France Day Trois: I don't know what this is. Let's eat it.

Bonjour! I've just returned from a vacation in France and now for the travel diary because my memory is terrible so I need to recap it all. This was a family vacation to catch the Euro Cup courtesy of my aunt and uncle, without them, this trip wouldn't have happened.

France Day Trois
We drove about 30 minutes from the Chateau to the closest town Agen. The hillsides around the Chateau are used for farming so we drove past cows, wheat, cabbage, poppies and rhuharb. There are two kinds of markets in Agen, one is a makeshift market set up in an open parking lot, while the other is a covered permanent market.

This open market was awesome, with farmers selling all their organic vegetables.

Nommie (my cousin) bought this Celeriac because he had never seen it before

Zucchini flowers

We wandered towards the city centre of Agen where we chanced upon the Musee Des Beaux-Arts D'agen. I love art museums although I think this one was pretty average. It's quite small and houses a few contemporary pieces but mostly shows lots of antique furniture and paintings. When we were there, they were featuring some oriental exhibition which just meant one portion of a room showcased 'oriental' type things like the Japanese kimono. And maybe if I stood around longer, then I would be a part of the exhibition, like so:

Oriental beauty lol

My new friends

I can totally see myself doing this in my new apartment

Nommie making friends

This was a huge painting but I took a close up because DOGS

I liked this Henri Lebasque piece very much

Learning how to pose from the pros

Nommie made me take a photo of this because he might be mental

This painting just kind of stood out to me

He likes big butts and he cannot lie

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Little acorns on the piano that mean 'DON'T TOUCH'

The boo's new hairstyle for sho.

Pretty! Did not break them. Phew!

 

What is that video about? I don't know. Why did I post? I'm not sure. But it makes me laugh. I told Nom to pretend to be a chemistry teacher and THAT is what he came up with. Strangeling.

We walked nearby to devour our lunch but before we did that... My aunt bought me a pair of wedges from Eram!! They are like espadrilles with the ropey material around the wedge heels. Mad love.

Lunch at Monsieur Jeannot was delicious probably because my lunch was carbs + fat. That's a killer combination. Our waitress was pretty impressive - she was pretty hot with lots of beautiful tattoos, she spoke English quite well, and she was serving all the tables in high heels. RESPECT. 

Macaroni - Probably my favourite meal from France. Yes I have a child's palate.

The apple tart was amazing

Prunes and coffee

After lunch, the ladies walked around Agen doing a spot of shopping while the guys headed towards Bordeaux for the Euro Cup match (Slovakia vs. Wales). The shopping was a success because I managed to get quaint little gifts for friends such as tea towels. I think France is awesome when it comes to home stuff. I loved all the home furnishing stores we popped into and can only dream that when my turn comes to furnish my apartment, I'll be able to come back to France. *Wishful thinking*

This cosy corner - what a dream

I wanted to buy this for my sister's baby - CUTE!

Cute French baby stuff is the best

Euro Cup 2016!!!

We left Agen after our successful shopping trip to do a round of laundry (the Chateau has 2 washing machines and 3 dryers would you believe??) and prepare a hearty Bak Kut Teh meal for our supper. 

Mmmm I love Bak Kut Teh

Key learnings:

• My uncle told me that in between planting wheat, farmers plant cabbage to let the land rest. Planting certain types of vegetables degrades the soil, so it's important to plant different kinds of vegetation to let the land rest. Apparently chili is the worst. The more you know!
• French home-ware rocks. 
• The French summer style is very simple - espadrilles, denim, lighter colours, weave baskets. There's just something innately cool about the French. 
• I could never give up Asian food. I loved the Bak Kut Teh and rice so much. Yes, we served it with white asparagus which I've never had before but it is actually really pleasant. 
• Prunes are a big deal in this region. I'm so sorry France but... Erm, they were pretty normal to me. SORRY!

Anyway, that's all for now, thanks for reading!