Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Strasbourg: Capitale de Noël



On Saturday I joined le Chef, Pomegrenade, and another friend in Strasbourg, Alsace. Christmas markets are a big event here in France, and while Paris has its own on the Champs Élysées, Strasbourg is known for going all out when 'tis the season.

First stop after my train pulled in was a patisserie where we plotted our very stealthy entrance into the hotel. A word to the wise: the Strasbourg Best Western takes its policy of not letting 4 people stay in a double very seriously. While we discussed, I chowed down on a bûchette de noël and some combination of fondue and pastry shell called a frillon (sp?) After a nap we were ready for some shopping! I made few super secret purchases and soon we were all freezing. After searching high and low for salad (veggies were very much in order after the frillon - French for heart attack wrapped in deliciousness), we found some vin chaud which was tangy and spiced and most importantly warm. We took turns holding it in our little mittened hands.



The next day we did more serious Christmas Shopping and made the requisite visit to the cathedral. It was very nice, very large, very medieval. When we got there, a children's concert was just ending. French children singing Feliz Navidad was pretty adorable. For dinner we had couscous, which came in enormous cauldrons that could have fed a family of six. We messed up and ordered 3. After that we wandered around looking for nightlife and admiring the lights. Great lights, no nightlife. The next day it started snowing buckets in Paris.







Monet in the Morning




Those of you who know me know that, in my world, there are few things worth getting up early for. One of them is Monet.

The Grand Palais is hosting an absolutely epic exhibit of Monet's work from 1840 to 1926 between now and January 24. The excellently curated exposition is great not only because it follows almost his entire career, but also because so much of his work plays with subtle variations of light. Thus Haystacks (Midday) is much more interesting when you can compare it with Haystacks at the End of Summer, Morning Effect. Since the former hangs in Australia while the other is in the Musée d'Orsay most of the time, this is a rare opportunity!

Now I just have to get over to l'Orangerie and the Musée Marmottan!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Cultureshock

Okay, one more week and then it's Christmas Break and this blog will get more exciting. For now though, I'm not doing much besides studying, Facebook, and the occasional pastry with friends (which I will post about later).

In honor of exam week, here is a list of a few of the things I have learned this semester:

1. How to navigate les piscines municipales

For 1,70 students can swim as long as they like and take a warm (though not private) shower in a warm building. A proper swimsuit and swim cap is all that's required. Hop under the requisite shower, walk through the foot-cleaning pond, then just pick a lane in the pool. If you bump into someone, just say excusez-moi and swim away.

Warning: Ladies, everyone who works there is male, and they won't knock before entering the locker room (not that there's a door anyway) There are a few private changing rooms, though.

Click here for more info about public pools in Paris


2. Poireaux, fromage de chèvre, St. Honorés, courgette, café espresso - these are a few of my favorite things

Leeks, goat cheese, the most amazing pastry you've ever seen, zucchini/strange pumpkin-looking squash, espresso.

There are books, blogs, paintings, and movies dedicated to french food, so I won't try to sum up my experience with it in this list, but these are some of the things I had never tried before coming here, and now I don't know if I could make it a week without them.

There are some pretty hilarious and wise food bloggers in Paris right now, two that le Chef turned me on to are David Lebovitz and Clotilde.

3. It is never that simple.

It's all about the logic, baby. All of the assignments I've received in my parisian classes have intimidating names - the compte rendu, dissertation, synthese de texte, résumé, explication du texte. What do they all have in common? They all mean, more or less, "read & summarize." No one in France is interested in your interpretation. It's all about the author's logic, and how well you can keep up.

That being said, not all summaries are created equal. The résumé involves summarizing while keeping the tone and point of view of the narrator. The explication du texte hinges on choosing the right 3 examples to demonstrate the thématique of the text. In the compte rendu you do actually get to state what you did or did not like about the text, but you better have a damn good reason why you found it touchant.

Other things that aren't so simple:
  • Crossing the street - Why why why would you have the two walk/don't walk signs on either side of the very tiny median on different rhythms??
  • Showering - The claw foot tub is beautiful, but I don't have time to run a bath and there's no shower curtain.
  • Staying in the country - Searching every tabac in Paris frantically for official stamp - 3 hours; required stamp for immigration documents - 55 euros; printing costs for a housing attestation signed by my host mom to be attached to an electricity bill from the last 6 months- 10 centimes, stress pimples; being ordered to undress before getting pushed against a wall and zapped with radiation by a public health official in the required TB exam - priceless.

4. Franchement, mon chéri, je m'en fous.

This roughly translates as "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," and sometimes, in a crowded, overly complicated city like Paris, it's a necessary sentiment. The French are generally extremely polite, so sometimes it seems to take a willful oblivion to make it through the forced intimacy of the sardine-can metro, past the hoards of beggars (often with strategically cute animals), through the never-ending queues and home safe without having a nervous breakdown. Also handy for when people make fun of your accent, or you've just done something gauche like swimming into that lady at the piscine - What was she doing in my lane, anyway?

5. Parisians are very, very nice.

Sure, they don't smile at random people like we do in some parts of the States, and they don't particularly appreciate it when tourists assume they speak English, but if you brush up your best "Excusez-moi, Monsieur/Madame. Vous parlez anglais?" you'll almost always get what you need. Ask someone for directions and they may very well lead you where you need to be. Look worried/scared or flirtatious/conspiratorial and the world is your oyster. Just be polite.

6. Romance ≠ Love

One of the things many visitors note on arrival in the City of Love is the rampant PDA. That couple making out between the vending machines and the homeless man in the métro station? The ones that look like they'll elope any second? They could be on their third date. The French are in love with Love, and they are more than willing to fake it 'til they make it (and if all those couples in the métro are going home together, they sure make it a lot).

7. The 35-hour work week is a myth.

True, it is hard to fire a French employee, and they do take longer lunch breaks, but most white collar workers don't get home until 8 p.m. these days. They do take vacations and keep their weekends private, but during the work week, it's a little scary.

8. They aren't all that skinny

My first week here I read an article that cited a statistic about France's growing obesity problem. Le snacking as well as le Macdo (McDonald's) have caught on, and by 2020 French obesity rates will probably equal America's. While it's clear that French women do get fat, there are still plenty of Audrey Hepburn lookalikes running around.

Mireille Guiliano is a wealth of advice on how to avoid becoming grosse

9. "Good advice" is highly subjective.

A sample of questions and responses from recent issues of Femina magazine:

Q:
My adolescent son's girlfriend showed up at our breakfast table wearing one of his shirts as pajamas! I don't want share my tartines with her! What do I do?

A: Lay down the law, but you and your spouse should consider clearing out once a month to give the young lovers their space. If your son complains, remind him that if the nest is too comfortable, one never leaves it.

Q: My ex, the father of my 6 year old child, refuses to pay any attention to his little girl. This saddens and confuses my daughter, who doesn't understand why her daddy doesn't love her. How do I get him to take an interest?

A: I sense that you aren't really over your ex. The real question here is: Why haven't you found someone else yet? Find a man who can love and take care of both of you, that's the best way to provide a father figure for your daughter.