So after weeks of worrying about student visas, plane tickets, and packing, I finally made it to France!
This past month in France was just a short orientation in Paris through Colorado College…it was technically a ‘half block’ to give us some extra credit back at CC, so it was led by a CC professor and there were 3 other girls in my ‘class’ :) (I use the word class loosely since most mornings that meant that we just met for breakfast over coffee and croissants while we discussed poems by Charles Baudelaire and Victor Hugo!) The best part about the class was that we would discuss a place in the morning, for example the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, and talk about its history and significance to Paris; then in the afternoon, we would go visit these places and compare them to poems and texts written by nineteenth century authors. It was pretty nice because it gave us a little deeper insight into some of these traditionally ‘touristy’ places. Also, our class and discussions were all in French so we really got into a French mindset. For example, one night, after discussing the Bohemian Revolution at the end of the 19th century, we went to the oldest cabaret in Paris, Le Lapin Agile. (Don’t worry! It wasn’t at all like the traditional cabarets that you might have heard about! J It was mostly a lot of French musicians and singers that performed their own music and tried to entertain the crowds with audience participation!) Although it has kind of turned into somewhat of a tourist attraction, all of the singing was in French, so we were able to understand and sing along with this one hilarious old man who was singing about bubble gum…I’m not quite sure that the Japanese tourists sitting next to us understood what was quite so funny, but they seemed to be having a good time too!
It’s good that we were walking all around Paris though, because in the meantime we ate…a lot! It was all so delicious though, so here are some of my favorites :
- Chèvre Chaud: This was the very first thing that I ate in Paris…it’s warm goat cheese usually on a piece of toast and on top of a salad. We learned that the Parisians like to put eggs or goat cheese on just about every meal :)
- Crêpes: Of course, this sounds like a pretty cliché thing to eat in France, but we found this Greek man at one crêpe stand that made the most amazing nutella, banana, and coconut crêpe. It was perfection!
- Escargot: So I guess this is also cliché French but the escargot really wasn’t too bad at all! I guess the fact that they had covered it in butter and garlic helped a bit too!
- Berthillon Ice Cream and Ladurée Macaroons: The whole time that we were in Paris, we were so amazed by how much more flavorful everything is! Berthillon Ice Cream is a specialty ice cream manufacturer that opened up its first store on the Île St. Louis (on the same island as the Notre-Dame, right in the middle of the city). Just a few bites of their ‘chocolate blanc’ was so rich and creamy. We also went to a Restaurant/Patisserie right on the Champs-Elysées called Ladurée. We were told that Ladurée was famous for its bite-sized macaroons and they had tons of flavors, so I tried the most off-the-wall flavor that they had which was ‘rose petal’. It was so delicious…I really don’t think that you could get anything closer to that taste with out eating the actual petals of a rose!
- Vin chaud: Of course all of the ‘vin’ or wine that we had in Paris was amazing, but since it was really cold every day that we were there, our favorite drink to order was hot wine. It also went perfectly with the chèvre chaud!
It was really cool to go around and see all of the landmarks and famous places in Paris, but my favorite times during the trip were just while we were walking through the city and ‘people-watching’. We heard a man playing the accordion on the Metro, I saw a countless number of Parisians wearing berets, and each evening we saw people walking home from work with a long baguette in hand. It also seems a little silly, but I also really enjoyed just being surrounded constantly by the French language. I love hearing it, reading it on signs and menus, and even trying to more or less communicate in French :)
So, right now I’m actually visiting a few friends in Ireland before my program officially starts for the semester in Marseille. It’s been really nice to relax for a few days, but I’m missing Paris already! Maybe I’ll have to visit Paris in the springtime…I’m sure that I’d love it then too :) I’ll be arriving in Marseille and meeting my host family on January 24th and then I will be there the whole semester until I leave on June 1st, so I will try to keep everyone updated on any of my travels and cool things that I experience in Marseille between now and then! (Hmm, it doesn't seem to be working right now, but hopefully I'll be able to put up some pictures between now and then as well!)
A plus tard!
Beth :)
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