FOOD

Food and eating in France continues to both impress and confuse me, so it is about time that I devote an entire blog entry to it.

I have already mentioned how much I adore French coffee, bread, crêpes, and basically everything that I have tasted here.

I must also mention that I was a vegetarian prior to my arrival in France, and that I had never really had any seafood.

So some of my best food stories might include two nights in a row last week:

Night #1: Rabbit for dinner. My host family was amazed that I had never eaten it before. I told them that they are not commonly consumed in the States, although I decided to leave out the part that American children prefer to snuggle with bunnies as pets. Luckily I never had a rabbit as a pet, so I was not picturing any precious childhood friend as I dug into my meal. If I were to describe the taste, I would say that it is nearly identical to that of chicken. While I do not plan to make a habit out of consuming rabbit, it was actually a very nice meal.

Night #2: Salmon. While this is not at all a big deal for some people, it was for me. It was actually quite good, however, because it did not taste "fishy." It also disturbed me less than the rabbit, and I would not mind eating it again in the future. If only I could say the same for the questionable plate of fish that I consumed last Friday at the University Restaurant (a cheap dining hall for students). The food there is neither wonderful nor inedible, but the fish definitely left something to be desired. Don't worry, though, I followed that lunch up with one of the best cups of hot chocolate I've ever had, and my stomach was happy again.

These stories may have made me sound like a picky eater, but I promise that I am not. I have enjoyed everything else that I have eaten in France, without the slightest bit of hesitancy.

French table manners are also different. Here is a brief description of what I have picked up on so far from my host family:

• There is bread (usually a baguette) with every meal. Never put it on your plate, but rather right on the table next to your plate. When you want to eat it, just rip of a piece and put it in your mouth. Make sure you save some until the end to wipe your plate with - the French wipe up all the extra sauce or scraps of food with their bread. (Never leave food on your plate - they are not even rinsed before going into the dishwasher!) Also, there is usually cheese served after the main course, so you might want to save some bread (or just take more) to eat with your delicious cheese.
  
• To my knowledge, there is no finger food. Everything on your plate is eaten with a knife and fork, even pizza.
• While you are eating, do not perch your knife across the edges of the plates as you would in America. Rather, if you set it down simply allow it to rest in the middle of the plate, just as you would place a fork.
• Yogurt is a dessert. I have eaten if after dinner every night since my arrival in France. My mom does this in America, but I do not think she knew how truly French it was.
• French coffee is served in tiny little cups. Do not be deceived; it is still very strong. If you walk into a cafe and it is apparent that you are American, they might ask whether you want a big or small coffee. My suggestion: take the little one. You will never want a large cup of American coffee again in your life.

Finally, there is a certain mystery involving the French and eating. French people are truly skinny. It is not just a stereotype; I have seen a few slightly round elderly ladies, but other than that everyone is thin. Perhaps they partake of delicious meals in small portions, or maybe it's all the smoking that they tend to do. But not all French people smoke, either. I have concluded that it could just be something in their genes.

I have told a few American friends that I might become somewhat of a "bread and cheese snob" upon my return the States. But all joking aside, I do dread the day when I can no longer pop into the corner boulangerie and pick up a fresh baguette, or have at least five different kinds of cheese laid out on a platter in front of me after every dinner. In the meantime, bon appetit!

Beyond Angers

The past two weekends in a row, I have gone on short trips outside of Angers, including visits to Paris, Lisieux, Saint-Malo and Mont Saint Michel.

First journey: Paris / Lisieux

Two weeks ago, I went to Paris for one night, then to Lisieux (in the North of France) for the day. My friend Katrina and I learned a lot about trains, metros and hostels on our first trip. For example, we missed our first train out of Angers because we did not pick up our tickets far enough ahead of time. Once we finally arrived in Paris, we successfully navigated the metro to the Eiffel Tower! It was sparkling in the night sky when we caught our first glimpses of it. No matter how many pictures one has seen of La Tour Eiffel, nothing compares to standing right under it.

We stood there gazing at the tower long after our toes and fingers froze, but it was worth it.
Another lesson learned from the cold weather, though: my host mom warned me that it was going to be absolutely freezing in Paris because it is always much colder than in Angers. I did not bundle up enough for it. Moral of the story: mothers all around the world always do know best.

Friday night Katrina and I stayed in our first hostel. It was actually very clean and well decorated, and the staff was friendly. But as we opened the door to our room, surprise! We were roommates with a Chinese guy, and he was already asleep. It was both awkward and uncomfortable, so we are looking forward to future trips when we will share rooms only with our friends, as well as our Easter trip to Rome, where we will stay in an all-female hostel run by nuns.

Unfortunately our time in Paris only included a few metro rides, the Eiffel Tower and the hostel. I cannot wait to go back and see more of the city, but we left for Lisieux just as the sun was rising Saturday morning. I slept better on the train than I had in the hostel.

When we stepped off the train in Lisieux, we were welcomed by a quiet Saturday morning in a quaint French town.


Our day in Lisieux included visits to the convent where Saint Therese of Lisieux lived, the beautiful 12th century cathedral where she worshiped, and the house where she grew up. (Left: Outside the childhood home of Saint Therese.) At her house, we spoke to the nicest little old French Carmelite nuns, and felt especially flattered when they complimented our French. We also strolled around the Saturday morning market (typical of all French towns) and ate lunch up in a cafe where the menu was in both French and incorrectly translated English. For example, "Buffet chaud" was listed in English as "Hot dresser." Do any of you English speakers want to eat some hot dressers today? They really just meant to say "warm meals." We also found some gorgeous views of the French countryside. The last stop on our trip was the Basilica built for Saint Therese, although we found it to be much to modern and glitzy for our taste.

Another fun fact / realization: Lisieux appeared to be a much more modern city than Angers, because so much of it was destroyed during World War II bombings. I am very lucky to live in a French city that was spared of that destruction.


Trip #2: Saint-Malo and Mont Saint Michel

This past weekend I went on a day trip for international students at my University.

We boarded the buses very early in the morning, and before long we were walking on the ramparts of the fortified city of Saint-Malo. It is a port town on the English Channel, and it completely surrounded by ramparts. We circled the entire town and had beautiful views of blue sky, water, and landscape. It was truly picture perfect. I also tasted a delicious Kouign-aman, a type of cake that is a specialty of the region, made mostly out of sugar and butter. Before leaving, we walked down to the beach. Even though it was cold, it was sunny and wonderful. And compared to the mid-western United States in February, it was tropical. There were even palm trees and flowers in full bloom despite the chilly temperatures. I have to admit that while I had been looking forward mostly to Mont Saint Michel, the morning in Saint-Malo was the highlight of my day. I especially enjoyed that we had almost the entire town almost to ourselves, since it attracts mostly summer visitors.

Mont Saint Michel was even more incredible than I had imagined. After having read about it in my trusty Rick Steve's France, I could not wait to see the medieval abbey and tiny village. (photo on right: Mont Saint Michel from the outside)

When our group arrived, we were exhausted, but we eagerly entered the walls of the village - only to find that we had to climb several hundred stairs to enter the Abbey. It was well worth the wait and the climb, because the Abbey itself was beautiful and the views from the top were
breathtaking. (see photo to left.) We spent a few hours wandering through the Abbey's many beautiful rooms before climbing back down the stairs past several hundred tacky souvenir shops (yet another reason why I enjoy living Angers: it is not very touristy!), boarding the buses, and promptly falling asleep.





Life in Angers

While I love traveling and seeing other towns in France, I am also settling in quite nicely to daily life in Angers. For example, Friday afternoon I went to the cutest little place and got hot chocolate with a friend before coming home and going shopping with my host mom and sister, eating dinner with the family, and giving my two high-school aged host sisters their first English lesson.

On Sunday I went to Mass with some friends in the beautiful Church right down the street from my house, followed by a delicious lunch with my host family. I then spent the afternoon ice-skating with my host sister and one of my friends.

I arrived in France exactly three weeks ago today. C'est incroyable! In some ways, it feels like I have been here forever, but I can also tell that the time is going to pass far too quickly between now and June 5, when I return home.

Classes, coffee and crêpes

Today is the end of the first week of classes in Angers. At first it was very overwhelming to choose classes and figure out how the system works, but after trying different classes I moved up to a higher language level and am very happy with what I will be studying this semester.
My classes are:

1. Langue (6 hours a week in language class, but my teacher is energetic, and I think I will learn a lot)
2. Philosophy
3. French-English Translation - this is supposed to be a difficult course, but it is also supposed to do wonders for understanding French language and grammar
4. Phonetics - I am already a little confused by the phonetic alphabet because my brain doesn't seem to work that way, but I think that it is necessary for me to take to improve my pronunciation and accent. Maybe after taking this class, my host mom will understand better what I am trying to say...sometimes, even if I know the word, my poor pronunciation causes issues in communicating.
5. Molière - taught by the Notre Dame professor here in Angers, and we are going to read several of Molière's plays (he's the French equivalent of Shakespeare) and act them out!
6. Familiar French - only 1 hour per week, this class will teach me a slang vocabulary, as in the way that families communicate with each other and the way young people speak. This will especially help me understand French TV shows and movies, and also understand what my host sisters are saying (they are 15 and 18, so they speak "young" French)

As is apparent from the title of this entry, besides figuring out classes I am falling in love with French coffee and quickly developing a severe caffeine addiction. Also, I had crêpes for the first time last weekend. Actually, the first two times. I went to a crêperie with friends on Sunday (see picture above: crêpes and coffee after Sunday Mass at a beautiful old Church), and then on Sunday night my host family made them for dessert. They were even better than I could have imagined!!!

Tonight I am taking a train to Paris, where I will see the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night sky. I cannot wait! I'm staying in a hostel in Paris tonight with three other Notre Dame girls, but tomorrow morning I am going to leave for Lisieux, a little town near Normandy. It's supposed to be gourgeous, and it's best known as the home town of Saint Therese de Lisieux. There will be a charming Saturday market (as in every French city) among other things. Saturday night I will return to Angers. It should be the perfect first little trip outside of Angers!

Speaking of trips, I am officially booked to travel to Rome for Easter weekend, the highlight of which will be Easter Mass with the Pope. WOW! We're also in the midst of planning other trips this semester. I'm 99% sure that my two-week spring break will consist of one week in Italy and one in Spain.

Bon weekend!

French culture 101

Here are some things I've learned about French culture during my first week:

1. The French always clean their plates at meals. If there is even a little bit of food or sauce left, they use a baguette to wipe it off. It's amazing that they don't waste food, and my family then doesn't even rinse their plates before putting them in the dishwasher!
2. French dogs are very well behaved. They wait outside stores for their owners even without leashes.
3. French children are also very well behaved. There seem to be families with young children all over the place, but yesterday I was walking around town and saw a little boy crying. It struck me as very odd that he was crying, but then I wondered why and realized that it was the first time I have seen a child make any kind of scene or disruption in public for the entire week that I've been here!
   
4. Dinner here is usually served at 8 or 8:30 p.m. I'll have to get used to having afternoon snacks to tide myself over. The first few days, I thought that everyone here was just used to that and could go from lunchtime until 8 p.m. without snacking. But a few nights ago at dinner, my host sister asked me what I ate that afternoon. I was confused because I had just told them about the delicious lunch I had, but then she said at 4 p.m. It turns out most people snack at that time. I guess the French aren't superhuman after all - our stomachs can't go 8.5 hours without any food!
5. Apparently French people do not concern themselves with the private lives of politicians and celebrities. Today I was at a friend's house and we were having coffee with her host dad and talking about cultural differences - he seems to do a lot of international business deals, so he understands many different cultures. He said that for the French, there is no scandal over people's private lives. We mentioned Tiger Woods, and he just said that he's still a golfer and so it would not be a scandal at all in France. Later we were watching rugby and he told us one of the players is gay, but that the French are very tolerant. The mayor of Paris is even gay! (but do not be mistaken that I am talking about the stereotype of the "typical" Frenchman as gay...I have also realized that is not true at all)
6. Speaking of being gay and relationships, it was also explained to me that French people are very clear about relationships. Apparently my friend Katrina's family had an American girl stay with them a while back who started kind of dating a French boy, but she decided to end the relationship without really telling him. In France, I guess people are more upfront- they are either dating or not. And they say what they are actually thinking, instead of playing mind games like Americans do in relationships. This seems strange to us, because it means that French men are very forward - if they like you and think you're pretty, they just tell you - but there is a lot less confusion!
7. Just like in the U.S., there are different accents for different regions. Also just like in the U.S., French people who live in the South have the most noticeably different accent.
8. Although France is a "Catholic country" - 4 out of 5 are Catholic - very few attend Sunday Mass. Today at Mass it was full, but more than half the people were elderly. And the Church was freezing cold because it's old and not really heated. People don't take off their coats and scarves during Mass.
   
9. French people really are very skinny. I haven't seen any overweight people at all except a few elderly women. My host mom even pointed out to me that television commercials that have to display message from the French government across the screen, which, translated, means something like "Snacking between meals is bad for your health." It seemed a lot like an American surgeon general's warning, but for snack foods.
   
10. They love American music and television. The other day I talked to my host sister, Laureline about "Gossip Girl," as well as all the other shows that they have.
    

There are plenty of other things to say about French culture, but 10 is enough for now.

Tomorrow I begin classes, so I will hopefully finally get into a routine and figure out what the next four months will be like on a daily basis.

Au revoir mes amis!

Bienvenue à Angers!

I have been in France for 4 days already, and I could not be happier! I decided to start a blog to share the things that I have done and learned so far, because there is so much that I want to remember.

Warning: the menu buttons on my blog will probably appear in French to you, since I started it here in France! I can technically change it to English if that bothers anyone, but I think it actually makes it pretty neat and authentic. Of course, I will write my posts in English.

I arrived in Angers Monday afternoon, and my host dad picked me up at the train station. My immediate impression of the town was its beauty! All the houses are so old, and it almost seemed like I was stepping back in time.

First impressions:

• I love my host family. They have 4 kids, but the two boys are older and away at college. My host sisters are in high school and they are really fun. They live in a beautiful house very close to my university and also to centre ville, where all the shops and restaurants are. While the Notre Dame program only requires the host families to serve us dinner once a week, my family is very welcoming and since my host mom is used to cooking for a big family she said that I am welcome to eat with them any night of the week - it's usually just my host mom and the two girls for dinner.
• French food is everything I dreamed it would be and more. Whether it's bread, cheese, or coffee, the French seem to know how to make it extremely delicious.
  
• The negative stereotypes that Americans tend to have about the French are not true at all. For example, they are actually so friendly and helpful, even when they learn that we are American.
  
• My ability to communicate in French has already improved, but some things are more difficult than I imagined. For example, I wish that I would have reviewed some basic vocab words about everyday life before I traveled over here.
• I am living in a city with a castle! It's from the 12th century, so it's more of a fortress than a castle, but it it still amazing. We went inside it yesterday and from the top of the towers there are amazing views of the entire city.
  

A few funny anecdotes from the first few days:

• Last night at dinner, my host sisters turned on some music, and it was all American. They played Mika, Lady Gaga, The Jackson Five, and the Black Eyed Peas to name a few. The girls can sing along to the songs, but they don't know what most of the lyrics mean, so they asked me what "meet me halfway" (The Blackeyed peas song) means. I tried to explain it when I realized that it's an idiom and there is no French equivalent that I know of.
  
• Everything here is so ancient. My house (pictured above) is more than 100 years old, as are the vast majority of houses in the middle of Angers. And I learned that when they dug up a parking garage downtown, they found bones from the 2nd century. These are the kinds of things that just don't exist in the United States.
• I need to improve my French pronunciation. The word "muffin" exists in French, and it means the same thing. Yesterday, my host sister made a dessert that made in muffin pans. As they were explaining to me what it was, I tried to ask if it was like a muffin, and to make it sound French I guessed that it would be pronounced "moo-fan." That was wrong, and my host sisters proceeded to giggle for a whole minute. Opps! But I know that I'll learn more by making mistakes rather than staying quiet and not speaking at all.

On Monday I will find out what level of French I tested into, and classes will start. Until then, my first weekend will include a visit to the Saturday morning market, pizza (yes, they have pizza in France!) at my professor's house with our Notre Dame group, and Sunday mass at one of the beautiful old churches in Angers (there are many to choose from).