yay, toys!

Stella's crafts finally has an Etsy page and a Facebook page! 

Check it out! 

Post Holiday Blues: another food post.

So my last night in Lyon was mainly all about seeing the finish of the travel guide. After a long day of layout and editing the piece came together in the wee early hours of the morning, I think around 2.30am. It was a proud moment to see all the hard work of the CTR team materialized.
It was all such a learning curve and I met some really cool people who I hope to see again.
Now I am back in London Town and am trying to readjust my senses to the dull weather, the grey clouds, and work.  All reality checks are thoroughly underway; I've got loads to do.

I will blog properly soon, but in the mean time, here are some pictures from my last meal in Lyon. Me and the team went to a Bouchon in the old city, in the small time we had left, to celebrate the end of the project The food was delicious and it looked pretty good too:

A starter of chicken and lentil terrine with raspberry sauce 

Escargots!
We all tried one. They were surprisingly nice but that may have been because they were smothered in garlic and butter.  They tasted like fish. 

Duck a l'Orange with sauteed courgette, mash, and a few lettuce leaves in some vinaigrette 

Pertaining to the manner of the French palate all the dishes were pretty rich and full of flavour. The raspberry sauce surprising my taste buds on every mouthful of the terrine, the medium rare duck varnished in orange sauce... It was all so scrummy

I will most definitely miss the food!

For now.. au revoir! New post soon!
x

When in France...

French wine is right up there with French cuisine. It’s refined, it’s distinctive, and it’s famous.

Connoisseurs and wine lovers from all over the globe travel to France to discover all there is to be known about this varied substance and along the way they have probably coughed up a fair few euros.

So it’s only understandable if you take matters into your own hands.

At least, that's what me and some of the other members of the CTR team decided when we thought we'd hold our own DIY wine tasting session. Of course this was all purely in the name of research!

After putting in a modest 10 euros each (there was 7 of us) and raiding the local supermarché we came back with a rather diverse selection of wines: be it cheap or slightly more expensive, we wanted a taste. 

A table of snacks, a score board, and our taste buds ready, we embarked on the skillful task of inspecting each wine. 

In our bid to share our (novice) expertise we came up with some rather interesting assessments: 

“Buttery – it just slips down the throat”

“Smells like chicken, but tastes like a bubbly version of a sweet wine”

"Feels like it's giving me a heart attack!"

"Tastes like horseshit" 

“Sweet lord! this is smokey, but it could work with some dark chocolate”

 “Notes of fish, with a really dirty aftertaste”

“I once had a shampoo that smelt like this”

A spittoon, in this case, was not required but the fact we didn't have may have influenced our scoring.. 

1) 2010 Bordeaux Red (1.99)
2) Mercier Demi-Sec (19.65)
3) 2010 Vin D'Alsace Riesling (3.45)
...
12) Petillant de Listel Peche (4.08)

And so, with the cheapest wine beating the most expensive on the list it seems that the price of a wine may not always indicate quality. Certainly in this case it worked out to be a myth!


Or perhaps the biggest lesson learnt of all is to not to actually consume the wine when wine tasting. After all, the spittoon is included for a reason. 


Au revoir! 

Je suis fatigue

I have had such a busy week trying to cram in as many activities in my days as possible, aside from my work. I don't want to miss a thing, I don't want to sleep. I just want to explore, and to explore, and to see as much as I can while I still have time.
To be fair, I am supposed to have an "authentic experience" of the city for the guide.. But this enthusiasm probably comes from the fact that I haven't had a holiday in about 4 years. I'm just happy to be away for a while.
Alas, I can't believe my second week here is over. The production of the travel guide is coming to a close and hopefully it will be produced within the next week if all goes to plan. I'm so excited to see the end product!

For now, here are some highlights from my week:

LOVE crepes: banana and nutella with cafe arabica icecream

The towering walls of the Cathedrale St. Jean

At the Musée miniature et cinéma

The set of 'Perfume' 

Cute little miniatures 

Sweeties! 

Awesome film props!

Travel guide layout planning

More crepes!

Breakfast omelette= proud self 

Beautiful tapestry in the making at La Maison des Canuts (The House of the Silk Workers)

A screaming Medusa at the Musée des beaux arts

 Gros bises!!