Dining with the Princesses

Staying on the Disney theme I thought I'd share with you my once in a lifetime experience of dining with the princesses! Yes I was about to turn twenty-one but that doesn't mean I wasn't entitled to have my moment with Prince Phillip. 

The night began with a photo shoot outside of Cinderella's carriage {self timer is a beauty} followed by poses by the extensive menu; as you can imagine, a three course meal in the company of royalty doesn't come cheaply. We were then escorted to our seats, sat opposite the fireplace, the best seat in the house as when the clock strikes quarter past the hour, the princesses and prince(s) come over to dance, how magical!

The first part to our meal was a complimentary Prince's cocktail and 'Amuse-Bouche' (posh cheesy straws) .The cocktail was super fruity and the straws were super cheesy, what more could you want. Whilst munching and sipping away we had to choose our preferred starter, main and dessert. For starters I opted for the cream of pumpkin and porcini mushroom soup, mainly because I felt I couldn't be sitting in Cinderella's restaurant and not have pumpkin, but it was definitely the right choice! It arrived slightly resembling a pie, with a puff pastry lid but it was a delicious soup, one that I will definitely be finding the recipe for. {I also feel it's the right time to point out I didn't take any good pictures of my food as I was to eager to dive in, so instead I have included my sister's choices; she went for grilled vegetables with a pesto sauce, poached egg and rocket}

For the main course I had beef fillet casserole, toast and bordelaise sauce and again I wouldn't have chosen anything different. The beef was beautifully tender, there was an array of different vegetables and the sauce was just the right thickness and full of flavour. {My sister chose chicken breast in a creamy truffle sauce with a trio of purées (potato, vitelotte potato and sweet potato) and sautéed vegetables!} Now, I know pudding goes into a separate part of your stomach, or so Jay always tells me, but even so I'm not quite sure how I managed to finish off the whole thing. Me and my sister both chose Cinderella's Slipper, how could you not, which was chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Presented on your plate was three jelly like desserts, chocolate flakes, and a white chocolate slipper filled with chocolate mousse. It was a struggle, but I devoured the lot of it and waddled rather then walked out of the restaurant. 

It was such a lovely experience, one I would recommend to all despite the hefty price tag and if this post has left you dribbling then you can check out what else is on the menu here. 

Crepes, crepes, crepes

What a miserable day, August is meant to be filled with days of sun not torrential downpours, luckily for you I thought I'd cheer you up with a new post. Following on from my last one with the theme of my holiday it's about time I actually tell you what I did on my holiday, and for all you pining after last nights Biscuit Bake-Off, this one is on food (you can thank me later).

Now you can't got to France without visiting any creperies, as that would be like going to Italy and not having any pizza, practically a crime. Over our 10 days in the beautiful province of Bretagne (Britanny) we visited a fair few, five to be precise, which meant I got to satisfy my stomach with an array of different flavors, both sweet and savoury

1. Pomme Caramel | Apple and Caramel
My first of the holiday was in a little town called St. Nicholas-des-eaux {translation: St. Nicholas with water} and as you can probably imagine it was situated on a river surrounded by beautiful flowers, the french like their flowers. Our first crepe was swiftly devoured as we'd just endured an eight mile bike ride, spotting a beautiful king fisher along the way. Our jelly legs had taken a seat at Le Chalet and I opted for 'Pomme Caramel' a perfect combination of soft warm apples and runny caramel sauce, and there was just enough to leave you pining for more, but not so you felt sick!

2. Champaignons et Lardon Fumes| Mushrooms and Smoked BaconDestination number two brought us to a rather posh creperie in a town called Port Lois. It was a bit of a miserable morning so after trundling round a market, (and buying 3kg of mussels) we decided to head to somewhere we've never been before. It was a painful decision, {top tip: don't wear new shoes when it rains} but after exploring the beach we sat down for a spot of lunch. You could say there was a slight language barrier when trying to understand the waitress asking us what flavour tea we'd like, but that conversation was moved on swiftly. Crepe numero due had me listening to the savoury man on my shoulder, choosing a smoked bacon with mushrooms crepe that was made with buckwheat and what a choice it was. I can definitely say it's made the cut as a top three crepe contender.

3. Saucisse | Country Sausage
This next crepe stop came after a little break away from our daily routine but the sun had come out so we had been spending the days sunbathing our troubles away. This next one was once again a rainy day activity, and after a lovely amble around the streets of Josselin we took shelter in Creperie du Centre. For some reason that we couldn't quite understand we could only chose from the savoury section, but that was fine as I chose country sausage. I guess I hadn't really put much thought into how it might turn up but as it arrived I soon realised that I was getting a crepe hot dog. It was strange, I'm not going to lie but that doesn't dismiss the fact that you could taste the countryness in the sausage, and the crepe was cooked beautifully, just needed some ketchup and mustard. 

4. Fraise Confiture | Strawberry Jam
Have you ever walked into a room and got the feeling you should walk back out again? Well, that's what we should have done at this creperie as when we arrived the chef was getting ready to go home and the owners were seated at a table having a family meal, awkward. Nonetheless, we didn't leave as it was raining, we had driven out especially for this penultimate crepe and we're never happy when it rains on holiday (You may see a pattern arising). Luckily for us the chef delayed his home time by 15 minutes and stayed around to cook us some delicious crepes. My sweet tooth shone through this time and my choice of a classic strawberry jam left my tummy filled with goodness.

5. Ognion et Lardon | Onion and Bacon
Our final crepe came on our last day before moving onto Disneyland Paris. We spent the day in Pont Aven, a quaint town that's filled with art gallery's and biscuit shops. We arrived on market day so we worked up an appetite weaving through the stalls and tourists before stopping for some lunch. After much deliberation I went for a savoury option one last time of onions and bacon and it was the right choice. If we were doing it the French way we would have had a sweet one for pudding, but my tummy could no longer be filled which means they did a good job!

Since being back on English turf I'm definitely missing lunchtime crepes, but after being in York for the weekend we spotted a creperie van, wahooo, which means my cravings can soon be satisfied. Check in soon to find out what else I got up to in York!

What I've learnt about the French

Bonjourno, I am back, yes I have returned from across the pond and have landed myself back into reality, working 8-6 (what a way to make a living). I had a lovely holiday with the family away from the stresses of life, yes being twenty-one is hard, but I am now back on the ground with some fresh new content for you all *cheers*. I thought I'd start off with what I have learnt over the past two weeks about the friendly, sometimes too friendly, French.

1. They will literally share your towel on the beachEven when there is space at every corner 

2. No matter how hard you try, attempting to imitate a goat and saying the word really slowly will not make them understand.'Je ne comprends pas' was repeated many times

3. Queues are non-existentIt's more of a case of push and shove to find your way

4. Doggy-do-do is seen as a natural fertilizerLazyitus has taken over french dog owners. I don't know how many times I heard my mum say 'Watch where you're walking'

5. They have flowers everywhereWhich means their streets are super pretty

6. They sunbathe on air bedsNot only do they bring every beach chair, towel and blanket, but camping equipment seems to be part of the daily pack-up. 

7. Socks and sandals are a thingThe French are trying to make it happen

8. They bake the biggest baguettes you've ever seenNothing beats munching the end of a freshly baked baguette.

There you have it, 8 odd/fascinating/good/bad differences I have noticed about our neighbors across the channel. Keep your eyes peeled as my next exciting insight to my holiday, it involves food, will be up soon!