Marais way

   Today after class I decided to do a little exploring and it ended up being one of the best days I've ever had!

  I wandered through the Jewish quarter and came out into this beautiful park called Place des Vosges, it's just down the street from the building we have our classes in--I can't believe it's taking me a month to come across it! The sunlight was perfectly golden, kids were playing, a light breeze kicked up the smell of the fallen leaves. heavenly. The apartments and shops surrounding the park look like something out of a fairy tale and were full of elegant tourists having an elegant tea in elegant cafes.

Best smell ever: parks in the autumn

I saw this little guy while exploring the surrounding neighborhood:

Street art of the day:

  To add the perfect edge to this truly being an almost-perfect day....I found the best patisserie place I've ever been to, got lunch and ate it in the park.

Chausson aux legumes

Volia! Here it is: Patrick et Christine is located on Rue du Petit-Musc. Their pastry is the best--light and flaky, fresh tasting, and it didn't taste greasy or ooze grease when biting down. Later in the week I went there and got a baguette--phenomenal, easily the best baguette I've had on this trip. It was flaky and crunchy on the outside and oh-so-soft-melt-in-your-mouth on the inside, also, it was warm which always increases the deliciousness of any baguette. Also, the cherry on top is that it's also the most reasonably priced bakery I've come across--love!!!

   I love the Marais, every corner I found something interesting to see. For example this set of apartments which date back to the middle ages:

Or this old church/school:

The Saint-Gervais church:

  This church is right across from Hotel de Ville, and even though I go to that metro stop almost every day I've never noticed this lovely church. It was so lovely to sit down and have such a cozy silence.

   I love going to churches/cathedrals from 4-6 pm-- the golden hours where the sunlight filters through the stained glass. There are always less tourists and everything just feels so peaceful. I used to moan and groan inwardly whenever I traveled with my mum in Europe because she would stop by every little church to see what it was like and I was always of the opinion that once you've seen one you've seen them all, which is true to a certain point. However, some of the best art and architecture I've seen has been in churches/cathedrals, and although the general format of the church is the same, I can't get over just how beautiful and awe-inspiring they are. It's also nice to take a break from sight-seeing and relax and let your mind unwind a bit. The best moment is when you push open the door to a church, let it close behind you, and let the silence envelope you. All of a sudden the sounds of traffic become muffled and the effect is even better when the stained-glass is a-sparkling!

This pieta was so beautiful and life-like I may or may not have misted up a bit.

  Then I crossed the bridge onto Ile Saint-Louis--very charming touristy bit. I sat on the wall overlooking the Seine and watched the late afternoon sun dance along the water, the people walking--no wonder so many poets flocked to Paris!

  Then I walked around Bastille and on my way back to Hotel de Ville I saw this lovely greasy-spoon out of the corner of my eye and stopped in for a bite.

  The place was so sketchy looking I knew it would have to either be good, or be the best place to catch salmonella, so I just went for it. I decided to get the chicken tikka sandwich and the man prepared my sandwich whilst watching a bollywood music video (this is essential for flavor). He was trying to use up a batch of fries and so he gave me all of them=a lot of fries. I was expecting them to be really disgusting and old tasting, but they were the best french fries I've had this entire trip. This means that they were nice and crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and not too salty. The sandwich was good too, the chicken was perfectly cooked and tasted like chicken tika, also he piled on some fresh onions and lettuce which added a nice crunch. I wish it had been a bit more spicy, but it was almost perfect. I am a big fan. So if you're ever trying to find an enormous meal for a very reasonable price this sandwicherie is located on Rue de Pont-aux-Choux (or you can just look at the above picture).

    And that, my friends, was my almost-perfect day. Nice and simple, full of discoveries, crunchy leaves, over-all feelings of good will, delicious things, and sunshine. 

Conseil de Katrine: How to not grossir

Just say "no"

   The lovely lady we're living with was amused with how I was mystified I was when she told me that her nutritionist had told her that the formula to never gain weight was to eat baguette every morning (no, not a whole one silly) with fromage blanc.  She preceded to share her philosophy of eating with me, and because I find these sorts of things quite interesting, it was a fun story, and she is French (so I'm assuming her eating habits show a bit of French culture)--here you go! Voila Katrine's eating philosophy:

  Rule 1: Eat baguette with fromage blanc and grapefruit juice for breakfast.
I thought this was funny because I'm pretty sure in any discussion of dieting (dieting here being loosely defined as changing eating habits for weight-loss) that comes up bread is usually forbidden. The lady we live with (from now on Kathrine) told me that the secret is to alternate the type of baguette/ flour every day. This is super easy to achieve in Paris because there are endless combinations of flour that bakers put in their breads. Also, the flour that most bakers use seems to be a totally different quality than the flour in the US, because at home if I consistently eat bread a couple days in a row I feel ill and my throat gets all itchy. Here I've been eating bread every day and haven't had those side-effects at all--weird, huh?
Fromage blanc is difficult to describe because it's one of those French words that describes several different products (the worst word like this is "galette" which means anything in a round, flat shape that has a bready origin, ie: pancakes, rice cakes, tortillas, savory crepes, roti, etc.) so the fromage blanc Katrine was talking about is a type of white cheese that is very similar to cream cheese, but much lighter and delicious-er. I have recently discovered that fromage blanc also means something that comes in a form very similar to Greek yoghurt, varying in thickness. It was a surprise the first time I opened a fromage blanc thinking it was a yoghurt...definitely not the same thing...anyway, back to Katrine's philosophy! So, the reason that this is supposedly part of a good breakfast is because of the protein.
Grapefruit juice in France is not sweetened like the one in the US, I learned that the hard way when I took a big swig--what a zing! Consequently, I could see this being a legitimately healthy drink.

Rule 2: Patisseries are allowed--IF!
If you are to participate in partaking of one of my biggest weakness there are some guidelines (again, this is all according to Katrine).
1. Choose patisserie over viennoiserie.
I was confessing my weakness for patisserie to Katrine  and she reassured me that it was better patisserie than viennoiserie. Her logic behind this is that patisseries are usually smaller than viennoiseries and cost more, so you're more likely to indulge in something smaller less frequently. Also, the pâte (dough is the word best loose translation) is heavier in a viennoiserie (think croissant, eclair, pain au chocolat, chausson aux pommes) and it's yumminess derives from the obscene amount of butter that's in it and that it's raised with yeast. Katrine also was of the opinion that the cream fillings made a patisserie lighter (say what?) and also because they're usually made with baking powder instead of yeast. I personally have a hard time believing this because usually patisseries not only have cream but also have a pastry casing around the deliciousness...so wouldn't that be double? I was confused at this logic so I researched a bit and usually a mille feuille has 550 something calories and a croissant has 400 something calories....so I feel it's really much of a muchness.
2. If you are going to eat a patisserie you had better be walking the rest of the day or just eat one a month. Well, that made sense to me too.
3. If you eat a patisserie you can only have "salade" for lunch and nothing sweet for the rest of the day (this includes fruit...oops) and you'd better eat a very light dinner that has lots of greens.

Rule 3: Only eat cheese once a week.
According to Katrine cheese is one of the most deadly things in the world (her husband died of a heart attack, mind) because of how lourd (heavy) it is and also how you can feel like it's a good choice because of all of the protein it contains. However, remember that is all part of the dairy companies advertising and really it's very dangerous...even more so than patisserie?

Rule 4: Eat fat-free plain yoghurt once-twice a day, for dessert preferably.
To flavor your yogurt pile on the confiture (jam) or creme de marron (chestnut cream). Flavoring your own yoghurt makes it infinitely more healthy than the store bought ones (?). I would find this true minus the piling on of creme de marron, it is super tasty though!

Rule 5: Fruits are a dessert.

Rule 6: Have the main course of your meal be a vegetable.
 If you're Katrine this means a very well-cooked cauliflower, green beans, endives, spinach, or squash. Have a bit of meat, brown rice, or cauliflower/potato puree as a side if you feel like it. Note: French people are very into endives, I hadn't really heard of them before I came...but they're super yummy!

Rule 7:  No snacking between meals
...aww man! I am the snacking queen, I love to snack, it's the only way I stay awake in most of my classes and survive finals week, it's one of my hobbies. Katrine told me that from the sound of things it's good I don't smoke or else I'd be a chain smoker...well at least I'd be a thin person with lung cancer instead of a well-cushioned person with rolls of insulation...ok I guess being well-cusioned is a bit better.

Rule 8: Don't drink cold water.
You'll die. Your stomach will cramp up. Don't even try it. Cold juice is okay though.

Rule 9: Drink a non-caffinated tea after a meal for good digestion.
Well I am a huge fan of herbal teas so here, here!

Rule 10: Eat slowly
This rule is more from me observing her than her expressly telling me it, and it seems to be the general idea of most French people in her generation. A meal is about the company and enjoying the sensation of eating, so let it linger and relish  every mouthful.

Rule 11: Don't eat out a lot or buy lots of frozen dinner.
Two words for you: salt content. That and the part where frozen dinners usually have way more fat content that homemade things are pretty much the only things Katrine had against them. Because she's in the habit of buying frozen dinners she couldn't really say much about them without feeling silly.

Summary: Everything has its place in moderation

  I'll have to add more rules as she tells me them, because they are very interesting  to me not only in their paradoxes but also their sensibilities. I have decided to try out Katrine's food philosophy because I figure it can't hurt me any more than my current eating habits, and if it is the magic secret to being lean, well I'll just be enjoying my baguette with fromage blanc thank you very much!

Of artichokes and lost soles: a varied day.

   We were asked to put together a choral number for a concert our church was giving, and having only been notified about it three days in advance, had to throw something together in a hurry. This also meant that we had to stick around and practice for most of the weekend, but it was fun!

"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

  After our choir practice I went on a nice walk with some of the gals around Les Invalides. 

The "Grand Palais"

 Hurrah for artichokes! 

 We saw some tents and decided to see what was inside...

Greek food expo!

 We then walked to the Champs de Mars and on our way saw a delightful chocolate shop!

Yes, this is a chocolate power drill.

   Mes amies grabbed some dinner to go at a fantastic Italian place called Il Giramonodo on Rue de Grenelle--I really want to go back there and get something myself--but I had made dinner plans already with another group, so I just enjoyed the autumn sun in the park whilst the ladies dined.

Yummy!

Then the girls I was with had to go home and I met up with the other group. 

 Street art of the day:

   Everybody had been raving about an Italian restaurant they had eaten at earlier in the week named Il Tartufo, so we went there. It was definitely not rave worthy, actually I'm pretty sure most American pizza's I've had were better. Rubbery cheese, chewy crust...so not bad, but not super good either. I also tried somebody's pasta and it was also disappointing, it tasted very plain and could have been easily replicated in any college dorm. So after sampling the take-away Italian food by Champs de Mars I wish I had switched dinner groups (nothing personal, mind you).

Pas mal

The lost sole this post is titled for. A moment of silence please. 

  The lady my roommate and I are living with was having a party with her beyond-middle-age (60's- 70's) singles group, so we were trying to stay out late so we weren't just awkwardly hanging around. However, we did get back early enough to enjoy about 3 hours of the partying. There were about 70 people in the apartment and there was a dj and everyone was having a splendid time drinking, eating, dancing and flirting. It was so fun to watch everyone and see how French people partied...well, the older ones anyway. I love watching older-than-middle-aged people flirting--it lets you see how they must have been when they were younger--super "awww" worthy!

Champagne in the bath

A stroll around the Madeline

The pastry of the week:

Stodgy

 Rating: 2= meh

  This pastry tasted like someone had mushed up a bunch of croissants and then soaked them in almond paste. I didn't even eat all of it which is saying something. 

  Then I popped over to the Madeline Church just to see what it was like.

   It's supposed to resemble a Roman temple and was built to celebrate the glory of Napoleons army....hmm I'm not so sure I'm keen on the idea of building a church to glorify man...but it is really beautiful!

I love this alter sculpture thing

 Then I walked around and went to this museum:

   It was really interesting, but much tinier than one would expect! They had a lovely collection of old perfume flacons that I wasn't allowed to photograph--such intricate designs! 

Street art of the day:

A Perfectly Cluny day

   I was a bit behind on my homework so I spent most of the day pretending to be studious. By about 3:00 I was all antsy and needing to go outside (I'm addicted to walking) so I did. That's the best part about this semester, usually if I'm in a real semester with a full class load and work I would only have taken a ten minute thinking-food break and then gone back to responsibility.  

   I decided to keep up with the sudden desire to do school stuff and directed my walking desires to a walk that I had to do for class (man, I hope I can find a class next semester that gives me credit for going on walks...you know, all the monumental stuff in Provo).

Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation

    The walk directed me to the Crypte Archéologique du Parvis which is right in front of Notre Dame de Paris. I was really excited to re-discover it because I had vague memories of it from when I was last in Paris (4-5 years ago?) but had no idea what I was remembering. It's right there and I must have walked past it maybe five times since I've been here! I'm obviously super observant. 

Who'd of thought?

  The crypt is  really interesting because it's a bunch of  rubble from when the Romans were occupying Paris (or back then Lutece). I just peeked in because I didn't have a lot of time...but you've got to love Roman rubble/ruins.

  Then I went by the Palais de Justice where justice things happen. One of the girls in the SAG got almost pickpocketed and had to come here to testify in court--exciting huh? (I know more about it than that, I'm just feeling lazy so please don't judge my intelligence based on this--or any--of my blogs).

   The walk ended at the Musée Cluny which is a marvelous, perfectly sized museum about the middle ages. By perfectly sized I mean that it's big enough that you're satisfied at the end, but not so big that it's overwhelming. Plus, they have the best collection ever. They have the perfect proportion of paintings:statues:armor:relics:tapestries--no really--they do! 

 Look how pretty!

   The museum was closing in 45 minutes from when I arrived so I had to speed through, a good excuse to come back again!

    My favorite things: La Dame à la licorne tapestries! There was no flash allowed and the room was very dark, and my camera hates dimly lit things. Consequently, I didn't get very good pictures of the tapestries--but they were incredible in real-life!

  I want a t-shirt with this groovin' unicorn so badly! Definitely going to be making one upon my return to Utah--is that legal? Will I end up getting sued for copying this cool logo? It may be worth it. 

   And voila: the Holy Grail! I had this scene playing in my head after seeing some of the old catholic ceremonial items. 

   Ok get ready for this, I stumbled across something that may have been even better than the unicorn tapestries...are you ready? It's super exciting, so exciting that I almost squealed with delight at the museum!

A REAL HONEST-TO-GOODNESS NARWHALE HORN!

 I had totally forgotten about narwhales! They are probably the coolest animals ever that actually exist--the closest thing to a unicorn--who knows maybe after the unicorns missed getting onto Noah's ark they just had to adapt quickly and became whales (this is a very well thought out scientific theory).

Can I have one?

This man has been gored by a unicorn?

  There were all sorts of lovely old books--I can't imagine how much time must have gone into illustrating (illuminating) the entire thing by hand.

   This carving of John the Baptists head is significant because the last time I came to Paris I took a picture of it, so here's another one.

  Also, the Cluny Museum is built over some Roman baths, so that makes the museum that much cooler.

    I love the Cluny Museum, and so should you! If you're ever in Paris I highly recommend seeing it (even if it only is to see the narwhale horn).

Huzzah walking class!