From Montpellier to Paris to Frankfurt: Life, lately.
Instagram photos @eatseedoblog
Ten things I’ve discovered this week:
1. It is a really bad idea to move out of your house while also packing for a holiday.
2. It is an even worse idea to take on a lot of work while packing up your house and then leaving the country.
3. Paris is marvellous in wintertime
4. I really like domestic rats
5. Christmas markets are one of my favourite things
6. German Christmas markets may just be my favourite thing
7. My French is now pretty good
8. My German is horrendous
9. The phrase “just about” has an entirely different meaning to Brits than it does to Kiwis (and anyone else other than Brits apparently – more on that later)
10. Any time of day is a good time for bratwurst.
It’s been quite the week of eating, seeing and doing. We packed up our house, dropped some things off at a friend’s place, dropped our bikes and plants off at another friend’s, then cleaned and packed up our flat before dragging our five bags (between two of us) to the train station, making it with just five minutes to go before our train to Paris. I then slept through most of the train ride before waking up during the last half an hour to watch Revenge through the French subtitles on someone else’s laptop.
When we arrived in Paris we were staying in a lovely apartment (through AirBnB) which was also home to a sweet couple, an old dog who got very jealous when we patted the three gorgeous cats, and animal I never imagined I’d love quite as much as I did. Realising quickly that we were animal-lovers, the owners unveiled their other resident to us, an adorable little old rat who happily let me pat him before nibbling on my finger and climb up onto my knee. I now want one – as well as three cats and a dog; all living in a big happy household not eating each other. It can be done. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
That night we ate out at a Vietnamese restaurant recommended by our hosts. Why go to Paris and eat Vietnamese you may ask. Well, we live in France and we get good French food all the time but you know what we don’t get in our wee town in le Sud? Much else other than good French food. So, when a local Vietnamese restaurant called Chez Chloe, was recommended to us, we were sold. We had a good old chat in French with the Vietnamese man running the place before devouring papaya salad, spring rolls and beef pho, all of which were perfect.
After a day in Paris, we popped on a train to Frankfurt, a city not known for its tourist appeal, and yet the perfect introduction to Germany. Within a couple of hours we were enjoying one of the loveliest Christmas markets I’ve ever seen. No one does German Christmas markets like the Germans do.
Arriving in Frankfurt old town we were greeted by hot gluwhein, grilled sausages and tons of little huts filled with foods and ornaments which, if it hadn’t been for the fact we were already carrying most of our lives with us, I would have packed up tons of tiny wooden figures to fill my house with.
The lovely Kate from Diaries of an Essex Girl sent me some recommendations for places to eat in Frankfurt but we ended up filling ourselves too full of bratwurst and kartoffelpuffer to manage anything other than more gluwhein for dinner. Although, I did also manage a chili covered in chocolate. Don’t try that at home kids. It hurts.
After just a day in Frankfurt, we popped on another train to Nuremberg where we’re exploring more markets, learning a lot of history and also figuring out how to negotiate the train/underground system. So far we’ve bought the wrong ticket once, caught a fast train instead of a slow train ending up several stops passed our desired one in a place called Feucht and been shouted at in German just the once. All in all, pretty good going.
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