"On a Wednesday in a café..."

Mercredi, le 9 juillet.

Just a couple shots from my afternoon goûter...
 

Yum! I spent a little while like this ... sipping tea, writing postcards, and -- of course -- chowing down on a delicious religieuse au café. (Shoutout to the bakery around the corner for simply being too adorable to resist.)

Celebrating at the Capital of Christmas

Jeudi, 19 décembre.

As you could probably tell from the length of my last post, it would have been absolutely impossible to fit all of my Strasbourg adventures in one post. We just saw and did (and ate) too much! So here begins part two of the Strasbourg adventure -- this time, all about the Marchés de Noël.

As the city holds the title of "capital of Christmas," it's not surprising that they have Christmas markets down to a science. There are over 300 chalets -- little booths, selling everything from pretzels to mulled wine to tree ornaments -- spread out over eleven villages throughout the city. It's all super well-organized: there are giant maps everywhere! (Perfect for a photo op.)

The biggest of these markets is the Christkindelsmärik (an Alsacian term that translates as "Baby Jesus Market"). The history of the market goes back to 1570, when a Lutheran priest, who in an effort to eliminate the very Catholic tradition of venerating saints, was trying to get rid of the city's traditional Marché Saint-Nicolas. Instead of fully cancelling the market, city council decided instead to change its name! And so the "Baby Jesus Market" was born.

Although the Christkindelsmärik is the oldest and most famous, another of the city's Christmas markets -- at Place Kleber -- had another distinction: it's the home of the city's 30-meter Christmas tree! I've never been a fan of over-decorated Christmas trees (like the National Christmas tree in DC, which hardly looks like a tree once they've finished lighting it up), so I loved that this one retained its "tree-ness."

 

I loved the lights and the little illuminated village at the bottom! Although both the tree and village were truly glorious at night, they're also quite lovely during the day.

As for the Christmas markets themselves, they definitely lived up to my expectations! They were a little different than in Heidelberg: the stands were more unique and seemed to have more artisanal goods ... and there was no bratwurst!

Second Weekend in Montpellier

Mardi, 2 septembre.

Last Friday was my second, and the rest of Montpellier's second-to-last, Estivales of the summer. Like last week, it felt like the whole town showed up on the Esplanade to celebrate the end of summer, the beginning of fall, and -- because this is France -- wine! We were a little more prepared this week and arrived with a game plan that began (and ended) with one word: EAT.

Molly went with seafood, while I tested out les tourtons. After some basic Googling, I've learned that they're sort of like beignets and can be made both savory (with cheese or meat) or sweet (with fruit, kind of like a turnover). However, I prefer to describe them as little fluffy pillows of perfection. You'll have to settle for a picture of the sign because the tourtons themselves disappeared a little too quickly. Into my belly. Because I scarfed them down. YUM.

We arrived at Estivales a little early and stayed much later than last week, so the evening is kind of a happy blur of friends and photos and food. (In addition to my little yummy pillows of happiness, I got a delicious -- and super cheap -- scoop of sorbet!) Still, it was a ton of fun to spend the evening with a lot of our new friends. Here's me with several of the kids from SUNY Geneseo, a school in upstate New York. They're all a lot of fun and super down-to-earth, which is refreshing here.

The best part of the night was, hands down, the entertainment. The band that played is called Bachibousouk -- I'm not sure quite how to describe the music, but according to the band's Facebook page, they're a French group with influences from reggae, zouk, Ska, and swing. Either way, it WORKS: they were SO. MUCH. FUN! Molly and I started off watching from the back of the audience, but by the end of the night we'd edged our way up to the front, where everyone -- including a couple other kids from our program -- was dancing and jumping around! We even got to form a conga line (I told you, it wasn't your average band) and dance onto the stage.

The view from the stage.

After a late night out at Estivales, I woke up bright and early Saturday morning for breakfast ... and then two naps. Saturday afternoon was a little more adventurous, as we went out to our first real French restaurant to celebrate Brooke's 21st birthday! We sat outside, across from the Prefecture, and scarfed down delicious pizzas and desserts.

Yes, I WOULD Like Some Cheese with my Wine

Mercredi, 28 août.

You know that snarky expression -- would you like some cheese with that whine? Well now, it has a whole different meaning to me! And the answer is a very resounding YES.

As part of my French Civilization course, we went to a wine tasting today. I don't want to ruffle feathers or make anyone die of shock, but let me just say ... I am now officially NOT a fan of vin. (<-- Rhyming very much intentional.) First of all, I don't really like wine, so the whole idea of tasting loads of it wasn't exactly tantalizing. Still, I figured that it would be a fun time and would maybe introduce me to some varieties and flavors that I hadn't known existed!

Second, I was absolutely starving by the time we arrived at the Maison des vins du Languedoc, the site of lesson and wine tasting. BUT THERE WERE NO SNACKS. None. Not even a little plate of Saltines to help cleanse the palate! (Sorry, but I'm allowed to say things like "cleanse the palate" because I'm French now.) It was so bad that at one point towards the end, I saw a box of rocks, thought it was a bread bowl, and started to drool.

No snacks. Only tons and tons of wine!

Third, there was a frustrating realisation that occured when we all realized that "wine tasting" did not imply wandering around a vineyard, casually tasting wine. No. "Wine tasting" meant sitting at desks in an overly air-conditioned room at the Maison des vins, listening to a friendly but perhaps overly enthusiastic oenologue, or wine expert, talking about, well... wine.

Hoorah pour Vendredi!

Vendredi, 21 août.

My high school French teacher had a very particular tradition. Every Friday afternoon, as we crammed binders into backpacks and lined up behind the door, waiting for the bell to release us to the quickly-approaching weekend, she would lead us in a song. Hoorah pour Vendredi! At first, it was silly and kind of embarassing. Hoorah pour Vendredi! However, by the end of freshman year, we were hooked. We sang it -- loudly and marvelously off-key -- every Friday in French class for the next four years ... even when we didn't end our Friday afternoons in Madame Pluchinsky's room, we would all find ourselves humming the tune in our heads. Tous les eleves et les professeurs disent... Hoorah pour Vendredi! Even senior year, when my class got a new teacher, we continued our tradition: the song echoed through our classroom each Friday afternoon.

I've been away from my high school French class for over two years now and no longer feel the need to end my week with a made-up song. But today, I definitely felt like singing! This week has been such a different, new, exciting, overwhelming, and exhausting experience that there's nothing to say except: Hoorah pour Vendredi!

Oui Oui -- to the l'Oulivie!

Mercredi, 21 août.

Yesterday afternoon, as we walked in to the Ionesco Building for our first French civilization course, we noticed a sign that read:  "Tomorrow, Wednesday August 21st, you have civilization class outside! Visit Oulivie, an olive plantation just outside of Montpellier in Saint-Gely du Fesc. With tasting."

So ... we're taking the time that would have been spent in a stuffy classroom and spending it instead touring and snacking at an oliveraie? I mean, come on -- great class or greatest class?! So I swapped out my backpack for a purse, my pen for a camera, and headed off to the Languedoc countryside with dreams of "I Love Lucy" in a giant wine vat dancing in my head.

In Which Grocery Shopping is a Big Deal

Mardi, 20 août.

Let me start off this post by saying that een if the only thing that went right today was my dinner, it would still have been a good day. I ate a chevre-and tomato-sandwich on baguette with saucisson sec (an inexplicable purchase but not one I regret) and kiwi and followed it up with strawberry yogurt for dessert. Of course, I used a folded stack of toilet paper for a plate and a shoebox as a cutting board, but hey -- things are looking up! Especially when considering that my dinner last night consisted of exactly one yogurt and two peanut butter crackers. So a chevre sandwich was a definite step in the right direction!

And what was the reason for this feast? Why, a trip to the supermarché!