FOOOOD

Lentils: For the times that I eat too much cheese and feel fat. 

Chocolate Mousee: for the times when I don't care about feeling fat

Steak Frites: Because I can't afford to actually eat this in a bistro

Croque Madame: My new favorite sandwich. Mostly because it's covered in cheese and butter

This is actually pre-packaged creme things with oeufs. OMG IF ONLY EVERY PRE-PACKAGED DESSERT TASTED LIKE THESE. I'm going to really miss these when I come back from France..

Okay, so it took me a month of living here, but I think I'm finally staring to get where I'm going and not look like an idiot all the time. It's sort of an amazing thing, I walked around the Latin Quarter today and I knew where I was going for pretty much the whole time. I had such a game plan since my classes didn't start until 2. I decided for days that I have large blocks of time, I will not return back to my foyer and just sit here. I need to go out and see Paris while I'm here. And I feel it's best to experience it on days that most tourists aren't around anyways (even though I feel like there are ALWAYSS tourists around)! I wanted to find this church that has the last rood screen in Paris, which is this GORGEOUS double staircase seating that leads up to this little alter where the chorus and monks used to sit to separate them from the parishinars. I realized that this church I wanted to see is one in the same that contains the ruins of Sainte-Gennevieve, one of the patron Saints of Paris. It has hours that it's open.. I got there at 12:10 and it closed at noon.. Therefore, I have to go back. Then I decided since it was starting to get closer to the time I had class, I would continue my voyage in the latin quarter to discover other new things!

I wanted to find Eglise de Saint-Julien le Pauvre because one: it's close to the building where my grammar class is held and two: it's the oldest church in Paris. I realize it's pretty much right across the street from the church I saw yesterday, Saint-Severin. It's really tiny and adorable, but unfortunately, it was closed as well! This one I don't even know when to go back to it because there wasn't any hours listed on the building!
I just looked it up.. it was closed the time I got there too... it's only closed for 2 hours during the day and I happened to miss both of them (it's okay.. I can go Monday, I don't have class until 2 again then as well).

Behind it there is the great little park/square. It's called Square Rene-Viviani. It's adorable and it just happens to overlook Notre Dame. It's weird when you realize how close everything is! It freaked me out a little bit! Then I wandered back toward Boulevard Saint Michel searching for this crepe stand that has a galette batter that is made completely with buckwheat. I wasn't super hungry, but I was dying to try one since I haven't had a crepe yet since I've been here!! On the way, I discovered Shakespeare and Co (a little late I know..)I found the crepe stand and I got one filled with Emmentaler cheese. It was overflowing with gooey  deliciousness! I think I may have found my new lunch spot! And for 2.50 euro, how can you go wrong (I stupidly forgot to take a photo, so therefore I'm just GOING to have to go back. Oh darn)! Afterwards, I realized just how close it was to my class so I started to try to run back to get to Boulevard Saint-Germain. I realized that the creperie is extremely close to my building and that I can go there every day before class (but I feel like that is not a good thing for my waistline)!

After class I realized that that little park I was in before is right past my building! So if I had gone out the other way, I would've just been at my building! Basically this is the best thing ever! I can eat my crepe in a lovely little park and look at Notre Dame!

I may have not been able to see the inside of any of the churches I wanted to today, but I have started to learn my way around the latin quarter and start to feel a little more Parisian and less like a tourist (even though some guy standing outside a restaurant wanting me to eat there was all "American" and I ignored him then as I walked away he said "Boston" and I turned and looked at him rather coyly and then just walked away).

Encore!

I'm really sorry that I'm so terrible at this whole updating thing! I should get in the habit of doing shorter blurbs so  I don't feel like these are huge time wasters.

I finally start class tomorrow (well the rest of them besides grammar), so I'm pretty excited about that. I have 2 lectures. One is 19th and 20th century literature and art and the other is French gastronomy (my dream class, I know). Also, I start a phonetics class and the aspect of speaking French normally terrifies me, let alone when I need to do it and be graded on it.. But nonetheless it'll be good to do something with my time and improve my French. I feel like it's already starting to get a little bit better!

So this week I didn't do too much since I had grammar still. I managed to swtich from elementaire (low intermediate which made me want to throw bricks at everyone in my class) to intermediate! Also, my new professor is FANTASTIC! She is this skinny, tall French woman who waves her arms around a alot and gestures and makes silly faces. She's my kind of French professor!

But I did go to Musee d'Orsay twice this week. I've gone through almost all of the museum at this point I believe. And the last time was the first that I remembered about the glass floor you walk on to look at a mini model of part of Paris surrounding the Opera Garnier (the Opera House). It was really wild. And they have a sick decorative arts collection!

This weekend was terrible. Not in the sense of what I did, but weather-wise. It was cold and rainy and miserable to be outside for more than five minutes. Saturday I got a library card! I'm glad my professor made us do it! I already managed to find the cookbooks in the library right around the corner from my foyer! In front of the library is an open air market! I think I'm going to make it a goal to buy food from there before I go. I'm too scared to now and that I'll order too much of something. I need to get a better grasp on this metric system first! Also, I  hung out with Jessie. We visited L'Arc de Triomphe, tried to go to the Louvre and realized it was CRAZY busy and left, and then went to Fodour for chocolates! OMG! They were my first Parisian chocolates and boy did they NOT dissapoint! It was a really fun day just wandering around Paris, even if the weather was worse for wear.

Sunday I went with Maureen and her parents to Versailles. I didn't expect to go visit it so soon! It was magnificant and really is a grand chateau! Everything had such detail and no stone was left unturned when it came to decorating that place! They really put a lot of thought into it! It was really cold to walk/take a little trolly to Grand Trianon, but that was still pretty too. Not as fancy since it wasn't in Louix XIV style, but it still had an opulence to it.

That's about it for now. Wish me luck on classes this week!

L'Autre Ville

So I visited London 2 weekends ago, as you may well know. It was a jolly good place. There were so many circumstances occurring that should have told me to just go back. Its honestly amazing that  I made it there. First,  I realized I couldn't bring a lot of my toiletries because I was just bringing a carry-on, so I had to quickly repack. Then, I wanted to take the Orlybus, which is this bus that directly connects to the Orly airport (and it was cheaper than taking the RER B). And so  I decided to seek this out, already being later than I wanted to leave. But  I wandered and found it. I didn't have enough euros in coins (the machine only accepts coin money or European credit cards). So I walked back to the station, trying to find someplace to get change. There was a newspaper stand so I bought a French Cosmo for a euro and got enough coins. Then I bought the ticket. And I got on the bus fine. Little did I remember there is such a thing as rush hour, and it took longer than anticipated to get to the airport. I then realized there were 2 points to get off at: West and South. For some reason, something told me to get off at west. It turns out, that was the right one. I only got off there because a lot of people were, including the nice lady who talked to me when I first got on the bus. I checked in at 5:41 and my plane was planned to leave at 6:25. I just breezed through security and customs and whatnot. Then I sat in the area closest to where I was supposed to board. It was 6:21 and I heard some guy blabbering stuff on the overhead and I realized that I should be on my plane by now. I went to the other side and they changed where the plane was boarding! So I got on with 4 minutes to spare. Then I walked out to the plane. It was the tiniest thing I've ever seen. It was very bizarre. Other than that, everything went fine. I took the DLR, which was an amazing entrance into the city (it's the overground metro that brings you into the city center). After that  I got to experience the tube, which was SOOO MUCH cleaner and nicer than the Paris metro (it looks so skanky but can hold a lot more people)! Then I met Emmett!

We went out to this Italian restaurant that has a fabulous gluten free menu. Already this is a plus from Paris, which really doesn't cater to gluten free people at ALL. It's so hard to find things here.. We split an appetizer salad composed of arugula, mozzarella (so fresh and creamy), roasted peppers (so wonderful) and it had a lovely italian ham (proscuitto?) on it. It was great. Then I had a pasta dish with shredded zucchini, parmesan, chili flakes and garlic on top. YUMM. It was so great. For dessert we split a chocolate thing with Kaluha and almonds mixed in. That was fantastic as well. Also, it was the most filling thing ever. I haven't realized how little I eat now until I had that meal. It was the most filling thing ever.

Saturday, we did a lot of toursity things. I was amazed at how they pack all their landmark and tourist places in a 5 miles span. Paris is so spread out compared to London in this regard! Saw lots of awesome stuff at the National Galleries, a thing going on for Egypt in Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, West Minister Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. We ate at a great Hong Kong Cafe in China town as well! After all that walking around on the most beautiful sunny day London has seen in a long time, we went to a pub for dinner. I had sausage, baked beans and chips with a pear hard cider on the side. It was great, but really filling again (It was the theme of this trip).

Sunday, we went to Camden Market. I was obsessed with going to a London Market. To me, this screamed London more so than the other traditional landmarks. I think "What a Girl Wants" put that idea into my head. Haha. I bought an awesome photograph (I decided to collect a piece of artwork from every city I visit as my "tourist" purchase), a dress and a vintage belt. Gotta buy vintage in London! It's what it's known for! It was amazing to see all the differnet stands. If I had more money I would've bought a TON more clothes.

Finally, weary and in a daze, I took a plane back to Paris and successfully made it back to my foyer. First international weekend: success thanks to my wonderful friend Emmett!

La Vie Parisienne

Sorry for the lapse in updates! I've been busy living life in ol' Paris. Since my first post I hope that I've become a little more aware of the city and have started to settle into life here. For instance, I refuse to step in anything wet on the sidewalk, thanks to the metro training (most if not all of them reek of stale urine). Maureen taught me all about the gypsy scams (she and Ariana got scammed outside Notre Dame). It's really interesting what they do. They have clipboards so you think it's a petition. They of course pretend they can't speak. You go to sign the clipboard only to find that it's dollar amounts that previous suckers have put down as to how much you need to give them. I guess they keep telling you to give more, but c'est la vie. Oh! And in my first weekend being here, I almost got my bag pickpocketed! I was on the metro and some girl who looked like she was twelve but had hickies covering her next was standing next to me. She looked a little sketchy, but that was only because her neck looked like someone tried to swallow it. Then she placed her hand above my purse (which i wasn't holding the zipper) and she placed her jacket over her hand. I soon after realized what was happening and saw that my zipper was slightly opened. I zipped it back up and glared at her, letting her know that I was on to her. Then she moved to the other side of the car. Luckily nothing was stolen because my purse was incredibly stuffed with crap and all the useless things were at the top! Now I hold my back to make sure.

I've already been in at least 11 of the 20 arrondissements of Paris (the way the city is divided up). I've been to Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre twice, each time getting more lost than the previous. The Louvre is really not a force to be reckoned with. It can get you lost so fast that you're so much more exhausted after you leave it because you have to spend at least 20 minutes wandering through rooms to get to an exit. There's too much to see. It's ridiculous. The sheer size of the place still puts me in awe.

Also, I have become more obsessed with chocolate than I ever though possible. Not just chocolate, but more importantly chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). Swiss Miss has absolutely NOTHING on this stuff. It's so thick and creamy that it coats a spoon and expands three times its size in your stomach. It provides me with the best warmth on a cold day. Going to Angelina's (the best in Paris) was certainly a treat for my taste-buds that  I wish I could share with all of you. It was a euphoric experience, especially to a chocoholic.

Oh and another thing I would like to note, is how freaking expensive it is here! I have barely eaten dinner at restaurants because it's so expensive. Even buying  food is detrimental to my bank account. I am amazed that I got 1 hamburger, a can of oringina, a bottle of water and potato chips and it cost me 4(euro)45! It's nuts! No wonder people aren't fat here! It's too expensive to eat anything! At least if you're on a student budget! I don't even eat anything insane and try to buy the cheapest of everything. Except being gluten free is definitely a  struggle. Bread is without a doubt the cheapest thing that France has to offer. It's 50 cents for a demi baguette... I have to pay 4euro for 4 slices of G-free bread. All my friends say "at least you won't be fat", which I guess is true. Once more, I don't mind so much that I can't have it is the convience factor of it. France definitely makes it hard for gluten free people to eat. The cheapest lunches are sandwiches and crepes, both of which contain wheat. I bring my own lunch though so it sort of eliminates that problem. It's just annoying. Also, the gluten free food options I have found are much more limited than in the states, even at a bio-coop! Anyways, I will keep exploring. I've found more options of places that sells gluten free food and will continue my conquest to eat the cheapest I can with my diet (rice cakes are seeming to be my answer).