Food Update

For those of you who were concerned or perhaps intrigued by the smoked salmon dilemma mentioned in my earlier post, "Heros and Zeros," I am happy to announce that we have not had any smoked salmon (or any other fish for that matter) since that entry was posted.


It was a joyous night when our host mother offered us two beautiful pieces of beef to cook up and eat with some potatoes.  There was dancing in the streets the night we ate wild duck, killed by my host father in la chasse (sorry, Mom).  There was a great fanfare upon the arrival of a whole box of "meat in a packet" for Thursday nights.  We have had pork! We have had a kind of barbeque in a sausage type thing! I loved that by the way.  Though, when I tried to explain that in the US, we tend to eat our barbeque not in sausage form but on a sandwich, I was met with confused looks.  That meal was also special because we had carrot and green bean purées to go with our barbeque sausages and our host mother informed us as she heaped the purées onto our plates that they were normally for Agate, their 20 month old granddaughter.  I laughed, I ate it, I loved it.  French baby food is legit.  
Tonight I have been told that we shall feast on some lovely cuts of beef (probably with potatoes again, but I don't mind because I love their fingerling potatoes).  
Essentially, all is good in the world of host family dinners :)


We also discovered the reason for the fish overdose--one of our host family's last students was a pescetarian! Why that made them believe that all Americans love fish and want to eat it for nearly every meal is still a mystery to me, but upon hearing this little factoid, I explained that fish, chez moi, is just an every other week affair.  At most! My host parents were shocked.  But since this whole issue has been cleared up, they have been extremely accommodating and more than willing to not serve us smoked salmon.  My tummy is pleased.

Les Veaux du Salon de l'Agriculture

We decided that these calves were siblings.

How to Fill a Friday

Last week I won a free ticket from my program to go see the Salon International de l'Agriculture.  The Salon is basically a ginormous fair at which all regions of France (métropole & outre-mer) are represented and showcase their food, wine, livestock, etc.  France, being the second most agricultural country in the world, is extremely proud of its agricultural diversity, wares, what have you.  Everyone that I talked to about it described it as being like a state fair, which got be super excited because who doesn't love a good fair? The more I thought about it, though, the more I began to doubt the French's ability to throw a state fair.  People have to be nice and talkative and friendly towards strangers at fairs.  The French avoid being all of these things towards strangers, so I was pretty skeptical.  But, I had a free ticket, I've always wanted to pet a cow, and I wanted to sample some free food, so I went last night.

It. was. awesome.

There were thousands of people, ridiculous amounts of food and drink, live regional music every time you turned the corner, and tons of animals.  Everyone was singing together around the live musicians, dancing around, talking to the vendors, and being extremely social.  There were stands were farmers were selling their specialties, entire restaurants were set up all around the edges of the pavilions, and if you looked longingly at something or asked nicely, you'd be offered a free sample of something they were selling.  I tried duck sausage, saffron honey, tome cheese, lavender honey ice cream, and the most delicious candy covered almonds ever!  Also, I finally pet a cow :) Actually, I probably pet 5 different types of cows.  And lots of goats, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys and puppies! This place was packed! My housemate and I only visited 3 out of the 7 pavilions because they're all so huge and there simply wasn't time to see them all.  But only going to 3, we still experienced a lot of this fair.  The animals were probably my favorite part.  Either that, or the section of the Régions françaises d'Outre-mer that was dedicated to Tahiti and Martinique because it was basically one huge loud party!

I'm pretty sure this is a yak of some sort.  He had an itch :)

Cheese and ham on a baguette.  Called a Lorraine Navette (I think...) 

Served hot.  Delicious :)

It was huge (this is after I ate half of it) and only 2,50!

Colorful dried sausages

Proof that there are poodles in France!

Note: these are the first poodles I've seen here...

Crêpes: what the French do best!

Rough night, but the kids are sleeping and mom has her comfortable bucket pillow.

Sorry for the largely yellow quality of the photos.  I didn't want to use my flash and get on everyone's nerves/scare the animals, and the light quality is always fairly yellow sans-flash.

While at the Salon, I of course did not fail to notice two large oddities:

1) When we arrived, Anna still had to buy a ticket.  There were HUGE lines, and none of them seemed to be moving.  We got in the shortest one that allowed you to buy from a machine, but soon figured out that it only took cards (which in France usually means that it only takes European cards that have the special chip in them).  I decided to do some research on the entrance that was further down the street.  There was a massive line and only one gate open.  Clearly not a good option.  But then I noticed another gate...open...5 people in line...moving quickly...I asked a street food vendor who was selling something that smelled vaguely Indian and very good if there was a difference between that line and any of the others.  He said no.  So, I go get Anna, we get into that line, and within 2 minutes, she has a ticket and we're walking into the Salon.  Haha! I'll bet there were hundreds of people who waited for at least an hour to get a ticket in those other lines last night.  We got there waaaay after they did, and we got in waaaay before they would hahaha! Still have no idea why no one else was in that line...

2) When we were leaving, the Salon was closing down.  Therefore, everyone else that was there was leaving too.  We made our way to the exit were we saw a crowd of people that didn't seem to be moving.  Why weren't they moving? Well, there was only one very small door open in the gate to let people out.  One.  One?! You're telling everyone in this huge facility that they have to leave and you give them all one measly door to squeeze out of? Since that was the only way out, we went up and joined the crowd.  Five minutes, a lot of pushing, and stroller wheels in my heels later we made it out.  None of that made sense to me, and after sleeping on it, I still have no clue why they thought that was a good idea.  It's not in the least bit efficient.  But then again, not a lot of French things are.

But wait! My day was even more eventful than that! I went to the basalique St. Denis with my history class in the morning.  It was absolutely beautiful, we had a great tour guide (though he talked to us more about architecture than history...), and I learned a lot.  What I will remember most from that visit though was how absolutely freezing cold it was inside that church! It was an absolute ice box!!!

Me in front of the basalique St. Denis

This church was the first to start using what we know as gothic architecture (flying buttresses and all that jazz).  The black on the stone around the doorways is from pollution, and they're starting to clean it.  It's a slow process, but you can see little specs of white in this picture where they took a block out and restored it.  Fun fact I'll bet you didn't know: if they were to fully restore these churches to their former glory, they'd have to paint all the little figures around the doors.  That's right! Back in the day, churches were colorfully painted! None of this dull, sad-looking grey-ness.

Gorgeous rose window

The sun came out while we were inside and lit up all the stained glass.

Unfortunately it's pretty hard to tell how beautiful the colors are in a picture.

Testing our knowledge of arch building: we had to figure out how to construct an arch using wooden blocks.  The key is that contraption that our tour guide is holding in his hand.  It's made of wood and gets constructed underneath the arch, perched on the columns, before they put the stones in.  When it is removed, the stones settle into place.

And, and, AND! I went to the Panthéon and l'eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont with IES later in the day.

Panthéon

l'eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

It has purple doors!

Inside l'eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

This is probably the most beautiful eglise I have visited so far, which means a lot because I saw St. Denis in the same day, and that one is incredible.  I guess St. Denis is more impressive, and this one is more intriguing.  It's certainly not as big, but it has those amazing spiral stairs and such detail in the stonework.

Ok, I promise I didn't go anywhere else yesterday! It was a long day full of walking, but completely and utterly worth it.

Better Know a Quarter : Le Marais

I have not seen all of Paris yet, but I certainly have done my fair share of exploring and I do believe that I have located my favorite quarter: Le Marais.  
Located in the 3rd and 4th arrondissements, it spans from La Bastille to Centre Pompidou and includes such sights as la Place des Vosges, l'eglise St. Paul, and Victor Hugo's house.  It also has tons of museums and hotels that I have yet to visit, but intend to.  It is the Jewish Quarter of Paris and therefore the place to get challah.  And falafel.  I had my first (and second) falafel ever this past week, and I loved it.

L'AS du Fallafel--the famous falafel of le Marais!

There are also tons of vintage stores and funky boutiques, a wonderful macaron shop, and a café that sells rather eccentric muffins.

blueberry macaron

cinnamon pecan

&

pear chocolate chip

synagogue de la rue Pavé

strange wares in the Adidas store

I will definitely be traveling back to this quarter very often, taking more pictures, seeing more sights, so I will update the blog on all things Marais in due time.

Another event of interest from this past week: Angelina's hot chocolate.

The most decadent, rich, delicious hot chocolate that will ever enter my blood stream.

Known for its hot chocolate (called l'Africain), this place is super classy and super expensive.  Thankfully, 7 euro gets you a mini carafe of melted chocolate (that contains about two cups) and a cup of whipped cream.  Four euro will also get you a small glass bottle of Evian...learned that one the hard way.  But I stole the bottle when we were done, so I feel I got my money's worth.  All in all, very much worth the price, but very much unrepeatable.  If I get another cup of Angelina's hot chocolate within the next 6-8 months, I will overdose on chocolate and I will collapse on the floor.  I had such a buzz/headache after my two cups! Put it on your bucket list...towards the end if you want to die happy.

This weekend I am determined to dedicate my nights to going out with my friends to new and interesting places.  On the list: L'International, Le Basile, & Rex Club.  Oh well look at that! Three places and three nights in which to see them.  Where will we go tonight...?

*I should probably credit Rebecca, one of the interns at IES, for the title of this entry.  She is leading a series of tours for us to all the arrondissements of the city and calling it her "Better Know a Quarter" series, after Stephen Colbert's "Better Know a District" series on The Colbert Report.  Genius idea on both their parts.

Food and Sights

Religieuse au chocolat (pretty much two puff pastries stacked on top of each other)

Lamb, fries, and green beans :)

21st birthday dinner, Fleur de Sel

Tour Eiffel, boat tour

Crêpe Complète

"To All the Glories of France", Versailles

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles

Les Jardins de Versailles

Bassin d'Apollon, Versailles

Unfortunately the water is off in all the fountains because it's winter.

Le Grand Trianon, Versailles

Swan! Versailles would have swans...

l'Arc de Triomphe in the sunlight (a rare sight!)

I walk past this flower shop every day on the way 

home from school and it smells absolutely heavenly!

les fleurs

In French "No Strings Attached" translates to "Sex Friends."

Obviously.

Heroes and Zeros

Hero:

Travel Sewing Kit

Starting on day one I have had a problem with articles of clothing ripping.  First it was the boots (that I got fixed for 5 euro by a nice man with a cobbling/key making shop near my house), then it was the 20 euro boots I bought to wear while the first pair were out of commission (the boot and the sole became separated), then it was my slipper socks, then it was my favorite pair of Smartwool socks, and finally my jeans.  Yes, I ripped my pants.  Right in the crotch.  Doing what? you might ask.  Oh, you know, just stretching in my room before going out for the day.  These jeans were by no means tight.  They were kind of a joke actually, because they were supposed to be skinny jeans (Always Skinny by GAP) but they were quite saggy on me and they were only about a year old.  Pathetic.

As disappointed as I was, I thought to myself, "No problem, because I know how to sew!" Thank you camp/Mom/TRDA130 costume shop lab hours.  Luckily enough, I also had the foresight to bring a travel sized sewing kit.  So, I stitched up my jeans (and my slipper sock and Smartwool socks while I was at it) and all was good...until I put them on again.  As soon as I sat down in class that morning, I felt that it had somehow re-ripped around my beautiful and meticulous sewing job.  Later that day, Anna and I went to the Champs to see about some new Always Skinnies to replace them.  GAP: 70 euro? No thank you.  Zara had some perfectly lovely skinny jeans for 30 euro, and that was good enough for me.  Especially since my GAP jeans proceeded to rip more as I took them off in the Zara dressing room! I am pleased to announce that they have been officially retired from service in my wardrobe.

While the story of the jeans is kind of a fail, I was still extremely thankful for my sewing kit.  The darning of my socks was extremely successful, and therefore I name the Travel Sewing Kit as the hero of the trip (so far...).

Zero:

Smoked. Salmon.  

This doesn't even merit a picture.

Before coming to France, I had always stayed away from smoked salmon.  I'm not a big experimenter when it comes to sea foods and, even though I like salmon, the idea of it sliced all thin and not super cooked-looking always made me a little nervous.  But, when my host father put a plate of smoked salmon down on the table for dinner about 2 weeks ago, I decided to give it the old college try.  I liked it fine and had a nice light meal of smoked salmon, salad, and toast.  Then, that Sunday we had it again.  And the following Wednesday.  And this past Sunday.  And then again tonight.  That is five, count 'em FIVE nights of smoked salmon.  Our host families are required to provide us with dinner three nights out of the week.  For us, it is Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  So, out of the past 2+ weeks, we've had 7 meals with the family, and 5 of them have been smoked salmon.  That leaves one night when we had smoked chicken, and one night when we had another kind of fish that came in a plastic packet with curry sauce in it.  On at least two of the nights when Anna and I have made our own dinner, I have seen my host parents make themselves plates of smoked salmon.  I am now waiting patiently for the day when they turn into salmon themselves.  It should be very soon.  I might not be able to tell you about it though because I'm convinced that they are attempting to take Anna and me with them.  We will be four beached salmon, flopping about on the floor of the house.  Surely, eating more smoked salmon.  Cannibal salmon...

Clearly this has gone too far.

Help.

On a happier note, I am planning my spring break to London and Ireland with my friend Chrissy! I am super excited to see, in person, all the sights I've seen on MI5, and to walk the rolling green hills of Ireland.  Rest assured, I will be bringing my sewing kit.  I will not be bringing, nor will I be seeking out any smoked salmon.

Firsts

This is my first time in Paris, but aside from that there have been a lot of firsts for me on this trip.  They include:


1. First macaron today! Vanilla.  Yummy.  Reeeeally big!

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I'm providing this photo instead.

2. First time ordering wine with dinner when underaged.

3. First time ordering wine with dinner when 21.

4. First time in Europe!

5. First time in a discotheque (or a club that wasn't having an 18 and over night).

6. First time eating pâte:

Ours was more cooked than this, but you get the idea.

7. First time being robbed (see Christine et Le Voleur)

8. First time First time eating kidneys (see Les Rognons) bleh!

9. Frist time taking all of my classes in another language.

10.  First time visiting a cemetery to take pictures of/with graves:

Molière et moi.

C'est une ville des morts!

The most popular kid in the cemetery: Oscar Wilde.

Ten is a good even number for this list, so I'm going to stop there.  I do have one or two things to add to my "A=Q, W=Z, and M is a Semicolon" list of things that make France different from America.

1. Starting with a slight repetition from the last list, I have still yet to see a French person with a poodle.  Instead they own dogs that they can fit in their purses and put stylish sweaters and raincoats on.  Thanks a heap 101 Dalmatians.

2. You are required by law to have a medical certificate that says you are approved to play a sport.  This includes signing up to take yoga classes at a gym.  If you want to play multiple sports, you must provide multiple certificates.  Also, students are required to have a medical exam by a French doctor upon arrival, otherwise we are considered to be here illegally.  Included in this medical exam is an obligatory chest x-ray.  Apparently these are part of every French person's regular check-up.

3. French people exaggerate everything.  If you don't like something, you use the verb detester, which means to hate.  If you think something is pretty bad, you use the word catastrophe.  It is important, though, to keep in mind that words in French are not always strict parallels of the English form of the word.  For example, to say that something is lamentable is the worst comment you could make about that something.  In English, to say something is lamentable, is more like saying, "Gosh, it's really too bad about that thing."  It's unfortunate, not deplorable and horrid.  One of the challenges in my translation class will be fishing out these "faux soeurs," or false sisters.

4. Table manners differ slightly from what I've been told to do all my life.  I remember very clearly when I was younger being told never to put my elbows on the table.  The safe alternative then became to place my free hand on my lap.  In France, this is considered the hight of rudeness.  Who knows what you could be doing with your hand under there?? You must place your hands on the table at all times, preferably with wrists resting on the edge of the table, putting you in what I think of as a position of readiness to pounce on whatever food comes your way.

5. Fur+Parisians=LOVE.  Paris loves a good fur coat, hat, pair of shoes, purse, whatever! Fake or real (but mostly real), if it is fur a Parisian will want it on their body.  In America, fur has become a major no-no ever since PETA reminded everyone that their warm mink once had big glossy eyes and a tiny thumping heart with hopes and dreams of its own.  Parisians do not bat an eyelash at that sob story.  There is a PETA France (with a website and everything), but it's pretty hard to compete with a long standing tradition of fur wearing.  The other night, I was walking home in my neighborhood of Neuilly--probably the most posh of all the Paris suburbs--and I saw a woman walking her (little) dog in white tennis shoes, jeans, and a beautiful brown fur coat.  Too legit to quit.

As you can tell, I'm becoming quite the observer! At our orientation (or at least the part of orientation that I made it to) they emphasized that we should observe and imitate in order to survive.  I'm certainly observing a lot, I just hope I'm doing a good job of imitating.  Wouldn't want to seem too different in a society ruled by the principle of assimilation.