Sun, snails and... Besancenot
I've just about recovered from the events of last weekend (although I am still a little tired), but it is really lovely to be able to report that the sun has returned to Bordeaux! The last few days here have been extremely hot, and as a result my training runs have become much more challenging and I have had to increase my daily intake of water! Should not really complain though...
On Wednesday night, we finally went for the meal that Nico and his mates had wanted to do for ages yet never got round to finalising a date. It was meant to be at a traditional French restaurant so that I could experience some real French cuisine, but because of the proximity to the Easter weekend, many of the restaurants were closed. In the end, we found a Basque restaurant near to the Place de la Bourse, and I have to say that it was a really nice meal. It was also excellent value for money. For 18.90 Euros, I had a started of smoked salmon followed by a ham omelette, followed by a taster of Nico's foie gras and then a handful of escargots.
The foie gras I have to admit was horrible! Nico wisely chose to tell me after I'd eaten it that it was duck's liver, and I still can't believe I actually ate it. I won't again, that's for sure! Which is not what I can say for the snails, which were really nice! I did not think they would be, but I was extremely surprised, although I did not like extracting them from their shells much!
Anyway, for the main course I had what only can be described as a massive steak, accompanied with a lot of chips! I really struggled finishing this, so my face dropped with astonishment when the waiter then bought us out a massive cheese board and then asked what we would like for dessert! Excellent value for money, and it was really delicious. Each "menu" also came with effectively half a bottle of wine, which made it even better value in my opinion...
After getting back late that night / morning, I found it very hard to get up early this morning. Somehow I managed, which was a good thing as I had both my translation exams today! Both went really well I think, although surprisingly I think I did better in the version one (English to French) than the theme one (French to English)!
This evening I went to another political "meeting", which was hosted by one of the 12 candidates in the upcoming French presidential elections, Olivier Besancenot (LCF). Despite representing the extreme-left, I found his speech interesting and could really see why he is a candidate and just how he was able to obtain 1.2 million votes in the 2002 elections.
There is now only just over two weeks left until the first round of the elections, which unfortunately means I don't have too much time left out here :-(
.gif)
