Hey guys, I'm Katie! Welcome to my blog, where I ramble on about anything and everything. I'm 21 years old, a rising senior at Boston College and am pursuing a major in International Studies and a minor in French. I just returned from studying abroad at Sciences Po in Paris, so most of the entries from the past five months consist of my cultural experiences, my passionate love affair with French food, my close encounters of the third wine, and my ramblings about crazy French people. I love photography, traveling, reading, and cooking. I love all kinds of music; check out what I'm listening to at last.fm. I also enjoy a good tweet now and again. Check out some more random facts about me, if you're so inclined...
La fin de mes exposés!
I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH ALL OF MY EXPOSÉS AT SCIENCES PO!
As awful and terrible as they were, I can honestly say that I’m now much more comfortable with speaking in front of large groups of people and with giving presentations.
Today’s exposé was on genetically modified food and the controversy surrounding it. Basically, over the past decade, scientists have started tinkering with genes from plants and moving them from one plant to another to increase the frequency of desirable trait. For example, plant geneticists can isolate the gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant. The new genetically modified plant will then be drought tolerant, as well. It’s kind of a cool concept, and it’s great that we can produce so much more food. At the same time, however, there’s a lot of major issues associated with genetic modifications of crops; no one really knows the possible long-term effects such food will have on humans and on the environment, particularly with biodiversity. Plus, there’s the fact that once these genetically modified organisms are developed, there is really no way to stop them from spreading and from crowding out other species.
Anyways, that’s just my blurb on GM food.
I’m going to a super fancy shmancy restaurant this evening with the girls: Le Procope! It was the first establishment in all of Paris to serve coffee, back in the 17th century. It was frequented by Voltaire, Robespierre, Benjy Franklin, and T Jeffs, among others. And it’s only (surprise!) a ten minute walk from my apartment. I’ll write more about it later!
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Le Procope. Was. Fabulous! My two roommates Kelsey & Simone, our friend Chrissy, Simone’s friend Alicia and I all had dinner reservations at 10:30. As I mentioned earlier, it was a pretty famous place back in the day, and still remains famous among tourists and locals alike! We arrived a few minutes early and were asked to wait in cute lobby that had old manuscripts on the walls, and of course a picture of Voltaire hanging over the bar. We were shown to our table shortly thereafter, and were pleased to find ourselves in our own little enclave between two of the dining areas downstairs. The menu was pretty large and filled with choices that made me swoon…escargots, tête de veau, and of course, coq au vin. I ended up settling on the French onion soup (which I had read was excellent) and the salmon (which I had also read was phenomenal), and Kelsey, Chrissy and I decided to split an order of escargots! It was my first time trying it, and I absolutely loved the garlicky deliciousness of it. The French onion soup lived up to its reputation, as did the salmon, and we were very pleased all around with the service. Afterwards, we looked around the rest of the two-story restaurant, and saw the room where Benjamin Franklin used to sit, and were told where Voltaire used to spend his time, as well. Legend has it that Voltaire used to drink 40 cups of coffee a day, and mix it with chocolate to boot. I knew I liked that man! I took some pictures of the restaurant, which I will add sooner than later…I promise!