Lazy Weekend Part 2

Saturday and Sunday, May 18^th and 19th 2013

Once again, I had a lazy weekend in Paris. I went to the supermarket for the first time, which was a really interesting experience. First of all, you never realize how much the product design affects you until you’re in a different country and can’t read the label. I could tell what the food was in general but I didn’t know enough vocab to catch all the little words and descriptions. What’s more, they don’t even measure calories the same! I felt like a total dork wandering around the supermarket with my empty basket trying to find the few ingredients I wanted. And then once I found the ingredients simply standing and staring at the options for 20 minutes while trying to decipher their labels. But it was a cool experience – and allowed me to flex my deductive reasoning skills. The one item I simply could not find, even after wandering all (and I mean each and every one) of the aisles, was peanut butter. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to communicate with a worker because I didn’t know the word for “peanut butter” or “peanuts” in French, and without those two words I was all out of ideas on how to describe it. But I finally broke down and asked a salesperson, and simply used the American name for it, and she directed me to the international aisle. Yeah. They don’t have peanut butter in France! They import it from England, but the French don’t ever eat peanut butter – like ever. Most have never even tried it. That blew my mind, considering what a rich role peanut butter plays in American culture! Nearly everyone grows up eating that stuff. So after my peanut butter debacle I checked out, although I felt a little bit ashamed because I hadn’t brought my own recyclable bag. Everyone in France brings his or her own bag – and I mean everyone. In fact it’s so the norm that you have to pay (PAY!) for a plastic bag that the store gives you. I mean the bags are cheap but still, it was surprising the first time I went to a store here and had to ask for a bag – and then had to pay for the bag. (This doesn’t apply to clothing stores, they just offer theirs freely – I guess because it’s not like a repetitive thing, you don’t go out and buy clothes every week. Well some people do. But I certainly don’t.) 

After that I worked on some homework and then rode in to meet up with some of the girls at a museum. This night was the free museum night across all of Europe so the museums were packed! Unfortunately, that meant that the girls couldn’t get into the museum of modern art that they wanted to see, typically something I wouldn’t lament since I don’t like modern art except that we ended up at one much much weirder. When the first line was too long they simply went across to the museum next door, which had no line and was called Tokyo Palais, and I ended up meeting them there. Did the museum have anything to do with Tokyo? No. Not at all. I suppose you could leniently call it modern art but you could also call it disturbing – at times- or simply bizarre – at best. I won’t go into any specific works except to say they were featuring some screamo music as the background ambiance. I would not recommend it. Even to my worst enemy. Any who, since I arrived late, we left soon after my arrival (yay!) and then walked along to a spot on the Seine. No day can have been spent badly when you end it with a view of the Eiffel Tower across the Seine :)

Look at that. Amazing. And it was just while I was waiting in line - no special view or anything.

Excuse the blurry-ness, my camera doesn't handle night time all that well.

On Sunday, I went to church and afterwards visited a brocante, which is essentially like an antique flea market. They have this really popular one every Sunday on Rue Cler (which happens to be right next to the BYU apartment).  I love little market stands at fairs and festivals so this was fantastic for me. Most of the stands were selling china or silverware – I saw one that was even selling furniture! But a lot were selling jewelry, or watches or scarves! There were just a lot of old knick knacks, which is exactly what I love! A friend and I even haggled with a lady for a clock necklace and she dropped her price from 20 to 10 euro! I also successfully found a souvenir gift for one of my sisters (shout out to Kylee!), which I hope she looooves! As we walked along, my friend Greta and I grabbed a one euro baguette and ate it for lunch as we perused the market. It is so fun for me to discover all these unique items and interact with the sales people. One our way back through the market, we bought a raspberry tart to finish up our lunch and boy, talk about heaven. This is a pastry to write home about. It was delicious. It had like a pastry dish bottom (think a mix between the consistency of a sugar cookie and cake) and then crème filling and to top it off a ring of raspberries on top. It was so good, I forgot to take a picture! But you better believe I’ll be going back for more! Honestly, this day was one of my favorites from the whole trip, just because it was everything I had desired from France. I was walking through this open-air market, just wandering and admiring while eating a fresh baguette and a sweet raspberry pastry. 

If you look closely, you'll see the clock necklace I bought!

 It was such a calm and tranquil afternoon but with lots of fun. After that I went home to have dinner with my host family. Every Sunday, our host mom makes crêpes as a family tradition. I personally don’t love the traditional French galette (a meal crêpe), which is jambon and fromage but I do like just a fromage crêpe and all sorts of dessert crêpes (all of which I love). One of the girls who had done the program a few years before, came back to visit the family with her husband. I had a nice chat with her about all of her favorite spots and where to go in Paris. It was so cool to hear from someone who had done the same thing and had more experience. It was really cool getting to talk to her. It was definitely one of my favorite memories in Paris.