Les Vacances: La Loire

And the adventures continue~! After returning from Istanbul, I had a day in Paris before roadtripping down to the Loire Valley with Sarah and her mom, Catherine. On the agenda: visiting four chateaus in the Loire region.

We left Friday afternoon and drove down south in a misty haze. The Loire is actually only 2 hours from Paris. We settled into a CHATEAU called Château Laloin for the night.

After a sumtuous breakfast of tartines, croissants, OJ, coffee, yogurts, I was STUFFED and more than ready to walk off all those cals by exploring some ancient French castles.

First up- Chambord. Most notable part was the famous double spiral staircase that links the three floors. It looks kind of like a strand of DNA.

Cool staircase at Chambord

Next, we visited Cheverny, a magnificent chateau that served as inspiration for Hergé, the author of Tintin. Apparently the most famous castle in his comic books (Marlingspike Hall)  is based on Cheverny. Beautiful interior and exterior of the castle, colorful gardens, and a dog kennel too! There were tons of beagles cooped up in this outdoor kennel! Dogs were necessary for hunting back in the day, and the current owners still keep dogs around. Woof!

Sarah and I at Cheverny

WOOF!

Gardens of Cheverny

We got lost finding our chateau for Saturday night, but luckily the locals of the Loire were extremely nice and helpful. Our chateau was AMAZING. In the morning, we hung out with Rudy, the resident pig who is 150 kilos. He’s also blind.. d’aw.

150 kilo pig named Rudy

On Sunday we visted Chenonceau and Amoise. Chenonceau is on the River Cher. I felt like I was a princess with the lush gardens sprawling across the land. French gardens are very geometric and well groomed.

Chenonceau

Catherine and the gardens at Chenonceau

Lunch time: cider served in bowls and galettes, buckwheat crepes

Next, we visted Amoise, a medieval fortress and royal residence of King Charles the 8th up to François the 1st. The kings often invited European artists to stay at the castle, and Léonardo de Vinci (french spelling… where’s the DA) spent several years here! He is buried on site, so I got to see his grave in the castle chapel. Wooo weird to think of de Vinci’s ghost flying around in the wind.

I think Amboise was my favoirte castle, since it was located on a large hill and provided the best views of the Loire Valley.

Amboise

Amboise, garden, and view of Loire on the right.

As you can see in the picture, there are huge clouds on one half of the sky, and clear skies on the other side. Pretty much sums up the weekend weather. One second it was raining and gross, the next it was sunny. I was switching between umbrella and sunglasses constantly! Too weird.

On our drive back to Paris, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow. A fairytale ending to my princess-y weekend! Merci beaucoup à Sarah et Catherine pour un weekend incroyable!

-A

Les Vacances: Turkey

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Istanbul has everything you could want in a city- there’s a beautiful body of water (Bosphorus Strait), interesting architecture, delicious food, fascinating history, friendly locals, fun bazaar shopping, and a forgiving exchange rate… I’m in!

Three friends and I spent five days in Istanbul. I’ve uploaded a sampling of photos from the trip (there were many more, but I don’t want to overwhelm you!)

Two words could probably describe my experince in Istanbul: SENSORY OVERLOAD. Smells, colors, tastes, sounds… Istanbul streets are constantly bustling with life. Even deserted streets have interesting street art or stray animals scavenging in garbage cans.

I loved walking up and down the hilly streets, ducking into little shops full of clothes, bags, soaps, jewlery. Lining many streets are fruit shops displaying colorful pineapples, oranges, pomegranates for fresh juice. Little street food stands sell bagels, kabobs, and other goodies. The smell of roasting meat for “donner” sandwiches was constantly wafting around. Our group of four fell in love with a little coffeeshop, Cherry Bean Coffees, near our apartment. Little dinky French expressos can’t hold a candle to rich Turkish coffees and satisfying frappuchinos! Yum. Other food highlights: sweet and sticky baklava and fresh fish.

The weather in Istanbul continuously surprised us. Torrential rain, sunshine, wind, clouds… the ever-changing climate reminded me of New England. If you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes and it will change!

We were lucky enough to have a few sunny days, which we spent admiring the Bosphorus by boat. Wind whipping through my hair, I loved sitting in the sunshine and admiring the European coast, and then walking to the other side of the boat and checking out the Asian side. Being near water definitely put me in a summertime mood. I was surprised by how green and lush Turkey is. On one boat cruise we hopped off on the Asian side of Turkey and hiked to the top of a hill. We were treated to an amazing panorama of Turkey…. so cool! On our second boat cruise, we decided to go to one of the Princes Islands, four islands off the coast of Turkey. Even on the island, there was still an abundance of stray animals… very sad to see kittens and puppies curled up near trash bins. There were tons of strays in Istanbul.

Visiting the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia were highlights of the trip for me. We visited these two sites in the same morning, and I was struck by how different I felt at each place. While the Hagia Sophia is now considered a museum, the Blue Mosque is still used by practicing Muslims. Everyone must remove shoes before entering, and women are supposed to cover their heads with a scarf. I don’t usually think of feet as particularly spiritual, but it felt peaceful to pad across the red carpet in bare feet! The mosque was stunning, with beautiful script writing on the walls and geometric designs spanning the ceilings.

Hagia Sophia, on the other hand, was first a church of Constantinople, then a mosque, and is now a museum. Arabic script and geometric designs were prominent, but there were also a few illustrations of Jesus on some walls. Interesting mix. I loved climing to the second floor and looking down at the large main open room. There was also a spectacular exhibition on arabic calligraphy. Such cool aesthetics, with just words! Too bad I can’t read Arabic

Our group got our shopping fix by visiting the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest and largests covered markets in the world. Wikipedia says there are over 3,000 shops and I’d believe it. There’s a labyrinth of stores displaying scarves, tapestries, porcelain bowls, sunglasses, jewlery, antiques, and more. Lots of “evil eyes”, blue eyes that symbolize protection against bad luck and/or evil. We had fun haggling over items with dramatic store owners who frantically typed on calculators and would pretend there was no way they could budge from their high prices.

Istanbul is certainly a different flavor than Paris. A little spicier, hipper, less poised and “Western.” While headscarves for women are explicitly outlawed by secular France, burkas are acceptable and prevalent in Istanbul. I also noticed a cultural difference regarding men in Istanbul. It is socially acceptable for grown men to link arms as they walk down the street! In a clearly platonic manner. I’ve never seen this in the US or in France. It’s so cute!

I felt a little college-like living in a shared space with three other girls. Since I live in a host family in Paris, it has been quite a while since I’ve spent so much continuous time with people my own age. Getting ready together, eating meals and laughing, and taking an obnoxious amount of pictures made me think of living in the dorms at school, even though Istanbul is a far cry from central NY. I’m glad I had such great travel companions while visiting Istanbul. Spicing up my time in Europe with this trip was the perfect amount of culture shock combined with relaxation.

-A

 

Quatre questions: Passover en France

“How is this night different from all other nights?”

It’s a Passover tradition for the youngest child at a Passover seder to ask 4 questions during the seder. Two weekends ago I celebrated Passover AND Easter in Paris. I’ll recap my Passover/Easter weekend in question form!

1. Why is it that you can find brown sugar in any grocery store in the US, but only  large crystals of brown sugar in France? 

Matzoh Crunch!

Answer: I DON’T KNOW! All I know is that I spent a good 30 minutes meandering around the local Carrefour supermarket, searching high and low for some light brown sugar. I volunteered to make dessert for our Saturday night seder. On the menu: matzoh crunch- a tradition in my family. Matzoh crunch involves copious amounts of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate. And, of course, matzoh. (But really, the matzoh is only a excuse for eating the other three ingredients!) I ended up using large crystals of cassonade, regular (not fine) brown sugar. It didn’t caramelize perfectly, mais c’est la vie. Still tasted great, and every last morsel was gobbled up at the end of the seder!

Seder plate on the table- Prête à manger

2. What would be an ideal soundtrack for a seder among college students in their 20s? 

Answer: Top hits from the 90s… After savoring the delicious matzoh ball soup made by our host Hannah, chicken, gefilte fish, charoset, salad, and a few bottles of wine, our group of put-together dinner guests mysteriously regressed into 90s middle schoolers. We put away the haggadahs (which were in French) and enjoyed a lovely sing-a-long to some quality pop music. Props to DJ Nathan.

Reading from haggadahs en français

Bringing seder to rue Mouffetard, chez Hannah

3. What is better than homemade goat cheese quiche?

Answer: NOTHING. On Sunday morning, I celebrated Easter with Cara and Anna by baking a goat cheese quiche. Anna’s host family went away for Easter weekend, and everyone knows, when the cat is away, the mice will play! Je rigole (I’m kidding!) But, it was nice to have free reign of the kitchen and be able to play our own music in the apartment. I’m fairly sure baking a quiche is a not a traditional way of celebrating Easter, but we enjoyed ourselves nevertheless. My two friends reminisced about their own Easter family traditions, and I was glad to be able to celebrate in Paris with them. Our Easter feast also included homemade crepes! Mmmmm!

quiche au chèvre

4. How do you flip a crêpe without using a spatula? 

Answer: By boldly tossing the crêpe in the air and catching it with the pan!

Cara's a pro at flipping crêpes

Crêpe chez Anna

-A

La Flèche d’Or

That’s “flesh of gold” for everyone who doesn’t speak French. Sounds like a horror movie or a creepy pawnshop, eh?

After having a mini-freak out over how little time we have left in Paris, Cara, Anna, and I decided to do some concert research and purchase a few concert tickets for the spring. We might have overwhelmed the guy working at the FNAC store, but after all was said and done we each had 3-4 tickets for concerts held at “La Flèche d’Or,” a concert venue in the 20th arrondissement.

“When I saw the gated exterior, clouds of smoke and grungy hipsters standing around out front, I felt that my choice of 2 euro, screw-top white wine was very appropriate for the evening.” – a lovely quote from Anna’s blog, une cuillère à café.

Here’s a peek of the two shows I attended. Performances by “The Rich Kids,” “Dog is Dead,” “Morning Parade,” and “Tall Ships,” and “Los Campesnios!” My favorite was definitely “Los Campesnios!”, a Welsh band that is probably the most well-known out of this bunch.

Dancing queens

Going to two concerts was a welcome change from the usual walking around, eating, shopping, studying, and site-seeing. It was great to se lâcher, to let loose a little bit and dance to silly indie-rock music. I always want to dance when I’m listening to my iPod in the metro, but I never do since other French commuters would undoubtedly look at me like I have three heads. (I know, I know. It’s usually not socially acceptable to dance randomly in public in any country.)

Anyway, Anna, Cara, and I had a great time dancing during each set. (Cara missed out on the first concert actually, but she made up for lost time when she joined us for the second one!) While most of the older spectators stood on the periphery of the crowd, Anna, Cara, and I were amongst a group of hipster high schoolers right up front. No shame! We came with a mission to dance our socks off, and did so gleefully. The French spectators around us were happy to leave us plenty of space. Cultural difference altert: even at a rock concert, the majority of French people prefer standing and watching instead of dancing. Hmm! A very odd phenomenon, from an outsider’s perspective. My personal theory is that the French are too dignified to work up a sweat outside of a gym…! Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.

Vive la DANSE!

Dancing queens

-A

On being homesick

To preface this post: Over the years, I have rarely gotten homesick. Sleepovers, going to kindergarten, summer camp, going to college… I was always too busy having fun to miss home. 

Nevertheless, homesickness hit me in Paris recently.  And it hit me hard last week after my parents left. Throughout my time in Paris, I haven’t REALLY missed home, the US, or my friends and family. But, with the arrival and subsequent departure of my parents, I felt farther from home than ever before.

What is home?

“There’s no place like home!”says Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Home is comfort, stability, familiarity, safety. It’s the people, places, foods, and customs that you know like the back of your hand.

For me, home is taking a running start and flopping onto my little purple twin bed. Eating my favorite cereal and leisurely reading the Sunday paper. Sneaking up and giving my parents a big hug while they prepare dinner. Watching the neighborhood dogs frolic around the nearby conservation land. Sliding around in socks on wood floors. It’s sunlight streaming through a window on a fall afternoon. The smell of burning leaves. The corny little things that are important to me, but insignificant to others.

Home is part of my identity. Maybe it’s not a place, but a state of mind.

There’s no real translation for “home” in French. They usually use “chez moi” to refer to “home.” However, “chez” can also be used in other contexts. Like, Je vais chez le dentist. (I’m going to the dentist.) How can a dentist possibly be connected with the idea of home?! Semantically, chez is more of a physical place or a destination than home. Kind of an interesting difference.

Paris is a temporary home. I feel settled and comfortable navigating around the city. It’s a home, but it’s not my home. I love the excitement of the city, the attitude of the women strutting in heels in the metro, the smell of freshly baked croissants, the couples canoodling in the public gardens. But sometimes I crave often-boring suburban Massachusetts.

Dorothy has her magic red shoes to transport her home. Come on, modern technology! By 2050, we better be using super-powered shoes instead of cars and planes. And they better be sparkly.

Anyway, I found that my homesickness has dissipated after about a week. Kind of like a nagging runny nose that you just have to let run its course. Yes, I did just compare missing my parents to boogers. This is my blog, I do what I want. Please don’t take tissue with my comment. (haaaaa jokes).

Cara soaking up the Paris sun

My bout of homesickness has cleared up just in time for springtime! So beautiful in Paris. Just check this recent picture taken in the Jardin de Luxemburg.

Happy Easter/Passover to all!

-A

Pegs and Peter in PARIS

What’s better than living in Paris? Having two of my favorite people ever visit, that’s what! My parents came to spend seven days in the city. Wahoo! The only thing missing from our week together was, of course, my lil sister! We missed you, Jules!

I loved having my parents around and showing them some of my favorite spots.

Here’s a sparknotes version of my/our week:

-Going to a Jewish Deli for dinner with my parents, Sarah, and her mother and having the creepy and unattractive waiter tell me I was beautiful and shoud be a movie star… awkward… nice try, “Nice Jewish Boy.”

– Trying escargot for the first time.

– Walking to the Bastille only to realize that a manifestation was going on! There was a rally for the left-wing presidential hopeful, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Lots of red, lots of communism. The place was hoppin’.

-Attending a Vivaldi concert at Saint Chapelle church. The architecture inside and out was stunning, as was the music performed by a quartet. A very cool experience.

-Having a random French guy on the street tell my dad that he looked like he came from MIT. ?? Very odd.

-Walking along the Champ de Mars, the park near the Eiffel Tower.

-Going to a restaurant that incorporated chocolate into every dish. They pulled it off! I never imagined meat could possibly have a chocolate sauce, but I guess so! Best part of the meal was DESSERT- a chocolate soufflé shared with my friend Cara.

-Laughing at my mom’s facial expression when she saw the neighborhod where I live. (It is somewhat sketchy with lots of people hawking cigarettes and fake Louis Vuitton bags.) Don’t worry!! I will be a-ok.

-Climbing to the top of Monmartre and seeing Sacre-Coeur on a beautiful sunny day.

-Hearing a jazz concert at a hip and fun place that also had indian food (which I happened to be craving!)

-Turning in my first two papers of the semester. One was eight pages and the other one three… both all in French. Oy vey. Or should I say merde. Don’t excuse my French (hahaaa jokes.)

-Seeing a collison of worlds- host family and real family. Gaston the baby was hamming it up in front of my parents- he loves running around, laughing, and using anything as a makeshift hat.

Enjoy the slideshow!

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-A

Swan Lake sans Natalie Portman

Second row- not too shabby!

Thanks to my fantastique study abroad program, I got to attend the ballet in March! After class on a Tuesday night, I rushed off to Opéra Comedia for a showing of Swan Lake performed by a Russian dance troupe.

I had very cheap tickets. Nevertehless, the usher told me there were extra seats in the front if I wanted to move up… YES! Cue victory dance! The usher led me through the seats until we arrived in the second row. “Voilà!” she said. I sat waiting for the show to start, hardly believing my luck!

I felt just like the little 6 year old girl who was sitting to my left, staring adoringly at the beautiful costumes the ballerinas and ballerinos were wearing. I was so close that I could see the sweat on the performers! Ick. I could also see how INCREDIBLY skinny some of the ballerinas were- yikes. Somebody give those girls some hamburgers or something. Maybe some French cheese would do the trick.

The music washed over me and I was transported into the beautiful scenes with the black swan, the white swan, the prince, and the chorus of dancers. (Is chorus the right word? You know, the backup dancers who sway around while the leads take the spotlight.) Of course, I couldn’t help thinking about how the real ballet compares to the movie, The Black Swan!

All in all, a very cool experience. Only downside: the three (three!) couples sitting very close to me who decided to engage in too much PDA during the intermissions. (French PDA quickly becoming a theme of my semester, if you couldn’t tell.)

-A

In the land of waffles and beer… Belgium!

On Saturday March 10 at 6 AM I found myself on the steps of the Opéra Garnier with around 50 other people, awaiting a bus that would take us to Bruges and Brussels for the weekend. We blearily settled into our seats for the 4ish hour ride, arriving in beautiful Bruges around noon.

Impressions: Bruges was picturesque. Canals weave through the city, and people on bikes flood the streets. There are swans in the water! And beautiful old European churches. My friend Anna and I spent the afternoon eating, getting somewhat lost, and eating some more.

A cloudy Bruges

Historic center square- apparently there's a movie called Bruges and at the end the main character commits suicide off of the top of that spire-thing 😦

Frites! Bad for the body, good for the soul.

Chocolate hens and a street view of Bruges

BELGIAN WAFFLES

Anna and I took a long and tiring detour around the city- aka we got lost! It was worthwhile, though, because we had friendly encounters with a Belgian couple walking a golden retriever and three British teenage girls on bikes. But fear not, we meandered our way back into the center of the city- at a serious sugar and energy low and ready to consume our first Belgian waffles! I wasn’t expecting much, to be honest. I’m more of a pancake girl than a waffle fiend. BUT- the waffles we scarfed down in Bruges BLEW MY MIND. It was like eating a sugary donut in waffle form, but even better. Nothing like the dry, regular breakfast waffles that need maple syrup puddles in their square pockets in order to be edible. Real Belgian waffles are made with batter that contains yeast. Hm! I tried mine with some whipped cream. Perfection. After demolishing the waffles, Anna and I rejoined the group for the bus ride to Brussels.

Brussels: Slightly more modern than Bruges. An interesting twist of modern/old. After getting situated at the youth hostel, I went exploring with some friends in the program. The area around our hostel was very dead for a Saturday night! However, we walked to the main center and found plenty of restaurants, bars, and waffles stands.

Cool ceiling decoration at Delirium Café

On Sunday, we enjoyed walking the city by day. Cute little craft fair, lots of chocolate shops. I enjoyed the street art, which included cartoons!

View from hostel in the morning

Mannekin Pis, the little boy who peed on Brussels to save it from a fire!

Firework cartoon outside of a Firework shop!

Returned to Paris tired from walking, full from chocolate, and very content!

-A

Putting the “study” in study abroad…

Kickin' it at le bibliothèque @ Centre Pompidou

Why the lag in blog posts? I’ve actually had a good amount of work these past few weeks. Yuck. I decided to finally set foot in a library last Saturday. (Yes, I had gone the whole semester without going to a library.)

To enter any Parisian library, you have to wait in a long line. WAIT IN LINE? I am an impatient Américaine. Waiting in line for an hour or more just to sit at a desk is simply not my style. If anyone figures out why the French do this, please let me know. Google search is failing me.

Nevertheless, I schleped my books and computer through the metro, arriving at the Centre Pompidou at 11 sharp, when the public library opens. Of course, there was already a line snaking around the building… but I was surprised to find it only took me 20 mins to get through the door.

I plopped myself down at an open seat and tried to channel some productive vibes. Too bad the French people around me were busy making out (French PDA, jeesh). All in all, there’s some pretty good people watching at the library.

Creepin' on studious French people

If library architecture is your jam, here’s a link from the NYT: http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/travel/05journeys.html?pagewanted=all

More posts coming soon! I have a lot to update on!

-A

Long time, no blog

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while! Busy, busy! But don’t worry! Still alive and kicking, as evidenced by picture above.

Some quick recaps:

First weekend in March: Four Hamilton students visited Paris for the weekend! Cara and I served as ‘tour guides’, taking Katie, Bekah, Rachel, and Mike all around the city. Nobody has visited me yet, and it was pretty cool to be cosidered the ‘local’ (even though I still don’t know where I’m going most of the time! Our group was consulting a map near the Arc de Triomphe at one point and a sassy French girl yelled to us from her car “Hey! Where did you buy that map?” haha… I’d make fun of us, too.)

On our agenda: the Louvre, Eiffle Tower, eating delicious crepes we found for 2 euro, walking past the Opéra, walking down the Champs-Élysees, seeing the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Co., drinking wine, eating cheese, baguettes, and apples, going out on rue Mouffetard, drinking coffee in the Deux Moulins (café from the movie Amélie), seeing Monmartre, the Sacré-Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, buying berets (here’s looking at you Bekah..! She pulled it off, too.) Phew!

My favorite memory of the weekend had to be going super close to the Eiffel Tower. It was actually my first time getting up close and personal with the famous monument even though I’ve been living here for 6ish weeks. Our group arrived just before sunset, as the sky was darkening. I’m just putting it out there- the Eiffel Tower is just OK in the daylight. Sure, it’s super tall and romantic-looking with some straight and rigid, some swirling bits of metal majestically coming together in that unique and renouned “A”. BUT at night. Let me tell you. That thing sparkles and shines like a smiling beacon of light over all of Paris. I’m not even a sucker for girly, glittery, or shiny things, but I was smitten when, at the top of the hour, the tower began flashing. It wasn’t a “hey! look at me while I gouge out your eyes with my erratic beams of light” type of flash. More of a “I am gracefully shinning down on you with fabulous white sophisticated rays of beauty.” When it started blinking, all the tourists around us made this hushed “oooooh” sound. Everyone turned towards the tower and watched, mesmerized. Here’s a picture of the Eif-tow at night:

Last week’s highs and lows:

Low: Going to the Office of Immigration to get a physical exam. This is mandatory for my long stay visa (issued from the Boston consulate, those lucky dogs from NYC didn’t have to do it!) I arrive a little before 9 AM and walk through all these sickly-looking people waiting outside. Sketch. I check in and am told to wait. Wait wait wait wait. Over an hour. French bureaucracy, you kill me. Finally, I advance to a new room and am told to wait some more. I get weighed and measured by cute old ladies who are all about redheads and thought I was ‘très jolie’. They were cute! Next I had to go into a little room and get half-naked so I could have an X-Ray. Real weird. Went to another doctor and answered medical questions in French (very hard) and FINALLY advanced to the final part. More waiting. Had to go OUT of the office to buy stamps to complete my application (there was a spelling error on the website so every single person had to do this…) FINALLY handed in the full folder of info and walked out the door, a free woman at last at 12:30. Officially cleared to stay in France/Europe until June!

High #1: One of my classes included taking a ride on the Bateaux Mouches, the famous tourboats on the Seine. It felt very toursity, but I liked seeing Paris from the water. Brrr… it was a bit cold, though!

High #2: On Thursday night, I participated in a cuisine workshop chez Rosabelle, a friendly woman who leads these workshops for Americans in her home! On the menu: salade sucrée-salée au saumon fumé, blanquette de veau, and tarte au citron. We started cooking around 9 and did not sit down to eat until 11! The time flew by as we chopped veggies, melted butter, juiced lemons, etc. The food was BEYOND AMAZING. The salad had apples, imitation crab instead of salmon, and a nice vinaigrette, The blanquette de veau was a creamy concoction with veal, onions, carrots served over taglianni pasta. My favorite part was the lemon tarte- delicious shortbread crust and a tangy lemon filling. I forgot how much I love lemon desserts! (hint, hint, family!) I was totally stuffed by the end of the night, but calories well spent.

I’ll update soon on my weekend in Brussels!

-A