A toute à l'heure

So I preface pretty much every blog like this, but I've really done a bad job this time, so I feel like I have to say it: I'm sorry for never updating! There's just so much to write about and so little time to write it all down.

Since my last update from about 3 weeks ago...oh gosh, I really am awful at this, aren't I?...well, I've gone on Spring Break to Italy, enjoyed some touristy days in Paris, started my internship, and also started worrying about coming home. I only have 7 more weeks in Paris ; how does this happen? How does time go by this fast? All right, all right, enough casting existential questions into cyperspace. Let's actually blog about something.

Spring Break 2009

I spent Spring Break 2007 Road Tripping around New England. Spring Break 2008 was spent in Portland, Oregon. And Spring Break 2009 was by far my grandest adventure thus far...Rome and Venice! Next year...Jupiter. Yeah, Spring Break 2010: Jupiter.

Meredith and I were reunited with our long-lost and oft-missed roommate Meghan on Saturday (March 7). We took a plane from Paris (ghetto Beauvais airport, which I can best compare to a holding pen for cattle) to Rome and met Meghan at our hostel, Funny Palace, which was right near the central train station. The hostel owner, Mabri, was amazingly warm and welcoming and he literally sat down and planned our vacation for us - he even booked us museum reservations. He also gave us a free bottle of wine - more about that later. Much more. We also got free breakfast every day, a capuccino and a fresh pastry from the local pasticceria.

We walked a lot our first day. Actually, we walked a lot during the whole vacation. But don't worry, we ate a lot to compensate. Rome was amazing and sunny and warm, palm trees et al, so of course we had to eat LOTS of gelato to keep us cool. We started out on Day 1 at the hostel and walked all over, stopping at such sights as the Four Fountains, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Typewriter (which is actually the Victor Emmanuel Monument), the Pantheon, and the Piazza Navona. We ate dinner at a small Tabac-type place with an overly friendly waiter who was obsessed with America, especially Indianapolis, and played Johnny Cash songs for us.
Pictures from Day 1:
My favorite "jolly-old" pagan-temple-turned-Catholic-church, the Pantheon.
Roommates reuinted! Taken at the top of the Spanish Steps.
Spanish Steps again.
Two coins in a fountaaaain....each one seeking happiness. Did you know that the Trevi Fountain was not really considered a tourist sight until after the movie "Two Coins in a Fountain" was made?
Pretty park! So green and lovely!

Day 2:
Mabri had made reservations for us at the Borghese Museum, so we headed over there. They were having some kind of special so it only cost €2,50 to get in...which was baller. It was located in the gorgeous Borghese Gardens, which is like a sprawling park with lots of activities and greenery. The museum itself was cool ; it housed some phenomenal Bernini sculptures and some
Renaissance-era paintings, including some by Raphael, Titian, and da Vinci.

We ate a real Italian lunch (by that I mean food that was not cooked in a microwave), saw Santa Maria Maggiore church, and then headed over to the Roman Forum. Lunch took longer than expected, so we decided not to go through the Forum or the Coliseum because it closed rather early and we wouldn't have enough time to appreciate everything. Instead, we walked around the other ruins that don't require a ticket, saw Trajan's Column and the Arch of Constantine, watched couples making out furiously, and sat in a park eating devine gelato and watching the sun set behind the Coliseum.

It was around this time that the infamous pine cone incident occurred. I had the brilliant idea to kick a large pine cone that I saw on the ground and I announced my intentions to the rest of the group. Meredith pretended that she was going to try to beat me to it, so I took off running. In my head, I already foresaw what was going to happen, but for some reason, chose to kick the pinecone anyway. In a moment that can best be compared to Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, I swung my leg out, flew into the air, and landed firmly on my fesses...that's French for ass. Hours of laughter ensued, as did hours of trying to get rid of the gravel that had somehow made it into my pants after I fell.

The night ended with some shopping, a nighttime view of the Trevi Fountain, and dinner at the WEIRDEST restaurant I have ever been to. The whole place was haphazardly decorated with Winnie The Pooh and other kiddie motifs, including a curio cabinet full of stuffed animals and a menu hand-written on pink stationery with pictures of kittens. Despite the kitsch-tasticness, the food was EXQUISITE, homemade, and very, very, very affordable. I had canneloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta and smothered with cheese and what I believe were some kind of truffles? I'm not quite sure because the whole menu was in Italian. Delicious either way.

No pictures from day 2 because I left my camera at the hostel. :(

Day 3
Day 3 was rather jam-packed as a result of our not getting to the forum or Coliseum in time the previous day. We hit up the Forum in the morning, which was absolutely amazing. I had been to Rome before, but we didn't spend a lot of time in the Forum or go up to Palatine Hill, so I'm glad I got a second chance! I also didn't go inside the Coliseum on my first trip to Rome, and that was also rather awesome. I stole an ancient rock from the Forum to replace my rock I stole from Pompeii when I went in 2005 and somehow lost...

Afterwards, we caught a bus and headed to the Vatican. Love me some Vatican. Following Mabri's advice, we went later in the afternoon and barely had to wait in line (lines are super long during the morning). The Vatican museum contains some really amazing artifacts that the Catholic church has stolen...*ahem*, I mean, acquired, over the years. There were mummies, Roman sculptures, Greek art, Italian tapestries...lots of interesting stuff. Plus that silly old painting, what's it called? Oh yeah, the Sistene Chapel ceiling. Breeaaaathtaking.

After the Sistene Chapel, we went over to St. Peter's, the largest church in the world, and then chilled in the Vatican plaza. Meghan and I fell asleep a little bit because it was nice and sunny and we were extremely tired. We motivated ourselves with the promise of more gelato and took off again, but we weren't too keen on doing a lot for the rest of the night because we were exhausted. After dinner and gelato, we went back to the hostel and packed up for Venice.

I have to say, I love Rome. I don't think I'd ever want to live there, but I would go back again and again. It has an amazing vibe to it, something both fresh and exciting as well as ancient and intellectual. It's definitely one of my favorite cities I've ever been to.

Day 4 and 5: Venice
We were taking the train from Rome to Venice, so we walked over to Termini station to get the 8:50 train. This is where the wine comes back in. We got to the station with plenty of time to spare because our hostel was literally 3 minutes away, and it's a damn good thing. I had the cheapo bottle of wine that Mabri had given us in my purse because we hadn't had a chance to drink it yet. But apparently I set my purse down too hard because all of a sudden, there was a crimson liquid leaking out of my bag onto the floor of the train station. I freaked out but we had to act fast because our train was leaving. I salvaged everything I could from my purse, which was legitimately full of wine, shoved the purse in a plastic bag, ran outside and dumped out the wine, came back and stole napkins from a food vendor, attempted to clean up the mess (didn't succeed), then ran to catch the train. Though all of my stuff is slightly stained and reeks of stale merlot, nothing was permenently damaged except my American cell phone, which refuses to turn on. But my French phone works, so all is well!

We arrived in Venice after a lovely 4-hour train ride through scenic Tuscany and Umbria, and were greeted with the BEAUTIFUL sight of jade-green canal water and blue, sunny skies. Venice is extremely colorful and very visually pleasing. We spent much of our time here just walking around and exploring ; there are so many secret nooks and crannies in the city to discover! We honestly didn't see a lot of sights in Venice ; we decided it was better to take our time and enjoy the ambiance and atmosphere. We did go to St. Mark's cathedral, which was gorgeous, and saw the Rialto bridge. Gelato was even cheaper in Venice, so we ate even more.

I think I will end this blog now because it's getting rather epic. But I leave you with the visual delight that is Venice (and I promise to update more in the coming week!):

Snack Fromage

Today, I was absolutely delighted to find Cheez Balls in a store called Ed (which we have affectionately dubbed "The Ed", often use in the context, "LOVE the Ed!"). Ed is basically the PriceRite of France ; it contains such delights as oft-rotting produce, hit-or-miss cheese and other dairy, imitation American brands, and a multitude of fish products, mostly of the canned variety, all for rock-bottom prices. Shopping at the Ed is clearly a necessity.

Life in Paris continues to be peachy keen but full of schoolwork...which will come to an end this Friday (Hallelujah).

Random highlights from the past week include but are not limited to:
Being hit on (read: harrassed) by French boys who looked no older than 15 years of age

Seeing Cyrano de Bergerac at La Comédie Française (though it was 3.5 hours long)

Eating an obscenely inappropriate amount of carbohydrates

Supporting local artists by purchasing jewelry at a craft fair (every samedi at the Bastille!)

Two Words: Jewish Deli
Supplementary words: bagels and pletzels in the Marais

Finding an AWESOME store that sold vintage books and magazines and getting an original ad poster from 1960 for 12 euros. Will definitely be going back to that store.

Speaking lots of French

Getting extremely excited for Rome and Venice

Finally buying some art supplies so I can artistically document my Parisian life

MEXICAN FOOD. Authentic. Complete with Mariachi band and Corona with lime.

Almost getting swindled by a gypsy. I like thinking that after living here almost 10 months, I know the difference between a gypsy and a kindly stranger. Today, major fail. But this lady was tricky. She had planted a gold ring on the ground and pretended to find it. She asked if it was mine, and I said no. We had a cute little conversation, wondering whether it was real gold or not. She tried it on ; it was too big for her, so she told me to take it. I was like, no, no, no, I don't want it, it's ok. She insisted. I started to get suspicious, but she finally put it in my hand and walked away. Then, after a second, she turned back around and started asking me for money/food. Fail. If you're going to beg for money, just beg for money. Or learn to play an instrument or something. Don't be super nice to someone to trick them out of money. That's as good as pickpocketing.

Sorry for the Gypsy rant. I need to go to grammar homework.

busy busy busy busy busy busy...Oh, i'm busy.

Dear BU Paris Internship Program:

You want me to enjoy Paris, right? You want me to explore the intricacies of the city and appreciate its cultural value, correct? And overall, you want me to remain healthy, sane, and happy, of course? Then please explain to me why, for the past two weeks, have I been positively steeped in school assignments and feel as though (mostly) unnecessary knowledge is being regularly and forcefully extruded from every orifice in my body as per your dictatorial syllabi. Please.

Sincerely,
Liz Furze

These week, I have two exposés (which are in-class presentations about assigned subjects), reading, one essay, an essay correction, a crapload of grammar exercises, and a test. Last week, I had two essays (one of them was LONG and the other involved interviewing a French person), a test, more reading, an essay correction, and a private exposé. I'm tired. I don't want to do work. I understand this program is "intensive", which is the nice way of saying "difficult", and it's for my own good, and we're essentially compressing an entire semester into 8 weeks, but really! This is a bit absurd. And by a bit absurd, I mean it makes me want to die a little. In fact, my roommate, Meredith, is sick to the point of being bed-ridden, which I am sure (Italics cue sarcasm) has nothing to do with stress.

Other than the mass amounts of travail, Paris itself continues to be lovely. The weather is finally starting to pick up, and it's supposed to be in the 50's this week, which makes me feel fantastic. I'm pretty sure I have SAD tendencies (Seasonal Affected Disorder...not just "sad" in all caps), and when the weather is nice, I am always filled with these beautiful waves of happiness and nostalgia. For some reason, I have been thinking about summer in New England a lot lately and how I miss summery Rhode Island and Cape Cod. I really want to live in Boston this summer, but I'm not sure how to accomplish that without having to work 60 hours a week. Rent is expensive. And working 60 hours a week means no days off, which means no beach, unless you're talking about the BU beach, which is a plot of grass next to Storrow Drive, which is not a real beach, which makes me sad.

On a different and less tangental note, my friend Lori, who's studying in Madrid, came to Paris for the weekend! I met up with her on Friday afternoon at the Louvre, where we looked at the Egyptian stuff, which was pretty interesting, and then the Italian and French painters (essentially, the Mona Lisa). The Louvre is not my favorite, but you have to go when you come to Paris. This was my third time...and I have a feeling I will go several more times before I leave Paris, if not because I have more people coming to visit and I will have to take them.

After the Louvre, we went to Notre Dame, which is always awesome. Lots of Quasimodo jokes were made, don't you worry. The inside of the church is breathtaking, as is the outside, but those stained glass windows get me every time. They're just freakin' awesome, to put it eloquently. I must go to mass at Notre Dame some time, as I have a feeling it will be incredible.

After Notre Dame, we met our mutual friend Jill, who is also on the PIP (despisèd acroynm for Paris Internet Program), at the Eiffel Tower, and then walked over to the Palais de Chaillot for the lovely view. Afterwards, we walk to the Champs-Elysées where we enjoyed coffee at the House of Ridiculously Overpriced Ice Cream, aka Häagen-Dazs (which is a made-up name, did you know? [also, I use too many parantheses. I constantly interrupt myself. Damn.]), and then went to the Arc de Triomphe. They charge you money to go inside it and climb to the top, to which we said "Eff No", so we just stood under it. They were actually re-lighting the flame for the tomb of the unknown soldier, which burns constantly beneath the Arc, so we watched the ceremony and then peaced.

Afterwards, Meredith and I had a small dinner gathering with our friend Erin. Our host mom is currently on vacation for three weeks at her house in Marseille, so we have the house all to ourselves, which obviously means PARTAYYY. Not. We ate pasta, drank too much wine, and didn't do too much else for the rest of the night.

The next day, I met Jill and Lori for the lunch in the Marais, which is an older area of Paris where a lot of Jewish/Israeli restaurants and bakeries set up shop. We had some absolutely amazing falafel and got gelato afterwards in the shape of a rose. Don't believe me? Photographic evidence (promise not to judge my psychotic face):

We went to Les Invalides, the gorgeous building/series of buildings where Napoleon is buried, but it was closed, so we just admired the architecture and took pictures. I went back home afterwards because we had another little dinner party ; Erin and our friend Trevor came over to eat and watch Paris, a movie we have to write about for one of our classes (which I am supposed to be doing right now but clearly am not). Meredith made the most BEAUTIFUL quiche all from scratch, dough and everything, with spinach, haricots verts, and two types of cheese. It was marvelous. Then we watched the movie, which was not quite so marvelous.

So that's quoi de neuf with me. I need to stop writing such novella-length blog entries ; it's the reason they happen so infrequently.

In summation, I've been extremely busy, but love Paris.
I miss singing.
And I have decided I someday want to be Janis Joplin, minus the rampant drug use and early death.

Eaten an Drinken

I apologize for the lapse in entries. After a few days of not writing, it's easy to get overwhelmed with how much there actually IS to write about, and then I simply don't write at all. Who knew blogging could be such hard work?

I spent this weekend in Amsterdam. While it was fun to laugh at the novelty of legalized cannabis and hookers proudly displaying their wares in front of full-length windows, I actually wanted to go to Amsterdam because it looked like a beautiful city, and it definitely lived up to that expectation. It was adorable...tiny, laid-back, welcoming, and overall charming - that's definitely the best word I can come up with to describe the Dutch capitol.

However, I think I was most in awe of the native Netherlanders. Not only were they friendly and helpful, but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, spoke English. And not broken English. They spoke fluent, idiomatic English, with fabulous pronunciation. I have so much respect for people who are dedicated, intelligent, and open enough to learn another language, and because I now know how hard it is to speak a foreign language fluently, I respect them even more. So, here's to you, the Dutch!

Anyway, one fun activity on our trip included nearly missing our plane from Paris to Amsterdam. We underestimated the time it took to get to Charles de Gaulle by RER, and we ended up going through airport security at 7:50 for an 8:00 flight. Thinking we were doomed, we sprinted to our gate, where people were still checking in and not rushing at all. More people, in fact, boarded the plane after us. Put one more checkmark in the Europe column for the Europe vs. United States battle...because you know that NEVER would have happened in the States.

Other notable experiences: The food in Amsterdam was a lot cheaper than that in Paris. Coffees were approximately twice the size and half the price, including lattes and cappuccinos, which cost approximately $yourfirstbornchild in Paris. However, the price of museums and attractions was much higher in Amsterdam, so it pretty much evened out. I get in almost everywhere in Paris for free or for a drastically reduced price because I'm a student. Amsterdam has no such discounts unless you're under 17. This means that we chose NOT to spend 15€ for the Van Gogh museum (because the Musée D'Orsay has a great Van Gogh collection and is free for me) and instead opted for the Heineken museum, which was 12€ and included two beers. I mean, it was the cheesiest thing I've ever experienced, but hey, I was in Amsterdam!

On Saturday, we visited the Ann Frank house, which was an incredibly moving experience. We saw the rooms in which Ann and her family hid during the Holocaust, saw the original diary she wrote, watched interviews with her father and the people that helped hide the Frank family...it was a very emotional museum in many ways. I felt sadness, disbelief, anger, shock, and yet a deep sense of appreciation that Ann had written that diary and put a face to the horrors of the Holocaust for the rest of the world to see and sympathize with.

We also ate at a traditional dutch Panekkoeken house, where they serve giant, delicious pancakes stuffed with all kinds of yummy things (they're more like thick crepes than American pancakes) and had French fries smothered in mayonnaise (just like they say in Pulp Fiction) and took a cruise of the canals. Of course, we explored the Red Light District...and yes, it's everything you've heard and more. Our hostel, Shelter City, was actually a Christian hostel. They were extremely nice, our rooms was super clean, we got free breakfast, and I felt very safe there. I definitely recommend it! In fact, I recommend Amsterdam in general. I think it would be difficult to spend more than 3 or so days there as a tourist because it's EXTREMELY small, but if you ever get a chance, check it out!

Now it's back to the grind. I have tons of work this week, and I'm honestly getting sick of not being able to enjoy Paris as much as I'd like. Four more days til the weekend...I just wish I didn't have to countdown the days, it makes me feel awful. I want this experience to last as long as possible, not wish weeks to be shorter! Oh well. Please enjoy some lovely Amsterdam pictures!

La cuisine

Sundays are always an interesting day, because we have our weekly dinner with our host mom. Today's dinner led me to thinking about food and my experience with it in France thus far, so I've decided to dedicate today's entry entirely to la cuisine.

I don't consider myself particularly adventurous or experienced when it comes to eating, despite the fact that my father is a chef. Tsk tsk, shame on me. I mean, I'm not a strictly chicken-fingers-grilled-cheese-and-french-fries sort of girl like some people I know (Meghan Madore, this means you), but I find that when I go to restaurants, I find ONE thing I like, and always order that. So even though I am willing to sample many different kinds of ethnic food, I usually miss out on the great variety that each variety of food has to offer. For example, I love Indian food, but I always get chicken korma and naan. Always. I will occasionally supplement with a samosa. But otherwise, I'm missing out on a whole world of curries, tikka masalas, and vindaloos.

Since I have come to France, I have tried a lot of different foods, and I am extremely proud of myself. Eating regularly with my host mom forces me to try new things, because I'm not going to be rude and say, "Mmm, you want me to eat THAT? How bout 'no'..." Sundays, as I said, are always interesting because of the fact that Mme De Cremiers always makes some kind of food I've never tried before, and she's an exquisite cook.

Today, Meredith and I were a little terrified, because when we went to have breakfast this morning, there were fish fins in the sink. The fish was for lunch, in which we did not partake, but we did have a different fish for dinner. Fortunately, it was already fileted and we did not have to touch any scales, spines, or fins. Dinner tonight consisted of shrimp (which were still whole, heads and all, when she presented them to us), sole with watercress salad and warm potato chips, cheese, and fruit salad. The shrimp, which scared me to death at first, were EXQUISITE. I watched my host mom peel one first and I followed her lead, dipping the meat in a little bit of salt and popping it in my mouth. It tasted just like lobster. Delicious. The sole was really great as well, and I'm not a big fan of fish most of the time. It was slightly crispy, served with fresh lemon juice, and very fresh and tender. She had warmed up some potato chips in the oven to serve with the meal, which was unexpected and delightful. And the watercress salad was GREAT. I hate vegetables with a passion and I really enjoyed eating it.

So this interesting meal has led me to share with you the other things I have learned and experienced about food here in France. Friday morning, I had a cooking class with one of my French professors from BU. A group of about 8 or 10 of us gathered to cook lunch at the Fondation des États-Unis, where some of the kids in the program live. We made tartelettes with tomato, warm chèvre salad with walnuts, baked endive and ham with a béchamel sauce, and chocolate mousse. The meal was very collaborative, but we all made our own mousse, which was incredibly easy and delicious...I will definitely be trying that recipe at home. The endive with ham was...interesting. The sauce was delicious, though not a true béchamel because it was made with juice from the endives instead of milk, but the endives themselves were rather bitter and I didn't like them much. Everything else, especially the warm chèvre, was lovely, and I am always so proud whenever I cook anything because normally I'm such a failure at it.

My eating situation varies greatly. Breakfast is usually cereal and yogurt at home, while lunch is usually a sandwich purchased at a boulangerie. I have pain au chocolat at least once a day because it's cheap and absolutely delicious, and then dinner is a toss-up. This week, Meredith and I have designed a menu plan for each evening, because dining out has become far too expensive. We got all our food for the week for 27 euros, which isn't bad at all for 2 people (about $35).

Thursday night, we were out shopping and decided we wanted a nice meal after a long and productive day. Most restaurants have some kind of prix fixé menu, meaning in addition to the regular items on the carte (in France, a menu is called a carte and this prix fixé list is called a menu...terribly confusing, I know), there is a list of meals you can order for one fixed price. For example, you'll usually have a 14€ menu that has a choice of appetizers (called entrées...I know, everything is backwards!), main courses, and desserts. You get one of each, usually from a choice of 3-5 items in each category, all for 14€, including tip. Well, we found a few restaurants in the 5th that had a 10€ menu, so we hit that up. For a place so cheap, it had a great atmosphere and really friendly staff. I got onion soup (which was ok...I don't love onion soup that much anyway), steak au poivre (which was delicious), and mousse au chocolat, plus wine for the table. It was a lovely and welcome end to our day.

Last night, Meredith and I did a little more shopping (it's the sales! We have an excuse! We can only shop til mid-February!) and wound up in cute little area that had some ethnic food. We were both craving pasta and found an authentic Italian restaurant, owned and run by Italians, and we definitely got our pasta fix. I got fettucine with pancetta and mushrooms in a cream sauce and fresh parmesan cheese. Deeeelicious. I can't wait to go back to Italy...I'll be there March 6! Mm...gelato, affordable cappuccinos, and fresh pasta. But for now, I'm enjoying the food in France, which is just as good as Italy.

Sometime this week or next week, I'd like to go back to the Marais district where all the Jewish delis and bakeries are. They had bagels! And they looked to die for. Bagels have got to be one of my favorite foods ever. They also had some hoppin' falafel stands and awesome Middle Eastern restaurants...the lines were super long, but hopefully if I go during the week it won't be bad. Another goal: try something at the patisserie other than pain au chocolat. I hear the macarons are delicious.

All right, I feel like I've made all your mouth water sufficiently. I leave you with one last food-related photo:
mmm, Obamalicious.

La culture

For those most astute readers, you may recall in a previous entry I mentioned the difference between visiting a foreign country and living there. For those not-so-astute readers, worry not, because I didn't go too in-depth on the subject. But I've been thinking more about it, and that's what I wanted to focus my entry on today.

The first time I came to France, it was everything I had ever imagined, most of which was based on movies, songs, books, photographs. Paris was a gorgeous, romantic city that swept me off my feet like an old Hollywood film and carried me to the brinks of all my fancies. The music, the food, the sights! But like movies, songs, and photographs, that trip was only a sampling, a superficial grazing of the iceberg that is French culture. I might as well capitalize it - it's a monumental subject. FRENCH CULTURE.

BU's Paris Internship Program (or PIP as we [never] affectionately call it) is a cultural immersion program, meaning you don't learn about French culture from reading a book. You learn it by living in it. And by doing so, you learn about the nitty-gritty aspects of Parisian existence, not just what year Gustave Eiffel built his tower [answer: 1889] or how many examples of Haussmann-era architecture you can find in a day [answer: too many to count]. Living in Paris, you learn which boulangerie has the freshest, tastiest baguettes (or, more importantly, pain au chocolat), how to put more minutes on your cellphone, which wine tastes the best and costs the least, and how to become a "regular" at the local bistro. You learn to take the metro without thinking about it, you learn the intimacies of your neighborhood, and, above all, you learn the how and why of French behavior and cultural tradition.

Now, I've been here for a grand total of two weeks and one day, so I'm not saying I know all this yet. I mean, I definitely haven't figured out the whole "putting more minutes on the cellphone" thing. But I think that by recognizing the difference between visiting and existing, I've already overcome an important hurtle. I've learned, or am trying to learn, not to be disappointed when Paris doesn't quite seem like La Vie en Rose all the time. It's not about having a constant thrill in your stomach...sometimes it's about being uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable when someone speaks to me and I don't understand. It's uncomfortable when someone French approaches me with an extremely direct manner and I am taken aback. It's uncomfortable when people look at me like I'm stupid because I have to turn around after reading a métro sign wrong. It's not la vie en rose - but it's real life.

So while I have no minutes left on my phone, I have learned a FEW things about French culture. For tonight I will share one of the most important ones with you:

I cannot, CANNOT comprehend, for the life of me, why people think Parisians are mean. Parisians can be abrupt, straightforward, and entirely unabashed, but they are not any meaner than any other group of city-dwellers. I have met far more blatantly rude people in the U.S. than I have in France. Even at a McDonald's in France (which, I repeat, I have only patronized in order to get cheap coffee in to-go cups!), the workers are kind and polite to customers. I was in a boulangerie the other day getting dinner, and a customer complained to the woman behind the counter because he left the store and his bread had broken or something like that. She told him since he had already left the store, she wouldn't just give him another one. He got mad, and she proceeded to tell him over and over in a very firm tone, "You already left the store. You may not have a free baguette". Immediately after, she turned to the next customer with a polite smile and a genuinely genial, "Et pour vous, madame?" She was not being mean to the man with the baguette problem - she was being resolute and direct. The French do not pussyfoot around.

Rater au blog

So I've been rather terrible about blogging, and for this I sincerely apologize. I think I blogged more before I left than after I arrived! But I honestly think that might have something to do with the fact that I went online for like 10 hours a day while I was at home and now I live in Paris...soooo, I'm kind of more occupied.

Classes are difficult and I have a lot of work, which is a pain in my rear because I'd much rather be out enjoying this beautiful city than sitting inside doing grammar exercises. Paris is really the most gorgeous city I've ever seen. Every area has some charm to it, some hidden wonder just waiting to be discovered. There are alleyways that lead to secret gardens, hilltop views, immaculate architecture, and some of the most beautiful monuments ever constructed. The modern exists alongside the antique, and everything has a sort of charming balance...I think that's one of the best words I can use to describe Paris: charming!

Probably my favorite day here thus far was Friday. In the morning, BU scheduled a course in gastronomy for us, and we were able to sample a huge amount of excellent food and wine. The tasting was separated into sections depending on what shop the foods came from ; for example, we ate rillettes, blood sausage, and salami from the charcuterie, or meat shop (which usually sells procured meats rather than straight butchered meats). The blood sausage was surprisingly delicious. Then the fromage! It was amazing. Cheese is probably my favorite food in the world, and this is the best place to eat it. We sampled chevre, comte, fourme d'ambert (a type of blue cheese), and two types of camembert. All were scrumptious.

After that, we ate food from the boulangerie, where one buys bread - pain au chocolat, chaussons de pommes, baguettes, etc. And we finished off with the patisserie - pastries, oh my! Millefeuilles, profiteroles, beignets...all kinds of yummy sweet items, plus white wine. I stuffed myself with everything, telling myself I had to take advantage of as much of BU's money as possible, as it is a rare occurrence that they dispense it so willingly.

Pics:

Afterward, the sun was out, an extremely rare sight in Paris, but I had already decided to go to the Louvre, so we spent most of the sunny afternoon inside. I had another mini identity crisis while at the museum because of my secret desire to be an art historian, but whatever...I'll figure myself out eventually. We got into the museum for free because our BU I.D. cards say we're art history students on them - score! I don't quite understand why I thought the Louvre was so complicated the last time I went...it was extremely easy to navigate this time and I found everything I wanted to see quite easily. I finally got to see the Venus de Milo, which I didn't see last time because I got lost. Again, what's wrong with me?

The Mona Lisa was as disappointing as ever. There was a cool temporary Picasso/Delacroix exhibit, and an awesome sheet music exhibit as well. The art history geek within me swelled with joy. The Louvre, however, is an extremely tiring museum, so we stayed about 2-3 hours and decided to come back another day, since, of course, it's free!

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After the Louvre, we bought some wine (which is very cheap, even for the good stuff, in France) and went over to a university cafeteria to eat because it's only 3 euros for food...though the food isn't the best. Then we went to the Czech cultural society...yes, you read that right. My friend found out about some cool jazz concert, and it's actually a good thing we went, because it was so much fun! It was in this cave-like place in the basement of the Czech society that looked sort of like an old wine cellar. There was a 4-piece jazz band and a great vibe about the place...we just chilled out for a couple of hours, listening to the music, enjoying some wine, and being in Paris.

Thus far, it has all been great. I love Paris, I love the European life, and I certainly LOVE the food. I think the only thing I really miss is American coffee :( The coffee here is extremely tiny, extremely strong, and extremely expensive. I like my coffee sweet and creamy and large. Literally, a caramel macchiato from Starbuck's in Paris costs 5 euros. That's like $7!!! Meredith and I have started getting coffee from the McDonald's down the street because it's cheaper and comes in a to-go cup, but sheesh...I thought the coffee would overfloweth here!

Oh, and I'm officially going to Amsterdam on February 13th, Venice and Rome for Spring Break, Barcelona on April 11, hopefully Germany or Switzerland May 1, and spending a week in the UK in mid-May. Those are travel plans as of late. Ohhh Europe, how I love thee.