Sorry for lack of posts in a week hope ya haven't missed me too much! Just to sum it up it's definitely fall here and is FREEZING. Jk I'm being dramatic it's not that cold. But fall is fun so it's all good. Here are a few highlights:
Snack & Chill: I discovered maybe my favorite study café in Paris. Natalie and I have joked about this place a lot since from the outside it looks like the smallest grody little American spin off. But it's a block away from out apartment hidden on a quiet little side street in the 7th. I walked in Monday afternoon to give it a shot because the wifi wasn't working at coutume and was greeted by the nicest smiling French woman at the counter. I looked at the menu and they had tons of snacks ranging from cookies to chips to yogurt to speculos milkshakes! They also had a good assortment of sandwiches, bagels, and salads. I got a coffee (which was cheap! But still a good cup of coffee and came with a piece of dark chocolate). There was basically no one there except for a dad and his son who had stopped in for a snack so it was quiet, and the chairs were pretty comfy, and it was clean - the perfect working environment! While I was working flocks of little French children kept coming in (after school presumably) to buy hot chocolate and candy bars to go. I was surprised by how homey it felt and pretty French despite the very clear American name. Very very pleasant surprise.
Esky: Tuesday's are always a long school day, so Natalie Ben and I stopped here quickly between classes to grab lunch. It's probably the closest thing you'll get to a French health store as possible. They have assorted sandwiches and salads and Natalie and I got these shrimp rice paper sushi burrito things which were good.
Parc aux Cerfs: Tuesday night we had the option of dining with one of the old presidents of EDUCO at this restaurant in the montparnasse area. Hey, free food. So Ben Natalie and I signed up. The restaurant was actually AWESOME. And the professor was really cool. She still teaches at Duke so I might try and take a class with her when I get back. In typical EDUCO fashion we had a three course meal accompanied by a few bottles of wine. I had an eggplant millefeuille with prosciutto followed by magret de canard in a polenta purée and finished up with a nice lemon tart with basil ice cream.
 |
| Millefeuille d'Aubergine |
Wednesday started off being a great day - Ben and I made a French friend in our Econ class (he asked us when Bill Clinton was president and we didn't know so we googled it), and then yves rocher was handing out free nailpolish and coupons for students outside our school! So that put me in a pretty good mood.
Affordable Yoga and Fitness: Wednesday I decided to take a Pilates class through this company that liv's friend Anna said was good. They have a few locations in Paris and hold fitness classes like yoga Pilates bare and Zumba for only 5 euros a class! You have to bring your own mat and the classes are very crowded but I'd say it was worth the 5 euros for sure. My class was in a pretty run down building (hence 5 euros) but I've heard their other studios are nicer. You have to bring your own mat which is semi inconvenient but fine as long as you plan ahead. All the classes are also taught in English. I kind of want to try a class in French somewhere else though haha. Everyone was also very friendly and it was clear there were regulars so I'm definitely going to try and do classes more often! Nice break from running.
Cojean: this is a health food store chain in Paris that is kind of like eske but I think is way better. They have a bunch of different pre made salads that have tons of "superfoods" like kale and quinoa along with some sandwiches oatmeal muesili coconut yogurt and things like that. They also have hot meals like soups of the day and risottos of the day. I got some spinach soup and the "superfood jaune" salad which had quinoa, lentil hummus, almonds, and a bunch of veggies. It's a nice break if you're feeling trendy and healthy. They also have juices and smoothies if you're in need of a ~detox~
Thursday morning I went on a run around the Tuileries gardens and discovered this really strange but really cool exhibit (spoiler alert: I went back later in the day, details to come) then I wandered my way over to class at EDUCO walking around and settled at jockey for a few hours before class to study. It was really busy so not an awesome place to study - better for lunch.
Pierre Hermé: after class on Thursday Natalie and I decided to go to Pierre hermé to get macaroons for christels birthday. Our macaron teacher said they're the best in Paris so we decided it was a must. Evan and wheeler decided to join us and we ended up waiting in a preeeetty long line. It's a veeeery fancy pastry shop. They have really interesting flavors like creme brûlée, passion fruit orange cream cheese, jasmin tea, rose, etc etc. and they're beautiful. So we got a box for christel and each got one for ourselves. But as we were checking out I supported these AMAZING looking croissants which are called "Ispahan Croissants". And when I looked at the description I was sold. It was a croissant with a rose almond filling covered in a rose icing and crunchy freeze dried raspberries. If you don't know this already I love almond, and raspberries. Although the croissant was cold it was still unreal.
Vin Chaud: after Pierre hermé, Evan wheeler and I wandered over to the Tuileries gardens where we got some "vin chaud" (hot wine with cinnamon" from one of the cafés. The hot wine was so good! Like apple cider but alcoholic haha. The leaves are changing colors and despite it being freezing and overcast (as Paris usually is) it was still picturesque. They were also setting up all these statues in the gardens (like big thumbs, and animal heads of the animals of the Chinese calendar in the pond) hard to explain. But there is always some new art piece going up in les Jardins des Tuileries, they're usually only there for a few weeks before a new one comes. They might have had something to do with the exhibit I saw.
350: speaking of the exhibit... Evan wheeler and I went! Told ya it was coming! I'm still not really sure what it is for but there are 4 small little buildings at the entrance of the gardens that are really interestingly shaped and have lots of fancy lights. We only went inside two of them cause lines were long but they seem to be cool light/sound shows inside each of them. One is called "color" one is called "listen" one is called "create" and I forget the other. We gathered by the end that the exposition was to celebrate the 350th anniversary of some architect. But if he's that old I'm not very sure how these high tech buildings really apply.. There were also a bunch of people walking around in oldentime garb like from when France was a monarchy and playing violins it was so bizarre but hilarious
Then I went to the adidas store on the champs elysée to buy warm running clothes cause like I said its COLD AF.
Thursday night my host family celebrated christel's birthday so we had dinner at home (yummy homemade mushroom soup followed by veal and an assortment of cooked vegetables like zucchini green beans carrots etc. and then Margot bought a cake from Les merveilleux for dessert! I had seen les merveilleux before and had been dying to try it. They have these cute funky looking little cupcakes that kind of look like fur balls. Anyways - it was a chocolate mouse cake so it was mostly a light chocolate mouse with these layers of flaky/crunchy wafery type cake. We sang happy birthday and it was just like a birthday at home!
Wallace Café: speaking of birthdays, it was ALSO wheeler's 21st birthday on Saturday. And since he was going to Amsterdam for the weekend we decided to celebrate Thursday night by having dinner at evan's host parent's restaurant. Unfortunately I didn't have anything to eat since I already ate at home but the food looked amazing and his host parents were so nice! I did split the apple tart with Ben for dessert though which was bomb. Evan's host dad brought wheeler's pie out with a candle and we all sang it was cute.
Thursday night was a butte aux cailles bust cause no one goes out in the 13th past midnight on a weeknight. But hey no harm no foul.
No comments:
Post a Comment