SO, I can’t believe it’s the end of January, and I’ve been so awful about updating this blog! I will do my best to recap all that has happened in the past three weeks…get ready for a long read!
I’ll pick up where I left off…the day I wrote my last entry, I actually went with a group to les Tuileries, which is the giant garden fashioned in the Italian style by Catherine de Medici back in the day. It is the long path leading up to the Louvre museum, which was actually the king’s palace at one point, until Louis XIV decided he wanted something bigger and better and built Versailles. So, despite the cold, we wandered around the garden (though, it is much more colorful in the spring), and enjoyed taking snapshots of the pyramid outside of the Louvre museum. This was closely followed by some of the BEST chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) I have EVER HAD in my LIFE. Very close to the Tuileries metro stop is a quaint “salon de thé” called Angelina, which serves world-famous hot chocolate called “L’Africain” because the chocolate comes from Africa… This hot chocolate is unlike any other. You can cut it with a knife, but you don’t feel overwhelmed by sweetness the way you do with American chocolate – no, you actually just take in the best cacao ever created…I swear…
At this point, I feel it is appropriate to just make a list of all of the ridiculous foods I’ve eaten just to give an overview (and so I don’t forget):
- Chicken and potatoes – seems to be a very common dish; my host mom has made this a few times already and it’s very enjoyable on a cold day!
- Boeuf carrottes – this is exactly what you think it is: beef and carrots. Very good, also a meal from my homestay
- Canard, un sauce de syrop d’érable et gingembre – I just ate this today with my host family – DUCK with a maple syrup and ginger glaze…incredibly good! Served with “purée” or mashed potatoes (but their potatoes are very very white, and they use about 30% butter, 30% milk/cream, and 40% potatoes…or less…)
- Roast beef – also popular! But, unlike the “well-done” meat I might be used to, beef is served basically rare here. If it’s brown around the edges, it’s considered cooked, regardless of what color it is in the middle!
- Raclette – YES, we had raclette! This is a delicious meal. Unlike other raclette experiences I’ve had, we didn’t have an over where you melt your own cheese, instead the cheese was just melted in the oven in its original container, and then poured over baked potatoes. Eaten with a salad with really thinly sliced meats and pickles J
- Pâté – yes, I have tried and ENJOYED pâté…I couldn’t tell you what it reminds me of, but it’s really not too bad with toast! (basically, a duck spread for bread)
DESSERTS: I. am. obsessed. with. French. pâtisseries. NO ONE makes dessert like the French make dessert…my host dad, Philippe, says that, “people eat to live, but the French live to eat.” And this is SO TRUE.
Here is just a brief list of the things I have tried…I am aiming for a different pastry every time!
- Éclair – they are as good as ever. Not too sweet, just right, and definitely takes the edge off a chocolate craving.
- Galette des Rois – this is a cake for epiphany, which happens shortly after the new year. The galette can be filled with any-flavored filling – fruit, chocolate, almond (all delicious). Traditionally, the youngest person hides under the table while “mom” or someone hides figurines of the three kings (magi) in the galette. Then the galette is sliced, and the youngest person decides who gets what piece – whoever finds a magi in their piece wins a prize! …seasonally, I came at the right time for this! Also, despite seeming tacky, ALL patisseries put golden paper crowns on top of their galettes – this is the norm!
- Pain au chocolat – necessary for anyone wanting to taste France, this is hands down the ultimate cure for a bad day, or just for any day. Similar to a chocolate croissant, but better. Hard to imagine, right?
- Angelina’s L’Africain – this hot chocolate is once-in-a-lifetime good.
- Chocolat viennoise – hot chocolate with whipped cream…mmm! (also, anything with “Chantilly” next to it on a menu includes whipped cream…hehe…)
- Macarons – very popular and in every patisserie you pass. Not my absolute favorite, but still excellent. Very good if you’re into the sweet and not so much the rich side of dessert.
- Profiteroles – pastries filled with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce – yum!!
- Sheep yogurt – this tastes nothing like regular yogurt, but is so good! In the event that some extravagant dessert has not been made for dinner, my host family will often eat yogurt for dessert…this is fine by me!
- Crêpes – classic. I need to eat more of these. (chocolate and banana – delicious!)
- Fruit tarts – my host mom has made two fruit tarts: one with apples, and one with pears and chocolate…so good.
- Nutella – I need to limit myself…not a delicacy, but so incredibly good with anything and everything.
I suppose it might be easiest for me to explain the past two weeks in short installments…so, another list I think…excuse me for being list-crazy!
Things I have learned/discovered in the past two weeks:
· I have mastered the metro. I am a complete pro. However, I continue to get lost on foot, and have a tendency to go in the complete opposite direction of my destination. Luckily, metro stations and Paris’ knack for having monumental structures (like the Tour Eiffel) allows me to stumble upon various metro stops, where I can then resume pretending that I have a sense of direction.
· Overall, the French are much friendlier than I anticipated, though I find myself looking sour and indifferent on the metro to avoid attracting attention to myself as non-Parisian. Reading a book or staring at shoes is as Parisian as you can get on the metro. French people are always in a hurry, so the louder your shoes click and the higher your heels are, the more Parisian you sound. I have but one pair of click-y shoes, but I manage to look rushed and elegantly ruffled when in a hurry.
· Also, I’m really convinced that the French aren’t snooty, they just have their noses in the air and their lips pursed as if to say the letter “u” (in French, of course), because the metro can have the tendency to smell a bit like pee. Not to worry, this is only evident at certain stops.
Zip-lock plastic bags don’t exist. Freezer bags, yes, but I don’t think the concept of a “packed lunch” has hit France yet…just an observation.
· I have visited these places and loved all of them:
o The Louvre – beautiful, classic and a work of art itself. I enjoyed the guided tour, but will definitely return to explore on my own.
o Musée d’Orsay – I could not wait to see this former train station museum so I could drool over the Impressionists and Van Gogh; I was not disappointed and will be back again!
o Palais Garnier, Opéra national de Paris – SO EXQUISITE. This has been my favorite, mostly because it is the setting for The Phantom of the Opera, and it is incredibly elegant inside from floor to ceiling. I am most definitely going to a production there.
o Le Tour Eiffel – I have visited this numerous times already and cannot decide why I am obsessed with it. The first time was a beautiful, cloudless day (a rarity); the second was this past Friday, where I ICE SKATED on the first floor and admired the view from the second floor; and the third was last night, where I admired the lights that go off every hour for ten minutes – it’s like fireworks but without all the noise! (It was incredibly cold last night, so you know it must be true love.)
o Champs-Élysées – very ritzy and very chic! I walked from the Arc de triomphe to the Grand Palais (which I would have liked to have gone in…maybe another day!). I browsed in the stores, and was asked by a group of Asians to take pictures with them at the Arc de triomphe (this was while I was waiting for my friend, Jess…I’m not sure if they thought I looked extra Parisian (fingers crossed) or if it’s because I am somewhat blonde…it was bizarre, none the less). Overall, a good visit, though I think I’m done with crowds at monuments for the time being.
So, I definitely broke down. My weakness revealed, I couldn’t help but ask my host sister, Serena, if I could borrow her copy of the fifth Harry Potter book…which is where I left off before I departed for France… So, I am currently reading Harry Potter et l’Ordre du Phénix and have successfully made it through the first chapter (yes!). It might take me all semester to get through half the book, but at least it’s in French, right? I also went to the cinema to see part I of the seventh movie for a FOURTH time with my friend Jess…we were ridiculously excited and enjoyed analyzing after the film was over.
As for the academic side of things, everything still seems to be in the works. Unfortunately for American students, our system is completely different than the French university system. They run on a trimester schedule, so they haven’t even taken their winter finals yet! This means that classes are starting up slowly – especially outside classes. However, just this past Thursday, I had a VERY successful placement audition at l’Ecole Normale de musique de Paris, where I placed in the 5th Division for flute studies (I’ll be taking lessons with Mme Kim, who is also the piccolo professor), and déchiffrage (a sight reading class for instrumentalists), and musique de chambre with Mme de Buchey (not to be confused with Debussy), where I will be working on the Poulenc Sonata with a South American pianist.
(Just for perspective, at the l’Ecole Normale de musique there are six divisions – the first three are the “classe prépa” or prep classes for the ecole normale program. Division four is like being a freshman in college (kind of), and lasts two or more years. Division five is a step higher, and division six is where you can earn your performance or teaching degree completely. As M. Monsard, the directeur of the ecole says, it is very easy to enter into the ecole normale, but much harder to actually graduate – this is how the French work.) So, much to my surprise and my delight, I will be able to do three classes there and not just take flute lessons! I had my first meeting this past Friday to organize my schedule, and found the professors to be very nice and extremely understanding of my limitations with the French language. It will get better though!
I also am taking my French language course at the IES center, which is required for all students at IES, and I will be taking a music history course at the Sorbonne, Paris IV, which is an interdisciplinary course on 20th century music and art – I can’t wait! I am thrilled that I will be doing more music-related things than I thought I would be able to initially. J
Speaking of music-related things, I bought a ticket to see the Orchestre de Paris on February 10 – a concert entirely of Fauré music…how French can you get?
I can see that this entry is overwhelmingly long…but I hope it gives you an overview of what I’ve been up to! I plan to add more to those food lists (eating is inevitable, right?) and to let you all know how classes are going and what other excursions I plan to take. Thanks for reading!
-Laura
P.S. ALSO, I want to edit something I wrote before… the spelling of “t’est toi” is incorrect…it’s actually “Tais toi.” So now, if you ever need to tell someone to be quiet (in a less-friendly way), you know how it’s spelled!
