea strainer (or colander) into punch cups, mugs or other serving dish.

Note:  If you want you can also do something fun for putting cloves in the wine.  Take a small orange or clementine and then stick the orange skin with a knife and poke the end of the clove into the hole so the bulb part is showing.  You can have fun with it and make designs or just do them randomly.  Some people even like to wrap ribbon around the orange and use them as ornaments.

Raclette (French)

Raclette! (aka, awesome cheesy French goodness)

Traditional Raclette meal

OMG, I just discovered something delicious in France.  It's called Raclette (pronounced Rack-let) and it is kind of my new obsession.  It's a well known, but not too often eaten dish in France which consists of a special cheese called Raclette (hence the name) which is normally made in Switzerland, but also in France and apparently Michigan as well, go figure.  You also eat various meat cold cuts and cooked potatoes with it.  To make it you need to have a special grill, shown below.  They can be a bit pricey though.  I've seen ones in France just at a super market for about 49-75 euros a pop.  you might be able to find one for cheaper on eBay or Amazon though.  You have the top part with has a heating coil under the metal top so you can grill things on the big top part and then you place your cheese or meat in the little dished with handles and melt the cheese or cook the meat.  You can also place the potatoes on the top grill area to keep them warm. 

Raclette grill, with boiled potatoes on the top and Raclette
cheese melting below

This dish is something that all French people at least know about and most people have a Raclette grill, especially in places where they do a lot of skiing since it is a favorite thing to eat after a full day in the slopes.  But most families won't eat it all the time in the winter, maybe a few times a year only.  It is a winter dish, so you will not really see this eaten during hot months, as well as the cheese for it might not be as available in the summer. It's very hearty and keeps you full for a long time.  I felt like I needed to be rolled out the door the first time I ate it. 

So while Raclette is pretty self explanatory, for those of you who need a recipe for everything, here is my Raclette recipe written out.  I would say just get as much as you think you will need for each person.  I person can usually each about 6-8 oz of cheese, plus the same amount of meat then a few small sized potatoes.  Enjoy!

Traditional French Raclette

Various types of Raclette cheese per person; natural, pepper, or my favorite, smoked raclette.
Various types of cold cut meats like cured ham, pastrami, salami, plain white ham, etc.
Baked or boil new potatoes (I like to bake mine with some seasoned salt on the outside)
Gherkin sweet pickles (called cornichons in French)
Salt and pepper to taste


Setting the table: Set the table up with all the ingredients all pre-cut and sliced. Make sure your Raclette is cut into pieces not too big for your little cheese grilling trays on the grill. cut the slices about 1/4 of an inch thick.  Place the grill in the middle and turn it on to preheat while everyone takes their seat.  Once the tray is heated place the cooked potatoes on top to keep warm.  If you don't have much room on your dinning table, keep half the ingredients in the kitchen or on a near by table and top up the ingredients when they run low.

At the grill: Take a slice of cheese and place onto a pan and place under the grill to melt and bubble a little. In the meantime take a hot potato from the top of the grill and cut it into small pieces with your knife. Take the pan with the melted cheese and give it a shake to loosen the cheese and pour over your potato. Grind some pepper and salt over it if you like. Eat your cheesy potatoes while you prepare the next pan with some more cheese and place it back under grill to allow to melt while you are eating. In the meantime enjoy the company you have, sip your favourite drink or nibble on the array of food on the table, like the pickles and cold cuts of meat.  You can also grill the meats in the same was as the cheese.

Scraping cheese out of pan: The pans are usually non-stick and your melted creation will normal slide out after a little shake but if the cheese you are using gets stuck scrape it out with wooden Raclette spatulas that are included with good raclette grills. Or you can use a piece of bread.

Note: It's best to do several small batches of melting cheese instead of one big one because as the the cheese cools it hardens again.  You can heat another piece of cheese as you eat your ready batch of cheese and potatoes. 

Serve with: Salad, and French bread







How Things Work in France: Health Care

I'm going to start some posts about how things generally work in France, at least from what I have experienced. My first one is all about health care.

First thing, health insurance.  In France part of the taxes people pay goes to social security and I'm not talking about what you get to the government when you retire.   The 2001 Social Security Funding Act, set the rates for health insurance covering the statutory health care plan at 5.25% on earned income, capital and winnings from gambling and at 3.95% on benefits (pensions and allowances). Social security pays for every persons health care, up to 70% in most cases.  In some cases like with certain medicines, hospital stays, and some specializes doctors like for glasses and stuff they only cover maybe a little over half the costs or not at all.  And one nice thing is that France doesn't require you to see a GP before seeing a specialist.  You can go straight to a heart doctor or whatever if you feel you need them.  But like in the US specialist cost more so be prepared.

 

In the case of things that are not covered people can get what is called a Mutuelle, which is like extra coverage, usually covering up to 100% for medical costs. For all teachers in France they get their Mutuelle through a company called MGEN. Mutuelle is not required, but it's only 110 euros for the 7 month stay for assistants (which is suppose to be a special deal, usually that is the cost for 4 months) and it would be very nice if I had to go to the hospital or other doctors. However the bad thing about French health care is they expect you to pay out of pocket first, like for doctor visits, and then they reimburse you later which, like with everything in France, can take a looooong time. Here are some ideas of how much health care costs in France and how much you get back just from social security insurance. Then Mutuelle covers the rest in most cases.  Another good thing is all the basic visit fees are fixed so they are the same no matter where you go. 

 

Act	Fee	% reimbursed	Patient charge
Generalist consultation	23 €	70%	6,60 €
Specialist consultation	25 €	70%	7,50 €
Psychiatrist consultation	37 €	70%	11,10 €
Cardiologist consultation	49 €	70%	14,17 €
Filling a cavity	19,28 € – 48,20 €	70%	5,78 € – 14,46 €
Root canal	93,99 €	70%	28,20 €
Teeth cleaning	28,92 €	70%	8,68 €
Prescription Medicine	variable	35 – 100%	variable
30 Advil 200 mg	2,51 €	60%	1,00 €

Veggie Tempura

I try to make a non meat meal at least once a week and this is always a favorite.  It may not be the healthiest vegetarian meal, but it sure is tasty.  You can also fry up some shrimp tempura or other white fish if you really can't do without meat at ever meal.  Make sure to watch the veggies closely because some of them can burn pretty quick.  And if you want to serve all your fried veggies at one time instead of in batches, have you oven warm at about 200 degrees and place the fried goods on a cookie sheet as they get done and place them in the oven to keep warm. 

 

Veggie Tempura

 

1/2 cup Premade Tempura batter mix, like Kikomon

1/3 cup ice cold water

Oil

Various veggies like onion, carrots, sweet potato, green beans, mushrooms, etc.

 

Prepare veggies in advance for frying by cutting into bit sized pieces.  Mix batter mix and water together right before you are ready to dip veggies to fry.  Place batter bowl in another bowl with ice in it.  In small batches, batter and fry veggies.  Make sure to put veggies in hot oil 1 piece at a time to help keep them from sticking together.  Remove from oil when golden brown and place on a paper towel to drain.

 

Serve with: Tempura Dipping Sauce, Edemame, Miso Soup or other Japanese favorites

 

 

Grilled Potatoes

I love making these anytime I grill something.  They are super easy, but super tasty.  You can change up the seasoning for the potatoes depending on what you like.  If you try a new seasoning that tastes great, please leave a comment and let me know so I can try it : )

Grilled Potatoes

1 lb potatoes, peeled, sliced

1 tsp steak seasoning, divided

1 Tbl butter, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Spray a large piece of tin foil with non stick spray.  place half of the sliced potatoes on one side of the tin foil.  Top with half of the seasoning, half of the butter, and salt and pepper.  Make another layer of potatoes and top with the rest of the seasoning and butter.  Fold over the tin foil and crimp the sides making a foil pouch.  place the pouch over medium grill heat (about 375 degrees).  Grill for about 30-45 minutes until potatoes are tender.