Let's just say that I am living the life! What another eventful week it has been. From eating lunch at a chateau, to running along the river while the sun is setting, to eating a tuna fish sandwich in Charroux France, I have to say it has been my favorite week yet. I still can not believe that I am here in Vichy taking classes! My European Adventure keeps getting better and better!
Monday and Tuesday were just like any normal day. We wet to class from 9 to around 1ish, and then just piddle around the rest of the day. Some days we will go grab kebabs at our new favorite kebab restaurant, where yes we have frequent customer cards. Or other days we will just eat a sandwich in our rooms and go get pizza for dinner. You can tell we are doing some serious french fine dining. But how many pastries, cheese, and bread can you eat right? I must say that my favorite thing at the moment is to go running when the sun is setting along the river. Kelly, Taylor, and I have started doing this and it is the prettiest, calmest, and most relaxing thing. I absolutely love it. Watch out parks, I am coming home a runner. (Okay maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself). But the view while running is truly picturesque.
On Wednesday our day started out by taking a picture with the biggest tire in the world and it only got better from there. We started off by touring the Michelin Tire Museum in Clermont and learned about the history of how they got their start to becoming one of the biggest tire company's in the world. I was not aware of what a big deal Michelin was in France or in the city of Claremont anyway. They even own a rugby team, which just won some huge rugby tournament in France. It was a pretty big deal. I am such a fan of Michelin Tires now that I have decided (if I am not already) going to start using Michelin Tires from here on out.
So after we learned a little bit about Michelin Tires we were off to eat lunch with one of the ex-vice presidents of Michelin Tires at his Chateau. Oh I think I could get use to a life like this. Emmanuel, the ex-vp, worked with Michelin for over 20 years and just recently quit 4 years ago. He and his wife were looking for a new house or project to get their hands on and just happened to stumble upon this huge castle. So now they live there and have created a little business out of it where you can rent a room, throw a party, have a wedding, or really anything you want. (Mom, is this a hint? I think I have found where I wanted to get married. A castle!) This castle had it all including a mote, which sadly did not have water in it anymore. So here we were eating in the dining room. For those of you who have sensitive taste buds, well good luck.
Let me begin with the appetizers. There on a white dish set before us was duck liver, raw salmon, and some kind of pastry thing with stringy fish on top. I was not aware it was duck liver until after I put the first bite in my mouth. But I will not lie I did eat the salmon and the pastry, not the fish on top. Thank goodness I am not a picky eater. But the funny thing about this lunch was not necessary the food itself but the situation we were in. Here we were with this food in front of us that I can confidently say a majority of us were not keen on the idea of eating. But, yet we felt obligated to because they were french delicacies and not to mention the fact of who we were with.
There were three types of situations you could be in. One, sitting at the circular table with Emmanuel cringing every time you lifted that duck liver to your mouth to eat it. You could not be rude and let it just sit there, you were eating with an ex-vp of Michelin Tires for crying out loud. Two, you could be sitting with our teacher who was from France and would be teaching our business management class. So, you still needed to eat a little bit of the duck liver, maybe not the whole thing, but at least half. Or you could be in situation three where there were no teachers at your table and you were laughing hysterically, silently of course, at the faces that your class mates were making as that salmon, stringy fish, or duck liver came up to their mouth. Guess what situation I was in? Yep I lucked out, I was in situation three! Not that I would not have loved to sit with Emmanuel, I just would rather ask him questions later than have to eat duck liver with him. But as the courses progressed the food did get better. Our second course was veal and a baked potato which was in a special french mushroom. They then served us cheese and a tiny salad. And finally our dessert was a pastry. We then went out to the front where they served us coffee. I felt like such a royal guest! After we were done with lunch we toured the castle and learned the history of it. Needless to say that the lunch at the Chateau was one of my favorite experiences yet.
You can go to this website if you would like to look at the castle! http://www.chateaudesaintsaturnin.com
Thursday was just like another school day. We are continuing to learn about marketing in class and how we can help Capryl out. Oh poor Franc (the manager of the company), he and the company need so much help..That evening though was the highlight of the week because we decided to warm up our voices and go kareoking! It was so much fun. I guess I can check that off my bucket list now!
For some reason I believe that Friday has been one of my favorite days yet in France. I am not sure why, whether it was because it was the day before my birthday or simply because I got to eat a good ol' tuna fish sandwhich for lunch. But the sun was shining and it was a fun day! We started out by once again touring a company. We toured Naturopole which was a company that was dedicated to health and wellness. They made vitamins. I even got some sample antioxidant vitamins out of it! From touring Capryl to touring Naturopole, there was a pretty big difference. Next we went to the city of Charroux, France. It is the one of the most beautiful cities in France. But wait, haven't I heard this before? Why yes, that would because there are 150 most beautiful cities in France! You see apparently if your city has three specific things than it can be considered to be one of the most beautiful cities. But really the city of Charroux has been my favorite city so far. It was a medieval city so it still had the cobble roads and the watch bridges. All the little houses that were lined up next to each other would have different colored shutters, some may be light blue or others turquoise. For lunch we ate at this little cafe in english called, The Little Blue Cafe. It currently is my favorite place to eat beating out Anamias. Wow! (I am sure that will change though as soon as I go back home. But for the time being it is). It was owned by an English couple. It could be the fact that they spoke english or the fact that I was so hungry I could eat anything but something about this place just made me smile. I decided to go with an old fashioned tuna fish sandwich. It was the best tuna fish sandwich I have ever had, and that is saying a lot when your mom is expert chef/cook/baker/sandwich maker Gail Jones.
After lunch we wandered around sight seeing and of course taking pictures. We then went to a mustard factory, okay more like a small family owned mustard company where the shop was as big as my game room. But it has been in the family and they have been making mustard for more than 100 years. They make all kinds of mustard and each year create a new kind too. The mustard company is very well known in France. So duh, I had to get some! We tasted all sorts of mustard but I stuck with the original. (The original is not American yellow mustard). Start thinking now mom of some new recipes that you can incorporate french mustard with. That evening we ordered pizza and went down to the river. We talked and laughed as we ate our pizza starring at the starry Vichy night sky. It was a perfect way to end a busy week of school.
Au Revoir!
How perfectly lovely!!
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