Paris and the three P's: Puppets, Pétanque and Pastis

Yesterday (Friday) marked the end of my second week of my stage (internship). After work, I got to the train station and bought the remaining tickets I'd need for the rest of my semester (at rather wicked low prices, I must add) and then headed back home. After I got back, Trevor and I made some simple quesadillas and watched Gladiator, then went downstairs to our weekly meal with our host family. Christine cooked a wonderful meal, comme toujours, which included a salmon with a citrus sauce and a home-made strawberry tart.

Today (Saturday), those with last names A-F spent quite a bit of the afternoon together, with Elisabeth (our French language professor), Renée (the programme director) and her daugter. We first went to see Guignol, a French puppet/marionette-type show (kind of like a Punch and Judy type of thing) by the Eiffel Tower. It was rather entertaining, but perhaps more so because it was so apparently made for toddlers; their parents sat on the side aisles, while the obviously American group (or at least it was apparent that there was a definite age gap between us and the main audience) sat in the back row (as the children's benches were rather small for us). Before the play even started, one of the mothers and I got to talking; she mentioned that it was rather funny to see us in the theatre, and asked if we were there for a course or group activity. :-P

After the show, we were greeted by pouring rain and made our way to a café, where we had pastis cocktails (i.e., with a flavouring added to the pastis). Pastis, in general, smells and tastes very much like licorice. While we had our pastis, we also broke into little groups and played card games. Elisabeth taught a few of us a game called Kilos de Merde (yup, just as it translates); in turn, I taught her spooons, which is pretty much the American version to the French game.

Rain finally subsiding, we made our way out to the Champs de Mars to play pétanque, the French version of bocce ball. I must say that since day 1, I was looking forward to this one particular activity. And lo and behold, the weather changed (yet again; something that seemed possible only in Michigan) and we suddenly found ourselves playing while hail fell (rather quickly). I'm wondering if I'll be able to carry a small set home with me...

It was now nearing dinner time and somehow Sam, Jill and I got onto a discussion on foods from Grenoble. After talking about it enough, we eventually made our way to a local grocery store and then back to the Fondation, where they cooked a layered dish of raviole, heavy cream, salmon, emmental, I cooked sweetened carrots and Trevor prepped the strawberries. Pat made sure that the ravioles were good... which they definitely were. To my stomach's content, I found the dish to be very tasty and filling; it's also something that I feel would be pseudo-difficult to replicate.

What was for sure difficult to replicate was our jazz experience that followed. The five of us went to Hippocampus, my favourite jazz club (which is securely tied with Duc des Lombards which, I now recall, Trevor and I went to with Pat yesterday). Eating my mousse au chocolat (which quickly jumped to my favourite mousse au chocolat on the European continent so far) and relaxing to the jazz music, I felt extremely content with Paris and all thoughts outside of it drifted away temporarily.

It's a bit hard to believe that we're more than halfway over with this programme and with everything I have planned for the rest of my time here, I feel like it'll be ending sooner than I expect it to. However, I think I'm soon quite ready to go home. Perhaps unless I revisit jazz clubs more often... :)

"Dude, we're in Paris!"