Jardin de Tuilieries

Bonjour!

The weather forecast predicted it would be raining today until Sunday! Despite the fact I lived in San Francisco for 2 years and consciously made the decision to move to Paris, two cities known for their overcast and damp weather, I cannot seem to function right when it rains. I feel unmotivated and have no sense of time. Thankfully, today the weather forecast was inaccurate and we got some sunshine and no rain. So, in order to take advantage of this lucky weather I opened up my Paris Pratique (an essential guide that all of us students have here) and looked for a nearby park to read in. Thanks to my central location, there was one very nearby--and this time I didn't forget my camera.

Voila! Jardin de Tuileries (Tuileries Garden)

A great thing about these "Jardins" is that they provide chairs, perfect to get comfy with a good book!

D'accord, c'est tout!
Michael

Meanwhile, in Paris...

Hello everyone!

Sorry for a delay in updates but I just can't bring myself to update as often as I should for some odd reason. I've completed my month-long intensive French course and now have a two week gap until my classes begin at my Paris University on October 11th. What to do, what to do? I actually miss having class already, having a structure to my day and some sort of routine kept me out of trouble. Trouble meaning spending money aimlessly and sleeping in excessively.

I've tried to stay productive though, walking the streets of my neighborhood I've discovered that I live near Victor Hugo's mansion. For those of you who do not know who that is, he wrote and created Les Miserables. There are a few (smaller) museums around here that I have to yet to enter but it's nice to know my "quartier" is it's own historical hub waiting for me to indulge myself.

Today a friend and I found ourselves at the Shakespeare & Company bookstore. I'm not entirely sure why it's so well known/a tourist hot spot but it is the first English bookstore I have found. I really enjoyed myself in there and I'm definitely going to take anyone who visits me there as well.

Earlier today my friends and I met up for lunch at a Thai Cafe whereupon I ordered some nice Hot n' Spicy soup along with Thai Curry Rice since I have been deprived of my mother grain for quite some time. Unfortunately the soup had copious amounts of chicken in it, something not mentioned in the menu, but I had to deal by shamelessly pushing it to the side of the bowl. It has been 2 1/2 years since I've eaten poultry, beef, or pork but I can't help but wonder if it would be worth breaking my Pescatarian-streak* here in Paris for the sake of culture. Parisian cuisine is something highly regarded as some of the best in the world so am I limiting myself by not giving in? At this point in my life and my diet I don't think I would get sick if I ate meat since I still eat seafood but I don't know if I could consciously order a meal with meat and then bring myself to put fork and knife to plate and consume. I have a year to ponder this I guess...

Hopefully be back soon with pictures!
Michael

*Pescatarian: A vegetarian who eats fish and other seafood.

Tour de Cuisine!

The organization that everyone in my program is studying through, MICEFA, arranges a few field trips throughout the year for us students. They aren't free mind you, but are really more apart of our pre-paid costs for Study Abroad. We've taken a walking tour through an area of Paris called Belleville where a plethora of artists have taken residence, the boat tour previously mentioned in this blog, a trip to French countryside in the town of Provins, and others that I am not aware of yet.

Today however, was the Tour de Cuisine! We had the opportunity not really to learn how to cook but mainly just a couple recipes. We were divided into pairs and 8 of us prepared the desserts while the other 8 prepared the "main dishes."

Our first task was to make a chocolate mousse which was fairly simply. Melt chocolate, whisk egg whites, caramelize sugar, combine with the rest. After that we put them in the fridge to be chilled.

Second, we made some croissants! (The dough was pre-made.) We filled them with "tomme" which is a certain type of cheese, oregano, and walnuts. We then based them with egg yolk and sprinkled them with sesame seeds.

Other groups made pasta dishes, something very similar to a samosa but with ricotta and honey (one of my favorites), a dish resembling ceviche, and cookies. Great finger food. A few of us are going to search for cooking classes that will actually teach us technique but for something fun to do with friends this was a great activity!

Bon appétit!
Michael

Oh, France...

Sometimes when you are in a place that is completely out of your element and out of your comfort zone you just have to laugh. There have been many situations here where I'm sure some would crack down and call it quits but I've found each experience to be rather amusing and just laugh at myself and think it could be much, much worse.

A couple funny experiences thus far:

1. I did a load of wash at a local laundromat and purchased the detergent from a local grocery store. However, due to the fact that I just grabbed what I saw was a good deal and without much thought, it turns out I did that entire load of laundry with fabric softener and NOT with detergent soap. Ha! At least everything smelled good right?

2. I got a haircut at a department store near my place because it has been the cheapest place I've seen since being here. Unfortunately due to my inability to communicate what I wanted I ended up looking like I was leaving for the Marines! The barber continuously said "un petite court?" which means something along the lines of "A little short?" and I thought he meant he was going to CUT OFF a little but really he meant he was going to LEAVE a little on my head! At least I won't need to get a haircut for a while...

I've not encountered too many sassy French people as they are typically generalized but rather view the French or more precisely Parisians the same as any big city folk. Some people are nice and patient, others are not.

Have a good day everyone!
Michael

I'm alive!

Greetings everyone,

Still no internet at my place but I've managed to swoop some for the time being. I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing great. Although, I think I have food poisoning. I am not let it bringing me down! I am getting better but I've learned that toilet seat covers do NOT exist in Europe. Not fun. Oh well.. when in Rome..

My roommate and I have been going to the farmers market that happens near our place every Sunday. Massive amounts of vegetables/fruits for very cheap! A tip we picked up was that if you go towards the end, vegetables are literally being thrown at you. Kind of a gamble with the quality though so choose wisely.

It's pretty hectic and very crowded. The vendors are constantly yelling out prices and especially towards the end when everything gets cheap because they don't want to haul all their veggies back. The picture at the beginning of this entry is in the center of a massive and incredibly complex traffic circle near the farmer's market.

Sundays here are quite difficult other than the farmers market. Everything is closed! Since we live above a synagogue we have been experiencing (whether we want to or not) the Jewish holidays that come and pass. Such as Yom Kippour.

Shabbot Shalom!
Michael

McDo!

Alright guys,

I've moved into my new place and we don't have internet for the time being so I am currently at a McDonalds or as it is called here: "MacDo" {pronounced: Mac-Dough} And I'm just here checking on things. Not really the best place to upload photos so this post won't have too much going on.

I haven't been up to much, just continuing with my classes and figuring out the day-to-day life of Paris. This weekend I plan on going to a huge Farmers Market and get some fresh veggies and fruits.

There was a strike here on Tuesday, many of the metro lines were either delayed or closed entirely. It is interesting to see a city so politically involved and ready to discuss the latest news at the drop of a hat. It's definitely an eye opener. I should really read up on my current events though...

Hope everyone is doing well and I promise to get back to regular updates with photos as soon as I can!

Bonsoir!
Michael

P.S. I have to get a haircut here soon, eek! Je suis nerveux!

C'est la rentree!

There's an expression here in Paris or rather, a phenomenon. "C'est la rentree!" (The return.) This is when the majority of Parisians will leave the city for the month (or sometime during) of August for their vacation and then return sometime towards the end of August and/or the beginning of September. It is becoming more and more apparent as the metros and the streets are filled with more and more people.

Not much to report here, class started on Monday and it is essentially a French refresher course which has been nice. I've been pushing myself to really participate in class, more so than I would have back at SFSU. There's more of a motivation here.

Everyone here in my hostel from the CSU - IP program have started to or are in the final stages of finding housing and by Sunday we all need to move out and go live off on our own! Somewhat. We still have class together for the rest of the month, some of us are living together, and some of us are even going to the same University. It's gonna be tough not to have everyone just up the stairs from me but it's time to burst the California safety bubble!

And just so this entry isn't completely colorless enjoy this sunset as I did on the terrace with my new friends:

Bisous de Paris!
Michael