Manchot (nm)
Une personne qui a perdu un ou deux bras.
(zoologie) oiseau palmipède des régions antarctiques.
Monthly Archives: September 2013
Mot du Jour
Faire la une (expression)
La une: the headlines.
To hit the headlines (to appear on the front page of a publication)
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Ça prend une minute pour remarquer quelqu’un, une heure pour l’apprécier, une journée pour l’aimer, mais une vie pour l’oublier.
— Anonyme
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Je voudrais pouvoir t’oublier, mais seule la mort offre l’oubli, la vie n’a pas cette indulgence.
— Anonyme
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Qui jamais ne connut ce qu’est l’amour, n’a jamais pu savoir ce qu’est la peine.
— Thomas d’Angleterre
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Un seul être vous manque, et tout est dépeuplé.
— Alphonse De Lamartine
♥ L’Amour du Jour
L’amour est une rose, chaque pétale une illusion, chaque épine une réalité.
— Charles Baudelaire
♥ L’Amour du Jour
La plus grande tragédie de la vie n’est pas que les hommes périssent,
mais cela qu’ils cessent d’aimer.— W. Somerset Maugham
♥ L’Amour du Jour
L’amour est le plus grand rafraîchissement dans la vie.
— Pablo Picasso
Mot du Jour
Dissoudre (verb)
dissolve
décomposer avec un liquide.
♥ L’Amour du Jour
La vie est la fleur dont l’amour est le miel.
— Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr
Mot du Jour
Un moins que rien (expression)
Personne sans intérêt, sans valeur.
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Je serai poète et toi poésie.
— François Coppée
Mot du Jour
Un enfant de choeur (expression)
(figurative) An angel.
Personne d’une grande naïveté.
♥ L’Amour du Jour
L’amour fait les plus grandes douceurs et les plus sensibles infortunes de la vie.
— Madeleine de Scudéry
Mot du Jour
Oh la vache! (expression familière)
A colloquial expression to express surprise or admiration.
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Le prix d’amour, c’est seulement amour… Il faut aimer si l’on veut être aimé.
— Honoré d’Urfé
Mot du Jour
Vigilant (adj)
qui exerce une surveillance attentive et soigneuse, dont l’attention ne se relâche pas
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Si tu ne sais pas quoi faire de tes mains, transforme-les en caresses.
— Jacques Salomé
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Quand on est aimé, on ne doute de rien. Quand on aime, on doute de tout.
— Colette
Mot du Jour
Ça caille (expression familière)
Il fait très froid
Mot du Jour
Pochtron (nm)
Ivrogne, celui qui se saoule
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Deux choses ne se peuvent cacher : l’ivresse et l’amour.
— Paul Claudel
The Hemingway Home and Museum
Though I am not a big fan of Ernest Hemingway’s works (to be honest, I only knew “The Old Man and the Sea” before coming here), The Hemingway Home and Museum has been the one place that I’ve been looking forward to visiting, ever since le bf told me about it a year ago.
The reason? This place is home to approximately 40-50 poly-dactyl (six-toed) cats!
Exterior of Hemingway’s house
View from the balcony. I spot a cat :D
This one reminds me of my cat Mia :3
Not all of the cats have the physical poly-dactyl trait but they all carry the poly-dactyl gene in their DNA, which means that the ones that have 4 and 5 toes can still mother or father six-toed kittens.
Hemingway was given a white six-toed cat by a ship’s captain, and some of the cats who live on the museum grounds are descendants of that original cat, named Snowball. Key West is a small island and it is possible that many of the cats on the island are related.
For this exciting occasion, I even smuggled a small bag of cat treats in so that I could befriend these famous cats :P
Cat cemetery
Kitty guarding the cemetery
Hemingway named all of his cats after famous people, so the museum continued to follow that same tradition today. You can see some of the names on the cemetery plaque:
Some of the deceased cats over the years )’:
Omnomnoming
This one has curly sheep-like fur
In the souvenir shop
Most cats have extra toes on their front feet and sometimes on their back feet as well. Sometimes it looks as if they are wearing mittens because they appear to have a thumb on their paw.
Check out the paws on this one!
One of the more stunning and unusual features of the Hemingway Home property is the in-ground swimming pool, an extraordinary luxury for a residential home in 1930s Key West. The final cost of construction in 1938 dollars was $20,000.
Hemingway’s expensive swimming pool
Oh hiiiiiiii there
What do you want?!
Curious kitty
This one is just sitting there looking at us
Little kittens kept in their cage
According to one of the caretakers that we talked to, there were currently 45 cats at the house. Afterwards, le bf and I went through all the photos I took and counted all the cats that we saw, there were 22. Almost half of all the cats, not bad at all eh?! :D
le bf et le chat :3
Finally, a special thank you to le bf, who not only brought me to this awesome place, but waited patiently while I spent 2 hours taking photos and feeding every cat that crossed our path (I was really excited lol). T’es le meilleur mon amour <3
Mot du Jour
Formalité (nf)
opération prévue par une loi pour valider un acte juridique
acte qu’on est obligé d’accomplir mais auquel on n’attache pas d’importance
Palm Beach: Ta-boo American Bistro & Bar
I know that from the things that I’ve been posting on my blog it looks like we did nothing but eat LOL. I swear this is the last restaurant review I’m doing from the Florida trip!
We were introduced to Ta-boo American Bistro & Bar through my friend Helena, whom I’ve met in Paris an year ago. We wanted to meet and catch up while I’m in Florida, so she suggested this restaurant. Ta-boo is situated on Worth Avenue, an upscale shopping district. Squeezed between two luxurious clothing stores, the entrance of the restaurant appeared to be a little hidden since it didn’t have a big obvious sign advertising it. Once we entered though, we were surprised by how spacious and comfortable is was inside.
Brie And Pear – a pizza crust topped with brie, pears, grapes, candied pecans and red onion with a balsamic reduction
When I looked at the menu, I was a little doubtful about the combination of brie, pear and grapes. However, with the strong recommendation from my friend, I decided to give it a try. It was an excellent decision on my part, since it turned out to be delicious! Some how the soft texture of the brie worked very well with the sweetness and crunchiness of the pear and grapes. I’m usually not a big fan of pizzas, let alone ones with fruits on them, but I was really impressed by this one. I highly recommend you guys to order this if you ever get the chance to eat at Ta-boo.
Le bf ordered the steak, which was very tasty as well (also recommended by my friend):
Grilled Chopped Steak – topped with gorgonzola cheese and fried onions served with sauteed spinach and roasted tomato
We were so impressed by this restaurant, we decided to come back again, this time with le bf’s parents as well, as our last lunch before they leave Florida the next day.
I ordered the mussels, which had an amazing meuniere sauce/soup. The portion was, as usual, a bit too much for me to handle on my own though :P
Mussels Meuniere – from Prince Edward Island
Le bf’s mom ordered a simple, classic pizza, which was quite good as well:
The Classic Pizza –
our classic tomato sauce with fresh basil and mozzarella cheese
Le bf’s tuna steak burger came with an interesting seaweed salad in it which he didn’t like, but I happily devoured.
Ta-boo Tuna Steak Burger – on a toasted english muffin with wasabi mayonnaise and wakame served with french fries and mixed greens
Le bf’s dad took the tuna carpaccio salad:
Tuna Carpaccio Salad – seared marinated loin of native yellowfin tuna encrusted in sesame seeds and black pepper on a bed of mixed field greens, red and yellow pepper strips and red onion in a balsamic vinaigrette. served with pickled ginger, wasabi and lite soy sauce
We also ordered the fried calamari to share:
Fried Calamari – served with an orange aioli and marinara sauce
Chocolate Mousse
ALSO, they have a bowl of free chocolate mint sticks by the entrance, so don’t forget to be a cheap Asian and take a bunch of them before leaving like I did :P (What can I say? I love free stuff!)
Miami: The Rusty Pelican
A quick review of our the restaurant that we went to on our one day trip in Miami: The Rusty Pelican Miami
The view from the restaurant was stunning!
We were quite hungry so we ordered a cheese and charcuterie platter. I quite like the cheddar, which was a bit of a surprise since I usually prefer soft cheeses.
All American Charcuterie and Cheese Plate – Prosciutto-Berkshire, Iowa
Sopressata – San Francisco, California
Jasper Hills Brie – Greensboro, Virginia
Mature Cheddar-Waterbury, Vermont
Blood Orange Marmalade,
Cornichons, Quince Paste
I ordered the Loster Bisque, it’s not very photogenic but it was really good! The soup was rich with plenty of seafood in it.
Tableside Poured -Lobster Bisque
Lobster, Sea Scallops, Crab,
Roasted Tomatoes, Toasted Corn Relish
Le bf’s dish:
Crab Cake Benedict – Poached Egg, Brioche Toast,
Potato Hash, Chipotle Hollandaise
Le bf’s dad took this one:
Duck Confit – Nueske Bacon Hash
Pee-Wee Potatoes, Bell Peppers,
Teardrop Tomatoes, Fried Eggs
I tried a bit of the dish that le bf’s mom ordered, I think it was my favorite dish from the meal:
Local Catch Sliders –
Beer Battered, Blackened, or Grilled
Local Catch, Caper-Lime Remoulade,
Brioche Bun
And chocolate dessert is always delicious no matter what (:
Chocolate Sabotage
♥ L’Amour du Jour
L’amour est un je-ne-sais-quoi, qui viens de je-ne-sais-où, et qui finit je-ne-sais-quand.
— La Rochefoucauld
Mot du Jour
Chenapan (nm)
rascal
garnement, vaurien
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Comme c’est beau l’amour. Ça endure tout.
— Jean-Jules Richard
♥ L’Amour du Jour
L’amour véritable commence là où tu n’attends plus rien en retour.
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Busch Garden, Tampa, Florida
After our brief stay in Orlando, we drove straight to Tampa, which took around an hour and half. Le bf’s parents dropped us straight off at Busch gardens, which I’ve been really excited about, since le bf told me they have a very good combination of animals and rides there (both of which I absolutely LOVE).
Five minutes inside the park and we saw a whole flock of flamingos by the entrance:
My first time being so close to a flamingo!
I was so surprised and delighted by this I asked one of the animal caretakers to take a polaroid of us with the flamingos. As we positioned ourselves beside the birds, one of them suddenly started to approach me very closely, and the caretaker told me, “Don’t move, looks like you’re getting a flamingo hug!” This literally made my day :D :D :D
The polaroid was able to capture this perfect moment :
Hugged by a flamingo. My life is now completed <3
Apparently there are over 200 Caribbean and Chilean flamingos in Busch Gardens!
A whole flock of flamingos
These little white birds are wild, and they’re everywhere!
The park was huge and organized in different countries, for example, there is Morocco, Egypt, Nairobi, Congo…etc. I loved how each region had different representing animals and that the architectures and even the music changes accordingly as well.
After our little run-in with the flamingos, we started with the Egypt section, and saw some animals on the way:
The hyena was sleepy due to the heat
We saw one of the animal shows: The Cheetah Run, where the caretakers demonstrate the speed of these felines. It was really quite impressive how they can go from 0 to 70 miles per hour in the matter of seconds.
I think most of the time they prefer being lazy and lying around like cats though :3
Continuing our journey alongs the trails toward Nairobi and Timbuktu, we saw a variety of other interesting animals:
Oh hi there meerkats
The hippopotamus
A white skunk that I touched (:
Sleeping aardvark
Baby flamingos, their legs look all messed up O.O
What a cutie :D
He sang a little song for us!
It’s hard to tell from this photo but this bunny was HUGE.
Just hanging out :P
Pretty colors but definitely poisonous
Tiger chillin’ in the shade
The snake skin had an interesting texture, it was heavier than I anticipated!
The mud/grass mixture on their backs is suppose to be like “elephant sunscreen”
We ventured in the Walkabout Way just in time to see some of the Australian animals and to feed the kangaroos and wallabies:
Super friendly kangaroos
They were all so hungry lol
Check out those luscious eyelashes ;)
Le bf feeding the kangaroo
Can’t refusing this cute face :3
They’re not afraid of humans at all
While most of the kangaroos were super friendly and not afraid to interact with humans at all, the wallabies appeared to be more timid, and wouldn’t eat off our hands. It was a bit of a shame, they were so adorable, and I really wanted to pet them!
Cutest wallaby (:
Omnomnom
Oh hello there
Throughout the day we saw a variety of shows in the park, some of the must-sees including:
– Iceploration: a 30-minute ice show which explains some of the park’s history. It was really entertaining, featuring some world-class skaters, larger-than-life puppets, amazing costumes, and 21 different live animals.
– Critter Castaways: a really cool show featuring lots of different animals that were trained to do some amazing tricks. Probably my favorite show of the day :D
Here are some snaps taken during the Critter Castaways:
3 little piggies
I’d like to hold a kangaroo like this :3
Random llama in the show lol
The best part is the meet-and-greet portion after the show:
Mr. Owl doesn’t look too impressed …
… Possibly cuz I took my sweet time to touch him :D
I realize that my post was really animal heavy and I didn’t really take many photos of the rides in the park, but this doesn’t mean that they weren’t awesome!
We went on most of them throughout the day, some of my personal favorites were the Cheetah Hunt, the Scorpion, and the Montu. You can check all of them out here.
Mot du Jour
Piètre (adj)
médiocre, dérisoire, négligeable
♥ L’Amour du Jour
La condition de comprendre, ce n’est pas l’intelligence, c’est l’amour.
— Paul-Jean Toulet
Orlando: Aquatica Waterpark & Capriccio Grill
After a 3 hour drive from Wellington to Orlando, we arrived at the The Peabody Hotel. It was the first time I’ve heard of this hotel, their symbol is a mallard, and everything was duck-themed (even the soap in our room), which I found was super cute :D
They also had was is possibly the biggest, fanciest hotel pool that I’ve ever seen: the Grotto pool with an interactive water feature, sandbox, and a 20-foot slide!
The Grotto pool at Peabody
After checking in and settling down a bit, we went for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants: Capriccio Grill, an Italian steakhouse.
Le bf choose their signature steak, which was 20oz (O_O)! Clearly a good choice in his opinion, as he later told me that’s the best steak he’s ever had in his life.
Le bf’s plate: 20oz Bone in Rib Eye – Capriccio’s Signature Cowboy Steak
I took the Chicken Française, in the spirit of wanting to order something that I haven’t tried before (plus I figured it can be bad since it has the word “French in it and all).
My plate: Chicken Française –
Sautéed Chicken Breast in Egg Batter, Lemon Parsley Butter Sauce
The meat of the chicken was very tender, and the sour taste of lemon was just strong enough to make it very appetizing. The portion was a bit big for me since I ate a lot of the bread and the sides too, so the others helped me with it, and they all enjoyed it as well.
Le bf’s mom’s plate: Pappardelle Pescatore –
Shrimp, Crab, Clams, Calamari, Sweet Peppers, Capers, Olives, Tomatoes, Wine and
Lemon Butter Sauce
Sides:
Risotto del giorno, creamed spinach
The waiter surprised us after our entrees with an assortment of dessert samples in shot glasses. Each shooter is a sample of one of their signature dessert. I thought the idea was smart, these dessert shooters are just the right size for those who just want a taste of something sweet after a satisfying meal (plus they look really cute :D ).
Desserts: signature dessert shooters
Somehow le bf still had room in his stomach to want to order this:
Desserts: Hot Godiva chocolate cake
Though I was really full I couldn’t help but steal a few bites, since it smelled so heavenly. The quality of the Godiva chocolate was really good and sufficiently warmed up, so that the contrast between the hot liquid and the cold vanilla ice cream created a perfect match in the mouth.
After such a rich meal I tried to work some of it off by taking a quick dip in the hotel pool:
Night time swim in the huge pool
The next day, we woke up bright and early for a full day of fun at Aquatica Waterpark :D It was quite pleasant spending the day in different water rides since it was scorching hot outside.
And they also had various animals in the park! One of their most famous animal attraction are the Commerson’s dolphins:
Commerson’s dolphins
The black and white dolphins were smaller than I expected, since their appearance made me thought of killer whales. Commerson’s dolphins are one of the smallest dolphins and are found in shallow waters of the sub-Antarctic.
We also saw the big African spurred tortoise, they are the third biggest type of tortoise in the world.
African spurred tortoise
It came over so that I could touch it :D
The park was not very big, so we were able to go on all the rides at least once. Some of them include:
The Dolphin Plunge: 2 side-by-side enclosed tube slides going underwater where you can see the Commerson’s Dolphins.
The Taumata Racer: a high-speed competitive mat ride where the racers rip down a staggeringly steep hill, head first.
Mojito – Latin Cuisine and Bar
We decided to celebrate our one year anniversary with a simple dinner date at City Place, a plaza with lots of shops and restaurants, located in downtown West Palm Beach.
We’re all dressed up for the big night(:
I feel as if we’re going to prom lol
We walked by Mojito, a Latin Cuisine and Bar and decided that we would eat there, since the atmosphere and menu seemed pleasant. It turned out to be a pretty good choice, as both the food and drinks were delicious.
Kiwi Apple Mojito
We decided to order 4 different tapas, which are small plates of Spanish appetizers designed to be shared. I liked this since I enjoy tasting a variety of different dishes. We each chose 2 tapas, I took the paella and lobster guacamole, and le bf ordered the sliders and the “Ropa Vieja” (clearly he likes his meats :P).
Paella – mussels, clams, featured fish, shrimp, chorizo, saffron rice
Lobster Guacamole – maine lobster, tomato picante, Mojito chips or crispy plantains
Mojito Sliders –
ground chuck, shaved romaine, tomato picante, spicy aioli, manchego cheddar
Ropa Vieja – shredded beef, tomato ragu, sweet pepper, cripsy plantains
We were especially impressed by how much seafood was in the paella. The sliders were really tasty too, the meat patty was tender and the small size was perfect for me. The portion of the plates were more than enough for the 2 of us, I had to depend on le bf to finish most of it of at the end as usual :P
The inside of the restaurant was dimly lit and the atmosphere was quite casual. Towards the end there was a live music group playing and it got quite loud, so we left a bit earlier to walk around outside in the plaza. Overall it was a wonderful night :)
City Place Plaza
First impressions of Florida
Though I’ve visited Florida when I was younger, I had almost no memory of it. At the end August I was delighted to get the chance to go on a 2 week vacation with le bf to join his parents at their summer house in Wellington, Florida.
Exterior of le bf’s family’s house in Wellington
Awesome pool in the backyard that le bf’s dad built
Impressive lights :D
The weather was more hot and humid then I’ve expected. It was a nice change though, the perfect temperature for going to the beach and swimming outside, in my opinion. I enjoyed the tropical climate, with all the palm trees and little lizards running around everywhere, which I found very fascinating :D
These little guys are everywhere in Florida!
During our stay in Wellington, le bf and I tried our best to go to the nearby community center to exercise in an attempt to not gain too much weight from eating so well in restaurants all the time.
At the community pool in Wellington
For dinner on the night after we arrived in Florida, we went on a 2 hour yacht cruise on Delray Beach for dinner.
Dinner cruise in Delray Beach
All of us on the yacht
Interior of Lady Delray
Buffet in the yacht. AC was so strong that we were all wearing jackets lol
We saw a lot of beautiful mansions on the way:
Most of the houses I saw in Florida were nice, spacious and often with a big swimming pool. Everyone seems to be super relaxed and on vacation mode. Not a bad place to plan for one’s retirement, in my opinion :P
♥ L’Amour du Jour
Rien ne suffit à l’amour. On a le bonheur, on veut le paradis, on veut le ciel.
— Victor Hugo
The Chen Cats
So I’ve recently made an Instagram account featuring the 3 super photogenic cats of my family: Harry, Mia, and Leo :D
For all you cat lovers, follow these cuties by adding @thechencats or check them out here: http://instagram.com/thechencats
Mia playing hide and seek in with the covers
Leo being a top model
Harry looking pensive
Follow Me to Florida
We didn’t take many Follow Me photos during the Florida trip, but all of them turned out quite well (:
Check them out in the Around the World section.
City Place, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
♥ L’Amour du Jour
On peut faire beaucoup avec la haine, mais encore plus avec l’amour.
— William Shakespeare
Back to school for fall term
Hello everyone, sorry for not updating the blog for so long. After my last final exam I was caught in a frenzy of packing to go back to Montreal, and then packing again for 2 weeks in Florida. With fall term starting again in 2 days, I’m back again in Waterloo, and I finally have time to go through the numerous amount of photos that I’ve taken during the trip and do some belated updates.
Here are some of the things from Florida I want to cover for the next few days:
– Restaurant reviews (we went to so many good restaurants during the trip, and I took a ton food photos being the foodie I am :P)
– Some of the cool places that we’ve visited:
> Aquatica
> Busch Garden
> Clearwater Beach
> Miami
> Bahia Honda Beach
> Hemingway House
> Theater of the SeaAnd of course I’ll try to keep up with the L’Amour du Jour quotes and Places to Visit Before You Die as well. Looks like I’ve got a lot of blogging to do! :P
『CLUSTERFUCKS♥』 