1 Month!

---

Wow, it's hard to believe I have been here for an entire month already! This past week has been quite busy. Last Sunday, I went to the Chinese new year parade in the asian quarter. It was extremely crowded and hard to see much more than people, but I snapped a few good pictures and had a nice walk in the good weather. I grabbed a quick quiche and went to chez Catherine for a cup of tea. I got to look through a lot of her pictures - she has been to a lot of interesting places for her job at the red cross! I also got to see pictures of Philadelphia and some of my family members from before I was born. All of these pictures can be found here, on the last page.

This week was my first week of conferences. I also had a full week of phonetics, which meant running through the city to get to my class that started the same time as the previous one ended. The conferences are held in a large lecture hall - very different from my classes at TCNJ. They were difficult to sit through, it is hard to listen to and comprehend French for 2 hours straight. I have a literature class that requires no reading, a couple of art history classes, and a history of Paris class. Luckily there is only one exam at the end and the classes are pass/fail.

On Wednesday Morning before my conference, I went to the Louvre with Catherine again. This time we saw the Napoleon III period rooms, which I love. We also had a hot chocolate and pain au chocolat and pain au raisin before I headed to the bus for class. After class, I could not eat lunch at CROUS, my usual spot, but insteaded headed to "Wok Time" which I had heard about from fellow students. It is asian fast food...you pick a type of noodles or rice, it comes with eggs and veggies, you can choose a meat if you like, and you can choose a sauce. Without the meat it is only 4,50€ for a huge box. It was quite delicious. I also discovered a falafel place that I have been to in Philly, I had no idea it was a chain, an international one at that!

On Saturday morning we left for Normandy quite early in the morning. A 3 hour bus ride later, we visited the memorial war museum in Caen. It was quite interesting, starting with the end of WWI and going through WWII, the cold war, and even some present day and future predictions. After the museum we drove to Omaha beach and the American Cemetery there. For a couple of hours, I was back on American soil! Haha. The tour guide we had was very interesting and told us stories about several of the soldiers buried there. While several people went down to the beach to bring some sand home, I didn't really see the point in that so I stayed for the whole tour. We next drove to Point du Hoc, another important site on D-Day where soldiers had to climb rope ladders over huge cliffs to get onto the shore. It was all very interesting to see, and the tour guide had an interesting question, "Have you ever stood in a place where the course of history changed forever?"

After the sightseeing we were treated to a surprise visit to an orchard. We got to sample jus de pomme (apple juice), cidre (apple juice that has fermented), calvados (which has fermented some more), pommeau (a delicious combination of calvados and jus de pomme), and pear juice. We also could sample a variety of jams and cookies and Normandy caramels, which are a specialty. These are not your typical caramels that get stuck in your teeth. They melt in your mouth amazingly and are super delicious. Cidre is very typical in Normandy because the weather does not allow grapes to grow in a way that would make good wine. Also, there was a time when the water was not safe to drink, so everyone would drink jus de pomme and cidre instead.

We drove back to the hotel, which was very nice. I particularly appreciated having a shower with a door and an overhead showerhead! I went to dinner with some people and was very disappointed to be told the mussels were out of season. I ordered some sort of burger and split some escargot with Andrea and Addy. Afterward I came back to the hotel to sleep. In the morning, breakfast was much bigger than I had expected, even with eggs, sausage and bacon as well as the typical croissants, jam, and coffee. There was also some delicious cheese.

On Sunday after a long drive to Mt St Michel, we stepped of the bus into crazy wind and rain. We were quite chilly as we toured the monastery, which was pretty and interesting, although unfortunately most of the records kept by the monks were lost when a nearby town was destroyed on D-Day. I especially enjoyed seeing the human-sized hamster wheel where prisoners walked to haul stone and things up the mountain when the monastery was being used as a prison. Currently it houses a few monks, but is open to tourism and owned by the State because it is very expensive to maintain, especially because it is balanced on the point of a small mountain. There is a touristy village under the monastery, and I was able to get some moules-frites (musses and fries) there. They were quite delicious, although I think Monk's does a better job. Because the weather was so cold and drearym we decided to have hot drinks with lunch. While Britt and Caroline ordered coffee, of which I am not a fan, I had been tempted by the tour guide talking about mulled wine, so I decided to try some. Wow! It is so very different from drinking regular wine. It was sweet and savory and amazing. I definitely prefer it to drinking normal wine!

While tripe is also a specialty in Normandy, I was not going to order any for myself. If someone else had, I would have tried a bite, but I did not want to order it and be unpleasantly surprised. Normandy is also full of cattle, and known for its butter and cheese, the most famous being brie and camembert. Even paying top dollar in the US for these cheeses it does not stand up to the cheapest brand in the grocery store here. It is amazing. Normandy pictures are here

This morning I had my first French test, and it was pretty easy. I am really glad I stuck with this professor even though it is 8:30 in the morning because I like her teaching style a lot!

In other news, ISA is attempting to organize a trip to Morocco for part of spring break. I am quite excited about it and I hope the 30 students necessary do sign up so that we can go! I also would like to visit Brussels and Amsterdam. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

---

Comments

[Shell]

falafel place
does it have turkish pizza? (lahmacun)