Okay-- the great thing about naming my blog after (500) Days of Summer is that I'm totally entitled to non-linear storytelling.
After wandering a bit, Rhiannon, Yael, Liz, and I got lunch at Paul, a very good sandwich and pastry shop... they're a European chain, actually, with many locations in Paris, London, and more. This one was right by the Cluny Museum (about the middle ages) and, predictably, the Cluny-Sorbonne metro stop. Good sandwiches, great strawberry tarts and éclairs.
Some more wandering and a layover at Reid Hall later, we moved on to one of the final VWPP orientation events: a chocolate tasting at Chocolaterie et Dragésterie Girard, a chocolate store that makes all of its goods on-site at 5, rue de la Tacherie on Ile-de-la-Cite. Our arrangement for the afternoon worked like this: Walk in the door, and they serve you a cup of what may be the best hot chocolate I've ever had (though, granted, I haven't yet made it to the nearby Angelina on Rue de Rivoli)... rich, sweet (without killing those with lesser sweet teeth than mine), and smells even better than it tastes. They also had a tray of various chocolates... fillings were so gourmet-good that I didn't even know what they were (funny how that works), including one that I could only describe as "the official Butterfinger of God."* They then took us downstairs and showed us all the machines and their entire process of manufacturing each chocolate.**
That evening, a bunch of us united on our beloved Rue Mouffetard for Becky's birthday dinner. We found a spanish place called Casa Pépé (on the street, near the top of the hill), which was a little pricey for us students, but by no means cher (French for "expensive"... very useful, as you can imagine). We all shared great Paella, I had a very good steak (12 euros) with this sauce on the side that, looking back, may have been salad dressing, but it was still really good with the meat. Also noteworthy here are the myriad objects and oddstudies that decorate the walls, the decent live music and flamenco dancer, and hysterically funny restaurant owner (Pépé, in case you didn't see that one coming) who started to do his shtick for the whole (intimately sized) restaurant at about 10 o'clock. And we may have snuck in our own wine (hard to say for sure, though... still waiting on the Florida polls).
(16) is Friday, 22 January 2010
Berthillon. Ice cream. Pretty much any restaurant on Ile-de-la-cite serves it, but it's cheapest at their parlor across the bridge (and then a block further) from the Pont Marie metro. Nobody else does fruit flavors this well... Passion Fruit, Strawberry, and Pear are good, and others await taste-testing.
Biggest item of the day was a cheese tasting which essentially took the place of dinner. It was at la Fermerie (37 rue Carnot, in Levallois Perret, a suburb to the northwest of Paris: metro Louise-Michel). Ten different cheeses from the various "cheese families" (of which 'chevre' is one) on bread and accompanied by good wine. Also paid-for by the program. I took notes on my impressions on the various cheeses, which became increasingly incoherent as the night went on. Compare my notes on the second one, which was in French, "plus doux, moins pungent que le premier" (in English, "sweeter and less pungent than the first") to number eight: "Goat cheese is an acquired taste."*** Still, a great night and a filling degustation ("tasting" in English).
(17) is Saturday, 23 January 2010
Today was the last orientation event: a day trip outside of Paris to see two chateaux. The first, the Royaummont Abbey, was nice, but it was raining and cold and January, so we couldn't enjoy the gardens or woods. We walked around and saw the gothic inside for about 45 minutes, guided by an art history professor working for the VWPP. By the time this was over, we got back on the bus and found lunch.
Oh my goodness: this lunch.
This lunch was at none other than the Hippodrome, a famous horse racing track. We were treated by the program (read: parents/financial aid) to lunch at a haute-cuisine (3 stories off the ground is pretty haute, right?) place with a great view of the track (even if it was pretty January outside). We started with a quiche that I don't even know what was in it (the same things they put in the chocolates, for all I know), but it was really good. Even the salad managed to agree with me somehow. Second course was whitefish (salmon? I'm not really sure) in this incredible sauce which itself contained mussels and little shrimps. Delicious. There was couscous as well. Then dessert: a patty (right word?) of ginger ice cream paired with a bit of orange gelatin and delicious creme de chantilly.**** Finally, coffee (which I handed off to somebody else) and little rich chocolates (which I didn't; in fact, I scored another one in exchange for the coffee). Between the view, a table with my pals, the excellent food, and no expense out-of-pocket, that may have been the single best lunch I've ever had.
The afternoon took us to the Chateau de Chantilly right nearby. Beautiful place, but I could have done without the continued (and continuous) commentary by the art history professor. We'd all gotten up pretty early, so our collective energy was starting to lag (this adversely affects interpretation of languages, like French, English, and Swahili). Not to mention that I'm always more content to just look in places like this, anyway. Still, a beautiful chateau with a lot of artworks that are prohibited by law to leave their galleries.
It's over!
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Footnotes
* Turns out that filling was caramel. Like I said... gourmet.
** Unfortunately, you can't have everything on these visits: Lucy and Ethel were out sick that day.
***#9: "Chlorine???"
****French for "whipped cream." Incidentally, we were right next to the Chantilly Chateau, which would be our next stop.
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