Strasbourg! La plus belle ville du monde...

This is ridiculously overdue, but what can I say? It's been pretty busy this month.

For the weekend of May 13-16, also known in the Christian calendar as the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, I went to Strasbourg, France with Inga and Rebecca, two American friends also studying French at CIDEF. First of all, thank goodness I go to school at a Catholic university that feels obligated to give us time off to go to church/be with our families/get one last vacation in. We left on Thursday morning and came back on Saturday afternoon.

Angers is in the west of France and Strasbourg is so far east that it's practically Germany (more on that later) so it was really interesting to watch the landscape change during the train ride to and from Strasbourg. Angers is part of the Loire Valley, so it's flat and green, but almost a bright, colored-printer-paper green. If you've seen any aerial photos of the classic chateaux of France, that's what we're dealing with. It's also very immaculately kept, for the most part--all gardens are neatly trimmed, etc. By the time we got to Strasbourg, the trees and grass had become wet (because of the rain, but the colors struck me as "wet") and the green had become a deep evergreen. It actually reminded me a lot of Southern VA/Northern TN/West Virginia. It was a very pretty train ride.

Unfortunately, it rained for the first day, and it was very, very cold. My fingers were numb when I held my umbrella. Our hotel was kind of a dump, but that didn't matter too much because a) it was cheap and b) I'm a college student. I've always, always seen worse. But the TV didn't work and the shower head was crazy with practically no partition to keep the water from spraying everywhere. The internet also didn't work in our room, and we had to pay to use the computer downstairs.

The food, though. Glorious! I've been subsisting on mostly fruit and yogurt lately, so I wanted to eat some MEAT. From about 1870 to 1919, Alsace and Lorraine were a part of Germany (or Prussia, at that time). Napolean III had picked a fight with Bismarck, and the French army was absolutely destroyed. Typical. The Prussians took the two departments in retaliation because they are so rich in carbon. As a result, "French" children went to German-style schools, spoke German as a first or second language, and basically became full-blooded German citizens. In the rest of France, maps showed Alsace and Lorraine shaded in black, and the country was literally in "mourning" for their lost brethren. It became this deep wound on the French psyche, and is one of the reasons that France jumped so quickly into WWI at the height of nationalistic sentiment in Europe. At the end of WWI, Alsace and Lorraine returned to France, which was confusing to everyone by that point. Even today, Strasbourg and the rest of the area retains a lot of it's German heritage. Strasbourg is even right on the border of Germany. There's a line on the city map, like: FRANCE / GERMANY.



The moral of this story is that there is a lot of fantastic food in Strasbourg. For lunch, we had Flammekuchen, which is a really crispy, thin pizza with creme fraiche and mushrooms and bacon. We also saw a bunch of the little pastries and breads that are unique to the region. But the best was the dinner on Friday night, when we all had regional specialities. The image above is what I ate: Baeckeoffe. It's basically three meats, potatoes, and carrots cooked with white wine and cooked in a "terrine." I loved the terrine so much that I picked one up for myself to take home. Honestly, it was a little dry, but I'm sure that's something I can learn to adjust. I was seriously jealous of Inga's pork knuckle with sauerkraut. Mmm. It looked delicious. I noticed that many restaurants in this area had what I can only describe as "family" seating. I'm very used to very small tables that only seat two people, four at the most. However, at two restaurants in three days, we were seated at one end of a long table that sat anywhere between six and ten people. I watched hostesses seat two different parties at the same table. It was interesting. I kind of liked it. It fit with the cozy atmosphere of the region. We also ate lunch one day at a sushi restaurant that had a conveyor belt that moved all of the dishes around the room. It was really cool, actually. And one of the cheapest meals I've eaten all semester!





We also visited the cathedral, which is huge and beautiful and will probably always stick in my mind. It's very gothic and mysterious looking because it's made out of sandstone. Inside, I lit a memory candle for my grandfather, whose mother was from Germany and who was Catholic. Never let it be said that I am not thoughtful. Also, Petite France was absolutely stunning and basically straight out of a children's book. The buildings are all timber framed and white with steeply sloping roofs. Interestingly enough, it's called "la Petite France" because it used to be the area where all of the french prostitutes did their business. Now it just sounds (and looks) like it should be a part of Disneyland. It was in this area that I was able to get my pretty terrine for only 25 euro!

We also went to a few gardens, but other than that, we just wandered around. I loved it, though. Strasbourg is definitely a city I would love to come back to. Only about 10 days left in France! It's a weird feeling, but more on that later.

It's halftime, y'all.

I've been living in France for two months now and I have two months left to go until I go back to the States. On one hand, I think "wow, two more months!!" because the first two seemed to drag on for a while. But then I realize that when I come back from spring break, I'll only have a month left! The time is really going to fly by. Four months really does seem like the best amount of time for me to be here--I kind of wonder: If I didn't have all this stuff laid out for me to do when I get back (camp, My First Place(tm), and senior year), would I want to stay longer?

The weeks tend to fly by faster than I realize. Like, it's wednesday already! Given, I had a test yesterday and one today, but still. All of a sudden I look around and it's wednesday or thursday. I have a paper (short and handwritten, and on history, thank goodness) due on tuesday and a short oral presentation on wednesday, and I hope to get those knocked out on sunday or monday, which we have off.

MI MADRE IS COMING. I would just like to repeat this for anybody who didn't know about it yet. She's coming, I'm going to snuggle up to her the first night like a chick to a mother hen, and we're going to eat all of the bread and cheese in Paris. And then we're going to Aix, where I will continually freak out about being in the same city that Cezanne lived in, and where we will eat so much bruschetta and other Fritalian dishes. She'll be here just past half-way through the semester, so I'll get a little bit of a fresh breeze from home. Then I'll just have, what, five weeks of classes? Interspersed with two more breaks (thank God for catholic countries) and then before I know it I'll be packing up my little room and heading for Paris.

There's a new nun at the foyer and I don't think I like her. I want to know where my little white haired nun went! This one accosted me and Sara on our way out of the kitchen on a sunday after I had gone in to grab my knife, fork, and spoons from where I had forgotten them while washing dishes. I was wearing flannel pajama pants(because it was Sunday and I like to relax on the weekends) and she made some crazy face and was like "did you just come from cooking?" But, like the other nuns, she's from Spain and her accent was kind of thick, so from there on out I basically didn't understand what she was saying. And so I was like "oh, no, I had just left these in there earlier..." and she said something else that I think was somthing along the lines of "oh, I thought that you had been cooking in that," referring to my pants. It was kind of weird. Yes, I cook in comfy clothes. And what are you even doing here on a Sunday? You nuns are never here on the weekends--hence me cooking in flannel pants. I'm pretty sure she's the one that moved all of the dishes back into the locked cabinet, which annoys me because the other nuns were like "oooh the weekends you can use these dishes under here!" Hm. This is sketchy to me. She was also kind of harassing this girl at dinner last night too: handing her an envelope and then circling back around TWICE to be like "you need to take care of this" in a really serious ominous voice. I'm surprised the girl wasn't like "look. I will. But right now I'm enjoying my mashed potatoes." She clearly wasn't as fed up as I was.

I want my cute nun back: the one that laughs and is like "ahhhh the americans!" and then doesn't say anything else, or if she does I can just laugh and smile and say "oui, oui!"

On the upside, we're having potage (a smooth, creamy vegetable soup) as our appetizer tonight. Nothing can get me down on a potage night.

Some lists for you all:

Things I will miss
-Walking everywhere. 1) Because I strongly believe that it keeps me in shape here and 2) because it's nice to not have to pay for gas, or take the bus, or ride a bike.
-French specific cuisine. I'm talking about galettes, croque madames and monsieurs, and moule-frites. Yes, I can make these things at home, but I'll miss ordering it at a restaurant, or being able to buy them pre-made at the store.
-Trains. They're easy, cheap(er than a flight), and kind of fun. I don't have to check baggage, and the scenery is pretty nice.
-French notebook paper, which is basically graph paper. I like being neat, so I think I'll miss being able to perfectly indent my notes.
-The architecture. I've come to the conclution that I love French history, but not daily life (for other things that will make up a very sarcastic--not whiny!--blog post later this week), and for this reason I LOVE the architecture. I love looking out my classroom window and seeing the cathedrals, walking by the chateau, and just walking down the street and realizing that we don't have this kind of architecture in Mississippi. The white stone and the iron railings of the 19th and 20th centuries all the way back to the earth-and-wood buildings of the Middle Ages. It's amazing.
-The church bells. While they annoy me at 10:00 on a sunday morning while I'm trying to sleep, the bells have been great. They let me know what time it is as they go off every 15 minutes during the day and they're nice background noise. And I've gotten USED to them, as in, I think it's going to be weird to NOT have church bells. I think every time that the bells ring at the chapel on campus, I'll feel a bit nostalgic. I know that there are some bells in Oxford (oh, they just went off right now! It's 1:30 PM right now. Ding, dong.) but just...not like here.
-The people I've met. I've met some pretty cool people at CIDEF and I hope we stay in contact. To be honest, I haven't had the kind of connection with them like I had with the girls from 2008 (who I still talk to regularly) but they're not bad. I kid, I kid. We're going to go eat at a restaurant tomorrow that only makes soufflés. YES!
-The nuns (for the most part). They're cute--except for that new one--and I want to write a little card for them when I leave. They've been so accomodating and understanding that I have NO IDEA what they are saying most of the time, and they're always like "ahhh did you sleep well?" Adorbs. Plus I'll always be able to enjoy the look on people's face when I tell them I've lived with nuns.
-All of the cheese flavors. Notice that I did not say "types." Because let me tell you something: I thought all cheeses were made the same way here. Meaning for all of the normans who make camembert, the cheese ends up tasting the same. (Fun fact: Apparently it's not "real" camembert if it's not made in Normandy, which is weird to me. What is it called, then? It's kind of like that riddle: if a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it, does it make a noise?) But no--we are not in the land of Kraft. Every single camembert I've tasted, which is about five brands now, tastes different, has a different consistency, and different rind texture. The one that the nuns serve is drier and blander, while the one that I've picked as my favorite is soft, creamy, with an almost crumply rind and a nice nutty flavor. And that's just for ONE type of cheese. There are also Tommes, Brie, Gruyère, etc. The same with the bread: no two boulangeries produce exactly the same baguette, and the differences aren't subtle at all. I've had some amazing baguettes and some crappy baguettes, which I didn't think was possible.
-The bikes that the postmen ride. I need to take a picture eventually because they really are cute/cool/funny. They have the Hulk of kickstands too.
-The mama's walking their babies around in strollers covered in clear plastic. I just feel like they're saran-wrapping their babies, but I love it. They clearly don't want them getting wet/cold. Frenchies really do take their babies everywhere, too, and there are a LOT of babies and strollers around.

Things I can't wait for
-The food from home. Omigod, the food. I'm talking, like, a serious BBQ sandwich with potato salad and baked beans. Cobbler. Ribs. Chicken breast marinated in Italian dressing and grilled. Mom's chocolate chip cookies. Banana bread with chopped pecans. French toast (which doesn't seem to exist in France). Sausage and really crispy bacon. Overeasy eggs. Buscuits and molassas. Chicken salad. Ham and pea pasta. REAL steak. Pot Roast, brisket, pork chops. Greasy american pizza. Junior whoppers with cheese but no onions. American-style chinese food. I'm literally drooling all over my keyboard right now. (The bells just went off again...1:45!)
-Drip coffee. Yes this gets it's own hyphen. 8 o'Clock Coffee Columbian blend with two sweet n'lows and a generous splash of Land o'Lakes Fat-Free half and half. If you have never tried this coffee + this half and half, do it. Next time you go out to the store, try it. It's amazing. You can thank me later.
-Being able to understand people when they talk to me. I am getting better at inadvertantly eavesdropping because I can understand French for the most part (when I first got here I had to translate sooo much in my head and it's more second nature for me now) but I'm ready to go to a restaurant and understand what a waiter is saying to me. Subpoint: I'm ready to be able to understand people the FIRST time they talk to me, without me saying "excuse me? I didn't get that."
-Cars. I might need driving lessons when I get back though. I might just need to take a few practice laps around the neighborhood to get my sealegs back.

What I'll find/am finding really bizarre
-Not hearing chinese all the time. It's kind of becoming background noise already. I thought the other day, "wow it's going to be weird not hearing this all the time." There are a LOT of chinese students here.
-Some french words are a lot easier to say than english words. "La couverte" comes off the tongue so much easier than "the silverware." I already talk english with some French thrown in because either a) I've forgotten the english word at that moment or b) it's easier to say. "Tu rentre chez-toi?" is faster than "are you going back to your house?" and here the french version actually makes more sense because "chez" means just like, where you are staying, where you rest, while the American version of "home/house" has more of a connotation of actual ownership. So for the students staying with a family, "chez-toi/moi/lui/elle/etc" is more correct, because they just sleep and eat there, instead of owning their place. So, voilà, a little french lesson. (you also go "chez le dentiste," not "au dentiste" because you're going to see the DENTIST, not his office, but you do go "à la patisserie" because you're going to the store, not the patissier. The more you know.)

I have to get ready to go to class now, but I'll be back later to write about Normandy and other stuff I forgot to talk about. Bye!

I can't throw a rock without hitting a wheel of cheese

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

Today was one of the best days I've had so far, actually. It's been very relaxing. I was insanely tired yesterday evening, so I was asleep by 11:00 PM by the latest. I had my metal shutter cranked completely down, and so I didn't even budge until 7:15 this morning. I usually wake up at that time during the week, so I think my body just thought that it was time to get up. Instead, I rolled over, readjusted my weird french cylindrical pillow, and slept until 11:45. As I've said before, pretty much nothing is open on Sundays, so there was hardly any clatter or chatter on the street below to wake me up. The next problem was if I wanted any breakfast, or lunch, as it were. It took me all of 10 seconds to decide that a banana and a mandarin orange in my room would hold me over until dinner.

The main reason was this: Every meal in France is a process. One does not simply "eat" in France. So even if I was to go down to the kitchen to grab a sandwich, I would feel extremely awkward next to the girls who are always cooking pasta, soup, galettes, and cooked vegetables for lunch. And whenever possible, they sit down for meals, often in groups. I'm not talking about getting-lunch-at-the-union-between-classes kind of a meal--they take their time, talk to each other, and eat very slowly, with their courses carefully spaced out. A typical girl at the foyer may have soup, then some sort of main dish, yogurt or fruit, and finish with bread and cheese. Always the bread and cheese! Soft cheese, brie, camembert, goat cheese, mozerella, cottage cheese; you name it, they eat it.

To be honest, it is kind of nice once you get used to it. Even when I eat by myself in the kitchen at an off time, I find myself chewing slower, actually tasting the food that I am eating, and trying to add some variety to my meals. The idea of cooking meats on a hot plate doesn't really appeal to me--I'm terrified of under/overcooking it, and I don't have a lot of experience with that at home anyway--but there's plenty I can eat that doesn't require a lot of preparation. I've found pre-made galettes with ham and cheese that just need to be warmed up in the microwave that are quite tasty, actually. However, the pasta-in-a-can that I ate tonight was fairly disgusting. Ugh. Definitely not doing that again and I'm glad I didn't stock up on that because it seemed easy.

Breakfast and dinner is provided by the ladies at the foyer Monday through Friday, plus breakfast on Saturday. The breakfast has no variety at all, and it's very simple, but that's okay. I actually hate the idea of missing it, and that seems so silly because it is nothing special at all. It's just slices of french bread with butter and jelly, plus a few different drinks. In our french textbooks back home, it's been mentioned that Frenchies drink hot chocolate out of a bowl for their breakfast drink. It seemed so odd that I've never actually taken it to heart, and I've never seen it in a movie or whatever, but it's TRUE. There's even hot chocolate/powdered chocolate mix in the breakfast section of the supermarkets. So for the past two weeks, I've been drinking hot chocolate out of a big glass bowl with two or three tartines (the slices of bread + butter + jelly), And I LOVE IT. It's yummy and has just enough sweetness to get me off on the right foot. I think it's something that I'll definitely keep up when I get back home to the states. The other options are hot tea, cold milk, and coffee.

However, I think I need to cut back the amount of tartines and add some fruit into there because I feel like all I've been doing is eating bread since I've gotten here. Tartines for breakfast, generally sandwiches for lunch with what is called pains au lait (milk bread), which are essentially smaller, denser, sweeter versions of a hot dog bun, and the bread and cheese course with dinner. Maybe I should just invest in some whole wheat bread here. Oh, the supermarkets also sell sandwich bread with the crusts already cut off. It seems popular: a lot of the girls at the foyer eat it. I think it's kind of bizarre, personally.

Dinner at the foyer starts at 7:15 with an appetizer course. This has ranged from salad to sliced tomatoes and hard boiled eggs, to pureed vegetable soups, to puff pastries filled with some sort of cream cheese (it wasn't very good but whatever). There haven't been any repeats so far. There is a meat and a side for the main course, though pasta has repaced the meat at least once. The side is usually a vegetable of some kind, and once they made these amazing mashed potatoes that had to have cream or something added. YUM they were delish. On Thursday, it was couscous topped with cooked chicken and vegetables. I don't think there were any leftovers from that meal! However, Friday was a bit odd: pizza as an appetizer, chicken nuggets and a zuchinni/ham/cheese casserole, and a mish mosh of leftover desserts. Every dinner is followed by a bread and cheese course where the ladies carry around platters with individually wrapped cheeses of all different varieties, and we pile them on slices of french bread. I usually dive for the camembert, but I've been trying to expand my horizons a little bit with the goat cheeses and a few cream-cheese based types. Dessert changes from day to day: sometimes it's fruit, sometimes it's yogurt, and sometimes it's a pudding or a custard-type dish. I really, really, REALLY need to stop eating dessert every night. But every time I make this decision, they come out with something that looks absolutely divine. There really isn't much sugar added to the desserts, or to anything in general, so there are a few days where my "fat American" tooth is really craving something and ends up being unsatisfied with unsweetened pudding or fruit. Plus, if I turn down the dessert, the ladies ask me what's wrong and what they can get for me. It's nice of them, of course, but I also just want to say that I'm fine, I just feel like a fatty. The whole dinner usually runs 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how good the food/company is.

Oh, wow. My across-the-street neighbor just put out his trash. And by put out his trash, I mean he leaned out over his second-floor balcony and dropped the bag down to the street. Hm.

Anyway, a few comments about French table manners: The reach for everything. One night a girl just reached across another girl's plate without looking to grab a peice of bread. No "excuse me," nothing. Just snatched it, and the other girl didn't even blink. They also place their bread directly on the table, not on their plates. I've seen a couple girls balance their slices on the crusts so that the white centers don't touch the table surface. In America, I think we prodominately pass food dishes around the table, but here, one girl will serve the other five at the table before they place any food on their own plates. It's the same for the water pitcher and the appetizers, too. And if one girl goes for seconds, she also asks if anybody else would like some. At restaurants, you typically don't get waiters that are constantly stopping by your table. They bring you your food, will stop by maybe once to ask how it is and if you'd like any dessert, but for the most part leave you alone to enjoy your meal. I like that a lot--I can't stand it when waiters are constantly flitting around.

This is insanely long, now, so I think I'll stop here. Have a great week! I can't wait for classes next week, really. I'm such a nerd. I'm going to round out Valentine's Day by watching Pride and Prejudice and finishing off the chocolate that Sara gave to me yesterday. Bon appetit, y'all!