I don't know why I still go to class, I'm just really hoping my PEC professor doesn't fail me.
After econ I went to Matamata to grab some lunch and study (aka blog) before going to a ballet barre class with affordable yoga. I had the quiche which was some chicken vegetable mix that was very good and interesting but a lil cold :( I was going to ask them to heat it up longer but the guy behind the counter actually recognized me this time so I didn't want to seem like a snooty jerk. He asked if I had a good Thanksgiving to which I replied "I spent the weekend in London" and he was like "oh." I tried to explain how that related to Thanksgiving but failed
so I think he thought I just misunderstood.
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| Matamata Cappuccino |
I really like this ballet barre class that I've gone too. The teacher is really energetic and funny but also pushes you hard. It seems a little ridiculous at first but she's actually a great workout teacher probably the best class I've been to. Some people were getting tired and she was like "If you're hot step outside. Take breaks if you need to. But all of my american friends I expect you to keep going till you throw up!" and then she starts leading the next kick thingmajig whatever haha. Another favorite "enough of this lazy european lifestyle guys get to work". But she's also inspirational being all be thankful you have a body that moves you're beautiful yada yada.
Spent the afternoon at snack and chill working on my art history essay and made like some progress but not nearly enough as I should have... where oh where has my productivity gone?
For dinner we had beef and potatoes. The beef was so raw that my host mom had to cut it with a mini chainsaw (this is typical). Then fromage blanc with a cherry coulis for dessert.
Tuesday morning was my last macro course!!! We have an exam next week but we don't have the lecture course so it will only be an hour and a half. Natalie and I woke up early and went to Starbucks (necessary as of late) though I screwed up and got a café allongé (evidently different from filter coffee). I also recharged my navigo for the last time *sheds tear* not really I hate navigo ever since I got fined for forgetting to recharge it last month grrrrrr.
Little Café Breizh: After econ Natalie, Ben and I met Liz and Wheeler at this famous crêperie in the saint-germain area. It's a small little café so we had to wait a while but it was worth it. We got the lunch menu which consisted of a savory crêpe, sweet crêpe, and a drink. So ham egg and cheese buckwheat crêpe, a butter and sugar sweet crêpe, and cider for me. The cider was actually very good. I've realized cider with crêpes is a common pairing. Our waitress was so bizarre though. She either had a crush on Ben or was just very nervous/out of it because she kept dropping things and misunderstanding us and apologizing. Regardless, great crêpe restaurant.
Then we walked through the luxembourg gardens on the way to EDUCO, although they're pretty barren now they're still beautiful. We learned about consonants in phonetics (woo) then Natalie and I took a leisurely walk home down the streets that are all lit up with Christmas lights :) We also spent some time in la grand épicerie which is all decked out for christmas as well. And saw the biggest hunk of parmesan cheese I've ever seen.
Wednesday morning I woke up for a run before class. I was then quite surprised to walk in to the kitchen to find Pierre skinning the hare that he caught while hunting in the countryside this past weekend. If you are squeamish then please skim past the next photo quickly. I think I was too in shock to be nauseous, but I most definitely did not stick around home for breakfast.
Coutume Institutti: After class I did some errands in the Saint-Michel area before setting down at the Coutume Institutti before class. This is the original coutume café that I've mentioned multiple times before. It was much larger and airy-er but very crowded and the tables are narrow. I got a coffee and a salad along with a little banana bread as a treat pre-art history 3 hour death class.
In art history we had some woman come in to talk about contemporary video art which was naht my favorite. A little cool. mostly weird.
For dinner at home we had beef and potatoes with Poires de Belle-Hélène for dessert. Margot told us it's a classic french dessert. It's pear slices with vanilla ice cream, a chocolate ganache, and toasted almonds on top yum yum yum.
Thursday I was feeling a bit under the weather so I had a lazy morning and did some work in the apartment after trying and failing to work out to break the haze.
Nanashi: Met Liv, Liz, and Wheeler at this asian type lunch restaurant bento box place in the 3rd. Still not exactly sure what to call the cuisine haha but it's basically a healthy asian restaurant. I got a bento box with some white fish that I don't know but it was good!
Following lunch we slowly made our way to phonetics (which consisted of a quite thorough search for a starbucks sry not sry). Phonetics was average. Talked about "semi-voyelles/consonnes"! woo!
For Art History we "had" to go to this art exhibition/tour out in the 18th arrondissement (aka miles away from anything and everything) at 6 pm. We were all pissed and knew no one would go because it didn't count for a grade but we knew if we went we would be in her good graces and she'd probably give us a good grade on our final paper. So Liv, Evan, Natalie and I wandered out to the 18th and it's a good thing we did because we were the only 4 that showed up. Until about 20 minutes later when Mayumi and Kailey walked in late. (There are a good 20 people in our class....) So we better get brownie points for that.
Du Pain et Des Idées: To make the trek to the 18th worth it we decided to stop at this famous patisserie on the way. They are known for their escargot pastries (think: pain aux raisins) but they have lots of different flavors. So we all split 5: 1 chocolate pistachio, one cream cheese and red fruits, 1 praline, and 2 hazelnut coffee. They were SO good. I think the cream cheese and red fruits may have been my favorite, or praline. Chocolat pistache though is like my dream flavor combo. And I liked the café noisette too! Even though everyone else said that was the least of the best. Anyways, highly recommend this place. Their breads also looked UNREAL so we will definitely be going back next time we have a bread and cheese sesh.
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| two photos were necessarily because they were that good |
Le Plateau: This is the exhibition session our art history thing was at. It's a small space that looks like a typical contemporary art gallery: cement and spacious. They apparently switch the exhibitions every two months or so. It's either all of one artist's work or a few artists together. This artist basically set up a japanese home in the space. But it was like modern and had a bunch of wire objects and pots in it. I don't know how to describe it - it was weird and I was not in the mood to delve deep in to contemporary art.
For dinner Thursday night our family was planning on cooking "le lièvre" (hare) that Pierre caught, so they invited Natalie and I to join them even though we had already had 3 dinners with them that week. Margot made a vegetable soup to start (I think it had pumpkin in it) and then we had the hare that had been marinated in red wine and cognac with lots of vegetables and spices, along with some potatoes. Pierre also broke out one of the wines that my parents brought and was very excited to try it :) He had kept saying that he was waiting for a special time to try it will all of us so I was honored that he broke it out with the hare!
Side note: on the cultural difference level I loled because Christel was chastising Gaelle for not having 5 fruits or vegetables a day. And then Gaelle said she had an apple and a potato. (The potato was not disputed as a vegetable)
Each market was slightly different but the vendors there were tons of beautiful hand painted ornaments, traditional christmas cookies, candles, lanterns, “pain d’épices” (spiced bread, kind of like gingerbread but loaves of it with all different flavors), jams, teas, wines, beers, liquors, hats, gloves, tablecloths, mugs, bowls, really anything you can think of. And as for food there were tons of crepes, waffles, “baguette flambée”s, sausages, spatzle, and of course “vin chaud”. There were probably three vin chaud stands at every market. It’s warm wine with mulling spices and is utterly delicious. 
By 9:30 or 10 we decided we had to leave or we would just fall asleep. So we decided to go to a latino bar that our airbnb host had recommended. It was a little tough to motivate since it was a 20 minute walk away (basically all the way across Strasbourg lol) and it was freezing outside but we bucked up and did it. The bar was on a boat docked to the side of the river and in the basement there was a pretty lively bar with a disco ball and lots of spanish music. We got some mojitos as recommended by trip advisor and our airbnb host. Soon after a huge crowd of people dressed in santa hats came in. I’m thinking it was the Strasbourg equivalent of “santa con”. They seemed to be a lot of drunk english students…. and we were not quite on their level… so we sat at a table on the edge feeling super ~parisian~ and judgmental, had a few drinks, danced a bit, and headed home! We were really glad that we went out at night because the streets were a lot less crowded than they had been earlier and we could get good pictures of the lights.
We started off in la petite france which is an adorable area of the city with old school houses and great restaurants. After that we basically walked all around the city, stopped at lots of markets, then decided to make our way to lunch in la petite france. As did every other person in strasbourg. Apparently you’re supposed to make reservations for basically all the restaurants there and we of course had no idea. Yet we were able to find what seemed like an authentic alsacian restaurant right by the river. When we walked in I felt like I was in a ski chalet. Everything was warm wooden and cozy and there were christmas decorations everywhere. Pretty much everything on the menu was heavy beef and potatoes (classic germany). So we opted for the munster salads and some foie gras (I think alsace might be famous for their foie gras…?). I also think munster cheese is a big thing there. Anyways, it was a good meal and we were energized enough to head back out in to the markets. 
But first we wanted to go inside the famous Strasbourg Cathedral of Notre Dame. We arrived, saw the enormous mob of people trying to get in, and promptly turned back around. (If anyone asks we went inside). After walking around the markets a bit longer we decided there were FAR too many people around and we needed to hide out until most decided to disappear for dinner. So we set up camp with some tea in another cute wooden chalet-esque café for an hour or so. 
