Instead of creating a massively long post about this past week (which was pretty awesome), I will try to briefly summarize.
The Weekend: A Trip to the Northwestern coast of France
Saturday: Morning to mid-Afternoon
Where: Mont-St. Michel
What is it: A massive monastery set up on the top of a hill on an island right by the coast of the Atlantic
What we did: Took a guided tour of the Medieval monastery as well as explored the many gift shops that had medieval gear
What we ate: After asking for a ham and cheese waffle (in French), we went and sat down and had ham and cheese gauffres (which are crepes made with buckwheat which gives them a browner tint)
Saturday: Late Afternoon- Evening
Where: St Malo
What is it: A quaint port town that is a big tourist attraction because of its seafood and friendly folks
What we did: Stayed at a classy hotel (I slept in a bed labeled Capitaine) and explored the town
What we ate: We went to a small seafood restaurant called L'Anchorage and had the formule- 6 oysters, a big bowl of mussels and fries, and a dessert crepe filled with melted chocolate and bananas.
Sunday: Morning- Afternoon
Where: Normandy- American Memorial
What is it: The beaches of Normandy where the Americans, British, and Canadians invaded to liberate France from Nazi control. The American Memorial is still American soil.
What we did: Explored the Omaha beach, American cemetery, and the Memorial building
What we ate: A FANTASTIC breakfast at the Hotel in St Malo. Fresh baked croissants, fresh fruit, and fresh brewed coffee. Enough to hold us out through lunchtime.
Sunday: Mid-Afternoon
Where: Memorial of Peace in Caen
What is it: The Memorial was set up to honor the victims of World War II, and also has exhibitions on 9-11 and the Cold War
What we did: Explored the Memorial and watched two films on World War II. The whole experience was very mentally taxing. So much death and war in one day is not recommended.
What we ate: We stopped at a gas station on the way out of town. I had a sangwich and some chips.
Skip to...
Wednesday: Night-time
Where: Montmartre, a bar and a fondue place
What is it: The bar was a nice little place that had a Family Guy pinball game and a jukebox, and the fondue place was very small, quaint fondue restaurant. Very informal.
What we did: Had an aperatif drink at the bar and then headed across to the fondue place... 1 hour and 15 minutes after we had made our reservations (that's the only time they could seat us)
What we ate: Appetizers which were pieces of meat, cheese, pickles and olives. The Entree was the fondue itself which was bread and potatoes to dip in the cheese pot and a bowl of meat to dip in a boiling cauldron of oil. Both were delicious. The dinner was complemented with white and red wine in Baby Bottles and a dessert of Del Monte fruit cocktail.
Thursday: Night-time
Where: My Apartment
What is it: A lovely 3 bedroom place with a bathroom and a kitchen with an oven just large enough to fit a turkey in it.
What we did: 12 of us gathered together in a country rather than America with people who weren't all Americans to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving dinner.
What we ate: Hors d'oeuvres that included great deviled eggs and wine. The main courses which included a turkey that your truly cooked, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce, among other things. And for dessert we had a delicious made from scratch homemade pumpkin pie, made with real Parisian Market pumpkins.
Saturday: Night-time
Where: Izzy (and a bit of Montmartre)
What is it: A small bar located where I practice Ultimate indoors.
What we did: A Mustache Party. It was obligatory to wear a mustache and thanks to Sarah (who loaned me her mustache), I fit in perfectly. It was the Birthday Party for the creation of the RevolutionAirs. We danced all night long, to mostly American music.
What we ate: Well we didn't eat much because it was a bar, but there was a snack table and very cheap drinks. I tried a lot of cheeses, one which I think was called a fromage au cumin was really good.
And so I conclude my crazy week by sitting around, relaxing, and listening to some football online. I also bought my plane ticket home for Easter in April today. So you folks at home have that to look forward to!
A bientot
Justin
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
You Say Potato, I Say Potahto, You Say Football, I Say Soccer
STADE DE FRANCE
I was very excited for this. It is the equivalent of going to an NFL game here, except imagine it is the pre-season but everyone shows up for it, and you only have to pay 10 bucks for a ticket. Pretty awesome. The Stade de France trip in bullet points:
I was very excited for this. It is the equivalent of going to an NFL game here, except imagine it is the pre-season but everyone shows up for it, and you only have to pay 10 bucks for a ticket. Pretty awesome. The Stade de France trip in bullet points:
- The RER (the train to the suburbs) was insanely crowded. 0 personal space.
- The stadium is massive and I believe it holds somewhere between 70k and 80k people.
- I had a "hotdog" after the game. It was actually two hotdogs in a baguette. And I thought I put regular mustard on it, I did not. It was for real Dijon... with horseradish. My sinuses were clear.
And here's the Sta
de de France in pictures and videos.
de de France in pictures and videos.
The game ended in a 0-0 tie, which sucked cuz it made the game kind of boring and I will probably have to go back to see an actual goal scored. But I will be going back anyways to see a Rugby game, so be sure to stay posted for that. I hear they're better than soccer games!
A la prochaine,
Justin
A la prochaine,
Justin
The Champagne Tour: A Good Deal
Hello again!
Sorry it has been a while since my last post. Not that I have been busy. I've just been able to procrastinate and had a lot of things go on in the past two weeks that have given me more than enough to think about.
But back again! I've been here for almost two months on the dot now and I've gotten to know the city very well. But one thing I haven't gotten to know that well has been the areas outside of
France. Luckily I had the opportunity last weekend to visit to the east of Paris in two little towns called Eparnay and Reims. They gave me a much needed break for the sights and sounds of the big city, and though the scenery was older and different, the smaller town feel reminded me of home.
We were transported by bus to Eparnay first. On the way there, I slept. But in between my REM cycles I caught brief glimpses of the countryside, which reminded me of Illinois without the corn. I guess that would be Missouri or Michigan. It was very pretty and made me miss the wide open spaces that we have back in the States. We stopped at a BP (yep just like the US BP's) and had a little breakfast. It was in the middle of the highway and was more like a rest stop. I got a croissant and a coffee for about 2 euros, which I thought was a pretty good deal, and one of many to come on the day.
We arrived in Eparnay and our first stop was the Champagne Factory of Castellane. Champagne factories function in the same way wine tour do, so if you've ever been on one of those then you have a relative idea of what this was. The difference between this and any other wine tour that you've probably ever taken is that these cellars and the champagne found in the cellars are VERY VERY old. Like 150 years old. So there was all kind of moss and mold growing all over the walls. Gave the whole place a very dungeony feel. After the wine cellar tour we got a free tasting ("degustation") of champagne. If I really knew my champagne, then I probably would have
appreciated this more. But the difference I noticed between this champagne and what I've drank at home is that I could actually taste the grapes in this champagne. It wasn't masked by a whole lot of sugar, though comparatively the champagne that we drank was one of the sweeter ones.
After our Eparnay champagne, we hopped back on the bus and headed to our next stop: the town of Reims (pronounced in French like "rance"). This town was absolutely delightful with plenty of old buildings and another fantastic cathedral, the Notre Dame de Reims, that seemed to be the center of the town. Some of the parts of it were even a bit more impressive than Notre Dame de Paris. After passing by the cathedral, we all found that we were starving and decided to seek out sustenance. We found a street that looked like one of the main streets and started to walk down them. There weren't an awful lot of restaurants. Instead there were a bunch of clothing and name brand stores for everything. My favorite was the 2 euro store... but we'll come back to that.
We decided upon a small pizza place that had advertised 5 euro pizzas in their window. I expected these pizzas to be very petit like a Pizza Hut personal pan, but they were bigger. They were about the size of what a medium pizza would be in America, and again only 5 euros. But they actually had an even better deal, of which I took full advatage. There was a menu formule (which basically means combo) of a pizza, a beer, a dessert pizza, and a coffee for 11 euros. This is without a doubt the best deal that I have found in Europe so far. And the pizza was fantastic. I ordered the "Germanic" pizza which had pieces of German ham, some pepperoini shaped sausage, white asparagus, artichoke hearts, and artichoke hearts all as toppings. Again, by itself, it would have only been 5 euros. Fantastic, deal #2. Deal #3 came after the pizza, when we revisited the two euro store. It was like a bargain hunter's heaven. They had big stuff, little stuff, and medium stuff all for two euros. Just like a Deals, except twice as expensive. Knowing I needed to take full advantage of this opportunity, I bought two small rammakins and a long
necked lighter, in which I am attempting to perfect Creme Brulee. (The first attempt tasted fine but the eggs scrambled a bit so it was a little chunky, but I'll get it). I was very happy with everything I found in this nice little town outside of Paris. I got a few other pictures of the quaint village, and you can see them in the new Facebook album I put up.
Overall, the trip was really fun and worth the small amount of money I paid for it. I'm excited to go on other excursions like it to the other small French towns. This weekend we are taking a trip to Brettagne and Normandy. Should be an enlightening experience.
TTFN (TaTa For Now)
Justin
Sorry it has been a while since my last post. Not that I have been busy. I've just been able to procrastinate and had a lot of things go on in the past two weeks that have given me more than enough to think about.
But back again! I've been here for almost two months on the dot now and I've gotten to know the city very well. But one thing I haven't gotten to know that well has been the areas outside of
France. Luckily I had the opportunity last weekend to visit to the east of Paris in two little towns called Eparnay and Reims. They gave me a much needed break for the sights and sounds of the big city, and though the scenery was older and different, the smaller town feel reminded me of home.We were transported by bus to Eparnay first. On the way there, I slept. But in between my REM cycles I caught brief glimpses of the countryside, which reminded me of Illinois without the corn. I guess that would be Missouri or Michigan. It was very pretty and made me miss the wide open spaces that we have back in the States. We stopped at a BP (yep just like the US BP's) and had a little breakfast. It was in the middle of the highway and was more like a rest stop. I got a croissant and a coffee for about 2 euros, which I thought was a pretty good deal, and one of many to come on the day.
We arrived in Eparnay and our first stop was the Champagne Factory of Castellane. Champagne factories function in the same way wine tour do, so if you've ever been on one of those then you have a relative idea of what this was. The difference between this and any other wine tour that you've probably ever taken is that these cellars and the champagne found in the cellars are VERY VERY old. Like 150 years old. So there was all kind of moss and mold growing all over the walls. Gave the whole place a very dungeony feel. After the wine cellar tour we got a free tasting ("degustation") of champagne. If I really knew my champagne, then I probably would have
appreciated this more. But the difference I noticed between this champagne and what I've drank at home is that I could actually taste the grapes in this champagne. It wasn't masked by a whole lot of sugar, though comparatively the champagne that we drank was one of the sweeter ones.
After our Eparnay champagne, we hopped back on the bus and headed to our next stop: the town of Reims (pronounced in French like "rance"). This town was absolutely delightful with plenty of old buildings and another fantastic cathedral, the Notre Dame de Reims, that seemed to be the center of the town. Some of the parts of it were even a bit more impressive than Notre Dame de Paris. After passing by the cathedral, we all found that we were starving and decided to seek out sustenance. We found a street that looked like one of the main streets and started to walk down them. There weren't an awful lot of restaurants. Instead there were a bunch of clothing and name brand stores for everything. My favorite was the 2 euro store... but we'll come back to that.
We decided upon a small pizza place that had advertised 5 euro pizzas in their window. I expected these pizzas to be very petit like a Pizza Hut personal pan, but they were bigger. They were about the size of what a medium pizza would be in America, and again only 5 euros. But they actually had an even better deal, of which I took full advatage. There was a menu formule (which basically means combo) of a pizza, a beer, a dessert pizza, and a coffee for 11 euros. This is without a doubt the best deal that I have found in Europe so far. And the pizza was fantastic. I ordered the "Germanic" pizza which had pieces of German ham, some pepperoini shaped sausage, white asparagus, artichoke hearts, and artichoke hearts all as toppings. Again, by itself, it would have only been 5 euros. Fantastic, deal #2. Deal #3 came after the pizza, when we revisited the two euro store. It was like a bargain hunter's heaven. They had big stuff, little stuff, and medium stuff all for two euros. Just like a Deals, except twice as expensive. Knowing I needed to take full advantage of this opportunity, I bought two small rammakins and a long
necked lighter, in which I am attempting to perfect Creme Brulee. (The first attempt tasted fine but the eggs scrambled a bit so it was a little chunky, but I'll get it). I was very happy with everything I found in this nice little town outside of Paris. I got a few other pictures of the quaint village, and you can see them in the new Facebook album I put up.Overall, the trip was really fun and worth the small amount of money I paid for it. I'm excited to go on other excursions like it to the other small French towns. This weekend we are taking a trip to Brettagne and Normandy. Should be an enlightening experience.
TTFN (TaTa For Now)
Justin
Monday, November 3, 2008
Vacation's all I ever wanted...
Salut!
So after another wasted night away I've decided to finally update the blog after my week of vacation. The Agenda didn't quite work out as I had hoped. It was a combination of rainy weather during my walking time, long tourist lines, and me underestimating my desire to nap... a lot. However I was able to see a few new things and take pictures of places that I had not yet been.
My best discovery of the week was the Jardin des Tuileries. Though it wasn't all that much to look at in late October, what made it special was the scenery surrounding it. One can look down the Champs Elysees, past the place de la Concorde at the Arc de Triomphe. Slightly left, you can see the Eiffel Tower peaking out over the scenery, and behind you is the Louvre and it's big pyramid. It's a great starting point/end point for a tour. And certain relatives may get this tour if/when they come.
I got to hang out with a few friends from the United States who had been on a Eurotrip throughout Europe, and from the sound of it they had literally been everywhere in Western Europe. They didn't get to explore much of Eastern Europe but it definitely sounded like they had enjoyed their travels. I also made dinner with a couple of other friends on another night right before we went to a brief visit to the Centre Pompidou, and it was the best dinner I have yet had here.
All in all, though I slept a lot, I saw a lot, and it turned out to be a pretty great week.
So I've been here for a month now and what have I learned.
1) Paris is beautiful. Not just because of the history behind every building, but because of the care put into maintaining this city and its culture.
2) The French processes are slow. Everything seems to take 3 times longer here than it does in the States. I still have not gotten my Metro pass and I applied for it October 9th. Frustrating, but I believe that is part of the experience.
3) REALLY learning French is a long process. It's not just a pick it up within a week and you're set deal. Each day I learn a new vocabulary word and a new way to say something. And when I don't practice French, I either lose it or am not improving.
4) Learning a foreign language opens doors. Not only am I able to communicate with millions of other people in France, and share knowledge with them and they with me, but I can communicate with other millions of people around the world who also speak French. That's a big opportunity that I could have missed otherwise.
I'm so excited for my visitors to come. Though I know it will not be for a while. This November is going to be quite long for me because I have no projects to do for any of my classes and only two weekend excursions planned for sure. I am working on getting a job as a tour guide with New Paris tours, which my roommate Nicole introduced me to. Hopefully, that will occupy my time as well as provide a little income.
And a big thank you to those of you who have sent or will be sending packages in the future. It really just makes my week when I get a package full of neat stuff, and it turns out that I like Mac 'n Cheese a lot more than I let on in the States.
Excited for the election tomorrow!
Justin
So after another wasted night away I've decided to finally update the blog after my week of vacation. The Agenda didn't quite work out as I had hoped. It was a combination of rainy weather during my walking time, long tourist lines, and me underestimating my desire to nap... a lot. However I was able to see a few new things and take pictures of places that I had not yet been.
My best discovery of the week was the Jardin des Tuileries. Though it wasn't all that much to look at in late October, what made it special was the scenery surrounding it. One can look down the Champs Elysees, past the place de la Concorde at the Arc de Triomphe. Slightly left, you can see the Eiffel Tower peaking out over the scenery, and behind you is the Louvre and it's big pyramid. It's a great starting point/end point for a tour. And certain relatives may get this tour if/when they come.
I got to hang out with a few friends from the United States who had been on a Eurotrip throughout Europe, and from the sound of it they had literally been everywhere in Western Europe. They didn't get to explore much of Eastern Europe but it definitely sounded like they had enjoyed their travels. I also made dinner with a couple of other friends on another night right before we went to a brief visit to the Centre Pompidou, and it was the best dinner I have yet had here.
All in all, though I slept a lot, I saw a lot, and it turned out to be a pretty great week.
So I've been here for a month now and what have I learned.
1) Paris is beautiful. Not just because of the history behind every building, but because of the care put into maintaining this city and its culture.
2) The French processes are slow. Everything seems to take 3 times longer here than it does in the States. I still have not gotten my Metro pass and I applied for it October 9th. Frustrating, but I believe that is part of the experience.
3) REALLY learning French is a long process. It's not just a pick it up within a week and you're set deal. Each day I learn a new vocabulary word and a new way to say something. And when I don't practice French, I either lose it or am not improving.
4) Learning a foreign language opens doors. Not only am I able to communicate with millions of other people in France, and share knowledge with them and they with me, but I can communicate with other millions of people around the world who also speak French. That's a big opportunity that I could have missed otherwise.
I'm so excited for my visitors to come. Though I know it will not be for a while. This November is going to be quite long for me because I have no projects to do for any of my classes and only two weekend excursions planned for sure. I am working on getting a job as a tour guide with New Paris tours, which my roommate Nicole introduced me to. Hopefully, that will occupy my time as well as provide a little income.
And a big thank you to those of you who have sent or will be sending packages in the future. It really just makes my week when I get a package full of neat stuff, and it turns out that I like Mac 'n Cheese a lot more than I let on in the States.
Excited for the election tomorrow!
Justin
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Agenda
I planned for myself next week (since it is my fall vacation) a large, extensive tour of Paris. Here is the schedule of events:
Monday:
10AM- Saint Chappelle
11AM- Notre Dame de Paris
12PM- Market des Fleurs et des Oiseaux (Flowers and Birds)
1PM- Pont Neuf
1:30- Jardin de Louxembourg (Picnic and Explore)
3:00- Place des Invalides (Napoleon's Tomb)
6:00- Walking tour of Montmartre
8:00- Picnic at Sacre Coeur
9:00- Red Light District/ Moulin Rouge
Tuesday:
10:00- Cemetery de Montparnasse
11:30- Cemetery de Montmartre
1:00- Lunch (SUGGESTIONS?)
2:30- La Bastille and Place des Vosges (Victor Hugo's apt.)
3:30- Hotel de Ville
6:30- The Marais
Wednesday:
10AM- Assemblee Nationale
11:00- Place de la Concorde and The Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe
1:00- Lunch at Jardin des Tuileries
6PM- Centre Pompidou
Thursday:
10AM- Maison de Balzac
12:30- Coffee and Lunch at a Cafe
1:30- Stroll down St. Michel (Fontaine de St Michel, The Pantheon (Vic Hugo's Grave), Le Senat)
3:30- Stroll along the Seine
6PM- Musee d'Orsay
Friday: (Market Day)
9AM- Marche Brune
10AM- Marche Mouton Duvernet
11AM- Marche Raspail
12PM- Marche Monge
1PM- Picnic on Champs de Mars and The Eiffel Tower
This is obviously not a set in stone schedule. I will be taking a ton of pictures and if there are any places that anyone back in the States wants me to visit in particular, then just post a comment about where you'd like me to visit and I will fit it in.
A Bientot!
Justin
Monday:
10AM- Saint Chappelle
11AM- Notre Dame de Paris
12PM- Market des Fleurs et des Oiseaux (Flowers and Birds)
1PM- Pont Neuf
1:30- Jardin de Louxembourg (Picnic and Explore)
3:00- Place des Invalides (Napoleon's Tomb)
6:00- Walking tour of Montmartre
8:00- Picnic at Sacre Coeur
9:00- Red Light District/ Moulin Rouge
Tuesday:
10:00- Cemetery de Montparnasse
11:30- Cemetery de Montmartre
1:00- Lunch (SUGGESTIONS?)
2:30- La Bastille and Place des Vosges (Victor Hugo's apt.)
3:30- Hotel de Ville
6:30- The Marais
Wednesday:
10AM- Assemblee Nationale
11:00- Place de la Concorde and The Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe
1:00- Lunch at Jardin des Tuileries
6PM- Centre Pompidou
Thursday:
10AM- Maison de Balzac
12:30- Coffee and Lunch at a Cafe
1:30- Stroll down St. Michel (Fontaine de St Michel, The Pantheon (Vic Hugo's Grave), Le Senat)
3:30- Stroll along the Seine
6PM- Musee d'Orsay
Friday: (Market Day)
9AM- Marche Brune
10AM- Marche Mouton Duvernet
11AM- Marche Raspail
12PM- Marche Monge
1PM- Picnic on Champs de Mars and The Eiffel Tower
This is obviously not a set in stone schedule. I will be taking a ton of pictures and if there are any places that anyone back in the States wants me to visit in particular, then just post a comment about where you'd like me to visit and I will fit it in.
A Bientot!
Justin
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Le Week-End
Weekends are interesting here. Saturday is a bustling commotion of activity, while Sunday this town is half alive. Last Saturday we were able to experience the full craziness of Paris' day-off.
Earlier in the week, I got invited to tag along with some friends to a Parisian flea market, and of course couldn't pass up the opportunity. I had recently been to a full flea market for the first time in Michigan with Kaj for the 4th of July and was very much entertained. I was also able to purchase quite a few used DVDs for a very reasonable price. Long story short, I was excited for this flea market.
We took the Metro Line 4 all the way from one end (Porte D'Orleans, where I live) to the other (Porte de Clignacourt). This metro stop is just inside the border of Zone 1, which includes the most part of Paris. Just a few blocks walk and we were in a "suburb" known as Saint Ouen. After following the directions that we had prepared before we left, we ended up at an entrance to what
looked like a small American strip mall. What it turned out to be was rows and rows of antique shops and small single room furniture displays. It's hard to describe, but if you can imagine rows and rows of storage units in America, all about 10 feet tall and about 15 feet wide. And then for everyone of this storage units to be open and have what appears to be a bedroom in each one, and each bedroom has a completely different set of furniture. That's kind of what this was like. Fascinating. There was so much to look at, and some of the places had some really, really old stuff. Of course, some also had a little modern touch, like the one that looked like it had an airplane crashing trough it (sorry I don't have a picture). What I do have a picture of is a moving truck with a hilarious name.
After wandering around this little area, we decided it really wasn't for us, and started to exit. Upon trying to exit, we found another part of the 'flea market' that was more than just antiques. They were discount clothing stands, crazy little trinkets (including marijuana bongs), and small food merchants. We wondered around this shady area for a few minutes, after finally decided to exit for real this time, and got back to the street we came in on. On our way back to the metro station, we passed yet ANOTHER large 'flea market' and decided it check it out as well since it was on our way. This one reminded me very much of the one I saw in Michigan, except the vendors were hustling us more (one guy told me I looked cold and tried to sell me a winter coat). But if you were looking for something specific in Paris, this would be the place to find it, though you might suffer a little bit of quality decrease and would have to look among the rows of stands for a while to find what you were looking for.
After FINALLY making our way out of the flea market area, we hopped back on the metro, which was as crowded as I had ever seen it. It was about 3PM Saturday afternoon, and everyone on the train was in severe violation of the personal space of the 3 or 4 people around them. I'm not sure where everyone was going, but the trained no one seemed to be getting off the train as more people were coming on. Fortunately, I don't believe there are weight limits on trains. We exited at Chateau Rouge in Montmartre, because we decided that we wanted to go to Sacre Coeur for a visit. I had not yet seen Sacre Coeur in the daylight, though I'd been there twice at night.
A brief explanation about getting to Sacre Coeur, you know you're going the right way if you are
going uphill. Sometimes you'll encounter hills and sometimes you will encounter steps, but if you're going up, you'll get there. We walked through the small park at the foot of the mount where Sacre Coeur is situated and found some enchanting stairs to climb (see left). They were like out of a story book. Alas, the place was filled with tourists. A lot of them were just sitting on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur watching a musician play the guitar or looking out along the Paris skyline. It's truly one of my favorite spots in Paris, but I'm not alone in feeling this way.
We actually got to go inside of Sacre Coeur since we were there in the afternoon, and it is quite
impressive. Massive ceilings, a huge mural of Jesus and Mary at the front of the church, candles lit in one of the corners of the church, and ornate decorations on the pulpit and the other furniture found at the front of the church. Sitting in the pews and looking behind us, a massive pipe organ loomed in the shadows. We sat down in the pews and marveled at it for a bit and then exited.
Our trip to Sacre Coeur was followed by a brief walk through the area that is Montmartre. We were hoping to stumble across the cafe that Amelie Poulin fictionally worked in (the film Amelie de Montmartre), but did not have much luck. After grabbing a sandwish from a boulangerie, we headed back home on the metro for some rest for the night's shennanigans.
Seeing as I've written a lot already, I'm going to conclude this post at this point. What I would like to mention, for those of you active readers, is what I'm planning for next week. I have most of it drawn up already, but what I am doing is a complete Parisian experience in one week. Anything that you can think of that's stereotypical of Paris, I will hopefully be experiencing it Monday-Friday. What I'd like to give you the opportunity to do is suggest to me something that you would like me to see or take extensive photographs for you to see. Or if there's some activity (that's not horribly pricey) that you'd like me to do and write about, I'd be happy to do that. Grandpa Grover has already asked for a trip to the markets with some pictures, and I will humbly oblige. So if you have something, throw it at me.
A la prochaine!
Justin
Earlier in the week, I got invited to tag along with some friends to a Parisian flea market, and of course couldn't pass up the opportunity. I had recently been to a full flea market for the first time in Michigan with Kaj for the 4th of July and was very much entertained. I was also able to purchase quite a few used DVDs for a very reasonable price. Long story short, I was excited for this flea market.
We took the Metro Line 4 all the way from one end (Porte D'Orleans, where I live) to the other (Porte de Clignacourt). This metro stop is just inside the border of Zone 1, which includes the most part of Paris. Just a few blocks walk and we were in a "suburb" known as Saint Ouen. After following the directions that we had prepared before we left, we ended up at an entrance to what
looked like a small American strip mall. What it turned out to be was rows and rows of antique shops and small single room furniture displays. It's hard to describe, but if you can imagine rows and rows of storage units in America, all about 10 feet tall and about 15 feet wide. And then for everyone of this storage units to be open and have what appears to be a bedroom in each one, and each bedroom has a completely different set of furniture. That's kind of what this was like. Fascinating. There was so much to look at, and some of the places had some really, really old stuff. Of course, some also had a little modern touch, like the one that looked like it had an airplane crashing trough it (sorry I don't have a picture). What I do have a picture of is a moving truck with a hilarious name.After wandering around this little area, we decided it really wasn't for us, and started to exit. Upon trying to exit, we found another part of the 'flea market' that was more than just antiques. They were discount clothing stands, crazy little trinkets (including marijuana bongs), and small food merchants. We wondered around this shady area for a few minutes, after finally decided to exit for real this time, and got back to the street we came in on. On our way back to the metro station, we passed yet ANOTHER large 'flea market' and decided it check it out as well since it was on our way. This one reminded me very much of the one I saw in Michigan, except the vendors were hustling us more (one guy told me I looked cold and tried to sell me a winter coat). But if you were looking for something specific in Paris, this would be the place to find it, though you might suffer a little bit of quality decrease and would have to look among the rows of stands for a while to find what you were looking for.
After FINALLY making our way out of the flea market area, we hopped back on the metro, which was as crowded as I had ever seen it. It was about 3PM Saturday afternoon, and everyone on the train was in severe violation of the personal space of the 3 or 4 people around them. I'm not sure where everyone was going, but the trained no one seemed to be getting off the train as more people were coming on. Fortunately, I don't believe there are weight limits on trains. We exited at Chateau Rouge in Montmartre, because we decided that we wanted to go to Sacre Coeur for a visit. I had not yet seen Sacre Coeur in the daylight, though I'd been there twice at night.A brief explanation about getting to Sacre Coeur, you know you're going the right way if you are
going uphill. Sometimes you'll encounter hills and sometimes you will encounter steps, but if you're going up, you'll get there. We walked through the small park at the foot of the mount where Sacre Coeur is situated and found some enchanting stairs to climb (see left). They were like out of a story book. Alas, the place was filled with tourists. A lot of them were just sitting on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur watching a musician play the guitar or looking out along the Paris skyline. It's truly one of my favorite spots in Paris, but I'm not alone in feeling this way.We actually got to go inside of Sacre Coeur since we were there in the afternoon, and it is quite
impressive. Massive ceilings, a huge mural of Jesus and Mary at the front of the church, candles lit in one of the corners of the church, and ornate decorations on the pulpit and the other furniture found at the front of the church. Sitting in the pews and looking behind us, a massive pipe organ loomed in the shadows. We sat down in the pews and marveled at it for a bit and then exited.Our trip to Sacre Coeur was followed by a brief walk through the area that is Montmartre. We were hoping to stumble across the cafe that Amelie Poulin fictionally worked in (the film Amelie de Montmartre), but did not have much luck. After grabbing a sandwish from a boulangerie, we headed back home on the metro for some rest for the night's shennanigans.
Seeing as I've written a lot already, I'm going to conclude this post at this point. What I would like to mention, for those of you active readers, is what I'm planning for next week. I have most of it drawn up already, but what I am doing is a complete Parisian experience in one week. Anything that you can think of that's stereotypical of Paris, I will hopefully be experiencing it Monday-Friday. What I'd like to give you the opportunity to do is suggest to me something that you would like me to see or take extensive photographs for you to see. Or if there's some activity (that's not horribly pricey) that you'd like me to do and write about, I'd be happy to do that. Grandpa Grover has already asked for a trip to the markets with some pictures, and I will humbly oblige. So if you have something, throw it at me.
A la prochaine!
Justin
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Clubbing and Pubbing
Though I have been diligently following my studies and working very hard towards my degree in Commercial French Studies, I have had the infrequent opportunity to attend a few of the hotspots for nightlife here in Paris. Being used to the nightlife in campustown Champaign, I found these hotspots very different from what I am used to and noteworthy enough for a post.
Le Mix
It was a Thursday night, and I had finished my homework and was feeling rested from the gratuitous amounts of sleep I had been getting. The IPP students were abuzz about a club in town that did not charge cover for International Students. I had not yet been there, but a few students decided to attend the previous week, and this past week I decided to join them. The club was called Le Mix and was found just under the Tower of Montparnasse, the only skyscraper that pierces the Southern Parisian skyline.
After a short rendez-vous with a few of my female companions (essential for a night out in Paris to get into the best clubs), and a bottle of wine, we headed to Le Mix for a night of fun and fiascos. Upon arriving to la Place de Montparnasse, I expected to see a small pub like club set into the buildings along the side of the road much like the other cafes and pubs are set. But, much to my surprise, a line of 200-300 people had amassed in front of this one establishment. Alas, it was Le Mix. Turns out there were a few more International Students in Paris than I had previously estimated. After taking our spots at the back of the line, my female companions were craftily able to "do cuttsies" into a more favorable position in the queue, and I joined. After a short wait of 20 minutes and a brief hustle by security, we were able to enter with a flash of our "Cartes d'etudiante" (student cards).
Inside Le Mix is a massive club. I've never been to the downtown Chicago bars, but I'm assuming they look something like this. 3 Levels: the first, a massive dance floor two drink bars on either wing and one bathroom next to one of the drink bars. The second and third floors were relatively similar, with some seating and a private part occupying one of the sections on the second. I believe their was a fourth floor, but unfortunately I was not VIP enough on this night to attend this private party.
The music was loud, the lights flashed different colors, and there had to be around 500 people in this one place, mostly International students and Parisian locals looking to prey on unsuspecting International students. Kindly enough, the establishment was willing to provide "gratuitement" small stickers for international students to wear that diplayed the flag of their country of origin. I proudly displayed the the stars and stripes for a while, but the sticker was unable to hang onto my shirt through the chaos.
All in all the night was fun and entertaining. It was very interesting to see the different students from different countries that indicated to me that Paris is a hotspot for youths around the world. It's reassuring that I am not alone in my love for this city.
Carrs
The next night was Friday and more terror was to be wrought on this quant ville located in the Central Northern part of France. Some brief escapades with the Turkish Delights preceeded our bar of choice for the night involving an offer for some "sniff" (which we respectfully declined), a delightful pizza place resembling the Antonio's of Champaign, and a solo head in a plaza in front of a large church. After we had amused ourselves with these little surprises and, of course, finished our bottles of wine, we proceeded to the small pub known as Carrs.
This bar is in deep contrast to Le Mix, for it is an Irish Pub more than a crazy international dance fest. Most of the people and the personnel in the pub spoke English, which was refreshing to those of us who tire of fighting with comprehension day in and day out. What was not so refreshing was the price of the beer at this establishment. 7 Euros for a draft. I have indeed been spoiled by the cheap prices of beer the past 2-4 years and not terribly excited about the price. However, a friend of Lauren's, a British fellow by the name of Alec, was kind enough to buy the first round and introduce us to the bartender, which is always a plus anywhere in a bar.
We sat down and started to converse with Alec and his friends, a few of which were from France. After they left, Alec gave me an indepth analysis of the game of Rugby, which I had always enjoyed but never fully understood. And though I was slightly inebriated, I still comprehend more of the game than I did. Cheers to Alec for that.
After a few free shots from the bartender and another round, the ambiance of Carrs had become delightfully quaint to me and I began to appreciate the subtleties of a small pub atmosphere, much as I had back in the States. Just goes to show that loud music and sweaty dancing isn't the only type of fun that one can have here in the great city of Paris.
So, in summary, during those two nights I was able to see the two extremes of the Parisian nightlife, the crazy clubbing and the mild-mannered pubbing. What I am very much looking forward to now is discovering what there's left to explore in the middle.
A la prochaine,
Justin
Le Mix
It was a Thursday night, and I had finished my homework and was feeling rested from the gratuitous amounts of sleep I had been getting. The IPP students were abuzz about a club in town that did not charge cover for International Students. I had not yet been there, but a few students decided to attend the previous week, and this past week I decided to join them. The club was called Le Mix and was found just under the Tower of Montparnasse, the only skyscraper that pierces the Southern Parisian skyline.
After a short rendez-vous with a few of my female companions (essential for a night out in Paris to get into the best clubs), and a bottle of wine, we headed to Le Mix for a night of fun and fiascos. Upon arriving to la Place de Montparnasse, I expected to see a small pub like club set into the buildings along the side of the road much like the other cafes and pubs are set. But, much to my surprise, a line of 200-300 people had amassed in front of this one establishment. Alas, it was Le Mix. Turns out there were a few more International Students in Paris than I had previously estimated. After taking our spots at the back of the line, my female companions were craftily able to "do cuttsies" into a more favorable position in the queue, and I joined. After a short wait of 20 minutes and a brief hustle by security, we were able to enter with a flash of our "Cartes d'etudiante" (student cards).
Inside Le Mix is a massive club. I've never been to the downtown Chicago bars, but I'm assuming they look something like this. 3 Levels: the first, a massive dance floor two drink bars on either wing and one bathroom next to one of the drink bars. The second and third floors were relatively similar, with some seating and a private part occupying one of the sections on the second. I believe their was a fourth floor, but unfortunately I was not VIP enough on this night to attend this private party.
The music was loud, the lights flashed different colors, and there had to be around 500 people in this one place, mostly International students and Parisian locals looking to prey on unsuspecting International students. Kindly enough, the establishment was willing to provide "gratuitement" small stickers for international students to wear that diplayed the flag of their country of origin. I proudly displayed the the stars and stripes for a while, but the sticker was unable to hang onto my shirt through the chaos.
All in all the night was fun and entertaining. It was very interesting to see the different students from different countries that indicated to me that Paris is a hotspot for youths around the world. It's reassuring that I am not alone in my love for this city.
Carrs
The next night was Friday and more terror was to be wrought on this quant ville located in the Central Northern part of France. Some brief escapades with the Turkish Delights preceeded our bar of choice for the night involving an offer for some "sniff" (which we respectfully declined), a delightful pizza place resembling the Antonio's of Champaign, and a solo head in a plaza in front of a large church. After we had amused ourselves with these little surprises and, of course, finished our bottles of wine, we proceeded to the small pub known as Carrs.
This bar is in deep contrast to Le Mix, for it is an Irish Pub more than a crazy international dance fest. Most of the people and the personnel in the pub spoke English, which was refreshing to those of us who tire of fighting with comprehension day in and day out. What was not so refreshing was the price of the beer at this establishment. 7 Euros for a draft. I have indeed been spoiled by the cheap prices of beer the past 2-4 years and not terribly excited about the price. However, a friend of Lauren's, a British fellow by the name of Alec, was kind enough to buy the first round and introduce us to the bartender, which is always a plus anywhere in a bar.
We sat down and started to converse with Alec and his friends, a few of which were from France. After they left, Alec gave me an indepth analysis of the game of Rugby, which I had always enjoyed but never fully understood. And though I was slightly inebriated, I still comprehend more of the game than I did. Cheers to Alec for that.
After a few free shots from the bartender and another round, the ambiance of Carrs had become delightfully quaint to me and I began to appreciate the subtleties of a small pub atmosphere, much as I had back in the States. Just goes to show that loud music and sweaty dancing isn't the only type of fun that one can have here in the great city of Paris.
So, in summary, during those two nights I was able to see the two extremes of the Parisian nightlife, the crazy clubbing and the mild-mannered pubbing. What I am very much looking forward to now is discovering what there's left to explore in the middle.
A la prochaine,
Justin
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Other Reason I'm Here
So today I finished my second week of classes, and I have much to write about. There are, of course, a ton of differences between the classes I am taking at the post-secondary institution and the ones I took at the other post-secondary institution. The material is college level, but the presentation is very different.
Francais des affaires- Monday and Wednesday
First, I should mention that all of my classes start at 2, which is an ideal time for me. Afternoon is when I feel like I have the most of my energy, and if I eat my lunch around noon then I don't get that sleepy feeling after eating, and hence don't waste my precious time here taking naps. This class is about Business in France. It is the central course required for my degree and is course that presents material that leads up to taking the French Commerce exams that will get me certified to practice Business in France. Of course, me actually working in France isn't terribly likely since I have much to come back to in the states, but it looks really nice on a resume and sounds good when explained to potential employers. We get taught everything regarding French business in this course. Everything from basic vocabulary to memos, you name it. It's nice though that I took a few business courses at Illinois last semester because that prepared me a little bit for the business terminology that translates from its French counterparts. This is also a very interesting time for business because of what's happening in the stock market. It's scary to understand, but it's good to be informed.
The coursework in this class is mostly done in class. There are a few projects that we will be doing on our own in groups, but when I saw only a few, I mean it. It's not as extensive work as the projects I did in the states (please see 72 page report made for Int'l Marketing last semester). The work done in class is pretty easy and if there's a concept we don't understand very well the professor is very happy to explain (en francais of course). The class is set up like a discussion section at U of I, with only about 15 people in the class. No huge lecture of 300-500 people. This is true of all of my classes here at the Institut Catholique.
Les Medias en France- Tuesdays
This class is all about the different media outlets in France, including newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. It's hasn't been a terribly exciting course yet, but once we get past the newspaper and print section of the media it might be more entertaining. LIke the francais des affaires class, the coursework is very light and I have not yet had homework, except to buy a French newspaper and compare it to the internet website. A few projects, a final test, and that's about it.
Cinema francais contemporain- Thursdays
This is by far my favorite course. It's contemporary french films and an in depth study about them. Unlike the other classes that are 3 hours long, this class is 4 hours long, with a movie being shown for the first two hours and a two hour discussion ensuing. Those of you who know me well know that I looooove to watch movies, and it's becoming more of a favorite thing of mine to analyze them, break them down, and talk about all the little subtleties that directors and writers represent in their work. It's pretty fascinating. Two assignments for this class, one is a paper on a film and the other is the final exam, which is basically a take home test essay.
Communication professionelle- Fridays
I was very unsure about this class after the first week. I knew that it was going to be easy, but I didn't know if it was going to be interesting. The professor has a soft voice which I thought was going to be difficult to follow, but he knows what he's talking about and is always prepared with activities for us to do. We write letters and memos and e-mails, it's pretty much a supplement to francais des affaires. But what is great about this professor is that he is a stickler for our grammar and our pronunciation, which none of the other professors seem to care too much about. If we say something wrong, he will stop us, correct us, and make us repeat it back to him. Seems tedious but it is extremely helpful when trying to learn all of the subtleties to a language. I am more excited for this course than I thought.
My Thoughts
So after the first week, I began commenting to my friends that I felt like I had returned to high school. And I still stand by that. For me, high school was a breeze (besides calculus). The teachers didn't challenge us a whole lot and a lot of the homework could be completed in class. Seems the same way here, though the material is a little more specific and advanced. Also my choice of classes seems to be aiding my lack of out of class work time. I remember taking a literature class two semesters ago in French and the work I had to do for that, the reading and such, was constant. And if I ever got behind I never had a chance to catch up. Amazing how easy things become when you have time on your hands, even in a city as grand as Paris.
I suppose the true test of how effective these classes are will be how much I remember and retain at the end of the semester. If it's more than what I hold onto taking multiple tests and reading a whole bunch, then I will definitely be a proponent of this system. Yes the classes are long (3 hours each session) but they are only once a week and we get a break after about the first hour and a half, at which time I usually go and have a little cup of cafe from the cafe machine.
Such concludes the courses post. I know some of you were concerned that I wasn't actually studying here and just playing around and climbing the Eiffel Tower and such, but there's a little work to be done...
A la prochaine!
Justin
P.S.- Nana! I got your letter today and it brightened my whole morning. Thank you and I will be writing back shortly.
Francais des affaires- Monday and Wednesday
First, I should mention that all of my classes start at 2, which is an ideal time for me. Afternoon is when I feel like I have the most of my energy, and if I eat my lunch around noon then I don't get that sleepy feeling after eating, and hence don't waste my precious time here taking naps. This class is about Business in France. It is the central course required for my degree and is course that presents material that leads up to taking the French Commerce exams that will get me certified to practice Business in France. Of course, me actually working in France isn't terribly likely since I have much to come back to in the states, but it looks really nice on a resume and sounds good when explained to potential employers. We get taught everything regarding French business in this course. Everything from basic vocabulary to memos, you name it. It's nice though that I took a few business courses at Illinois last semester because that prepared me a little bit for the business terminology that translates from its French counterparts. This is also a very interesting time for business because of what's happening in the stock market. It's scary to understand, but it's good to be informed.
The coursework in this class is mostly done in class. There are a few projects that we will be doing on our own in groups, but when I saw only a few, I mean it. It's not as extensive work as the projects I did in the states (please see 72 page report made for Int'l Marketing last semester). The work done in class is pretty easy and if there's a concept we don't understand very well the professor is very happy to explain (en francais of course). The class is set up like a discussion section at U of I, with only about 15 people in the class. No huge lecture of 300-500 people. This is true of all of my classes here at the Institut Catholique.
Les Medias en France- Tuesdays
This class is all about the different media outlets in France, including newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. It's hasn't been a terribly exciting course yet, but once we get past the newspaper and print section of the media it might be more entertaining. LIke the francais des affaires class, the coursework is very light and I have not yet had homework, except to buy a French newspaper and compare it to the internet website. A few projects, a final test, and that's about it.
Cinema francais contemporain- Thursdays
This is by far my favorite course. It's contemporary french films and an in depth study about them. Unlike the other classes that are 3 hours long, this class is 4 hours long, with a movie being shown for the first two hours and a two hour discussion ensuing. Those of you who know me well know that I looooove to watch movies, and it's becoming more of a favorite thing of mine to analyze them, break them down, and talk about all the little subtleties that directors and writers represent in their work. It's pretty fascinating. Two assignments for this class, one is a paper on a film and the other is the final exam, which is basically a take home test essay.
Communication professionelle- Fridays
I was very unsure about this class after the first week. I knew that it was going to be easy, but I didn't know if it was going to be interesting. The professor has a soft voice which I thought was going to be difficult to follow, but he knows what he's talking about and is always prepared with activities for us to do. We write letters and memos and e-mails, it's pretty much a supplement to francais des affaires. But what is great about this professor is that he is a stickler for our grammar and our pronunciation, which none of the other professors seem to care too much about. If we say something wrong, he will stop us, correct us, and make us repeat it back to him. Seems tedious but it is extremely helpful when trying to learn all of the subtleties to a language. I am more excited for this course than I thought.
My Thoughts
So after the first week, I began commenting to my friends that I felt like I had returned to high school. And I still stand by that. For me, high school was a breeze (besides calculus). The teachers didn't challenge us a whole lot and a lot of the homework could be completed in class. Seems the same way here, though the material is a little more specific and advanced. Also my choice of classes seems to be aiding my lack of out of class work time. I remember taking a literature class two semesters ago in French and the work I had to do for that, the reading and such, was constant. And if I ever got behind I never had a chance to catch up. Amazing how easy things become when you have time on your hands, even in a city as grand as Paris.
I suppose the true test of how effective these classes are will be how much I remember and retain at the end of the semester. If it's more than what I hold onto taking multiple tests and reading a whole bunch, then I will definitely be a proponent of this system. Yes the classes are long (3 hours each session) but they are only once a week and we get a break after about the first hour and a half, at which time I usually go and have a little cup of cafe from the cafe machine.
Such concludes the courses post. I know some of you were concerned that I wasn't actually studying here and just playing around and climbing the Eiffel Tower and such, but there's a little work to be done...
A la prochaine!
Justin
P.S.- Nana! I got your letter today and it brightened my whole morning. Thank you and I will be writing back shortly.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Internetness
So we finally got internet at the apartment. No more stinky McDonalds til late at night. We will be getting a phone tomorrow as well so we will be able to make free calls to the U.S., which I know I will be taking full advantage of.
But since we were able to establish our internet connection, I put up all of my pictures on Facebook from Verseilles, the Gardens, Fontainebleau and Vaux, and of the apartment and the first little party we had. So enjoy those!
I will hopefully be writing in the blog on more of a daily basis about the daily grind here. Up next I think will be a post about my classes, which I am sure you will find riveting.
Soo a la prochaine!
Justin
But since we were able to establish our internet connection, I put up all of my pictures on Facebook from Verseilles, the Gardens, Fontainebleau and Vaux, and of the apartment and the first little party we had. So enjoy those!
I will hopefully be writing in the blog on more of a daily basis about the daily grind here. Up next I think will be a post about my classes, which I am sure you will find riveting.
Soo a la prochaine!
Justin
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Food In Paris
Food
It was a lazy day this afternoon. After going to the markets while waiting for the laundry to be done, I had a little time to write about one of my favorite subjects: food. There were quite a few things that had been stirring in my mind about this, so I figured I would type them out, and what came from it was a long-winded post with lots of different topics. So I'll lay them out and you can pick and choose if you don't want to read it all.
1. Learning food in France
2. Quality over Quantity
3. Small stands in Paris/ Crepes
4. Staples of French cuisine
5. Fruits and Veggies and Produce
6. The Markets
7. Cafe (the little I know about it)
8. Dessert of the Gods
(1.)
Food is France. These people define themselves with their cuisine. From their youth, the French are taught the fine points of culinary prowess. This is remarkably different from Americans, especially the male gender, who may or may not learn culinary abilities from their parents at an early age. Just the other day at the small get-together that we had at our apartment, I attempted to refrigerate red wine, and was stopped by one of our French friends. He was flabbergasted that I almost refrigerated a red wine. Never, he said to me. White wine, yes, but never a red wine. Funny, I never learned that from anyone in my 23 years of existence, even after a little bit of culinary education from the Food network.
(2.)
Food is a necessity here. Walking down any major boulevard, one will see at every corner a café or a bistro, and sometimes every other establishment will be a restaurant. And the menu options are remarkably different than that of American food. American cuisine has a tendency to be based on efficiency rather than taste. The reason that the French have such small portions is not because there is a lack of food in the country, that’s exactly the opposite. The reason is that the taste is so much more important than the quantity. The obesity level is much less over here because the portions are small and people are able to control their dietary intakes. At McDonald’s or Wendy’s at home, you can get five chicken sandwiches for 5 dollars. Here, you can’t even get a BigMac for 5 dollars. The French don’t marvel at how much food they can get for a few Euros, they marvel at the quality of the cuisine that each restaurant offers. It’s like a ‘food journey’ where people are searching for their own personal taste and favorite dish, and the hundreds, maybe thousands, of restaurants that are found in the Paris area are guides to this journey.
(3.)
What might be even more fascinating in terms of differences of French and American food are the small stands that are all over the streets here. American food stands that are quick and cheap serve hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, etc. French food stands that are quick and relatively inexpensive compared to their sit down competition sell crêpes, paninis, sandwiches on baguettes, and sugary delights like Nutella, which like a balanced mix between peanut butter and chocolate. Crêpes are not prepared ahead of time. Instead, they are made right in front of you on a hot plate, as opposed to a hot dog which is prepared and then just kept warm. And what’s great about crêpes is that they can be prepared with anything inside. My favorites are the simplest ones, a crêpe with just cheese or ham or egg. They’re so simple but surprisingly inexpensive and filling.
(4.)
To me there are three stapes of French cuisine: bread, wine, and cheese. I believe that the French could survive on these three things, but still manage to make wonderful combinations out of them that Americans would marvel at. Of course, they don’t need to because of the abundance of fruits and vegetables that are available to them. A baguette is a long loaf of bread that is essential in la vie quotidienne, and I will often see people walking down the streets just holding and munching on a baguette for a snack. I don’t think I would ever see people munching on just bread at home, but that’s because the quality of bread is far superior here. After a while, I got used to the taste of their bread, but I remember the first bite than I took of a French baguette was an enlightening experience. Something so simple as bread could be made better? Thus, it has become a staple of our diet here in the apartment as well. The wine is also abundant in this country and sometimes cheaper than water; this is true. Each of the small stores has a huge wine selection, and the big stores have massive wine collections. And, as I discovered today, there’s a huge difference between the cheese bought in the supermarkets and the cheese bought from actual fromageries, or cheese shops. The French know the difference between a good cheese and a mediocre cheese, and I am still refining my taste to differentiate between the two. But what I have discovered so far is that the cheap cheese is mild. There’s a taste but it’s not strong. The more expensive cheese, the cheese of better quality, has a strong taste; a taste that Americans might consider overwhelming, but a taste that the French would consider ‘superbe’.
(5.)
What someone who comes to France/Paris for the first time will also notice is the loads of fruits and vegetables that are displayed in the streets, small markets, and big markets. Where do they get all of these fruits and vegetables? It is true that there are many fields in the north of France that grow fruits and vegetables and I’m sure the same is true for the south. But in America you would only see such a selection and variety in a supermarket, where as in Paris, each little shop has a great variety of fruits and vegetables. There’s literally a dozen on each boulevard and grand rue in Paris. It’s fun to compare prices between all of the shops and finding the best price for each vegetable that you like the most. For example, I found a small fruits and veggies shop just a block away from the apartment and I was able to get a pound (half a kilo) of white mushrooms for 1.80 euros. That amounted to 27 mushrooms, which would probably cost the equivalent of 5 dollars in America. Maybe more because the mushrooms in America are packaged, but here they are set out just like any other vegetable produce.
(6.)
We’ve only just begun to discover the markets here in Paris, and my initial impression is that they might be a little overpriced, but of a slightly better quality than the small shops found on the streets. I will probably have to ask a French person who is knowledgeable about cuisine if there is a major difference in quality between the markets and the small shops. The markets don’t just have fruit and vegetable produce either; they have almost every food or the ingredient for every food known to man. There are fish stands, meat stands, and bread stands. Maybe the only thing that I haven’t seen at a market yet is a lobster. I’ve seen lots of crabs though, and again I wonder where these people get their goods. It seems so fresh and a great starting point to start a notorious restaurant. There are other stands too at markets, like ones that sells soap, scarves, clothes, and other homemade goods.
(7.)
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to explore French café (coffee) yet. But what I do know is that it is another essential here. Every once in a while when you stop at a rest stop on the highway in America or maybe one in ten places where there are vending machines, you will see a coffee/cappuccino maker. But in France, except in metros, wherever there is a vending machine for a bottled drink, there is a machine for coffee and cappuccino. And the machines that I have used so far sell a small drink of coffee for 50 centîmes or less, which is cheap though you don’t get as much. But it’s still a nice little shot of energy for a class or before a busy day at work. There’s a ton of different types of coffee here which I’ve yet to explore. It’s different than America where you just order a cup of coffee and it’s just the stuff they brew in the pot. There’s café au long, café au court, café crème, café au lait, cappuccino, and even chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). I’m sure the French know the difference between all the different coffees, but I’ve yet to discover the secret. What is also common here though in the coffee machines is lemon tea (thé citron). I don’t think they’ve ever heard of sweet tea here. Though it’s one of my favorites, I do not believe that I will find it anywhere in Paris.
(8.)
The final thing that I need to share (unless of course I think of more differences) is the magnificence of crème broulet. I’m sure the French are used to it and the taste of it, but I have never tasted anything like it in my life. It’s so rich, but served in a manageable portion perfect for sharing with a friend or a date. Again, with this food the taste is what matters, not the size. It’s a desert that I could savor for an hour, just sitting in a café, taking a bite every 5 minutes. If I absolutely had to compare it to an American food, I would tell you to think of the best pudding that you’ve ever had. Multiply that great taste by five, and then add the taste of roasted marshmallows to the top of it. That might get you close, but to truly know you must try it.
I believe that is all about food I have to write about now, just a few differences of course. But there are many more that I will discover throughout my own ‘food journey’ here in France, and each time I find a ‘guide’ that points me in the right direction, I will note it.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Ver*sigh*.... Si Belle
Bonjour!
This post is a bit late but better late than never.
We were lucky enough to get to take a little trip to Verseilles last Saturday. Verseilles is home to one of the greatest cheateaus (castles) in the world. It was commissioned by Louis XIV, the self-proclaimed Sun King, to be the most luxurious castle in all of France. He succeeded, and now has his name on one of the greatest castles in the world.
As you walk up to the chateau at Verseilles, you see a building that is rather long and large, but for the most part ordinary. Until you see the golden gates on it, and then you realize that it is not so ordinary.
We took a tour of the inside of the castle first. And it's hard to imagine that someone actually LIVED in this place. It was clearly built to impress people, and the rooms in the castle are the equivalent of having an movie theatre in your house today. We walked into one bedroom and saw a bed. I thought well this must be where the king slept, but psych! It's just for show. Regardless to say the inside is magnificent and if you get the chance to check out all the pictures on facebook (when I finally am able to put them up) you'll get to see all the pictures of the inside: the bedrooms, the ante chambers, and the loooong beautiful hall of mirrors.
Let me just stop here to mention what else was going on at the castle of Verseilles. Jeff Koons is an American artist and he makes large metal sculptures that look like plastic or are models of real people or real things. As shown in the picture in this part (Michael Jackson and Bubbles), you can see that these sculptures are blatantly contemporary. Now what would contemporary AMERICAN art be doing in one of the oldest of FRENCH structures? The answer eludes the French as well as myself. To me, this whole exhibit is a joke. Why would you put an attraction in a castle as beautiful as Verseilles? The ticket sales must have been slow and they must have wanted something REALLY drastic to boost them. But this exhibit is degrading. Enough said.
We finally went outside to the gardens, and this part was truly the most beautiful sight that I have seen in Paris so far. The fountains and the flowers and the beautiful rows of trees. It was simply marvelous.
As we ventured through the gardens, we saw many different structures that were built throughout the grounds. There was a small mansion where Marie-Antoinette 'dressed up and played with the sheep' as Katy put it. Another small structure where Marie-Antoinette entertained her guest. But the most stunning sight, something straight out of a fairytale story book, was this small pond with a few buildings around it that just make you want to sit down and have a picnic. There were SWANS swimming in the pond. TWO of them! It was awesome. I figured out how to take black and white pictures, so I took some nice ones that will be on facebook soon.
So after a looong day of walking we finally wrapped up our tour of verseilles and took the train back to Paris. Katy and I went to the Moulin Rouge and more of Montmartre that night... but that's for a later post. :-)
I'd also like to say a special hello to my Nana who I know is reading this from home printed out from the internet. Miss you Nana and I hope you're enjoying this little bit of France!
A la prochaine
Justin
This post is a bit late but better late than never.
We were lucky enough to get to take a little trip to Verseilles last Saturday. Verseilles is home to one of the greatest cheateaus (castles) in the world. It was commissioned by Louis XIV, the self-proclaimed Sun King, to be the most luxurious castle in all of France. He succeeded, and now has his name on one of the greatest castles in the world.
As you walk up to the chateau at Verseilles, you see a building that is rather long and large, but for the most part ordinary. Until you see the golden gates on it, and then you realize that it is not so ordinary.We took a tour of the inside of the castle first. And it's hard to imagine that someone actually LIVED in this place. It was clearly built to impress people, and the rooms in the castle are the equivalent of having an movie theatre in your house today. We walked into one bedroom and saw a bed. I thought well this must be where the king slept, but psych! It's just for show. Regardless to say the inside is magnificent and if you get the chance to check out all the pictures on facebook (when I finally am able to put them up) you'll get to see all the pictures of the inside: the bedrooms, the ante chambers, and the loooong beautiful hall of mirrors.
Let me just stop here to mention what else was going on at the castle of Verseilles. Jeff Koons is an American artist and he makes large metal sculptures that look like plastic or are models of real people or real things. As shown in the picture in this part (Michael Jackson and Bubbles), you can see that these sculptures are blatantly contemporary. Now what would contemporary AMERICAN art be doing in one of the oldest of FRENCH structures? The answer eludes the French as well as myself. To me, this whole exhibit is a joke. Why would you put an attraction in a castle as beautiful as Verseilles? The ticket sales must have been slow and they must have wanted something REALLY drastic to boost them. But this exhibit is degrading. Enough said.
We finally went outside to the gardens, and this part was truly the most beautiful sight that I have seen in Paris so far. The fountains and the flowers and the beautiful rows of trees. It was simply marvelous.
As we ventured through the gardens, we saw many different structures that were built throughout the grounds. There was a small mansion where Marie-Antoinette 'dressed up and played with the sheep' as Katy put it. Another small structure where Marie-Antoinette entertained her guest. But the most stunning sight, something straight out of a fairytale story book, was this small pond with a few buildings around it that just make you want to sit down and have a picnic. There were SWANS swimming in the pond. TWO of them! It was awesome. I figured out how to take black and white pictures, so I took some nice ones that will be on facebook soon.So after a looong day of walking we finally wrapped up our tour of verseilles and took the train back to Paris. Katy and I went to the Moulin Rouge and more of Montmartre that night... but that's for a later post. :-)
I'd also like to say a special hello to my Nana who I know is reading this from home printed out from the internet. Miss you Nana and I hope you're enjoying this little bit of France!
A la prochaine
Justin
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Apartment... or as I call it, the Death Star. It's not fully operational....
Welcome to the picture tour of the apartment. I know there's only four pictures but bear with me and I'll give you an idea of the layout of the place. As you walk the front door, there is a small corridor with a small table on the left. Adjacent to the table is the kitchen, which is the picture to the left. 
As you walk a little further into the corridor and to the end. On the right is the living room which looks like this. Katy's room is attached to the living room and is quite spacious.
To the left at the end of the corridor is my room. It's all organized and nice for now, but in a week, well... you know... You can see at the back of my room there's a window. That window leads to a very very small balcony with a view that looks like.......
...this!
So it's a very nice place and Katy and I are enjoying it so far. We will probably be getting another roommate since we have the space to do it and it will cut down on our costs.
I'm going to put up a video tour on facebook if you want to check it out. For those of you older readers who don't have facebook, you should sign up for it so you can see all of my pictures. The site isn't just for us young rebellious college students, it is for everyone and is free and easy to use. Soo come find me!
A bientot!
Justin
Saturday, September 27, 2008
I (FINALLY) Have an Address... So Send Money
We finally have our address! It is:
Justin
Appartement 15, 5 Rue Poirier de NarçaySo now you can send mail, come visit, etc.
75014 Paris
Justin
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sacre Coeur, Montmartre, and some good French fun
So last night we got to go out on the town again with our two French friends, Christophe and Erwan. Sarah and Lauren had told them they wanted to go on a picnic so the 5 of us and Katy's temporary roommate Sunanna went on a good ol' French picnic. I was expecting us to sit on a blanket in a park and tell stories about America and the good times we've had there and teach each other new curse words in the others' language. And it turned to to be much more fun than that.
The guys decided to take us to Montmartre, which is a very pretty place in some parts and a little more dangerous in others. We were in the pretty part. After climbing hundreds of stairs (which I would love to go back to and put a slinky on), we reach the top of a hill where Sacre Coeur loomed, lit up by lights reflecting its awesomeness. Sacre Coeur is a church, if you didn't know, and it sits on top of a hill in the North of Paris. Which I didn't know, but soon enough, we were sitting on some stairs, with our back to the Sacre Coeur, our faces to the rest of Paris, and baguettes, cheese and wine stuffed in our mouths. It was an awesome sight. Breathtaking, to use a cheesier word. You couldn't see the Eiffel Tower, it was hidden behind some trees, but the Notre Dame was clearly visible as was the Tour de Montparnasse and all the pretty lights of the City of Lights.
Our French friends treated us to delightful food at our picnic. They brought: about 6 baguettes, (which is far better than any American bread in my opinion), duck pate, cochon (pig) pate, two other types of pate that I don't remember the names, a small wheel of camembert cheese, a roll of fantastic sausage, and two bottles of wine. It was less of a picnic and more of a feast. Just simply fantastic.
As we were eating there was a small band playing a few French, but mostly American songs behind us while so youths sat around, playing music on some speakers and dancing along. At one point, Sarah/Lauren mentioned they wanted to hear Soldier Boy to us. The youths heard them, and a few minutes later the song was playing and the two girls were dancing, while the rest of us enjoyed the show. :-) In all, the night turned out to be pretty magical, worth raving about in a blog post.
In other news, our landlord e-mailed us again today (the first time he has ever e-mailed us twice in a one week period) and said that we could sign the lease, pick up the keys, and move in on Sunday. What a relief. I am excited to get into my new apartment to see what I need, how far it is from the school, and what Parisian life is outside of this stinky dorm room.
Hope to hear from you all soon!
A bientot,
Justin
The guys decided to take us to Montmartre, which is a very pretty place in some parts and a little more dangerous in others. We were in the pretty part. After climbing hundreds of stairs (which I would love to go back to and put a slinky on), we reach the top of a hill where Sacre Coeur loomed, lit up by lights reflecting its awesomeness. Sacre Coeur is a church, if you didn't know, and it sits on top of a hill in the North of Paris. Which I didn't know, but soon enough, we were sitting on some stairs, with our back to the Sacre Coeur, our faces to the rest of Paris, and baguettes, cheese and wine stuffed in our mouths. It was an awesome sight. Breathtaking, to use a cheesier word. You couldn't see the Eiffel Tower, it was hidden behind some trees, but the Notre Dame was clearly visible as was the Tour de Montparnasse and all the pretty lights of the City of Lights.
Our French friends treated us to delightful food at our picnic. They brought: about 6 baguettes, (which is far better than any American bread in my opinion), duck pate, cochon (pig) pate, two other types of pate that I don't remember the names, a small wheel of camembert cheese, a roll of fantastic sausage, and two bottles of wine. It was less of a picnic and more of a feast. Just simply fantastic.
As we were eating there was a small band playing a few French, but mostly American songs behind us while so youths sat around, playing music on some speakers and dancing along. At one point, Sarah/Lauren mentioned they wanted to hear Soldier Boy to us. The youths heard them, and a few minutes later the song was playing and the two girls were dancing, while the rest of us enjoyed the show. :-) In all, the night turned out to be pretty magical, worth raving about in a blog post.
In other news, our landlord e-mailed us again today (the first time he has ever e-mailed us twice in a one week period) and said that we could sign the lease, pick up the keys, and move in on Sunday. What a relief. I am excited to get into my new apartment to see what I need, how far it is from the school, and what Parisian life is outside of this stinky dorm room.
Hope to hear from you all soon!
A bientot,
Justin
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Loooooouvre
Mmmmm the museum known throughout the World as having one of the most prestigious collections of art and antiques known to mankind. If you've never been to the Louvre, it's a museum. And for me, when I hear the word museum in English, I think of American museums that are displays usually situated in ordinary buildings. The Louvre is far from this. It is a former CASTLE that has been transformed into a museum. Kings of France have lived in this 'museum'. it was converted in the 19th Century to a museum by one of the kings and was probably one of the best decisions of his Monarchial career.
The Louvre is massive. Of course, you might have seen or heard of the Da Vinci Code and seen the pyramids both above and within the Louvre. Really and interesting stroke of architecture, and if I knew anything about architecture I would comment more on it... but I don't, so let's move one.Inside the Louvre where the exhibits are displayed are huge vaulted ceilings that are more ornate and intrica
te than anything I've ever seen. And it seemed to get better and better as we went along until it kind of peaked in this long room that had antiques and pictures of old kings and architects in it.And of course, among the other extremely famous pieces of art in
the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, known in French as La Joconde. Though our tour guide and group seemed to skip over the Mona Lisa without taking pictures, I had to stay, and Katy stayed too, to take a few photos. I tried to do my best Joconde impression, but she has it down. What is so fascinating to me about the Mona Lisa is how extraordinarily ordinary it is. It baffles me. You can see how huge this picture on the right is... why not that one? There are tons of other paintings that could be just as important, but none of these paintings has had such a long complicated history as the Mona Lisa. She's been stolen, stabbed, and restored, and though it would seem like destruction to a painting would devalue it, this one appreciates in value. It's amazing.
the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, known in French as La Joconde. Though our tour guide and group seemed to skip over the Mona Lisa without taking pictures, I had to stay, and Katy stayed too, to take a few photos. I tried to do my best Joconde impression, but she has it down. What is so fascinating to me about the Mona Lisa is how extraordinarily ordinary it is. It baffles me. You can see how huge this picture on the right is... why not that one? There are tons of other paintings that could be just as important, but none of these paintings has had such a long complicated history as the Mona Lisa. She's been stolen, stabbed, and restored, and though it would seem like destruction to a painting would devalue it, this one appreciates in value. It's amazing.
Anyways, that was during the later part of the day. During the early part of the day, we had a history lesson (which really wasn't the best idea with a bunch of jet lagged college students in the middle of the late morning). Not naming names, but a certain someone was definitely nodding her head down, would look up at the teacher once in a while and nod her head yes then drift again, and would once in a while pick up her pen like she was writing, and would all asleep with her pen in her hand. Heh heh. Been there, done that, and it's even more obvious than just passing out.
After the history lesson we decided to walk back instead of taking Le Metro which is the train that goes underground through Paris (ie the subway). We got lost a bit and finally figured out where we needed to be and in the process of getting there, we walked through a cemetery. You can see for yourself in the pictures that this was no ordinary cemetery, and I'm sure there were some very famous people buried there, but we of course didn't know anyone specifically who was. But that was a very interesting place nonetheless.Seems that is all I have to post about now. The day today has been much better than yesterday. Hopefully, soon I will get to post a little bit about the 'food scene' here so you can get an idea of what we can eat and what they offer on the streets.
A bientot
Justin
PS there are now pictures of for the Eiffel Tower post, as well as a nice video.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Apartment Redemption
So you can imagine the basket case of emotion that has been these past few hours. I've gone from being totally down in the dumps to full of life and about to watch Heroes. The landlord e-mailed us and told us that the apartment was reserved for us and that he would be returning this Sunday. What a relief. Seems we may be alright after all.
Could have done without the emotional roller coaster though.
Justin
Could have done without the emotional roller coaster though.
Justin
The Apartment Scramble
So I said I would keep you updated on my progress in Paris, so I will follow through with it even though this is kind of a bad news post. Today we pretty much decided that our apartment situation was not going to come through for us. As easy as one might think it would be to find an apartment in a town the size of Paris, it is surprisingly difficult. Katy and I today walked to at least 15 different agencies today and had no luck at any of them. It is even more frustrating to see all of these ads in papers for open apartments and then to ask if these agencies have any open and they do not. It's even more frustrating because I feel like Katy and I are alone in our search. Our program director seems to not be terribly concerned with what happens to us, even though after the 1st of October, I will be homeless in one of the most complicated cities in the world. If this happens, I may be forced to come home. Obviously I do not want this to happen, but I truly have nowhere else to go. I know these are trying times and that things will probably eventually work out, but it's so hard to get through this stuff without a phone to talk on, and ear to listen, or (right now) a shoulder to cry on. This is proving to be one of the toughest experiences of my life, and right now all I can is sit around and wait til morning.
I guess on the bright side, Katy and I got to walk around Paris and get lost a few times. And in the process we saw some pretty neat things. There was a butcher and poissonerie (fish shop) one right next to the other. We stopped at a panini place for dinner and ate for 4 euros which wasn't bad. Lots of sights, but too bad we have been too busy to enjoy them so far.
Hopefully things will turn around for the better. But, again, I'll keep you posted. if you'd like to get in touch with me I'm probably going to be around tonight. I've downloaded Skype which is a free program and you can talk to me for free if you have a microphone that you can talk into. Just shoot me and e-mail or if I'm online with AIM you can send me a message. My screenname is SSDareDevil31.
Plus tard,
Justin
I guess on the bright side, Katy and I got to walk around Paris and get lost a few times. And in the process we saw some pretty neat things. There was a butcher and poissonerie (fish shop) one right next to the other. We stopped at a panini place for dinner and ate for 4 euros which wasn't bad. Lots of sights, but too bad we have been too busy to enjoy them so far.
Hopefully things will turn around for the better. But, again, I'll keep you posted. if you'd like to get in touch with me I'm probably going to be around tonight. I've downloaded Skype which is a free program and you can talk to me for free if you have a microphone that you can talk into. Just shoot me and e-mail or if I'm online with AIM you can send me a message. My screenname is SSDareDevil31.
Plus tard,
Justin
The First Days
Well my arrival in Paris was smooth and everything has gone swimmingly so far. Paris is, of course, a beautiful city and the second I arrived I knew I was in another world than the one I had been living in my whole life.
After we got off of the plane, our coordinator Dr. Costello picked up the 8 of us who were on the group flight. None of us knew what vehicle would be big enough to cart all of us and all of our luggage to the foyer. But sure enough, when we went outside there was a full sized charter bus waiting for the 8 of us. Needless to say the ride was spacious.
We cruised through Paris in our big bus, and the first thing that I noticed oddly enough was that the Pharmacies were all flashy and lit up like they belonged on the Las Vegas strip. Very different from what we have at home.
We made it to the dorms and didn't have any meetings so myself and 5 other people from the dorms went exploring a little bit with Chloe, who has been here f
or a month now already and knows the place a little bit. Of course, we wanted a tasty beverage on our way, so we bought a few bottles of wine and a cork screw (the Key to Fun as I like to refer to it now) and popped a squat on one of the rues of Paris and sipped on cheap wine and chatted for an hour. After which, we proceeded to walk around the 5th and 6th quarter a bit before finally calling it a night and went back to the dorms to crash on our terribly uncomfortable mattresses.The next day we had our first lesson in geographie and learned all about the layout of Paris, transportation, and some of the major attractions. After our meeting, we had a break, whcih I believe was spent by everyone napping. At about 1600 we had a guided tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide M. Peigne who took us around Le Marais. Our most notable stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is by far the most stunning work of architecture that I have ever seen. I don't have pictures of it yet because I forgot my camera but when I do you will see what I mean.
After our tour we came back and Katy and I shopped around for apartments a little bit since our good friend the landlord has apparently decided to ignore us. After browsing the apartments, a few friends and I decided we wanted to see the magnificent Eiffel Tower lit up at night. I grabbed the Key to Fun and we were off. We stopped just before le Rue de
Montparnasse and sat on a bench and drank our first bottle of wine, and then proceeded to walk through the area of town known as Montparnasse. This was a fantastic little area because it was all lit up with tons of restaurants and places to see. I have quite a few pictures of Montparnasse and basically every restaurant you see in those pictures are ones that I decided were noteworthy enough to take pictures of.After venturing through Montparnasse we came across a courtyard about 10 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower which had about 200 students waiting in it. Of course, being with 3 girls around male students, they were subsequently cat called and eventually 2 of our friends went to talk to their suitors. A young gentlemen who was friends with the cat-callers approached myself and Sarah and began speaking to us in rather good English. I was suspicious at first, but it turns out he was just a really nice Frenchman and was just looking for conversation with us. After about a half hour of chit chat, we finally decided to head to the Eiffel Tower, and Christophe offered to be our guide. We went there and of course took tons of pictures and left just before the sparkling began right before they were going to turn off the lights. It was an awesome sight.
to my room and go to bed. I did not sleep well last night though the uncomfortable bed was a welcoming sight. I think I'm still getting through the jet lag.I hope this first post clues you in on what I'll be doing here. I miss all of those who are still at home but hope that I can share a little bit of my experience with you as time goes on. Please continue to keep in touch for these first couple months. I hear it is easy to get homesick and I wouldn't want to be a Debbie downer because I didn't hear from you.
A Bientot!
Justin
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Blog!
So here's the blog that I will be sharing with you all. I'm going to be posting to it later today because I have a massive headache right now and am still quite tired. But you will hear from me soon!
Justin
Justin
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