Castles and Cooking

The idea of travelling 9 out of the next 10 weekends was a little daunting, but considering I have only 13 weeks left and about 27 different cities I want to see, being busy is my main goal. I have made it through one of these weekends, and although getting up for class on Monday was a little rough, it is something I am going to have to get used to. As a program this past weekend all of us Illini toured the Loire Valley, visiting three chateaus and one adorable city in all. We reported to our coach bus at 7:45 this past Saturday so as to get to Chateau Blois by about 10. Although this was my least favorite castle of the weekend, it was a good "starter" castle - wouldn't want to visit the best first anyways. This castle was built at three different times, meaning that there are three different and distinct styles of this castle (Gothique, Renaissance, and Classicisme). The most memorable aspect of this castle though was definitely the massive and ornate staircase on the outside of the building. If I heard Dr. Costello correctly (considering it was in french), it was so that common folk could see the royals walking around and such. This wasn't your stereotypical princess castle, but it was still a great use of a Saturday morning.

After about 2 hours of exploring, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Chateau Amboise. We followed the river, La Loire, and saw other castles from the bus along the way, and eventually arrived at our next castle. By this time, the sun was coming out, and it was turning into a gorgeous day. Chateau Amboise is located in the center of a thriving city, and as we wound our way towards the castle, along with it already being a cute quaint French town, there was confetti covering the cobblestone streets. We don't know what we missed, but it just made the entire experience that much more memorable. We ate lunch in the city center, and then made our way to the chateau. Out of the three castles this weekend, this was my second favorite castle. It was a bit smaller than Chateau Blois, but much more beautifully maintained - the lawns were super green, the beds were planted, and it just had a happier feel to it than Chateau Blois. This is where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried, so we started our tour by seeing his grave (which is in a mini church) and then onto the castle. Chateau Amboise had a lot of tapestries on the walls, and intricate wood work. At the end of the tour, we ended up on the top of one of the towers with a great view of La Loire, the gardens, and the surrounding town.

We spent the night in Tours, a very "college" town for French standards. Once we were done with all of the tours for the day a bunch of us grabbed a beer in this large plaza that was completely buzzing with people our age. It was completely packed and alive, complete with bachelor and bachelorette parties. The following morning we departed Tours to visit Chateau Chenonceau. This was everyone's favorite castle of the weekend by far, and is perhaps the most well known when people think of the Loire Valley. Even though it was not originally built as a castle for a king (unlike the two before) it was just as gorgeous, elaborate, and orante. The most interesting aspect of it is that it is built directly above the river connecting the two sides (this ended up playing a vital role for the survival of several people during WWII). The entire grounds were very peaceful, and with the fog coming off of the water it was almost eerie. Once inside, compared to the other chateaus, this one was truly made to look like it was lived in, including lit fireplaces, pots and pans set out in the kitchen, and flowers everywhere (granted it was Palm Sunday). Along with several gardens on the property, there was also a labrynth and a donkey farm. After some more exploring, we had a group lunch, consisting of about five courses, and followed by a three hour bus ride back home.

 To cap off a great weekend, I went to a cooking class with six other people in my program. Going into it, we had no idea what we were going to make, but it ended up being fantastic. In all, we prepared an avocado, kiwi and sun dried tomato salad covered in lemon juice, honey, and salt and peper, followed by a leek, bacon, and gruyere cheese quiche, and finally chocolate mousse. I was allowed to measure the sugar, cut the leeks, and butter the quiche pan, and managed to screw none of it up. The entire thing was in french, and the woman taught us in her own apartment. Thankfully she gave us copies of the recipes in English so hopefully I will be able to recreate this masterpiece for my family when I get back to the states.

Heading to Grenoble this weekend, and Barcelona the first weekend in April - time is truly flying.

S/O to my sister, KL - Happy 26th Birthday!! So sad I can't be there to celebrate, but I can't wait to see you in 5 short weeks :)

One Month In

Can I start by complaining about how differently French people eat meals? Although this is a rather small annoyance, it is something that me and my friends have decided is an instant give away that we are American. For the most part, they are very very graceful eaters, but they also have their quirks. For instance; why would you eat the bun and patty of a hamburger, and then eat the other half of the bun with the lettuce and tomato? Wouldn't it be more delicious to eat it all together..at the same time? Apparently not.

So, I have officially passed the one month mark as of a few days ago here, and the things like eating habits and where to stand on the metro are becoming routine things (thank goodness). Ever since Dublin, nothing too riveting has happened - went to the Lumineers concert, took a shot that was on fire, and tried to find meaning in Dali - just the usual life in Paris.

The Lumineers were hands down the best live concert I have experienced. Between the fact that I was in Paris, knew every word to every song, and the concert hall had the "chillest" vibe ever, it made for a good night. I was surprised how many more songs than just "Ho Hey" most of the audience knew - and listening to the entire crowd sing Dead Sea with a french accent was rather amusing. They played almost their entire album and even covered a little Dylan. For their encore they brought chairs to the middle of the audience, all of 4 feet from me, and played a new song off of their next album. It was completely acoustic, no microphones even, and it was a great way to end it all.

As for the shot, don't worry Mom and Dad it was supervised, and it was one of those once in a life time things that I wasn't allowed to say no to without regretting in twenty years.

In regards to interpreting art, I also visited the Centre Pompidou this week. This museum is quite a lot to take in. The Louvre is Realism, Musee d'Orsay is Impressionism, and the Centre Pompidou is just all over the walls. I'm not the best at interpreting what hanging panty hose really means, so it was an interesting visit. Also, considering I see the Haussmann architecture style (which is quintessentially Parisien) every single day as I make my way through the city, it was nice to see something so modern and unlike the gorgeous cathedrals and cafes that line every other street - even if I didn't quite understand it. All I could think was, "I'm in Paris, surrounded by work that looks like it was made by Aleksandr Petrovsky - that must make me Carrie! Now where's Big?" Alright, maybe not quite that, but close enough.

Apart from the exorbitant prices, I am loving living in this great city, but I can't believe how quickly it is flying by. Weekends are filling up with adventures to other countries, and days are packed with taste testing macaroons and pain au chocolats, or just even people watching. It's weird knowing I'll be back in the states in just three short months (at least finally eating Chipotle) and no longer have 24-hour access to crêpes and gaufres - 'spose it's time I learn how to cook.

Until next time -

Illinois Invades Ireland

This past weekend, in true Illini spirit, hoards of proud U of I students took over the streets of Dublin. To start everything off, it was a 4am wake up call last friday. We needed to catch a bus to take us to the airport at 6, and considering the metro doesn't open until 5:30 this proved to be a bit of a hassle. I scarfed down an espresso and a pre-packaged, yet delicious, panne au chocolat, and ran out the door to fetch a taxi.

After a long, yet smooth running, morning, we hopped off our ryanair flight, wound our way into the city, and ate the most "traditional" Irish food we could think of - fish n' chips and Guinness. Granted I'm not a fan of Guinness I opted for a Smithwicks (much more enjoyable, but don't worry I did indeed try a Guinness while in Ireland). Not being a huge lover of seafood crossed my mind as I ordered this deep fried meal, but it was delicious! Blame the fatigue, hunger, or even peer pressure, but I loved it.

After checking into our hostel and doing some exploring we found The Temple Bar, listened to some live music and enjoyed the rest of our Unofficial. Saturday morning we walked around Dublin center a bit, getting to see Trinity College and other landmarks before we took a bus that dropped us off in the Wickelow Mountains. It's located about an hour and fifteen minutes outside of the city. We hopped off the bus and trekked through a gorgeous cemetery, church/cathedral, monastery, past a couple lakes, and even to a waterfall. For being the beginning of March I was surprised how green everything was - but then I thought to myself, "You're in Ireland...duh." It's technically a National Park, but it doesn't even compare to any other national/state parks I've ever been to (don't get me wrong Door County lovers, Peninsula State Park is really great, but the only history I know about that place is that my dad and aunts camped there in the 60s..) The lakes were so serene where the mountains converged, and with the low hanging clouds and fog, but still bright sun, it was inspiring. And of course we saw some sheep grazing in a green pasture on our walk towards the lakes (how irish!) 

It was an exhausting day, but we got back to Dublin in time to meet up with some other U of I students and go to (supposedly) the bar from PS I Love You - Flannery's. Having never seen the movie, I'm going to take everyone's word for it. What I will say about the bars, or pubs rather, we experienced was that they are exactly what you would picture an Irish pub would be in all of the best ways - good people, good (live) music, and good beer. 

When Sunday rolled around we decided to get a hearty Irish breakfast, do some shopping, and catch a flight back to good ole Paris. It was a long weekend, but it was nice to hear english for a change and not have to mentally translate everything for 12 hours straight. I can't believe I've already been here for three and a half weeks, time is flying. 

Until next time - 

P.S. - As you read this post, I ask you that you put this song on in the background. It has been stuck in my head since arriving in Dublin, and I feel that it is only fitting if you listen to it as you read about my adventures :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFlfSeh-Ts8