Country Life

This past weekend, my homestay family invited me to the grandparents house in the country. I was super excited at the chance to visit the french countryside. It was even better than I imagined. Remember every scene you've ever seen in Jane Austen interpretations? It's better. And Beauty and the Beast? It's better than that too.

The view from the house

Right away my host mom and her mother invited me on a walk to see some of the countryside. Walk #1 showed me a lot of fields where they grow beans, as well as canola fields starting to go into bloom. It was such a change of pace from the city and I was glad for the change.The air smelled crisper and everything was calmer.

view of the church from the house

View from walk #1

 The family was amazing. Grandma and Grandpa were so kind and welcoming. Grandpa served in the navy in his youth and was responsible for picking up minesweepers in the United States. He loved being able to use English with someone, as it reminded him of all his good memories.

Grandma kept telling me how wonderful my French was, so I automatically loved her (and good French means saying oui, merci and c'est delicieuse about her cooking.) She liked telling me stories of the places she travelled to. This week she is going to Italy!

The house

 The house was neat because it had so much history. It is the original farm house that has been on the property forever. An artist hid out there during WWI and didn't have any canvas so he drew portraits of a woman directly onto the walls of the rooms. There are about 4 in total that the family painted around to preserve them.

The food was so amazing. Most of it was pulled straight from the garden including potatoes, carrots, onions and lettuce. I loved feeling like I was really on the farm. Nothing was processed and nothing was too complicated. Just simple well-cooked meals.

Where the Women Used to Wash Their Clothes

 Walk number #2 was Sunday morning with my host mom and her daughter. As we walked through the woods, she told me all the shots I was hearing was because it was hunting season. Good time to be making our own path through the woods? I don't think so. We eventually made our way back to the road, much to my relief. When we got back, the rugby world cup was on so I watched some of it, which was so great. I do love me some rugby.

We took another walk after lunch with the younger kids. I got to see another side of the country as well, this one with some trees and some fields. We got to play with a couple horses and the kids and I started a collection of bird feathers, which the youngest daughter shoved in her headband like a headdress.

After dinner, my host dad, Grandma and I took the train back to Paris. As much as I loved the country, it takes being away from Paris to realize how much you truly love it. Hopefully I can use a little of that country state of mind to keep me relaxed during midterm week.

Opera Garnier (Again)

This is where I had class today. Been there once before and I hope to go again.

just a piece of the grand staircase

hall of sighs

the first time mosaic was used in France

the chandelier that never actually fell on anyone

where is the phantom?

Arc de Triomphe

Haven't put pictures up in a long time so here are some from my trip to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. 

258 stairs

Champs-Elysees

Beautiful Tour Eiffel

The sun started peeking through

I like this view

but I don't like looking down!

A Day in the Rain

When it's raining in Paris, it is still beautiful. How is that even possible? It's like the cold dreary weather makes the city shine more than the sun ever could. The spirit of the city seems to come out as all the tourists rush for safer ground, ie. anything with a roof. Instead, as we didn't have class on Tuesday, Cara and I took to the city to do some more exploring.

We started out in Pere Lachaise cemetery, current home to Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and a lot of other people. It is such a giant cemetery that it is easy to get lost among the many tombstones and winding paths. We definitely got lost looking for Edith Piaf's grave, but quickly realized we had found it when we also found the large tour group of elderly travelers. Oscar Wilde's tombstone is getting cleaned right now due to excessive female attention so I will just have to kiss it in November when the restoration is finished.

We then decided to wander around Montmartre, which is so much fun. I love Montmartre, and I'm glad that with my navigo pass I get to skip its numerous stairs. There is this square at the top where lots of flattering artists offer to paint your portrait (so giving with the compliments hoping to get some euros in the end). Montmartre also has one of the most amazing views of the city.

That night was the Joshua Radin concert. To put it simply: I. Love. Joshua. Radin. It was amazing to get to see him in such a small venue. It was also seated, which was great. It was funny to hear him say how much he loves Paris because I could totally relate. Paris is hard to not fall in love with.Even after a day in the rain, without my umbrella, I can say I love this city.

Lost in Translation

Let us observe the traveler in her new habitat, the crepe restaurant. She makes her decision based upon the obviously delicious choices listed on the menu and selects something unusual yet still delicious: the spinach, goat cheese, cream crepe. Upon beverage selection, the traveler believes she has found something uncommon in this Parisian land: the elusive french deal. Upon analysis of the cider prices, the traveler discovers she can get the dry cider much cheaper than the extra dry cider for the same amount. She informs her server of her selection, and ignores the signals that she maybe making the wrong choice- the waiter asking if she was sure etc.

As the beverages were brought to the table, the traveler realized what the server had been attempting to tell her without actually telling her. She had ordered the better deal... on almost a liter of cider.

And that ladies and gentleman is how you end up having to drink 750 ml of cider in the middle of the afternoon.

Feels like the beginning.

You ever have one of those days where you remember a feeling? Not an event or a place or a person, but the way you felt at a certain time or place in your life. Today, Paris felt like it did when I first got here. It felt fresh and different and fun. I walked on streets I have been on many times, but they felt different. Maybe it is the weather. Maybe it is because I am not feeling sick anymore. Maybe because I know one day I won't be walking down these streets every day.

Cara and I spent our day off shopping and enjoying a leisurely lunch just talking. It was a perfect day. We finished it with Angelina's amazing hot chocolate while sitting in the gardens of the Louvre. Even on a cloudy day like today, Paris was beautiful and new and exciting. It made me think that maybe someday I could spend everyday here. Just sitting in the Tuileries enjoying a chocolat chaud.

My homestay family was so sweet throughout the whole time I was sick, letting me sleep the day away, speaking english with me when French was just too hard to manage, even making me special meals that were easy on the body. I didn't know how to thank them enough for their kindness so I did the only thing I knew how, I bought flowers. Such a small gesture made such a big difference for Madame. She could not believe I would do that and was so touched by the heartfelt thank you.

Remember that sometimes just taking the time to thank someone can mean all the difference. A gesture that you care can change someone's day. Even those people who you see everyday who make your life special. Tell them thank you. Write a card. Buy some flowers. Remember the feeling.

Confessions of a do-too-mucher.

I got sick with a bad cold around Wednesday which has basically put me out of commission for the whole weekend. Not fun. It made me have to admit to myself that I have a problem: My name is Kirsten, and I am an do-too-mucher.

Do-too-mucher. Definition: someone who wants to do everything, doesn't understand that they have limitations making it impossible for them to do everything ie.they are human. also see: over-doer, not-sit-downer.

So basically I feel physically uncomfortable not moving and doing something, especially in a city where there is so much to do and see. I am only in Paris for a limited time and I don't want to miss a single thing while I am here. I want to take advantage of every moment and fill it with stuff.

The problem with being a do-too-mucher is that even when I'm sick,  I have to do things. I barely left my room in the past two days, but I am all caught up on homework for the next week as well as Criminal Minds, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Glee and Big Bang Theory. For a weekend down, it has been pretty eventful.

Here's hoping tomorrow I'm feeling better because I have already made plans to do things :)

Cooking Class a la Sabrina

Tonight I got to take part in a french cooking class. I absolutely adore cooking so getting the chance to do it in such a food-focused city was so much fun and so exciting. Half the group made chicken samosas and salmon wrapped in zuchinni and the other half (my half) made these little cheese and walnut bread cake things and wraps with ricotta, sundried tomatoes, fancy ham and basil. So not very french, but I liked it anyways.

For those of you picturing me cooking away like Martha Stewart, then you have obviously never seen me cook. It was a lot more like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, frazzled and breaking eggs all over the place (okay there were no eggs, so everyone else was safe there). I may have ended up with 40 grams of something when I needed 30 and such but I take a very c'est la vie approach to cooking. You always end up with something in the end so why worry? Well we all ended up with lots of delicious food in our bellies and smiles on our faces. And that's all that truly matters.

Cooking is kind of like life. You can try to get all the right ingredients and follow the recipe perfectly, but you will never get the same result twice and you may end up with something that you didn't expect. Sometimes that something is magnificent and sometimes that something didn't turn out quite right. But all is okay because you got something from it all, good or bad. Sometimes you decide to skip the basil and end up with a semester in Paris. Sometimes you add cinnamon when it called for nutmeg and you get something completely different than you expected.

Next time you try out something new, be it cooking or something new in life, let life happen. Don't worry about what you will get in the end, just enjoy what you are doing at the moment. Relish in cutting the tomatoes instead of imagining the salad you will get in the end.

The City of Mustard

Cara and I decided to go to Dijon this weekend, just a shot train ride outside of Paris. The city is known for it's mustard and is the birthplace of Gustav Eiffel. We did not know what we were going to do once we got there. It was an adventure for sure.

We quickly realized once we got there that an adventure is always easier said than done, which quickly led to picking up a map from a hotel. Dijon has a really interesting way of making sure the tourists get to see all of the sights: metal arrows imprinted in the sidewalk and emblazoned with little owls. Follow this path (with a little help from the map) and you won't miss a thing.

Cutest Courtyard in the Whole Wide World

We got to see the big church, the historic market, and a couple of the museums. I bought some of the famous mustard at the old market, just because I had to. Too bad I found out that 90% of the mustard seed is imported from Canada. Not so historic, is it? It was great to see all of the beautiful town. We even got lunch in a cute square with these neat fountains.

After lunch we couldn't believe how much time we still had left in the town before our train back. Still 5 hours! We decided to try and fill some of that time by seeing a French film, La Nouvelle Guerre des Boutons. It was amazing! I couldn't believe how much of the movie I got even without knowing all the french. It was such a great film and extremely well done.

Shopping and dinner after the film and we were on our way back to Paris. Being away from Paris just made me realize how much I absolutely love this city. It felt great to be back in the city, even with all the people and smells. All in all, great day trip.

Where we had lunch

Carousel for Gustav Eiffel

Cute street in Dijon

Here is the link to the rest of my pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150332305800772.365650.829255771&l=11bad77740&type=1