Fête des Crêpes

It's almost Chandeleur, and you know what that means!

Well, if you didn't know, then I'll admit that I didn't either--until a few hours ago, at least. Chandeleur is actually a religiously-based holiday set always on February 2, which is exactly 40 days after Christmas. Originally, it was a feast day celebrating the presentation of baby Jesus at the Temple. In the U.S., it is sometimes remembered as Candlemas (another holiday that I had never heard of...) however the date is more often remembered as the non-religious Groundhog Day!

In France, however, Feburary 2nd is a day of eating crêpes.

Why are the delicious creations known as crêpes associated with Chandeleur? I have no idea, and neither do my host parents (I asked them last night). But I'm glad they are! Kat, Ariana, and I celebrated Chandeleur tonight--two days early--at Malou's appartment. I must say, it is a delicious holiday.

First, the four of us made buckwheat crêpes--also called galettes--and filled them with ham, cheese, and mushrooms. These, obviously, were our dinner. Afterwards came the fun part: sugar crêpes. We each took turns flipping the crêpes for good luck--a strange tradition of Chandeleur. Only Arianna managed to flip her crêpe with a coin in her other hand, which is meant to bring her a whole lot of luck for this year! She also managed to capture my crêpe-flipping success on video! My host mother in Tours tried to teach me how to do it multiple times, and they all ended in dismal disaster, so I was quite surprised when I actually succeeded tonight! Notice how Malou put out the maroon towel beneath our feet, though: it was there just in case we failed to flip the crêpes and they fell splat on the floor! Luckily, the three of us were victorious and the towel was unnecessary!

 

Kat, about to flip her crêpe.

Kat made a delicious caramel sauce, and then I helped her caramelize some banana slices. Honestly, it was a feast: we could load our crêpes with nutella, caramelized bananas, regular banana slices, caramel sauce, any combination of the above....

After stuffing ourselves, we finished off our cider (the alcoholic kind, of course, which goes perfectly with crêpes) and played three very intense rounds of Pick-Up Sticks. None of us had played that game in years, and we were all laughing at the ridiculousness of it. Overall, tonight was truly a great end to this week. Merry Chandeleur, everyone!

Merci Pour Votre Attention

French students are RUDE. Maybe I should widen the playing field and say that all university students are rude, worldwide, but the 20-somethings in France really seem to top the list.

Of course, you have half the class playing on their cell phones or their laptops while the professor is lecturing--scrolling through Facebook, sending oh-so important texts, or, like the girl sitting next to me the other day, playing Candy Crush for two hours straight. That's pretty normal student behavior (although it is harder to get away with at Holy Cross, owing to the fact that there is often only 12 other students in the class).

No, the rudeness of the French goes beyond that. Students walk in late all the time--ten, twenty, thirty minutes late. Not just one student, either, but often a group of five or so who just stroll in casually. And they all leave early: seriously, I counted one lesson where over 40 of my fellow classmates just packed up and left with 20-30 minutes left of class. More than 40 students. That was nearly half the class! Even if the professor is in the middle of a lecture, they just throw on their jackets and leave. Also, it seems like classrooms are the perfect places for full-blown conversations, because people will not stop talking! And they're not speaking softly, either. Additionally, I've seen kids put their heads down on their desks and sleep--literally fall asleep--for the entire lesson.

While this is annoying to me in the first place--honestly, is it so difficult for you guys to focus for two hours?--it is made even worse by the fact that each professor ends each lesson by the words," On va terminer là pour aujourd'hui. Merci pour votre attention."

Merci pour votre attention = Thank you for your attention.

Normally, it doesn't phase me when professors say that phrase. Two days ago, however, my entire sociology class was being even ruder than normal, and when I heard my professor say those words, he sounded horribly disheartened. And I know that feeling. I know exactly that feeling. I feel the same thing after every EPITECH lesson that goes wrong: the sour disappointment of having no one care even after you poured your time and effort into planning and pulling off a very informational lesson.

On a slightly more cheerful--if completely unrelated--topic, it snowed here on Monday! Just a few vicious minutes of flurries that amounted to nothing, of course, but I managed to snap a picture of the mini snowstorm while Kat and I were on our way to lunch at Flam's. It's flurried here in Strasbourg two or three times before, but nothing like the snowstorms that are sweeping the U.S. right now! I do love the snow, so I wish it would actually snow here (Strasbourg is already a beautiful place, but in the snow, this city would be absolutely gorgeous! ). Fingers are crossed!

Last Week in Strasbourg...

Do you ever have weeks where you feel extremely busy but actually get little to nothing accomplished? Yeah, last week was one of those weeks for me, hence the lack of blog posts.

I still want to give you a quick summary of my week in Strasbourg though, because some interesting things did occur. Last Monday and last Wednesday, I taught my ESL lessons at EPITECH, as per usual. Tuesday and Thursday, I had my CIEL classes (two-and-a-half hours of French grammar each day, ugh). During the rest of my free time? Well, I spent many, many hours at Café Michel, drinking tea or hot chocolate and either planning for my ESL lessons or reading. Riveting, right?

I must say, though, that last Wednesday was actually notable due to an 8:00 a.m. final exam. It was on the classic French novel Germinal, written by Emile Zola. I'm not going to lie.... I was having such a difficult time understanding all of the tiny details of the book that I took my mom's advice and read most of it in English!! I know it's terrible to admit, but I'm sorry, Germinal just not an easy--or a short--read in your non-native language! The exam lasted four long, miserable hours, every minute of which I ended up needing. Happily, though, I was pretty proud of the analysis that I managed to scrape up for the essay, even though I used the words "mob," "violence," and "liberty" about fifty times each--a stylistic element that simply doesn't fly in French writing. Oh well. C'est la vie! And of course, I wrote "ETUDIANTE ERASMUS" in big bold letters all over the exam, just so the person who grades my essay will know that I'm foreign and floundering instead of just a university student with the writing abilities of a 10-year-old.

Wednesday was also notable for another little drama. Remember my mentioning that I had opened a French bank account back in October? Yeah, well, over the course of the last few months, the bank employees kept losing my qualifying documents (I had to give them copies of my passport multiple times), and it turns out that, in the end, my bank account was never actually officially opened. Last week, my boss at EPITECH emailed me, saying: "We tried to pay you... but your bank account doesn't seem to exist." So when I went to the bank, the manager explained, "Well, you didn't seem interested in your account, so we closed it." WHAT??? Classic France, being as frustrating as possible. Now, though, my account is (hopefully!) in the process of being opened. We will see...

And of course, I ended last week with another mini adventure! Last Friday, Malou actually drove Arianna, Kat, and I to the tiny village of Saint-Louis-les-Bitche (yeah, we all had a good laugh at that name). There is a famous cristallerie there: the oldest glass manufacturer in France. We explored the museum that showcased the different styles of glassware produced throughout the history of the cristallerie, which was actually quite fascinating. Then, the four of us checked out the gift shop--if you can call it such--whose items for sale included 14,000-euro crystal vases and 95-euro shot glasses (both on major discount from the normal price, if your couldn't tell). Needless to say, I didn't walk away with any souvenirs.

Inside the museum. There were chandeliers everywhere! This one was the largest, and the prettiest.

Okay, so now that we're all caught up, what is on the agenda for this week in Strasbourg? Classes! Yes, University classes have finally begun once more, and I'm getting back into the swing of two-hour French lectures. My courses aren't finalized yet, but I will say that I'm taking a History of Alsatian Vineyards class that I'm pretty excited about. The professor has already announced a field trip to the expansive wine caves under Strasbourg's main hospital (because why would the wine caves be located anywhere else?) and I can't wait!

And one last tiny, random anecdote: I just finished a funny dinner with my host parents. Over the mountains of mashed potatoes and boeuf bourguignon that my host mother heaped onto all of our plates, the three of us were laughing and laughing over a silly argument about the sounds that grandfather clocks make. Honestly, my host parents give meaning to the phrase "arguing like an old married couple!" Often, they have the arguments that come from knowing a person better than you know yourself; arguments full of teasing and palpable love. "48 years," my host mother reminds me. "Tu te raconte? Married 48 years."

Fireflies of Nancy, France

Friday morning, Kat and I went adventuring. We took an early train into Nancy, which is a small city in the Lorraine region of France--not too far away from Alsace! Immediately, we noticed a difference in the city's architecture: Nancy is much more "French" (and it reminded us a lot of our time in Tours) while good old Strasbourg is quite clearly more German. Personally, I prefer the wooden colombage of Strasbourg to the white-and-cream stone façades and shutters of Nancy, but it was nice to walk around in a place that is considered truly "French."

Within minutes we found our first destination: Place Stanislas, Nancy's main town square. It was huge and empty, with just a statue and a dying Christmas tree in the middle and, many meters away, little café tables huddled around the edges of the square. Place Stanislas is mostly known for the gold-gilded gates and  arcs and fountains that encrust its corners--and they are quite beautiful. Kat and I spent many giggly moments in "full-tourist mode," taking pictures like crazy while under the contemptuous eyes of some locals in a nearby café.

Afterthought: the French really do like their gold. In the past week, I've been to Versailles, which was basically showered in gold at one point during its history, and now Nancy, whose golden gates were quite reminiscent of those of Versailles!

Leaving Place Stanislas, the two of us went cathedral-hopping for a good while, jumping from one beautiful church to another. Interestingly, cathedrals really are big tourist sites in most medieval European cities, which is simply not the case in the U.S.

Next, we walked back to Place Stanislas to enter Nancy's Musée des Beaux-Arts. They had a good collection of paintings (mostly biblically-based, mythology-based or portraits) dating back to the XIV century. They also had a large exhibit in the basement of the museum featuring a wide array of Lorraine glasswork, which apparently was a well-known industry for the region.

By far the best part of the museum (and the best part of the day), we discovered accidentally, though. My best description of this artwork is that is was a small dark room, walls and ceiling made of purely mirror, and floor was water excepting for a small platform. And it was full of lights--hundreds of lights--and with the mirror reflections, the lights multiplied to thousands. Created by Yayoi Kusama, this room was named "Fireflies on the Water." Kat and I walked into the room, standing on the little platform, and we were amazed. Then, a smiling museum employee shut the mirrored door behind us, and we were plunged into a never-ending night filled with  thousands of fireflies. It was absolutely magical. One of the most magical things I have ever experienced.

We must've stayed in the Firefly room for a good quarter of an hour. Our exclamations of delight and awe were constant, and when we actually stepped out of the never-ending night and back into reality, we were stared at by a group of art students who were standing nearby and must've heard every word. After finishing up one last exhibit in the museum, Kat and I returned to the Firefly room for just a few more magical minutes, then bid the room goodbye. Honestly, it was the coolest things I've ever seen, and I wish that I had a room like that in my house, just so I could visit it all the time.

Kat and I bought lunch from street vendors and wandered around Nancy for a while longer, before grabbing some chocolate-hazelnut frappe milkshakes and heading back to the train station, where we parted. I took a train back to Strasbourg (I had a planned dinner out with my host parents) while Kat went on adventuring in the city of Metz.

The "Fireflies on the Water" room isn't a main tourist attraction for Nancy--in fact, the museum's website doesn't even mention it. We didn't go there to see it, but luckily we stumbled upon it, and it was the best discovery I've made in years. It's amazing how the small things are sometimes the most memorable. For example, only a week ago, I was at Versailles. Sure, I'll forever remember the Chateau de Versailles, with all of its gold and fancy flair, but something tells me that I will remember more fondly the "Fireflies on the Water."

The Foie Gras Foe

Honestly, I'm not a picky eater. Okay, my parents might disagree with that statement, but for the most part, I make an effort to at least try everything. However, today at lunch, I was faced with a truly formidable culinary foe: foie gras.

In French cuisine, foie gras is a wonderful delicacy, and most French people that I've encountered absolutely love it. To me, it is just... disgusting. Like caviar. How do people eat caviar?? I, for one, am completely nauseated by the thought of eating--not to mention enjoying--tiny jelly fish eggs. It is the same with foie gras--fattened liver is just not something that I can wrap my head around eating.

This is the fourth or fifth time foie gras has been on the menu at my host family's home. It is, however, the first time that I actually ate any, having previously politely denied the offer (which always made my family look a little disappointed). When I accepted it today, though, they were extremely happy. (A bessele, I said as my host mother heaped the foie onto my plate--A bessele. It's the Alsatian phrase for "a little bit").

So yes, today I sat down to a plate of salad and pasta and, as I was kindly informed, half of a fattened veal liver. I'm not going to lie, it was a bit of a struggle to eat.

But to the slight surprise of both my host family and myself, I finished it all.  My impressions? The taste was not the "rich, buttery" taste that they had promised it would be. The foie was a bit spongy (which did not help my mental assertion that I was just eating a steak) and it had a weird flavor that I tried to mask by stuffing my mouth full of pasta for each bite of foie. Of course, I'm being a little dramatic--it wasn't that bad...but I was very, very thankful for all of the pasta. In the end, I conquered the foie gras, making my host mother so proud that she promptly clapped and then gave me some of the chocolate truffle ice cream that she knows I love.

Alsatian cuisine has been pretty standard fare so far--meat and potatoes dominate--so today's foe of foie gras was my first cultural-culinary battle. I hope I emerge just as victorious when I next encounter some bizarre French delicacy... like escargot, which I have been assured I have to try before leaving France.

Golden Versailles

After being back in the States for a while, I hadn't seen a castle or a chateau in a good two weeks, so I was really due to visit one... and it worked out perfectly that Kat, Alexis, Lorena, and I went off to see the Chateau de Versailles just one day after my arrival in France! Only about a half hour's train ride from Paris, Versailles is probably the most opulent palace--or even just place--I have ever seen. There is gold everywhere. There is stunning detail everywhere. There is velvet and marble and chandeliers everywhere. The paintings on the ceilings almost put the entire Musee d'Orsay to shame. For goodness' sake, can we talk ceilings for a minute?! I have so many pictures of the gorgeous fresco ceilings, I just don't know what to do with them all! And we were really so lucky--I had heard that entering Versailles could take a good two hours of standing in line, but for us it took barely ten minutes!

There's not too much to write about our trip to Versailles, as in this particular case, pictures will say much, much more than words. So the rest of this post is just going to be a roll of pictures, with maybe a few small paragraphs of commentary thrown in between. It's been said that one picture is worth a thousand words, so this blog post will be very, very long... tens of thousands of words! Enjoy the trip to the Chateau de Versailles as seen through my camera lens!

When even the gates are golden, you know this is going to be good

 

The Queen's bed was so golden, I don't know how it
was comfortable to sleep in

 

 

And here begins a stream of pictures of ceilings. And honestly, this is only a fraction of the ceilings I could've shown. I'm sorry, they were just so impressive. I swear, each room in the chateau was just magnificent from every angle--and if you know anything about Versailles, you know that it is enormous! Note the gold and marble that surround some of the frescos. Really, not a centime (French penny) was spared to make Versailles the most opulent palace in the world. No wonder the rest of France was broke after this place was built!



One of the most unique ceilings--made completely of richly detailed stone work!

Now, onto the famous Hall of Mirrors! One of the prettiest parts of Versailles in my opinion, and I'm sure most of the rest of the world agrees. It was so unbelievably ornate! Although I must say, the mirrors are in dire need of a good cleaning! We noticed that as the four of us were taking a few "mirror selfies" just for fun. Mirror selfies in the Hall of Mirrors!

Here's one mirror selfie! Even the stools are encrusted with gold...

 

 

The four of us in the Hall of Mirrors! L-R: Alexis, me, Kat, and Lorena

 

Lorena and I at the Hall of Mirrors

 

Finally, onto the Gardens. Versailles' grounds are quite extensive, filled with forests and ponds and fountains and statues and gardens. Originally, Versailles was a hunting lodge for one of France's numerous King Louis (the final result ending up a bit more... expensive than your average hunting lodge) but that explains why it is set outside of Paris, near a forest. Unfortunately, the four of us didn't have too much time to explore the grounds, but what we saw was beautiful, as to be expected from such a place as Versailles.

 

One of the many statues in the gardens of Versailles

Winter day at Versailles!

My three friends, taking a stroll through the gardens of Versailles!



Back in France, Back in Paris!

And.... I AM BACK!

After a little under two weeks in the States (and having just FINALLY adjusted to U.S. time on the third-to-last day of my stay, of course) I'm now back in France--starting off the New Year right with two days in Paris!

My flight took off at just after 6pm on January 1st, and I arrived in Paris at just before 7am on January 2nd. On a side note, that is a silly time for a flight: no one is tired enough to fall asleep on the plane for more than an hour or two, and by the time you land (after six hours), it's morning in Europe and you've skipped an entire night's rest! Needless to say, as soon as arrived, I made a beeline for my hotel and took a three-hour nap. Sure, it was probably the wrong thing to do if I wanted to combat jet lag, but I was honestly too tired to care.

After waking up a little less tired, I planned the rest of my day while trying to get in contact with a few of my friends who I knew were also in Paris. Then I set off: straight to Pere Lachaise. It's the largest (and most famous) cemetery in Paris, and hundreds of famous people are buried here. Specifically I wanted to pay my respects to the famous French singer Edith Piaf, but I never looked at the map of where celebrity's graves are located, so I managed to wander around the cemetery for a while without ever finding her tomb.

Oddly enough, the graveyard had hundreds of other people strolling through as well. Many were tourists, of course, but many others were Parisian couples taking a walk. It is a pretty place, Pere Lachaise, not creepy or morbid like one would think a huge cemetery would be, but it's not exactly the first place I would think of for a walk through Paris! Now that I think about it, Parisian tourist attractions tend towards the morbid... on my first visit to Paris , I took the walk through the underground crypts and now a cemetery...

I headed towards Notre Dame de Paris afterwards, the grand cathedral being one of the few things that I missed the first time I was in Paris. Impressions? ...It was nice, I guess. Much smaller than Strasbourg's cathedral. To be honest, I'm a little bit spoiled with my Notre Dame de Strasbourg--that cathedral towers above the whole city, and its façade is so beautifully and so intricately carved that Paris's Notre Dame didn't stand a chance. So while it was good to visit for myself... everyone should come see Strasbourg's Notre Dame cathedral instead!!

At least Notre Dame de Paris had a Christmas Tree,
although it was also smaller than Strasbourg's tree.

Next, I met up with Kat, her friend Alexis, and Lorena (a HC friend who is abroad in Italy this year) at la Musee d'Orsay. Originally a train station, Orsay is one of the more famous museums in Paris (along with the Louvre and le Centre Pompidou), and holds mostly impressionist works (think Monet, Manet, Degas, Pissarro, and Cezanne) although many other artists and sculptures have their works displayed as well. Luckily, the museum was open late on Thursday for some reason, because the line was so long! We stayed there until Orsay closed at 9:30pm.



I really liked this Pissarro, so I snuck a picture of it

My internal clock still messed up, I split off from Kat, Lorena, and Alexis after Orsay to head back to my hotel for some dinner and sleep. However, I had one last day in Paris before heading back to Strasbourg Friday night. I asked my friends what they were doing, and they said that they were planning to visit Versailles! Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity to see the golden Versailles! But those photos will just have to wait for another post, coming soon, I promise.

Also, sidenote: I barely saw the Eiffel Tower this visit to Paris--and by that I mean once, from far, far away on the river, I glimpsed it all lit up at night (can you spot it in one of these photos?) but that was it!