Rain, Rain, Go Away......

So it's raining here AGAIN! I don't think they've ever experienced weather like they have since we got here. It's been rainy and cold and just plain gross. In fact, the town next to us (Antibes) with all the boats and stuff (see picture album of Antibes on flickr) got 15 cm of snow on Tuesday. THIS IS PRACTICALLY UNHEARD OF! No one had snow shovels to get rid of it and tonnes of boats were damaged. It was kinda funny cause we were on our way to Cannes (on the other side of Antibes from us in Nice) by train and we pulled up to the train station and Julie was like "Hey, Snow!" totally joking and thinking that it was just the rock-type dust stuff that we saw in Paris; but nope, the second you hit the train station it was 15 cm of snow. Then we got to the other side of Antibes and into Cannes and it was gone again, almost like it never happened.



So needless to say, because we are too cheap to buy an umbrella, we've been spending a lot of time indoors. Julie is attempting the most annoying 1000 piece puzzle of a beach, and I'm reading Merde Happens. If I knew how to knit, I would be at this point. Then maybe I could sell the finished products and make some money. That being said....

We still don't have jobs, but not because of a lack of trying. We've searched and posted and bothered lots of people, but because the economy is garbage, travelers that would normally be moving on and freeing up jobs, are staying put, and 3 million other people are competing for jobs on angloinfo- just about the only website that advertises for English speaking jobs in the area. We've even offered to babysit people's dogs, but every time we think we're going to have a visitor we get an email saying that they've decided to leave the dog for free with friends. So ya, still unemployed. If you happen to know of anyone in the area that could hook us up with jobs, please drop us a line!

And there you have it. An update about the lives of Apes n' Ju for the last week! So interesting I know!

Ca Ca Ca'Mea!

A friend of ours (working as a chef on a yacht here in Nice) named Justin, told us about this crazy restaurant north of San Remo, Italy that serves you a crazy amount of food, it's an old barn, etc.... he said everyone around here knows it as the fungi restaurant. We thought, okay this might be cool, so we googled fungi restaurant, mushroom restaurant, San Remo restaurants, and no luck! Finally after a few weeks of searching, we finally found it!! YAY us!


Reservations booked for 8pm we headed to San Remo to do some looking around. By 6pm, we were done looking and wondering what to do next. A drive up and up and up the mountain finally landed us at Ca'Mea, an old oil mill now operating as a restaurant- it was only 6:30m. So we got out, took some pictures, and thanks to Seabass' great Italian, got our reservations bumped up to 7pm.

There is no menu at all, you just kinda sit down and then they stuff your face for the next three hours. Already located at the table is a basket of bread, along with bread sticks (the little ones in the bags), a pitcher of sparkling water, and a bottle of their house wine. This is essentially bottomless depending how much bread and how much water/wine you'd like.

Then they start bringing the food.. This restaurant is known as the mushroom restaurant, so practically every dish has mushrooms (did I mention Julie doesn't like mushrooms?? She went for the ambiance rather than the food). The menu of the evening was as follows:

1. Steak tartar - essentially raw ground beef covered in olive oil, garlic, and basil (I tried a bit of it, but Julie chickened out). It didn't taste like much if you had a lot of bread with it.

2. A pile of cheese that they kind of just threw on your plate - it looked like cottage cheese but tasted like potato salad minus the potatoes. Julie tried it, but SURPRISE, she hated it. (Julie: "The taste lingered forever so I had to drink a whole glass of wine to cover it up - blegh!")

3. Mushroom omelette - no description necessary - Julie tried it, I ended up eating it for her

4. Cheese quiche - AMAZING! It was like mac and cheese without the noodles. Julie ATE it.

5. Scalloped potatoes covered in mushrooms - pretty decent - Julie ate the potatoes, I ate her mushrooms. Are we seeing a pattern here?

6. Then there was this crazy thing... raw vegetables (beets, tomatoes, celery, fennel, carrots, red peppers) and an anchovy-based mushroomy olive oil dip. The idea was to take the vegetable, dip it in the sauce, and then take a piece of bread under the veggie in case you spill! Pretty much a fondue, since it had a little candle underneath it to keep it toasty.

7. Next came a mushroom pasta dish - a mushroom cream sauce on tagliatella noodles. Nothing special.

8. With the pasta, some mushroom risotto, which was yummy! Again Julie actually ate this one.

This is where we took a good 20 minute break to let our stomachs settle. We had also gone through a bottle of wine, two pitchers of sparkling water, and a basket and a bit of bread. WHOA!

9. The main dish was to come next - we had a choice of 4 dishes (leg of lamb, lamb chops, breaded and fried mushrooms, and a t-bone steak). Since there were four of us, we got one of each and shared. SO MUCH FOOD! The leg of lamb was an actual entire leg of a lamb, the t-bone was 1kg (2.2 pounds), there were like 20 fried mushrooms (HUGE ONES), and 4 little lamb chops. Needless to say, we couldn't finish it all. The lamb chops tasted like dirty pork chops (blegh), the leg of lamb tasted like roast beef, the fried mushrooms were salty and yummy (not for Ju), and the t-bone was amazing (even though it was quite pink/red) - Julie ate a good portion of the steak! YEA YEA!

10. DESSERT!!!!! Tiramisu that came in a huge pot (resembled a toilet bowl, so they brought us a roll of toilet paper with it - funny!), and then berries with amazingly rich and creamy ice cream - so gooooood!

11. Don't forget, since we were in Italy, we got lemoncello and an Italian grappa - very strong indeed! They are designed to help digest your food and prevent flatulence (didn't so much work in that sense or so Julie, Seabass and Katie tell me hahaha! I was the only one without stomach issues at the end of this meal.) Anyways, they were both VERY strong and the old Italian ladies sitting next to us laughed every time I took a sip because of the faces I made, but when in Italy....

12. After our delightful desserts, we were served espresso to wake us up for the long drive home.

It was a flat price of 40 euros for the experience, and we were there for a good 3 hours. The restaurant was packed and it was splendid time!

Definitely a restaurant to go to! Even if you don't like Mushrooms, you'll enjoy the ambiance (or so the French would say)!

Shame on us

Big shame on us for not posting more.

We thought it best not to bore anyone with our lives hahaha.

But I guess there is lots to say.

Next post.

Pub Quiz

So if you do not know about the pub quiz, I shall explain. Every Thursday night since we got here (including the day we arrived), Julie, Katie, and I go to Ma Nolan's (an Irish pub in the port) to participate in the weekly pub quiz. Teams are comprised of four people (we call ourselves Canada plus un - the 'un' being the 4th person who decides to show up with us - often Katie's boyfriend). This week, however, there were five of us, so we made 2 teams at the suggestion of the server.

There are five different rounds, each comprising 10 questions:

1. The Picture Round - name the picture essentially (this week it was animal skeletons and you had to name the animal)
2. Current events and History - where watching the news helps
3. The Music Round - name the song title and artist of the 20 second intros they play
4. Science, Nature, and Geography - thank you CBC news
5. Sports and Arts - I don't know how they go together, but they do

Over the past 6 weeks, we've been all over the board - 11th, 13th, 7th, and once we tied for 1st and ended up in 3rd. This week we were out to beat the Frenchies. There was something we learned quickly about the Frenchies that play - they cheat - they bring in little atlases, they use their phones, etc. So we brought the iphone in to help us a bit - and help us it did.

We won this week... but not just first place... we also won second place, since we made two teams, and obviously wrote practically the same answers down.

First prize - a 100 euro bar tab to be used on food & drink (free dinner and drinks at next week's quiz)
Second prize - a 50 euro bar tab (to be used on see above)

The win was bittersweet - ya it was great to beat the Frenchies at their own game.. but we felt bad because we cheated. We promised ourselves that we would never cheat again and prove to them once again that we CAN be the best.

Until next week....

I miss meeks so much

Do you see why?

Still bored.

Had a nap. Still bored.

HAHAHA Suckers! Look at the snow in London.

And this is what it looks like TODAY in Nice!

Bored

We're bored.

We're stuck in the apartment again, while work gets done. Monday is was the broken door frame, which might have to be done again because the landlady doesn't like the trim. Today it's the water-damaged ceiling. What was suppose to be a "few hours" this morning and again this afternoon is turning out to be all day. The TV sucks, as Julie previously mentioned. We're caught up on all our shows on surfthechannel.com. We've applied for all the jobs advertised online. We've checked and rechecked our e-mail and facebook about 100 times each, and now we're bored.

Here's a picture to entertain you.

Static Cling at it's finest!

Now what to do to entertain ourselves?

French TV

You know, I wouldn't mind watching some shows on French television, but it seems that they are either English shows that have been dubbed (so they are just not the same) - i.e. "Free ends", known in the not-so-French accent to us as Friends - or just really awful shows to watch. So don't blame me if I haven't been too submersed in the French television scene.

What do we watch if we're bored? Well, we watch a lot of MTV and other music channels. This is mainly for two reasons:

1. MTV dubs its shows in French, but they don't mute the English in the background. Therefore if both April and I are watching it, I can listen to the French and April can listen to the English so we both know what's going on. And if you know MTV shows at all, it's very interesting to see how they translate "That girl ain't gon' hit it wit' my man!" or "It's MY sweet sixteen, so everything is my way and I want a Range Rover with a rare white unicorn in the back", etc. etc.
   
   
2. The music channels are mainly English songs, so we can try to keep up to date as to what type of music people are listening to over here (and hopefully in Canada too).

Right now, I am watching a show called "Chopé par les keufs" (Busted By the Cops)- there's a 21-year old guy getting arrested for peeing in public. Oh MTV, you rot my brain.

Monaco, the movie

Here is a short video that sums up our second trip to Monaco:

Couldn't visit in Canada, but when in Europe...

So a lovely friend of mine came to visit on Friday and Saturday, and it was superb (even though she was here for such a short time).

Tina Cinicolo, a friend who I haven't seen in a couple of years, and who was on the track team with me at Western (1st and 2nd years), was shadowing her chiropractor sister in Torino, Italy for three weeks. With Torino being only about 4 hours away, I thought what a great idea for T to come and visit me in France since everytime we've tried to hang out before, it has ended in shambles.

Unfortunately, there was a French train strike the day Tina was coming in from Italia.... which meant she was stuck in a small town called Ventimiglia at the French/Italian border. Luckily for her, there was a giant market there for her to occupy her during her 4 hour delay - clearly she benefitted since she bought a beautiful coat, pashmina, and a bag that seemed like a good idea at the time (turns out it wasn't).

Anyway, she finally made it to Nice around 5pm, so we had about 18 hours to hang out before she caught her train back to Italy - so short, but you make due with what you have. We had dinner at a cute little restaurant in the Flower Market - we got tiny chickens! Followed by a relaxing visit to a tea room where we sitting on cushions on the floor. Yum!

Up early the next day so to maximize our time, Apes and I took Tina up the castle hill so she could see Nice to its fullest. By the time we were done and got ourselves some much needed coffee, it was time for Tina to go back to her motherland - right on time too (by now the train strike was over, obvs).

It was great to see her, and hopefully we'll be reunited once again!

♪ Reunited and it feels so good ♪

Christmas trees, in France?

So on Wednesday once we returned from the north of France, we had a mission to get a Christmas tree. April's mother, Nancy, said it would be a shame if we did not have a tree. Knowing that we are tight on cash and that a Christmas tree wasn't so much in our budget, she told us that she would fund the effort. Thank you Nance!

So off we went to find a tree, and of course, all the accoutrements for a minimal price. We were in luck and soon we were home listening to fine music, and of course enjoying all the French have to offer - breads, cheeses, and wine (but keep in mind, not too much). Please enjoy, via video, the loveliness that is our tree:

It IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Apes' 'n Ju's place

We added many photos from our evening, if you take a look at the Flickr page (linked in the top right). Chances are, we upload photos faster than we write blog postings, so keep an eye up there if notice a change. In addition, comments are appreciated as much as possible - either on the blog postings, or on the photos themselves (through Flickr). If you do not have an account, just say you are posting under "anonymous" and then leave your name at the bottom so we know who it is (unless the whole point is that you don't want us to know). Keep in touch!

My Thoughts on Vimy Ridge

Apparently I don't post enough blog entries, so here are my thoughts on the Vimy Ridge adventure.

• Arras - COLD

• Taxis in Arras = Tourist rip off (30 Euros each way to go 10 minutes out of town, and this is the ONLY way to get there unless you want to walk the highway)

• Battlegrounds - LOTS and LOTS of gigantic crater shaped holes still in the ground. Totally wasn't expecting this, but they just left it the way it was and planted all sorts of tree amongst the now "natural" landscape.
  

Landscape at Vimy

• Explosives- a lot of the grounds are roped off because of undetonated explosives. Kinda scary.

• Vimy monument - gorgeous. Amazing view (even though it was cloudy and drizzling). Way too many names on it (it's kinda like the city of lost boys), makes you wonder where they ended up or if some of them were still alive after the war.
  

Vimy Monument

• Canadian Cemetery Number 2- not a lot of Canadians here, more British Soldiers. SOOO many of them don't have names, and those that do were our ages or younger. Took some really neat pictures of the headstones (although Ryan didn't like that I was walking on their graves).

Gravestone

• Overall feelings about the trip: Great experience, Nice to be "home" for a bit, Too cold in the North, Overnight trains are hopefully never happening again.

For more pictures click on the picture at the right of the screen (Album is titled November 11- Vimy Ridge & Arras)

Celebrating our heroes

April and I are off to the north of France to visit the memorial site at Vimy Ridge to celebrate Remembrance Day. We will come back hopefully enlightened and touched by what we will witness and share our experience with you all. We are taking the overnight train tonight, spend the day there tomorrow, and return on the overnight train Tuesday night.

As for now, we are off. Happy Remembrance Day to you all!

Mas photos

We added more photographs from our trip to Antibes, as well as photos of our dinner party (the setup was glorious), and some delightful shots of the pretty day we had today.

Click on the right to enjoy them - I know you do!

Here's a sample:

Part of the port in Antibes - when I say 'part', I actually mean like this is 1/100th of the boats

Let it rain..... but only when Apes 'n Ju are outside

So we thought we'd play it safe and just hang out at the apartment today, before our interviews at the pub tonight at 6:30. Stupid us. We hung out inside looking online to see what the most economical way to get to Vimy Ridge would be - turns out it would be by overnight trains. More on that at a later date.

So the weather was pretty nice all day - sunny, and although not overly warm, still nice. We, however, did not go outside. Research had to be done. It was kind of like trying to study for an exam in April when the weather is finally nice after months of snow, but you can't go enjoy it because you had to study. Well... only kind of like that, because it wasn't mandatory that we stay in.

Anyway........ to get to my point: when we finally left the apartment at 6pm, the rain started to come down (clearly after we had straightened our hair). UGH! Fortunately enough, I had a lovely pashmina to protect me. Hooray!

The interview was quick and painless. The job doesn't pay well... and they say we need a bicycle to work there if we want to get home late at night (since the tram only runs until 1:53am), and no one wants to walk past the train station late at night (AGREED). We figure we would buy bicycles off of the waitresses that were leaving. Who knows? He will call us tomorrow and let us know if we're hired. WEIRD!

The weather is supposed to be nice all weekend - so I am very very excited. We were thinking of going to Antibes or Cannes, just to check out what the big deal is and all (we've heard so many things). That just means that we'll have more photos to put up. We're limited to 100MB of photo uploads a month, unless I pay.... so I was thinking of getting a yearly subscription to do so... then there won't be so many people begging for more photos. I think this is a good idea.

Anywho, toodle-loo until the next time. Miss you all!

P.s. April has a fancy/shmancy interview on Monday in Monaco (again). It's for a secretary position for some big company (woo for her... *rolls eyes*). I like dirty bar jobs, okay?

Job prospect #1

So this Irish pub called McMahon's is hiring TWO people. April and I handed in our CVs without knowing this and we got a call a few hours later. Instead of calling back, we were moseying past the pub so we stopped in to talk to the monsieur. Turns out, he just needed a photocopy of our visas to prove that we were legal and he said he would call us tomorrow to set up a meeting with the manager. Strange enough, he asked what our zodiac signs were.... not important information, but funny nonetheless!

It's been raining here non-stop for a week (well, it stopped for a few hours on Sunday). There is rain predicted in the forecast for tomorrow... and Thursday.. hey and even Friday. We're surviving though - even if the bottom of our pants are constantly soakin'!

Depending on how this job situation goes, April, Ryan, and myself may be headed off to Normandy or Arras for Remembrance Day. What better way to remember than by being where it all happened to begin with? It would be an amazing trip indeed!

Time for sleep... or to watch election coverage - it's on every station here. But instead of it being non-biased, the European channels are all about Obama, and some even have his posters up in the background. Party!

Power outage - shocking!

Woke up this morning to no power. Luckily I pulled a Beth and lit the gas stove with a lighter (thanks mom)! I did, however, singe some hair off of my hand. Vive la France! We cooked eggs and boiled some water to make some sweet coffee with our amazing coffee press that we got on SALE!!

So all in all, the moral of this post is: don't be jealous of our gas stove.

Gas, it's in you to give

C'est pas classique!

So, every year for the past four years, the city of Nice puts on a weekend full of free concerts - free CLASSICAL concerts. These contain pieces from the opera, as well as the symphony. On Saturday afternoon, we attended one of these concerts with Katie and Seabass, and lucky for me - I made a movie of it!! YAY! Please enjoy the sights and sounds of the Nice Philharmonic Symphony! Sorry that I filmed kinda crooked for a bit:

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

I thought Chicago was the windy city

It was a beautiful day today, just a little windy, but we thought we'd enjoy it by heading down to the Promenade des Anglais - a long touristy path along the beach. I took this video - April didn't want to be in it though, so you won't see her. Sorry that my face looks so hideous in the freeze frame of the video below - but enjoy anyway!

My face - sorry; The view - not sorry

Who are you?

Hey Everyone,

We're just wondering who's stopping by to check out our blog. So if you would be so kind as to post a comment under this feed and let us know that you're reading it. In addition, if there's anything you want us to expand on, or post more of, do tell!! Your feedback is kindly appreciated! :)

Apes 'n Ju