paris-fest(?)

Much to my dismay, I didn't go to Octoberfest this weekend....so instead I justified my staying in Paris as an opportunity to save lots of money, really look forward to next weekend's trip to Amsterdam, and do lots of cool Parisian things! I spent Friday afternoon shopping in the Saint-Germain de Pres area with Esther and Julianne. It is definitely one of the most touristy places to shop, but it still has a lot of good stores. We found a Zara, the Longchamp store, and two very cute (and expensive) boutiques that I had been to with my mom and Adele two years ago: Les Petits Hauts, and American Retro.


On Saturday, Juliet and I went to the Centre Pompidou, unlike the first time, we had all day to wander around the museum and got to see most of the permanent collection. I didn't realize before how very modern the art is, a lot of it is by current artists. We saw a lot of photographs, multi-media presentations and even a toilet and kitchen pod, which somebody considers art (not me)! Afterwards we walked around the surrounding neighborhood and even paused to watch a Native American dancer who was preforming outside the museum....we were a little confused as to why there was a Native American
dancing in the middle of Paris!? Mme Boudet and her son were both gone this weekend, so Esther and I (and our Spanish roommate) had the apartment to ourselves which gave us a good opportunity to use the kitchen for as long as we wanted and make ourselves a "gourmet" dinner. I was very proud of finding artichokes at the market on our street for only 1.5 euros -- a lot cheaper and fresher-looking than in the U.S.! Unfortunately Esther's not a fan of artichokes so I made one for myself and she made her own fancy pasta creation. Due to the fact that Mme Boudet did not have any pots big enough to cover my entire artichoke in water it took a LONG time to cook, but was well worth it!

On Sunday we had absolutely beautiful weather, so it was a perfect day to walk around Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is a very old cemetery on the outskirts of Paris where tons of famous Parisians (as well as other notable people) are buried. I had no idea that Chopin, Moliere, Colette, Rossini, Proust, and so many other that I'm forgetting, are buried there! The most notable people to see (for us at least) were Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, and Jim Morrison. Oscar Wilde's grave was covered in lipstick kisses and was by far the grandest of the three. Edith Piaf's was very small, in the middle of many other graves...had it not been for the crowd surrounding it we may have walked right past! Jim Morrison's grave seemed to draw the most people.
It was also pretty small, but had 3 barricades surrounding it so people could not get within 20 feet of the grave...yet there were still flowers, lyrics, pictures, and even a whiskey bottle that someone had managed throw on top of his grave. It was a chilling experience to see his grave, and the others as well. The cemetery itself is HUGE, and although we were there for 2 hours the only graves we saw were those three and Colette's. We noticed other tourists with maps marking all of the famous graves but the four of us never found one and so we wandered around pretty aimlessly and were lucky to stumble upon the 4 that we did!

After Pere Lachaise, it was back to work for me. The week marks mid-terms already and I also have my oral "expose" (very Euro, says Susie) so I will be busy with work until this weekend when we are off to Amsterdam!

steak-frites

Believe it or not (mom and dad), I had my favorite meal in Paris last night and it was steak-frites. I'm not a red meat eater so this is a big, big deal for me. My friend John took me to his favorite restaurant in all of Paris: Relais d'Entrecote. He told me that they had the best steak-frites in Paris so I'd been physcing myself up all week to at least try some steak-frites while I am in here. I was ready to order the steak, but not prepared for the fact that there was no menu, steak-frites is literally the only thing they have. So upon sitting down John asked me how I like my steak, I said VERY well done, of course and he said right, bien cuille (a French term I have never had to use due to my lack of meat eating). So the waitress came and took our meet temperature order and then brought us the salad that comes with the meal: lettuce, dijon dressing, and chopped walnuts. I joked that I would have been happy with the salad alone. Every other salad I've had here has been garnished with balsamic and olive oil so I was REALLY ready for a change in dressing. After the salad came the steak-frites, they didn't look too fancy but it was amazing. Entrecote cooks and serves the steak in a pesto-mustard sauce which is even good on the fries. Just when we were about to finish the waitress brought out the other half of the steak and served us more fries (they do this so that it won't get cold while you're eating). I ate my entire steak (dad, you would have been so proud!) While eating our dessert of equally amazing profiteroles for John and creme brule for me the older ladies sitting next to us leaned over and informed us that this was their 2nd time to the restaurant in the 5 days they'd been in Paris - that's how good it is! I am already wanting to go back, but unfortunately my budget won't allow that for a while.... The restaurant itself is in the Saint-Germain de Pres area, and lucky for us we didn't have to wait but as we were leaving at 9pm there was a line all the way down the road. The simple, homey, and very French atmosphere and AMAZING food is well loved in Paris...it's the kind of place that people only know about from either being a Parisian or from a friend's recommendation. I feel privileged to have been passed the secret and I plan to take everybody who visits me in Paris to this amazing find!

Aside from that exciting night not much else has happened! Me and my four best friends here book our plane flights for fall break to Italy - it was an exciting and stressful event, as we are dealing with 5 different opinions and 5 very small budgets! I plan to take advantage of the AMAZING weather we are having in Paris this weekend do a lot of outdoor sightseeing...

P.S. - I had every intention to take a picture of my fabulous steak feast but got so engrossed in the food that I forgot....next time!

parisian travels

The last few days have been full of Parisian culture! On Sunday I walked to the Champs de Mars (the park in front of the Eiffel Tower that goes all the way back to the Ecole Militaire) and sat on a bench there to do homework. I was surprised at how busy it was - tons of families sitting out on the grass, a lot of elderly couples taking walks, even a band playing classical music in the pavilion...and of course there were tons of tourists. Luckily, I was able to get a lot of work done as well as enjoy the beautiful weather! I also rewarded myself with a nutella crepe on the way home.


On Monday after class, BU took us all to see an Ionesco play: La Cantatrice Chauve. It was in very small theater near Notre Dame and I got to sit on the front row. The whole play was in French, so at times it was a little difficult to understand, but overall I enjoyed it very much and even laughed at most of the jokes. On the way home I stopped by my favorite crepe stand and got an egg and cheese crepe (very good for breakfast or dinner), I talked to Harry (the owner) in French while he was making the crepe, and afterwards he gave me a free coke...I love Paris!


Tuesday was a little more low key. I have class all day on Tuesdays and Thursday, but after class I walked around for a bit with my friend John, from Wake, who is visiting Paris for a few days before he settles in south of the city to teach English for a year. Esther and I also treated ourselves to Moroccan food and sweet mint again for dinner, which is actually very economical because we always get half of the meal free!


This morning I visited the Basilique in Saint-Denis with my friend Lauren. Saint Denis is a suburb of the city and about an hour metro ride away. We didn't realize what an important church the Bastilique of Saint-Denis is until after we got there - it is the resting place of many French kings, queens, and their children . We were even able to visit the crypt was was an amazing experience. The only two "people" not there were Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who are buried in the Cimetiere Madeline - another potential field trip for us. It was also very interesting to see the city of Saint-Denis; it was a lot more laid back and spread out than Paris, also notably less chic and more diverse!

I have yet to go to class today...so looking forward to Econ and dinner with Mme Boudet!

good food and great friends

Second week of classes! After two presentations and an interview - all in french, I was very ready for the weekend. The interview was with a small accounting/consulting firm called Cabinet Chancellor & Associes, they have three offices in Paris, and the one I will be working at is in the 16th arondissement, not far from Mme Boudet's apartment, and in a nice business district with some good shopping as well.


Thursday afternoon, Esther and I explored the Centre Pompidou. I had seen the building before, but never gone inside. Aside from the fabulous art, it had amazing views of the square and neighborhood below. BU gives each student a "carte d'etudiant" which gets us in free to any museum in Paris - so I will definitely being going back to the Pompidou again soon. On Thursday night my friend Juliet's mother took us all out to dinner at a very good seafood cafe to celebrate Juliet's birthday. Esther and I got Moules-Frites (mussels and french fries) which were SO good. We then went to the Sacre Coeur where we sung to her at midnight!

On Friday afternoon BU sponsored a trip to the Musee de Vin. The director of the museum gave us a tour and then we had a 2 hour wine tasting class. We all got to try 5 kinds of wine and learned all the correct terminology, etc. It was a great experience, but I still don't think I have quite mastered the art of drinking/liking wine! Friday night was a continued birthday celebration. We did a lot of walking and got to see 2 of my favorite sights: the pyramid at the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe which were absolutely beautiful at night. We walked back from the Arc de Triomphe down the Champs Elysees which was very busy!


Today the government of Paris is sponsoring a Techno Parade through the city....I don't think I will be actively participating but it is a big source of excitement here and I've seen bits and pieces today as I was walking around. I'm looking forward to a low key night to catch up on homework so I can try and take advantage of some more museums tomorrow!

a little bit of culture shock

Having a productive Sunday was a lot harder than Esther and I anticipated. Our seemingly simple plan was laundry, egg and cheese crepe for lunch that I had been craving, grocery shopping to avoid eating out this week, and homework. Instead of doing all that I made a list of everything I love about America:
1) FREE laundry (at home and at school), Wake Forest really is an amazing place.
At the "laverie" down the street it is 4.5 euros to wash one load of laundry and 1 euro per 8 minutes of drying - I don't know how much longer we will be able to afford separating lights and darks!

2) Stores that are open on Sunday.
It is sad enough in Winston when the Chick Fil-A's are closed on Sunday, but in France it isn't even possible to get groceries or crepes on Sunday!

3) Doing homework in English.
I don't think reading for classes at Wake will ever seem as hard, getting through the agricultural policies of the EU is quite the afternoon project when it's all in French

4) Shower heads that are attached to the wall.
I didn't know washing my hair could be such an arm workout...

That's all for today, still loving Paris!!

morocco in paris

Had a very cultural day today! Esther and I ventured off to the Musee Rodin in the afternoon, which was gorgeous, especially on such a beautiful day. It was very easy to find (which is a rarity for us), and now that I know where it is I think I will definitely go back on another pretty afternoon to sit in the gardens. The museum is actually Rodin's house (a mansion, really) with his sculptures and various busts, portraits, and other artists' portraits of him throughout. The gardens are also amazing....I am so glad we went!

We then continued our night at the Moroccan restaurant that is just below our apartment. Esther made friends with one of the waiters on her first night, and so we have been going there a few nights a week for this amazing sweet mint tea which they always refuse to let us pay for!

So tonight we decided we would finally accompany our tea with a full Moroccan meal. Upon sitting down, our waiter friend promptly brought us a plate of potatoes, carrots, and olives and two unknown pink cocktails, which turned out to be very sweet and good. We were slightly confused by the menu so we ended up ordered two chicken dishes: couscous poulet and tangine poulet. We were also eyeing a crepe-like pancake at the table next to us, so we pointed to theirs and ordered that as an appetizer. The first thing that came was NOT what we pointed to...it was an egg and tuna fish filled pocket thing, we still don't know what it was, but ate it anyways! The two chicken dishes came after that and by then we knew we were overwhelmed, they were HUGE, we had WAY too much food (see picture). We turned down our waiter friend's dessert offers and ended our Moroccan night with our favorite mint tea. I must say, it is perhaps the best thing I have had in France thus far....

After dinner Esther and I learned some important lessons: leave for the movie you are going to see more than 15 minutes before it starts, know where it is, and always allow for extra time when you are navigating through Paris. After walking into the wrong movie theater and demanding tickets for a show that wasn't playing there, we found the right one but were denied access because it had started 40 minutes before. We ended up finding a cute cafe nearby and waiting for the rest of the girls there until the movie was over. Although we didn't see the movie, the night wasn't a bust because we ended it with a shared Nutella crepe from our friend at the crepe stand down the street!

birthdays and rollerblades

Getting used to a four day week of classes is not going to be hard at all! The first week went well, the teachers are great and I've already learned a lot of useful "what not to say in French" phrases in my French class. We have learned that the French can make just about any simple phrase into a sexual innuendo!

After finishing class on Thursday we went to a little cafe and people watched, we also decided to start planning some weekend trips before November when our internships start because at that point we will have to work on Fridays....so far our top choices are Italy, Spain, Amsterdam, and hopefully Prague for me! Thursday night at midnight was Lauren's 21st birthday, so we helped her celebrate with lots of "Joyeux Anniversaire" singing and two free bottles of champagne from a bartender and a very excited Irish friend!

Julianne and I spent Friday afternoon with the birthday girl exploring Monmartre and the Sacre Coeur. We found a very good gelato and pizza place in Monmartre and fended off lots of offers to have our portraits drawn! Afterwards I did a little shopping on the way home, I discovered a H&M and a Zara just 5 minutes from the apartment. Friday night Lauren’s boyfriend threw her a surprise party at his apartment – we got her a birthday cake from a French bakery which was delicious, but nothing like an American birthday cake! While leaving we ran into a huge rollerblade parade, which apparently is a weekly occurrence in Paris!

le premier

Bonjour to all! Hopefully you will all be able to navigate the blog pretty easily...for me it is all in French but maybe in the Etats-Unis it will appear as English!

I have been in Paris for a little over a week now, and I am absolutely loving it. The first week was Orientation for us at the Boston University center every day, but we usually didn't start until 10 or 11, so I've had a lot of time to explore the city every night! My mom was in Paris for the first few days of Orientation, it was so nice to have her here to help me settle in, and she got to meet Mme Boudet (the woman I am living with) as well as Esther, my fabulous "housemate" (another girl from the BU program who is living in the same house). We got explore a little bit together: Notre Dame and the Marais, as well as have 2 very good dinners together. On the first night we tried escargot...and liked them!

So far I have explored a lot of the 15th arondissment, where I am living, as well as a little bit of the Saint Germain area and the Bastille. My apartment is just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, so I have been there to have lunch a few times during the day, and to walk around a little at night. Last weekend BU sponsored a trip for us to Versailles, which was very fun; we took a tour of Marie Antoinette's house and gardens. Classes began on Monday, they are very long (2.5 hours each) and all in French, which is a huge learning experience in itself. That's all I have for now, more to come later!