Sunday, May 23, 2010

Toute ma vie…

By Katie

A slightly incoherent grouping of words that sum up  my life over the span of the past couple of weeks: Mike visits, Notre Dame + gargoyles, soccer game + flares, Shakespeare & Co (again), crepes, confit du canard, boat cruise on the Seine, Scottish pubs, people watching on rue du Buci, Cahors wine, sunshine, 80 degrees, MADRID, tapas, Guernica, sangria, BARCELONA, hills, harbor, paella, beach, Gaudi, Parc Guell, sunburn, more sangria, more tapas, cod fritters, Boqueria (read: CHEAP PRODUCE), Erin + Julia + Eléonore + Courtney + Juan, more sunshine, picnics.

A more coherent blog coming…well, I don’t know when it’s coming.  I have less than two weeks left in Paris, and to be frank, I’d rather be out frolicking in streets…but not to worry, I’ll at least give you some more incoherent rambling over the next couple of weeks until I return to AMERICA!

PS: this blog entry by David Lebovitz is basically the summation of my food shopping experience thus far.  THEY NEVER GIVE ME CHANGE, the jerks!  And speculoos…yum.

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Je déteste le RER

By Katie

I knew it would happen.  I had yet another incident on the RER.   For those of you who don’t know, the RER is the commuter rail in Paris and the surrounding region.  It’s a little bit sketchy and a lot dirty, and it’s fairly easy to get on the wrong train if you’re not paying attention.  I left my apartment extra early, since whenever I have to use the RER, something always inevitably goes wrong.  Sure enough, after I descended into the depths of he-…the RER, I saw that the entire Luxembourg station was under construction.  There weren’t any information booths selling tickets, and the machines didn’t accept my bills or my credit cards.  Joy.  I had the brilliant idea of walking for 6 minutes to the other end of the station, thinking it would be logical for there to be information desks there.  Silly me, of course not!  Exasperated, and starting to worry about the time, I frantically asked a group of French teenagers where I could use cash to buy an RER ticket, and they told me outside the Luxembourg gardens, which is actually across the street from the station, above ground, and unmarked.

I sped-walked back, purchased enough tickets for me to get there and for both my brother and I to return, and then ran back downstairs just in time to catch one of the trains headed to CDG.

45 minutes later, I found my brother waiting at the arrivals gate with his bright red North Face and a goofy, exhausted grin on his face.

Moral of the story: the RER is the WORST and MY BROTHER IS OFFICIALLY IN PARIS!  We’re off to do fun and exciting things.  Toodaloo!

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Le premier examen final

By Katie

I have officially completed my first final examination at Sciences Po!  Luckily for me, it’s also the second to last…I only have one more exam, and it’s not until June 4th.  For those of you who know me, this can only mean one thing: time to travel!

But first, a little bit about the exam.  It was for one of my two French electives, the one about sociology and consumption practices.  I was a bit nervous going in, as only three of us were native English speakers and simultaneously struggling-French-speakers.  I studied as best I could from the power point presentations he provided us with, and when I sat down with the test, I was pretty confident I had the material down.  Sure enough, nine of the ten questions were easy, and the last one, although tricky, I’m sure I still managed to get a decent amount of credit for.  It was an intense experience though, only having an hour to answer 10 short-(but long)-answer questions in a language that is not your mother tongue.  The good news: I survived, and didn’t feel terrible afterward.

And now, on to the fun stuff!  My brother is coming all the way from Les États-Unis to visit me!  He should be on a plane as I’m writing this, actually, because he’s due to land at Charles de Gaulle tomorrow morning.  I’m going to pick him up, which requires me using my least favorite forms of public transportation: the RER.  I would honestly rather have run all the way to the airport.  But I digress.

I’ve got a pretty packed itinerary for him…I hope he’s not too jet-lagged, or I’m going to have to inject caffeine and nutella into his veins to pump him up!

Mike will be here until Sunday morning, and then on Monday morning I leave for my rescheduled trip to Spain!  I’ll be visiting Madrid and Barcelona with Nadia, and we’re planning on meeting up with some other BC people along the way.  I won’t return to Paris from Spain until Sunday evening.

Then I will spend a few more days in Paris before heading off to…drumroll, please…NORWAY!  Kelsey and I are SO excited to be going to Bergen, Oslo, and to be taking one of the most beautiful train rides in the world, called Norway in a Nutshell.  Too many good things going on this month!

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Monday, May 10, 2010

Si vous voulez me rendre visite…

By Katie

Barbie Room in Hotel AthénéeI know ALL of you are just dying to visit me, and I HIGHLY recommend staying at the Plaza Athénée!  The reason?  Well, they just recently redecorated two rooms to resemble the bedroom of Barbie, of course!  For the extremely cheap price of €1,500, you can stay in the deluxe room with the Barbie room adjoining.  I couldn’t contain my excitement…but was quickly quieted when I discovered that the room was deemed ‘unsuitable’ for teens over the age of 16.  Darn.

Okay, but…really?  A Barbie room, here in Paris?  Pretty crazy.  I found out about this monstrosity on the Paris Blog, and couldn’t believe my eyes.

Anyways, there isn’t much going on in my life as of late.  I’ve just been studying for my sociology final and working on getting some more photos up on Facebook.  I can’t believe I have less than one month left in Paris…

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Sunday, May 9, 2010

Au revoir, Arles

By Katie

A Map of France; Arles is located in the SouthI can finally say I have visited the south of France!

BC organized a trip for 27 of the students in the Paris program to visit Arles, which, as you can see by this lovely little map, is located in the south near Marseilles.  We left early Friday and just returned a few hours ago.  It was a great trip!  I’m exhausted now and have a lot to do, so I’ll just give you a sneak peak of what to expect when I catch you all up:

Friday: Musée de l’Arles Antique (museum filled with ancient Roman sarcophagi, columns, mosaics, pipes), my first kebab, Coco Bongo

Saturday: Saintes Maries de la Mer (adorable little town on the sea), fantastic bus ride in the torrential downpours, Camargue, purchasing fleur de sel, Camargue horses, flamingos, procession of bulls, ate at a restaurant (meal rates in top five meals I’ve ever eaten), cheapest shots at Paddy’s (2 euros? how are they one third the price of a shot in Paris???), Coco Bongo and some INTENSE dancing (yet again), fireworks & philosophical chats with the night ward

Sunday: walking tour of Arles, walked through ancient Roman galleries, colosseums, theaters, and cloitres, the richest hot chocolate I have ever had (with chunks of delicious hazelnut)

And now here I am again, home sweet home.  A lot to do this week: studying until Wednesday, a final Wednesday, a little paper to work on, and then my brother comes Thursday morning!  Can’t wait!

Also, Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, grandmothers, and all you other mothers out there!  Thanks for raising us all :)

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

J’ai pris la bonne décision

By Katie

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  I wish I were celebrating, but I have too much going on and am still sort of recuperating from my Italy extravaganza.

We got our papers back in Food and Foodways, and I was thrilled to have done well on it.  We had to analyze Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, which was the book that initially piqued my interest in the food industry and the global food crisis.  Doing well on this paper was extremely reassuring because I decided that I want to write my thesis on a similar topic; I think it was a sign that I made the right decision.

Our presentation went well in my sociology class, too.  I’m so glad it’s out of the way…barring any surprise exposés, that was my last oral presentation at Sciences Po!

I managed to put up all of my Rome pictures, and am going to work on Cinque Terre pictures tomorrow.

On a somewhat bittersweet note: exactly one month until I return to the U.S. of A.

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Monday, May 3, 2010

Italie, tu me manques

By Katie

Things I Miss About Italy:

1. Gelato!

2. Cute old men who love to chat. And be cute.

3. People love to eat!

4. Best. Cappuccino. Ever.

5. More types of pasta than I can count.

6. The unhurried pace of life.

7. The warm Italian sunshine…why is it 45 degrees here in Paris?

8. Women riding Vespas. In 3-inch heels.

9. Ease & cost of train travel.

10. Middle-aged women have no qualms about dying their hair blue.

11. So much art!

12. So much history!

13. No one judges you for not speaking Italian.

14. The Italian language itself; it’s beautiful.

15. Fantastic, affordable wine.

16. So much local & organic food…Italy is, after all, the birthplace of Slow Food.

17. Loads of piazzas & spaces for picnics.

18. Little seaside towns, like Manarola in Cinque Terre.

19. Did I mention gelato?

In case this list doesn’t quite convey what I’m trying to say, I love Italy.

Hopefully I will get the chance to blog all about my trip sooner than later, but for now I need to rest. It was an exhausting trip, and it took so much effort just to get out of bed this morning to drag myself over to the grocery store…but a girl’s gotta eat, eh? Needless to say, after all of the pasta I consumed, I was quite excited to buy fruits & veggies. I’ve been awake for a couple of hours today, and have already consumed an apple, a banana, and an orange. I’m also salivating just THINKING about my veggie-filled salad for lunch…om nom nom.

So yes, check back here for blogs, and check my Facebook throughout the week for a choice selection of my 2,000+ photos. Good to be back.

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Friday, April 23, 2010

À bientôt, Paris! Italia, arrivo!

By Katie

Ladies and gentleman, my bag is PACKED and STUFFED like you’ve never seen it before!  Planes are up and running, hopefully without delay!

I am leaving in just a few short hours for the beautiful country of Italy, where Kelsey, Chrissy and I will be backpacking through Rome, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Bologna and Venice.  I have stuffed all of my belongings into a single, black North Face backpack, and there is a distinct possibility that the zipper may burst; it’s really no easy feat to pack everything one could possibly need for a week into one bag.  I would LOVE to take a picture to show you how ridiculous it looks, but my camera is tucked away safely in the middle of the bag, and there is absolutely no way to remove it without risking its compactness…as phenomenal as my packing abilities are, I may never be able to get everything back in.

And just as my belongings may not fit in my backpack on the way home, I may not fit into my clothes!  I’m planning on exploring (and indulging quite heavily in) the Italian culinary culture…lots of delicious gelato, plenty of Italian wine, and of course, oodles and oodles of noodles, YUM!  This, again, is the reason I will not be bringing jeans with me to Italy, and also the reason why I will be wearing over-sized clothing for a week or so after my return.  Heck, I may even poke around in the maternity clothing store just up the street from my apartment.  I mean at this point, I’m pretty used to Parisians judging me…

Oh and also, I’m already falling in LOVE with Italy.  I e-mailed Lapo, the owner of the hostel we’re staying at in Venice, to let him know we would be arriving late and I asked him to hold our reservation, to which he responded, “yes dear, we wait for you.”  I love this man and his country.

On that note, I shall take my leave.  ITALIA, ARRIVO!!!

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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Une autre journée chère à Paris

By Katie

A successful yet expensive day in Paris.  I bought a few much needed goods from Monoprix and the pharmacy.  I’m planning on wearing my new Keds sans socks, and so I needed to pick up a pair of insoles so that they don’t start to get smelly (not that my feet get smelly…).  I picked up a few pairs of new black tights, so that I’m nice and modest when I enter all those gigantic, respect-demanding Italian cathedrals.  I also picked up some more body wash; even though I’d love to be a dirty, free-spirit for the entire trip, I think I need to spare Kelsey and Chrissy the misery of dealing with that.  I also ran to the pharmacy and picked up some more allergy meds, since we all know how much I love them.

I also started doing some more research on Italy…restaurants and sightseeing and such, and I came to the realization that I was in dire need of a guidebook for…guidance?  So I ran to the first English bookstore I know of, San Francisco Books.  Great bookstore, but lacking on up-to-date travel books.  I then went to Shakespeare and Co. (my favorite!), but unfortunately there was a pile of boxes taller than me standing between me and the travel books, and there was no moving them without being a hassle.  I instead asked the cashier where I could find some English-language guidebooks for Italy, and she directed me to a Canadian bookstore called the Abbey Bookshop.  This one, too, was only a few minutes away, so I walked over and was astonished by the entire wall that was filled with guidebooks for any city or country you could imagine.  After much perusing, I picked one out and was satisfied: it was a 2007 edition by Rough Guides, and it had a lot of maps, pretty pictures, Italian phrases, and of course lots and lots of information about lots and lots of cities.  As I handed over my 27 euros (still pains me), the owner offered me a cup of coffee (definitely made up for the 27 euros) and we chatted a bit about Italy and Cinque Terre, which he absolutely loved.  It’s strange, all the nicest people I meet here in Paris aren’t Parisian…

Anyways, all the Italy talk made me hungry (are you really surprised?), so I walked over to Delizie Follie, my favorite little gelateria, and had a little cup of praline- and pistachio-flavored gelato, which I proceeded to eat while sitting along the Seine.  Could a girl spend a more lovely afternoon?

After class, I started packing up my backpack (did it shrink since the last time I used it?).  After much deliberation, I can tell you one thing that absolutely will NOT make it into my backpack: jeans.  The reason, you ask?  They may or may not fit by the end of this trip, and I’m not about to let THAT put a damper on my pasta-eating, wine-drinking, gelato-tasting extravaganza.  Skirts, dresses and leggings…check.

Note to self: swim home.

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

S’il vous plaît, les dieux du volcane…

By Katie

I hope you’re all having a difficult time typing because you’re keeping your fingers crossed that my flights to Italy won’t get canceled this weekend!  I’ve been clicking the RyanAir website obsessive compulsively all day, and flights are supposed to resume in Northern Europe by 5pm tomorrow.  It’s cutting it close, but hopefully things will go according to plan.

Today was another quiet, relatively uneventful day.  I slept in, and did some reading for my Food and Foodways class when I finally did wake up.  Today’s chapter was on soul food, which was pretty interesting.  I never really looked at it as a political statement, but it in fact emerged around the same time as the civil rights movement (or at least, the coining of the term ‘soul food’), and served as an expression for black as beautiful.  What I know is this: it’s absolutely delicious.  Sidenote: while talking about soul food in class, it coincidentally began to smell like BBQ chicken…

After reading, Chrissy came over and she, Kelsey and I planned the rest of our Italy trip.  We booked the rest of our hostels, made some revisions to Chrissy’s fantastic (color-coded) itinerary, and discussed all of the delicious food we’ll be consuming in just a few day’s time (CROSS THOSE FINGERS!  YES, YOU!).

And shortly after she left, I sat through a rousing 4-hour block of class.  For some reason, Wednesdays seem to drag on forever.  I think I have come to detest Wednesday almost as much as I adore Mondays.

Anyways, I’m off to pray to the volcano gods…

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  • The Girl

    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...

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