Last Farmer's Market

Went to the farmer's market for the last time today. Bought some cherries, potatoes, and bread. (I'm making lamb tonight and twice baked potatoes.) Took some pictures of the market and town for your viewing pleasure!
In front of city hall.

Ronny and the market.

Roasting chickens.

Town center

Memorial to fallen WWI soldiers from Thoiry.

Video of Apartment

I know you have been wondering what our apartment looks like. It's probably consumed a good amount of your thoughts. Thankfully, my schedule allows me to accommodate your random thoughts. Here it is, in all it's bareness. We had more furniture at one point, but we sold it.

Back to Gruyère

Took Ronny to Gruyère--had to get some fondue. Joe's friend Mike was also in town, so we took a nice scenic drive to the cheese castle. There is also a museum by the guy who created the Alien movies. The whole museum is about aliens, and right across the street is a bar with an interesting interior. Enjoy the pictures!

Dear Physics,

I will be the first to admit our relationship is not good. I think you are selfish and interfere with my life at the wrong times. You consume my husband, you are the talk at dinner parties, and because of you I lived here. This year has been one of my most challenging. On one hand, I have been able to travel around Europe see Paris, Florence, Venice, Lyon, Bern, Lausanne, etc. I probably wouldn't have been able to do that without you. On the other hand, I gave up my right to have a real job. I became a nanny and then a chauffeur. Think of the traveling we could have done if we didn't have to live on a graduate student salary, or as Ronny says peasant wages. I've been bored out of my mind and lonely--most of the time I blame you. However, because of this situation I've realized I'm tough, at least tougher than people think I am. I've handled every situation thrown at me. Sometimes those situations beat me, sometimes I beat them--every time I learned something. Don't think that because I am giving you some credit that we are some how okay or could one day be friends. That's not going to happen. I'm just acknowledging that your not all bad.
Sincerely,
Jeannette

For Richie, my Most Loyal Follower

As many of you will remember, my brother Richie challenged me to purchase and cook a chicken with the feet still on. On May 1st (May Day here in France-think Labor Day) I attempted for the second time to complete this task. Some may ask why. Good question. It's no secret I am afraid of birds, but did you know most of that fear comes from the way birds look? The feet terrify me. I started panicking the night before I went to the butcher because of the way those things look. Oh, I shudder at the thought. I digress. I did this for my brother. Richie has been my most loyal follower. I can always count on him to read my blogs, comment, and even ask questions. When Ronny was on shift at CMS with a camera in his face, Richie saved the pictures that changed every ten minutes or so. He, Leigh, and Lily are also the first people I talk to on Saturdays--I can always count on them.
On to the story. I went to the butcher in Thoiry. Miraculously, the butcher spoke some English. I asked him for a chicken with feet but without the head. He said no problem, he could cut the head off for me. As he was weighing the bird, I had a look at the head. Bad decision. The butcher saw me freaking out, so I told him I had never cooked a chicken with feet before and the head was gross. He thought this was hysterical. He picks up the head and starts swinging it at me pretending it's talking. Think the Muppet chef. Great, a French butcher is having a real laugh at my expense. Super. As he's weighing it, I check out the price--29 euros!!! Whoa, dude, whoa. That's almost $40 for a chicken. Right before he severed the head I told him, "No I'm sorry this is too expensive. My husband will kill me if I buy this chicken." I had to repeat it because he didn't speak great English and I guess I was talking fast. (I think it's funny that when they talk to me in French it's a mile a minute, but if I talk in English I have to talk very slowly... hypocrites.) He seemed to think that was funny too...whatever.
So, I tried. I failed. I was made fun of in French. Richie got a good laugh out of it, so it was worth it.

Doug and Wendy Come to Visit

Okay, so Doug and Wendy came at the beginning of April and I'm only posting now. I can't tell you how awesome it was to have some family over here to hang out with me. I really had just a wonderful time, and I hope they did as well. We did Geneva, CERN, Bern, and Gruyère. Doug and Wendy also went to Lyon and Paris on their own. For Easter we went to a Scottish Presbyterian church in Old Town. It used to be where John Calvin gave lectures. Easter dinner was two legs of lamb, escallop potatoes, green beans, and two amazing cakes that Joe's parents picked up. Thank you Doug and Wendy for spending time with me! Here are some pictures of the week in no particular order.

Florence!!

We love Florence!! It is such an amazing place. We rented a studio apartment very close to the train station and the Duomo. The only down side was that every morning at 7:30 the street vendors would come right down the street carrying their rickety carts--it was so loud! These street vendors created a gauntlet that you had to walk down to get to the heart of the city. Thankfully they weren't as in your face as vendors in Paris.
The first night we just walked around, had dinner, and got gelato. Ah the infamous galato adventure. Okay, so I love ice cream--love it. Therefore when the gelato lady asked me what size I wanted I pointed to a cone that looked like a medium. She says "Oh you want a large. How many flavors do you want?" This should have been a sign, but it wasn't. I only wanted nutella because I don't mix flavors or anything for that matter. She then starts to shovel ice cream into this cone. It was huge. The picture I posted really shows my excitement. She then asked Ronny what he wanted. There was no way I would be eating that monster on my own, and he said so. It was a 12 euro ice cream--whoops. I felt bad, but it was amazing!
The next day we went to the Uffizi, a museum encompassing the artistic developments of the Renaissance. We got to see the famous "Birth of Venus". The museum was neat, but we realized that we aren't really art people. Ah well, we can check it off the list. We also went to the Science Museum and saw Galileo's middle finger. Yeah, it was riveting. We also walked around the Santa Maria Croce, the burial place of Michelangelo. They have a really neat leather workshop there too. Handmade leather goods that are just amazing. I touched a 100 euro wallet--it was just on display for anyone to touch! We walked so much the first day. We climbed the steep steps to the Piazza Michelangelo for the most amazing view of the city. For dinner we went to the most amazing family run restaurant. Both of our dishes had shaved truffles on them!!
The next day we went to the Duomo built at the end of the 13th century. It was amazing! We also climbed the 463 steps up to the top of the dome. That was an adventure! Then we just took it all in. We didn't fo to see the original David because we could see the replica for free in it's original spot. You see one naked statue you've seen them all. Those poor models immortalized in stone and marble were not given any favors if you catch my drift!
Florence has so much to offer. It's a lot of walking though. I think after these "vacations" we were in a desperate need of a vacation.