Adventures à la française

Questionnaire for our New Upcoming Website

2017-03-03T19:00:00.000+01:00

Let us all try to #EatTogether

2017-02-28T19:00:00.000+01:00

First, watch the video below and then read my commentary and share your thoughts in the comments below.

When I first saw this commercial, I thought the woman was nervous because she was going to a Muslim’s house for dinner. But then as the commercial evolved, I saw that there was so much more to it.

This commercial #eattogether made me think of the friendships I have formed with most of my neighbors. There are only two families that I don’t know very well because they both live on the top floor and our paths rarely cross. We do say Bonjour though, when we do see each other but nothing more than that. For the rest of my neighbors, we exchange plates of food or delish treats at least a few times a week or for some every few months or so. My golden girl neighbors that’s what I call them, or my three older Jewish sisters that live on the first floor in English or rez-de-chausee in French have made us macaroons, chocolates, bread and hanaukah cookies amongst other things. I have happily made cupckades, muffins, cookies and lots of other American delights for my neighbors since American desserts have been all the rage in France recently. For the exceptional few, though, I’ll send them baklava when it’s around the two Muslim Eids. Once I have given out my plates, I anxiously wait for their return with my neighbor’s delish goodies.

Homemade Vanilla Pudding with Fresh cow’s milk

Just like in the commercial #eattogether, my neighbors are not all the same nationality either ; there are French, Turks, African, American, Haitian, Kurds, Algerian, and maybe Portuguese. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that most of my neighbors are bilingual and that most of their children if they try enough hard in school could become trilingual or multilingual. Just as I have decided that most of my neighborhood is bilingual or trilingual. Once I had a little boy come for an English class, the same age as my little boy of 2 years, who was learning Arabic, French and the native language of Mali (unsure of it’s name) plus English ! So there actually might be neighbors of mine who are multilingual that I have not found yet.

For the most part, we are one big happy family. We will tell each other flat out if they are bother us or are making too much noise. For example, a little over a month ago, my downstairs neighbors complained for the first time in the four years that we’ve been living here, that the kids were making too much noise like rolling marbles on the tile floor around at 9pm. So we used that incident as a golden learning opportunity to explain to the kids that we needed to start practicing our inside and outisde voices / noises. It’s still a work in progress, but we will get the hang of it, I’m sure.

This video I think reiterates that we need to try to be nice and friendly to our neighbors, no matter how nice and friendly they are to us. Just like the golden verse says “Treat others with the respect that you would like to be treated.” We often need to remembering that everyone’s time is precious and to make sure not to bother the other too much. I’ve seen signs in other apartment buildings saying “Please don’t run the washing machine after 10pm” or “we are not your mother, please throw your trash in the right spot”.

This video has encouraged me to start a spotlight feature (like a humans of newyork) of telling a story from people we’ve met in our many adventures.

This is one of my last posts for awhile as I will be renouvating our blog and transferring everything over to a new offical website to highlight better our multilingual family adventures in culture, food, language, learning, religion and travel.

Who’d like to hear one of the Golden girl’s adventures ? Do you have any stories to tell ?

Trip to a Hospital while Abroad on Vacation

2017-02-23T13:30:00.000+01:00

Imagine you are on vacation in Paris or another place of your choice (preferably somewhere where you have a limited understanding of the language) and everything is going great until BAM! Your side starts aching or your blood pressure is skyrocketing, or something hits you or that pain somewhere just won’t go away. You try to convince yourself you’ll be fine because you only have an x number of days before you’re home and then you’ll be able to see your doctor, because you really want to avoid an unexpected trip to a foreign doctor or emergency room.

But, then you realize that it might actually be better to go to that foreign doctor who might not speak and understand English (even though most have a working knowledge of English, but you still might not understand what they are saying) or worse the emergency room and maybe an overnight stay or more at a hospital that doesn’t at all remind you of home. Doesn’t that sound lovely…

Actually I had an emergency surgery while in Turkey last August and just last week my mother-in-law spent the night in a French hospital after her blood pressure skyrocketed. She actually told me that she would’ve preferred “to die” at home in our house than spend another night in the hospital. I understand what she means French hospitals are a rather interesting adventure.

My mother-in-law’s ordeal was rather short compared to mine so I’ll share hers today and another time I’ll share mine.

She’d been complaining of a headache all weekend. I decided that since we went on an overnight trip to Metz (a 6-hour roundtrip by car) on Saturday-Sunday and then got back in time for a loud Turkish wedding on Sunday that she was tired and worn out. So I took her blood pressure on Monday morning and it was all good, in the evening though it was super high. Right away, my husband realized that we needed to go to the hospital and we left the kids with neighbors and away we went.

We waited and waited because it was packed. It was like everyone decided to get sick on the day we went. It didn’t look this hospital below…we are in France afterall and just like you have to wait in line for everything else, you have to wait for in the ER (urgences) for a while no matter your emergency.

Finally, we got news after hours of waiting that she would need to spend the night in the hospital and have an MRI (IRM) in the morning to reconfirm a brain aneursym or something else.

So, she spent the night in the Halle d’Accueil d’Urgences Vitales like an Emergency ward and recounted later

of trying to get up out of bed to go to the bathroom because she wanted to get some exercise (my mother in law is always busy doing something aka she doesn’t sit still well) only to be given a bed pan and told she didn’t have the right to get up and walk around.
Also, when the nurse came to change the serum solution, my mother-in-law made a signal that she was thirsty and then asked for de l’eau (she said that thanks to Fatima she had at least learned the word for water)

Anyway the next day, my husband was able to go around with her and get an MRI but he was kicked out of the room multiple times even though they needed a translator. Finally, she was released late on Tuesday. She should keep her blood pressure in check but we were advised to see a neurosurgeon next Monday. My mother in law has already decided that if she needs surgery – she is doing it in Turkey – because she speaks the language, she’d rather be home and the cost. We got the bill for the “two days” in the hospital and it was the same price as my plane tickets home to Kentucky for Christmas.

My advice when travelling abroad is to keep a list of doctors that speak English ( your country’s consulate might be able to provide one) as well as a hospital in case of emergency. Also, purchase a picture dictionary so that in case you are unable to say what the problem is in the native language, you can at least point to pictures.

Do you have a story to tell about an adventure in a foreign hospital ? Any other tips ?

Having Fun with Bath Paint

2017-02-16T18:30:00.000+01:00

This week, I had many ideas for posts that I was going to write about, but God had other plans. My mother-in-law has been visiting us since mid-January and earlier this week, she had a health crisis and is recovering at home now. Her experience and one of my own has inspired a post I hope to share with you later this week or next about having to go to a foreign hospital while on vacation.

This week, we’ve also been really busy and somehow giving the kids a bath kept getting pushed back and back. Don’t judge me it was might have been more than a week! Today we were finally able to take one, so I made it fun ! BATH PAINT !

We made homemade bath paint, it’s really easy, (cornstarch, food coloring, water and baby soap). They had a fun time painting for the most part it was just the walls and the bath tub, but then it turned into painting each other’s stomach and feet. Since, the mess was only contained in one area, they ended up helping to clean the bath tub too and all the paint washed away without any scrubbing. It’s like a super win for both Mommy and kids!

Here are some pictures of them painting :

Multilingual Homeschooling Questions

2017-02-09T15:39:00.000+01:00

When I was first interested in homeschooling my children, I was often confronted with the issue of mutli-language learning. I kept asking myself questions like is it better for them to learn English first and then French, but then what about Turkish and Arabic ? Is four too much ? How about reading and writing ?
As I was researching and trying my hardest to find answers to these tough questions, I stumbled upon this website, multilingualparenting.com and their weekly Q&A sessions. I quickly sent Rita Rosenbeck a question hoping to have some answers so that I could start planning my school year.

I have been following your Facebook page for a while and I have really enjoyed the articles that you post. I may not have read all of them, but I have saved most for later when I find time.
I am contacting you to seek some advice or possible resources to implement in our multilingual and multicultural family. I am American and my husband is Turkish (he speaks two other languages as well). We live in Paris, France with our two children (two and a half and one) and we are a Muslim family so we are learning Arabic all together at the same time. My husband and I speak French together as we are unable to communicate in each other’s languages.
We follow the one parent, one language approach but sometimes I speak French in with my kids. We are going to be homeschooling our oldest in preschool next year and I am concerned that she will not be exposed to the French language as much as she would if she was at school. We will try to visit the library and go out and do activities as much as possible but I am still afraid that she will not be speaking it as much as English or Turkish. Both my husband and I are not fluent in French, I do however speak French a little better than he, so my questions are:
1. How do we teach French to our children as a non-native speaker? My daughter has already started speaking a little French, thanks to La Maison de Mickey that she watches daily.
2. Will she pick up my English accent when speaking French? Will this cause problems later down the road if she goes to school?
3. How do we expose our children to all our languages throughout our homeschool day? Should I do one day in French, one day in English or alternate throughout the day? We’ve been reviewing the alphabet and numbers in French. I have decided that at least one day a week will be dedicated to French, exclusively speaking French. Please let me know if this is or isn’t a great idea.
4. How do I start reading and writing with all the languages?

Although I didn’t get the answer as soon as I would have liked, her answer did help and provide me with the resources so that I could start answer my questions and eventually planning my activities. Still 6+ months later, I am referring back to the answers and using her tips to enhance my activities.
Here is the link to the answer I received : http://multilingualparenting.com/2016/06/12/qa-bilingual-homeschooling-how-to-successfully-integrate-more-than-one-language/

Ocean Theme Unit

2017-02-06T14:59:00.000+01:00

I decided that I would start planning month-long units to help save time on planning and prepping – because I’ve been struggling to find time for all the stuff that I “try” to do daily/weekly.

This is how I plan a lesson : I start pinning a board based on theme of the unit : ocean, for example. Then I look through all of the ideas that I pin, decide on what I would like to do with the kids, print out worksheets, gather the needed materials (like manipulatives), laminate the worksheets and then decide when and how I’ll present each activity.

Currently we our studying about the ocean : sealife, animals, story of Prophet Jonah (Yunus) and the whale, water and land formations, etc.

Here are some the activities we have been enjoying so far:

Will the egg sink or float ?

The egg definetly floated in the salt water (above picture). But the activity quickly turned to be more of a bath than a science experiment, Z enjoyed sticking his hand in the cup and then splashing the water around.

Introduction to Land vs. Water animals

Blue bowls represent water and the green represents land

“Starfish” beads transfering and counting in land and water trays

Z decided to create a drum with two spoons and an empty container while we explored our ocean sensory bin – he came with the idea himself

Coloring sorting “smartie” (french m&ms) in the matching boats

We either read this book in French (like it is written) or we translate it into English

F has an interest for penguins. She likes to waddle around like one and talk about them all the time

For more of our activities : follow us on Instagram - @resourceful_muslimah

Welcome / Bienvenue / Hosgeldiniz

2017-02-04T14:34:00.001+01:00

Assalamu alaykom, Hi, Bonjour, Merhaba, and everything else in between. Welcome to our blog about the multlingual and cutlural adventures that our family experiences while living in Paris, France.

I am an American ; my husband is Turkish ; although we do not speak each other’s languages, our common language is French. My husband (Y) speaks three mother tongues : Turkish, Kurdish, and Zaza. We are also a Muslim family striving towards learning Islamic Arabic and as non-native speakers, the pronunciation is often difficult, but we are up to the challenge. So, we are on the track to learn six languages.

We have two kids : F (girl, 3) and Z (boy, 2).

We homeschool (école à la maison or instruction en famille) and we enjoy exploring and discovering at home and our world around us.

I am always asked why I homeschool instead of sending my oldest to French preschool (maternelle), so here are my top 5 reasons :

1. Islamic responsability – as Muslim parents, it is our responsability to show, encourage and teach our kids how to become responsable Muslims and adults

Homeschool Mission Statement :

We begin with Bismillah (In the Name of God), Responsable for our children’s education, we will strive to love, teach, correct, and encourage our children on a daily basis in a clear and simple manner to become pious, wise Muslims who will strive to uphold Islamic values and have a strong relationship with God.

We also believe that learning pariculary fro the Quran and SUnnah will encrouage a lifelong adventure of seeking knowledge. We believe in facing each day with minds open to knowledge and hearts open to love. We believe in the freedom to wonder, to ask, to explore, to imagine, to create.

We believe that every one of us has special talents and that the talents of each of us help all of us. We belive that success means doing our best, being our best and feeling proud of our effort.

2. Overcrowding in maternelle – we live in an area where there are 3 maternelle (preschools) and two primary schools all right next to each other and still there are not teachers and place available for all the kids ! Plus, islamic school is rather expensive too.

3. Multi-languages – Since we are currently learning four languages – English, French, Turkish, and Arabic – I have decided that it is best at the moment to learn in an at-home setting, and switch between the languages (for example every two weeks we will have class in either English or French – I’ll write more about this later)

4. Hands-on discovery and learning through play, games, and exploration based on the child’s interests

5. Enjoyable – I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and I am very happy to be my kids first teacher. I’ve found it very enjoyable so far to see all my hardwork pay off (the benefits outweigh the time planning, prepping and presenting)

Now your turn :

Introduce yourself, how many languages do you speak or would like to learn?
What adventures would you like to hear about ?
If you homeschool, what are you reasons for homeschooling ?

Ramadan Mubarak

2016-06-06T14:00:00.000+02:00

Today marks the beginning of Ramadan and it will end inshaAllah (God-willing) July 5. The fast starts at 4:24 am and ends 9:55ish pm.

You may or may not know that I am a revert ( convert) to Islam since around July 2011, my husband is Muslim and is from Turkey, since people always ask I'll just go ahead and clarify that he did not have an influence on my decision to convert, inshaAllah I will post a story about my conversion at a later date.

Today, I am going to share what Ramadan is, some of the reasons Muslims fast, and a few tips on how you can participate or help Muslims in your area.

Ramadan is one of the five pillars which a Muslim must adhere to. Ramadan takes place every year in the Islamic month of Ramadan, it's date changes every year but it is usually 11 to 12 days earlier than the previous year. Fasting or sawm, the Arabic word for it, means no food or drink, smoking or abstinence from sunrise to sunset ; it is obligatory for every person from puberty and beyond exept those who are sick, pregnant / breastfeeding or on a journey. Young children are invited to participate a few hours, half a day or all day if they would like, but it is not obligatory for them.

Ramadan is also a time to fast from yelling, getting angry, fighting, staying away from negative energy and actions. It is a time for spiritual renewal and a time to reconnect with God through various actions such as reading the whole Quran, seeking His forgiveness, constantly supplicating and praying to Him, and giving zakat ( charity or donation, another pillar of Islam) to the poor.

This year, I will be unable to fast because I am still breastfeeding my son, Z, but I have a list of goals I hope to accomplish such as reading and listening to the Quran on a daily basis, reflecting on different subjects of Islam, reading some books as well as spending extra time with my children.

A few tips for you :
- Just as young children sometimes like to be involved or imitate their paretns I encourage you to try to fast for a few hours or half a day.
- make something for the Muslims in your communtiy like a fruit or veggie platter - mosques usually provide 2 meals (suhoor - morning meal and iftar - evening meal)
- host an Iftar halal ( meaning no pork or alcohol and meat slaughtered in the correct way) meal at your house
- donate to an Islamic organization ( Islamic Relief) to help Muslims around the world who are struggling and often do not have enough to break their fast.
- give thoughtful notes or words of encouragement
- read A Ramadan Guide for Non-Muslims and 8 things I wish Non-Muslims knew about Ramadan
- or watch this video, some parts come from the Mosque in Paris

Since my daughter, F, is now able to understand a little bit more, we are going to learn about Ramadan for the next four weeks and have a week dedicated to the Eid. We will be using these books to have a more in-depth, but child friendly way to understanding about Ramadan.

Please do not hesiate to check these books out or comment below if you would like more information or have tips to share with others.

Flood Warning !

2016-06-04T13:30:00.000+02:00

I am not sure how many of you have been following the recent events that are happening in France for the past month or so, but it seems to me that France or the French government is digging itself a hole and now it's literally flooding. What I mean by digging a hole is that the country has literally been on strike for the past month and it looks like they won't be stopping anytime soon. Everything you can imagine from air transportation to train/metro transportation to oil refinieries - (gas stations literally had to close last week all over France because there was no gas to sell) to protests in the streets to truck and water transport, all due to proposed labor laws which will greatly affect most French workers. I will discuss my thoughts on these strikes in a post later this week.

Last year, I shared this picture on Facebook, look at how spring-like it looks in Jardin des Plantes.


Un jour, une photo. Aujourd'hui "Spring in Paris in Jardin des Plantes" par Mickaël Voyphong http://on.fb.me/1h5krYo .

and this is what it looks like this year, it has literally rained every day all day for a week !

©Mairie de Paris/JB Gurliat

©Mairie de Paris/JB Gurliat
there is a sign that says "crue" 1910, that is where the flood was in 1910


©Mairie de Paris/JB Gurliat

As you can see Paris, is literally almost under water !

And actually, I thought that the flooding was only in certain suburbs of the city but then someone told me today that the schools in the neighborhood next to mine were closed due to flodding since Wednesday. I read today that the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay were closing doors because they needed to get their valuable pieces out of the basement before flooding destroyed them. Even certain RER trains have to close due to the flood and it's making it even more difficult to get around because the SNCF (the train company in charge of most of these trains) has decided to go on strike indefinetly due to the proposed labour law and the upcoming European Soccer Cup.

So, if your a tourist or an expat like us, you're screwed, you literally have to stay put. At my house, we've been having fun making lines with tape on the floor and doing different activities or preparing different treats for the upcoming Ramadan season.

If you are planning a trip to Paris soon, the weather forecast says to expect more rain, so, don't forget your umbrella and rain coat.

Starting back up or not

2016-06-03T13:30:00.000+02:00

I've been debating back and forth with myself if I was going to keep blogging about my family and mine's adventures in France or if I was just going to stop posting.

I have decided to start back up again with God-willing a few posts a week, I can't guarantee it but I'm going to try my best. It's been awhile since I last wrote, November 2014, to be precise, and a lot of good things (we will try to avoid thinking about the negative things) have happened since then, therefore lots of posts to be written.

Future blog posts will include :
- our multi-lingual family adventure of homeschooling preschool and "tot" school for Fatima and Zekeriya (we welcomed a baby boy in February 2015)

- a glimpse into our daily routine (cooking, cleaning, crafts, sewing, time management, 2 children under 2 etc)

- how the French deal with certain issues (you know the French way of doing things, which are often backwards and annoying from the rest of the world),

- reflections on the world around us

pine cone flowers

Z playing in puddles

F learning the alphabet

Chocolate Funfetti Cupcakes

Hope you will join in on our adventures !

Put on Hold

2014-11-02T11:45:00.000+01:00

Once again I have not wrote on my blog for over three months :( !!The blog hasn't been forgotten just put on hold for awhile. I have lots of things going on right now, but I do hope to write about these things soon.

These include :

I am currently teaching ESL lessons to 3-14 years old at a local mosque every Wednesday. So the preparation for these classes takes up time.
Expecting baby number 2 again in February 2015, so being pregnant and having a 1year old running around all the time doesn't give me a whole lot of free time!
Still working as a music manager for two groups, this as well takes up a lot of time
Striving to be a better Muslim through studying different subjects and teaching others
Plus the usual household responsibilities and endless errands and the what seems like weekly appointments

I hope to get back on track soon and find time to sit and write about my experiences, adventures, successes, failures and ideas!

Playing catchup soon

2014-08-26T09:18:00.004+02:00

Last time I wrote was sometime in the middle of Ramadan, and then my sister came to visit at the end of Ramadan for two weeks and now I'm getting back into my work, plus I have little Fatima to run around with. So there has been no time to write about my adventures.

But, I do hope to finish my adventures in Turkey series soon and possibly get back on track with the French cooking series.

While you wait check out some of these other blogs or news articles :
Michele from Cincinnati (stumbled upon her blog looking up French nationality stuff) http://lifeenfranglais.blogspot.fr/
Paris Daily Photo http://www.parisdailyphoto.com/
http://kathandroger.wordpress.com/
Tintin - a beloved comic strip - http://us.tintin.com/

Do not try this at home

2014-07-23T17:57:00.000+02:00

There is a video circulating on Youtube of a guy jumping onto the roof of a moving metro...like I said don't try this at home.
There is buzz going around if he is a stuntman or attempting suicide. I guess we will not know unless he attempts it again. At the end of the video he states, 'that it didn't goes a planned but I'm still living" and that he now has ideas for the future on how to make it better.

What would you do if you saw someone jumping on to the roof of a moving metro ?

Ramazan Pide / Turkish Bread for Ramadan

2014-07-12T08:59:00.000+02:00

The other day we were out of bread, my husband eats bread with everything and by everything I mean even pasta and potatoes. Talk about a lot of carbs.

So we were out of bread ...I decided since it was Ramadan and I had a recipe sitting around for Ramazan pide, I would try to make it. But the one I had seemed kind of complicated. So, I looked up Ramazan pide english recipes online and stumbled across this one.

The final result was 100+% husband approved. He said it was so much better than the store bought and that would like it a few times a week if possible. And because this recipe is easy I think that I can do that.

Afiyet Olsun / Bon appétit!

Adventures in Turkey : Driving

2014-07-09T10:31:00.000+02:00

While in Turkey we ended up buying a car (due to some family issues), a Renault from the 80's for 7,000 lira (2500 euros at the time).

driving to Elazig from the village, dirt roads the whole way till the expressway

Here we are getting the 80's material out and getting black and red retro style in (which somehow I don't have a picture of)

Driving in Turkey is a nightmare. If you have ever driven in Paris, its 10 times worse. I thought that the French drive horrible, with no respect for traffic laws, but Turkish drivers are worse. Since we were in Eastern Turkey, there are not a whole lot of women who drive for reasons I couldn't figure out. So everytime I was driving or got in the car, I got stares, but I brushed it off because I am just as comptent or more as the other drivers on the road.

There is no respect for traffic laws, like there would be stop signs and no one would stop. Or the round about, which I don't even understand in the first place, and people would just all go in at once. Or they would drive without their lights on in the middle of the night. People crossing the street right in front of you (I decided I would honk the horn everyone did this). Lots and lots of stories. And apparently the traffic is worse in Istanbul than where we were!!

Every time we left the city there would be a police check and I kept telling my husband I hoped that we would get pulled over, so that I can give them a discourse on driving in Turkey and how they really aren't doing their job. The one time we almost got pulled over was a false alarm, the police wanted the car in front of us, but I told my husband it was because I was a woman and they didn't want to deal with me!

Have you ever driven in Turkey or do you have a French driving experience ??

Adventures in Turkey : Landscapes

2014-07-06T10:03:00.000+02:00

I have finally had the time to literally sit down, upload my pictures from Turkey and write posts about them and did I mention we got back from Turkey over a month and a half ago?

Upcoming blog posts about my adventures in Turkey will be about mushroom hunting, fishing, driving, village life, and tourist spots in Elazig, where my husband is from.

Elazig is located in the eastern part of Turkey, it is neither north or south. There is a huge military presence at least 3 or 4 military stations scattered across the region. We saw military planes when we were near Tuncelli, it reminded me of the opening of the movie "Gunesi Gordum" (great movie by the way, with English subtitles). There are quite a few tourist spots, I met some Romanian students while we were in Elazig city.

We stayed mostly in my husband's village and we were in Turkey for almost a month. We had wonderful weather, it was hot a few days but only rained three times!

Now for pictures of the countryside

Everywhere there are mountains. Not a whole lot of vegetation on the mountains. They are harder to climb than it looks.

France vs. Germany

2014-07-04T10:36:00.000+02:00

Who will win the match today ?

France or Germany

I think that Germany is going to win in the last few minutes of the game, because that's how they have won the past few matches.

Post your choice below!

Ramadan has started....

2014-07-02T17:59:00.002+02:00

and therefore, there has been a lack of posts. I have currently been busy because it's Ramadan.

Ramadan for Muslims is not just about fasting from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, in our case from 3:50 am to 10:00 pm, but it's about striving to become a better Muslim. There is a saying that says Ramadan is 10% Fasting and 90% changing your heart and habits that you will incorporate throughout the coming year.
Visit this link to learn more about Ramadan.

For example, my Ramadan goals this year are to :

memorize some short chapters and a long chapter from the Quran
read 20 pages a day in English or French from the Quran and listen to the same reading in Arabic
reflect every day on a verse or on my experience
eat healthier and better and exercise daily
power naps throughout the day, because sleeping 7 straight hours is not possible!!

If you are not Muslim, but interested in learning more about Ramadan or joining on a 1-day fast please do not hesitate to comment below.

Paris Daily Photo blog

2014-06-21T08:50:00.000+02:00

I ran across a new blog when I was looking for pictures for the love lock bridge post, called Paris Daily Photo. And just like it's name everyday there is a daily photo from Paris with a little caption about the photo.

This website is really interesting it has different sections like typical Paris, unusual, must see, restuarant and so much more. It is a good source of inspiration for my blog and for those of you interested in seeing a new photo of Paris everyday!

The Pont des Arts (love locks) bridge is falling down...

2014-06-18T08:38:00.000+02:00

literally. Earlier last week a 2m section fell from the bridge, because the bridge could no longer hold on to the love locks. There are currently 700,000 locks on this bridget and you can add 300 kilos for each meter of railing.
According to most Parisians, the love lock bridge has gotten out of hand and they are scared for the security of the bridge either walking across it or taking a boat ride along the Seine. There is even a petition that has been started by No Love Locks, their motto is Free your heart Save our bridges! So far there are 5000 signatures!

Recently other bridges and other places have been targeted love lock places such as the Eiffel Tower, Canal Saint Martin (where Amelie skipped rocks),

Paris is the city of love, but I don't know if attaching a lock to a bridge and throwing away the key equals everlasting love. Have you locked your heart in Paris ?

It's hard to get around Paris or rather France recently

2014-06-16T08:18:00.004+02:00

Today is the 6th day of a rail/transport strike. And let me tell you it has been a pain in the neck for my husband who takes the train to work everyday. Often he has an 1hour 30minute commute which is doubled or tripled when there is a strike. Take a can of sardines or tuna and imagine you are in the can, that's what it feels like to be in a train when they're on strike. So pregnant women, the elderly, tourists going to the airport or babies in strollers should not attempt to take the train during the strike, because people will literally push and shove to get a spot on the train. Sometimes blocking the doors to close, people think that a 1cm spot is big enough for them! It's not a fun adventure in Paris or other cities for that matter.

This weekend to make matters worse, there were only two trains every hour going in the direction of the airport CDG and the south of Paris on RER B!!

Why are they striking ?

Over government plans to bring the SNCF rail operator and the RFF network under the roof of one holding company, while keeping their operations separate.They fear the proposals will hurt working conditions and want SNCF and RFF fully merged into a single company as they were before 1997.They also want the government to take on some 40 billion euros ($54.5 billion) in debt owed by the two firms.The government says the reform is needed to create a coherent structure for the railways as France and other European countries gear up for full liberalisation of the railways in coming years. (france24.com)

Ok it's a good thing that these people are striking for their retirement and jobs but its not good that it is causing people like my husband to lose work time and pay due to the strike. And also according to a video that I saw, the union said they would take their time to respond to the government because the government has been taking it's time.

So the question is, how long will the strike keep going ?

In memory of D-Day

2014-06-09T09:53:00.001+02:00

This week was the memory of D-Day, so I thought I would show some pictures that I took from previous France trips when I was younger.

imagine walking up this mountain from the beach having no clue what would lie ahead

but don't worry today there is a path!

this bomb made the hole below

this picture shows how deep the bomb holes are still today!

Back from Turkey!!

2014-06-02T10:30:00.000+02:00

I got back from Turkey a few weeks ago and just got back from Metz a few hours ago.
I will be updating my blog later this week, new posts about my fantastic trip in Turkey and driving the toll road in France. I will try to updating the 44 meals list ( I know I have fallen way behind, that's what a month long vacation does).

Meanwhile enjoy a few photos from Turkey.

At a friend's family's garden

Harput, a castle and a tourist destingation

a drive through the mountains

French Cuisine Fridays : Tarte Tatin

2014-05-16T15:38:00.000+02:00

Note : This is part of the French Cuisine Friday Series which is now based off the list of 44 classic French Meals You Should Try Before You Die

This post was originally posted back in April of 2010 or dessert of #3

How to cook French without leaving the states

Tarte Tatin - the French apple pie

5 to 6 pounds tart apples (I like Braeburns, Jonathans, Honeycrisps, Jonagolds, or Fujis)
25g unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Pâte Brisée, chilled I didn't make the homemade crust and instead I bought it at Carrefour
Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream for serving
cinnamon (optional)

I usually cut the butter and sugar in half because the apples are usually really juicy.

1.in an oven-proof skillet, place the butter and the sugar
2. Peel, core and cut the apples with the round part facing up and place in the skillet forming a circle
3. When all the apples are in the skillet, start on med-high heat. If the juices from the apples becomes too much, boil it into caramel in another bowl.
4. Cook the apples for 20 minutes until soft
5. Roll out the pate brisée and place on stop of the apple mixture, creating openings with a fork.
6. Bake at 425 or 220 for 45 minutes

7. When turning it over, becareful as the juices are boiling hot.
Then eat while warm with creame fraiche, yogurt or ice cream. It also makes a good breakfast.

French Cusine Fridays : Moules

2014-05-09T15:31:00.000+02:00

Note : This is part of the French Cuisine Friday Series which is now based off the list of 44 classic French Meals You Should Try Before You Die

This recipe was posted in January 2011 and is # 3 on the list

From the French Kitchen: Mussels

Mussels are a French staple: they are cheap, easy to make, filling and good for you.

We usually eat them once a week. A few days ago, I experimented and made two different kinds. They are so easy to make, so do not complain that you cannot do it.
1. Heat oil in a pan and cook onions.
2. Put the mussels in the pan and add water. The water should at least be semi-covering the mussels.
3. Add any spices in whatever amount. I usually make 1/2 crushed red pepper and 1/2 indian ( curry, paprika and ginger).
4. They are perfect with fries or bread.
5. Enjoy!