STEAK

Last night after Pedro's match we went out to eat with the guy he beat! He actually knew him from Virginia because the other guy played for VCU. It was our first time out in Bordeaux at night and it was so beautiful!! Pedro's friend took us to this restaurant called L'Entrecote (http://www.entrecote.fr/french/cours-30-juillet-bordeaux,16,16,section,modules,contenu-mc.html) which is a really nice restaurant found in the five major cities of France. The menu is fixed so you don't actually order but it's because they do their meal well - really well. They brought out really good bread to start (of course) followed by a small salad with walnuts. It was really simple but the dressing was great! The next part is the steak-frites, or steak and fries. They serve small slices of the steak with a huge mound of thinly cut fries (see below). Their secret method is the sauce that they put on the meat...incredible! It's hard to describe but it was just really, really good and the meat was cooked perfectly.

Yum.

Off to see the finalist match in Cenon!

Arcachon, oh my!

Yesterday one of Pedro's teammates, Thomas, was awesome enough to take us to Arcachon, a smaller town about an hour west of Bordeaux. The main attraction: beaches!!! It was a beautiful today and the beach was very beautiful and relaxing. We also drove over to La Dune du Pilat - the largest sand dune in Europe. So cool! A bit challenging to ascend but worth the beautiful 360 degree view of the beaches and forest. ( http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100314837889203.2703431.6234577)

We had lunch at Thomas' house in between being at the beach at the basin and the ocean (!) and dinner there, after. Lots of fresh seafood...not necessarily cooked, but good quand meme.

We came back to Bordeaux this morning and Pedro and Thomas played their first match at a tournament in Cenon (across the river from Bordeaux). They both played really well!! Pedro's best win in France so far. He plays again tonight. Meanwhile, I'm on tennis overload with this + Roland Garros + being in France. Not that I can complain...

The work I've been doing is also going well; a little tedious but I'm making progress...

Sunday's Match

…was so awesome! I hung out with a few of the grandparents of the coaches and players on the team which was so much fun. There was one guy in particular, Andre, who just told jokes the whole time and kept trying to teach me all sorts of things. Very fun ☺

Pictures *on facebook, more Bordeaux exploring tonight!

The first few days...

Bonjour mes amis!

So I’ve only been here a few days in la belle Bordeaux but I’ve already been so busy! The flight / layover was super long on the way over but when I got to Bordeaux, Pedro and his coach were waiting for me. We went back to the coach’s house, which is a little outside of Bordeaux, and had a good pizza dinner with his family : ) Their house is a very cute, very typical (in my opinion) French house so I loved it! Nothing too special but very nice anyway.

The next morning we had pain au chocolat for breakfast (croissants!!!!) and it was delightful. I went and watched practice and then Pedro and I were dropped off back in Bordeaux.

We got to see a little of the city and got oriented and bought some groceries (an awesome experience in itself…..everything is so fresh! And/or pretty cheap). One of the girls in the apartment that we met, Mariely, said she was having friends over and invited us for dinner. She is actually Brazilian and has been here for school and an internship and told her friends she was going to cook a traditional Brazilian dinner. So good!! I’m not sure exactly what the names were of the dishes but it was a rice dish with black beans cooked with meat and bay leaves + other seasoning and then topped off with a bread crumb crumble on top. Really good! About 6 other people came and only 1 of them was French; the others were also Brazilian or Spanish so that was fun!

I explored the city a little on my own on Friday and did some VT work. Beautiful and so much fun!! I really had fun seeing all the stores and especially the big cathedral in the center, Cathedral Saint-Andre. It’s one of the oldest cathedrals in Europe and has been visited by many important people including, but not limited to, Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu (!!). Very cool.

Saturday

Today I babysat the two cute girls of Pedro’s coach (JB)…Too cute! We played barbies and did hair stuff while Pedro and JB went to the doctor. So much fun! I learned quite a few words and had another delicious breakfast of pain au chocolat. After a while Pedro, JB and I went down to the market a few blocks from their house and got some food for lunch, for which JB’s inlaws came. Very nice!! We had a roast chicken from the market, oysters (first time!), fresh bread (always delicious) and a really delicious salad that the grandma made.

The girls (Loan et Elea) didn’t want me to leave but after lunch we left with JB for Bayenne - a smaller town 2 hours to the west of Bordeaux, near the water. Really pretty!! I did a little work while the team practiced and then we had a big dinner with about 20 people – the tennis team (St. Germain de Puch, a town just outside Bordeaux), the coaches and various families. Elea actually came with us on the trip so we hung out and talked in the car and during the stay here. Dinner was good –a big sald with a very French dressing, pasta & chicken and a certain kind of white cheese for dessert (hard to explain, but good for dessert). Awesome! I talked with a bunch of people afterwards about various stuff which was good…always getting better at ze French!

The team plays tomorrow so we’re getting up early to watch (*breakfast was soo good!) and then we go back to Bordeaux! The club has been really generous and so far an awesome stay….Next week will be more work and exploring the city – hopefully going to a bunch of the museums and cooking!