I told you it would be a busy week!

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I have officially been here for 2 months, half way through! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. April is going to be a crazy month, full of traveling!

TUESDAY

Tuesday was full of fun things even though I was in a weird mood most of the day. Kind of anxious and annoyed. It might have been exacerbated by sleep deprivation since I had returned home so late the night before but still managed to wake up and go to class. After class I ate lunch alone, since the girl I usually eat lunch with was not in class that day. The pasta man seemed surprised that I wanted just veggies instead of pasta, but did give me what I had ordered. I don't know what else I could possibly do for lunch during passover if not, unless I found a good way to transport matzah and things. I decided to make a reasonable effort at keeping Passover for breakfast and lunch, on my own. I can skip bread or rice at dinner, but if it is pizza or lasagna or what have you, I will eat it.

After lunch class number 2 of the day started off my bad mood because I was annoyed with myself for having forgotten my notebook. Luckily I had some paper on which to take notes. Other than that, class was okay. I think my French listening comprehension has gone through the roof since I have come here! After class I went to meet up with ISA for an exhibit of Moroccan painting. Without thinking, I got on the metro the wrong way, the way I go home every day, out of habit. Luckily I realized by the next stop and got off and on the right way, but it wasted a lot of time and also contributed to my weird mood of the day, but in retrospect I probably should have given myself a break because I was running on about 5 hours of sleep. I was afraid I would be too late for the rendez-vous, and that it all would have been a waste of time. Fortunately, I needn't have worried, Christelle was not there yet, and several other ISA kids were waiting as well.

The exhibit, titled « Maroc en Lumière » at the Institute de Monde Arabe was very interesting. I especially liked the paintings by de Faro, which were carved into wood so that they had a thurd dimension as well as having a lot of pretty, bright colors. There was also a pretty bureau I wouldn't have minded bringing home if I were a lot richer. After the exhibit, we were surprised by a treat of tea and cakes in a replica of a Moroccan tea house. The atmosphere was a lot of fun, low couches and benches to sit on around low tables, pretty music, and deep rich colors.








The tea was very sweetened mint, and i had a crêpe of sorts with with vegetables and a couple various little pastries. I decided that while it is important to me to keep Passover as best I can, I should also take advantage of opportunities while I'm in Paris that I may not have again. While technically I could go back, there are also so many other new, undiscovered things to explore!

It was certainly enjoyable, but my underlying bad mood was still there, and it wasn't helped by the fact that tea time was cutting into class time, and the service was quite slow. I want to learn in my classes, and the guilt for missing one was eating away at me. By the time we were done, there wasn't enough left of class to bother going back. I decided to go home before the seder so I could drop off my backpack, even if I would have only about 20 minutes before I had to head out again.

It turned out I, and RATP's website had underestimated the time to the location of the seder. I was cursing myself for the third time of the day, wishing I had just dropped off my backpack and headed back out the door. But I got there only ten minutes late and they had not started the seder yet. I grabbed an empty seat at a table near the back, glad to finally be there.

The seder was more similar to ones at home than the one of the previous night. We used the horseradish instead of lettuce and made a Hillel sandwich. For the four questions, people read them in many different languages, then we all sang them in Hebrew, as the rabbi said we are all children at heart. There were also fun songs, like one about the four sons to the tune of Clementine, and one about freedom to the tune of Hey Jude. There was matzah ball soup that was pretty good, though the balls were a bit heavy for my taste. There was also chicken, a bit dry, with green beans and peas, and some sort of cake for dessert.

I am actually quite glad that I arrived a little late. Everyone at my table was very nice. And there was a girl, Abi, who is also studying abroad here, who is from Miami. She came to the seder because her mom was visiting Paris. It turns out we have a lot in common! Unlike me, she is actually taking real French classes with other French college students, and lives in a dorm where there are actually other French college students, which is not what I had heard they do before coming here.

We spoke mostly in French at the seder with each other and the others at the table. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to make plans before I go to Morocco, so I am quite excited!

THURSDAY

On Thursday, I headed to chez Catherine after class. She gave me the cutest bookmark with my name and a description en français. For lunch, we hopped on line 14 of the metro, which is way, way underground (3 or four sets of stairs or escalators down) and is completely automated. Lunch was at Fauchon, a well known caterer with a sort of fast food eat in area as well. I had a salad with shrimp, avocado, apples, and lettuce. Catherine had a salmon pastry de « mille feuilles » - 1 thousand layers. I had a taste and it was quite god. I drank limonade and Catherine and I shared some fromage. We finished with pastries, Catherine a chocolate mousse cake and myself a caramel éclair.

















We walked around the shop, admiring all the wonderful things to eat, and checked out a few other shops with chocolate, teas, spices, and wines, and one that specialized in truffles. It was heavenly to just smell all the smells. After some window shopping at stores I could never afford, and a really nifty kitchen gadget store called « La Carpe » where I'd love to eventually do a wedding registry, we headed to Printemps and Galerie Lafayette. because Catherine says I cannot leave Paris without having seen them.

It was fun to see everything there, and to go up to the roof and look around. The dome in GL was absolutely gorgeous as well.


























Next, we went to H&M because I had seen ads in the subway and then looked online at the inexpensive pretty springy/summery dresses. Unfortunately they had almost nothing of the collection I had seen, which was a bit disappointing becayse that collection is pretty and made entirely of recycled materials. I tried one, but it didn't fit right, and another that isn't from that collection but is very pretty. I bought also some cheap flip flops to go with it, and now I just await the proper weather!





Afterward there was some more browsing and « faire la laiche vîtrine » (literally means window licking, but it means window shopping), we went to another kitchenware store so Catherine could find out what happened with an order she placed. I looked around, but I liked the first one better. The next stop was Pylones - I had seen some of their things in Printemps and Galerie Lafayette, random objects and gadgets that were all very colorful and cute. Catherine had said we should go to the real store, so I could see everything. I was in love with the entire store - I could have bought it all, but I settled just for a thermos mug. All the designs were pretty, but I settled on a gold and blue violet one with flowers.





I am quite excited about it because at home, I only have hand me downs that have been used for coffee so many times I think the flavor has been permanently ingrained, which ruins the taste of the tea. So far, it has worked great, keeping my tea warm for about 3 hours and enough to last me through my commute and class!

Back at Chez Catherine, we had delicious chinese tea with the Macarons we picked up at La Durée. Wow! Those macarons are said to be the best in Paris, and they certainly have earned that title. Every bite was crunchy and creamy, packed full of flavor. I may not be able to eat a macaron from just any old patisserie again, though I still want to experiment with making them myself. You can tell this place is classy when the bags for the pastries have handles made from SILK! It is definitely something to try for any visitor of Paris.

FRIDAY

Yesterday, I once again headed to Catherine's straight after class. The first thing we did was to have a café and croissant, and headed to a boulangerie to get some bread and dessert for lunch. We then headed back to the apartment to prepare it. I learned to make the salad dressing while the Brandade de Morue was heated.

Everything was delicious as usual. The brandade is codfush and potatoes which is a traditional Good Friday dish. We also had bread with olives and bread with bacon and cheese, followed by salad and a pastry that was cream-filled and topped with a hard caramel glaze.

After lunch it was pouring, so we decided to wait until it slowed down to go back out. I looked through some books Catherine is getting rid of, and picked out a few. One of them is a cookbook from Le Pain Quotidien, and I had a lot of fun looking at all the recipes. There are a lot I would like to try!

When the rain slowed down, we went to pick up my train ticket for Amsterdam to Bruges, and did some more shopping, for ingredients for Saturday's dinner and some things I need for Morocco. Then it was back to the apartment for some tea and the rest of the macarons.

After tea, we got busy cooking. I helped peel and chop veggies while copying down Catherine's delicious traditional provencal ratatouille recipe. It was so exciting to be in a kitchen and cooking again! It has been a while.

When we got all the veggies going, we started the mousse au chocolat. I am very excited to know how to make it, and I have a fun idea for pot luck dinner parties next semester. After cooking, we had a bit of soup and conversation before I headed home to heat up the dinner Mme left me because she and M have left for Easter weekend.

SATURDAY

Saturday I slept in and did some housekeeping. For dinner, I went to chez Catherine again to eat the wonderful things we had cooked the day before with Agnès and Laure. The aperitif was champagne, crunchy cheese twists and saucisson (kind of like French hard salami, but not exactly). The ratatouille turned out great, and we once again had a great roast beef, followed by some cheese I forget the name of, but I will have to find out, because I liked it a lot. Dessert was the chocolate mousse which was absolutely delightful.

While there are certainly cultural differences between here and home, a group of women will talk about the same things together. Which celebrities are the most attractive, talk about men and shopping. It was a lot of fun, if a bit difficult to follow the rapidfire discussion between Agnès and Laure.

After dinner was tea, and I was quite sleepy from the food and wine. Laure kindly gave me a ride most of the way, to a closer stop on my metro line. She was asking if I wanted to talk in English, as she is bilingual, because I must be tired from all that French and need a break. But one on one isn't bad, trying to follow conversations with multiple people is what is really tiring.

While it was certainly a very, very long week, it was a lot of fun! I look forward to not having class on Monday for Easter, and next weekend I will be going to the Loire Valley to see some châteaux!

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