Chocolate Lovers

So in an earlier post, I talked about the world's famous chocolate shop in Troyes, France. Yes, the chocolate was incredible...but I may have left out a fun little detail.

Not only was the chocolate champion of the world, but the guys selling the chocolate were equally as yummy! I was incredibly very flattered to have the manager of the store act like such a gentleman to me and offer me extra chocolate on top of what we bought, and as a gift! And this chocolate isn't cheap friends.

The first time we went into the shop for dessert after lunch, we got a few things to take with us to the cathedral to eat while listening to Michael play the organ. I decided to get the pastry that won them the title of world champion, it was SO good!!

As we were paying for our dessert, I said out load how adorable the truffles in the form of cigars were as they were sitting in a basket close to the cash register. Maxence, the store manager, saw that I liked them and took two and put them into our bag, free of charge! How sweet is that, right? Especially since they were about 10 euro each (about 13 U.S. dollars) It gets better...

So, because the chocolate was so good (and the guys so cute) we decided to go back once more before leaving Troyes to buy chocolate for the next few days back home! We bought a bunch of so many different flavors, enough to last us for weeks. Before we left, my aunt Patricia asked if the guys would take a picture with my friend Cyrielle and me and of course, they were happy to. Once again, as we were checking out, he gave me another gift! A big 6 inch chocolate sculpture of the mascot of an amusement park in France called Nigloland! By this time, my face must have been completely red! haha

 

 

 



Ok, so yes, I was very flattered but on a serious note, you guys should try to make it to this shop if you're ever in the area because it really is the best chocolate ever. It was fun finding a chocolate lover. ;)

Until next time!

A Book Store in Heaven!

While visiting the beautiful city of Maastricht, Holland, I found the most incredible place in the world! I love love love books and to walk into this particular book store was really amazing. Are you ready for this? A 13th century church was transformed into this modern book store while still maintaining its original characteristics!

To use the space wisely, they decided to make it more than just one floor and so you can shop for your books at eye level with stained glass windows! It was so cool, I felt like a kid in a candy store!

I just thought this was way too cool not to share! Walking around Maastricht, we found so many historical buildings and it was fun trying to figure out where everything was when neither my uncle nor myself spoke Dutch! haha

Another fun fact about Holland, it is nicknamed as the country of bikes because there are thousands of them all over the country! It is a huge means of transportation there and so I thought it would be fun to mention.

It was a really fun day trip and like I said, even though we didn't speak Dutch, we found our way pretty well. I really was in heaven in this transformed church and if you are ever in Holland, you DEFINITELY need to visit it!

Thanks for subscribing to Elephants & Castles but unfortunately friends, on this trip to Europe, I have found many castles but still no elephants... :P What a perfect photo for this blog huh? Just found it on the streets of Holland, no big deal.

Until next time, tot ziens!

An Extraordinary Treat in Troyes!

There are a few things that not many are lucky enough to do, and I have done one of them today! I had the privilege of having lunch with a world-renowned professional organist in Troyes, France and afterward, hearing him play in one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen! His name is Michael Matthes and he is incredible!

Photo credit to Philippe Desquesnes

The cathedral was built between the 13th and the 17th century and most importantly, has one of the largest and most lovely sounding organs I've ever seen or heard.

The cathedral is massive and it is difficult to show its size in a picture. You have to tilt your head all the way back to see the top of the highest tower. Amazing.

So, inside this organ there are about 6000 pipes! From only a few inches tall up to many, many feet. It's incredible to see the size of some of them.

Photo credit to Philippe Desquesnes

It was an absolute dream being allowed to go way up into the top part of the church and getting to see the stained glass up close.

To make it even better, we had just stopped at the world's best chocolatier shop (literally, it won the world championship in chocolate making!) and we were able to eat our delicious chocolate treats up there while listening to Michael play a few very complex and amazing songs. My favorite was when he played Tocata in D minor, I seriously had chills and goosbumps throughout the entire piece.

This was an incredible experience that, as I said, very few get to experience. I am so grateful to my aunt and uncle who planned this event for me, it was breath-taking. Watching Michael play was really eye-opening, you don't realize how much organ players have to multi-task in order to play at this professional level! There are three rows of keys for your hands, a row for your feet, pedals and sound changers at your feet, buttons and sound changers for your hands, etc. It really is impressive.

Photo credit to Philippe Desquesnes

I know it will be in French, but I encourage you to check out some of Michael's work as he really is an exceptional player. His website is http://michaelmatthes.com/.


Until next time!

Walking Through Two Millenniums of History in One Day

Trier is located 50 km from the city of Luxembourg and is well known, as it is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC! Their are two millenniums worth of history to see in this city and I got to walk back in time and see all of its beauty.

The city is full of beautiful cathedrals and churches. We were able to sit and eat lunch facing Trier Cathedral with very unique architecture and an even better story on the inside.

This Roman Catholic church dates back to Roman times and is home to the Holy Tunic. This tunic has a recorded history as being from the 12th century and according to the Catholics, it is said to be the last robe that Jesus Christ was wearing before his death. It is exhibited only every few decades at irregular intervals and we were unable to see it fully, only the box it was kept in through thick glass. Nevertheless, it was very interesting learning this bit of history and being in this place.

There was one church in particular that really caught my attention. It was Constantine's Basilica dated as being built in the year 364!! That's about as old as you can get.

This 220 ft. long basilica was the long throne hall of the Roman Emperor Constantine. It is now used as a Protestant church but has many historical facts written on posters on the walls to almost appear as half museum, half church.

 

 

Walking around this city was amazing. There were so many gardens, fountains, lovely shops and cobblestone alleyways. There was something new at every corner.

Tio Philippe taking a picture of the reflection of the trees on the cement.

Until next time, bis spatter!

Ladurée s'il vous plait!

If you have never had a macaron, I encourage you to wait until you get to go to a specific shop to try them. This shop is called Ladurée and it is INCREDIBLE!

Macarons are sandwich cookies using two almond meringue biscuits and a jam, cream or chocolate filling. There are tons of flavors to choose from and I tried pistachio, caramel with salted butter, dark chocolate, raspberry, rose petal, melon, red fruits, lemon, and guimauve (kind of like marshmallow but better!) with chocolate and coconut.

The French are very proud of their food and it is definitely part of the culture. They enjoy good food to the fullest and really know what quality is. The macarons made by Ladurée are exceptional among all of the macarons in France in my opinion and the opinion of my French family who live here.

Something I learned, as a side note, is there IS a difference between a macaron and a macaroon. They are not the same thing.

A macaron looks like my pictures above while a macaroon looks like this:

 

 

 

Just thought you should know ;)

 

 

 

Since I got here, I've already had two boxes of six macarons each (sharing with my uncle and aunt, of course). They are just so good that I can't help myself!

 

 

If you ever find yourself in France or even other European countries, because some have Ladurée shops too, don't hesitate to stop in and try the best type of macarons in the world. To see all of the flavors, check out their website at www.laduree.com.

 

 

 



Until next time, cheers!

The White Stork Rises

Ok, so just like Batman, the white storks of Alsace have risen!! In Alsace, France, the white stork symbolizes the whole nation and you can see their huge nests on so many roofs of houses, churches, hotels, everywhere!

Picture of baby storks in their nest. Yes, they are pretty big babies but they still can't fly and rely on their caregivers for food.

In 1960, the rate of decline of wild storks was so high that if something hadn't been done, they would have gone completely extinct. To put this into perspective for you, in 1983 there were only 3 nesting pairs left. In 1976, the Storks Reintroduction Center opened to protect this beautiful bird species.

An adult stork marching through the center.

They discovered that their disappearance was due to death by electrocution, drought, hunting and pesticides during their migration. Because of this, the center decided to try removing their migratory instinct by hand feeding and keeping baby storks in their aviaries for 3 winters. This removes the instinct to migrate from this generation but their offspring will still have the instinct. By doing this, the center has changed the number from 3 nesting pairs in 1983 to now over 600 nesting pairs in Alsace! This is a huge success!

Two beautiful adult storks high in their nests!

Just a few fun facts about these birds:

• As adults, they stand at about 3.3 to 3.8 feet tall.
• Also as adults, their wingspan is up to 6 feet.
• They can weigh up to 8 or 9 pounds.
• They live 20-25 years.
• They lay 3-5 eggs each time and the incubation period is 1 month.
• They are carnivorous and eat over 40 tons of meat per year at the center!

Until next time!

Castle of Sierk-Les-Bains

Ok, quick history lesson on a really cool castle found in the beautiful village of Sierk-Les-Bains, France! Amazingly enough, this is one of the only forts dating from the 11th century in the east of France and even better, one of the only ones that still has almost all of its outer walls, blockhouses, towers and underground passages intact. Way cool.

 

 



From the top of this fortified castle, you can look down the hill and on one side, see France and just on the other side, you see Luxembourg! The countries are so close together that this often happens.

From the 11th century to the 17th century, the castle belonged to he Dukes of Lorraine and was one of their favorite residences. The flag of Lorraine still stands at the top of the castle and is a symbol of peace. My aunt who lives in California is named Lorraine so I also thought that was pretty great!


Until next time, au revoir!

The Land of Many Landscapes

Luxembourg is one of the most diverse countries I have ever been to. From the center of Luxembourg city, you can go down town and see big buildings, businesses and banks, take a right turn and find a green park with sculptures and fountains, take a left and see a few miles of forest and then continue a few more miles and be in the country!

A lovely fountain in one of the parks we rode through.
 

Today I went on a bike ride with my uncle for 26 miles and discovered all of the beauty of Luxembourg. We went through a beautiful park on our way out of the main part of the city and then followed a river for many miles, through the forest and eventually got to the countryside.

One of the gorgeous marble sculptures on display in the park. We did a funny optical illusion shot for this one!



Throwing the sign for Alpha Chi Omega by the river that we followed.

After only maybe 10 miles, we had gone from big buildings to the countryside. The trail followed the river so it was pretty steady but getting out into the countryside meant big hills to pedal up! But what goes up must also come down, so letting gravity push us full speed down a winding rode on a hill was way much fun!

I met some new friends out in the countryside as well, these adorable cows (or as I regularly call them, "moo moos"!) were so friendly and quickly got up from resting to come say hello!

The different landscapes in Luxembourg make it so unique and a lot of fun to explore. Usually, you might have to take a car and drive a long distance to get from buildings to cows, but as you can see, we did it by bike!

There is one very nice place that we had to take the car and drive to later in the day. It was about half an hour outside of the city by car but it was worth the short drive. First, we visited these old ruins of Larochette which were incredible.

 

 

And of course,  I found a horse! Haha.


 

We then drove to a forest where we walked about 3.5 miles down the creek and up the cliffs. It was so beautiful and the air so fresh. I felt like I had just stepped into a jungle! Back to what I was saying about the different landscapes, no kidding, we walked through this dense forest for miles and as we were leaving, we saw a wheat field right beside the edge of the forest! The landscapes are completely different but right next to each other! The forest was damp and humid and the field was dry. How funny, huh?

A picture taken by my uncle of me putting my hair into a pony tail as a shadow on the sand of the river.

We are planning another walk in the forest soon that will be closer to 10 miles, so I'm excited to see what else we discover. This country is absolutely gorgeous and filled with new surprises at every turn. If you are looking for diversity and a constant change of scenery, visit the lovely country of Luxembourg!

 

 

Until next time, au revoir!