There are 8% more antioxidants in the crust of bread. What do I get for eating the Cheese Rind?

Le 18 mai 2009
♫♪Monday Monday...♪
Sadly, I have absolutely no pictures for Monday. I spaced and left my camera at home, which turned out not to be so bad because it was even less eventful than usual. After class the professor decided to take us to a museum that is filled with replicas of other famous monuments from all centuries. We have been studying a lot of French architecture according to the century and style, so he used this opportunity to quiz us on what we've learned. It turned out to be quite difficult to differentiate between the end of the Romanesque era and the beginning of the Gothic. The professor walked us through, discussing all of the statues, altarpieces, and building parts for probably 2 hours+. Afterward Jamie and I went through once again to review and solidify what we had learned (he was giving us a test the next day). In the end, we didn't have enough time to do an actual promenade for class before FHE started so we did our "anti walk walk" which is the challenge that professor Marc Olivier gives to the Paris study abroad students- to "Get Lost". We wandered all around the streets finding little markets, papetries (I still haven't found a journal that quenches my Paris journal thirst), and happened upon a break dance/hip hop group. They were pretty good! And they dance to English music.. no surprise there.

At Family Home Evening, we learned about being "one" as a group, which I think was a very suitable topic for our group. We're not really clicky, we all seem to love each other, but I do worry about us having the same resolute desires (some Will not speak french and some are being left out I think). I was in charge of the activity and I decided to play the game with the water bottle lid? Two of the girls knew how to play already and they called it thimble! Good to know huh? All the students are trying to organize trips for the first weekend of June and so I waited for Jamie after FHE while she tried to figure out plans for London. We were late for dinner (no worries we called our family) and so we didn't get to eat dinner with them.. but she reused the salmon in a quiche for us! haha.. I will continue to pretend to like that.

Le 19 mai 2009
I didn't forget my camera today! But there was absolutely no need for it... The professor gave us our study guide and our take home test. It wasn't due till Thursday morning and it was closed book/notes so I wasn't about to take it before I was really ready. Worried about having time for preparation we (Kaylie Jamie and I) studied in Paris for 2/3 hours and then headed home for the last few hours of concentration before dinner.
Dinner was awesome- okay I'm being ridiculously nice here. Remember the salmon quiche from yesterday? Well we had it again, except she put a few eggs cooked sunny side up on top of them. can you see the excitement in my typing. I figured it was worth it to eat gross food if I got to discuss a few of the conversation class requirements with Madame, but she quickly told us about her horrid headache and left us to eat alone again. Quelle Chance? I ate as much as I could stomache and returned to my room to study. Tuesday wasn't exactly my favorite day in Paris.
Le 20 mai 2009 Joyeux Anniversaire Maman!
Wednesday was the day for Chartres. We met up at the SNCF Montparnesse train station and took an hour+ train ride to Chartres, throughout this ride everyone in 361 (History of France) was studying. Our first stop in Chartres was the stain glass museum. We watched a movie that showed how to make them, but it was so intricate and they showed so many different ways with different vocabulary each time that I ended up watching more for process then technique or instruction. I wish I had understood better, because when the movie had ended I went down the stairs to find a gallery of modern stain glass art- they were INCROYABLE! I thought they were so beautiful and expressive and I had series of daydreams about having stain glass windows in my house or bedroom. There were some that were part medal with holes in it to let the light shine through the blue glass behind it, which portrayed the sand on the beach with puddles of water. Another stain glass creation had many pieces of glass that had colored shards wedged between them. The colored shards normally made some sort of picture.
There was one piece in particular that fascinated me. I have no idea how it was made or why I liked it so much but I did. It might have also had to do with the caption that I read below it. It said "Let there be peace and let it begin with me"
I took this picture with my reflection in it thinking of letting the peace begin with me, my attempt to be artsy

I went upstairs and searched the gift shop looking for detailed instructional books on how to make these even though I don't see stain glass making, close in my future. I absolutely loved the place! As I was walking out the door of the museum I saw an open door with glass pieces all inside and a lady cleaning up. Susan and I asked permission to come in and wandered around this stain glass art room where she explained how the different colors were painted on the glass, how they were sealed, and how the ovens worked for them. It was just what I needed to hear, I was so grateful to get a special tour of the classroom. She had glass for sale and if I had spoken better French I would have requested a lesson and tried to make one myself, but time was pressing and she would have quickly become frustrated with my lack of glass vocabulary :).

We had left early that morning for Chartres and for the first time in about a week I had forgotten to make a lunch. Almost everyone else had brought theirs and I decided to flaner off on my own to find a boulangerie or something of the sort. I ended up at Chartres looking over the paysage wondering how I got to such a beautiful place.

It took me about 45 minutes to settle down at a boulangerie (most of them in the area were sit down restaurants which take 3x as long as in the US). The one that I discovered was extremely cheap! I bought a Jambon des feuilles. A sandwich with ham and leaves, in this case leaves of delectable croissant bread material. Have I mentioned that I love France? Also there was a delightful creamy sauce mixed in! It slightly reminded me of the twisted cooked sandwiches that my mom makes for me!

I went and met up with the group at the church for an hour long guided tour of Chartres. Our guide was British, obsessed with the church, and funny in a way that only an old British man could get away with. We were listening to his descriptive story of one of the stain glass windows when 6 or 7 Asian people started sprinting down the aisle of the nave towards the exit. He looked at them in slight frustration and overcame it by turning to us and saying, "the Japanese have to be in Madrid by this afternoon". It was so random and cute with his accent, but I'm still frustrated with his joke.. I think they were Chinese :)
When the tour was over we all climbed the millions of stairs to the tower/overlooking section of Chartres. I have never climbed so many steps in my life. The group stopped for a break midway but the anticipation was too great so I ran up by myself, which I'm really glad I did. I had the whole thing to myself for 5 minutes or so!


(This green skirt is another million stories all in itself! I had been wanting to wear it for awhile but kept chickening out because its so cold and shaving doesn't really work but I decided I would do it anyways. This skirt is the "traveling skirt" for Dana (who is now married), Salamander (Amanda), Nikki Martino (who just got her mission call to Argentina), Camilla Pendleton (who is currently serving in Rochester, NY) and me! They generously invited me to take it to Paris and I accepted. This is the absolute most comfortable skirt plus its reversible with a darker green on the other side! This is the brightest article of clothing that I brought with me.. French people don't really do bright. I learned the hard way. Walking through the metro station in bright green while everyone is in black and earth tones really gets you some funny looks. I had a woman actually stop in front of me with her jaw dropped. My roommate felt awkward and didn't like to stand too close to me, almost like I smelled bad that day haha At first I felt uncomfortable and then I realized how absolutely funny it was. I could never look them in the eye, speak perfect French, and I'd still get ridiculous looks from all the French people because I wore some bright green skirt. I plan on doing it again very soon because it made me feel so cool haha)

The bus ride home consisted of more studying (its Wednesday so I HAVE to take my test before thursday morning), except this time a few of us girls invited the professor to study with us- aka answer all of our test questions. It was really quite helpful! Wisest study plan ever. Note to self: find someway to have a sit down chat with all professors before tests and completely change the topic to the controversial or confusing test topics!

Instead of going straight home Susan, Jamie, Kaylie and I went to the pizza restaurant sandwiched right in between our houses. The pizza was so good! I got the four cheese pizza (most of the pizzas have fish on them) and thought it was glorious. I'm not sure what kinds were all on there, but I know that rochefort was in there and I actually really liked it! It gave the pizza the perfect kick. Oh and for dessert I had creme brulee! woah.. they make creme brulee really well here.

I stayed up late finishing studying and then I started my test at 11:30 or so. Which is not the smartest thing to do because you don't think as rationally late at night, but its hard to avoid when the professor takes you to Chartres until 7 or so. It was all for the best, I felt really good about the test. The essay was a bit concerning because I can't express myself or my theories as well as I would like in French, but I felt like it went really well nonetheless.

Le 21 mai 2009
So obviously I stayed up way too late for this test of mine, which made getting to the professors by 8 am really hard. We had to leave for the metro by 6:45 which means I woke up to take a shower at... you don't want to know.
Why were we meeting at the professors you ask? Well to get on the bus of course! Why were we getting on the bus? To go to BELGIUM! Our first stop was in a town called Bruge. Everything was so perfectly picturesque! There is a lot less smoking in Belgium, the people speak a different language, less stuff smells like urine, more people speak English, and the Fried, Waffles, and chocolate are all undeniably better! We (Fred, Emily, and I) wandered around the city comparing their architecture to that of Paris! Bruge is known for being stuck in the 15th century so everything there looked very different, in a spectacular way. Bruge

We found a man playing the bagpipe after being in Bruge for probably 5 minutes max.
Emily and I with bagpipe man!

The main reason for visiting Bruge was to see a processional that the whole town put on. Professor Hurlbut is a specialist in the history and theories of Bruge and the origins of Brussels. In the processional they have a clear gold vial that supposedly holds in it the blood of Christ. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the vial as they marched by with it. This processional was nothing like a parade in the US, they really went all out. Think hundreds of sheep with real shepherds- the sheep really obeyed the shepherds! Think of all the old testament characters portrayed and marching around the city and millions of children dressed up to represent different characters, a color guard, 50 plus people dressed up on horseback, jokers that were scarier than Heath Ledger as joker (didn't think that was possible did you?), a lady playing a manual organ while men carried her float on their backs, and most of all people playing instruments and singing. I wish I had understood everything!
One of the groups in the processional that passed

We then remounted the bus and drove to a city called Gent. Here we dropped off our bags and ran down the canal to our reserved restaurant.
The Canal
Beautiful Gent

After dinner we wandered around the town till late. No worries! We were in big groups and we had already been told exactly where we would be safe in the town. At one point one of the girls in our group whipped out her Mac laptop and we had a 10 person dance party in the square by our hotel. It was amazing! Who thinks of doing such things in Gent, Belgium? Some of the other kids in the group looked on either in mockery, amusement, or disgust.. it was hard to decipher the looks we were getting but I must admit that it kind of disappointed me. In France we have to wear this "I'm French" look 24/7, but here where they speak Flemish? there was no fooling anyone, plus we were alone in this square in a beautiful town. I don't know it just seemed like a great memory to make and I wish that everyone could have enjoyed it?


This is (L to R) the girl band picture for Rachel, Rachel and me. Yes they are both Rachels haha

Le 22 mai 2009
Not only did we stay in a B-U-tiful hotel for the night, but they had a buffet. It has been quite sometime since I Really ate breakfast. I few pieces of toast aren't really that fulfilling when you need so much energy! There were all sorts of pastries, breads, jams, nutella, juices, meats, eggs, sausage, yogurts, and more. Yay for Belgium! They didn't follow the tiny food trend!

Literally next to our hotel, was the church that holds the Annunciation by Jan Van Eyck! I couldn't take any pictures of the actual thing, but the imitation in the outside chapel looks quite similar?
Sorry I forgot to turn it!

We got to wander the city of Gent a little bit more before running off to Brussels. Brussesl was the shortest stop yet! We got there at 13:06 and we had to be back on the bus by 15:00 but the center of the city was already a 15 minute walk! We were extremely pressed for time... but we didn't realize it quite yet.

My Varm Vaffle

So we got Varm Vaffles, Chocolate, and Greek food. While eating the Greek food we (Hannah, Fred, Emily, and I) realized that we had 15 minutes to get to the bus and we had wandered probably 30 minutes in the opposite direction. We started running with all that greasy greek stuff in our stomach but quickly realized that we had no idea where we were. We don't speak Flemish/Dutch, we didn't have a map, we quickly found out that our phones didn't work in Brussels between the students and that the Professor was not answering his phone. I tried to ask one of the bus drivers where all of the buses were parked outside of the city, but he looked at me with confusion when I tried French and English! What to do? We had worked up a sweat running who knows where and we were 15 minutes late for a bus that was told to leave at 3:00 pile (on the hour) and would wait for no one. Finally the professor called us back, he asked us where we were and our hearts lightened at the thought that they hadn't left us! We tried to describe where we were and the professor said.. hold up, I see you! How could he have seen us we had to be on the other side of town from the bus by now? We WERE, but so was the professor. The girls gave our group funny looks when we got on the bus so late but I didn't let it get to me. Brussels cannot be seen and eaten in 1 hour and a half.. even the professor got lost!

I'm now in Paris. Safe and sound! Is it pathetic of me to say that I miss Belgium!?