Pancake Dinner

This past week I've finally started noticing improvements in my French. I realized it the other day when I could go in a store, ask the worker something, and get what I needed easily without having to rehearse the dialogue in my head beforehand.This whole time I've felt like my French hasn't really been going anywhere, but I'm finally starting to notice that daily interactions have been much easier for me lately and fewer people respond in English when I ask for help, directions, etc. Woohoo!

Adorable French twins with their adorable scarves

Today was another abundantly sunny day and it just so happened that nobody in our program had class, so a handful of us went to Places des Vosges for une pique-nique. Katie, our Paris by Site professor, keeps talking about this "sexy cheese" that we all need to try, so I decided to go to the fromagier and buy some. The fromagier was quite possibly the stinkiest place I've ever  been. I really don't like the taste of strong cheese (or the smell of it), so I was happy to see that there wasn't anybody in front of me in the store. I could walk in, hold my breath, get my sexy cheese, and be out without being gassed to death. Fromagiers are so stinky that even when the doors are closed, you can still smell them from a few shops down. Yuck. The cheese is actually called Brillat Savarin and it's kind-of a mix between brie, swiss, and cream cheese. It's creamy and has a bit of a tang to it- I'd never had anything like it before, but it was good! We spent the majority of the afternoon in the park just soaking up the sun and goofing around. We also spent a decent amount of time staring at the cutest little French baby twins that were dressed so adorably and wearing scarves. How precious!

For dinner tonight, I decided to make my host family scrambled eggs and pancakes from the mix that my parents sent me last week. I'm used to making them on a griddle, so it was a little difficult and time-consuming for me to make pancakes for 7 people using only one pan on the stove, but they didn't mind; they were just happy to have an American meal (and Madame was thrilled that she didn't have to cook). Before they opened the syrup, they asked me if it was sweet or savory and when I replied sweet, they got confused, put their pancakes back, and said "oh, it's for dessert?" They were perplexed when I described that even though it's sweet, we have it for breakfast (and sometimes dinner). They were asking me how to properly eat pancakes, which I couldn't help but find a little entertaining since it's so inherent to us. It was nice being on the other side of things for once! I made half of them blueberry and half plain and every last one was eaten. The kids even scraped the bowl of batter so they could each try and flip their own individual mini-pancakes. Geoffroy loved them so much that he couldn't stop smiling. At the end of the meal, he even poured some maple syrup and ate it right from his spoon. Kind of gross if you ask me, but I expect nothing less from a 13 year old boy. Madame said that I had won him over and she asked me for the recipe so that she could make them for Geoffroy more often. I also got a kick out of them pronouncing Aunt Jemima like "ow-nt jay-MEE-mah" :)

Affectueusement,

Katie

Our pique-nique

Oh my, Versailles!

This week's 'Merican Monday was pretty good. Madame is fluent in English and corrects her kids whenever they make mistakes. Because of this, I've noticed that they're much less eager to speak English when she eats with us on Mondays. It's funny how, despite cultural differences, some things are universal. Kids get annoyed of their mother correcting them, siblings yell shut-up to each other, and all 13 year old boys mumble when they speak. Although, I'm not entirely convinced about the last one. My host family is always telling Geoffroy to enunciate and not mumble so much, but if you ask the foreigner, it sounds to me like none of them are speaking clearly. We talked about the drinking age in America and the French think that 21 is far too old for a drinking age and that their age of 18 is much more reasonable. I can't argue with that. We also re-visited another popular subject: the difference between American and French schools. I don't think I would enjoy French K-12 schools, as they are strictly academic- no extra-curriculars or sports. For them, school is just a place to learn. When Diane (10) told me about a movie she watched, the family was very confused why I'd asked if she had watched the movie at home or at school. They couldn't believe that even though they're always educational, we actually get to watch movies in school in The States. I explained the whole concept of school dances to the teenagers, Inès and Geoffroy, and they were baffled. I then showed them some pictures from my Senior Prom and they got so excited to see how dressed up and elegant the students get. They also loved the rules about corsages/boutonnieres and how the boy's tuxedo vest matches the girl's dress.

Today's forecast read "Abundant Sunshine." If that isn't the most delightful forecast, I don't know what is. With the abundant sunshine, what better day to go to Versailles with your class? The palace was built by Louis XIV and it is massive. It's about 25 minutes via train outside of Paris. We left around 2:15 and spent a few hours there, which was nowhere near enough time. I really enjoy the extensive history of Versailles. For starters, this guy named Nicolas Fouquet (who was Louis XIV's financial advisor) threw a pretty awesome party at his own personal chateau. Louis XIV got incredibly jealous- how dare someone throw a lavish fête at a more beautiful mansion than his? He did the most logical thing in his King mind and had his own financial minister arrested, tried, and thrown in jail for life just for throwing a killer party. On top of not wanting to be one-upped by Fouquet, King Louis was a little sick of the Louvre and how it was associated with the Valois dynasty. He decided that the Bourbons needed their own palace, and so the work began on a larger, prettier, and more elaborate palace where the French court would eventually reside until the Revolution.

The first thing that one notices when walking up to Versailles is the gilded exterior. Nothing says "I'm the Sun King" like a facade whose extremities and gate are dipped in gold. Once you've entered, you'll soon come across the spectacular Hall of Mirrors. In the 17th century, mirrors were a rarity. What better way to show off your awesomeness than to put 357 of something rare in your hallway? At that time, mirrors were a specialty of Venice, but King Louis wanted his chateau to be French, so he had his people in Paris learn how to make mirrors. Interestingly enough, the place where they were made still produces mirrors today! Also in the palace you will see the King and Queen's respective chambers (I found it very interesting that the King and Queen slept in separate rooms) and the dining room, among other salons.

Check out all that gold!

Me in the Hall of Mirrors

Not to be outdone by the chateau are the gardens of Versailles. The gardens are absolutely magnifique with incredible symmetric qualities. At the time they were built, not very many things were symmetric (streets, houses, etc. didn't follow a specific plan and were usually built haphazardly). The fact that the gardens have distinct shapes was intended to serve as a reminder of the Crown's ability to control everything- even nature. The gardens are nothing short of enormous. Check out the picture below. See that red outline? That's the palace, which was so big that it housed over 3,000 people. Now compare that size to everything surrounding it. Those are the gardens. I wasn't kidding when I said they are enormous. Needless to say, we didn't have enough time to walk around, as they closed at 6pm. My classmates and I agreed that we'd come back on another day that's just as gorgeous as today was so we can fully experience the gardens. Below are more pictures from my day!

Affecteusement,

Katie

P.S. Aunt Jackie, you'll be happy to know that I finally bought myself something. The dress I'm wearing in these pictures was a Paris Purchase :)

P.P.S. I finally fixed my friend Anna's gift to me (her face on a stick) after it broke on my flight here and I brought her to Versailles today. Check out the Anna's Adventures tab to see what silly things she got herself into

University of Michigan- Arts in Paris 2012 group

Gardens!

More Gardens :)

Vernissage

Yesterday I finalized my spring break plans. I will be spending the first week traveling through Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic by train. Then I'll be flying from Prague to Paris, where I'll meet an army of 16 of my family members. How lucky am I that so many of them are coming to visit!? We're going to spend six days in Paris, then a couple in London. I can't wait for spring break. As much as I love Paris, living in a big city can feel somewhat cramped and chaotic at times, especially when the weather is nice and people are everywhere. It will be nice to get away to the Alps for a week then spend tons of time with my family that I miss so much!

Vernissage

Last night our Paris by Site professor, Katie, invited us to her vernissage, which is the French word for an art gallery opening. She promised us there would be homemade cookies and wine. Free food and alcohol? She sure knows the way to college students' hearts. We decided to go and met tons of interesting people. Almost everyone there were Americans living elsewhere, so it was very interesting learning what brought each person to their current country. We also met Katie's husband, who is Polish but fled Poland to escape communism, grew up in Germany, then moved to America for higher education and is now living in France. He was so cool to talk to, because he had so many stories and is very culturally diverse. We also found out that after three years of looking for a job back in the States, Katie just got hired at Dartmouth. Needless to say, the evening was also a giant celebration.

Me, Chris, and our KFC!

 After a couple of hours of free wine, nothing sounded better than the KFC we found a block away (by the way, KFC is pronounced kah-eff-say here. LOL). We went and got some chicken and it was absolutely fantastic. How is it possible that France can take our fast food and make it taste even better? We then headed back to the vernissage, where we convinced our professors and their spouses that KFC is exactly what they needed. We went back to KFC with them and shared a bucket of fried chicken. That's one of my favorite things about this whole experience abroad- the personal relationships we've made with our professors. How many people at a huge university can say that they ended a Saturday night of wine-drinking over a bucket of KFC at 11pm with their professors? The other day in class, our photography professor set aside time to talk to us about our lives here because he wanted to make sure that we were all adjusting well and not feeling lost. As much as I love U of M, you just don't get relationships with professors like that in Ann Arbor.

Affecteusement,

Katie

Reese's, Ice Cream, and Movies :)

My entire week was made by a large package that came in the mail from my parents. It included some of my favorite things that I can't find in France, such as peanut butter, popcorn, and Reese's. It also had pancake mix, syrup, and chocolate chips (three other things you can't find here) so I can make American food for my host family. Cookies are very hard to come by here and I only know of one place that sells them fresh as opposed to the Pepperidge Farms pre-packaged cookies at Monoprix. They don't even sell chocolate chips at the store! Quelle catastrophe. The kids were so excited about me getting a big, heavy package that they ran into my room to watch me open it and cheered every time I pulled something out. They can't wait to help me make cookies and eat pancakes and syrup. They also loved the Reese's almost as much as I did.

We went on about a three-mile walk for Paris by Site today, starting at Place des Vosges in the Marais and walking through both the islands in the Seine, ending up at the Louvre. Our professor went over by about 45 minutes, which was kind of annoying but she's a very interesting lecturer/guide, so I didn't mind too much. Our professor suggested that we make a pit-stop at Berthillon, the most sought-after ice cream in Paris. Once can only find it on/around the Ile Saint-Louis and it's a bit expensive, but extremely tasty. I got two small scoops, one of chocolate hazelnut and the other of salted butter caramel. The chocolate hazelnut was good but nothing fantastic, but the salted butter caramel was in a league of its own. It was amazing and I have a feeling I'll be making the half-hour métro trip many times in the summer just to get it. While I was waiting for the métro, I heard someone say "Kah-tee?" I looked up and saw that it was Monsieur on his way home from work. and we shared a ride home filled with awkwardness. He's very polite and kind towards me, just not as conversational as his wife. Of course, our métro line had some kind of traffic jam, so we had to take an extra-long route home. At least the language barrier is a good excuse for the awkwardness.

For dinner today we had ham and cheese croissants and they were phenomenal. The food is such a large part of my experience here, it's amazing I haven't gained 10lbs already. I feel like a glutton talking about food all the time on my blog, but I just can't help it. Diane, the 10 year old, asked me at dinner if Americans think in English. Everyone couldn't help but laugh because it was a pretty cute question. Madame had some jokes from candy wrappers that she shared at dinner. Since they were all French puns, I didn't understand them the slightest bit. The whole family had to spend 5 minutes explaining each joke and why it's funny. That totally took the humor out of all of them, but I politely laughed anyways and pretended that I completely understood why they were funny (which, of course, I didn't).

I went and saw the Hunger Games tonight in theatres. It came out here a couple days before the US (boo-yah!) so we were really excited about that. In almost all theatres, you can choose "version originale" for any non-French films, and it plays the original English version with French subtitles. The movie was great, especially for a movie made from a book. They stuck very close to the original text and did a wonderful job with the film adaptation. Even my friends who didn't read the book enjoyed it. Highly recommended :)

Affectueusement,

Katie

Le Jour du Macaron

Today, March 20th, was Le Jour du Macaron in Paris. What, you ask, is The Day of Macaroons? Why, it's only the best day invented. The rhyming slogan was "Un petit don pour un macaron" (A little donation for one macaroon... not so catchy in English). For a small donation of any size, you get a free macaroon at various locations throughout Paris and all of the donations benefit autism research. Since Alyssa, Grace, and I don't have class on Tuesdays, we set-out on a philanthropic Parisian Macaroon tour. We made a pact to try a new flavor at each place we went to so as not to repeat our macaroon experience. Here's how the day went:

Cafe and Caramel Macaroons!

Stop 1. Sadaharu Aoki- We walked in for our free macaroon, only to be told by the lady behind the counter that a free macaroon only comes with the purchase of one item. So, we decided to buy one macaroon to get another one free. We each picked two, and then the worker told us that we don't get to choose our free macaroon flavor- everyone gets café as their free one. We were bummed, but the café was still free, so we didn't care too much. I picked caramel for my other one. Despite its orange appearance, the caramel was yummy. The compote in the middle was closer to actual caramel than the jelly that most macaroons have inside. I was a little hesitant to try the café because I'm not a coffee fan, but it was very light and didn't taste strong at all. A couple of girls in the shop were apparently on the same pilgrimage as us and kindly pointed us in the direction of our second stop

Stop 2. Pierre Hermé- We had high expectation for Pierre Hermé, because we had heard that his macaroons rival those of LaDuree, the shop where macaroons were invented. We were instantly greeted by a friendly worker who handed us flyers that had a picture of every one of the 25 macaroons we were to choose from. We made our decisions, gave donations, and walked to the nearby Place de Sainte Sulpice to enjoy our treats. On our way out of the shop, another friendly worker gave us complimentary chocolates. I had a milk chocolate praline piece. I chose the Mogador macaroon, which was a mix of chocolate and passionfruit flavors. I was curious what it would taste like, since I'd never heard of such a combination before. It was rich, tart, and not too dense. Additionally, it looked very cool, which gave it some bonus points in my book

Creme Brulee

Caramel Apple

 

Yazin

Stop 3. Jean-Paul Hévin- A couple blocks away was Jean-Paul Hévin. There were no other customers inside and there was only one worker, which threw us off after leaving Pierre Hermé, where it was very busy and there were at least 6 or 7 workers behind the counter. We noticed the donation box and read the sign that told us that one donation of any size would get us three free macaroons. We were so excited about this we didn't know what to do with ourselves. I picked out a caramel apple, creme brulee. When I asked the worker what yazin was, she said something about it being a Japanese flavor. I was feeling adventurous, so I picked that for my final choice. We sat in the nearby Jardin du Luxembourg to rate these macaroons. The caramel apple tasted much more similar to caramel apple than I was expecting. It was very good, but the flavor was better-suited for fall than the first day of spring. The creme brulee didn't really taste much like creme brulee, but it was still wonderful with a powerful caramel center. Finally, the yazin was very citrus-y. I have no clue what the brown center was, but it was good nonetheless

We took a break to get some real food and lower our blood sugars so as not to go into diabetic comas. After an hour and a half of eating real food and lounging around the Jardin du Luxembourg, we headed to our final stop

Stop 4. Pierre Hermé (Galleries Lafayette 1)- We went to one of the Pierre Hermé locations inside Galleries Lafayette and picked out new flavors. This time, I got the rose flavor. I was very intrigued by the flower-flavored macaroons, as they seem to have them at every macaroon shop I've seen. How could a food possibly capture the flavor of a flower? I have no idea, but it did. I'm very glad I tried it, but I probably won't get it again since it didn't have a very strong flavor. As my photographer professor said, it's more of an olfactory sensation than anything

Stop 5. Pierre Hermé (Galleries Lafayette 2) There are two Pierre Hermés in Galleries Lafayette, which is pretty silly, considering they're only 2 floors away from one another. Whatever, I'm not complaining. This time, I chose Americano Pamplemousse (American(o?) Grapefruit). It was very tangy, and the compote in the middle had little bitter chunks of what tasted like grapefruit rind. The tangy and bitter flavors didn't mix very well and I probably won't be ordering it again any time soon

Pistachio

Chocolate-"vanilla"

Stop 6. Jean-Paul Hévin (Galleries Lafayette) Just like the first Jean-Paul Hévin, I got to pick three for donating. I got chocolate-vanilla, citron, and pistachio. The chocolate-vanilla must've been some sort of mistake, because there's no way there was any vanilla in that. Triple chocolate would've been a more accurate name. Citron is the french word for both lemon and lime, and the macaroon was definitely a fusion of the two flavors. It kind of tasted like Sprite in macaroon form. I'd probably get this one again on a hot summer day. Finally, pistachio was good, but didn't taste too much like a pistachio. It was more a mix of chocolate and nut flavors, but still wasn't bad.

And the winners are...

Best Boutique- Pierre Hermé. Even though Jean-Paul Hévin offered three macaroons, Pierre Hermé wowed us with their friendly staff, dynamic flavors, and very cool-looking macaroons. There was not one macaroon in the case that was plain. Each and every one of them was either speckled, shimmery, or something equally entrancing

Best  Macaroon- Mogador. The mix of tangy passionfruit and rich chocolate flavors was fantastic and the compote/cookie ratio was just-right. Bravo, Pierre Hermé. You've wowed us with both your shop and your confections and have definitely lived up to your reputation.

I am fully aware that I consumed 11 macaroons today and I don't regret it a bit. There is only one Jour du Macaron and macaroons don't have preservatives, so I had a perfectly legitimate excuse. Here are a few more pictures from throughout the day:

Enjoying the Mogador at Sainte Sulpice

So excited find that we could get three instead of one!

Ending the day at one of my favorite spots- the roof of Galleries Lafayette

Affectueusement,

Katie 

A Lackluster St.Patrick's Day

View from the roof of Galleries Lafayette. What's that in the background?

Both Thursday and Friday were 75, sunny, and gorgeous. I spent a decent amount of time each day at one of my favorite spots in the city- on the roof of Galleries Lafayette. They've turned the roof of this department store into a terrace reminiscent of the top deck of a cruise ships with its turf, lounge chairs, and sun. Since it's 8 stories tall, you get a beautiful rooftop view of the city. The best part? It's relatively tourist-free, so I can read and soak up the sun in silence. I even got a tan!

Notre Dame de Reims

Saturday was, unfortunately, not the best St.Patrick's day for us. We had to get up at 7am to take a train to Reims (pronounced rHanz) to look at a church and a statue all day. Outside. In the 40 degree weather. Of course, we were expecting it to be warm like the previous days, so none of us were prepared for this. Additionally, my seasonal allergies are starting to kick in, so I got 2 hours of sleep the night before. You know the 2-hours-of-sleep look doesn't work on you when your professor flat-out asks you if you're hungover. We spent a few hours at Cathedrale Notre Dame de Reims continuing our discussion on Gothic architecture from the previous week. After the three freezing hours outside were over, we had some time for lunch so we set-out on a French Onion Soup hunt. We got lucky and found some at one of the first restaurants we looked at- it was marvelous and warmed us right up :)

Our professors told us that we then had free time until 3:45 and that it was optional but "highly encouraged" that we go with them to a museum at 2pm. You're going to "highly encourage" a bunch of college kids, whom you plucked out of the city on St.Patrick's Day, to go to a museum instead of explore the city where champagne comes from? Riiiiiight. Needless to say, we opted out of the museum and instead went on a tour of the Taittinger champagne caves. Despite my better judgment, I hauled my sick and exhausted self down into the damp, freezing caves. The tour was pretty boring but the glass of champagne at the end was fantastic.

Saturday night after we returned, we found the Irish pubs in town and headed to them for St.Patrick's Day festivities. 30 minutes was about all my sick and sober self could take of my belligerently drunk surroundings, so I headed home for a much-needed solid night's worth of sleep

Affectueusement,
Katie

P.S. want an embarrassing story?  On Thursday night, we had homemade crêpes for dessert, and Geoffroy had 5. I went to go say, "Man, and I thought I loved to eat!" The French word for someone who loves to eat is gourmand, so I said gourmandise to make it feminine. Turns out, gourmand is both masc/fem, so I actually told my host family, "Man, and I thought I was a tasty little treat!"

Tips For Being French

After a little over a month here, I've compiled a list of the most necessary tips for not sticking out like the loud and obnoxious American you are. Don't think you're loud and obnoxious? Well, the French sure do. But they won't if you take note of the following (these are in no particular order):

1. Worship hazelnuts. The hazelnut is to France as the peanut is to America. They put them in everything. Candy bars, cereals, ice cream, sauces, pastries... you can find something noisette flavored pretty much anywhere you go. Actually, speaking of peanuts, I haven't seen one peanut-related product since being here. No Reese's, no Planter's peanuts, no peanut butter, nothing. It's all about the hazelnut.

2. Eat baguettes. The most important accessory a Parisian can sport is a baguette under one's arm. I thought I loved carbs, but the French take it to a whole new level. This isn't communist Russia, but bread lines actually exist here. People know exactly what time their favorite bakery has fresh baguettes and line up out the door to get them while they're warm. Every day. It baffles me that they need them right when they're warm, because even the "stale" baguettes are fresh. There's even a law in Paris that requires all bakery's baguettes to be fresh. They don't joke around here.

3. Wear scarves. The second most important Parisian accessory is a scarf. I've gotten used to wearing scarves so frequently that I'm starting to feel naked without one. Today was 75 and sunny and the Parisians were still wearing scarves. It's not a fashion trend. It's a lifestyle.

4. Don't smile at strangers. This is possibly one of the most important tips I could give. You know how if you're in the grocery store or washing your hands in a public bathroom and you happen to catch someone else's eye, you might turn your mouth upwards in a halfhearted smile? Don't ever do that here. It's not that Parisians don't smile, because that's not at all the case. The smile is something only exchanged between non-strangers and if you smile to someone whom you don't know, it's a way of saying "let's not be strangers". If you're a man and you do this, you'll be seen as a pervert. If you're a woman and you do this, strangers will think you're a strumpet.

5. Always say hello/goodbye when entering/exiting a shop. This is the biggest mistake made by Americans and often makes us seem rude. When you enter a small shop, look for the store owner and say "bonjour". Even if you browse around and don't buy anything, make sure to say "au revoir" upon leaving. If you throw a "bon journée" in there, you'll get extra brownie points.

6. Give exact change as much as you possibly can. I'm working on a theory that Paris is undergoing some sort of coin shortage. Why else would cashiers and merchants get so unbelievably put-off by having to give change? One time at the University, we were all getting lunch and my classmate just wanted a 1 euro bottle of water. When she got to the cash register and handed the lady a 10 euro note, the lady said "Non. Prochaine!" (Nope. Next!) If you give exact change, a cashier will give you googly eyes, smile, and say "C'est parfait! Merci beaucoup madamoiselle! Au revoir! Bon journée!". When you give a bill that's a couple euros more than your total, make sure you apologize while handing the money over. If you try breaking a 20 over something that costs less than 10 euros, head for the hills because crucifixion may be in your near future.

7. Don't tip at a restaurant. Tip is already included on any menu price. That being said, waiters don't have to put on a smile to get money. I've not once had a waiter here who introduced themselves or said anything relatively friendly. They just show up at your table, write down what you request, then bring your order to the kitchen. They don't ever come around to "see how everything's tasting" or anything like that.  If service is outstanding (which it rarely is), it's okay to leave maybe one euro on the table. Other than that, don't worry about the tip.

8. Don't wear tennis shoes, sweats, or T shirts if you're not exercising. Nothing will target you an American faster than these three articles of clothing. America is an extremely casual country when it comes to acceptable clothes. It's unheard of in France to even go to the grocery store in your Sunday Sweats. If you do so, you'll probably get looked at like you're a martian.

9. Engage in PDA (public displays of affection). Even after a month of being here, this one still disgusts me. There must be something in the air in the City of Love that messes with people's common sense and makes them think it's okay to kiss and fondle wherever they please. Particularly on the métro. Nothing screams "I love you, let's kiss" like a crowded, dirty train full of strangers who would all rather be elsewhere. Nobody wants to see that, people.

10. Smoke. There must be something in the air that also makes Parisians think that they're impervious to lung cancer. They are really a few decades behind on this one. There's no minimum age to smoke and far too many people do it. Even worse, it's totally acceptable to blow the smoke anywhere and completely disregard who may be around to breathe it in. It's incredibly frustrating when I go jogging, only to get a big lung-full of cigarette smoke every other time I inhale.

Follow these ten steps and you're as close to a Parisian as it gets. Actually, please don't follow numbers nine and ten. Those gross me out. As far as those ones are concerned, it's probably better to be 100% Amer. I. Can

Affectueusement,

Katie

Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame

This morning, I had class at the University. I feel like my French professor really beats the dead horse on almost every subject we cover. It seems like she unnecessarily drags things out just because she doesn't know what else to do in our three hour time slot. Today there was one multiple choice question on an exercise we were doing, and she went around and made every single person in the class give their opinion on which of the answers was correct and why. That's totally unnecessary. Three or four people's opinions would've sufficed, but instead we heard all fifteen. Pair that with the fact that we all talk extremely slow due to our limited vocabularies and you've got yourself a 40 minute discussion that could easily be settled in 2. Needless to say, today's class was extremely slow

After what felt like years, class was over and it was finally tiime for déjeuner. I headed home to make myself a sandwich, and I ran into my host "sister" Inès and her friends, who were on their way to have lunch in a park. Ten minutes later, I ran into Madame running errands and an hour after that, I ran into my host "brother" Geoffroy coming off the métro... today was truly the day for seeing my host family outside of the apartment. I made myself a ham, salami, and brie sandwich with a baguette from the bakery directly across my doorstep and it was awesome. Of course, when I was at the bakery getting the baguette, I spotted a pastry that looks exactly like the one I dreamed about on Sunday night, so obviously I had to get it. Also, six out of my last seven blog posts have had pastry pictures, so I realized that my faithful readers would be lost without a snapshot of my daily indulgences. *sigh* The things I do for you all... It was a mixture of raspberries, rasperry crème mousseline, and some other wonderful stuff, all wrapped up in a crêpe. Fan-freaking-tastic. It's probably bad news that these little creations are a mere ten feet from my doorstep at any given moment.

After lunch, I headed to Île de la Cité for my Paris by Site class. We walked around Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame and they were both gorgeous with beautiful vitraux. We happened to be inside Notre Dame when they were having mass, which I found really odd. They don't shut the doors of the church to tourists during mass, so there's hundreds of people walking around touring the church while a sermon is going on. I understand that they want to keep it open to the public for the whole day, but I feel like that would be extremely distracting for the priest and parishioners. I took a lot of pictures at each site which can be found at the end of this post :)   (click the pictures to enlarge them)

Monsieur and Geoffroy were both gone during dinner, so it was just me, Madame, Inès, and Diane. We started off with some store-bought salmon quiche thing. I'm not a big fan of salmon, but I toughed it out and told Madame it was delicious nonetheless. We then had some baked zucchini / potato pie thing that was actually delicious. Then, of course, salad, cheese, and dessert. I mentioned that sometime soon, I'd make them an American pancake dinner, and I think Madame told me not to make too much because they didn't want to be fat... I don't know if that was supposed to be a jab at American eating habits or not, but I just awkwardly laughed and said "haha okay".

Affecteusement,

Katie

St.Chapelle

St. Chapelle altar

Nave of Notre Dame

Votive Candles at Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Notre Dame

I enjoy Carnivals, Sweets, and Flying Buttresses. Am I Five Years Old?

Sunday:

A few friends and I met up at the Tuileries Gardens and went to Colette Carnaval. Colette is a French department store and they decided to celebrate their 15th birthday by throwing a party under an enormous tent. There were games, a dance floor, and a bunch of food stands. I was very excited to see a Manhattan Hot Dog cart, so I decided to have a good ol' American hot dog for lunch. The American experience was kind of diminished when I had to say "Un 'ot dog avec ketch-oop, s'il vous plaît", but it was tasty just the same. An hour was about all we could stand of the lack of personal space. Living here has made me realize how much Americans value their own personal bubble. It's a totally foreign concept to the French. I guess they don't mind getting bumped and shoved everywhere they go, but it drives me nuts. Madame invited me to have dinner with the family, which was très sympa of her, since our program fees technically don't include weekend dinners. We had croque monsieurs, the French version of grilled ham and cheese.

Monday: 

The weather was absolutely magnifique today. I was a little wary of the "65 and sunny forecast" because Parisian weathermen are 10x worse than their Michigan counterparts. The other day it was supposed to be 60 and sunny and ended up being 40, windy, and cloudy. Luckily, today they were correct and by 11am I didn't even need a light jacket. It's supposed to get in the high sixties by Friday, so hopefully today set a precedent for the rest of the week.

It was a long day of classes. Luckily, they went by quickly. In Paris by Site, we spent most of the time talking about Notre Dame and its innovative architectural structure: the flying buttresses. I had to stifle my laughter every time the teacher said "flying buttress". She mentioned that when she gives walking tours to American families, the 5 year olds always laugh at that part. Well, I'm almost 20 and I still think it's funny. No shame. I had a dream last night that I got a fabulous pastry from a pastry shop that I pass by when walking back from the University every day. I've never actually been in this pastry shop, so I interpreted my dream as a sign that God wanted me to indulge in a treat. On my break between French and Paris by Site, I stopped in and searched for the pastry that closest resembled the made-up one in my dream. It ended up being a Charlotte aux Framboises and it exceeded all expectations. It was made up of these sweet ladyfinger-type things, with raspberry jam and raspberry mousse on the inside, topped with none other than raspberries. Oh yeah, it was out of this world.

 

Perfection.

Today was the first official 'Merican Monday or, as I call it in French, Lundi L'Anglais. Madame et Monsieur didn't eat with us because they're going out with friends tonight, but it was fantastic. I felt like the kids really got to know me and not the American student with the vocabulary of a five year old who has to think for 5-10 seconds before each sentence about how to correctly form it. Obviously, conversation flowed much smoother and we talked a lot about the differences between French/American schools. Their school day runs from 8:30-5pm and they get an hour and a half for lunch. They're allowed to leave school for lunch, but their headmaster forbade them from going to McDonald's or anything like that because he doesn't want them "getting into trouble"... at McDonald's. You're only allowed to go home or to another family member's house for lunch. When I asked how the principal would ever know if they went elsewhere, Inès said that he hired someone to camp out at McDonald's and tattle on any students who went there. Last year, a girl got suspended for two days just for getting Mickey D's for lunch. How crazy is that!? (Thair, I know what you're thinking: "That's garbage"). We also talked about the American music and movies they like. I had such a good time with the kids at dinner- Mondays just might be my new favorite day of the week

Affectueusement,

Katie

Dining With the French

As promised, I've dedicated an entire post about the intricacies of a true French dinner and all of the rules that go along with one. Meals usually take at least an hour because the French love to drag things out much longer than needed. Meals are something to be enjoyed here, not rushed through. Because of this, there's no market for "on the go" food. Of course, there's McDonalds' here and there, but that and crêpe stands are about your only option if you want to eat somewhere other than where the food is prepared.

1. There is never more than one type of food on your plate at a time. If dinner is meat, veggies, and salad (by the way, salad is usually eaten after the main course. Not as an appetizer), you don't pile them all on to your plate and alternate between them, having a bite of this and a bite of that. You always take one food at a time, finish it, then move on to the next item

2. Don't alternate hands when using utensils. You hold the knife in your right hand, cut the food, then keep the fork in your left hand to bring the food to your mouth. I used to still be eating after everyone was finished because I had no left-hand-eye coordination. It took me a couple weeks to master eating with my left hand. However, if you're eating food that doesn't require cutlery, it's perfectly acceptable to use the fork with your right hand.

3. Eat cheese when you're done. All French people eat cheese once the salad has been eaten. Monsieur just about had a coronary when I said that Americans find it interesting that the French eat cheese for dessert. Apparently it's not dessert, even though it comes after the main course. Dessert is dessert. Speaking of dessert, they have it after both lunch and dinner here. A meal isn't done unless everyone has had something sweet to finish (after the cheese, of course). My host family has little dessert cups in the fridge, so I usually have chocolate mousse or a parfait-type thing that has caramel, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream. Americans don't typically have dessert every night, and I have no clue why we haven't jumped on that bandwagon yet. It's awesome.

4. Absolutely everything on your plate must be gone. I'm not exaggerating. If you totally finish your salad and there's nothing left but a few spots of dressing, you grab a piece of bread, wipe the plate clean, then eat the bread. When there are dishes in the washer, it's hard to tell if they are clean or dirty because the dirty ones show no trace of food ever being there. Garbage disposals aren't necessary because food going down the sink isn't an option. All sinks have a permanent drain cover on them so that nothing larger than a pea can be washed down.

5. Use different plates for the main course and dessert. This is the one that really throws me for a loop. If I eat my dessert out of a little plastic cup, why do I need a plate underneath me? Much less an entirely new plate than the one I just got done licking clean. I understand tips 1-4, but I don't think I'll ever grasp this one.

As you can imagine, dinner is a long process. After the main course, salad, another helping of each to show my appreciation, cheese, then dessert, an hour has easily passed. I don't mind how long meals take, because I thoroughly enjoy dinner conversation with my host family, even if I can only understand half of it. 

Affectueusement,
Katie

 
 P.S. how can I not post a picture of this delightful little pastry I had today? It's called a fraisier and reminded me of a birthday cake my mother has made on a few separate May 12ths. The brown stuff on the sides is just part of the wrapping, but it's a white cake with some type of custard / cream and strawberries. The glazed top was my favorite part!

I Learnt Something New Today

Wednesday:

I had French today and we literally spent two and a half hours on one exercise. All we were doing was going word by word, collectively correcting paragraphs written by our classmates. It was terribly boring, but I somehow survived. After class, Chris and I went to an SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français) to get our douze-vignt cinq cards. The 12-25 card gives anyone between the ages of, yep, you guessed it, 12 and 25 insane discounts on train tickets. They guarantee that you'll get at least 25%-60% off on any tickets, even international ones. It also allows you to refund/change your purchased tickets as many times as you'd like until the day of departure. For 50 euros, it will pay for itself after only one or two trips. The SNCF was creepily similar to the Secretary of State. You get there, take a number, and wait forever, even though there's only one person in front of you and two available clerks. I felt very accomplished that I ordered my card and got through the appointment entirely in French with no confusion or miscommunication. That's the first time anything like that has happened here since I arrived.

For dinner, we had ham-stuffed ravioli with more of that yummy red sauce. We somehow got on the topic of the death penalty and Madame told me that the French find it very choquant that the US hasn't gotten rid of the peine de mort. While we were sailing on the political hot-topic ship, I decided to bring up the fact that it's also legal to carry a gun in the US. My host family said that the French think it barbaric that we're allowed to do so. I think in their imaginations, it's an unregulated free-for-all where everyone walks around with a pistol on their belt.

Thursday:

My tiny box of pavés

I didn't have class today, so I took advantage of the 50 degree sunny weather and went for a six mile jog. Luckily, not too many people were out and about at 10am on a Thursday, so I didn't get gawked at too horribly. After my jog, I went to the American Library and spent way too much time there trying to pick out a book, since all the ones I had come for were already checked out. To anyone reading this, I could use some book suggestions. I then walked a few blocks to Michel Chaudun, which is supposedly one of the best chocolatiers in Paris. I had heard raving reviews about their pavés, so of course I had to get them so I could contribute. They are little squares of soft chocolate ganache dusted with cocoa that are so rich, even the most severe chocoholic would need a glass of milk to accompany a small box. At 3.60 for a tiny box of six, they don't run cheap, but what does in Paris? They were sinfully tasty and just one little pavé could cure any strong chocolate craving for a week

Madame made crêpe complèt again for dinner, which I was thrilled about. I made sure to let her know how much I love this dish so that hopefully she makes it more often. We've already had it three times since I arrived, but I just can't get enough of the fresh ham, egg, and cheese melted into a galette (a galette is the type of crêpe used in savory dishes. It's crispier and has more flavor than the crêpe used for sweets). Geoffroy mentioned that he has a grammar test in English tomorrow with irregular verbs like "to learn". I questioned him, saying that "to learn" is regular verb. He and the rest of the family kept saying that the past participle of "learn" is "learnt", not learned. When I insisted that learnt isn't a word, they got out their grammar book to show me and I felt like an idiot for not knowing my own language. Still unconvinced, I consulted Google. Turns out, learnt is the British form of learned. I guess something new is learnt every day.

Affectueusement,

Katie 

Washing Machine: 1 Katie: 0

The French have found a way to turn something so simple as a two-hour wash/dry cycle to a ten-hour event. The wash cycle alone practically requires that you have a specialized Bachelor's degree in order to operate it. Never get in a fight with a French washing machine. You will always lose. Always. First of all, French washing machines have so many buttons that they are more akin to airplane cockpits than American washing machines. Just one look at the reincarnation of R2-D2 and I knew I was in for trouble. I loaded it up with my vetements, Madame pushed what seemed like 50 buttons, and my they were done within an hour or so. Simple, right? Wrong. When I took my clothes out of the washer, I realized that the necks on many of my shirts had stretched enough to accommodate a watermelon. One of my chemises miraculously shapeshifted from a normal size small to a triple XL belly shirt. I'm not kidding. It's now about ten inches long and three feet wide. Also, dryers are a foreign concept to the French. Madame mentioned that she'd heard of them but never seen one, but the rest of the family had no idea what I was talking about. They were baffled when I explained that Americans have a machine to wash clothes and one to dry them, too. Hanging my clothes dry isn't too much of a hassle, but I definitely miss my clothes being soft and without wrinkles. I'm lucky that my host family gave me my own drying rack to use in my room. One of my classmates said that his host mother hung his clothes up on whatever sufficed around the house. He noticed his underwear hanging from the oven handle during dinner one night.

Before my Paris by Site class, I went to get my French textbook at a store called FNAC. It was an enormous combination of Barnes and Noble and Best Buy- I was in heaven after I finally found it. Someone a while back thought it would be a good idea to make this store underground and entirely unmarked from the street, so you can imagine how difficult it was for me to find. I was on a bit of a time budget while there, so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to browse around much. I'll definitely have to go back and spend more time there, now that I know where it's located.

Paris by Site met at St.Denis today, an enormous Gothic church with beautiful stained glass windows and crypts with remains of certain French Royalty, like Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It is said that right after St.Denis was beheaded, he picked up his own head, walked six miles, then dropped dead at the site where the church now sits. The church was built in the 7th century- as you can imagine, it has an incredible amount of history. I recommend that anyone participating in a study abroad program take a history course specific to that location if possible. There's absolutely comparable to learning about a church that you're standing in, or talking about a painting at the Louvre while being an arm's length away from it. As interesting as the church was, we were all eager to leave after an hour and a half because it was so freezing inside that we could see our breath. None of us had anticipated this, so we all wore light jackets / sweatshirts. Everyone kept joking that our next site visit will be to the hospital, because we're all bound to come down with pneumonia after today's class. 

 

my mille-feuille

On my way home, I stopped by the patisserie right by my apartment and got a mille-feuille, which is a combination of vanilla, custard, and pastry, topped with a little layer of chocolate. It was delicious, but I didn't want to ruin my appetite for dinner, so I saved the majority of it for tomorrow. We had tarte aux épinards avec chèvre (spinach pie with goat cheese) for dinner. I'm not a big fan of steamed spinach because the texture kind of grosses me out, but it wasn't bad when baked and combined with cheese and flaky pastry.

Affectueusement,

Katie