Some Updates on My Life as Une Jeune Fille Au Pair

It's hard to believe that I've been back for almost a month already.  To be honest, most of the time it feels like I never left.  And I don't consider that a bad thing, either.  I don't want my time here to end.  If I'm ever having an off day, I can always count on my host family to bring me out of my slump.  In all honesty, they make it pretty hard to be in a slump in the first place.

First I'd like to wish a (belated) birthday to N, my host mum.  She unfortunately wasn't home with us since she's in Davos for the week, yet that didn't stop us from celebrating.  I baked her a birthday cake for everyone but her to eat.  Then we gave her a call on Skype to sing her happy birthday, blow out her candles and eat the cake in front of her.  Aren't we kind?

Now a side note on the cake.  Since P (host father) can't eat gluten, I figured the cake we all ate in front of N had to be gluten free.  Baking without gluten isn't always the easiest thing to do.  Luckily enough, I found a recipe for an easy flour-free chocolate cake!  I was a bit disappointed there was no picture on the recipe page, but I figured I'd take a picture of my finished product and post it.  Then I realized why there was no picture.  The cake doesn't exactly look very...edible...straight out of the oven.  The "crust" turned out rock hard and looked like it has been shaken with earthquakes from the cake falling so much.  Oh, that's why gluten is so important...


In the end, all I needed was some Pillsbury icing (yes, gluten free!) to cover up the mess, and everyone was happy.  E even requested I make it again.  But not before asking if I screwed it up (he knows about my past baking experiences).  I of course answered, yes, I screwed it up.  He then said, "Ok, just make sure you screw it up again."  Gosh, I love that kid.

E has accomplished quite a lot this past week.  He won a tongue twister challenge at school, competed in a ping pong tournament with his best friend (and wasn't too bummed out when they didn't qualify), and has gone on a run every day (ya, a 9 year old that goes running.  You'd think I'd be inspired...).  To think that he's only 9, is so talented and smart, yet so polite and genuine, restores my faith in the future generation.  Maybe we won't all turn out to be useless couch potatoes.

Now as my week comes to an end, I'm very excited to pack my bags, and a borrowed set of skis, because I am off to Chamonix for the weekend to ski with three of my best friends!  We're loading up the "Soccer Mom Van" and heading out Friday night.  And luckily Groupon had a deal on ski passes, so along with our cheap hostel, it looks like it will be a fairly inexpensive weekend.

I'll be sure to fill you all in on Monday with pictures and stories while I'm lying covered in heat packs and complaining about how sore I am.

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Time in Toronto

Here's a summary of my trip home through pictures!

My two best friends, K (left) and M (right) scared surprised me at the airport with their lovely costumes.  It was such a great treat!  Hence why I am all teary-eyed in this picture.

Despite his claims that he didn't miss me, my brother was quick to pull out some beer cups ("Red cups" as Lu endearingly refers to them) and make a toast.  I know you missed me, A!

I've sadly come to the realization that my Beccamobile needs to go.  The weather provided some pathetic fallacy as I snapped a picture.  If you're interested, and live in the GTA (you probably don't if you don't know what that stands for...), then check out the link: buy me!

But things soon got better at New Years!  We decided to have a pot luck and K made some Moet shaped bread.  So creative!

It was great to be reunited with my girls!  You can't tell in the picture, but we all dressed in sequins.  Yes, on purpose.

Then we pulled out the real Moet.  Just for a sip.

Not on the same night, but a few days later, I finally got to see my cousin's new baby.  So adorable!  Sadly, the next time I see her, she'll be twice the size and running circles around me.

And finally, it was time to go home.  But not without a stop at my favourite restaurant, Lone Star, and an entourage escort to the airport.  Thanks guys!

It was a fantastic trip home, but went by way too fast.  So fast, I didn't have time to see everyone.  I'm sorry if I missed you, but I'll be back in July!  Start booking your time slot now!

A New Year, but the Same Old Goal

Now that I am back safely in Geneva, I have started to think about my resolutions.  I tend not to make any, since I know I won't follow them, but this year, I knew there was one I just had to do...

Travel more!

So on my first night back in Geneva, my friend Lu and I sat down at her laptop and went nuts on Easy Jet's seat sale.  It was quite a sale, and there were many places we wanted to go.  Now we have a trip each month, with plans to add some more as the dates come closer.

Here's what we have so far:

January 27-29th - Chamonix Ski Trip!  Since Chamonix is only a short drive from Geneva, and Geneva's airport is actually the airport you fly into to get to Chamonix, we obviously are not flying.  But after Lu came back this weekend raving about it, we booked our trip last night.  Can't wait!

February 12-19 - ITALY!!!  I am lucky enough to have enough time off to do Italy justice.  I'm starting in Rome alone and working my way up to Venice where my friend Cy will be meeting be to celebrate Carnaval!  If you have any suggestions of things to see and do in Rome, Florence, Pisa, Milan, and Venice, please leave a comment!

February 24-26 - Into the German part of Switzerland to continue my Carnaval celebration.  Why stop in Italy?

March 16-18 - Manchester!  It's Lu's birthday, and so we're traveling to her hometown.  With lots of people to visit and lots to see, it's gonna be a whirlwind weekend.

April 6-8 - Now I've always said I'd love to see a concert in Europe, and Drake happens to be touring.  So a couple of my friends and I have bought tickets and booked a trip to Brussels to go see him.  Very excited!

April 9-15 - I also have all of this time off, which I think I will be using to go visit my friend EM in Malta.  Woe is me, eh?

May 18-21 - Being my birthday weekend, I knew I had to go away and do something.  So where will I be?  Amsterdam!!!  Because who doesn't want to visit the Anne Frank museum on their birthday?

June 1-3 - For yet another friend's birthday, Lu and I are traveling up to Newcastle to experience yet another English celebration.  Can't wait!

So far that's all I have planned.  I still have a list of places to go, but just need to pick a weekend to do it.  If you have any suggestions of places to go, specific times to go, and things to see, please leave a comment.  I'm always looking for suggestions!

Hope everyone's have a great new year!

Return to Paris

That's right!  On the last weekend of November I made my way back to where my European obsession began: Paris, France.  My friend Lu was in tow as we visited my friend A (a Canadian who I met three and a half years ago in Paris).  Despite both Lu and I being deathly ill this week (Lu was still sick Friday, but managed to suck it up and bear the three hour train ride.  I was very impressed), we refused to spend the weekend in bed.  My horseshoe from September showed itself again and got us first class seats for cheaper than second class (I'm still confused how that worked).  Therefore, despite Lu's crippling pain, the train ride was most pleasant.  I think I enjoyed it more than she did though.

We arrived in Paris just after 11pm and made our way over to A's.  Everyone had had a long week and combined with Lu still being under the weather, we decided to have an early night.  And what a great idea it was.  I think I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

We started off Saturday with the trek to the Eiffel Tower.  Now to those who have never been to Paris, you should be warned.  Despite being able to see the Tower from pretty much anywhere in the city, do not be fooled: it is no where near you.  I made that mistake three and a half years ago when I spotted it from the Louvre.  I stupidly thought to myself, why not go over to the Eiffel with my friends for a bottle of wine and watch the light show before heading home.  It's not far at all!  Moral of the story: I was wrong.  Get on the métro, that's what it's there for.  As long as you don't mind the smell of stale urine among other delightful aromas.

Back to my story: so Lu and I hopped on the métro and made our way to the Eiffel Tower.  Despite seeing the tower every day for almost a month, it still gobsmacked me a bit when I saw it again.  There really isn't anything like it.  So we posed for some pictures, since that's what you do!

The lines to go up the Tower were about 2-3 hours long, so Lu and I decided that we could save the standing around for Sunday (especially since a girl who feels nauseous probably isn't the best one to be climbing the stairs with).

Since we were now ahead of schedule, we hopped back on the métro and headed over to Notre Dame. Not as busy as I remembered it, although the last time I came was during tourist high season.  Or they were all standing in line for the Eiffel Tower.   Either way, it was fun to revisit.  So we took some more pictures:

From Notre Dame we walked along the Seine towards the Louvre.  We stopped every once in a while at the stalls along the river bank, and got some good deals on posters and postcards.  Then we found the Louvre.

Last time I visited the Louvre, it was free for anyone under 27 on Fridays from 6-9pm.  They have since changed it, and if I remember correctly, increased the entrance price.  And they don't have student rates, boo.  But it's still worth the price.  It's the Louvre!

 By the time we finished seeing the "must-sees" of the Louvre, the sun was setting and we needed to meet A at the Christmas Markets.  So we made our was through Tuilleries towards Concorde.

We had decided earlier in the day that we would just find each other at the markets.  How crazy were we?  Really crazy.

So in order to find A, we got some hot wine, and continued to shop.  We're not very smart, okay?

But we were smart enough to have one person on "look-out" while the other browsed the stalls.  It ended up being a good solution since I easily spotted A (still don't know how.  Maybe the horseshoe again?) and we were all together again.  From there we headed down to the lights display at the end of the markets.

Me and Lu 

Me and A

Champs-Élysées 

We then headed back through the markets and found the most amazing stall ever!  I came back the next day to try some of the wonderful food.  It was okay, not as good as the giant frying pan makes it look.

From the markets we headed over to Chartier for some traditional Parisian cuisine.  By this, I mean rude waiters, cramped tables and delicious escargot.  What else would you expect in Paris?

On Sunday we went back to the Eiffel Tower and went all the way up to the top for the best view of Paris.  Too bad it wasn't sunny anymore.

Then we made our way back to Geneva.  We were sad to leave Paris, but since we know we'll go back soon, we were excited to go home.  

Thanks for a great trip A!  And thanks for being my travel buddy, Lu!  Can't wait to do it again!