5th Annual K&K Bastille Day Picnic

by Kylie

Hey Peeps! It's that time of year again - July 14th is rapidly approaching and that means it's time for the :

5th Annual k&k Bastille Day Picnic!

What: 5th Annual K&K Bastille Day Picnic
When: July 14th, 2011
Time: 3:00pm - after the fireworks
Where: Esplanade des Invalides (See map below)
Why: To celebrate Bastille Day, make merry, and "Oooh" and "Ahhh" over fireworks.

Join us for an hour or two, or the whole afternoon/evening! Bring a bottle of two of wine, some water and whatever you want to nibble on. Glasses and napkins are a good idea, too. Maybe even a board game or deck of cards? Don't forget blankets to sit on and sunscreen for those that burn easily.

I, for one, am hoping for sun this year!

And Mother Nature is being contrary and it does rain, we'll be putting a contingency plan in place - ie. hanging out in a bar somewhere. We'll tweet and facebook about it all as usual if that happens! )

(click on map for larger view)

The one where we learn about pastries...

by Kylie

Apparently educational field trips have become the name of the game in the Katia and Kyliemac Empire these days. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to head over to a real French pastry shop with a real pastry chef : the delightful Camille!

Pain au chocolat ready to go into the ovens.

"Pain Choc" ready to be enjoyed!

Baby Choux for the Pièce Montée

This is harder than it looks.

This is made from...

...this. It takes a bit of skill. And practice.

It takes a while to construct one of these. It's definitely not a last minute undertaking.

Delicious goodies ready to be prepped.

Chocolates! This room smelled so delicious, it was hard to resist "sampling" one.

We watched these Mother's day treats get finished.

This view is one of the benefits of living in Paris.

Tarte aux fraises. Best when in season. Like now.

Hungry yet?

Obviously we couldn't go home empty handed, so we made a selection of four goodies to sample on the show. We thought four was very "sage" and not too gluttonous. It was a bit hard to narrow it down, however...

Here's what we chose:

"Symphonie" - obviously chosen since it shares the same name as our resident menace.

Fraisier - one that you will find in a lot of French pastry shops!

St. Honoré - another typical pastry you'll commonly find.

Karamba (hoped I spelled that right) - my favorite of the day, with caramel and pears!

If you want to hear read more about Camille's adventures, you can head over to her blog at croquecamille.wordpress.com!

You can hear our interview with the delightful Camille on episode 441 and episode 442!

The one where we visit a snail farm...k&k ep 432.5

by Kylie

For our Easter adventure, we went down to St. Etienne to visit the Muffin Man's parents and it proved to be a very edifying visit. It always is!

Katia's in-laws arranged for us to go to a snail farm - a Snail Farm, people!! - where we learned all kinds of interesting snail stuffs which we talked about (in French!!) in Episode 432.5. But don't worry if you don't understand French, part of the episode is in English, too.

We asked some hard-hitting journalistic type questions like :

Just how does one choose the snail "studs*"?

And we also asked some other kinds of questions that may not have been so journalistically hard-hitting. Among them:

How fast does a snail go?

What do you call the cry of a snail?

Interested in the answers? You'll find the answers to all this and more in Ep 432.5.

Mme Fabbio gave us the grand tour of the snail farm and explained the whole process of snail raising to us. These are free-range snails!

Have you ever wonder what a snail playground looked like? No? Me either. But here's an example of one being prepped for this season's snails.

Mme Fabbio will plant the playground with all kinds of vegetables for the snails to feed on - there is even a little "electric fence" that keeps the snails in and slugs out. A "brumisateur" system is suspended over the park that sprays a mist on the little guys so that they don't dry out. They are delicate nocturnal creatures, after all.

Freaky fun fact : Apparently snails are both boys AND girls. But not (if I understood Mme Fabbio correctly) at the same time. (Yeah. Probably should have confirmed this one before posting this, eh?)

Freaky fun fact : Those "horns" that the snail has? Yup. Those are his eyes at the end.

"Let me outta here!"

The underbelly of a snail. Slime-o-rama.

I'm ready for my close-up, Kyliemac!"

Snail eggs. Containing little itty bitty baby snails.

Freaky fun fact : The eggs can be eaten as caviar. (I suppose that this fact isn't really all that freaky, but I had never once thought about eating snail eggs before.)

Freaky fun fact : The snail reproductive system is found in their neck.

Snail Trivia:
What is a snail farmer called in French?

Answer: A "héliciculteur" or, as in this case, a "hélicicultrice", which is a lot harder to say than "snail farmer". For me, anyway.

We had a lovely time visiting the snail farm and would love to go back in the Fall when it's in full swing and the garden play park is full of veggies (and snails) so that we can see the them (the snails, not the veggies) running - crawling - sliming(?) around.

If you happen to be in her neck of woods, make sure to visit the snail farm de Mme Fabbio.
And tell her that Katia and Kyliemac sent you!

*stud (stallion) = un étalon

Winnie l'ourson

by Kylie

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Disney store with a friend of mine, and we came across a little stuffed Winnie the Pooh. I knew that his name in French was "Winnie l'ourson" - ourson being the French word for a baby bear, but I realized I couldn't recall what any of the other characters were named, if I had ever known them at all.

Over the Christmas holiday, I asked a couple French people if they could fill in the missing names. They couldn't, but a quick look at wikipedia helped us out. Here's what we found :

Winnie-the-Pooh - Winnie l'ourson
Piglet - Porcinet (French word for "baby pig")
Tigger - Tigrou
Rabbit - Coco Lapin
Owl - Maître Hibou
Kanga - Grand Gourou or Maman Gourou (kangourou French for...well, kangaroo)
Roo - Petit Gourou
Christopher Robin (Named after the author's son) - Jean-Christophe

Hundred Acre Wood - Forêt des Rêves bleus

(Did you know that Winnie-the-Pooh has even been translated in LATIN?)

Chiottissme! (An Expo)

by Kylie

Les chiottes is French slang for les toilettes.

What will you find there? 46 photos showing, you guessed it, toilets from 31 different countries.

The exposition is free and open until October 20th on Boulevard de la Bastille in the 12th.

Want more info? Here's some in French : Click Here.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show : Disney Village (Marne-La-Vallée)

by Kylie

As listeners of the podcast know, I make no secret that September is my birthday month (Oh, and Frog's too). This year, since I have a year pass to Disney, I received a birthday treat from the folks at Disney - a free ticket to see Buffalo Bill's Wild West show! Huzzah!

The ticket was good for any day in September, provided I brought my Disney pass and some sort of (official) identification which shows my birthday. Which is the 4th of the month, in case anyone forgot (Oh, and Frog's too). I brought my passport.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show is in Disney Village, so it's not actually in the park, and you don't have to pay an additional fee to get into the park and THEN into the show.

Shows are at 6:30pm and 9:30pm everyday (save for Wednesday and Thursday, although there are some exceptions, so make sure to check the site) and lasts for an hour and a half. It's recommended to get there about half an hour before show time, since there is generally a line to get in. The food listed on the menu is heavy on the meat portion, but there is a vegetarian and a non-pork option available. Ask for that when you book your tickets or enter the show.

I got there plenty early and they opened the door at 6:00 pm on the dot. I heard a bunch of different accents and not all the attendees were small childrens with parents in tow.

Once you get in the doors, you file past the ticket takers who ask the number of your party and give you your tickets to get into the Arena - these tickets let the servers know what ranch you are on, what seating you have (category 1 or 2), and what kind of meal you will be having.

As we walked into the entrance area each of us received a cowboy hat that we got to keep. The audience is divided up into four different ranches with different entrances: the Gold Star, Red River, Blue Moon or Green Mountain Ranch. I was on the Green Mountain Ranch (although I wanted to be on the Gold Star ranch since a little bird (Janna) told me that Gold Star ranch usually wins).

While we waited in the "Saloon" for the Arena gates to open, there's a bar where you can buy drinks and a Photo Stand where you can have your photo taken with the Mouse himself. (I unfortunately forgot to pick up my photos after the show at a shop across the way).

The show is based on the actual Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show that was founded in 1883 by Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody. I always thought it a bit strange that there was a Wild West show just outside of Disneyland, but it made more sense when I read that the original show was actually performed at the Champs de Mars attracting more than 3,000,000 spectators. Not a bad turn out for 1905!

There are posters and explanations (in several languages) as well as some displays to take a look at before they open the main doors to the arena...

...and a shop, just in case you need a 'coon skin cap or a sheriff's hat.

There was a bit of entertainment before they let us in to the arena. One of the cowboys came out to perform on a little stage in the saloon - quick draw and lasso tricks. Then a group of musicians and Goofy came out to perform a few tunes.

Finally they let us into the arena...

I ended up in Great Seats with my Category 1 ticket, although I have to say that there didn't really seem to be a bad seat in the house. The seats flip down, like the "strapotin" seats (jump seats) on the metro, and it's a little bit tight, but I've been seated closer to people (like at the Moulin Rouge, for example).

Here is the site that greets you :

This is what is before you...

I am ready to play the part...

The show is a blast, although not recommended if you have asthma as the animals do kick up a bit of dust. I was surprised that the majority of the show was in English - although there was a bit of French, particularly when explaining what was going to happen in the contests. The show includes the obligatory Cowboys & Indians, as well as Buffalo Bill - Annie Oakley also makes an appearance!

I found the show to be entertaining. I had a great time and sat next to a French family of five that had been enough times to have all the different cowboy hats a couple of times over. The kids were 5, 11 and 15 and the entire family loved it (obviously).

There is a bit of audience participation in the shooting matches & a several lucky adults got to ride in the Stagecoach. Not me. (Not that I'm bitter. Even though it was my birthday.)

The food wasn't the best ever, but it was pretty much what I expected for such a large group of people. I didn't leave hungry. When you first sit down, there is a basket of chips (you share with others) and a basket with some slices of bread and some cornbread. The first "course" is chili, followed by some ribs, chicken and a tiny sausage along with some potato wedges. Desert is an apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Finally there was coffee (or tea) and some sweet treats (although that may be only for Category 1). Finally, a chocolate coin finishes off the meal. (The kids also received a cowboy hat keychain. I didn't. Even though it was my birthday).

The theatre was only about half-full the day I was there (Sunday 6:30 show) and it looked like just about everybody had Category 1 seating - this surprised the French mother, as she told me the other times they had come the place was packed.

Tickets are rather expensive - 70€ a pop for Category 1 & 56€ (Category 2) for tickets purchased the day of (kids tickets are a bit cheaper - and I've read that reservations are Strongly suggested, especially for certain times of year. Rumor has it there are ways to get cheaper tickets - so that may be an option worth investigating. (I'm subscribed to Disneyland newsletter and occasionally will get deals - for example pre-purchased tickets to Buffalo Bill five days in advance for a significant discount.)

*For better pictures of the show here's a link to another blog review of the show.

*The actor who plays Colonel Cody in the show has a blog. It hasn't been updated in a while, but here's the link if you are interested : click here.

Kyliemac in America : Death in the Afternoon on the Lame-O Beach

by Kylie

Is there a more civilized way to spend an evening than watching the sunset while sipping champagne? Well, maybe, but that ranks pretty high in my book.

This summer, while I was in the states for August, that is exactly what Peter Jon and I did. More or less.

First we had to assemble our ingredients for our cocktail of choice that afternoon which was called "Death in the Afternoon", a little cocktail I learned about on an outing with Kolenda*. So we bought our obligatory bottle of absinthe and bottle of champagne (chilled, of course) at this appropriately named Liquor Store:

Then we headed to the lakeshore where we rode the carousel which had some odd looking creatures....

We dawdled around a bit before heading to the beach. Then we prepped the goods.

Drinking from straws is the ultimate in cool.

"

And then we watched the sun set.

Then we got bit by a billion mosquitoes and got locked into the beach parking lot, but that's the boring part of the story...

* for more absinthe recipes, click here.

Kyliemac in America : Holland, MI

by Kylie

One of the exciting events of my trip back home this summer was getting to Holland, Michigan where I had the chance to meet up with one of the Empire, Gilbert.

Gilbert was kind enough to spend the afternoon with me and act as tour guide, indulging all of my whims, which included checking out the Gift Shops of Dutch Village.

The first shoppe we stumbled into was the Candlemaking shoppe. The process itself is pretty interesting - the inside of the candle is clear paraffin, so when the candle burns it also glows.

We stood watching the artists cut the candles for awhile - it looks easy, but it takes a year to learn the skills to do this properly. Then we traipsed off to look at all the other treasures :

Aren't they lovely?

Next we found the fashion area, and unfortunately, I didn't find anything in my size.

Well, this sort of fit. Of course, we had to look at the appropriate footwear.

Very fashionable footwear.

I kind of want these...

These shoes, however, were much too big.

After our Dutch Village adventure, Gilbert led me to downtown Holland where we ate at Froggy's.

Of COURSE this is where we ate. How could we resist?

Cheeseburgers, Fries and Root Beer! YAY!

I think we need one of these for the studio.

After we spent the rest of the afternoon roaming about downtown where they were having sidewalk sales. We *may* have stopped for ice cream at some point.

And we ended the day with a Spontaneous Wine Tasting.

A huge thanks to Gilbert for his tour guide skills and for a fantastic afternoon!
(And the coconut m&ms that he sent back with me!)

First glace of the summer

by Kylie

Last week I got a chance to finally meet up with Ali of AliThinks who helped me out with some proof-reading for #thepaper.

Since it was a very warm day, I proposed to head over to Berthillon to get some ice cream - my first of the summer.

She agreed so we headed over to Ile Saint Louis to get us some from the Berthillon shop itself which was rather crowded.

There are lots of flavors to choose from - and handily translated into English as well...

I waffled between the Mint (Menthe) and Pear (Poire), but pear won out!

k&k get cultured #5 : urban art tour

by Kylie

this month's k&k get cultured was an urban art tour led by our good friends Michelle and Axel (of Paris Urban Adventures & Gadabout World fame).

since a picture is worth a thousand words, and the topic was art, i think i'll let them do the talking...
here is a sampling of what we saw:

if you are interested in a bit more info, Michelle put a link on the k&k forum - which you can find here.

we had such a great time on the tour, we may just have to do it again in the fall!

Following Aimée Leduc...

by Kylie

In Episode 338 and Episode 339 of Katia and Kyliemac V.O. we had the pleasure of speaking with Cara Black, author of the Aimée Leduc Detective Series.

One of the stories she told us was her "investigation" of the Maison Victor Hugo and how Aimée could escape the museum in the novel Murder in the Marais.

So when I was there this past weekend with some friends, we decided to see the place of escape for ourselves...

Aimée Leduc was here:

How to escape?

It won't be easy...

Clearly someone has read the novel and taken care of this oversight...

space invader

by Kylie

as i was out and about the other day, i spotted this :

i see these guys all over the place, but this was one i had never tripped over before. (probably since i'm generally never out of my own neighborhood).

you can find these invaders all over paris. the artist even has a wiki page. ( i want a wiki page. and an oompa loompa!)

if you are interested in finding out the locations of these bad boys, you can purchase maps of the cities where they can be found, and now there are even invader shoes you can purchase (they are giving me ideas...)!

for more invader-y goodness you can head over to the site.

Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants

by Kylie

The other day I got a texto from the delightful Ksam telling me she had tickets to the Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants, and asked if I was interested in going along. Was I interested? HA!

We met up and headed over to Espace Champerret and trundled ourselves inside. We waited in line and when she handed them our tickets, we were each given a tasting glass with the logo for the Vignerons Indépendants.

On Facebook, we'd both become Fans and had downloaded a game to play, which would give us an opportunity to win one of 50 bottles of wine. Obviously, answering the questions became our first task of the day. We decided to get that accomplished before we got into the serious tasting.

Most of the salons I've been to have had more than just wine, and I hadn't been to one like this before, so here's a gander of what we were looking at:

One of the great things about these salons, is you can try all sorts of stuff you could a) never afford or b) not want to buy a whole bottle of.

Here's the most unusual flavor we tried...

I would like to thank Ksam for suffering through I can't recall how many different tastings of various Cognacs...

We tasted wine, pineau, eau de vie, crémant, champagne, calvados, but my favorite of the day was a jurançon moelleux.

Let's just say it was a good thing that neither of us had to drive home...

As we were taking a pause to eat a little some to counteract the affects of all the stuff we were drinking, the delightful Ksam and I heard suddenly heard our names on the loud speaker.

Look what we won!

Look Ma! Two Hands!!

We walked up to the stand, and they recognized us right away. Gee. I wonder how. They asked us where we were from, and when we responded "les États-Unis" they added another bottle each! Yay Us!

If you ever get a chance to go to one of these salons, I highly recommend it!

(And you get to keep the glasses.)

The Taste Test (Macarons)

by Kylie

McMacaron on the left - La Durée on the right

In Episode 329, we had the delicious Rhino75 in the k&k boudoir for our taste test of the new McMacaron vs. La Durée. How did they stack up against each other? You'll have to listen to the episode to find out!

Wanna have your own taste test? The McDonald's and La Durée on the Champs-Elysées are conveniently located close to each other...

La Durée
75, avenue des Champs Elysées - 75008 Paris

McCafé
140 Avenue des Champs Elysées

Share your opinions with us on the k&k forum!

échecs

by Kylie

How I spent my Thursday afternoon.
by Kylie

Here's some vocabulary for you:

Chess - Échecs

Eng           French

King          Roi - (lit.) King
Queen       Dame - (lit.) Lady
Bishop       Fou - (lit.) Madman
Knight       Cavalier - (lit.) Rider
Rook         Tour - (lit.) Tower
Pawn         Pion - (lit.) Pawn

I noted in the rule book that calling the "Dame" the "Reine" and the "Cavalier" the "Cheval" is technically incorrect. Though typically that wouldn't stop me. And it amused me that every time my opponent (age 8) moved his Knight he said - CA-VAL-I-ER . One syllable for each square to count how many places to move his piece. Adorable.

He took great joy in smacking my pieces down as he took them.

I won, though.
But just.

Think I need to be boning up on my chess playing skills.

This is the blog. Part of the Official Katia and Kyliemac Empire. Cos we have LOTS of stuff to say. And the podcast? 1/2 an hour twice a week? It's just not enough.

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