TASTE BUD ADVENTURE

Part trade show, part stock show and a whole lot of eating. This is the biggest agriculture fair in France and occurs annually in Paris. Each pavillion at the convention center focuses on a different aspect of agriculture and culinary.  Exhibitions include a pavillion devoted to gardening and fresh fruits and vegetables to a display of blue ribbon animals with everything from massive carriage horses to baby chicks. 

 Fresh marshmallows

 So much cured meat....

Head next door and you’re met with a menagerie of the best French and international cuisine. From cheese, wine and bread to specialty stands filled with French lavender and Moroccan saffron and even stands with French specialty parfums; its a feast for the senses.  And the samples are Ahhh-mazing. Literally anything you could possibly crave is housed under one roof. You have to pay an entrance fee (7 Euro for a student) but you basically get a free meal out of the deal from all of the samples...it's kind of like Costco on steroids.

And the whole event is complete with live music; everything from opera to violinists and traditional French folk music.

Three bottles of cider, 1/4 kilo of glazed/candied cashews and a bottle of pomme au cassis juice later and my time at the Salon was through. I never thought looking at food for an afternoon could be so enjoyable. 

BEER, CHOCOLATE, FRIES, and WAFFLES

I  am experiencing a serious case of the travel bug recently after a recent trip out of Paris to Brussels.  Rachel and I headed to Bruxell on Friday morning and took the train from Gare du Nord in Paris. I have discovered that I LOVE TRAIN TRAVEL and really wish we had a system like Europe’s in the U.S. It is so convenient, easy and can be much more affordable than plane travel (especially if you book your tickets early). 

 

I found Brussels to be the perfect place for a 1 or 2 day weekend trip but much more time than that isn’t really necessary. Essentially we ate our way through the city with Belgian chocolate, Belgian waffles, frites (fries) and beer. 

Chocolate Heaven

Les Frites

A must see spot is Delirium--it’s a bar/pub scene that is always filled with locals and tourists and they hold the world record for having the most beers on tap and the place is huge. I absolutely loved the decor--every wall plastered with old posters, license plates and a whole slew of random stuff. I tried the apple infused beer and now feel like I have been missing out on something my whole life. Brussels has not adopted legislation prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars so the only downside to Delirium is how smoky it is but it’s definitely worth a stop- a major spot for the young people and just an all around fun atmosphere to check out!

Brussels is a great city to walk around and explore and the museum in the City Hall is definitely worth a visit. Filled with intricate altar pieces, tapestries and a collection of costumes for the Mannekin Pis (a small statue of a peeing boy that has become a symbol of the city) donated by international governments.

The Mannekin Pis is one of the most underwhelming sites I have seen while traveling. It's basically a little fountain with a  statue of a boy peeing. I guess it's kind of endearing...but my interest was more directed to the chocolate!

Friday night we had one of the more bizarre experiences I have had in a while. While we were standing in the main square I overheard some American girls so I went up to them and asked them to take our picture. After I offered to take theirs and we got to talking about what schools we are all from and where we are studying for the semester. Then one of the girls turns to Rachel and asks, "are you from Harvard?". Turns out they go to Harvard together and she is dating one of Rachel's good friends. Wow! Such a small world. We ended up spending the rest of the night with them wandering the city and checking out some of the nightlife. 

On Saturday our friends Alice and Mark met us in Brussels and we spent the day doing pretty much what we had been doing the previous day: eating. 

Waffles! Gaufres in French...or as we like to call them "gophers" :)

For the sake of my health it is a good thing I'm not studying in this city.  

We also made a the short trip out of the city center to see the Atomium which is a giant scuplpture like building that looks like the little models you make in high school chemistry classes. It was built in 1955 for the 1958 International Exposition in Brussels.

 It  was a pretty cool thing to see and you can ride an elevator to the top to get some pretty cool views! Definitely worth seeing!

And at the end of the day we headed back to Paris! 

Epic Fail

It’s been forever since I last wrote which I suppose is an indication that I am completely caught up in Paris living. I’m starting to make the transition from tourist to resident as I no longer feel the need to document every minute experience I have but I am trying to be diligent about taking notes of my favorite restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. 

I have seen and done a ton since I wrote last so I will give some highlights:

A few weekends ago we went to see the Chinese New Year Parade in the Chinese neighborhood of Paris. What a spectacle! The parade was massive with extravagant floats and costumes. 

It was a bit bizarre to see many non-Asians in the parade. Take for example the Caribbean drummers...they were great but I have no idea why they were in the Chinese New Year Parade. Nevertheless the entire parade was really something to see. The only downside were the fireworks that people were putting off....these definitely would be illegal in the U.S. 

Procrastination has become the name of the game for me here in France. I am having difficulty focusing on school while there is so much to see around every corner. But alas reality is setting in as a SciencesPo student is turning out to be surprisingly intense... definitely picked one of the most difficult study abroad programs available. The tricky part as a student here is that frankly I don't know enough European history to keep up with the other students in my classes. I guess it makes sense but it's frustrating nonetheless. Take for instance my European Integration class.... on top of  learning new material to begin with I have to do an incredible amount of Googling and foundational research just to understand what is going on in the first place. It's not like I can just jump in and start learning about environmental policy but I have to get familiar with the functioning of the EU and national governments for any of it to make sense. Oh and the French love dates....so many dates! I'm starting to realize that American schooling is very different.... Nevertheless I am really lovign every minute of it here! It is Paris after all! 

MANIFESTATION

After a cold last week kept me in the apartment aside from daily visits to class (and a Bateau Mouche ride down the Seine),  I re-committed myself to seeing a bit of Paris everyday.

                                                                                   The Louvre along the Seine

Saturday we went to Le Marais (in the 4th Arron.) with our class for a tour with our professor. The class was broken into groups that were assigned different topics on the Le Marais to give an exposé (oral presentation) on; my group presented on the museums in Le Marais, which there are many. Le Marais is a very intellectual area of the city that welcomed some of Europe’s greatest poets, artists and philosophers and this energy still remains. It is also a neighborhood popular among the Parisian gay community and has a large Jewish community which means that the Jewish bakeries here are phenomenal. 

That night I went out to dinner with some friends in the Menilmorant area of Paris and then attempted to find a party that our SciencesPo group leader had told us about. Instead of finding this event we stumbled on a hidden gem; La Bellevilloise. The main floor houses a restaurant that bustles with locals and is complete with live music. And in the basement is a club/concert hall. Saturday night they were featuring Jaguar Wright, an African American jazz/r&b singer from Philadelphia. She was outstanding and the best part, as a ‘poor’ college student, is the concert was free. I had never heard of her before but can tell from my quick Wikipedia research that she is actually quite famous and has done work with Jay-Z and The Roots.

On the way to the Metro from La Bellevilloise we walked past an alley that was filled with a few dozen people; our curiosity led us down to check it out (and the fact that there were 7 of us in the group lent some security in this foreign place). In the middle of literally no where there was a grunge club in this shack type building down the alley and next door was a drum circle which we joined. These are the completely random occurences I'm starting to encounter everywhere in the city. Once you get off the touristy drags of the Champs Elysees and away from the Eiffel Tower there is a whole other energy thumping vibrantly among the locals. 

A group of new friends and I set out on what we like to call a Grand Explo (exploration) on Sunday. We went back to Le Marais for a falafel lunch and more of the delicious pastries from a local Jewish bakery. Then we decided to walk to the Grand Opera. Along the way we ran into a pro-life protest made up of easily 8-10,000 participants. 

 The Opera!

When we finally got to the Opera there was live music on the front steps of the building. I love running into live entertainment in big cities like Paris or New York; you never know what you will find and often times sidewalk performers are really talented. 

But what started as a fun encounter of live music quickly took a turn when the pro-choice protesters showed up. We quickly realized that the thousands of protesters we had seen a few minutes before were coming to the square in front of the Opera. The pro-choice protesters clearly didn’t have a permit to protest on the steps of the Opera and within 5 minutes of their chanting they were encircled by a ring of police and 3 of our friends were trapped in the circle of police with the protesters. The police here are clearly well trained in dealing with protesters and I cannot even begin to imagine how much the French government spends every year on police forces for protests. Essentially we were chasing the counter protesters down the street as the police corralled the pro-choice protesters and wouldn’t let our three friends out of the crowd. When they finally broke free from the group of protesters the rest of us got stuck in the approaching throng of pro-life protesters. We were all very relieved when broke away from the protest especially when we saw a police bus heading towards the protest; we saw the bus again later filled with a couple dozen of the protesters. 

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”  ~James Michener

A protest/march is a perfect moment to get freaked out in a foreign city and then all of a sudden my curiosity takes over and I become completely fascinated. That isn’t to say that I am going to run onto the stairs of the Opera and join the protesters but the feeling of being in the thick of something bigger than yourself is the most exhilarating feeling in the world. Maybe that is the journalist in me: being in the middle of it all; observing how the locals do it, the sights and sounds of a new culture and navigating something that starkly differs from home, and then sharing every detail with someone else. 

Pretty much every travel and study abroad 101 guide says to avoid French protests but I found this experience to be a surprisingly peaceful one. This protest was very civil and reminded me more of a County Fair with families and young children in attendance. I think I am more likely to be hit by a car or vespa than experience a hostile French protest. Of course any large scale event like this could turn into something dangerous or out of control but there is a whole side of French culture that you would miss if you run away in fear. 

Saturday was rounded off with a cafe pit-stop near the Madeleine church, a stroll down the Champs-Elysees and a French film called Women are Heroes.

STRUNG OUT

1/19

Too much cafe. Way, way too much cafe. I’m trying to do this whole French cafe thing which means drinking a lot of café in the process. I’ve discovered my new love of café noisette (basically a watered down espresso shot with hazelnut). Here’s my personal assignment for the semester: find the best café in Paris.

Today I tried another café near my apartment called Café Mabillon on Blvd. Saint Germain des Pres. Now I’m feeling jittery and way too awake. Maybe I should stop drinking this stuff....but I won’t.

Other than consuming highly concentrated caffeine liquids, cafes are quite the place for interesting experiences....first, if you are a young girl, you’re more than likely going to get hit on while sitting at the bar (frequently by old French men). Then, if your French skills are like mine you won’t know what the barista/bar tender is saying (again...more head nodding and smiling). But this is also one of the best places to just sit and listen to conversations. Usually eaves dropping isn’t very polite but here I fully encourage it. To my right were 3 older men, probably in their 70’s, discussing random topics of the day from rugby to the weather. On my left was a mega creeper dressed in a leather coat and too-tight pants. When said creep left the bar, the bartender and other customers talked about how he looked like he was ready to fight someone...or at least that’s what I think they said. You can just tell this is a regular hang out for the locals who frequent this cafe. I’m reminded of the show Cheers; here it seems like everyone does “know your name”.

ACCUEIL

Monday was the first day of the Welcome Programme at Sciences Po (L’Universite d’Etudes Politiques) where I will be spending the next four months of my studies taking a range of courses on political history, the constraints of waging war, democracy & its critics, a french language course, European affairs and comparative law. I can already tell that they have their act together here which is a reassuring sign.

As part of the Welcome Programme we are enrolled in L’Enseignement de Methodologie which is essentially a crash course on the SciencesPo and French University system. We are basically learning how to write and do oral presentations for our courses---the format has very strict guidelines that must be followed precisely in order to succeed in the classes. So not only am I dealing with the language barrier and a new school with new professors and students but also a completely new way of thinking and working in the classroom as well. Wish me luck.....

REVELATION

1/18


The French are not what they seem.

Stereotype: cold, rude, snicker at “les studpides Americains” while running around wearing berets with wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Well most of that isn’t true: they do love wine and do their part in keeping the tobacco industry afloat but they blow the rest of the stereotypes out of the water. In only 5 days I have experienced several pleasant encounters with the French that are already disproving these criticisms.

1. Parlez le francais!
If you can, try to speak French with the French
They are much more welcoming when you try to speak French with them. I guess this is just them being creatures of habit. Take recent protests over increasing the national retirement age by just two years as case in point: here tradition reigns supreme.

I’m greeted with a lot more smiles and niceties when I demonstrate that I am trying to communicate in their language. And although I’m far from being a native speaker, for the most part they reply with patience and continue to speak French with me even though they most likely know English also.