France Blog 3: Good Eats and the Bourges Cathedral

This week consisted of exploring new places, new foods and lots of basketball (of course)!

Les Trois Cuilleres

If you keep up with the blogs, you would have read about the new friends I made that invited me to a Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner at their house. Well, this awesome couple owns a popular coffee shop in Bourges. So during one of my days off I finally had the opportunity to check it out. It's a really cozy coffee shop with a variety of drinks, foods and baked goods. The atmosphere was very inviting, full of the sounds of people talking to one another, great music and a variety of tables drawing you in to sit down and stay for a while. I ended up spending two hours there talking with the owners for a bit, socializing with a cute couple who I shared my table with, and drawing. Those who are familiar with me, know how much I love to draw, sketch, paint, and do basically anything art related. While sipping on a delicious hot chocolate and muting a scrumptious chocolate chip cookie, I drew a quick halloween inspired piece (see the pictures above).

Bourges Cathedral

Although I should have been practising driving stick (see previous blog post) I decided, instead, to take a walk around the city. This time I went to the Cathedral in Bourges and was in absolute awe. The architecture, the intricate details, the artwork, and the massiveness of the building was breathtaking. It's amazing that people were able to create such beautiful structures and buildings in the past without the technology we have today. Personally, I think many of these older buildings have much more personality and charm to them compared to the modern structures we have today. After admiring the Cathedral, I walked through the neighboring park admiring the changing colors of the leaves. For the past three years I've gone from San Antonio, Texas' extreme heat and greenery, to Novosibirsk, Russia's extreme cold, and September snowfalls. So it was very refreshing to experience the fall season and see the changing colors of the leaves as the trees prepared for the winter. God's creation is absolutely beautiful.

Alberto's

Back during my first week in Bourges, my teammates and I were invited to dinner at the home of a lovely Italian chef named Alberto, and his French wife Christine. He graciously hosted us at his house and cooked a spectacular spread for us the entire night. This week, I finally had the chance to check out his restaurant with my teammate and her friend, and I was not disappointed! The service was great, the food was delicious, and I will most definitely be going back. If you ever visit Bourges, I strongly reccommend you visit his restaurant, you will not be disappointed!

Cinemas

While at a team dinner after one of our home games (a French league game that we won!), my teammate mentioned to me that there was a new movie in theaters playing tomorrow morning in English! I live a five minute walk from the movie theatre (again, I probably should be practicing driving, but I love walking around the city) so when I woke up the next morning, I decided to check it out. The movie was supposed to be playing in English with French subtitles, however when it began it was in French! Although I just saw it as another opportunity to improve my French comprehension, the lady in front of me, who was clearly not please by this error, walked out of the theatre. I guess she informed the people in charge, because a few minutes after she returned to her seat, they restarted the movie, this time in English with the French subtitles.

Talltique Care Package

This week I got a care package from Talltique which, naturally, I was super excited about! It consisted of a pair of fabulous ripped skinny jeans, a fitted long sleeve, a fall jacket, and a head band! Don't forget to check out Talltique.com if you're looking for fashionable, affordable and good quality clothes to fit your tall frame. And be sure to use the coupon code KA10 to receive 10% off your entire purchase! Plus, they deliver internationally, talk about a win!

Basketball

Pre Game stretching. Silver and Orange, two colors that I absolutely love #TangoBourges #SAStars #CuseNation

This week we opened up Euroleague play at home in the Prado against CCC Polkowice, a team from Poland. The atmosphere for that game was incredible! Bourges fans never fail to fill the gym with great energy every time they come out and support. It was such a loud and fun atmosphere to play in and we were able to secure a come from behind win at home! If you want to keep up with how our team is doing throughout the season, be sure to follow Bourges Basket on Instagram and T witter and check out their website as well! Many of our EuroCup home games are also streamed on youtube.

And for daily updates on my life you can follow me on both Twitter and Instagram under the handle: kjalexan40!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

K.