Paris Welcomes Wonton!

Here's hoping that people aren't actually reading my blog, so my pops doesn't get embarrassed that I have revealed his nickname, Wonton (I seem to be the only person who uses it, anyway). But I think the greatest weekend I have had here to date was the one when my Dad came to visit. We are really close, but it was a whole new context to be gallivanting around Paris, and he got to see me speak French for the first time, which I think was fun for both of us.

Wonton has been to Paris a handful of times, both for business and pleasure, so I tried to show him some of the parts of the city that are less visited by gaggles of tourists. We did some of the musts, like a run along the Seine and climbing all the steps of the Basilique de Sacre Coeur, but we also explored the streets of Montmartre and the Marais, and the Latin Quarter.

Happy hour on his last night was the happiest of hours, because Dad got to meet almost the whole crew: Andrew, Annebam, D, Claude, the usual suspects. We cut out early to get dinner on a little side street, where we ate at the bar (the bartender was cracking jokes the whole time, it was awesome) and I tried to concentrate on my food and not stare at the corner table--Marillon Cotillard, Guillame Canet, and Bradley Cooper. Name dropping=absolutely necessary in this instance. It was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend, and as Wonton said to me before we said goodbye, he had finally seen some of the magic of the city. I would try to take partial credit for this accomplishment, but in reality, he was just lost in Bradley's eyes.

The vineyards of Montmartre

Pensive Wonton. He doesn't know I took this but it makes me smile :)

Everyone should experience the beauty that is the open air marché in Paris

The boys at dinner at Le Mesturet. She was our best buddy--she let me have a plate of cheese instead of dessert!

Learned something about Wonton-nearly non-functional sans coffee

Rarity at the French market: English muffins?!

B. Cooper, 12 o'clock. Slash enjoy Wonton's "discreet" face

Real-life crêpes! *Annebam was there too :)

LATKES + sunshine

I also received confirmation this week of 3 more visitors: Mama Bear, Doo, and PB!! Beyond ecstatic. They are all coming between April and June, so it will be a rush of homelove before the end of the semester. In the meantime, I will be scrambling to accomplish the Paris Bucket List I made this week, to know the city even better before my faves come to hang and I get to play tour guide :)

Love is (Was?) in the Air

Happy belated Valentine's day! At first, I didn't even realize it was the day, even in the most romantic city in the world, because it was just another day of class and errands. But after a nice afternoon of strolling and teatime with Annebam, I took a cooking class with some other students on my program. The woman's apartment was a dream, overlooking the Jardins du Luxembourg on one side, and the rest of the city (including the Eiffel tower, which starting at 7 PM would twinkle every hour) on the other. We made a full multi-course meal, and then ate it together and it was heavenly! Best V-Day ever.

Plus, I got to see some pretty interesting stuff around the city, ranging from cool to romantic to hilarious. I know it's a little bit belated, but I think it's still worth sharing:

The view from the kitchen--there's the tower in all its glowing glory

Pulling caramel for the dessert

Unforeseen consequence of this Vday dinner: I am now obsessed with duck. SO GOOD.

The bakeries around the city also pulled out all the stops for the sweet-toothed lovers; hearts and chocolate were EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah, and bagels?

Because nothing says "I love you" like a bagel.

They were holding hands. I died. French children=painfully adorable, but also way better dressed than me.

Step Up? Nope, "Sexy Dance." AKA "When An Attempted Translation Goes Wrong"

 And, the best for last. As if I had forgotten, I stumbled upon this gem on the street in Brussels:

100% accurate.

Why Paula Deen is Actually French.

Yup, that's just a hunk of butter. Or three.

Here's more. The vendors just hack away at it as the market progresses; it's fantastic.

Not butter, but might as well be: Anne (my partner in cardiac crime) and I may have bought 7 types of cheese in one day. Zero regrets.

Grilled cheese, Paris-style: Good toasty bread with 2 cheeses, rustic mustard, and pear slices.

Cookies. Bigger than my face.

And now you know. You're welcome.

Cidre-palooza 2013: Rouen

All the buildings looked like they could have housed Snow White.

Le Gros Horloge (The Big Clock)

cidre cidre everywhere

True.

Caramel au beurre salé + Chantilly (whipped cream, but somehow better)= perfect happiness.

oh hai

PAELLA! and potatoes.

Last weekend, I enjoyed my first opportunity to venture outside of Paris and see another city in France, Rouen. Anne and I took the train there on Friday, around lunchtime, and we stayed there until early afternoon on Sunday. Rouen was GREAT, though the weather was not. We arrived to a gray and rainy day (nothing new there), and for the rest of the time it was really just cold and windy, necessitating my dalmatian hat--hard to explain, but I will try to post a picture of it. I get a lot of comments on it, but it's warm and fuzzy and the earflaps help drown out the haterz.

Lots of strolling down cobblestone streets, lots of market-meandering, and most importantly, lots of cidre. Always creatures of habit (granted, newly-formed French habits) Anne and I found a crêperie that we fell in love with just off the square with the beautiful Cathedral, and we ate dinner there both nights. I miss it already.

It was definitely nice to escape to a quiet, smaller town after the start of classes and real life (gross). It felt just like being on vacation. We stayed in a super cheap but nice hotel on the edge of town a bit, but the coffee machine was awesome so we were pleased, and the town was so charming that nothing could rouen our visit (see what I did there?). Hopefully, we'll be back relatively soon for the Impressionism festival in the Spring!

P.S. Dried pear is awesome. Livarot cheese is less so.

MAIS POURQUOI!?

I have just celebrated my month-iversary with Paris (!) and some things still take some getting used to. The question I find myself asking all the time here, is "why?!"as I repeatedly encounter the bizarre and inexplicable. A common explanation (coming from the French, mind you) is something along the lines of, that's the French for you!

Bizarre Things: Lost in Translation

-“je suis excitée!" You'd be excited too if you were in France! Unfortunately, that's not what this means, as I quickly discovered. This enlightenment did not occur until after a couple awkward situations. Apparently, I spent my first week here exclaiming how aroused I was. Oops.

-Apparently, the French LOVE to stroll, and I love to stride. I am all for stopping to smell the roses and whatnot, but most of the time it's stopping to smell the urine on street corners or have too-close-for-comfort interactions with pigeons, and I am just not down for that. 

-I am too big for this country. I feel like a giant hippopotamus. Everything is doll-sized and delicate, and I am just up in here actin' a fool. P.S. I'm half mermaid because of how much water I drink (I am well aware it's a lot), but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND how the French aren't dehydrated, given all the cheese and wine, and the fact that water is hard to come by, and served in shot glasses. Which leads me to my next point...

-When in a resto/bar/café, expect any drink you order to be served in something resembling a shot glass. This is no joke; drink it. Take what you can get. *NOTE: if you order a shot, it will be served in a thimble. Either order 15 or accept the fact that there will be no excusing the bad decisions you make (but make them anyway).

-As a poor student, you do not order a bottle of sparkling water to try to act French. Order a carafe d’eau, the only free option on the menu. Enjoy your tepid tap H2O; an excellent quote from one of my guidebooks hit the nail on the head: “You could almost die of thirst before getting a simple glass of water in Paris, let alone a glass of ice water.”

-Lastly, just expect to see some weird stuff. When you come across it, snap a pic but try not to smile, especially on the metro. YOU DO NOT SMILE ON THE METRO OR THE STREET, KEEP IT TOGETHER.

The comforts of home

stacks on stacks on stacks

Christmas Cow, on a moto. None of this makes any sense.

Quesadilla=size of chip. My hippo hunger can't handle.

Princesse crêperie=lots of pink, lots of happiness

In case it gets too dark to read...on the métro?

This little piggy went in my tummy.

You can't make this stuff up.

French meringues=potentially the only OVERSIZED item in this country

Sparkle bread!

Oh good, more pancakes, I was worried.

My oyster friend had a ball posing his fish for me. It was awesome, and appalling.

Smoothies=kept in refrigerated case=potential for a head cold=precautionary measure

"Happy Banana"

Oysters are bizarre. My French buddy next to me described them perfectly when he said, "It's like you're drinking the sea!"

Shrooms in gummy form. NECESSARY

"No, it's not here." RUDE, you don't even know what I was looking for!

So, this is the Apple Store. Um, What. #prettierinparis

If the photos above are any indication, gay marriage (and also adoption/birth options for gay couples) is a huge issue right now, and it is all over the place. I got to see some fun stuff during a stroll through le Marais in the 4th, one of the city's well-known gay neighborhoods. (Though my "why" here would only apply to the opposition in the marriage equality debate...)

P.S. French school is HARD. Each of my classes is 3 hours long. My attention span is nearly nonexistent, in English or in French.