Wellll I'm finally back in Paris after a long long day of travel! Most of the hassle resulted from some construction at the CDG airport -- which was very much unappreciated...
I spent the morning packing up all of my stuff at Mel's apartment and cleaning up after myself, and then I set off for the train station about half twelve (as the British would say). I walked across Edinburgh hating myself for having a bag and a backpack...it seemed like I had packed nothing but bricks.
I met Harry at the train station, and we waited for our train to Newcastle which was about 25 minutes late. The train ride was a bit um, restless, to say the least. There was a table of 3 children and their mother, and the kids were running around and screaming....I might be requesting the quiet car on the train from now on...
We got in to Newcastle and found the metro station -- which compared to the Paris metro system, seems like it's from the Stone Age -- and we took the metro to the airport. The Newcastle airport is a bit odd -- they don't post the gate number until about 30 minutes before the plane leaves, and then it's kind of like sheep being herded down a staircase and onto the plane. Also, it was the first time I've taken EasyJet -- think Southwest. There are no seat assignments, and it's a bit chaotic. BUT, what was interesting, was that there is no barrier between the first row of seats and the plane door and flight attendants. It was cool to see them actually shut the door and gossip about the people in the back...
The real fun began after we got off the plane. We tried to take the RER (like another metro -- but it goes out into the suburbs), but of course, the RER station at the airport is closed. How wonderful. So there were lots of people in yellow vests telling us that we had to go take the airport shuttle, and then again, like sheep, we were herded onto buses to a different RER station. Silly me for thinking that it was going to be about a quick 5 minute little ride -- it turned out to be about a 30 minutes ride through the middle of absolutely nowhere....awesome.
After that, we finally made it onto the RER and then connected to the metro to get home. After about a 9 hour day of travel, I'm finally home. It's still odd to consider coming home as coming back to Paris! I get to come home to the city with the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Notre Dame, and the like!
Alrighty, bedtime! Much too late already! A bientot!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Mmm chil(l)i......
It was a bit difficult to wake up this morning -- I've found myself staying up much later while I've been on vacation for whatever reason. I guess I've been enjoying some time alone before going to sleep and trying to write my blog entry and catch up on Bones season 6!
Mel and I left the apartment around 9:15 this morning and headed towards the train station to meet Mel's friends Chris and Katie. We boarded the 10:30 train for Glasgow and arrived around 11:20! We walked through the center of the city and stopped by Primark (a ridiculously wonderful British department store) because Mel and Chris were on the hunt for some onesies (like the footie pajamas) to wear for some Halloween parties this coming week! They were successful and each picked out one -- a tiger for Mel and a monkey for Chris. Very amusing. I picked up two men's sweaters for myself....one with a more generic snowflake dsign and the other with reindeer for the upcoming holiday season....
After that, we continued on to the main event of the day: The Great Western Chilli Cookoff! And yes, they spelled it "Chilli", and not "Chili". It was this great event set up by a small international food store (which imports Dinosaur BBQ sauce!) where they sold 500 tickets for 10 pounds each, and for the 10 pounds, you could go around to 10 different restaurants/pubs and each gave out a 50 gram sample of chilli to try and then score! We started at around 12:45, and we ended up taking the whole afternoon to finish it....
The chilli tour was really so much fun. It was incredible to see all the different types of chilli that the pubs made, and also just the Scottish bar scene in general! My favorite chilli actually turned out to be the only one was that vegetarian! Crazy how that worked out. I actually just looked up the results of the voting -- and my top choice got second! And my second choice got first! So at least I wasn't too far off. But anyways, this one restaurant that I loved had used coconut and had almost a sweet flavor -- it was the only one that still left a wonderful taste in my mouth 10 minutes later.
Along the way, we spent time enjoying some drinks while eating -- we happily completed the cookoff with a 2:1 chilli sample to drink ratio...whoops. We each bought around of drinks, and then Katie bought us all one more. I was shocked that despite the signs around the bars saying that I would have to show ID if I looked under 25, I didn't even get carded at all! It's still hard to get used to that.
We finished up the tour and dropped off the score cards, and then we walked back to the train station. We caught the 6:30 train back to Edinburgh and decided to have a nice night in. We picked up some supplies to make "cheese toasties" upon our return -- basically grilled cheese sandwiches and we also added ham! Yum. It was a lovely snack to finish up the long day, and we all watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" -- which I had never seen, and we all really enjoyed it.
Another wonderful day in Scotland! And unfortunately, my last. Headed back to Paris tomorrow -- still odd to think that going back to Paris is the same thing as going back to "real life"....anyways, a few simple pics from a really fun day!
Mel and I left the apartment around 9:15 this morning and headed towards the train station to meet Mel's friends Chris and Katie. We boarded the 10:30 train for Glasgow and arrived around 11:20! We walked through the center of the city and stopped by Primark (a ridiculously wonderful British department store) because Mel and Chris were on the hunt for some onesies (like the footie pajamas) to wear for some Halloween parties this coming week! They were successful and each picked out one -- a tiger for Mel and a monkey for Chris. Very amusing. I picked up two men's sweaters for myself....one with a more generic snowflake dsign and the other with reindeer for the upcoming holiday season....
After that, we continued on to the main event of the day: The Great Western Chilli Cookoff! And yes, they spelled it "Chilli", and not "Chili". It was this great event set up by a small international food store (which imports Dinosaur BBQ sauce!) where they sold 500 tickets for 10 pounds each, and for the 10 pounds, you could go around to 10 different restaurants/pubs and each gave out a 50 gram sample of chilli to try and then score! We started at around 12:45, and we ended up taking the whole afternoon to finish it....
The chilli tour was really so much fun. It was incredible to see all the different types of chilli that the pubs made, and also just the Scottish bar scene in general! My favorite chilli actually turned out to be the only one was that vegetarian! Crazy how that worked out. I actually just looked up the results of the voting -- and my top choice got second! And my second choice got first! So at least I wasn't too far off. But anyways, this one restaurant that I loved had used coconut and had almost a sweet flavor -- it was the only one that still left a wonderful taste in my mouth 10 minutes later.
Along the way, we spent time enjoying some drinks while eating -- we happily completed the cookoff with a 2:1 chilli sample to drink ratio...whoops. We each bought around of drinks, and then Katie bought us all one more. I was shocked that despite the signs around the bars saying that I would have to show ID if I looked under 25, I didn't even get carded at all! It's still hard to get used to that.
We finished up the tour and dropped off the score cards, and then we walked back to the train station. We caught the 6:30 train back to Edinburgh and decided to have a nice night in. We picked up some supplies to make "cheese toasties" upon our return -- basically grilled cheese sandwiches and we also added ham! Yum. It was a lovely snack to finish up the long day, and we all watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" -- which I had never seen, and we all really enjoyed it.
Another wonderful day in Scotland! And unfortunately, my last. Headed back to Paris tomorrow -- still odd to think that going back to Paris is the same thing as going back to "real life"....anyways, a few simple pics from a really fun day!
A bientot!
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Highlands and St. Andrews!
So I'm fresh off of a few days in the Scottish Highlands and a day trip to St. Andrews! Which for anyone who was wondering, were absolutely incredible!
I'm not going to write tons because I think that for this bit, the pictures will speak much more than words. On Tuesday, I met my friends Nick and Harry at the Edinburgh train station, and we took the train to Kingussie, Scotland. We got in in the late afternoon and checked in to our bed and breakfast -- The Arden House, which was about a 3 minute walk from the train station. It was an absolutely delightful house and the couple that ran it couldn't have been nicer. They showed us to our rooms -- Nick and Harry in the one with the two twin beds, and I lucked out and got the bigger room with the queen room -- pretty awesome!
We ate at the Silverfjord Hotel -- which was the only restaurant recommended to us by the couple -- and it was equally as delightful. I had pork and apple sausages on mashed potatoes and some vegetables and then we split some dessert -- the sticky toffee pudding was incredible!!
Wednesday we ordered our breakfasts to be ready around 9am -- and they were delicious. I tried the scrambled eggs with smoked Scottish salmon -- yum. And there was toast, cereral, fruit, tea, and all that good stuff, too! So so good. The boys both had the Scottish breakfast -- which was kind of a mix of everything: sausage, ham, black pudding (blood pudding), fried egg, baked beans, tomato, and probably something else that I'm forgetting! But I trust them when they say it was also wonderful.
We spent the morning walking to the Ruthven Barracks -- I'm not going to try to recount the history, but apparently, it was bloody and unpleasant between the English and the Scottish...so we'll leave it at that.
Well that's about it for the past week! Hard to believe that vacation is almost over, but it's been wonderful!
A tout a l'heure!
I'm not going to write tons because I think that for this bit, the pictures will speak much more than words. On Tuesday, I met my friends Nick and Harry at the Edinburgh train station, and we took the train to Kingussie, Scotland. We got in in the late afternoon and checked in to our bed and breakfast -- The Arden House, which was about a 3 minute walk from the train station. It was an absolutely delightful house and the couple that ran it couldn't have been nicer. They showed us to our rooms -- Nick and Harry in the one with the two twin beds, and I lucked out and got the bigger room with the queen room -- pretty awesome!
We ate at the Silverfjord Hotel -- which was the only restaurant recommended to us by the couple -- and it was equally as delightful. I had pork and apple sausages on mashed potatoes and some vegetables and then we split some dessert -- the sticky toffee pudding was incredible!!
Wednesday we ordered our breakfasts to be ready around 9am -- and they were delicious. I tried the scrambled eggs with smoked Scottish salmon -- yum. And there was toast, cereral, fruit, tea, and all that good stuff, too! So so good. The boys both had the Scottish breakfast -- which was kind of a mix of everything: sausage, ham, black pudding (blood pudding), fried egg, baked beans, tomato, and probably something else that I'm forgetting! But I trust them when they say it was also wonderful.
We spent the morning walking to the Ruthven Barracks -- I'm not going to try to recount the history, but apparently, it was bloody and unpleasant between the English and the Scottish...so we'll leave it at that.
Then, for the afternoon, we walked a few kilometers down a bike path to the next town -- Newtonmore, or really just before it, to go to the Highland Folk Museum. It was free! And quite interesting. They had a 1930s working farm with lots of chickens, other buildings replicated from the 1930s, and then a whole little village from the 1700s -- or made to look like a 1700s' village. There were even people in period costume that were giving little histories.
We walked back and hung out in the hotel a little bit -- it was more walking than we had thought! And we headed back to the Silverfjord for dinner (oh, and we got a 10% discount there because we were staying at the Arden House! -- how can you beat that). I got the mushroom soup and whole grain bread -- which were really good, and split a side of "chips" - yum.
Thursday (yesterday)! We ate a little earlier -- and I tried the pancakes, which came highly recommended (by the chef himself)! They were also delicious -- it was three half-pancakes already drenched in maple syrup (usually not the way I prefer it -- but I was able to scarf it down....:), and there was a side of plain Greek yogurt, which was great to cut the sweetness of the syrupy pancakes.
Nick had left early in the morning, so Harry and I decided to tackle hiking "Creag Bheag" which was just behind our B&B. It was absolutely stunning. Hard to describe in words. It was a bit wet, but we managed! Beautiful lake at the bottom, too.
After our hike, we found our way back to the center of town -- and because I'm like a dog and need to be fed at regular intervals, I said that we should go to the Tipsy Laird for some lunch and I got a fairly simple sandwich and had a nice chat with Harry! After that, we went back to the little book shop that we had been to the day before -- which was a used book store in which the proceeds go towards helping children with learning disabilities. It's a lovely place that has quite the varitable plethora of books! I started off by looking through some cookbooks, and then I browsed some more and found a silly novel to begin reading. So we sat there for the entire afternoon (well, Harry left around 3 to catch his train), and then the woman running the store let me stay past closing and even brought me tea! It was so sweet of her. And then when she had to leave, she took me to the community library where she was working so that I wouldn't have to wait in the cold! She was wonderful -- and really, everyone in the whole town couldn't have been nicer.
Around 6:30, I returned to the Silverfjord and sat at the bar to eat my same mushroom soup that I ate the night before -- still delicious. And after I ate, I walked across the street to wait for the train! The train ride was pretty uneventful -- it's literally impossible to see anything out the window, which gave me the perfect excuse to continue reading - and finish - the silly book I had started and bought at the book shop.
Today! Melanie and I walked to the Haymarket bus station to catch the bus to St. Andrews for the day. We ended up both falling asleep on the busride there...and arrived around 11:30. It was an incredibly beautiful day -- barely a cloud in the sky even though it was chilly. We walked around town and through the cemetery, and then down towards the beach and along the pier.
At 1, we met Mel's friend Clara at her apartment (in St. Andrews) who had invited us for lunch! She had made this delicious Thai chicken dish with rice, and we ate with her and two of her flatmates. They were all German, but spoke wonderful English, and we literally talked about anything and everything. They were so nice and welcoming, and it was so nice of her to make us all lunch!
After lunch, we walked next door to a bakery/cafe called Bibi's, which Clara had recommended, to get some dessert -- Mel and I split the Toffee King Cake -- which was kind of this chocolate and yellow cake with some caramel and toffee filling? I'm not exactly sure, but it was really good! And also, we got a lemon muffin/cupcake, which was equally as good! A fairly mild cake part, but very lemony and flavorful icing. We decided to go ahead and get to the bus station and caught the bus around 3:50 to get back to Edinburgh.
Tonight, we spent the night in for the most part -- we met her friend Chris on the way back to the apartment, and while Melanie went for a run, Chris and I went to the grocery store to get dinner supplies. When we got back, Mel and I made these Apple Cheesecake Caramel Bars -- which she had found online, and while we did that, Chris fixed dinner! He made this incredible sauce with prawns, tomatoes, leeks, onions, greens, and a bit of cream, and we put that over noodles. Absolutely delicious.
St. Andrews --
Well that's about it for the past week! Hard to believe that vacation is almost over, but it's been wonderful!
A tout a l'heure!
Monday, October 24, 2011
En Ecosse!
So today was a pretty nice and relaxing day of vacation! I woke up around 9 and had a little breakfast. I decided to check out the pool that is just behind Mel's apartment! It's quite a nice and bright pool -- there were two lanes, a fast and a slow lane -- and for some reason, they had the slow lane going clockwise and the fast lane going counterclockwise, which when you think about it, doesn't really make too much sense...
But anyways, I ended up swimming about 4600 -- it felt like the pool was about 15 yards long because I've been training in a 50 meter pool, but it turned out that the pool was indeed 25 yards long. After my 4600, I got changed and headed back to Mel's to drop off some stuff and get some other stuff and then walked to meet her over by the university library. She was working on a group project and since they were on a roll, I sat outside and started to read my trashy vacation novel -- which is awesome. And it was also some great people watching!
When Mel finished up, we walked to what she calls the "Jesus Cafe" -- which is this cafe run by a church in this back alley -- and you would never know it was there. We both got soup and a roll -- both of which were delicious! I had the mushroom soup and a whole wheat roll, and Mel had the carrot and coriander (aka cilantro) soup -- and then we each had a bit of carrot cake! Which was equally as delicious. The cafe is pretty cool -- it was really busy, and it's nice to know that some of the money they bring in goes to charity!
From lunch, we went to Black Medicine which is this really awesome cafe -- Mel meets a friend there most weeks to do work. We got a drink and settled down to do some work -- I finished my play for my theater class (Le jeu de l'amour et du hasard) and we had a nice time sitting and chatting.
After a few hours we made our way home via the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Mel went out for a run and I hung out for a bit. She made a delicious dinner or noodles with a sauce of chicken and vegetables! Yum! We had a fairly lazy evening and watching "Smokin' Aces" - which isn't exactly uplifting, but it was quite interesting!
So I believe that's it for today! Headed off to the Highlands tomorrow -- so hopefully I'll have some good things to recount when I return!
Cheers!
But anyways, I ended up swimming about 4600 -- it felt like the pool was about 15 yards long because I've been training in a 50 meter pool, but it turned out that the pool was indeed 25 yards long. After my 4600, I got changed and headed back to Mel's to drop off some stuff and get some other stuff and then walked to meet her over by the university library. She was working on a group project and since they were on a roll, I sat outside and started to read my trashy vacation novel -- which is awesome. And it was also some great people watching!
When Mel finished up, we walked to what she calls the "Jesus Cafe" -- which is this cafe run by a church in this back alley -- and you would never know it was there. We both got soup and a roll -- both of which were delicious! I had the mushroom soup and a whole wheat roll, and Mel had the carrot and coriander (aka cilantro) soup -- and then we each had a bit of carrot cake! Which was equally as delicious. The cafe is pretty cool -- it was really busy, and it's nice to know that some of the money they bring in goes to charity!
From lunch, we went to Black Medicine which is this really awesome cafe -- Mel meets a friend there most weeks to do work. We got a drink and settled down to do some work -- I finished my play for my theater class (Le jeu de l'amour et du hasard) and we had a nice time sitting and chatting.
After a few hours we made our way home via the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Mel went out for a run and I hung out for a bit. She made a delicious dinner or noodles with a sauce of chicken and vegetables! Yum! We had a fairly lazy evening and watching "Smokin' Aces" - which isn't exactly uplifting, but it was quite interesting!
So I believe that's it for today! Headed off to the Highlands tomorrow -- so hopefully I'll have some good things to recount when I return!
Cheers!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
EBS en Angleterre...?
Here's an entry that I started yesterday....and am now finishing!
So I'm on the train up to Edinburgh currently -- we got a bit delayed behind a broken down train early on and so are about 30-40 minutes behind schedule! The countryside is absolutely gorgeous -- if I look out to the left of the train I can see the ocean! Pretty crazy.
I got to London on Thursday night by taking the Eurostar -- it's quite nice, but it's actually much more like going to an airport than just getting on a train and leaving. You have to be there 30 minutes early to check in (which luckily I was even though I didn't know it was required), and then go through customs and border control and scanners and such. The scanners aren't nearly as rigorous as those at an airport, but it was still much more security than I had been expecting. I had requested a forward facing window seat -- and I got about 1/4 of what I requested. I was facing backwards and I was technically in a "window" seat, but it happened to be in the space between the two windows that was filled in with metal. A bit claustrophobic!
My cousin Al met me at the train station, and we took a cab back to his apartment -- which is absolutely beautiful! I met his girlfriend Kerstin, who's awesome, and we hung out for a bit and then headed to bed.
Yesterday (Friday), I met up with Kylen -- who's from my Paris program and goes to Williams, because she was coming to London to visit a friend but found out that her friend wasn't available until dinnertime -- around 11:30 at the train station. We dropped her bag off at Al's apartment, and then we set out for a bit of an adventure! We headed towards the river and ended up down by Borough Market where we found a fun pub-type place to eat -- and we both had fish and chips! Of course. How could we not?!
After lunch, we went on a hung to find Ben's Cookies -- which Kylen's friend had raved about while she lived in London over the summer. We walked west and crossed back over the river on the Waterloo bridge and walked up into Soho and Covent Garden, where we did, indeed, find Ben's Cookies. They were pretty good! But we both agreed, that NYC's Levain Bakery's are still far in the lead....
It was getting into the late afternoon, and we decided to make our way back to Al's apartment so that Kylen could retrieve her bag and go to meet her friend. Al's couch and I spent the rest of the afternoon together, and I enjoyed watching some tv in ENGLISH. It was really nice.
Al came home around 7 and as promised, he got to cooking a wonderful wonderful dinner for the three of us! He marinated salmon, and made risotto with asparagus! It was beyond delicious -- much much better than any dinner we would have had at a restaurant! After dinner, we finally agreed on watching Four Weddings and a Funeral - and made it about 90% through the movie before all falling asleep.
Saturday, I woke up around 8:30 and packed up my stuff. Al took me across the street to Sweet, which is a wonderful little bakery just a few minutes from his apartment. We each had a pain au chocolat, he had two "flat whites" to drink -- still not exactly sure what that is -- and I had a mocha. Stopped by the grocery store on the way back to pick up some lunch and snacks for the train ride!
We got to Kings Cross in the knick of time and I found my seat on the train -- this one was actually next to a window, but unfortunately, still not forward facing. But it was a pretty pleasant train ride -- we were delayed about 45 minutes due to a broken train near the beginning, but other than that everything went smoothly!
I was met at the Edinburgh Waverly train station by my friend Melanie, and we walked across the city to her apartment! We had a fun night -- leftover chili for dinner, and then I tagged along for her frisbee team's flat crawl -- I think I'll just leave that to your imagination.
Anyways! Today was filled with sleeping late, a lovely walk in Edinburgh, baking an upside-down plum cake, eating a delicious homemade shepherd's pie with the leftover chili (which was then followed by the plum cake), and some awesome British tv -- we watched the season finale of the show Spooks, which is a government/spy show -- extremely exciting! And then to end on a lighter note, we watched an episode of the show Merlin -- also very entertaining.
I'll leave you there for tonight -- it's getting late! Edinburgh is a truly beautiful place -- it's been wonderful to get out of the city for a bit and see nature again! The buildings are incredible, and it just has a great feel to it. Here's a picture from London and one from today in Edinburgh!
So I'm on the train up to Edinburgh currently -- we got a bit delayed behind a broken down train early on and so are about 30-40 minutes behind schedule! The countryside is absolutely gorgeous -- if I look out to the left of the train I can see the ocean! Pretty crazy.
I got to London on Thursday night by taking the Eurostar -- it's quite nice, but it's actually much more like going to an airport than just getting on a train and leaving. You have to be there 30 minutes early to check in (which luckily I was even though I didn't know it was required), and then go through customs and border control and scanners and such. The scanners aren't nearly as rigorous as those at an airport, but it was still much more security than I had been expecting. I had requested a forward facing window seat -- and I got about 1/4 of what I requested. I was facing backwards and I was technically in a "window" seat, but it happened to be in the space between the two windows that was filled in with metal. A bit claustrophobic!
My cousin Al met me at the train station, and we took a cab back to his apartment -- which is absolutely beautiful! I met his girlfriend Kerstin, who's awesome, and we hung out for a bit and then headed to bed.
Yesterday (Friday), I met up with Kylen -- who's from my Paris program and goes to Williams, because she was coming to London to visit a friend but found out that her friend wasn't available until dinnertime -- around 11:30 at the train station. We dropped her bag off at Al's apartment, and then we set out for a bit of an adventure! We headed towards the river and ended up down by Borough Market where we found a fun pub-type place to eat -- and we both had fish and chips! Of course. How could we not?!
After lunch, we went on a hung to find Ben's Cookies -- which Kylen's friend had raved about while she lived in London over the summer. We walked west and crossed back over the river on the Waterloo bridge and walked up into Soho and Covent Garden, where we did, indeed, find Ben's Cookies. They were pretty good! But we both agreed, that NYC's Levain Bakery's are still far in the lead....
It was getting into the late afternoon, and we decided to make our way back to Al's apartment so that Kylen could retrieve her bag and go to meet her friend. Al's couch and I spent the rest of the afternoon together, and I enjoyed watching some tv in ENGLISH. It was really nice.
Al came home around 7 and as promised, he got to cooking a wonderful wonderful dinner for the three of us! He marinated salmon, and made risotto with asparagus! It was beyond delicious -- much much better than any dinner we would have had at a restaurant! After dinner, we finally agreed on watching Four Weddings and a Funeral - and made it about 90% through the movie before all falling asleep.
Saturday, I woke up around 8:30 and packed up my stuff. Al took me across the street to Sweet, which is a wonderful little bakery just a few minutes from his apartment. We each had a pain au chocolat, he had two "flat whites" to drink -- still not exactly sure what that is -- and I had a mocha. Stopped by the grocery store on the way back to pick up some lunch and snacks for the train ride!
We got to Kings Cross in the knick of time and I found my seat on the train -- this one was actually next to a window, but unfortunately, still not forward facing. But it was a pretty pleasant train ride -- we were delayed about 45 minutes due to a broken train near the beginning, but other than that everything went smoothly!
I was met at the Edinburgh Waverly train station by my friend Melanie, and we walked across the city to her apartment! We had a fun night -- leftover chili for dinner, and then I tagged along for her frisbee team's flat crawl -- I think I'll just leave that to your imagination.
Anyways! Today was filled with sleeping late, a lovely walk in Edinburgh, baking an upside-down plum cake, eating a delicious homemade shepherd's pie with the leftover chili (which was then followed by the plum cake), and some awesome British tv -- we watched the season finale of the show Spooks, which is a government/spy show -- extremely exciting! And then to end on a lighter note, we watched an episode of the show Merlin -- also very entertaining.
I'll leave you there for tonight -- it's getting late! Edinburgh is a truly beautiful place -- it's been wonderful to get out of the city for a bit and see nature again! The buildings are incredible, and it just has a great feel to it. Here's a picture from London and one from today in Edinburgh!
Cheers!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Le Palais-Royal! Tres chic.
This is going to be a short one because I need to continue on with my LAST paper between me and my vacation! It's been difficult to stay motivated, but I at least need to get a draft done tonight.
The highlight of today was my architecture visit! We met at the "Bourse" metro stop, which is indeed where the Bourse (stock exchange) was once located. It was constructed under Napoleon in the early 19th century, and now contains offices and conference spaces, etc. The current Bourse has moved elsewhere. But the building is pretty incredible -- in the neo-classique style -- with huge columns surrounding it, and just a very massive presence in general. We walked in to try and look around, and there was some sort of exam going on in the main hall. It kind of reminded me of the O.W.L.S. scene in Harry Potter -- where they're all sitting in the Great Hall taking the exam.
From there, we walked down the street (we were in the 2nd arrondissement) to see some apartment buildings that began using metal as a construction material -- they were quite impressive as well. The 2nd arrondissement has a wonderful feel to it -- kind of a mix between business-types, quaint Parisian stores, and then chic designer stores as well.
We then walked to a little plaza where our professor took us to a boulanger and bought us all tea and coffee (there are only 5 of us in the class which helped...) and caneles (can-a-lays) which actually means fluted or ribbed in English -- so he said it was because of its architectural relivance that he got those for us.
From the boulanger, we walked to the Place des Victoires which used to be a private square but has been open to the public for quite some time. The buildings are placed in a circle around a statue of a king or prince (someone royal), and the roads all lead up to it like a star.
Our final stop was the Palais-Royal, which is really quite incredible. We spent a few minutes looking around the main courtyard, and then our professor took us to the parfumerie "Serge Lutens" (all of the stores around the Palais-Royal are tres tres chic) which is this tiny boutique, and what he considers one of the most beautiful stores in Paris, and I have to say that I would agree. While in the tiny shop, you are surrounded by hand-painted flourishes and designs all in dark purple and blue -- very striking. There's a magnificent sprial staircase right in the center of the room that leads up to a second floor (not open to customers).
Since we were the only ones in the store, our prof talked the saleswoman into giving us some samples to sniff and told us about the Serge Lutens perfumes -- which are apparently, the first ones to not distinguish between scents for women and those for men. It was really quite an interesting experience! And thanks to our prof once again, we all walked out with a little envelope of their different scents! We all felt so cultured. It was very cool.
I spent the rest of the afternoon buying a backpack for next week, coming back home for lunch, going to practice, and then coming back home to continue working on my paper for tomorrow -- which I now need to get back to.
My blog entries might be a bit sporadic over the next 10 days because I won't be in Paris -- so I'll update when I get the chance! But, I did take some pictures today!
The first of the "Bourse" building, and the second is of the beautiful tiled wall at the boulangerie we went to during class:
A bientot!
The highlight of today was my architecture visit! We met at the "Bourse" metro stop, which is indeed where the Bourse (stock exchange) was once located. It was constructed under Napoleon in the early 19th century, and now contains offices and conference spaces, etc. The current Bourse has moved elsewhere. But the building is pretty incredible -- in the neo-classique style -- with huge columns surrounding it, and just a very massive presence in general. We walked in to try and look around, and there was some sort of exam going on in the main hall. It kind of reminded me of the O.W.L.S. scene in Harry Potter -- where they're all sitting in the Great Hall taking the exam.
From there, we walked down the street (we were in the 2nd arrondissement) to see some apartment buildings that began using metal as a construction material -- they were quite impressive as well. The 2nd arrondissement has a wonderful feel to it -- kind of a mix between business-types, quaint Parisian stores, and then chic designer stores as well.
We then walked to a little plaza where our professor took us to a boulanger and bought us all tea and coffee (there are only 5 of us in the class which helped...) and caneles (can-a-lays) which actually means fluted or ribbed in English -- so he said it was because of its architectural relivance that he got those for us.
From the boulanger, we walked to the Place des Victoires which used to be a private square but has been open to the public for quite some time. The buildings are placed in a circle around a statue of a king or prince (someone royal), and the roads all lead up to it like a star.
Our final stop was the Palais-Royal, which is really quite incredible. We spent a few minutes looking around the main courtyard, and then our professor took us to the parfumerie "Serge Lutens" (all of the stores around the Palais-Royal are tres tres chic) which is this tiny boutique, and what he considers one of the most beautiful stores in Paris, and I have to say that I would agree. While in the tiny shop, you are surrounded by hand-painted flourishes and designs all in dark purple and blue -- very striking. There's a magnificent sprial staircase right in the center of the room that leads up to a second floor (not open to customers).
Since we were the only ones in the store, our prof talked the saleswoman into giving us some samples to sniff and told us about the Serge Lutens perfumes -- which are apparently, the first ones to not distinguish between scents for women and those for men. It was really quite an interesting experience! And thanks to our prof once again, we all walked out with a little envelope of their different scents! We all felt so cultured. It was very cool.
I spent the rest of the afternoon buying a backpack for next week, coming back home for lunch, going to practice, and then coming back home to continue working on my paper for tomorrow -- which I now need to get back to.
My blog entries might be a bit sporadic over the next 10 days because I won't be in Paris -- so I'll update when I get the chance! But, I did take some pictures today!
The first of the "Bourse" building, and the second is of the beautiful tiled wall at the boulangerie we went to during class:
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Mmm quiche! Et la pluie.
So I realized how late the sun has been rising when I got up at 7:37 for my 9:00 class! I opened up the shades and saw that the sun hadn't even woken up yet! Goodness. Anyways, I got going and headed out the door by about 8:30. Now how about this: I saw TWO people that I know on the metro this morning. Not one, but TWO. The first was one of the girls that I swim with! She was waiting for the metro on the opposite platform and came up and said good morning! The other person was Louisa (from Hamilton) who was on the metro that I took to Institut Catholique. Not only the same metro, but I got in the same car that she was in! Crazy. So we walked to class together, which was a lovely way to start off the morning.
My Pensee Economique class met for the second time today. It continues to be, um, interesting. I made a friend today -- who confirmed that, no, I was not the only one who was somewhat lost -- everyone felt that way. Also, I've decided that taking economics, not only just in French, but I French taught by someone who's native language is NOT French, but Spanish, is rather difficult. But again, I've confirmed that I'm not the only one who has a hard time understanding her -- it's everyone. The professor also gives us two fifteen minute breaks during class (which is supposed to be 3 hours long) and also let us out half an hour early....
I got a salad from my favorite boulanger today on my way to Reid Hall -- today's had ham, cheese, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, and some green beans! It was so good. I figure if I alternate between getting that (or the equivalent) and something from Dia, it about averages out to my 5 euro/day limit....
I met with Katia (our tutor) to discuss how to write my plan/outline for my 15-page "fiche du pays" that I have to write for the end of the semester. She helped me to organize my ideas in the "French" way, which was good because it wasn't exactly the way that I had originally written it out....
After finishing that up, I headed across the river to my France and Africa class, and then back to Institut Catholique for Economie du Developpement -- which, to our delight, was only 2 hours and not 3! We all thought that the professor was incorrect, but we're pretty sure he was right because there was a group of unhappy looking adults waiting impatiently outside of the room as we filed out....oops.
Marilu was putting in a quiche to bake as I got home -- we chatted, and then ate dinner fairly soon after. We finished up the pate from the other day, and she had gotten a fresh baguette today which was in-cred-i-ble. The crust was so crisp and flaky and delicious. Then we had the ham and cheese quiche for the main course with some salad on the side. Yum! Quiche, as I'm sure I've said before, is definitely on my list of favorite French foods. She also made these little cakes this morning that we had for dessert -- I can't remember what they were called, but she made them in a mold, and then they were almost raw in the middle -- and had a sugary glaze on the outside. They were also, delicious.
Heading to bed now -- two more classes between me and vacation! And one more paper to write -- I'll attack that tomorrow...
Picture from the archives -- flowers from the market!
My Pensee Economique class met for the second time today. It continues to be, um, interesting. I made a friend today -- who confirmed that, no, I was not the only one who was somewhat lost -- everyone felt that way. Also, I've decided that taking economics, not only just in French, but I French taught by someone who's native language is NOT French, but Spanish, is rather difficult. But again, I've confirmed that I'm not the only one who has a hard time understanding her -- it's everyone. The professor also gives us two fifteen minute breaks during class (which is supposed to be 3 hours long) and also let us out half an hour early....
I got a salad from my favorite boulanger today on my way to Reid Hall -- today's had ham, cheese, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, and some green beans! It was so good. I figure if I alternate between getting that (or the equivalent) and something from Dia, it about averages out to my 5 euro/day limit....
I met with Katia (our tutor) to discuss how to write my plan/outline for my 15-page "fiche du pays" that I have to write for the end of the semester. She helped me to organize my ideas in the "French" way, which was good because it wasn't exactly the way that I had originally written it out....
After finishing that up, I headed across the river to my France and Africa class, and then back to Institut Catholique for Economie du Developpement -- which, to our delight, was only 2 hours and not 3! We all thought that the professor was incorrect, but we're pretty sure he was right because there was a group of unhappy looking adults waiting impatiently outside of the room as we filed out....oops.
Marilu was putting in a quiche to bake as I got home -- we chatted, and then ate dinner fairly soon after. We finished up the pate from the other day, and she had gotten a fresh baguette today which was in-cred-i-ble. The crust was so crisp and flaky and delicious. Then we had the ham and cheese quiche for the main course with some salad on the side. Yum! Quiche, as I'm sure I've said before, is definitely on my list of favorite French foods. She also made these little cakes this morning that we had for dessert -- I can't remember what they were called, but she made them in a mold, and then they were almost raw in the middle -- and had a sugary glaze on the outside. They were also, delicious.
Heading to bed now -- two more classes between me and vacation! And one more paper to write -- I'll attack that tomorrow...
Picture from the archives -- flowers from the market!
A bientot!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Je deteste courir pour ne pas rater le metro....
So I've discovered that if I truly close the window shades (the metals ones out on the balcony), it stays really dark in my room. Like really dark. Which is great if I don't have to actually wake up in the morning, but when I need to (like today), it can make things rather challenging.
I somehow made it out the door by around 9:20 and headed out to catch the bus -- which came within 1 minute of me arriving at the bus stop. It's always a good sign when there are people waiting when you get to the bus stop....just like on the metro -- it's NOT a good sign if when you're walking down to the platform, there's a mob of people coming up the stairs. Newsflash: you missed the metro. And have to wait for the next one.
When I got to Reid Hall, I printed out my architecture paper and studied for my quizz, and then went up to class where we started talking about the 17th and 18th centuries in Parisian architecture. It's incredible how much architecture is in Paris alone -- we continue to talk about all these buildings and monuments and I always think to myself, "wow, it would be really cool to see that!". Well. We usually do go and see the things we talk about...unless they were destroyed centuries ago!
After class, I spent some time in the computer room finishing up my theater paper and also beginning my research on the Nigerian economy! Thrilling, I know. Try to contain your excitement. I grabbed a quick lunch from Dia (the super-discount grocery store) which is just about a block away from Reid Hall, and then I continued to work/procrastinate until class at 4. We discussed all the different aspects of the play and compared them to those in the text, which was actually quite interesting. There are so many different interpretations and reasons behing why things are a certain way -- it's mind boggling.
My Monday routine consists of rushing to the metro after class and taking it to the pool for practice at 7 -- which I've miraculously discovered only takes about 20 minutes. Practice was uneventful -- lots of technique work which is fine, it just was very disjointed and 2 hours worth is a bit long to do stuff like that! I took the metro with some of the guys from the team -- hence my title for today. As we entered the metro station, the metro was arriving. So I was forced to run up the stairs about 4 at a time so that I could make it on with them. Silly me for thinking that my work out had ended at the pool!
Marilu left me these DELICIOUS pastry things that were filled with cheese for dinner. Yum yum yum. I heated them up in the oven which made the crust nice and crisp and flaky, and the cheese was all melted and oozing in the middle. So. Good.
I believe that's about it -- busy getting work done for the week and then getting ready to head off on Thursday! I'm quite excited about that.
A bientot!
I somehow made it out the door by around 9:20 and headed out to catch the bus -- which came within 1 minute of me arriving at the bus stop. It's always a good sign when there are people waiting when you get to the bus stop....just like on the metro -- it's NOT a good sign if when you're walking down to the platform, there's a mob of people coming up the stairs. Newsflash: you missed the metro. And have to wait for the next one.
When I got to Reid Hall, I printed out my architecture paper and studied for my quizz, and then went up to class where we started talking about the 17th and 18th centuries in Parisian architecture. It's incredible how much architecture is in Paris alone -- we continue to talk about all these buildings and monuments and I always think to myself, "wow, it would be really cool to see that!". Well. We usually do go and see the things we talk about...unless they were destroyed centuries ago!
After class, I spent some time in the computer room finishing up my theater paper and also beginning my research on the Nigerian economy! Thrilling, I know. Try to contain your excitement. I grabbed a quick lunch from Dia (the super-discount grocery store) which is just about a block away from Reid Hall, and then I continued to work/procrastinate until class at 4. We discussed all the different aspects of the play and compared them to those in the text, which was actually quite interesting. There are so many different interpretations and reasons behing why things are a certain way -- it's mind boggling.
My Monday routine consists of rushing to the metro after class and taking it to the pool for practice at 7 -- which I've miraculously discovered only takes about 20 minutes. Practice was uneventful -- lots of technique work which is fine, it just was very disjointed and 2 hours worth is a bit long to do stuff like that! I took the metro with some of the guys from the team -- hence my title for today. As we entered the metro station, the metro was arriving. So I was forced to run up the stairs about 4 at a time so that I could make it on with them. Silly me for thinking that my work out had ended at the pool!
Marilu left me these DELICIOUS pastry things that were filled with cheese for dinner. Yum yum yum. I heated them up in the oven which made the crust nice and crisp and flaky, and the cheese was all melted and oozing in the middle. So. Good.
I believe that's about it -- busy getting work done for the week and then getting ready to head off on Thursday! I'm quite excited about that.
A bientot!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Une de mes choses favorites!
Sundays are truly about my favorite day of the week (minus the fact that it preceeds Monday). This morning I slept in a bit and then forced myself to go for a run. It was a beautiful morning -- cloudless sky and a nice brisk temperature. I ran along the Seine and then found my way onto this little isle off of one of the bridges that ended up leading to the French Statue of Liberty! Unfornately, it was covered with empty beer bottles and other trash, but it was still quite a site (and yes, much smaller than ours...).
When I got back, Alain was watching the Australia-New Zealand rugby match, so I sat down and watched a few minutes with him. I really don't understand anything about rugby. At all. Except that it looks extremely intense, and I kept seeing guys walking off the field with blood streaming down their faces. Ick. I learned that the Coup du Monde for rugby lasts so long (over a month -- it started while I was in Biarritz, and the final match of France vs. New Zealand is next Sunday) is because it takes the players days to recooperate from a game. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Around 11:30, I went with Marilu to the marche -- which was wonderful. I think thus far, the market has been just about my favorite thing in Paris. It's so lively and full of the most amazing things I've ever seen. All of the produce is beautiful and fresh, and there are cheesemakers and boulangers and big stalls that have dozens of whole chickens roasting while they cook up pounds (excuse me, kilos) of potatoes in sauce pans as big as bass drums. And it smells just heavenly. Marilu took me first to the Portuguese stand where we bought a fresh half-loaf of my favorite Pain de Mais along with some crevette half-moon pastries and these little tarts filled with coconut (yum!!). It's great being able to try all of this Portuguese food along with the French stuff!
We continued on and she showed me all of her usual stops, and we got fresh fruits and vegetables and she bought some "pate" (pat-ay) for lunch (which I tried and actually liked! The one I ate was the pate du compagne and had apples mixed in to it). And we finished our tour with a stop by a florist where she bought a bouquet of roses and another of lilies -- and I now have a beautiful vase sitting on my dresser!
I spent the afternoon trying to be productive and getting my work done for the week! Which somewhat worked and somewhat didn't -- I'm currently still trying to be in the productive mode...and you can probably tell how well that's going. For dinner, Marilu cooked her delicious pasta with tomatoes and we had a wonderful dinner conversation about how animal noises are different in each language -- they couldn't get over what noise Americans say a rooster makes....and also talked about accents and Americans trying to speak French! It was lots of fun.
I should get back to finishing my theater paper for tomorrow! Yippee.
A tout a l'heure!
When I got back, Alain was watching the Australia-New Zealand rugby match, so I sat down and watched a few minutes with him. I really don't understand anything about rugby. At all. Except that it looks extremely intense, and I kept seeing guys walking off the field with blood streaming down their faces. Ick. I learned that the Coup du Monde for rugby lasts so long (over a month -- it started while I was in Biarritz, and the final match of France vs. New Zealand is next Sunday) is because it takes the players days to recooperate from a game. Doesn't that sound like fun?
Around 11:30, I went with Marilu to the marche -- which was wonderful. I think thus far, the market has been just about my favorite thing in Paris. It's so lively and full of the most amazing things I've ever seen. All of the produce is beautiful and fresh, and there are cheesemakers and boulangers and big stalls that have dozens of whole chickens roasting while they cook up pounds (excuse me, kilos) of potatoes in sauce pans as big as bass drums. And it smells just heavenly. Marilu took me first to the Portuguese stand where we bought a fresh half-loaf of my favorite Pain de Mais along with some crevette half-moon pastries and these little tarts filled with coconut (yum!!). It's great being able to try all of this Portuguese food along with the French stuff!
We continued on and she showed me all of her usual stops, and we got fresh fruits and vegetables and she bought some "pate" (pat-ay) for lunch (which I tried and actually liked! The one I ate was the pate du compagne and had apples mixed in to it). And we finished our tour with a stop by a florist where she bought a bouquet of roses and another of lilies -- and I now have a beautiful vase sitting on my dresser!
I spent the afternoon trying to be productive and getting my work done for the week! Which somewhat worked and somewhat didn't -- I'm currently still trying to be in the productive mode...and you can probably tell how well that's going. For dinner, Marilu cooked her delicious pasta with tomatoes and we had a wonderful dinner conversation about how animal noises are different in each language -- they couldn't get over what noise Americans say a rooster makes....and also talked about accents and Americans trying to speak French! It was lots of fun.
I should get back to finishing my theater paper for tomorrow! Yippee.
A tout a l'heure!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Mes parents d'accueils sont plus populaires que moi....!
So I'm sitting here working on some homework -- and my host parents just left to go have dinner at a friend's house! It's 11:31pm! This is after they've already been to a wedding and a reception -- and I thought she said the theater as well.....busy busy! I'd fall asleep in my plate if I was going out to dinner at 11:30 at night. But Pastel and I are hanging out in my room -- I have a bunch of papers due this coming week, so I'm being a bit lame (not that I'm usually out doing something else at this hour?) and trying to get some done -- and I have a 10 day vacation on the other side as a reward! Not too shabby.
I woke up to an email from my swim coach saying that because I'm American, my club registration is taking longer than usual, and so, sadly, I was unable to compete today. I had actually been looking forward to it! But I soon recovered and continued to stay in bed for a bit.
I took a little adventure today to find the Marguerite Yourcenar Mediatheque which is in my arrondissment -- over in the general direction of my pool. I decided to walk over -- it was a beautiful fall day with not a cloud in the sky. I truly am enjoying the cooler temperatures though! It's nice to be able to wear jeans and a sweatshirt and not instantly be drenched in sweat the moment I step outside. The Mediatheque is a lovely modern building -- practically all windows which is really nice. I made my way up to the 2nd floor (which would be the American 3rd floor), and found some books on French architecture for my paper due on Monday. I was surprised to find the library extremely busy -- lots of people (mostly students?) working at tables and computers -- at noon on a Saturday!
I worked at a long table sharing with 4 other girls for about two and a half hours, and then started to get hungry for some lunch, and so packed up. On my way out, I signed up for a library card! So now I can borrow up to 20 "documents" from the library at a time -- it costs extra to take out CDs and DVDs, so I stuck to the "document" only option. But the woman was very helpful, and she told me that my card would work at any municipal library in the city -- but that I couldn't take out more than 40 documents total at one time! I assured her that I would be able to work it out....
I found my way walking back approximately the same way that I walk home from swimming, and I pondered what could be an interesting lunch option -- I was trying to resist the temptation to do the easy, but boring, stop at Monoprix or Dia...SO, I ended up stopping at a boulanger on the Place Cambronne that I pass by every time I go to and from the pool -- and it always smells heavenly, and the line is usually out the door. I decided on a piece of "quiche avec du saumon et des courgettes" -- which was quite a healthy portion (saumon being salmon and courgette being zucchini). The woman stuck it in the oven for a few minutes, and then I merrily continued on my way home. The quiche was delicious -- big chunks of tasty salmon, and zucchini that was tender, but not mushy. And even better was the crunchy buttery crust. Yum.
I settled in to try and get some more work done this afternoon (and succeeded a bit -- emphasis on the bit part). Around 5:30 I took the metro to meet John Balderston (son of a friend of my mom's) who was in Paris for the day with two friends -- all three are currently studying in Rouen with their school, St. Lawrence. I met them just on the other side of the Champs-Elysees, and for the first time on non-US soil, I entered a Starbucks! What a crazy feeling. I think it must be a requirement for the employees to speak English because I can only imagine all the Americans they get asking for their "triple shot non-fat no-whip mocha-caramel-vanilla latte frappachino"....Anyways, their drinks are even more expensive than in the US if you can believe that -- and they have quite the interesting selection of baked goods (or produced goods?) ranging from pancakes to french toast to cake pops to a three-fruit flavored cheesecake (that John got). It was quite the culteral experience.
We parted ways so they could get to the train station, and I took the metro to the 9th arrondissement to meet some friends at a Thai restaurant for dinner -- well, of course, I got a bit turned around, and was about 15 minutes late after realizing that I had gone the wrong direction from the metro station....I guess my internal compass hasn't completely adjusted to city living. It turns out that the Thai restaurant that we had intended to go to was a little hole in the wall place, with space for maybe 6 people to sit -- we were 7. So after I arrived, we set off to find a new option. We finally settled on a Japanese restaurant not to far from our original plan, and had a lovely dinner. I had noodles with chicken and vegetables, with miso soup and a cabbage salad to start -- all very good! The noodle dish was fairly simple, but tasty. I was with 4 other people from Hamilton, and then two real French students who go to SciencesPo with Noah! It was really fun to have them there to talk to and get to know. They were both extremely nice -- and patient with our French!
Alorrrrs, perhaps a bit more writing about the adaptation of Marguerite Duras' La Pluie d'Ete and then off to bed.
Picture from the archives -- view out back of Versailles as the sun sets (from a few weeks ago):
I woke up to an email from my swim coach saying that because I'm American, my club registration is taking longer than usual, and so, sadly, I was unable to compete today. I had actually been looking forward to it! But I soon recovered and continued to stay in bed for a bit.
I took a little adventure today to find the Marguerite Yourcenar Mediatheque which is in my arrondissment -- over in the general direction of my pool. I decided to walk over -- it was a beautiful fall day with not a cloud in the sky. I truly am enjoying the cooler temperatures though! It's nice to be able to wear jeans and a sweatshirt and not instantly be drenched in sweat the moment I step outside. The Mediatheque is a lovely modern building -- practically all windows which is really nice. I made my way up to the 2nd floor (which would be the American 3rd floor), and found some books on French architecture for my paper due on Monday. I was surprised to find the library extremely busy -- lots of people (mostly students?) working at tables and computers -- at noon on a Saturday!
I worked at a long table sharing with 4 other girls for about two and a half hours, and then started to get hungry for some lunch, and so packed up. On my way out, I signed up for a library card! So now I can borrow up to 20 "documents" from the library at a time -- it costs extra to take out CDs and DVDs, so I stuck to the "document" only option. But the woman was very helpful, and she told me that my card would work at any municipal library in the city -- but that I couldn't take out more than 40 documents total at one time! I assured her that I would be able to work it out....
I found my way walking back approximately the same way that I walk home from swimming, and I pondered what could be an interesting lunch option -- I was trying to resist the temptation to do the easy, but boring, stop at Monoprix or Dia...SO, I ended up stopping at a boulanger on the Place Cambronne that I pass by every time I go to and from the pool -- and it always smells heavenly, and the line is usually out the door. I decided on a piece of "quiche avec du saumon et des courgettes" -- which was quite a healthy portion (saumon being salmon and courgette being zucchini). The woman stuck it in the oven for a few minutes, and then I merrily continued on my way home. The quiche was delicious -- big chunks of tasty salmon, and zucchini that was tender, but not mushy. And even better was the crunchy buttery crust. Yum.
I settled in to try and get some more work done this afternoon (and succeeded a bit -- emphasis on the bit part). Around 5:30 I took the metro to meet John Balderston (son of a friend of my mom's) who was in Paris for the day with two friends -- all three are currently studying in Rouen with their school, St. Lawrence. I met them just on the other side of the Champs-Elysees, and for the first time on non-US soil, I entered a Starbucks! What a crazy feeling. I think it must be a requirement for the employees to speak English because I can only imagine all the Americans they get asking for their "triple shot non-fat no-whip mocha-caramel-vanilla latte frappachino"....Anyways, their drinks are even more expensive than in the US if you can believe that -- and they have quite the interesting selection of baked goods (or produced goods?) ranging from pancakes to french toast to cake pops to a three-fruit flavored cheesecake (that John got). It was quite the culteral experience.
We parted ways so they could get to the train station, and I took the metro to the 9th arrondissement to meet some friends at a Thai restaurant for dinner -- well, of course, I got a bit turned around, and was about 15 minutes late after realizing that I had gone the wrong direction from the metro station....I guess my internal compass hasn't completely adjusted to city living. It turns out that the Thai restaurant that we had intended to go to was a little hole in the wall place, with space for maybe 6 people to sit -- we were 7. So after I arrived, we set off to find a new option. We finally settled on a Japanese restaurant not to far from our original plan, and had a lovely dinner. I had noodles with chicken and vegetables, with miso soup and a cabbage salad to start -- all very good! The noodle dish was fairly simple, but tasty. I was with 4 other people from Hamilton, and then two real French students who go to SciencesPo with Noah! It was really fun to have them there to talk to and get to know. They were both extremely nice -- and patient with our French!
Alorrrrs, perhaps a bit more writing about the adaptation of Marguerite Duras' La Pluie d'Ete and then off to bed.
Picture from the archives -- view out back of Versailles as the sun sets (from a few weeks ago):
A tout a l'heure!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Un peu plus de reflection...
Being that today was predominantly a lazy Friday, I tried to ponder some more about things that I've found interesting since I've gotten here.
First, I have to wonder how everyone in France isn't perpetually sick. The whole "kissing" thing continues to baffle me a bit -- I've gotten more used to it as someone comes closer and goes in to "say hello"! But really -- when we shake hands, yes, it's not the most sanitary act in the world, but the French greeting is kind of full on breathing in the face! And I truly don't mean that in a disgusting way, just that if everyone is always doing that -- how on earth do people stay healthy!
I also had someone ask me about how the French people have or haven't been responsive to me and/or Americans. As most people know -- there's a stereotype that the French hate Americans and aren't receptive. I think that stereotype is fairly incorrect. I think the prime example of this could be when I arrived at the pool this morning at 6:50am and I even got the French greeting! I explained to Marilu that when we had morning practice in the states, we usually grunt a greeting, and only speak to each other about halfway through practice, or sometimes not until the end...never would we say good morning at that insanely early hour with kisses. So, I would say, that the French can be pretty friendly. In fact, on the whole, it's considered rude if you walk into a store and don't say bonjour to the cashier, and they're usually the first to say bonjour to you. As long as you make an effort, they'll be nice. Obviously, if you refuse to try and speak French or are doing something blatantly disrespectful -- I would expect otherwise.
Those were two of the things I wanted to talk about this evening. There are always more ideas and thoughts that are running through my mind that I think would be interesting to discuss, but again, my brain isn't exactly at its peak when I write these entries!
I appreciate all those who've emailed me to say that they're reading my blog! It really means a lot to know that I've got people out there who take a peak now and then.
I'll try to find a good picture for tomorrow, too.
A demain!
First, I have to wonder how everyone in France isn't perpetually sick. The whole "kissing" thing continues to baffle me a bit -- I've gotten more used to it as someone comes closer and goes in to "say hello"! But really -- when we shake hands, yes, it's not the most sanitary act in the world, but the French greeting is kind of full on breathing in the face! And I truly don't mean that in a disgusting way, just that if everyone is always doing that -- how on earth do people stay healthy!
I also had someone ask me about how the French people have or haven't been responsive to me and/or Americans. As most people know -- there's a stereotype that the French hate Americans and aren't receptive. I think that stereotype is fairly incorrect. I think the prime example of this could be when I arrived at the pool this morning at 6:50am and I even got the French greeting! I explained to Marilu that when we had morning practice in the states, we usually grunt a greeting, and only speak to each other about halfway through practice, or sometimes not until the end...never would we say good morning at that insanely early hour with kisses. So, I would say, that the French can be pretty friendly. In fact, on the whole, it's considered rude if you walk into a store and don't say bonjour to the cashier, and they're usually the first to say bonjour to you. As long as you make an effort, they'll be nice. Obviously, if you refuse to try and speak French or are doing something blatantly disrespectful -- I would expect otherwise.
Those were two of the things I wanted to talk about this evening. There are always more ideas and thoughts that are running through my mind that I think would be interesting to discuss, but again, my brain isn't exactly at its peak when I write these entries!
I appreciate all those who've emailed me to say that they're reading my blog! It really means a lot to know that I've got people out there who take a peak now and then.
I'll try to find a good picture for tomorrow, too.
A demain!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
En trouvant un tres bonmarche!
It does seem like the days pass quickly -- which I'm just trying to be content with. I feel like we all spend so much time either wanting the days to pass faster because we're looking forward to something, or wanting them to never end because we don't want things to change. I, personally, am terrible about this -- always counting down to something, etc. So, one of my goals has been just to be content with things as they are and go with each day, whether it should be a quick one or a slow one. And FYI, it proves to be a difficult habit to break!
It still proves to be difficult to get going on the days that I don't have class until 3...especially on a Thursday, where yes, I have much to do for next week, but that's just it -- for next week. Marilu had already left for the day when I woke up, so I had the kitchen to myself for breakfast which is a nice change of pace from time to time (as much as I love her company!). Sometimes it's hard to get my French brain going early in the morning.
I finally got out the door around 11 and took the metro to the Cluny/La Sorbonne stop -- I wanted to check out this store called "Vieux Campeur" which is an outdoor/sporting goods store in the Latin quartier. It turns out that the store actually covers a few blocks -- it's comprised of many little stores, each devoted to selling a different type of sporting good. I headed to the one with outerwear just to check out what they had. I've kind of been on the hunt for a black quarter zip fleece....WELL. It turns out that they had one! It was some brand that I've never heard of, but GUESS WHAT. It was 9,90 euros. AND, for whatever reason, the guy gave me a discount, so I ended up paying a mere 8,41 euros. How's that for a bonmarche! (That would be bon-mar-chay).
The sun was playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds for most of the day, but the temperature was actually quite pleasant, and I decided to walk to Reid Hall from there. What's been really neat is that I now have some general idea of where I'm going! And, I can even recognize areas and figure out where I need to go from there, etc. How exciting! So, after a few unintentional detours, and an intentional one to grab my favorite melon and proscuitto salad, I made it to Reid Hall!
My France and Africa class was surprisingly mellow today -- meaning that I could actually understand what the professor was saying, and that his lecture was logical and coherent. And! I didn't walk out with a headache. Woohoo!
After class, I headed home and got ready for swimming and started my walk there around 6:15. I continue to enjoy the walk to and from the pool (especially while the mild weather is still here) -- and tonight I had fun discovering new music on my iPod that I didn't even know I had! Practice actually took place tonight -- not tons of meters, but the ones that we did do were some quality meters! We even did 4 50's sprint off the blocks at the end which brought out some of my competitive streak....(not that it's really been hiding too much). But Philippe (the guy that I start swimming early with) asked me to race him in a 50 back for the last one -- which was just the little push that I needed to go faster! :) So I definitely ended on a high note. I apologize if my swimming talk is beyond boring....
Well, I think that about sums it up for today. A big weekend of homework ahead, so I should get some sleep! Marilu and Alain's granddaughters are sleeping here tonight because they're sick and their parents have to work tomorrow, so there's a little chorus of coughs coming from next door as I sit in bed writing this entry! Hopefully I won't catch anything!
Here's a picture from the archives -- Cabbages in the Villandry jardins!
It still proves to be difficult to get going on the days that I don't have class until 3...especially on a Thursday, where yes, I have much to do for next week, but that's just it -- for next week. Marilu had already left for the day when I woke up, so I had the kitchen to myself for breakfast which is a nice change of pace from time to time (as much as I love her company!). Sometimes it's hard to get my French brain going early in the morning.
I finally got out the door around 11 and took the metro to the Cluny/La Sorbonne stop -- I wanted to check out this store called "Vieux Campeur" which is an outdoor/sporting goods store in the Latin quartier. It turns out that the store actually covers a few blocks -- it's comprised of many little stores, each devoted to selling a different type of sporting good. I headed to the one with outerwear just to check out what they had. I've kind of been on the hunt for a black quarter zip fleece....WELL. It turns out that they had one! It was some brand that I've never heard of, but GUESS WHAT. It was 9,90 euros. AND, for whatever reason, the guy gave me a discount, so I ended up paying a mere 8,41 euros. How's that for a bonmarche! (That would be bon-mar-chay).
The sun was playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds for most of the day, but the temperature was actually quite pleasant, and I decided to walk to Reid Hall from there. What's been really neat is that I now have some general idea of where I'm going! And, I can even recognize areas and figure out where I need to go from there, etc. How exciting! So, after a few unintentional detours, and an intentional one to grab my favorite melon and proscuitto salad, I made it to Reid Hall!
My France and Africa class was surprisingly mellow today -- meaning that I could actually understand what the professor was saying, and that his lecture was logical and coherent. And! I didn't walk out with a headache. Woohoo!
After class, I headed home and got ready for swimming and started my walk there around 6:15. I continue to enjoy the walk to and from the pool (especially while the mild weather is still here) -- and tonight I had fun discovering new music on my iPod that I didn't even know I had! Practice actually took place tonight -- not tons of meters, but the ones that we did do were some quality meters! We even did 4 50's sprint off the blocks at the end which brought out some of my competitive streak....(not that it's really been hiding too much). But Philippe (the guy that I start swimming early with) asked me to race him in a 50 back for the last one -- which was just the little push that I needed to go faster! :) So I definitely ended on a high note. I apologize if my swimming talk is beyond boring....
Well, I think that about sums it up for today. A big weekend of homework ahead, so I should get some sleep! Marilu and Alain's granddaughters are sleeping here tonight because they're sick and their parents have to work tomorrow, so there's a little chorus of coughs coming from next door as I sit in bed writing this entry! Hopefully I won't catch anything!
Here's a picture from the archives -- Cabbages in the Villandry jardins!
A bientot!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Oupsies!
I suppose that one would say that today qualifies as being "more interesting" than yesterday.
After a not so great night's sleep, I got up and ate my usual breakfast (which continues to be a little 'pot' of yogurt and a bowl of a mixture of random French cereals, and then a piece of fruit) with Marilu. It being a Wednesday, I had an architecture visit -- we met at the Pont Neuf metro station today. It was a really neat class -- we saw the Pont Neuf (duh), and walked across to the Ile de la Cite and saw the Place Dauphine -- which is also very cool and features a lovely monument of Henri IV on a horse (one of the first statues like that). We stolled along the Seine and then went back over to the other side of the river to the back courtyard of the Louvre and looked at the "L'aile Lescot" -- which was the part of the Louvre that was started under Philipe-Auguste and then finished under Henri II -- the funny part was, that he put his wife's initials under each window -- which coincidentily enough, happened to look just like those of his lover....whoops.
After that, I made my way home -- walking through the market and stopping my Dia (my favorite discount grocery store) and picked up a salad which had some lettuce, spiral pasta, corn, and then pieces of ham and cheese -- it sounds really odd, but is really delicious. Especially after I added a tomato and some leftover chicken to it at home!
I walked to the pool (the other great thing about going to swimming is that I also get a 3km walk along with it!) and did about 10ish minutes of abs and then got in the water -- well. That didn't last too long. I had done about 400 meters when I heard banging on the sides of the pool, yelling, and saw everyone swimming towards the edge of the pool...so I figured I should do the same. It turns out that some little kid couldn't hold it -- and let it go in the pool. So that ended all practices for the day! Our coach was out of there faster than anyone...it was pretty icky, but I also couldn't help but find it pretty funny.
I took a little 30 minute jog after I got home and then came home to shower and eat before the theater! Marilu went to this Italian restaurant around the corner and picked up a pizza -- which was wonderful. Thin and crispy crust that was nice and buttery! Yum!
I took the metro to the Sevres-Babylone station where I then walked to the Vieux-Colombier theater -- which is part of the Comedie-Francaise -- to see La Pluie d'Ete. It was so bizarre. Technically, it was an adaptation the book -- I would use the word adaptation lightly. I would explain some of the oddities but I don't think they would really make sense to someone who hasn't read the play. On the other hand, the theater was really beautiful -- much more modern than the other that we went to a few weeks ago, and everything on the inside was a dark wood. To get to the theater, you had to walk through a cafe/restaurant -- which was clearly the place to be!
Seeing plays continues to be something that perplexes me somewhat -- not that I don't enjoy them, but rarely do I sit and watch a play without having my mind wandering and pondering life. I know that different people have different motives for going to a play -- but it seems that "going to the theater" is so much about the experience and the act of going out and feeling cultural. Oh well -- I guess it could be worse -- being forced to go to the Comedie Francaise on a Wednesday night for my theater class. Ho Hum.
Well anyways, it's off to bed for me. Here's a picture of the Pont Neuf from our tour this morning!
After a not so great night's sleep, I got up and ate my usual breakfast (which continues to be a little 'pot' of yogurt and a bowl of a mixture of random French cereals, and then a piece of fruit) with Marilu. It being a Wednesday, I had an architecture visit -- we met at the Pont Neuf metro station today. It was a really neat class -- we saw the Pont Neuf (duh), and walked across to the Ile de la Cite and saw the Place Dauphine -- which is also very cool and features a lovely monument of Henri IV on a horse (one of the first statues like that). We stolled along the Seine and then went back over to the other side of the river to the back courtyard of the Louvre and looked at the "L'aile Lescot" -- which was the part of the Louvre that was started under Philipe-Auguste and then finished under Henri II -- the funny part was, that he put his wife's initials under each window -- which coincidentily enough, happened to look just like those of his lover....whoops.
After that, I made my way home -- walking through the market and stopping my Dia (my favorite discount grocery store) and picked up a salad which had some lettuce, spiral pasta, corn, and then pieces of ham and cheese -- it sounds really odd, but is really delicious. Especially after I added a tomato and some leftover chicken to it at home!
I walked to the pool (the other great thing about going to swimming is that I also get a 3km walk along with it!) and did about 10ish minutes of abs and then got in the water -- well. That didn't last too long. I had done about 400 meters when I heard banging on the sides of the pool, yelling, and saw everyone swimming towards the edge of the pool...so I figured I should do the same. It turns out that some little kid couldn't hold it -- and let it go in the pool. So that ended all practices for the day! Our coach was out of there faster than anyone...it was pretty icky, but I also couldn't help but find it pretty funny.
I took a little 30 minute jog after I got home and then came home to shower and eat before the theater! Marilu went to this Italian restaurant around the corner and picked up a pizza -- which was wonderful. Thin and crispy crust that was nice and buttery! Yum!
I took the metro to the Sevres-Babylone station where I then walked to the Vieux-Colombier theater -- which is part of the Comedie-Francaise -- to see La Pluie d'Ete. It was so bizarre. Technically, it was an adaptation the book -- I would use the word adaptation lightly. I would explain some of the oddities but I don't think they would really make sense to someone who hasn't read the play. On the other hand, the theater was really beautiful -- much more modern than the other that we went to a few weeks ago, and everything on the inside was a dark wood. To get to the theater, you had to walk through a cafe/restaurant -- which was clearly the place to be!
Seeing plays continues to be something that perplexes me somewhat -- not that I don't enjoy them, but rarely do I sit and watch a play without having my mind wandering and pondering life. I know that different people have different motives for going to a play -- but it seems that "going to the theater" is so much about the experience and the act of going out and feeling cultural. Oh well -- I guess it could be worse -- being forced to go to the Comedie Francaise on a Wednesday night for my theater class. Ho Hum.
Well anyways, it's off to bed for me. Here's a picture of the Pont Neuf from our tour this morning!
A bientot!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Un peu de reflection.
Well, being that today wasn't the most exciting day that I've had here...I thought that it would be appropriate to just mention some of the things that I've been thinking about or noticed since I've now officially been in Paris a month! Crazyyy.
1. Heavily decreased cell phone usage. This is something that I did somewhat expect to happen, and I'm so glad that it has. Being that each text message I send costs 10 centimes and a phone call costs 50 centimes a minute -- I don't text very much at all, and I haven't made a single phone call. When I'm home, I don't care where my phone is! Which is a wonderful wonderful feeling. It's been great to break the texting-an-entire-conversation habit and only text once in a while to ask someone a specific question. When you know how much each one costs, it makes it a lot easier to think about what you're going to say in each text you send....
2. Differences in Academic Systems. I've noticed that, in general, I have less work in France than I did at school in the states. I don't think this is to say that I'm learning any less, just learning differently. After all, everything, every class, every activity that I'm doing is in French. But as my France/Africa professor noted today, the French put much more emphasis on discussion in class rather than assigning tons of work to do at home. Which for obvious reasons is nice, but it actually allows me to finish each reading and be prepared for class rather than feel overwhelmed, skim the reading, and then spend the class with my eyes on my notes to avoid being called on. Instead of feeling constantly behind, they allow you to (mostly) be prepared.
This does come with a flip-side though -- that of lack of availability and organization. For example, I got an email today saying that one of my economics classes has two make up classes -- one this coming Thursday and then one later in the semester. Too bad that I have another class that meets during those times...
WELL, I got sidetracked (surprise!) and skyped with my darling brother, and I'm afraid that it is WAY past my bedtime! So I'll continue tomorrow -- and hopefully have something more exciting to report.
A demain!
1. Heavily decreased cell phone usage. This is something that I did somewhat expect to happen, and I'm so glad that it has. Being that each text message I send costs 10 centimes and a phone call costs 50 centimes a minute -- I don't text very much at all, and I haven't made a single phone call. When I'm home, I don't care where my phone is! Which is a wonderful wonderful feeling. It's been great to break the texting-an-entire-conversation habit and only text once in a while to ask someone a specific question. When you know how much each one costs, it makes it a lot easier to think about what you're going to say in each text you send....
2. Differences in Academic Systems. I've noticed that, in general, I have less work in France than I did at school in the states. I don't think this is to say that I'm learning any less, just learning differently. After all, everything, every class, every activity that I'm doing is in French. But as my France/Africa professor noted today, the French put much more emphasis on discussion in class rather than assigning tons of work to do at home. Which for obvious reasons is nice, but it actually allows me to finish each reading and be prepared for class rather than feel overwhelmed, skim the reading, and then spend the class with my eyes on my notes to avoid being called on. Instead of feeling constantly behind, they allow you to (mostly) be prepared.
This does come with a flip-side though -- that of lack of availability and organization. For example, I got an email today saying that one of my economics classes has two make up classes -- one this coming Thursday and then one later in the semester. Too bad that I have another class that meets during those times...
WELL, I got sidetracked (surprise!) and skyped with my darling brother, and I'm afraid that it is WAY past my bedtime! So I'll continue tomorrow -- and hopefully have something more exciting to report.
A demain!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Mon nouveau facon favori de faire le "procrastination"...
So trying to stick to my goal of writing just about every night is great -- especially because it allows for some quality procrastination without feeling entirely guilty....
It's hard to remember a day that was actually truly difficult to wake up (very different than just not wanting to get up), but this morning was one of those mornings. The weekend sure did tucker me out! After lying in bed for about 10 minutes, I decided it would probably be smart to get up so I didn't fall back asleep by accident.
I got ready for the day -- which kind of felt like slow motion -- and only about 40 minutes after I had initially planned, got out the door.
I got to Reid Hall and started to study some more for my architecture quiz, but soon found out that my professor had had problems with his printer -- so the quiz is now next Monday! Lucky break to start off the week. Class was relatively uneventful, and after, I walked over to Institut Catholique (and I took a picture just for you, Allan!) to attempt to get a syllabus for each of my economics classes -- well naturally, the secretary is only there from 2pm to 6pm each day (but of course, never on Wednesdays). It being only about 1, I left to go to my favorite boulangerie to buy a salad for lunch -- chicken, lettuce, tomato, carrots, and corn! And a hunk of fresh baguette on the side. Yum yum.
AND -- here's my "the world is too small" story of the day -- as I turned around to walk out after paying, who should I see but Mari, my freshman year roommate from Amherst. I knew she was studying in Paris for the semester, but who would have thought that we would be at the same boulangerie in PARIS at the SAME TIME. So incredibly odd.
I took my lunch back to Catho (the abbr. for Institut Catholique) and ate in the courtyard -- which was some excellent people watching...And finally, when it reached 2pm, I headed back over to the economics' office where the secretary was running 10-15 minutes late, and when she finally did arrive, she told me that she couldn't give them to me right there and then, but that she would send them to Martine (which she has yet to do...). Oh well. Goes to show how different (or continues to show) the education systems are in France compared to those in the US. No email responses within 10 minutes of sending an email to a professor, no secretaries who are in their offices from 8am to 5pm, etc. I'm beginning to get used to it...kind of.
After my failed attempt at getting my syllabi, I walked back to Reid Hall -- which is only about a 15 minute walk away -- and did some work before my theater class at 4. We had to read a more contemporary play for class today -- La Pluie d'Ete by Marguerite Duras -- which was just very strange...It was nice to have a change of pace from Moliere, but I'm not sure I would say this was any easier to dissect or understand.
I took the metro to swimming after class, which is actually only about a 15-20 minute trip altogether. It wasn't too difficult of a practice, but it gave me a bit of a temporary boost of energy which quickly dissapated when I decided to walk home. Oops. I've decided that taking the metro home probably doesn't actually save me any time when all is said and done, it just keeps me out of the outdoors -- so I'll save that for the colder nights.
I had some leftover veggie quiche from Friday night along with some pureed celery (which was surprisingly delicious) for dinner, and then Marilu had made an apple cake (she's slowly making her way through the 2948390 tons of apples they brought back from Normandy) -- which was absolutely devine. Not super heavy or sweet, and the apples still had lots of flavor. Yum!
That's about it for today! It's nice to finally be in a rhythm of things, and I'm so very glad that that weather has started to cool off -- it makes everything much more enjoyable.
Photo of the day is, as I said before, of the Institut Catholique where I take my economics classes:
It's hard to remember a day that was actually truly difficult to wake up (very different than just not wanting to get up), but this morning was one of those mornings. The weekend sure did tucker me out! After lying in bed for about 10 minutes, I decided it would probably be smart to get up so I didn't fall back asleep by accident.
I got ready for the day -- which kind of felt like slow motion -- and only about 40 minutes after I had initially planned, got out the door.
I got to Reid Hall and started to study some more for my architecture quiz, but soon found out that my professor had had problems with his printer -- so the quiz is now next Monday! Lucky break to start off the week. Class was relatively uneventful, and after, I walked over to Institut Catholique (and I took a picture just for you, Allan!) to attempt to get a syllabus for each of my economics classes -- well naturally, the secretary is only there from 2pm to 6pm each day (but of course, never on Wednesdays). It being only about 1, I left to go to my favorite boulangerie to buy a salad for lunch -- chicken, lettuce, tomato, carrots, and corn! And a hunk of fresh baguette on the side. Yum yum.
AND -- here's my "the world is too small" story of the day -- as I turned around to walk out after paying, who should I see but Mari, my freshman year roommate from Amherst. I knew she was studying in Paris for the semester, but who would have thought that we would be at the same boulangerie in PARIS at the SAME TIME. So incredibly odd.
I took my lunch back to Catho (the abbr. for Institut Catholique) and ate in the courtyard -- which was some excellent people watching...And finally, when it reached 2pm, I headed back over to the economics' office where the secretary was running 10-15 minutes late, and when she finally did arrive, she told me that she couldn't give them to me right there and then, but that she would send them to Martine (which she has yet to do...). Oh well. Goes to show how different (or continues to show) the education systems are in France compared to those in the US. No email responses within 10 minutes of sending an email to a professor, no secretaries who are in their offices from 8am to 5pm, etc. I'm beginning to get used to it...kind of.
After my failed attempt at getting my syllabi, I walked back to Reid Hall -- which is only about a 15 minute walk away -- and did some work before my theater class at 4. We had to read a more contemporary play for class today -- La Pluie d'Ete by Marguerite Duras -- which was just very strange...It was nice to have a change of pace from Moliere, but I'm not sure I would say this was any easier to dissect or understand.
I took the metro to swimming after class, which is actually only about a 15-20 minute trip altogether. It wasn't too difficult of a practice, but it gave me a bit of a temporary boost of energy which quickly dissapated when I decided to walk home. Oops. I've decided that taking the metro home probably doesn't actually save me any time when all is said and done, it just keeps me out of the outdoors -- so I'll save that for the colder nights.
I had some leftover veggie quiche from Friday night along with some pureed celery (which was surprisingly delicious) for dinner, and then Marilu had made an apple cake (she's slowly making her way through the 2948390 tons of apples they brought back from Normandy) -- which was absolutely devine. Not super heavy or sweet, and the apples still had lots of flavor. Yum!
That's about it for today! It's nice to finally be in a rhythm of things, and I'm so very glad that that weather has started to cool off -- it makes everything much more enjoyable.
Photo of the day is, as I said before, of the Institut Catholique where I take my economics classes:
A bientot!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Pastel ne m'aime pas.
So before I tell a bit about my day -- I'm just curious, who's actually reading this? Today marks 4 weeks in Paris, and I thought it would be a good idea to see who reads this either on a daily basis or not. So, if you wouldn't mind taking 30 seconds, and shooting me an email at emilyswett@gmail.com just to say that you read it, I would really appreciate it. If you have a whole minute to spare, maybe include a comment, suggestion, constructive criticism, or something you would like me to look into or write about? Sometimes it's fun to have a explicit mission to accomplish -- anonymity will, of course, be preserved -- but I'm just curious!
Anyways, Katie and I decided to sleep in a bit today. Alain and Marilu's twin granddaughters spent the night here last night (they're four, and adorable, and couldn't be any more different from each other), so I woke up at about 8am to them yelling for Marilu...not exactly what I had planned as an alarm (because I didn't set one to begin with), so I just dozed off and on for the next few hours and decided to finally get up around 10.
I ate my usual breakfast, and Katie followed suit shortly after. We took out time getting ready to start the day -- it was a chilly and rainy Sunday -- one that should be spent on the couch under a blanket watching a Harry Potter marathon with warm cookies and milk -- so we weren't in any hurry to head out. Just after Katie woke up, Pastel decided that my leg was a threat of some kind, and jumped up and scratched me on that back of my calf -- he actually drew blood! In two places! Marilu says that when the girls are around he gets jealous, so I'm guessing that he decided to take it out on me....Hopefully I won't get cat-scratch fever!
Finally, around noon, we walked to La Motte Picquet metro stop which is where there is a market every Wednesday and Sunday -- I've never seen such an array of goods. Everything from fresh cheese, to whole fish (eyes and all) and octopus, to fresh baked breads and pies, to vegetables and fruits. Goodness, it was quite the scene. Katie bought a scarf from one of the vendors, but that's all we walked away with -- as tempting as everything else was.
We got on the metro at Dupleix and took it to Denfort-Rochereau with the intention of going to see the Catacombs. After about 30 minutes of waiting in line and only moving maybe 30 feet, we decided that we would rather spend the day doing other things. I suggested that we have lunch in Le Marais, which is an area that I've started to get more familiar with -- like the area where we ate dinner last night, Le Marais has lots of little streets, fun shops, and good restaurants. We both settled on a charcuterie panini at a boulanger for "emporter" (to go) because it was 1,5 euros cheaper than staying and eating it there. So we wandered up the street with our sandwiches and saw the great big pillar in the center of the Place de la Bastille.
After that, we continued to wander (it seems that wandering was the major theme of the weekend), and eventually made it over to the Seine which we followed to the Ile de la Cite to see Notre Dame. Again, long long line to go in, so we admired from the outside. On our way there, we had stopped at some of the little booths along the river that sold old books and postcards and posters. Katie was in heaven -- she rifled through piles of old postcards and picked out 14 (I know because I had to count for the saleswoman) that she liked and bought.
We took our tourist photos in front of Notre Dame and decided that we had about had enough, and so after weaving through some of the tiny streets of the Latin Quartier, we found a metro station and took it back home. The rest of the afternoon was spent in my room (kind of lame, I know), but walking around Paris is unexpectedly exhausting and we were both feeling it.
Marilu fixed a simple but delicious dinner of bowtie pasta mixed with tomatoes and spices, and for an appetizer, she bought hummus, an olive tapinade, and this other spread that had eggplant and pomegranate seeds in it! All very interesting but very tasty.
I walked Katie to the metro station after dinner so she could take the metro over to the bus station to get her bus back to London! And I'm utterly exhausted, so I think I'm going to wrap it up for the night!
Again -- a quick email would be most appreciated! And any suggestions for topics or anything of that sort would be welcomed as well. Here are a couple pictures from the market this morning (and I've also uploaded a whole album on Facebook):
A bientot!
Anyways, Katie and I decided to sleep in a bit today. Alain and Marilu's twin granddaughters spent the night here last night (they're four, and adorable, and couldn't be any more different from each other), so I woke up at about 8am to them yelling for Marilu...not exactly what I had planned as an alarm (because I didn't set one to begin with), so I just dozed off and on for the next few hours and decided to finally get up around 10.
I ate my usual breakfast, and Katie followed suit shortly after. We took out time getting ready to start the day -- it was a chilly and rainy Sunday -- one that should be spent on the couch under a blanket watching a Harry Potter marathon with warm cookies and milk -- so we weren't in any hurry to head out. Just after Katie woke up, Pastel decided that my leg was a threat of some kind, and jumped up and scratched me on that back of my calf -- he actually drew blood! In two places! Marilu says that when the girls are around he gets jealous, so I'm guessing that he decided to take it out on me....Hopefully I won't get cat-scratch fever!
Finally, around noon, we walked to La Motte Picquet metro stop which is where there is a market every Wednesday and Sunday -- I've never seen such an array of goods. Everything from fresh cheese, to whole fish (eyes and all) and octopus, to fresh baked breads and pies, to vegetables and fruits. Goodness, it was quite the scene. Katie bought a scarf from one of the vendors, but that's all we walked away with -- as tempting as everything else was.
We got on the metro at Dupleix and took it to Denfort-Rochereau with the intention of going to see the Catacombs. After about 30 minutes of waiting in line and only moving maybe 30 feet, we decided that we would rather spend the day doing other things. I suggested that we have lunch in Le Marais, which is an area that I've started to get more familiar with -- like the area where we ate dinner last night, Le Marais has lots of little streets, fun shops, and good restaurants. We both settled on a charcuterie panini at a boulanger for "emporter" (to go) because it was 1,5 euros cheaper than staying and eating it there. So we wandered up the street with our sandwiches and saw the great big pillar in the center of the Place de la Bastille.
After that, we continued to wander (it seems that wandering was the major theme of the weekend), and eventually made it over to the Seine which we followed to the Ile de la Cite to see Notre Dame. Again, long long line to go in, so we admired from the outside. On our way there, we had stopped at some of the little booths along the river that sold old books and postcards and posters. Katie was in heaven -- she rifled through piles of old postcards and picked out 14 (I know because I had to count for the saleswoman) that she liked and bought.
We took our tourist photos in front of Notre Dame and decided that we had about had enough, and so after weaving through some of the tiny streets of the Latin Quartier, we found a metro station and took it back home. The rest of the afternoon was spent in my room (kind of lame, I know), but walking around Paris is unexpectedly exhausting and we were both feeling it.
Marilu fixed a simple but delicious dinner of bowtie pasta mixed with tomatoes and spices, and for an appetizer, she bought hummus, an olive tapinade, and this other spread that had eggplant and pomegranate seeds in it! All very interesting but very tasty.
I walked Katie to the metro station after dinner so she could take the metro over to the bus station to get her bus back to London! And I'm utterly exhausted, so I think I'm going to wrap it up for the night!
Again -- a quick email would be most appreciated! And any suggestions for topics or anything of that sort would be welcomed as well. Here are a couple pictures from the market this morning (and I've also uploaded a whole album on Facebook):
Saturday, October 8, 2011
J'ai fait comme les touristes!
Whew, a long day of walking the streets of Paris! Today is, I believe, the first day that I really and truly felt like a tourist here -- which isn't a bad thing at all! It's just a very different pace than I've gotten used to.
My friend Katie (who is here for the weekend) and I got up and had breakfast and were out the door early (well, by 9am) to take the metro back over to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. It was a wonderful and cool fall morning -- overcast, which only made the cemetery visit that much better. We spent about an hour wandering through the aisles of tombs and gravestones, visited the crematorium (where there were actually multiple funerals that were going on), and saw Jim Morrison's tomb! It was nice that it wasn't too crowded -- and there were even black crows all over the place as well as an actual black cat. Hard to get more perfect than that.
From there, we took the metro back to the area around where I live, and we walked to a little cafe (that I've actually been to before) -- that has really good sandwiches and such. I got a panini with chicken, tomatoes, pesto and cheese which was delicious, and Katie got one with tomatoes and mozzarella which looked equally devine.
Katie's desired Parisian attraction for the day was to visit les Egouts (sewers) of Paris (which is an actual museum), so off we went to the Pont d'Alma which is where the ticket booth and descent into the lovely smelling sewers! It really was interesting and probably something that I never would have picked to do by myself which was good! It kind of continued our eerie-themed weekend (which again, we plan to continue tomorrow...).
We decided not to go up the Eiffel Tower -- kind of expensive, and honestly, it's cooler to see the Eiffel Tower rather than be in it and not be able to see it (or so we said to justify our decision). So I suggested that we walk to the Champs-Elysees, which is really where all the tourists go....The streets were packed with every type of person you've ever seen -- perhaps the most ridiculous, was the LINE outside of the Abercrombie and Fitch store that also had this elaborate gate with two male models (clothed) on either side. Really, Paris. Come on. We cruised into Laduree just to take a peek -- it was also a mob scene, so we chose to leave emptyhanded. And we continued on to the arch at the end of the street! Pretty incredible!
After our Champs-Elysees jaunt, we took the metro to the Louvre with the intention of just looking at the outside and taking some photos. So we wandered through the little gardens, and took pictures of the pyramid and outside of the Louvre which is pretty amazing, and we also wandered around the "mall" that's underneath. Wild -- Apple store, McDo (aka McDonald's), Starbucks, among others -- but for some reason, the American stores always stick out.
We were pretty exhausted after our busy morning and afternoon, so we came back to the apartment and took a little nap, and then I went to swimming while Katie continued to nap and hang out here.
When I got back, we took the metro to the Mabillon stop -- right on St. Germain des Pres -- where there are a bunch of little side streets with wonderful restaurants that are fairly reasonably priced. After perusing menus and prices for a bit, we settled on a little hole-in-the-wall Italian place that barely had room to seat us (which I take as a good sign). We both got the entree-plat-dessert deal which was DEFINITELY the right way to go. Each of us started off with a small salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and then proscuitto, some thinly sliced cured duck, and a piece of marinated mozzarella. In. Cred. I. Ble. (You may choose to pronounce that any way you wish). I ordered the spaghetti carbonara for my next course which is one of my faves. I'm always interested to see how restaurants prepare this dish -- I cook mine with no cream, but just egg, bacon, garlic, and parmesan cheese. The one tonight did have cream -- and bacon of course, which did make it a bit heavier, but it was still delicious. There was just enough sauce to coat the pasta without drowning it. THEN, (drumroll please), I ordered the Tiramisu for dessert. Oh. My. Goodness. There was a thin cake layer at the bottom with just a hint of the espresso flavor (which isn't my fave flavor anyways -- so it was perfect), then a thick layer of cream/mousse which was light and fluffy, and then it was topped with powdered chocolate and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Definitely homemade. Home run.
That was about it for today! I'm about to fall asleep, so I will leave it at that. Here are some classically touristy pictures from today though:
My friend Katie (who is here for the weekend) and I got up and had breakfast and were out the door early (well, by 9am) to take the metro back over to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. It was a wonderful and cool fall morning -- overcast, which only made the cemetery visit that much better. We spent about an hour wandering through the aisles of tombs and gravestones, visited the crematorium (where there were actually multiple funerals that were going on), and saw Jim Morrison's tomb! It was nice that it wasn't too crowded -- and there were even black crows all over the place as well as an actual black cat. Hard to get more perfect than that.
From there, we took the metro back to the area around where I live, and we walked to a little cafe (that I've actually been to before) -- that has really good sandwiches and such. I got a panini with chicken, tomatoes, pesto and cheese which was delicious, and Katie got one with tomatoes and mozzarella which looked equally devine.
Katie's desired Parisian attraction for the day was to visit les Egouts (sewers) of Paris (which is an actual museum), so off we went to the Pont d'Alma which is where the ticket booth and descent into the lovely smelling sewers! It really was interesting and probably something that I never would have picked to do by myself which was good! It kind of continued our eerie-themed weekend (which again, we plan to continue tomorrow...).
We decided not to go up the Eiffel Tower -- kind of expensive, and honestly, it's cooler to see the Eiffel Tower rather than be in it and not be able to see it (or so we said to justify our decision). So I suggested that we walk to the Champs-Elysees, which is really where all the tourists go....The streets were packed with every type of person you've ever seen -- perhaps the most ridiculous, was the LINE outside of the Abercrombie and Fitch store that also had this elaborate gate with two male models (clothed) on either side. Really, Paris. Come on. We cruised into Laduree just to take a peek -- it was also a mob scene, so we chose to leave emptyhanded. And we continued on to the arch at the end of the street! Pretty incredible!
After our Champs-Elysees jaunt, we took the metro to the Louvre with the intention of just looking at the outside and taking some photos. So we wandered through the little gardens, and took pictures of the pyramid and outside of the Louvre which is pretty amazing, and we also wandered around the "mall" that's underneath. Wild -- Apple store, McDo (aka McDonald's), Starbucks, among others -- but for some reason, the American stores always stick out.
We were pretty exhausted after our busy morning and afternoon, so we came back to the apartment and took a little nap, and then I went to swimming while Katie continued to nap and hang out here.
When I got back, we took the metro to the Mabillon stop -- right on St. Germain des Pres -- where there are a bunch of little side streets with wonderful restaurants that are fairly reasonably priced. After perusing menus and prices for a bit, we settled on a little hole-in-the-wall Italian place that barely had room to seat us (which I take as a good sign). We both got the entree-plat-dessert deal which was DEFINITELY the right way to go. Each of us started off with a small salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and then proscuitto, some thinly sliced cured duck, and a piece of marinated mozzarella. In. Cred. I. Ble. (You may choose to pronounce that any way you wish). I ordered the spaghetti carbonara for my next course which is one of my faves. I'm always interested to see how restaurants prepare this dish -- I cook mine with no cream, but just egg, bacon, garlic, and parmesan cheese. The one tonight did have cream -- and bacon of course, which did make it a bit heavier, but it was still delicious. There was just enough sauce to coat the pasta without drowning it. THEN, (drumroll please), I ordered the Tiramisu for dessert. Oh. My. Goodness. There was a thin cake layer at the bottom with just a hint of the espresso flavor (which isn't my fave flavor anyways -- so it was perfect), then a thick layer of cream/mousse which was light and fluffy, and then it was topped with powdered chocolate and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Definitely homemade. Home run.
That was about it for today! I'm about to fall asleep, so I will leave it at that. Here are some classically touristy pictures from today though:
A bientot!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Un petit raconte d'aujourd'hui.
About to head to bed, but just thought I'd quickly recount the day -- which was a fairly lazy one -- well, mostly.
I got up at 6:25(!) to go swim from 7 to 8:30. Silly me for thinking that I would just be doing my own thing -- my coach was actually there for the masters' team and so I ended up swimming 'with' them in that lane (which was probably a good thing overall, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get anything done). But the practice ended up being pretty difficult -- especially after the 6000 from last night. The coach (Mathieu) really seems to like "quatre nage" -- or IM -- and "pap" -- butterfly. But it was nice because at the end, I was the only one left in the pool and so I got to do some technique stuff with him to work on my backstroke! Which probably wasn't quite as effective as it could have been because my arms were so tired...
I got back home and ate breakfast with Marilu and puttered around for a bit. It was a cool morning but the sun was shining -- but finally, I could sit on my "canope" -- pronounced "can-oh-pay" -- with the sun coming through the window and not start to sweat profusely...So I lay down and started to read my play for my theater class -- which turns out was kind of a bad idea because I ended up falling asleep. Whoops.
After who knows how long, I got up and went to the kitchen to start my one baking project of the week (my new limit) -- my favorite continues to be chocolate chip cookies, which have started turning out really well. Perhaps it's because I usually cut up 3 to 4 chocolate bars to mix into the dough....different kinds of chocolate, of course.
Marilu made me eggs for lunch which I ate along with some pain du mais and some her homemade jam (yum!!). We chatted, and she told me how she's going to 'force' me to go out and hang out with friends because I'm naturally inclined to stay in and be content doing nothing....which sounds oh so familiar!
Around 3:45, I left to go meet KATIE JAGEL (BHS '09) at the bus station where she was getting in at 4:30, which turned out to be more like 6:00pm, from London. It was quite a peaceful wait -- I finished my play, watched some 14 year old looking girl light up a cigarette, had a conversation with people that I think were Portuguese, but also spoke French, and definitely saw a different cultural side of Paris!
Katie and I attempted to go to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, but it closed just as we got there (going back tomorrow), and so we ended up wandering around the 20th and 11th arrondissements before taking the subway back to the Champs de Mars. It continues to be really interesting to see the different neighborhoods.
Marilu made a delicious quiche with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and chevre tonight -- so so good! Quiche is really becoming one of my favorite foods. And then after dinner, Katie and I watched "Bridesmaids" that I rented from iTunes on my computer.
Promise pictures tomorrow, but time for bed!
A demain!
I got up at 6:25(!) to go swim from 7 to 8:30. Silly me for thinking that I would just be doing my own thing -- my coach was actually there for the masters' team and so I ended up swimming 'with' them in that lane (which was probably a good thing overall, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get anything done). But the practice ended up being pretty difficult -- especially after the 6000 from last night. The coach (Mathieu) really seems to like "quatre nage" -- or IM -- and "pap" -- butterfly. But it was nice because at the end, I was the only one left in the pool and so I got to do some technique stuff with him to work on my backstroke! Which probably wasn't quite as effective as it could have been because my arms were so tired...
I got back home and ate breakfast with Marilu and puttered around for a bit. It was a cool morning but the sun was shining -- but finally, I could sit on my "canope" -- pronounced "can-oh-pay" -- with the sun coming through the window and not start to sweat profusely...So I lay down and started to read my play for my theater class -- which turns out was kind of a bad idea because I ended up falling asleep. Whoops.
After who knows how long, I got up and went to the kitchen to start my one baking project of the week (my new limit) -- my favorite continues to be chocolate chip cookies, which have started turning out really well. Perhaps it's because I usually cut up 3 to 4 chocolate bars to mix into the dough....different kinds of chocolate, of course.
Marilu made me eggs for lunch which I ate along with some pain du mais and some her homemade jam (yum!!). We chatted, and she told me how she's going to 'force' me to go out and hang out with friends because I'm naturally inclined to stay in and be content doing nothing....which sounds oh so familiar!
Around 3:45, I left to go meet KATIE JAGEL (BHS '09) at the bus station where she was getting in at 4:30, which turned out to be more like 6:00pm, from London. It was quite a peaceful wait -- I finished my play, watched some 14 year old looking girl light up a cigarette, had a conversation with people that I think were Portuguese, but also spoke French, and definitely saw a different cultural side of Paris!
Katie and I attempted to go to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, but it closed just as we got there (going back tomorrow), and so we ended up wandering around the 20th and 11th arrondissements before taking the subway back to the Champs de Mars. It continues to be really interesting to see the different neighborhoods.
Marilu made a delicious quiche with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and chevre tonight -- so so good! Quiche is really becoming one of my favorite foods. And then after dinner, Katie and I watched "Bridesmaids" that I rented from iTunes on my computer.
Promise pictures tomorrow, but time for bed!
A demain!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
La natation rend toutes les choses beaucoup mieux!
Another lazy start to the day, but I got out the door and to Reid Hall to do some architecture reading! I went to the boulangerie that I discovered last week and got the salad with melon, proscuitto, and parmesan -- so so good!! The melon is always juicy and flavorful, and I've really started to love that combo in my salad! We ate in the Reid Hall courtyard -- it was fairly overcast today, and it rained off and on (which is actually the first time it's rained since the first day we got to Paris), and it there was a nice breeze. Definitely a change from the 80 degree and sunny -- but it was a welcomed change and hopefully it's here to stay!
Jennifer and I had a nice walk to History of France and Africa -- well walk/metro, and did a little venting in English (oops). Sometimes it's necessary to make it through the day to have a little language break. Although, I do have to say that the language this is getting a lot easier each day, and my head doesn't hurt every night because of all of the French!
The History of France and Africa continues to be an interesting class -- a bit disjointed and sometimes hard to understand, but the professor is extremely enthusiastic which is always a plus. Today, we discussed the relations between France and Africa after World War II. And I signed up to do my "expose" (that's ex-pose-ay) on November 3rd where I have to speak for 15 minutes about the colonial exposition of 1931 in Paris. We've already read a bit about it, but it should be interesting to look into it further.
After class, I headed home and did a little reading of "La Pluie d'Ete" by Marguerite Duras which is the next play for my theater class -- definitely different than Moliere....and quite odd if I may say so. It will be interesting to discuss it on Monday and then see it on stage next Wednesday.
I walked to practice -- which is always a pleasant walk. It's nice to be able to walk to a destination, and not just wander aimlessly -- it's always a good time to listen to some music or a podcast or just ponder life in general. I did some abs and then got in a half hour early with one of the other guys in my group -- I actually did a total of 6000! It was great! It just goes to show that even if I don't always want to go to practice, sometimes those are when it's the best, and there's nothing like the feeling after finishing a good workout.
I decided to walk home -- I had a nice burst of energy and at least while the weather is tolerable, I figure I should take advantage of it. Marilu left me two small puff pastries that had a creamy cheese filling -- so good. And then she had also made kind of like a vegetable stew with squash, zucchini, eggplant, and onions -- again, super delicious. I had a slice of her apple tart (with apples from Normandy, of course) for dessert -- also incredibly yummy.
Some random things that I've been meaning to talk about --
Tuesday, I talked to a girl in my France/Africa class who goes to Smith (15 minutes away from Amherst), and is -- wait for it -- from Rochester, and she went to Pittsford Sutherland! How crazy is that. And not only that, but we both worked in the same PLAZA this past summer -- I was at Black and Blue and she was working at Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters which is about a 30 second walk away. The world is so small -- it continues to blow my mind.
Also, the French "greeting" -- the kisses -- continues to be a bit baffling. For example, when a girl greets a girl, they 'kiss', when a girl greets a guy, they 'kiss', but when a guy greets a guy, they do this manly handshake and puff out their chests a bit (actually pretty funny to watch). But what I find really interesting, is like when one of the girls on the swim team gets to practice and then greets the coach, and they 'kiss' -- for those of you who know the Amherst swim team, can you imagine getting to practice, and greeting Nick with a "kiss" on each cheek? I think not....
Anyways, here's a picture from Chenoneau on Saturday -- this was just by the labyrinth that we walked through on our lengthy approach to the castle -- Lord of the Rings or Narnia anyone?
Jennifer and I had a nice walk to History of France and Africa -- well walk/metro, and did a little venting in English (oops). Sometimes it's necessary to make it through the day to have a little language break. Although, I do have to say that the language this is getting a lot easier each day, and my head doesn't hurt every night because of all of the French!
The History of France and Africa continues to be an interesting class -- a bit disjointed and sometimes hard to understand, but the professor is extremely enthusiastic which is always a plus. Today, we discussed the relations between France and Africa after World War II. And I signed up to do my "expose" (that's ex-pose-ay) on November 3rd where I have to speak for 15 minutes about the colonial exposition of 1931 in Paris. We've already read a bit about it, but it should be interesting to look into it further.
After class, I headed home and did a little reading of "La Pluie d'Ete" by Marguerite Duras which is the next play for my theater class -- definitely different than Moliere....and quite odd if I may say so. It will be interesting to discuss it on Monday and then see it on stage next Wednesday.
I walked to practice -- which is always a pleasant walk. It's nice to be able to walk to a destination, and not just wander aimlessly -- it's always a good time to listen to some music or a podcast or just ponder life in general. I did some abs and then got in a half hour early with one of the other guys in my group -- I actually did a total of 6000! It was great! It just goes to show that even if I don't always want to go to practice, sometimes those are when it's the best, and there's nothing like the feeling after finishing a good workout.
I decided to walk home -- I had a nice burst of energy and at least while the weather is tolerable, I figure I should take advantage of it. Marilu left me two small puff pastries that had a creamy cheese filling -- so good. And then she had also made kind of like a vegetable stew with squash, zucchini, eggplant, and onions -- again, super delicious. I had a slice of her apple tart (with apples from Normandy, of course) for dessert -- also incredibly yummy.
Some random things that I've been meaning to talk about --
Tuesday, I talked to a girl in my France/Africa class who goes to Smith (15 minutes away from Amherst), and is -- wait for it -- from Rochester, and she went to Pittsford Sutherland! How crazy is that. And not only that, but we both worked in the same PLAZA this past summer -- I was at Black and Blue and she was working at Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters which is about a 30 second walk away. The world is so small -- it continues to blow my mind.
Also, the French "greeting" -- the kisses -- continues to be a bit baffling. For example, when a girl greets a girl, they 'kiss', when a girl greets a guy, they 'kiss', but when a guy greets a guy, they do this manly handshake and puff out their chests a bit (actually pretty funny to watch). But what I find really interesting, is like when one of the girls on the swim team gets to practice and then greets the coach, and they 'kiss' -- for those of you who know the Amherst swim team, can you imagine getting to practice, and greeting Nick with a "kiss" on each cheek? I think not....
Anyways, here's a picture from Chenoneau on Saturday -- this was just by the labyrinth that we walked through on our lengthy approach to the castle -- Lord of the Rings or Narnia anyone?
A bientot!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Et maintenant, il semble comme la vrai commencement de l'ecole et l'automne!
Wellll, I suppose it was a good sign that I actually went to bed last night under my duvet instead of having stuffed into a little pile at the foot of my bed! I've been enjoying my semi-lazy mornings with no swim practice to rush off to, and not having my first class until 11 (on Wednesdays at least). It's been nice to be able to leisurely eat my breakfast in my pajamas at the kitchen table and look at a magazine or the news on my computer. I usually get up after Alain leaves for work but before Marilu gets up, so I generally have the kitchen to myself.
I embraced the change in the weather today -- even if it meant it being gray and a bit breezy. For the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't break a sweat while getting to class which was quite the refreshing change! We met at the Saint Paul metro station in Le Marais again to look at the Hotels -- again, not actual hotels, but mansions of the early Renaissance period. We toured the Hotel de Sully, Eglise de Saint Paul Saint Louis, and Hotel de Beauvais -- all very cool stuff! It's interesting to see the differences in the architecture between the middle ages and the Renaissance (which I suppose is why I'm taking the architecture class!). Still very striking, but much less decoration and flourishy details.
After class, I headed to Monoprix (which has become one of my favorite places) to look for some lunch -- they have an incredible produce section which was incredibly tempting and so I went for a salad with some proscuitto and parmesan, some small garlic croutons, and balsamic dressing! And an apple -- which, as it turns out, France has some pretty delicious apples too! I actually ended up taking my lunch home where Marilu and Alain's oldest son and his son, Alexandre, were there eating, too! So I sat with them which very fun -- Alexandre is so cute!
I went to swimming early because my coach said I could come a bit early so I could get 2 hours of swimming in on the days that the practice is technically only an hour and a half. It probably didn't really do me much good today....I was feeling pretty rusty in the water! Oh well -- I suppose it's my first day really feeling 'off' since I've started with the team. I'll try it again tomorrow and see how it goes! Each day, I'm having more and more conversation with the kids from the team and really starting to become one of them! Well, kind of -- I still have to ask them to repeat some of the sets for me -- but luckily now not all of them! I'm starting to get the hang of the French swim lingo and the hang of things.
There was a "reunion" at 7:30 at the Maison des Associations of the 15th arrondissement -- which is quite a different place than where I live! Marilu wasn't kidding when she said that the 15th arr. is the biggest one in Paris -- it's enormous, and it's also incredibly diverse. The Maison is just a few buildings down from the Moroccan Consulate and it's clear that that culture carries around into the neighboring streets as there were signs all over the place in Arabic and French. The meeting was fairly uneventful, but lasted until 9 (when we got kicked out of the room....).
I took the metro home and heated up my dinner (Marilu and Alain had a rendez-vous tonight), which was the delicious little Portuguese half-moons with a filling of shrimp and other stuff (I'm not sure what) -- so I had that and some cut up tomatoes and some pain mais (which isn't like the corn bread we're used to eating in the US -- it's not sweet at all, just much denser than what I would consider normal bread).
I believe that's about it -- everyday when I'm on the metro or general people-watching I think of cultural differences or interesting Parisian things to write about and attempt to write them down, but of course, whenever I sit down to write about the day -- they always manage to slip my mind. Oh well -- one of these days I'll get to it!
Photo of the dayy -- one I've been meaning to post (or take) for a while! It's a restaurant that I pass everyday on my walk to swimming -- an hommage to my two grandmothers (and to my mother who tells me that they should have named me this -- Marie being the French equivalent to Mary):
A bientot!
I embraced the change in the weather today -- even if it meant it being gray and a bit breezy. For the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't break a sweat while getting to class which was quite the refreshing change! We met at the Saint Paul metro station in Le Marais again to look at the Hotels -- again, not actual hotels, but mansions of the early Renaissance period. We toured the Hotel de Sully, Eglise de Saint Paul Saint Louis, and Hotel de Beauvais -- all very cool stuff! It's interesting to see the differences in the architecture between the middle ages and the Renaissance (which I suppose is why I'm taking the architecture class!). Still very striking, but much less decoration and flourishy details.
After class, I headed to Monoprix (which has become one of my favorite places) to look for some lunch -- they have an incredible produce section which was incredibly tempting and so I went for a salad with some proscuitto and parmesan, some small garlic croutons, and balsamic dressing! And an apple -- which, as it turns out, France has some pretty delicious apples too! I actually ended up taking my lunch home where Marilu and Alain's oldest son and his son, Alexandre, were there eating, too! So I sat with them which very fun -- Alexandre is so cute!
I went to swimming early because my coach said I could come a bit early so I could get 2 hours of swimming in on the days that the practice is technically only an hour and a half. It probably didn't really do me much good today....I was feeling pretty rusty in the water! Oh well -- I suppose it's my first day really feeling 'off' since I've started with the team. I'll try it again tomorrow and see how it goes! Each day, I'm having more and more conversation with the kids from the team and really starting to become one of them! Well, kind of -- I still have to ask them to repeat some of the sets for me -- but luckily now not all of them! I'm starting to get the hang of the French swim lingo and the hang of things.
There was a "reunion" at 7:30 at the Maison des Associations of the 15th arrondissement -- which is quite a different place than where I live! Marilu wasn't kidding when she said that the 15th arr. is the biggest one in Paris -- it's enormous, and it's also incredibly diverse. The Maison is just a few buildings down from the Moroccan Consulate and it's clear that that culture carries around into the neighboring streets as there were signs all over the place in Arabic and French. The meeting was fairly uneventful, but lasted until 9 (when we got kicked out of the room....).
I took the metro home and heated up my dinner (Marilu and Alain had a rendez-vous tonight), which was the delicious little Portuguese half-moons with a filling of shrimp and other stuff (I'm not sure what) -- so I had that and some cut up tomatoes and some pain mais (which isn't like the corn bread we're used to eating in the US -- it's not sweet at all, just much denser than what I would consider normal bread).
I believe that's about it -- everyday when I'm on the metro or general people-watching I think of cultural differences or interesting Parisian things to write about and attempt to write them down, but of course, whenever I sit down to write about the day -- they always manage to slip my mind. Oh well -- one of these days I'll get to it!
Photo of the dayy -- one I've been meaning to post (or take) for a while! It's a restaurant that I pass everyday on my walk to swimming -- an hommage to my two grandmothers (and to my mother who tells me that they should have named me this -- Marie being the French equivalent to Mary):
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Finalement! Un changement de la temperature!
Apparently Mother Nature read my blog yesterday, because the temperature was much more agreeable today! It actually felt like fall -- which was wonderful. I just looked at the 10 day forcast, and it looks like the highest it's going to get is 72! How wonderful :)
Today was a fairly lowkey day -- but one that made me pretty happy to be in Paris. I woke up with the intentions of trying to find the pool that Marilu had told me about -- and yes, I did find it! But unfortunately, only to find out that it was closed due to chemical problems. So I headed back home and went out for a run -- which was ho hum, but I did end up getting kind of lost...which resulted in a 42 minute run + 30 minute walk...oops. Turns out my strategy for heading towards the Eiffel Tower doesn't work so well when you can't find it in the first place.
Anyways, I finally made my way home (after about 5 times around the Hotel des Invalides) and did about 10 minutes of abs while catching up on the BBC World News! I ate my breakfast and puttered around for a while -- I asked Marilu for the word for "to procrastinate" but now I'm failing to remember what she said it was...
My History of France and Africa class was meeting at the Porte Doree metro stop (in the 12th arr.) -- we went to the Musee d'Immigration which was where the colonial exposition was held in 1931 (basically France did displays of the cultures that were in the colonies that they held at that time) -- it was quite an impressive building, and they have a more current exhibit about immigrants on the top floor that we spent some time going through.
I took the metro to the Institut Catholique (sorry, Allan, I know I still owe you a picture) -- it turns out that our class changed classrooms for this week -- and all the American kids missed the memo. I had actually written it down in my planner, but then we had to find out where that new room was (across the street in another building). But the class (Economics of Development) is very interesting, and I think I was able to understand more this time than last week which is a good sign! I've decided to write my 15 page paper on the development of Nigeria's economy (don't ask me why exactly I picked Nigeria).
After the lovely 3-hour class, I headed home for dinner! Yum! Marilu had a bowl of cherry tomatoes -- which are seriously like candy. They're so sweet and juicy. Delicious. Then we had cheese ravioli with a sauce of some creme fraiche, olive oil, and mint! Which was an interesting combination but was really really good! I had some more of the compote de pommes for dessert -- which obviously, was wonderful.
Had a nice Skype session with my parents tonight (and no, not at the same time, but one after the other....), and continued to procrastinate (I'll ask her to remind of the French equivalent tomorrow).
Well off to bed for me! No matter how hard I try to get to bed before 11, it never quite happens that way...go figure.
Today's photo -- Pastel REALLY didn't want me to use my computer this morning. Or he was just jealous.
A bientot!
Today was a fairly lowkey day -- but one that made me pretty happy to be in Paris. I woke up with the intentions of trying to find the pool that Marilu had told me about -- and yes, I did find it! But unfortunately, only to find out that it was closed due to chemical problems. So I headed back home and went out for a run -- which was ho hum, but I did end up getting kind of lost...which resulted in a 42 minute run + 30 minute walk...oops. Turns out my strategy for heading towards the Eiffel Tower doesn't work so well when you can't find it in the first place.
Anyways, I finally made my way home (after about 5 times around the Hotel des Invalides) and did about 10 minutes of abs while catching up on the BBC World News! I ate my breakfast and puttered around for a while -- I asked Marilu for the word for "to procrastinate" but now I'm failing to remember what she said it was...
My History of France and Africa class was meeting at the Porte Doree metro stop (in the 12th arr.) -- we went to the Musee d'Immigration which was where the colonial exposition was held in 1931 (basically France did displays of the cultures that were in the colonies that they held at that time) -- it was quite an impressive building, and they have a more current exhibit about immigrants on the top floor that we spent some time going through.
I took the metro to the Institut Catholique (sorry, Allan, I know I still owe you a picture) -- it turns out that our class changed classrooms for this week -- and all the American kids missed the memo. I had actually written it down in my planner, but then we had to find out where that new room was (across the street in another building). But the class (Economics of Development) is very interesting, and I think I was able to understand more this time than last week which is a good sign! I've decided to write my 15 page paper on the development of Nigeria's economy (don't ask me why exactly I picked Nigeria).
After the lovely 3-hour class, I headed home for dinner! Yum! Marilu had a bowl of cherry tomatoes -- which are seriously like candy. They're so sweet and juicy. Delicious. Then we had cheese ravioli with a sauce of some creme fraiche, olive oil, and mint! Which was an interesting combination but was really really good! I had some more of the compote de pommes for dessert -- which obviously, was wonderful.
Had a nice Skype session with my parents tonight (and no, not at the same time, but one after the other....), and continued to procrastinate (I'll ask her to remind of the French equivalent tomorrow).
Well off to bed for me! No matter how hard I try to get to bed before 11, it never quite happens that way...go figure.
Today's photo -- Pastel REALLY didn't want me to use my computer this morning. Or he was just jealous.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Je suis prete pour l'automne!
I've realized that I've started a bad habit of making my titles about something negative -- I'm going to try and work on that. As much as this weather has been better than thunderstorms and wind every day -- I'm ready for the temperature to not even go above 70, and preferably, not even close to that number...I was sitting in class this morning (at 11am) and was dripping with sweat. Not cool.
Anyways! Yesterday is definitely worth returning to! I woke up around 7am and briefly debated about staying in bed in the wonderful air conditioning, but decided to stick to my original plan and go for a run -- which was magnificent. Our hotel was only about a 2 minute jog away from the Loire "River" -- I saw that because at most points it's more like a little stream between the rocks because of the "sechesse" -- also known as drought. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful morning -- nice and brisk, and I got to run as the sun was coming up, which is always cool. I even passed a man who was out fishing (although I don't know how much luck he would have had), and someone's laundry laid out on the rocks!
After my run, I went back to the hotel and showered and changed and then went down to the salle a manger for le petit dejeuner! Where they had everything from hunks of baguette to eggs to little one-serving things of Nutella! It was hard to choose what to eat! We boarded the bus and headed off to the Chateau de Chenonceau where we walked through the forest to approach it -- if you are looking to visit, I highly recommend it! It's much more striking this way. We learned that it was one of the chateaux that was built by a woman (!) -- a mistress of one of the kings (I can't remember which one -- a Charles or Louis or something of that nature). It wasn't so bad to be a king's mistress back in the day! That is until the king died (which in this case he did -- from getting hit in the eye while jousting, whoops) and then Catherine de Medici (the king's real wife) kicked the mistress out of the castle (but to another castle -- boo hoo). But it's a pretty amazing place, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!
Pictures -- one of the castle with reflection in the water, and then one of me and one of my roommates Jennifer:
Anyways! Yesterday is definitely worth returning to! I woke up around 7am and briefly debated about staying in bed in the wonderful air conditioning, but decided to stick to my original plan and go for a run -- which was magnificent. Our hotel was only about a 2 minute jog away from the Loire "River" -- I saw that because at most points it's more like a little stream between the rocks because of the "sechesse" -- also known as drought. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful morning -- nice and brisk, and I got to run as the sun was coming up, which is always cool. I even passed a man who was out fishing (although I don't know how much luck he would have had), and someone's laundry laid out on the rocks!
After my run, I went back to the hotel and showered and changed and then went down to the salle a manger for le petit dejeuner! Where they had everything from hunks of baguette to eggs to little one-serving things of Nutella! It was hard to choose what to eat! We boarded the bus and headed off to the Chateau de Chenonceau where we walked through the forest to approach it -- if you are looking to visit, I highly recommend it! It's much more striking this way. We learned that it was one of the chateaux that was built by a woman (!) -- a mistress of one of the kings (I can't remember which one -- a Charles or Louis or something of that nature). It wasn't so bad to be a king's mistress back in the day! That is until the king died (which in this case he did -- from getting hit in the eye while jousting, whoops) and then Catherine de Medici (the king's real wife) kicked the mistress out of the castle (but to another castle -- boo hoo). But it's a pretty amazing place, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!
Pictures -- one of the castle with reflection in the water, and then one of me and one of my roommates Jennifer:
We ate lunch at the L'Orangerie at Chenonceau which was somewhat like a cafeteria (but in France, so it was actually good!). After Saturday's eating fest, I was good and got a piece of salmon, some sliced tomatoes, and then a bowl of fresh strawberries! All delicious.
From there, we had about an hour and a half bus ride to Chambord -- what an amazing place. This chateau was constructed by Francois 1er -- so his initial was everywhere along with his 'signature' animal -- the salamander. But it was clear after seeing Chenonceau that Chambord had much more of a man's touch. Much grander and striking, where I thought of Chenonceau as being more delicate.
When we arrived, Martine told us that she had rented bikes for us to use to ride around the property for about an hour which was lovely! Minus the fact that it was about 85 degrees out....So we all had a nice time riding around (which was interesting considering I was wearing a skirt and flip flops...). Around 3:30 we finally went into the castle -- really incredible. Perhaps what's most amazing is the staircase in the middle which is a double revolution staircase -- so you can get to each floor from each side and make it all the way to the top without seeing someone who took the other side! The inside, definitely incredible, but almost too big -- there are something like 32 "apartments" so the king and all of his buddies could come stay during hunting season.
Photos -- Chambord from afar and looking up through the staircase
After the final chateau, we drove to Blois to catch the train -- which this time was not a TGV so it took about two hours to get back to Paris. The cool part was that the train was divided into the little compartments, so we all felt like we were riding the Hogwarts Express -- I really wanted the trolley to roll by with the witch yelling "Annnnnything from the trolley?". But as I'm sure you can guess, no such thing happened. Maybe in my next life.
I made my way back home -- Marilu and Alain hadn't arrived back from their country house yet -- and made myself some scrambled eggs (with some ham, tomato, and swiss cheese). They got home around 9:30 with bags (big bags) full of apples that she had picked -- wow. They are incredible. She also had made some "compote de pommes" -- aka applesauce -- from them, which, don't worry mom -- I still think yours wins, but this is pretty darn close!
Today was a fairly low key day -- one of my new and exciting discoveries was that of podcasts! I subscribed to a few this morning and listened to a couple throughout the day on the bus and on my walk home from swimming tonight. The "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" was hilarious, and I started to listen to "This American Life", but haven't finished yet. It's a really wonderful way to spend the travel time -- I'll have to keep exploring, but I'm sure there are lots of interesting ones out there -- if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
Other than thatttt, I think it's bedtime for me -- Marilu and I got into watching Riverdance videos on YouTube...which are pretty addicting (yes, I know it's not a very French thing to be doing)...But it's just so cool!
A bientot!
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