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!"

Let's Play Catch-Up! (Part II)

Well, I suppose I'm far enough into the programme to realise that I don't have a lot of time to spend recounting stories that occurred a week ago, as well as keep up with what's going on now. A résultat, I'll simply list some brief snippets of the days leading up to the start of this current week. If something catches your eye, let me know, and I'll explain it in a more in-depth entry!

Supposedly well-rested after an exhaustingly long day, Wednesday rolled around, marked by the following:
1) An introduction to the BU staff: Renée, Odile, Isabelle, Dorothy and Karell
2) The realisation that our classrooms and the BU space in general is pretty much AWESOME!
3) Catered sandwiches tied up with ribbon, with ham, chicken and egg as the variants. Guess which one was barely eaten.
4) A bus ride, after a group photo on the Champ de Mars that superseded a day of orientation formalities, that lasted 2,5 hours! Sans doubte, it was at least a comfortable bus.
5) The purchase of identical cell phones… I still need to make a Facebook group for that.
6) Our first dinner by ourselves in Paris, i.e., not prepared by our host families, brought us to a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant. Perhaps there’s something wrong with this choice; not only has the choice been made, I tried schwarma for the first time. (Is that proper English?) At least I’m trying new things here, yebo?
7) Nearly a 2,5 hour conversation (en français) with our homestay dad, Antoine.
8) Stanislas joining the guys and proving that he’s one of the big kids, too.

Thursday started off and ended great, especially because:
1) Trevor and I began our day at the boulangerie that’s about a one-minute walk away from our homestay location.
2) The boulangerie, the food and the people are great. Trevor and I have since called it « our boulangerie » and intend on making it one of our staple spots.
3) We felt like Americans eating/drinking our breakfast en route to the classrooms. This is only a great thing because we came up with an even bigger question: How do the French eat their breakfast?
4) Mastered the Métro the night prior and were able to get to school on our own.
5) Le Week End, a bar-ish type place, was the location for my first croque monsieur in France, as well as the site of my first lunch not sponsored by BU in any way.
6) I may be able switch from niveau 1 to niveau 2 for my French courses, which means I could also possibly take the highest-listed course.
7) I got to see Lauren and Emily again (thanks for being so patient with me!).
8) The three of us were able to spend some time at the Arc de Triomphe.
9) I bought my first round of mini-macarons.
10) I completed my second round of groceries, where I saw even more Filipinos, and also had a difficult time (eventually failing) in attempting to explain bread crumbs.
11) I visited Nicolas across the street from Franprix, the supermarché. At Nicolas, I bought to my surprise, amazement and complete joy, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc that was made in SOUTH AFRICA!!! So that I wouldn’t be a complete backstabber, I also bought a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, made in Bordeaux.
12) Trevor and I had our first meal at the Fondation with some of the other BU students.
13) We found the non-clubbing group, randomly got off at a Métro stop, and walked around Paris, taking pictures of buildings late at night. Eventually, we realised that it was nearly midnight and tried to rush back, until we further realised that, at the rate we were walking, it was still quite a ways away. Nevertheless, we made the trek back, and walked along the Champs-Elysées, one of the few streets that made me think of New York. I remember talking to Trevor after the long bus ride on Wednesday and saying that, if anything, the bus ride made me anxious to see them all in person and not just in a bus. I definitely did not plan on doing the same thing, but on foot.

Friday began to round out our week of orientation in Paris and included:
1) Meeting Julie, my internship placement coordinator who has found me an awesome potential internship.
2) Meeting past BU students and BU Paris interns.
3) Eating again at Le Week End, thinking beforehand that we were actually eating there for the first time.
4) Going to a French open air market under the bridge between Dupleix and La Motte Picquet Grenelle.
3) Watching "Paris, je t’aime" with my classmates and professors at Studio Galande.
4) Eating a wonderful galette (« chicky ») and crêpe (chocolate). At the restaurant, there was a giant American flag that was hung and, at one point, the American national anthem was played.
5) Discovering that mixing Coca-Cola with various beverages can actually make them taste better [at the crêperie].
6) A what-should-have-been-cool-disco-light-bathroom-but-is-actually-kinda-creeper-ish.
7) Finding another non-clubby group and eventually happening upon a piano bar. The music was great, and the pianist and singer (sitting atop the piano cover) had great personalities and characters.
8) Splitting off into smaller groups and finding a rather empty diner/café. We spent some time taking photos in the diner and enjoying our time together.