With an extra 30 mins of light at the beginning of the day (ie: brightening up at ~8am now) and staying light longer at the end of the day (dusk settling in after 6pm) , it’s really nice to feel like there is more sunshine and light in the day! 🙂
The beginning of my week was pretty stressful with work looming on Monday with a few important tasks. I practiced some grounding strategies my sis taught me… I’d like to practice them more! What helped though was lots of healthy food, some treats (patisseries!! ❤ ), exercise and daily walks outside and in nature, if possible. I found a lovely new path that traces along the Garonne river going up north, along a mixed paved/minimax dirt path, to Amidonniers. From there, you can cut right and walk up and down beside a nice little pond/mini water body, and then back along the Garonne. It’s very quiet! No traffic around but it can be busy as it’s popular, given it’s very close proximity to the city.
Awww how nice! Crepes from neighbour 🙂 I’ll get some Lunar New Year treats and give some to them too 😀
I forgot: last week I made roasted cauliflower soup (and no dairy too, well except butter but butter is ok of course) with Cookie and Kate’s recipe. She’s really great and this recipe was no exception: Easy, cheap and delicious 😀 Would definitely make this again and I’d recommend this too! I made Miso Butter Salmon this week too – Deeelish!
So so so happy that some random dude mentioned that Josef, the boss at Garam Masala Restaurant, is now working at Maison Samaran in Marché Carmes and he can do take out if you text him!! Well of course, I hunted him down so I can order his delicious Indian food! I think it’s his wife that cooks it and she’s not in the best health so perhaps this break is good for her. Anyhow, I got his number and ordered some Palak Paneer (my absolute favourite) and Butter Chicken and both were just spectacular, as usual 😀 Plenty of rice too so that meant that the 24€ total was easily spread across 3 meals… what a deal! ❤ I will need much willpower to resist ordering on a weekly basis hehe… well, why not!? 🙂
Visa update: well, Plan A : apply for a new visa to stay in France to work under my Aussie citizenship was denied. Something in the email response about an agreement that I’d have to return to Oz to apply there. Well, plan B next! Stay tuned!!
I gave some of my dried flower jar art to friends and they seemed to like it 🙂 I visited my friend with a nice bike ride down to the University area, along the Canal du Midi… and we found the entry to the secret forest there! Sadly there is a lot of construction so it’s rather noisy but on drier days, it may still be nice to potter down there for some quality forest time!
Cheese degustation is ON! Stay tuned 😀
I went to for another massage at Banyan and it was SO awesome! She really dug into the pain points (seriously) and I felt like some joints unlocked and released! Given there is nothing else to do with all the hospitality pretty much closed and I very rarely shop for stuff, I am booking in for weekly massages!! ❤ #selfcare
Another hour of my life I cannot get back thanks to La Poste France :E Seriously, it’s incredible how time is mercilessly sucked into a sociopathic void. I was directed to use the machine to send my package to Canada and after 30 mins of poking at a snail’s pace with 2 fingers at the buggy screen, it craps itself, spits back all 15 pieces of my 2€ coins and I have to start again with a manual form @___@ Then the lady asks me: Where is my 2nd form? I was only given 1 form, lady…. And there goes more of my youth and patience. Finally, I send it and get something organised for work which that, actually, didn’t consume too much time. Finally after just over an hour, I return home and collapse lol
Luckily, I had a fun afternoon planned and I met up with friends where we ordered the takeaway menu from a fancy restaurant in Toulouse called L’Hedone. The tacos were super nice and the gucamole and chips were deeelicious! The chips were so fluffy and crispy – Well done! Definitely would order from here again… hopefully it will be open soon 😀 After our fancy lunch, we chilled out a bit and they tried the yummy fish pate called Brandade de morue à la Nîmoise. Very tasty! 🙂 I also got to play the keyboard a bit too at their house. That was nice 🙂 It’s been awhile.
After that I met up with some other friends and we exchanged some belated Xmas gifts haha and birthday gift too for my friend! We then drove out to a big warehouse like building where many donated items were then sold to profit the homeless and vulnerable people who worked there. Good idea! We drove back close to the curfew and though I was walking home after 6pm (the curfew cut off time) there were plenty of people out and about with no rush to get back home despite curfew. And people wonder why we may be going back into lockdown! O.o
New French Vocab: I was mad at my friend’s boss who was being a terrible human being so I asked my friend who is fluent in French how to say “she is a fucking bitch”. My friend roared with laughter (we were out walking along the bridge) and she educated me that the correct phrase is: “Elle est une grosse salope”. Now, I googled this (don’t try this at home) and it pulled up a lot of porno links… I guess it means like a massive slut? It’s not the same but it is what it is in France haha #bienvenueenfrance
haha one of the doggos in the building was romping about yesterday, Romeo, the cheery mop that randomly bounds about with stubby legs 😀
…………..alors en français………………
Il y a plus de soleil au debut et à la fin de la journée et c’est vraiment sympa 🙂
Au debut de la semaine, j’ai tellement stressé avec le boulot. J’ai pratiqué quelques strategies de me calmer et ça va. Aussi, j’ai mangé le plus bon pour la santé, les patisseries et fromage 😀 De plus, j’ai fait bcp d’exercise et j’ai baladé. J’ai trouvé un joli chemin entre les arbres et à côté de la Garonne. Plus calme et tranquille 🙂
Ohh la la c’est gentille! Le voisin a nous donner les crêpes 🙂 Je vais retourné l’assiette avec les snacks asiatique pour la nouvelle année lunaire 🙂
Oups, j’ai oublié d’ajouter la recette pour la soupe de chou-fleur grillée! Super délicieuse et c’est avec le site Cookie + Kate. 🙂 J’ai aussi fait le saumon de beurre et miso – Super aussi! Je veux les refaire!
Je suis vraiment heureuse que un homme m’a dit que Josef, la boss de Garam Masala Restaurant, travaille maintenant à Maison Samaran de Marché Carmes!! Quel chance! Alors, je lui ai cherché et j’ai commandé au texto pour le <<Butter Chicken>> et <<Palak Paneer>> et woauhhhhhh c’est super!! 😀 😀 😀 Ça couté 24€ et il y avait assez pour 3 repas wow wow wow!!
Visa: Plan A : faire un application avec mon passeport Australienne. Le bon = j’ai envoyé un email et la personne a répondu en un jour! Le mince = Il dit que j’ai besoin de retourné en Australie pour refaire un nouveau visa 😦 Plan B…. on va voir!
J’ai donné quelques arts de fleurs séchées pour mes amies 🙂 De plus, j’ai visité mon amie par vélo et à côté du Canal du Midi… et nous avons cherché l’entrée pour un petit forêt secret! C’est cool 🙂
La degustation de fromage commence! Tu verras 🙂
Ouuuu la la j’ai un massage magnifique au boutique Banyan!! Elle est vraiment forte et je me sens vraiment mieux après l’experience. 🙂 Je vais faire un RDV pour chaque semaine!
Oh putain La Poste France est incroyable 😦 J’ai gaspillé comme une heure au bureau avec la machine nul. Finalement, ça ne marche pas @____@ Et la femme m’a donné un papier pour faire l’administration et après elle m’a demandé ou est l’autre pièce de papier! :p oh je comprends pas l’administration française 😦 😦 😦
Heureusement, j’ai le planning avec les amis 🙂 Nous avons commandé le déjeuner délicieux avec les tacos, guacamole + chips, salade haricots rouge de L’Hedone. C’était super! Après, nous avons goûté le Brandade de morue à la Nîmoise – miam miam! J’ai joué du piano aussi; C’était bien 🙂
Ensuite, j’ai visité E+P aussi et on a échangé les cadeaux de Noël. Après, nous avons visité le grand magasin où les personnes donnés les choses (comme meubles, vêtements, etc.) et les autres peuvent les acheter. L’argent est pour les SDF (personnes sans domicile fixes, ie: homeless) 🙂 J’ai retourné just après 18h et il y a plein du monde dehors 
Nouvelle phrase: Une grosse salope = A fucking bitch. Et voilà lol
haha il y a un chien mignon de mon voisin qui s’appelle Romeo. Il est très gentille et heureux et il se semble une vadrouille sympa qui saute et cours avec les jambes trapues 😀
Antics & Adventures 