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!