This weekend I spent some time at the Centre Pompidou, or as it is more commonly known around Paris, Beaubourg. Some friends and I went to go see the permanent collections there – most of which were really cool, some of which were just plain bizarre. That’s generally how I feel about modern art but after taking art history classes here I was able to pick out artists that were influenced by earlier impressionists that we have been studying in class, which made it a lot more interesting.
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| Beaubourg |
Sunday I spent the day wandering around a park near my house and then went on “une adventure gourmande” with a friend of mine. Sunday was the first official day of spring, and to celebrate, it was le Jour des Macarons in Paris. Macarons are a French delicacy, but if you haven’t had one before, they are basically like meringue cookies with filling on the inside and come in hundreds of different flavors. They are also bafflingly expensive. However, Pierre Hermé – renowned macaron maker was offering free macarons in honor of the beginning of spring! We were given a list of the flavors to choose from and we got to pick out three free macarons. We were also given a map to all the other stores around the city – I’ll let you guess what we spent the rest of our day doing.
Well, really we stopped after the second store but here are the flavors my friend and I tried:
Rose
Mint
Milk Chocolat, Banana, Passion Fruit, and Ginger
Chocolate
Crème Brûlée
Coffee
Among those we decided against were:
Chocoalte and Foie Gras
Licorice and Violet
Asparagus and Hazelnut Oil
Carrot, Orange and Cinnamon
I guess we weren’t all that adventurous, but something about the combination of chocolate and foie gras just does not sound appetizing in a cookie!
I didn’t end up making it to Chartres this weekend but it was a great weekend in Paris anyway!
Tuesday my classes were cancelled so I went to Reims (pronounced Rhanz) – a little town in the Champagne region of France that houses some of the most well known Champagne caves as well as a beautiful cathedral.
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| Champagne storage in the caves |
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| At the tasting! |
Reims is about a 45 minute train ride from Paris, and is a very cute little town, though to us it seemed relatively deserted. When we arrived we wandered around the town for a little while before grabbing some lunch and then heading to the Mumm champange cave for a tour and tasting! We opted to take the tour in French, which impressed the people there a lot I think! Our tour guide was very friendly and took us around the caves explaining how champagne is made from three different types of grapes (2 red, 1 white) and how it must be stored to ensure that the bottle doesn’t explode after the fermentation process!
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| Me at the Mumm Cave |
At the end of the tour we got to taste both a brut and a rosé champagne and it was interesting to compare the two – not to mention quite tastey! Legally, champagne can only be called that if it is produced in the champagne region of France – otherwise it has to be called sparkling wine – quite the monopoly these guys have.
After the tour, we went to check out the huge cathedral in the city center. Originally, it was the cathedral where all the kings and queens of France were crowned, and is another beautiful example of gothic architecture. Unfortunately, all these cathedrals are starting to look quite similar at this point – I’m just hoping they aren’t on my next art history exam!
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| Reims Cathedral |
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| Me - Tiny in comparison! |
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| Windows in the Cathedral |
The rest of the week has passed quite pleasantly with classes, some homework, and frequent trips to the Luxembourg gardens and banks of the Seine to soak up some sun in between classes!
Tomorrow, I leave for Brussels for the weekend – we’re looking forward to the chocolate museum, eating waffles and moules frites… there seems to be a theme to my time here in Europe!
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| Statue in Reims |
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| Church on the outskirts of Reims |
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