Le jour de l'action de grace et la neige

Bonsoir tout le monde!


I already feel like this weekend will be wonderful. It definitely has to do with Thanksgiving last night, which was wonderful to say the least.

A group of us from my fashion class went to this little establishment where we enjoyed a few glasses from sangria before dinner. I think that made everyone feel better, and make the overall mood of the dinner all the more jolly. In fact, I think everyone at the dinner was a little slap happy, so it made for a fun evening.

Dinner was at this little restaurant close to St. Michel. I sat at a wonderful table, and here we go, our menu! I've rated each part out of 4 stars.

Drinks:
Kir
Beaujolais nouveau


Entree:
Pumpkin soup ***

Plat principal:
Turkey in a mushroom cream sauce with vegetables *** 1/2

Dessert:
Little apple tart with a crumb topping and ice cream with a chocolate syrup drizzle ****

Surprised by how the stars went? I didn't think so. But what I found so special about this meal, besides the company, was saying grace for my table. Everyone was fine, even enthusiastic for a blessing, so I felt very touched to lead everyone.

Alexia, Danica and Jane did a wonderful job coordinating this. I had to send them a thank you note for a wonderful and memorable night. I skyped with the family after, and overall, this was a kick ass Thanksgiving.

In other news, IT SNOWED IN PARIS TODAY!!! I was walking along the Luxembourg Gardens with my Salve friend Colleen and her friend Katie. I stop dead in my tracks:

"Did I just see a snowflake?"

Then lo, the heavens opened and the snow just POURED right in! I caught my first snowflake of the season in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France.

How lucky am I!!

I give in Paris, I give in!!

First off:

Congratulations Paris. I'm throwing in the towel. I've tried to hang on to Thanksgiving spirit, but due to the non-celebration of this holiday, plus all the Christmas decorations that are up, I'm officially excited for Christmas.

I thought I could hold off until after Thursday, but alas, Christmas always arrives early in cities.

Secondly, a shout out to the woman on the Metro who proved that you can wear black, brown & gray AND look awesome. Rock on Metro woman.

Yesterday was probably one of the best I've had in Paris so far. And it was a Monday, usually my least favorite day of the week, because it makes Friday seem so far away.

We finally went to the Orangerie museum, where we saw Monet's water lilies.

I was breathless, because it was not one but 2 rooms of these giant paintings of his pond at Giverny. Just impressive, and moving too. He donated these paintings to the nation, and these were done when his eye sight was going and many thought he was crazy. Well, I think these paintings are the most elegant "Fuck you" to anyone I've ever seen. Go Monet.

After phonetics class (which is always fun, I think our teacher gets a kick out of Americans), I met up with some of the girls for dinner. I met them at the ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde. That night, the Champs-Elysees was all it up for Christmas, and shall be throughout the holiday season.

We walked along the Champs to dinner, and it was so wonderful! The lights, the Christmas market booths set up, as cheesy as it sounds, it was magical. Hot wine, churros, little gifts, what more could you ask for? We ate a delicious dinner at Bistro Romain, which is a wonderful chain of restaurants in France. My LORD is was so good, and with our vouchers, free!

On the way back we decided to pretend we were 5 years old and slide down those long giant slides you see at carnivals. They had one set up along the Champs and we couldn't resist. We took pics of each other; it was like we were parents and children both times. We got a crowd going, who seemed to love watching us have fun. And they totally knew we were Americans.

Oh well.

Here we go

For the record: I'm sitting here watching Wizard People and sort of working on my paper.

Who doesn't want to spend their Saturday night like this?

Alright, so this week was fairly quiet. Monday, after coming back from Florence, felt like "Welcome back to Paris, the city that never stops and you better be ready!" It really was quite a shock going back from the slow-paced living of Tuscany to the pace of Paris. But after Monday things got better.

Thursday night me and some of the AIFS peeps went to a Chopin concert at the church of St. Julien de Pauvre. One of the oldest churches in Paris, it claims to be the oldest, but St. Germain des Pres challenges that. I vote for St. Germain since I presented on it.

But the concert was wonderful. The church is tiny, and as the pianist entered the lights dimmed, and except for two spotlights, we were surrounded by the glow of candles. The music was wonderful, quite a few times I was touched. Her final piece of the night was some Mozart, but she made it jazzy which was fun to hear.

Friday Mandi, Kirstie, our new acquaintance Ashley and I went to The Moose, this awesome Canadian bar close to school. When I saw the sign for it (in English), I was so excited! My meal of the night? A mojito and mozzarella sticks. It's been FOREVER since I've had mozzarella sticks, it was quite nostalgic. Plus, they were showing recaps of football games, as in American football. I didn't want to leave!

Today I actually felt like a student. Why? Well, I have a paper due in a few weeks for my architecture class...which is in French. So Kirstie, Mandi and I met to work on them. Thank God we got things started. We took a lunch break in between at a very classy establishment.

McDonald's. Now don't judge, this was the one on the Champs-Elysees. It was the nicest McDonald's I've ever been to. And all the people who eat there are thin. No joke.

Tomorrow is more work, and then it's back to fun this upcoming week. Orangerie on Monday, potential Christmas market on Tuesday, HP hopefully Wednesday, Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, and hopefully more fun on Friday. Woo!

Dites-moi ce n'est pas vrai!

Salut tout le monde,

Aujourd'hui est le 20 novembre. Je rentrerai au 18 decembre.

Mon Dieu! J'ai beaucoup de chose que je dois fair! Not even cultural things related, I need to get going on my paper for Parisian architecture.

A more substantial entry will be up soon, probably tomorrow. I'm super excited for this week, but I'll you why later!

Photos from Florence!!

Click on the link and enjoy the photos!!


Just kidding, copy and paste the link. Then enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=565471&id=756660499&l=d424058299

Pisa & Wrap-Up

Sunday

Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to go to Pisa, where we would fly out that afternoon. I was so sad leaving our wonderful Florentine home with views of the city. I really didn't want to leave.

Pisa we saw the Leaning Tower, which was neat, but... I guess I was expecting it to be taller. And after a few shots, I just felt, "It's a leaning tower of white marble. Amazing?" Besides that, Pisa seemed a bit tough. But in any case, we had a delicious lunch, and then made our way to the airport.

Our flight back was much quieter, seeing as this time we were flying with more French people and little Italians. We got in on time, and I was home before 9 that night.

Final Thoughts

It still hasn't hit me that a week ago today we were gathering at the RyanAir bus station to take us to the airport. This trip was one of the most relaxed and happy days I've had here. To say that I enjoyed Florence is doing the city a disservice. I LOVED Florence, and I want to go back so badly. I missed on a few sights, but I'd go back to see the same sights again and again.

I'm so thankful I was able to see so much, and so grateful to Jenny's family for opening up their home to us. Florence came and went so quickly, just like a dream.

But don't you worry Florence, I shall return. Grazie mille. 

Firenze, pt 3! & Siena

Friday

Today was one of the best days of the trip. Me, Greta and Bine decided to go to the Uffizi, plus some shopping and they wanted to go see David. 


What I forgot to mention is that the Uffizi is right next to the Piazza della Signoria, which was where the friar Savonarola was burned at the stake. I didn't realize he was killed in Florence. In a nutshell, he was a friar who, in my opinion, had the courage to criticize the Church during the Renaissance period. Unfortunately, he was a wee bit extreme with some of his views, and that got himself in a lot of trouble. Anyway, I digress.


For breakfast, we got gelato. I wish I was joking. We then went to the Uffizi, a beautiful museum housing more works of the Italian masters. Not only did they have an amazing exhibit on Caravaggio, plus works by Duhrer and da Vinci, but they had an ENTIRE ROOM dedicated to Boticelli.

I walked in, and first I see the Madonna of the Magnificat, one of my favorites. I then see, right next to it, The Birth of Venus, and beside that, Allegory of Spring. 


Starstruck. Speechless. Moved. Amazed. Seeing what I saw that day was much more impressive than the Mona Lisa. 


After the Uffizi we got a delicious lunch, and then wanted to check out the leather stores. Italian leather, and specifically leather from Florence, is of unbelievable quality. Plus, you aren't paying for a brand name, so it's much more reasonable. (Unless you could care less about cost, the Italian designers weren't far away)

We first went to the Leather School, and there you can see artisans creating various leather goods. It was really neat to see, but we continued. I found one store where I purchased a handsome set of black leather gloves, and I got them for 10% off too.

We then stumbled into one store, whose owner told us he owned another store down the street and everything was on sale at 50% off. The second store was even better. Bine found the leather boots she wanted, plus a gorgeous leather jacket. I wasn't planning on spending more, but I spied with my eyes a pair of brown leather shoes. I tried them on, and I was hooked. They were 50% off, plus the salesman took off another 10 Euros because I payed in cash.

I finished my purchases by buying two bags of rainbow colored bow-tie pasta.

Success? I think so. Grazie Firenze!


Saturday

Our final full day we spent in Siena. Unfortunately we got there a bit later than expected, so I thought our time there was pleasant but too brief. And, I regret not doing enough research on the city. I'll get to that later.

Once we got off the bus we followed Valerie to a restaurant that was highly recommended. It was definitely worth the walk. I had an amazing grilled veal steak, followed by little biscotti you soak in sweet wine. Yum yum.

We then walked to Siena's Duomo, and I will say, Siena is quite charming. It has a more Medieval feeling to it, more brick buildings and such. This Duomo was much more impressive on the inside. Again, huge, massive, and lots of marble. It was a treat! We also visited the Piazza del Campo, Siena's central square with the Palazzo Pubblico as the focal point.

The square is beautiful. It's shell shaped, so there's a curve, and it was so nice to relax on it. The square is also known for the famous Palio di Siena horse races that take place there. The energy must change so much, because it had a very relaxed laid-back atmosphere. I can't imagine when they are setting up for the races!

Before we left, we explored the Santuario e casa di Santa Caterina. Bine's friend recommend we visit, and I wanted to go, seeing that St. Catherine of Sienna is the city patron, and my mom is a 3rd generation Catherine in the family.

This place was a hidden gem. One side was the sanctuary, and the other side had a chapel. You open the doors, and the chapel glowed with light. Frescos, paintings and flags just glowed. My eyes were so wide looking around. But I wish I had researched Siena because I found out, this sanctuary was where Catherine actually lived. And the crucifix hanging on the altar is the one that gave her the stigmata.

Incredible. And I was there.

We got back, had a delicious homemade Mexican dinner courtesy of Jenny's mom, and then went out to celebrate our last night in Florence. Again, SO MUCH FUN. More merriment followed by secret bakery treats.

Firenze, pt 2!

Thursday

Thursday most of the group went to Lucca, but I stayed behind with MB. I had 4 full days and I wanted as much of Florence as possible. MB (Mary Beth, fellow companion) was gracious enough to let me play tourist since she's been to most of the places in Florence already.

I first went to the Accademia di Belle Arti, which houses quite the many works of art by Italian masters. But the real gem is that this place houses the original David by Michelangelo. I walked up to David and walked around, slowly, with a big smile on my face. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. After learning about this in numerous classes and seeing pictures, I was standing feet away from this massive work. Talk about being star struck. The sculpture is so perfectly done, I swear it was breathing. It's that lifelike.


After we headed to the Basilica di San Lorenzo, another massive but beautiful church. It's here that many members of the Medici family are buried. Unfortunately I missed them because of the weird times, but I was able to look inside. What struck me is that most of the churches we went to charged admission. In France most churches are free with a few exceptions. But I took advantage of the side entrance reserved for prayer. I did pray and light a candle, but it allowed me some time to enjoy the basilica's beauty and not pay. I do think it's a scandal to charge admission. At least say it's a donation to restoration work or something.

Since we had some time left, I ventured over to the Basilica di Santa Croce, which is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories. Why? Well, because the following greats are buried here:

Galileo
Machiavelli 
Foscolo 
Gentile
Rossini


Yup, and they even have a tomb for Dante... even though he's not buried there. Poor Florence can't even get a favorite son's body back. It's a darn shame. But the church is really neat, tons of frescos everywhere and a lot of floor tombs. I loved the floor tombs, but how surprised are you about that? 


Oh, and later that night some of us went out. It was SO MUCH FUN. After we found one of Florence's secret bakeries. You find out about these places by word of mouth, and there is nothing sweeter than a chocolate cream croissant in the early hours of the morning. 

Firenze, pt 1!

I will say, Florence gives Paris a run for it's money. It is so beautiful, with wonderful food, cuisine, art and all around vibe. But it's a different kind of beauty. Florence is the Jewel of the Renaissance, so you're instantly transported to that period in time.

There's too much to say about Florence, so here is Florence from our arrival until Wednesday night. So, here it goes!

Tuesday:
Our flight became an experience. We were freaked our about our luggage being at the right weight and dimensions. Those RyanAir people scare you! But luckily, all of ours fit like a glove, and they didn't bother weighing them. On board, it was basically us, and a plane full of Italians. It was the loudest flight I've ever been on. And when our captain told us we may have to go to Bologna because of bad weather, the voices just got louder and hands were flying everywhere!

Luckily, we landed in Pisa as planned, and because it was so late, we shelved out some extra Euros to pay for a chauffeur who took us right to Jenny's house. Jenny, FYI, is my amazing program friend who's family lives in Florence. Free lodging? Yes please!

We come to the house, which is just a beautiful house in what I like to call, sun-kissed yellow. Many of the buildings in Florence have the sun-kissed shade of yellow, orange, pink, you name it. And when we enter the house, (I think it's about midnight now), we see a table, full of sandwiches, dessert, wine, and lit candles. Jenny's mom made this for us, and it was the most wonderful sight to see. Jenny's mom was a RIOT and a wonderful hostess. Jenny's sister and her friend were also there, they were a ton of fun too.

We all slept in the living room, or as Jenny's mom said, "The Orphanage." Mattresses with bedding were scattered throughout, and it was like a giant slumber party. Very fun indeed!

Wednesday: After waking up late, we decided to go to the Duomo, Florence's giant cathedral. Before we left we explored the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a wonderful square set up on a hill. It's right by Jenny's house which is high up. Well, we thought the views from Jenny's house were amazing, the views from the Piazelle were magnificent. You can see all of the historic district of Florence, and we also explored a beautiful church, the Basilica Abbaziale di San Miniato al Monte, and cemetery right by. I can't wait to post the pictures, the view was breathtaking from both spots.

Walking through Florence just made me smile. What a gem of a city. And.. I ran into Kathy, my chiropractor who was on vacation with her husband!! It was wonderful see a familiar face, in Florence!!! We then scooped up some gelato, and headed to the Duomo. 


Oh my word. To think I thought Notre-Dame was massive. This church is one of Italy's largest, and it's HUGE. Totally different from your French Gothic beauties. Here, frescos and marble reign. The dome itself is massive, and just the overall space is just huge. And, right across from the cathedral was the Baptistery, which had the famous and equally beautiful Gates of Paradise. 


This whole day was a precursor to the more wonderful days I would have in Tuscany. I promise to put up pictures soon!

Before Firenze

So, later tonight, I leave for Florence, Italy!! I'll be there until Sunday; can you believe it? It's like Thanksgiving break just two weeks early!

I can't wait to explore this city of the Renaissance. David, the de Medici family, and Lord knows who else! I can't wait.

But, yesterday some of us went to the Cluny Museum, which is dedicated to Medieval life. Needless to say, I LOVED it.

But I really loved it because they have these six tapestries (I love tapestries) called La Dame à la licorne, in English The Lady & The Unicorn. Not only was it interesting to see that they represent the 5 senses, the 6th one remains a mystery. And they are BEAUTIFULLY done, just stunning.


Another reason why they're awesome: These are the tapestries that hang in the Gryffindor Common Room in the Harry Potter films!!


GAH! I was so thrilled. And part I of HP comes out in a few weeks. Again, THRILLED!


Arrivederci everyone! Until Sunday!

J'adore le musée d'Orsay!!

I AM IN LOVE.

When you have fresh croissants for breakfast from your host family, you know the day has gotten off to a good start.

When you can enter the famed Musée d'Orsay, specializing in art from 1848-1915, for free, it's even better.

When you enter an architecturally beautiful museum, housing the works of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Cézanne, Gauguin, Sisley, Seurat, van Gogh, a special temporary exhibit on Gérôme, plus beautiful photography exhibits of the French countryside, you've died and gone to heaven.


And let me be honest, half of the men listed up there that I saw, I had never heard of before, or I've seen a piece by them and never made the connection. I simply fell in love with Alfred Sisley, someone who I had never heard of. His work just made me smile. 


And, I also had never heard of Gérôme either; needless to say the exhibit on him was flawless and I LOVED it. So many influences, from the East, Greco-Roman and also moments in French history. Such a perfect combination. 


There is NO DOUBT in my mind that I'll be going back. I covered a lot of ground, but I still didn't see other sections of the museum. I think I'll go again on 1st Sunday in December for free admission. And I've decided that the last week I'm here, I'll spend my Thursday night at the d'Orsay. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. 

La Tour Eiffel et le Louvre

Last night, I ventured to the Eiffel Tower. Ticket in hand, I waited the extremely long line to get to the elevator to the 2nd floor. Although, the wait was alleviated by watching giant groups of colorful Asian tourists talk to one side of me, while listening to Americans from Wisconsin talk on the other.

Let's just say, I was laughing so hard on the inside.

Anyway, I get to the second floor, and before me is the city of Paris lit up. And then, I hear a giant gasp. I forgot, it was 10! And at each hour, the tower just sparkles with blinking lights. I was standing there, so mesmerized by what I saw. This was definitely one of my "I'm in Paris, France!" moments. As I walked down the tower (so many steps), all I could think was, "I can't leave I can't leave I can't leave." 


And today, I had the brilliant original plan of spending this raining day at the Louvre. Unfortunately, a bunch of tourists decided to do the same thing. Oh well.

I got in for free which put me in a very agreeable mood. I then decided to see the biggies: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace. That, plus Coronation of Napoleon, Liberty Leading the People, numerous works by Delacroix, Reubens, Fra Angelico, Giotto, Vermeer, Da Vinci, Napoleon III's rooms, some beautiful crown jewels, numerous objets d'art. 


I even lucked out on seeing many portraits used in my Fashion class, and I saw some of the French crown jewels which of course were stunning. 


Well, folks, seeing all of that was overwhelming, but incredibly special and wonderful. For some reason, I didn't find the need to take pictures. There's something about a museum, versus a cathedral or chateau, that I think warrants you to look at things more actively than usual. I find it's more special to go to a museum, find a work of art, and just look at it. Find what you think makes it special, and take that with you. And, 9.99/10 times, if and when you return to a museum, that work of art will still be there. 


And, on a more reasonable level, the pictures you take of the art NEVER look at good as the one in the books sold by the museum. I was tempted to buy one, but I refrained. If by December it's something I really want, I can easily go back and buy one. You don't need to get a ticket to go to the bookstore, so it's not an issue at all. 


But while seeing great works was impressive, I had more fun turning a corner and discovering a painting I've liked, but never knew was at the Louvre. I got so excited when I turned the corner and found the original Hans Holbein the Younger's painting of Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife. This painting was the same one Henry VIII saw. I was as giddy as a schoolboy. 


And I was struck by two of the numerous religious paintings I saw. 


One was in the Northern Europe paintings wing, and it was a painting of Christ being taken down from the cross. What was so different was that you saw Christ, limp and dead with grey-blue skin. You look around, and everyone else has the glow of health, except one other person: His mother. Mary is shown fainted in the arms of St. John, tears down her face, eyes closed, but her skin grey-blue just like Jesus. I thought it was very eerie, but a powerful connection between mother and son. As He died, a little piece of her did too. I've never seen Mary portrayed as being dead like that before.


The second one I really liked was Pierre Mignard's La vierge aux raisins, The Virgin of the Grapes. (Here's the link to the painting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mignard_vierge_raisins.jpg)


What I loved about it was that, they both have a little grin. And it just strikes me as a realistic painting of Mary and Jesus as a child. He actually has the expression of a precocious, even mischievous little boy playing hide and seek with his mother's clothes. She appears calm, but I notice a little grin on her face as she hands him the grapes. They just appear as incredible human and relatable: no halos, no angels, no radiation of heavenly light. Just a mother and son in the intimacy of home. 


Don't I sound like I know what the hell I'm taking about? It surprises me too!

Sainte-Chapelle, Conciergerie, & Moliere.. & Memory Lane

THAT, my friends, is BEAUTY.

Honestly the Sainte-Chapelle is so incredibly beautiful, when I looked at my pictures for the 5th time, I still just said, "Wow." The lower level was beautiful because the ceilings are a deep blue with golden fleur de lys painted over it.

But then you go up the stairs, and you you immediately come upon those windows.

We're talking about medieval stain glass; in fact 2/3 of the windows are authentic. That means that over half of the windows are originally from the 13th century. Plus, the colors are just so rich. It's like being surrounded by a painter's palette.

After Sainte-Chapelle was the Conciergerie, which was also impressive. Like the Tower of London, it served as a palace and prison. What drew me to the Conciergerie is the fact that Marie Antoinette was a prisoner here before she was killed. Because her cell no longer exists, they have an excellent recreation.

What was her cell is now a chapel; unfortunately it's just for show. I wish it had a space for you to pray but oh well. The chapel is painted deep deep blue, with silver tears painted on that. There's a memorial to Louis XVI, his sister Madame Elisabeth, and then there's a space featuring three paintings depicting Marie Antoinette's separation from her children, Marie Antoinette in her cell, and lastly, Marie Antoinette receiving Communion for the last time.

It was incredibly moving, and all the more makes me feel for her. I can remember reading my first book about her in elementary school in 5th grade. The book was in the series called The Royal Diaries. It was by the same folks that published Dear America, My Name is America etc. Pretty much the only books that were out there for kids that pertained to history, and even then, most of the books were geared towards girls. The books about boys took a while to catch on, but when they did those were great too. But I loved reading about a different character in a different time period. To me, it didn't matter that they were girls. What mattered was that you felt like you were reading the diary of someone who was your age, and they were describing some of the most amazing moments in history: whether as a passenger on the Titanic, working in the mills of Lowell, living through the Civil War, surviving day to day during the Great Depression. You were instantly captured and taken into another world.

And The Royal Diaries, well, is the reason why I'm obsessed with royalty. It was because of these books that I fell in love with Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, Anastasia, Elisabeth of Austria, and so many more. Some of these women led the most incredible, complex, beautiful and tragic lives. And now I'm in Europe, where I can easily access where they lived, entertained, worshipped, died, and where they rest.

Okay, Memory Lane trip done.

Later that night a group of us saw Moliere's "Les Precieuses Ridicules." You can google the plot, but it involved laughing at people's expense, which is always a good time. The play was shown at this very local black box theatre. It felt so wonderful to see a show! Even if it was in rapid fire French, I had a ball.

Oh, and I leave for FLORENCE, ITALY next Tuesday. Huzzah for me.

La nuit et le jour

Unless that is the actually saying for "Night and day," that is what Wednesday and today have been.

Wednesday I can say, without a doubt, was probably the worst day I've had in Paris, both because of things in and out of my control, but namely:

*Election results from MA.
*One of my classes was filled.
*Not so hot on my first French test.
*Headache from hell. Honestly one of the worst headaches I've had in a while.

Luckily, there were a few good points of the day, namely: Saint-Chapelle, Conciergerie & the Moliere play. But those will be in a separate post.

Then you have today, and it's a total 180.

*Slept wonderfully
*Found a free spot in the class I need and GOT IT.
* Chatted with the nicest old Irishmen today.
*One of the best meals eaten today.

I went to this nice little place called Le Cafe in the 2nd. Now for the record, this post is dedicated to Jamie Burgess. She told me about this place and the following dish I had:

Camembert chaud. 


Please imagine: Baked camembert still in it's wooden container, swimming in honey, with a delicious salad and roasted seasoned potatoes.

Let the envy and mouth watering begin.

Puis-je goûter?

That my friends was the phrase of the day. I'll explain later.

But first, Happy All Saint's Day!

I just have to mention, I'm currently watching Hocus Pocus with the biggest grin on my face. I didn't have the time to watch it yesterday, but since today and tomorrow (All Souls)  is related to Halloween, technically the holiday season isn't over yet.

So, as mentioned, Halloween was spent with lots of dead people. Today was a very different kind of day. First off, it didn't involve dead people, tombs or famous Frenchmen.

Instead, today was more of a treat.

In honor of All Saints and since I can't make it to Mass for All Souls, I ventured to Notre Dame for 10 AM Mass. While I much prefer the Mass offered at 12:45, the 10 AM I think is the most beautiful Notre Dame offers.

Pourquoi?


The 10 AM is the Gregorian Mass, which is to say: the Gregorian Choir Ensemble provides the music, and major parts of the Mass such as Gloria, Nicene Creed, Mass parts are said/sung in Latin. The choir sings a cappella and their talent is incredible. These people are talented musicians who have studied music, or are studying music, and range from the Children's Choir to Adult Choir. So, to sum it up: These people know their stuff.

After Mass, Kirstie and I met up to venture on the biggest Halloween treat I could imagine.

Le Salon du Chocolat. Qu'est-ce que c'est? 


At the Porte de Versailles metro stop, there are these GIANT exposition centers. This year, Paris was hosting the 16th annual SDC, and these exposition halls were filled to the brim with chocolatiers, bakers, and confectionery companies from Paris and all of France.

Their goal? Offer free samples of their chocolate goodness and get you to spend all your Euros.

Honestly, had I withdrawn all my money from my bank account, I could have easily spent all my money. I was more tempted there than walking along the Champs Elysees.

Needless to say, Kirstie and I were overwhelmed. Everywhere you looked there was a booth specializing in something: cookies, baked goods, cocao beans, chocolate bars, chocolate spreads, regional chocolates. Plus, the theme of the salon was sustainable/green chocolates. So everything was all natural and/or organic.

Now, I think it's very important to buy all natural/organic. Unfortunately, it's still not economically possible for everyone to buy everything AN/O. But I think, as a way to start, choose a couple items you love and can't live without. And buy those products AN/O. I think chocolate is easily one of those staples.

Okay, so as we wandered throughout the expo, we were able to partake in the free samples, including a little glass of Grand Marnier vanilla cognac. Talk about smooth, mon Dieu!! 


I purchased some heavenly cookies from this company called Laura Todd. I highly recommend you check out their website. While it's only in French, they are committed to baking and making wonderful culinary creations with AN/O ingredients. You can't argue that. I bought 6 and I currently have 3 left. They're delicious!!

I then purchased some regional chocolates from Marseilles. I guess the chocolates are made with olive oil, and are filled with this almond paste but it's not marzipan. I sampled them, fell in love and bought a box. I put those in the fridge and I'm going to return to the US with them; I'll greatly enjoy them when I'm depressed missing Paris.

After our trip, we of course got gyros frites for lunch. WIN.

But besides the chocolate, what the SDC taught me was:

*Confidence plays a HUGE key when speaking French.

*Volume also plays a huge park in speaking French.

*It's important to try out as much French as possible, and when all else fails, "Parlez-vous anglais?" 


I just got so nervous, too nervous. It probably didn't help being surrounded by huge crowds, but I'm glad it happened. Basically, I have to know that I'm confident in what I know so far in French, and what I don't know, I have to learn on my own. Or, if in conversation, ask "Parlez-vous anglais?" or warn the person beforehand, "Je vous demande pardon; je parle un petit peu français." 


That, plus the question "Comment dites-vous ... en français?" (How do you say .... in French?) is probably helpful. 


Just trying to speak in French, I have found, earns you some respect. It's never okay to go right into English. And it makes sense, you know? Even my mother, who can't speak French to save her life, listened to some French cd's and she, plus Mary, learned some essential phrases and therefore had an amazing time here. 


Well folks, this weekend, in essence, was a huge success. It's back to the grind tomorrow. Wish me luck. 


Bonne nuit et grosses bises.