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