Bonjour mes amis!
Paris is the city of love, the city of life...and once a year the city of cows, food, wine, and a really big Salon International d'Agriculture, where every region of France is represented by its livestock and/or cuisine, and other European and Francophone countries can show off their delicacies to Parisians and visitors alike. This is like one big county fair that stretches across the nation.
I went to this agricultural festival paying the student price of six euro, and was treated to a day of ooing and awwing at the animals, watching accordion players in berets, trying samples of different cheeses, breads, jellies, honey, and fruits, and enjoying the spectacle that was this convention full of hungry, animal-loving people from age one to one hundred. Obviously, this was the place to be. It was heaven for anyone searching for "dégustation" (sampling), or anyone interested in competitive livestock shows. I have never seen so many kinds of cows, and such big ones! It made for a great day, and was the most unique thing I've experienced since I've been here! (definitely a bit different from the Louvre at least...)
I also made a new friend! IES started a conversation club for French and English speakers and at the first meeting I met a very nice girl named Noémie (like Naomi, but French) who is a middle school music teacher in a banlieu (suburb) of Paris (she is a cellist). My friends Jess and Keara and I went to dinner with her last Wednesday and had a wonderful time talking about everything from Disney movies to our interests and what we find to be surprising about Parisian culture. She is just as curious about us as we are about her - she's ready to introduce us to her little dog, Lilu, who also happens to be bilingual!
So that is all the exciting news I have for now.. This link will show you some photos of the salon d'agriculture if you're interested! I definitely took photos...but my camera batteries chose to run out of juice very early on (bummer!) but I promise I will share what I have soon!
Bonsoir et à tout à l'heure!
-Laura :)
Dear Laura
ReplyDeleteI hope you are having the time of your life in France. I have just learned about some of the foods that are in France. I wanted you to try "le croque monsiuer" for me and tell me how it is!
Best wishes, your cousin John.