Dinner last night

So, perhaps I was inspired by the giant pots of n'importe quoi at the fête des vendanges yesterday, but I decided to make myself a huge pot of yum for dinner.

The rice beginning to soak up the ratatouille juices in the pan.

Ingredients for "pseudo-jambalaya à l'étudiant":
2 sausages
1 pack of 2 minute rice (I used mediterranian flavored)
leftovers from can of ratatouille (about 1.5 - 2 cups)
couple spoonfuls of canned corn

makes: 2 large servings or 3 medium sized servings.

Instructions:
1. brown sausage in large pan until amost cooked through
2. remove sausage from pan and place on a cutting board. While you cut up the sausage into smaller pieces, put the ratatouille, and corn on the pan to warm up. Follow instructions for 2 minute rice in the microwave, but leave slightly undercooked.
3. Once ratatouille and corn look warmed, throw the sausage in the pot. Throw the rice in on top and let the rice and sausage finish to cook in the ratatouille juices.
4. Once the sauce has reduced/ thickened to desired consistancy, serve yourself and enjoy.

The finished product, steaming hot next to a Stella.

Total price fo the whole pan was 2.02 EUR. And I only ate 1/2 of it. What a delicious way to end a foodie day. This has been my favorite use of the ratatouille yet.

Practical business

So, after heading down to the 15th to try and sign up for the Bruges and Brussels trip, I found out they filled all their spots (I should have known that the price was way too good to have spots still open). I gave them my number and email address, though, and told them to let me know if something else opened up. I think that even if I don't go, it wont be that big of a deal. I can always go with Jay in the coming months or spend the money on something else -- like 10 EUR tickets to La Bohème and a nice dinner for my birthday.

In other news, I'm getting really excited for visits from some people:
1. Alicia is coming this weekend and I hope to eat French onion soup with her.
2. Jay is coming on the 23rd and then we are going to Venice for a week for vacation.
3. Sarah Quincy might be coming for the first week in November to visit for a couple days!

We've also made some progress on the apt hunt for Jay. We found a place literally a street down from me that looks really nice. We put in a request to the renting agency and are hoping to hear favorable news! It would be so convenient to have our 2 places so close together. Trying not to get my hopes up, but it would sure be nice to have this nailed down.

On the food end of things, I made myself quite the pasta dish -- grilled up a sausage, cut up 1/2 of a tomato, mixed in some canned spinach, topped it all off with some pasta and tomato basil sauce. Easy, delicious, and perfect with a cup of cab sav.


I finished off the night with a walk down to the Seine and pont neuf where I saw one of the largest rats I've ever seen.

To clear things up for my mother, and anyone else interested in my academic schedule, I am taking the following classes:

Français II (An advanced French language course that is required by the SLC program)
"La france multiculturelle" (Sociology class about, well, France's multicultural history)
"Les grands romans" (Lit class: we read balzac and flaubert)
Photography with P. Vermès at his atelier at bastille

Total damages today:
0,00 EUR!

Lundi: grocery expedition round 2

Having finished off the chicken breasts, almost all of that jar of pasta sauce, 1/2 of the brie wheel and the final bits of cucumber, I decided it was time to schedule in "grocery shopping take 2." It was cold and rainy this morning, but I made the trek to Biatrix and then to my local supermarkets to stock the fridge.

Having learned that the chicken breasts, though delicious, were kind of pricey when I could get a full prepared meal at the Resto U for 2,90 without lifting a finger, I opted for the cheapest meat that wasn't meant to go straight into the microwave: sausages. I also opted for a lot of canned veggies this time -- though I really enjoy having fresh tomatoes on hand, I really don't want to prepare my own spinach or corn. Canned veggies are cheap here, and they last for a long time so you don't have to worry too much about the "date limite." I grabbed 2 fresh bananas, a jar of berry jam, and some sauce basilic for when my current pasta sauce runs dry. I got all of this for under 6 EUR.

My trip to Franprix was just to fill in the blanks: a 2 EUR bucket of chocolate ice cream (to fill in the sweet spot) and a microwaveable sachet of medeterranean rice for 1 EUR (I thought this would go well with some corn, ratatouille, and sausage).


While there, I eyed the tomme but resisted. I also noticed some massive cans of tuna (which I thought could make some mean tuna melts with my tomatoes, brie and baguette) and a jar of chili (which would be so great with a dolop of crême fraiche). I might return to supplement this grocery trip with these items.

Estimated time until grocery trip "round three": 14 - 18 days. First person to guess the date on the nose wins a crappy Eiffel Tower key-chain.

Tonight I assembled some of my groceries with some other groceries I still have from my last trip and created the most amazing dessert I've ever made at a very friendly price: under 83 centimes.

Directions to the do-it-yourself nutella banana crêpe with chocolate ice cream:

1. take out your pre-made crêpe and cover it generously in your faux nutella

2. pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds before cutting thin slices of banana onto the nutella covered surface.
3. back in the microwave for 10 seconds.
4. fold the crêpe up on itself and top with some chocolate ice cream.
Voilà -- a gorgeous crêpe for less than 1/6th of the price at a restaurant.

Tomorrow I have no class but I've got some plans to go to the 15th and sign up for the Bruges and Brussels trip. I've also got a bit of reading to do. Alicia is comming this weekend to see her friend, but I'm hoping to grab a french onion soup with her at au pied du cochon!

Total damages today:
Groceries at ED: 5,98 EUR
Groceries at Franprix: 3,03 EUR
Baguette at biatrix: 85 centimes
Hot chocolat during the coffee break at school: 40 centimes

Photo Shoot at the Eiffel Tower

Petit déjeuner du jour:

After buying some tomatoes, grapes, and some tea cookies at Franprix, I got myself ready to take some photos for my photography class. This week's assignment: take a picture of the Eiffel tower that isn't boring. This is much harder than it sounds.


I met my friend Zoe, who is also in photo class with me, at the Eiffel Tower at 3. We took turns being eachother's models and critics. I think I got some pretty good shots at the end of it all. I'll want to photoshop them before posting -- I'm only showing you some of the raw photos now. This means the photos look really gray and dull because I made every effort to keep the bright sun from washing everything out. I promise you, this was a beautiful day! Come this Friday, I'll have lots of polished photos to update!


I came home starving (I'd gotten up late so I'd only managed to eat some tea cookies, some grapes, and faux-rangina), so I prepared myself a feast of pasta with grilled chicken in tomato sauce, tomatoes and cucumbers in pesto and balsamic, and a massive bowl of ratatouille.


Today was a big homework day, but I've managed to get it all done.

Next projects:
1. find Jay a 2 month sublet
2. buy trip to Bruges and Brussels

Total damages today:
groceries (4 tomatoes at 1EUR a kilo, grapes at 1,29 a kilo, and bag 'o' tea cookies at 1,29 EUR): 2,26 EUR

Déjeuner du jour:

Grilled chicken breast in parisonastudentsbudget marinade,
served over pasta with extra marinade sauce,
cucumber salad with balsamic on the side.

Total damages:
1 baguette: 80 centimes
2 bottles of faux champagne: 2,66 EUR

1er cours de photo et une soirée avec quelques français

Je suis allée à Belleville dans le 20e.
J'ai pris des photos.
J'ai bien mangé.
J'ai rencontré quelques jeunes français.
Je suis très fatiguée.

Today Phillip met us at a café called, "aux folies" in Belleville. The café was lively, filled with people who Phillip called, "bobos," and looked like the kind of café that really buzzes at night. However, we were at the café at 9am because the light was better, the coffee was cheaper, and the area was bustling with more locals than tourists. After scarfing down the coissants and other sweet treats that Phillip brought for us, we took off our lens caps and headed out.

Just behind the café was a magical ally filled with graffiti, collage, mozaics and very interesting people. It was like someone had dedicated this place to artists and let them run wild. Phillip was very insistant that we take pictures of everything, he even started conversations with random people just so we could get in a get a shot.


I took some pictures with backgrounds that looked like they belonged in high fashion magazines. Every wall was another canvas -- it was just gorgeous. We then hiked our way into a huge junkyard where some homeless people lived and some artists had set up studios. We met one artist who takes pictures of people on the metro with his cell phone and then makes elaborate sculptures of them.



The junkyard itself was a piece of art, too. The walls were filled with graffiti in vibrant colors and the ground was part garden, part assemblage. Phillip took pictures of us all jumping in front of a graffiti-ed wall and I felt like we were in some sort of movie. This place was unreal.

We left the artsy section and moved on to the more yuppy side of town for a great view of all of Paris and a walk through some gardens. Philip is hilarious -- he just flat out asks people if he can take their pictures. This one woman told him that she didn't want her picture taken but happily offered up her child to our lenses.

After a fabulous trip to a quartier I probably wouldn't have visited or even known about otherwise, I headed home to scarf down a crêpe with egg, brie, salami, tomatoes and mustard vinagrette. Yum. Then it was back to the studio for my photoshop lab.

I hesitate to even post the pictures I took in class today as I improved them greatly in the "labo." I feel like an evil genius. My labo teacher retouches for fashion magazines and I really did not know I could make my photos look so much better in post. We layered colors, removed blemishes -- I even did an excersize where I removed all the cracks off of a cracking clay sclupture from a photo I took today. It's amazing how you can make an average looking photo look fantastic with just a few tricks. I will never throw away a gray-toned, bland-looking photo again. Vive la photoshop!

After Labo, I headed down to the Cité Universitaire (the student dorms in Paris) for a night of "tex mex" dinner with some parisian students. I met a good handful of people that I really liked -- they go to a university called "Charles V" that specialises in English. Many of them are studying exactly what I study but the other way around. It gave us a lot to talk about.

I have learned of a salsa club in Paris from one of the Charles V girls, and I was very excited to here that many other Parisians dance salsa. Definitely want to check it out!

Tomorrow I have a trip to a chateau and Saturday is La nuit blanche (a great big all night party all over Paris, but particularly in my neighborhood; "la nuit blanche" means "all nighter" in French). Then I have homework!

Paris is crazy, but I'm loving every second.

Photos from today will come in this Friday when I have them photoshopped to satisfaction!

Total Damages today:
0,00 EUR

Mardi gras!

Ok, it's not really fat Tuesday, but it is Tuesday and I did make some amazing food today (on the cheap, of course).

This morning I got a French wake up call from Madame R-G wanting to change our apt. time to earlier in the afternoon. I stumbled to remember my French in my sleepy haze and stumbled out of bed with just as little ease. I decided to wake myself up with a little walk down to the local ED where I picked up a six pack of eggs and some mustard to keep on stash. Now that I'm going full force with this cooking at home thing, I figured I should have some of the "basics."

I came home, got myself all cleaned up, and began to prepare lunch. I remembered the delicious crêpes salées I had at the farmer's market by the grove in LA and wanted to duplicate one of my favorites. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:
1 ready-made crêpe (you can get a pack of 12 for 90 centimes at Franprix)
2 eggs (you can get a pack of 6 at ED for 1,19 or a pack of 12 for 1,89)
1 tomato (my 2 kg bucket cost me 1,49 at ED)
some slices of brie (2,99 for the wheel at ED)
olive oil
dijon mustard

Preparation:
1. Cut up tomatoes and put in a hot frying pan with some olive oil. When cooked to desired consistency, add 2 beaten eggs and cook as if an omelet or frittata.
2. While eggs and tomatoes are cooking, spread some mustard on the crêpe. Distribute slices of cheese evenly on crêpe. Toss into the microwave for 20 seconds.
3. When eggs are done cooking, take crêpe out of the microwave and put the omelet on the crêpe. Season with salt and pepper before rolling the crêpe up on the omelet like a burrito.

Bon Appétit!


I think that crêpe didn't stand a chance. I've rarely gobbled up anything so fast. I was very satisfied -- very filling meal. It was so cheap too. Let's do the math: the whole thing cost less than 80 centimes.

Feeling pretty proud of myself, I began preparations for tonight's dinner. I wanted to marinate my chicken breast but didn't want to break out fancy (and expensive) spices in order to do so. I now present to you the "paris on a student's budget marinade."

Directions:
Turn a plastic bag inside out and rest the chicken breast on the bag. Rub dijon mustard all over the chicken generously. Ground pepper over each side. Turn the plastic bag inside out again so that the chicken is now on the inside of the baggy. Pour some balsamic vinegar on the chicken. Seal the baggy. Throw in the fridge.

After inventing my very own cheapo marinade, I headed over to pay rent for October and have my first "tutorat" with Madame R-G. Looking for a little snack for the road back, I grabbed a pack of the famous "petit ecolier" cookies for 87 centimes at franprix.

Remembering the chicken marinading in the fridge, I grabbed a 12 pack of Stella bottles, hoping that the beer would pair well with the chicken. Since the beer here is cheaper than most sodas, I didn't feel bad opting for what would be a "special occation" beverage in the US. And since Stella is a belgian beer, it was also one of the cheapest beers on the shelf -- 1/2 the price of a six pack of bud!

I took my beer home and began preparing my meal. Boy was it a feast. The cheapo marinade turned out better than I expected. The balsamic gave the chicken a sweet and glazed taste while the mustard gave it a little bite. I paired my chicken with some ratatouille that I got from a can, peas, and a stella -- I was surprised at how large of a meal it ended up being.


How to make the chicken:
Before cooking: prepare some extra marinade mixture in a separate bowl (just mix some mustard, oil, balsamic, and pepper together).
Heat up some oil in a frying pan. When you see steam, add butter. When the butter begins to bubble and turn brown, add the chicken. Sear both sides before coating generously with extra marinade. Cover with lid and cook for 6 minutes on each side or until done.


It was so delicious. Do I need to mention butter again?

The chicken cost about 1,10 per breast, the ratatouille was 89 centimes for the jar but I only used about 1/4 of it (and still couldn't finish it), the peas were 70 centimes and I used maybe 1/6 of the jar. In short, the meal cost: 1,44 EUR. If you include the stella, we're up to a massive 1,86. I'm still under the Resto U price and enjoying every minute of it.

I've also been craving Tomme ever since that salad at le parc aux cerfs. They have it at Franprix. It's only days now until I cave.

On a side note, I've been thinking of going to Bruges and Brussels on a side trip for the weekend of the 17th and 18th. This student's international club offers discounted (and I mean discounted) student trips. It will cost 100 EUR including travel, lodging, a guide for both cities, all museum entrance fees, and breakfast. I have to decide before Oct. 9th. What do you guys think?


Total Damages Today:
6 eggs: 1,19 EUR
jar of mustard: 50 centimes
cookies: 87 centimes
12 pack of stella beer: 4,98 EUR

First day of offical classes

I got to sleep in today and decided to celebrate the occasion with a hot-out-of-the-oven baguette from Biatrix. The man in front of me asked for his baguette in English and got one of the cold ones. I asked in French and got a fresh-out-of-the-oven baguette. Coincidence? I think not.

I then made myself a little sandwich of pesto, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melted brie that I packed into my bag for lunch later. I must say, there is nothing better than a sandwich on fresh bread. The sandwich must have cost less than a euro in total, but tasted like a million bucks. Upon arrival at school, I grabbed a can of cola light from the local ED and went into the computer room to print out my homework for the day.

My first class was "La France Multiculturelle" with M. Mongo-Mbussa. He was incredible. I've never seen a professor get so passionate about a subject that he actually breaks a sweat and has to pause in order to get out a tissue.

After class, I snagged a free coffe and cookie with Natalie, the activies director, and chatted about possible extra curriculars during the semester. I'm hoping to be able to work with kids somehow, doing volunteer work or something of the sort. M. Mongo-Mbussa says he might be able to put me in touch with someone he knows who works at a ZEP.

Finally I got to see a familiar face when we reunited with M. R-G for the offical start of our French class. She is as adorable as ever. I have my first "Tutorat" with her tomorrow and I am very excited!

I finished the eveing with a walk home and a pit stop at Gibert Joseph to pick up some of the reading materials for my classes.

Tonight's dinner brought back an old favorite: the ever cheap and ever satisfying pasta with tomato sauce alongside a tomato and cumcumber salad with pesto and balsamic. Dessert? The rest of the baguette in some delicious faux-nutella.




Total Damages today:

Baguette at Biatrix: ,85 EUR
Cola Light: 19 centimes
Lined paper for notes: 2,79 EUR
2 books for "la france multiculturelle": 9,70 EUR

Better butter

I've discovered why I love French cooking so much (and perhaps why the French love cooking): butter. The butter here is amazing -- I just made myself some chicken in a beurre blanc that I'm sure I could have never made at home. The chicken came out perfect, oozing with the brie I stuffed it with, and I wondered why I ever thought that butter was "the enemy." It is certainly not. The butter here tastes like someone forced two butter sticks into one -- it is such a silky and luxurious taste that after my meal, I feel like I've already had dessert.

It's not a greasy taste like the one I've always found in American butter, it's much more rich. It's like a stick of cream. Cream that makes ordinary chicken taste like ... well ... butter. In short, if I had all the money in the world, I would have all my butter imported from France. It's that good.

I think I'll like cooking at home quite a bit! I'm trying to pair these butter-licous meals with something somewhat more acidic to cut down on the heavy and bloated feeling often associated with butter. Tonight I've done tomatoes and peas in a balsamic with a red wine, but I think a simple vinegarette on some salad would suffice. I'm thinking of getting a huge bottle of balsamic tomorrow since I've almost already gone through the little bottle in the cabinet, and the balsamic can make a mean vinegarette when mixed with some olive oil and dijon mustard.

Today's lunch was also quite a feast. I cut open some of the baguette so it lay on a plate open-faced. I coated each side in some berry jam, covered that with thinly sliced apples, and covered that with some brie slices. Off into the microwave it went for 20 seconds where it became an oozing delicious concoction for my taste buds before I headed down the street to the centre pompidou for the exhibition, "elles."

Out of my groceries, I've so far used:
1. 3 tomatoes
2. the baguette
3. 1/5 of the cucumber
4. 1 chicken breast
5. 1 apple
6. 1/8 brie wheel

Tentative list of supplementary groceries for tomorrow:
1. balsamic or vinegarette (roughly 2 EUR at ED)
2. more butter? (roughly 1 EUR at ED)
3. more of this ridiculously cheap and delicious cab sav? (1,69 at ED)

I'm loving the gastronomy here. I feel like a princess even though I'm eating some of the cheapest foods around. Good thing I like cheese, wine and bread!

I think it will be pretty hard to adjust back to American life. Many times I've thought, 'I could really use a bagel right now' but then realized I would still take the fresh baguette smothered in goat cheese over the bagel any day. When I think that I would like some Yogurtland right about now, I see the nutella across my desk and think again. I know that food will be relatively cheaper in the US -- certainly restaurants are -- but I'll miss the few things that are so accessible here. Until then, I'm trying to frequent the boulangeries as long as I can, hoping that they will spring up in America one of these days. I suggest the same to any student in Paris.

Easy and cheap meals I've found to be incredibly satisfying:
Baguette and Cheese
Do-it-yourself nutella crêpes
Apples (they come in season in the fall/ winter) with cheee or nutella
tomatoes (they come in season in the summer/ fall) and cucumber with vinegar
Pain au chocolat with a banana
Petit beurre crackers and jam (or cheese, or nutella...)
Tomatoes and Mozzarella (only ,60 EUR/ ball at Carrefour or ,90 EUR at Monoprix)

I feel like all the above are good ways to save a little money here while still living what would be an expensive lifestyle in the US. I bet you all of those meals cost more on average than they do here. For the vegetarians, living like this is pretty easy. For us carnivores, we have to learn where to invest our pretty penny.

Total Damages today:
0,00 EUR!

Last weekend before classes start

After a long nights sleep, I woke up and prepared myself some breakfast that I made with the baguette I stashed from last night's dinner at CROUS and some jam. I had a cup of fauxrangina with it and felt ready to take on the world.

Today we finished our 2 part series of lectures on the formation of Paris, its architecture, art, etc... I remember learning this when I was in Mme. Saigal's class , but it feels so much more authentic now that I'm here. When Mme. Moll mentioned the various walls that defined the territory of Paris throughout history, I remember that I had not quite understood this in Mme. Saigal's class. However, now I know those streets that mark the walls. I know the buildings that expanded them, too. I feel like history is so much more interactive here, and it is so much more engaging!

For lunch I had the other half of the pizza that I got at CROUS last night, as well as a banana from the local Franprix. Since I wanted to start cooking some real food at home instead of relying on CROUS all the time, I bit the bullet and did some real grocery shopping after my french class with Mme R-G.

I bought what I thought would last me at least the weekend and perhaps a few days after that. If it only lasts me until Sunday morning, I still saved money in comparison to eating at the RESTO U.


At ED, I got:
3 chicken breasts (3,41 EUR -- meat is SO expensive here!)
2 gala apples (only ,26 EUR there, not too bad)
a kilo of tomatoes (1,49 EUR was pretty good)
a cucumber (,50 centimes, pretty decent)
a huge wheel of brie (SO cheap here, only 2,99 EUR)
canned ratatouille (I had to try it for 89 centimes)
cab. sav. (1,79 EUR -- it's pretty good -- I'm drinking it now!)


At Franprix, I got the desserts for the weekend:
1 container of generic nutella: 1,15 EUR (which is less than half the price for the same size of nutella, and it takes the same)
1 package of 12 crêpes: ,91 EUR

Basically I can make 12 nutella crêpes for the price of one on the street! They will also be good for crêpes salées (salty crêpes) -- eggs and brie sounds good to me!

I also stopped at Biatrix for a baguette to complete the meal (I just spent 13 EUR on food, so I thought "what's another 85 centimes?").

I came home to the apt and dipped into the nutella with some baguette because I just couldn't resist. I felt I needed to do some laundry before actually making dinner, so I put in a load, cleaned up the room, and began to put the pasta to boil.

Tonight's dinner:
dessert: nutella
entrée: tomatoes and cucumber in balsamic with ground pepper
plat: spaghetti with peas in marinara
boisson: cab sav


I'm falling more and more in love with this place every day. I can't wait for Jay to get here!

Total damages today:
banana at Franprix: 26 centimes
Groceries at ED: 10,99 EUR
Groceries at Franprix: 2,06 EUR
Baguette at Biatrix: 85 centimes

Spéos and the Opéra Bastille

Today I visited the other photo atelier, Spéos, and was disappointed to discover that they make all students start with a non-digital, black and white camera. And they have class on Friday. I'm thinking Vermès is looking better and better.

After an afternoon French class, our group got a private tour of the Opéra Bastille. I am still in shock of how utterly fantastic this tour was. When we arrived, we descended down 6 stories and arrived at the bottom of the theater's massive elevator which is in charge of bringing up and down any and all sets for upcoming shows. The first thing I saw when we walked through the doors was the set for La Bohème.

I don't know how to say how happy I was. I got to walk around on the set for La Bohème. Me. Pretty much a dream.

We saw many other fabulous things as well (the Opéra Bastille is HUGE!). They even make all their own props, costumes, sets, etc... right on site, so we got to see some of the crazy things in progress. I did not know that such amazing things could be done with styrophome.



When we finally stepped out into the seating area, I plopped myself down in a seat that I thought was assez bon only to hear a huge gasp come from the mouth of our adorable and hilarious guide. "Madame la Présidente!" he says as he reaches for my hand. Apparently I had chosen the seat in the Opéra where the President sits. My butt has touched the same seat cushon as President Sarkozy (I don't know if I should be proud, amused, or disgusted by this...).

Feeling pretty proud of myself for having such expensive taste, I went and bought myself some really dirt cheap fruit and veggies to add to my dinner for the night.

For dinner:
entrée: tomato with oil and vinegar
plat: spaghetti with bolognese sause
dessert: tiramisu gelatto (and 1 petit ecolier cookie)

Total Damages today:

kinder bar for petit déjeuner en route: ,80 EUR
Orangina: ,80 EUR
Petit Ecolier cookies: ,80 EUR
Apple: ,14 EUR
Tomato: ,17 EUR

French class day 2: already exhausted!

Today's French class lesson consisted of an exercise on accents, reading Camus' acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, and listening to Jacques Brel (my French teacher adooores Jacques Brel). After feeling exhausted and ready to sip a hot chocolate and take a nap, I ran over the the resto u for some salad, sausage, veggies, mashed potatoes, and a raspberry tart thinking that a full stomach would wake me up. It did.... until the Art History professor showed us slides of some of the art we will see this weekend in Provence. When the lights went down, my eyelids got exponentially heavier.

After class, I hit up some supermarchés to grab some ingredients for the caprese salads that Taylor and I were planning to make. 1 kg of tomatoes for 1 EUR is not too bad....

When I start feeling more rested, I'll update with some more interesting information, but I don't think I'm going to be doing much before Friday morning when we leave for AIX, Marseille, Cassis, Saint-Rémy, and Avignon.

Total Damages today:

Breakfast of Madeleines: ,80 EUR
Lunch at Resto U: 2,90 EUR
1 kg tomatoes: 1 EUR
Pesto: 1,53 EUR
Mozzarella balls: ,89 EUR each (I bought 2 = 1,78 EUR)

L'exploration de Montmartre

Today began with morning jaunt about the neighborhood. One of the fabulous things about living close to the "jewish district" is that many things are open on Sunday so long as you know where to go. After picking up my baguette at Biatrix, I took a stroll down one of these streets with many open-les-dimanches markets and took note.

A baguette and some cheese in hand, I meandered my way to the subway in hopes of beginning today's scheduled tour of Montmartre a little bit early by myself. The last time I went to Montmartre, I had gotten off at "Anvers," but my tour was scheduled to start just outside of "Lamarck-Caulaincourt" so I decided to explore that area more.

Once I arrived, I realized that this metro, while being a slightly less direct route to Sacre Coeur, was a better metro stop for Montmartre because it began already some ways up the hill. That's right, you can walk down to Sacre Coeur.

Walking around the area just about the Metro stop, I noticed some stores I wanted to visit once they reopened, as well as some beautiful homes, streets, and scenery. Montmartre is probably as close to a "village" as I've seen in Paris yet and everything really reflects that village "charm." After picnic-ing on a park bench and then returning to the metro stop, I finally met up with my group and ascended the steps to the street "villa leandre" where we caught a glimpse of what an older Montmartre might have looked like. Our guide, Natalie, informed us that Monmartre is relatively new to Paris, and prior to its inclusion, Montmartre was a little village filled with potagers and abbeys. Villa Leandre is one of the only streets left in Paris (and Montmartre) with stone laden streets and almost every building is a house (as opposed to an apartment).

At the end of the street, there is a dead end and some stairs that lead to a park on the way to the Place Dalida. The park features a statue of Saint Denis, carrying his head as legend said he did on the day of his execution all throughout Montmartre. Some say that the "martre" part of "montmartre" comes from the word "martyr."


When we exited the park, we stood on the place dalida, facing the famous bust of the beautiful singer. Continuing up (and then down) the rue de saules, you can see some of Montmartre's old agricultural history: vineyards. The abbeys sold a lot of land to people who were looking to take advantage of Monmartre's unique taxing situation: since Montmartre was virtually in Paris, but technically not subject to Paris' tax on wine, the wine business in Montmartre was very lucrative. It was so much cheaper to drink in Montmartre that many Parisians frequented the taverns in Montmartre every time they wanted to drink which, as we all know, lead to the creation of many cabarets and Montmartre's reputation as a district of illicit pleasures.

In fact, at the end this vineyard on rue de saules, one can see the only remaining Caberet in Paris: "Au Lapin Agile." Unlike many other cabarets that have since been converted into restaurants and cafés, Au Lapin Agile still maintains its regular program.

We continued our journey seeing all of Montmartre's "musts" at the "butte" (at the top of and alongside the hill that is Montmartre): the museum of Montmartre, the moulin de la galette, the old city center, the Dali museum, l'Eglise Saint Pièrre, Sacre Coeur, la bateau-lavoir, etc...



When we began to descend, we passed the théâtre de la ville, the rue des martyrs, and the deux moulins (from Amélie). At the end, we ended up at the Moulin Rouge, which in the bright daylight looks unfortunately far less glamorous and bohemian that it does in my dreams. It's even wedged in between a "Quick" (France's Mc Donalds) and a modern 3-story nightclub. If you continue your way down the street, you'll happen by the erotica museum (this used to be a red-light district, after all).


I returned home to a glass of red and a pasta with pork, corn, and basil tomato sauce. Mhmm delicious Paris.







Total damages:
Baguette: ,85 EUR

The Perfect Saturday Night in Paris

I woke up at around 12:30 today (which is pretty early when you consider that I went to bed at 6am), cleaned up the mess of clothes I left on the floor last night, poured myself a nice glass of orange juice and informed my parents that I was alive.

When Taylor woke up at around 2:30, we decided to pick up some groceries, make lunch, and catch up with eachother's lives. After a jaunt down to Biatrix for the usual 85 centimes Baguette Parisienne, we hopped over to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for omelettes and other things we wanted to have around the apt. We stocked up on corn, peas, tomatoes, and motzzarella (which is only 90 centimes here for a large ball, I love Paris!). Our huge bags of groceries came to only 13 EUR and Taylor picked up the tab since I got the laundry detergent, draino, and the previous round of groceries. After finishing our baguette en route as usual, we came home to make a huge lunch. I was in charge of food prep and Taylor prepared the omlettes in the pan. I think we've mastered the art of cooking in a small kitchen.

We set our beautiful lunches out on the table in my room, right next to the window that looks out onto rue Michel le Comte. It was a beautiful day and the breeze trickled in through the window. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon after a long Friday night. We took advantage of our beautiful surroundings and ate as if we were 2 parisiennes sitting at a local brasserie or café just down the street: we took our time and ate for 2 hours.

After feeling incredibly satisfied, I decided to take the newly draino-ed shower drain for a spin and was very, VERY satisfied that my shower did not turn into a foot bath.

Taylor was getting ready to go to a concert and I desperately wanted to take a walk along the Seine, so I skyped a bit with Jay before throwing on an echarpe and taking to the streets. I grabbed Jay's camera in hopes of capturing a few good shots.


I first trotted down to the Seine and walked along the side of the street closest to the river. Even though it was almost 7:30, the sun was just starting to set and the water looked beautiful. I hiked my way down past the local artists until I happened upon the Louvre, where the crystal pyramid was sparkling in the sunset. Pure magic surrounded me as I began to hear a cello out of one corridor. As I wandered around the Louvre's courtyard, I noticed that each corridor seemed to house the music of a different musician. I heard opera singers, a clarinet, and a cello all playing different tunes from different eras but they all seemed to combine into a magical melody that could have never come out so beautiful had it been planned.

Standing in the center of this virtual orchestra of street musicians, I looked toward the fountain and noticed that I wasn't the only one feeling the magic. Two parisians on velibs shared one of the most romantic moments I have seen thus far on my trip. To be honest, I was kind of jealous of how perfectly they looked in that instant -- just two lovers on bicycles sharing a kiss in front of a gorgeous fountain as a symphony surrounds the courtyard -- their bicycle tires even matched up.

But it wasn't before long that the sun set, the lovers parted, and a man took off his shoes, rolled up his pants, and jumped feet first into the fountain. One second the city is full of romance, the next, it's full of feet. I love Paris, I thought for the 1000th time.

The sun was coming down, so I decided to head back home. As I walked home, I was greeted by the cutest little face in a window of a store: a little kitty! He was so friendly -- just came right up to the window and stuck his little face out. I played some little games with him for a little while since I felt kind of bad that the poor thing was locked up in a store all by himself all night, but then another kitty came up to him and I realized he wasn't all alone.

I continued my walk home but stopped at the rue du rambuteau to get a little snack. When I saw that I could snag a banana nutella crêpe for only 3,50 EUR, I had made up my mind. It was as fresh, oozing, and delicious as anyone could have ever hoped for. I love Paris, I thought again.

I decided to follow the sound of some music down another street where I found some street performers playing a duet on what looked like a home-made marimba. I sat down with my handful of extacy and took in more of the Parisian magic. I had music, a crêpe and the centre pompidou behind me: how can Los Angeles even compare? All I need is to get my boyfriend up here and then you'll never get me to leave!

After my mini concert and excellent dessert, I saw a Monop' (Monoprix's little convenience store) and decided to hop in for some pictures. I saw the Sirop and was enticed by the colors, so I began snapping some photos with Jay's camera until a man in a security suit came up to me and said in a very serious French voice that I was prohibited from taking photos. I apologized profusely in my best French, saying that I wasn't from here and so I didn't know the rules. I thought about it for a second and realized that I really didn't know the rules. Apparently, it's perfectly acceptable to bathe in the fountains at the Louvre and drink in public but I can't take a photo in a convenience store? Tant pis! A little slap on the wrist for being a silly tourist is probably pretty good for me and now I've learned that I shouldn't just assume I can take pictures where ever I want. At least they let me keep the shots. :)


Feeling that my big camera faux pas was probably a sign to end the night, I walked back to the apt for a glass of Cola Light from a bottle that I bought at ED a few days ago. I look out my window and see the parisians out to play but feel totally satisfied having gone to my own concert at the Louvre, having tasted my parisian delicacy, and having gotten in trouble the Monop' police. Who could ask for anything more?

See my photo albums for more photos of today:

Fickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42113654@N07/
Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/aspettami/Paris#
and http://picasaweb.google.com/aspettami/ParisOnAStudentSBudget#

Total Damage today:
Baguette: ,85 EUR
Crepe: 3,50 EUR