Q & A

To mix up my blog posts a little bit, I am going to do a bit of Q&A. Here are the most common questions I get asked by people back home!

Q: How is the food, and what do you eat the most?

A: The food is wonderful. Expensive if you want to eat at a cafe or a brasserie, which are the little street restaurants. Usually, I just buy some food at the little supermarket nearby, and just make dinner at home or bring a picnic to a park. Dinner usually consists of pasta, because it is the easiest and fastest to make. However, lunch is typically a baguette with different cheeses. I absolutely LOVE all the cheese that is sold in France. I want to bring it all back home with me.

A great afternoon snack is usually a crepe from a stand somewhere, usually a sugar crepe. Every now and then, I get a salty crepe with fromage (cheese) and sometimes an egg or chicken. It reminds me a bit like a quesadilla!

One of the most common places we eat at: McDonalds. Its cheap and they have coffee and pastries. I have eaten at McDonalds more in the past month that I have been here than in the past year at home (take that, American stereotypes. Europeans love McDonalds!)

Q: How is your French?

A: Nope, I am not a native French speaker, nor do I think I will be by the time I leave. My main problem is my American accent: Philadelphian's don't have super strong regional accents, but I sure do have an American accent. The biggest difference is on "r": we have a much more defined "r" in our words, whereas French is much more from the throat. So almost immediately, on words like "Bonjour" and "crepe", people can tell French is not my native language. In the past few weeks I have been here, I have noticed my pronunciation has improved a little bit. Hopefully by the end, I will at least be able to speak French without too strong of an accent!

Conversation wise, I speak English to all my European friends, since that is the language we are all the most fluent is. I speak English in my classes, because they are conducted in English. I use French mainly at the grocery store and when I buy food at a cafe. So, most of my French has revolved around "Un sac, s'il vous plaites" (grocery bag, please) and answering "sur place ou emporter?" (for here or to go?) Mainly convenience phrases. But I am hoping having a French class taught by a French person will actually help, as well as listening to French radio (found a train website that plays it) and trying to have a conversation with cashiers and cafe workers.

Q: What are your classes like?

A: There are two main differences between classes here: 1- How they are graded and 2- Times of classes. At Drexel, our classes tend to be spread out through the week, with an hour every other day or something like that. Here, it is all three hours at once, and once a week. That was rough getting used to, because I was not used to long classes! I also have a Friday evening class at 4-7, which I would NEVER take at Drexel normally.

Grading here is also confusing, because there really aren't any syllabus in the beginning of the term telling you exactly what you will be graded on. For example, in my one class, I have absolutely no idea what we are graded on and if we even have an exam. I guess I will be surprised at the end. The other classes are a bit wishy-washy, with teachers changing their minds every other week. In one class, my teacher changes every other week so thats even more confusing.

But overall, I really enjoy my classes here. I feel like I am truly learning International Business if anything, and especially how Europeans view American businesses (the view is generally positive). My French Civilization class feels like it is meant for high schoolers, but it is interesting learning about French culture (first class we talked about certain French stereotypes).

Q: What is your apartment like?

A: I wish I could say I lived in a studio apartment in the middle of Paris with nice Parisian windows. I wish. My apartment is nice enough, just the right size for once person, with a bedroom bathroom and mini kitchen. I have plenty of space but it is very blah. Not much color, and no Parisian windows. The view is not too bad, I can see some of the buildings of La Defense in the background behind all the apartment buildings, and I have a view of a park and the street. So, I can't complain! I have a bit more room here then I had in the sorority house back home :) I also live in the same apartment building with a lot of other Erasmus students, so we all are able to hang out together pretty easily.

Since that's a really long blog post, I will end it for now, but I will do another Q&A in a few weeks! Send me some more questions that you want answered in the blog :) For now, back to class! 3 hour afternoon of Operations Management, woohoo...

Bonne Journee!
Feldy

Last Days of Summer in Paris

When most people think of touristy sites in Paris, they think of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, strolling along the Seine, etc.

Most people don't think of graveyards. But on Wednesday, Claudia and I headed over to one of the biggest graveyards of Europe, "home" to more than a million inhabitants: Pere Lachaise

A bit creepy...

Pere Lachaise has many famous people buried there, including Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Delacroix, Balzac, etc. The place is HUGE, and even with a map we got lost multiple times. There are a ton of little side rows that aren't on the map, and some that were but didn't have names, so it was very confusing. 

Jim Morrison's grave

They had to put a barricade around Oscar Wilde's...too much graffiti!

Unfortunately, it looks like rainy season in Paris has officially begun, so not too much sightseeing this past week. The temperature has also dropped considerably, it looks like fall is officially here! But last night, La Defense (the area that I live), put on a pretty cool firework and light show! It was probably the only time I will ever see La Defense that crowded. It is not a common tourist area in Paris, but last night it felt like half of Paris was there:

The Grande Arche looking pretty cool 

Plans for the week include more sightseeing and classes, my two Drexel online classes start tomorrow :( Drexel does not make it easy for course credits to transfer over, so I have to take two while I am here. It stinks, but at least they are online and I won't fall too far behind! 

I just attempted to stream the Eagles game with zero luck. I am going to have to start cheering for an European soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it) team! 

Bonne Nuit!

Feldy 

The Great Coffee Hunt

One of my most distinct memories from my last trip in Paris with my mom four years ago was the absolutely delicious coffee I would have every morning for breakfast. It was better than anything I had ever tasted in the US, and it made me anxious to try all sorts of coffees when I came to Paris this second time around.

Coming from frequenting Starbucks an average of twice a day (once in the morning before work, once on my lunchbreak), and enjoying having a Keurig (for when I was trying to save money towards the end of co-op) I wanted a new coffee experience. Where I would be able to get coffee from little shops and cafes on the side street, and stroll around Paris with my not over priced (Starbucks I'm talking to you) coffee and have it be absolutely delicious.

Well, I am not really sure what has happened, but I haven't run into much luck with my coffee. Was it just the hotel coffe that was good last time? Was it possible that the coffee had actually gotten worse than my last visit??

In France it seems, the specialty is Espresso shots. Single espresso shot, double, espresso shot with some milk, espresso shot with sugar. That is fine and all, because it gives me my caffeine dose for the day (or morning), but I want to enjoy my coffee. I want to sit and enjoy a cup of freshly brewed coffee. In my apartment building, I am forced to "enjoy" coffee that I make through a cheap plastic filter. Pre-ground coffee is almost impossible to find here, so I am drinking a generic store brand coffee that says its from Costa Rica. I have also resorted to buying lattes from *gulp*....McCafe. It's cheap and its coffee, at least (I think).

It's doing the trick, keeping me awake and fueling my caffeine addiction, but I was starting to get extremely frustrated with my coffee experience.

And then I found it. Three of us were strolling along the Champs Elysees when we decided we really needed some coffee. We decided to venture off the side streets and came across only really expensive cafes, with cafe au lait (coffee with milk) for about 5 euros (more than Starbucks). Finally, we found a place where we could get cafe creme (coffee with cream) for 4.90 and said okay, we are going here.

So. Worth. It. The coffee was delicious, unlike anything I had ever drank before. I finally proved my theory: Yes! Good coffee exists in Paris! And then we ordered an overpriced sugar crepe to split (6 euros, ah!) which ended up coming in three separate pieces anyway so we basically ended up all paying 2 euros for a normal size crepe. Success!

Krista with her thé, me with my café crème, and the crêpes! 

(Stole this photo from Johanna)

So, I happily found my delicious coffee, however there is no way I will be able to afford that coffee everyday (5 euros is just too much for a coffee!). I am thinking that once every two weeks I will treat myself to a coffee like that one. It will be worth it!

Bonne journée! (Have a good rest of the day!)

Feldy 

Where in Paris is Rachel Feldman?

The answer to that question: everywhere. I haven't been able to update my blog in a week and a half- eek! So I think friends and family back home (mainly my parents) have been wondering: What am I doing with my life in Paris?

The weather has just been so nice the past week and a half that I have been going around Paris, staying out of my apartment as much as I possibly can. I hear that it rains a lot in autumn, and so I am trying to get done all my outdoorsy stuff for now, and then hang inside the museums during the thunderstorms.

Since it has been so long since I have updated my blog, here is a mini collage of photos from my past week and a half (you can click on the photos to see them full size- I know they are small!)

                                

     Day of visiting the Notre Dame and walking along the Seine! And taking tourist pictures in front of the Louvre (I had to, the block was put there for this purpose...I think) 

                                                            

Visited the Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs exhibit! Wish I could've taken home a free handbag as a gift... 

Ice Cream in les Jardins des Tuileries after the exhibit, some of the best ice cream in Paris!  

                                 

Dinner in the Latin Quarter! With my first crème brûlée

 in Paris, and yes it was absolutely delicious 

Quartier Latin at night 

Galeries Lafayette: one of the biggest and most famous department stores in Paris, with great views of the city from the roofdeck. Also one of the most expensive department stores in Paris, so Claudia and I mainly just toured all 7 floors wishing we could buy everything (don't worry Dad, I didn't) 

Day trip to Versailles, touring the palace and relaxing in the gardens (no, we weren't allowed on the gardens with the cool designs). 

                         

Trip to the Pantheon, with a pendulum clock in the middle. The Pantheon is an old building complete with a crypt underneath where a lot of famous French scientists, authors, politicians, etc. are buried. 

Picnic in the rain by the Eiffel Tower at night- it may have been cold, but at least I get a cool picture like this one! 

One of my favorite things about Paris so far has been all of the daytime and evening picnics in the parks. I love Philly, but we really do not have very many places where this is possible. In Paris there is an abundance of great parks to hang out in for hours, especially enjoying this weather (although today, I finally made the investment in an umbrella- its been proven necessary). I also am ironically grateful for all the walking I've been doing- even though the Metro seems to stop everywhere, we still walk plenty. Good way to work off all the crepes and stay in shape!

After three hours of working on this blog post (my internet here is just as bad as dial-up in the early 2000's), I think I can finally say I have caught up on the past week and half, and I promise to everyone back home that my blog posts will at least be a bit more frequent. But I still feel like I have so much more of the city to see, so hopefully I am not in my apartment too much!

Bonne Soiree!

Feldy

P.S. Have to add this in here- Go Phillies! (yes I still care about them even when I am not able to stream them online, and we are going to the playoffs, I am sure of it)

Starting to Feel Like a Parisian

Officially have been in Paris for 2 weeks now! Paris is so huge and there is so much going on, I am extremely glad I have four months here. I still feel a little like I am just on vacation, but it really is starting to feel like home. Living in La Defense, which is a little bit outside of the city, is really nice to come home to at night. It is quieter and there are more apartment buildings, so it feels a bit more "homey" and less of a tourist area then the rest of Paris. I absolutely love it!

Classes (yes, I actually went) have gone well so far, and I have two more classes this week: my French class and my French civilization class. Hopefully I will really begin to pick up French! It is still a bit tough, my American accent is so strong that a lot of times even if I say one word in French (like crepe) they talk back to me in English. But I am determined to actually be able to hold a proper conversation with a French person by the time I leave!

Friday evening, I finally accomplished a main goal of mine: have an evening picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower! A few of us went over at night for a picnic (it was SO cold, definitely not summer anymore) where we had baguettes and some wine.

Picnic in the park in front of the Eiffel Tower

Freezing in front of the Eiffel Tower (yes, that is my cardigan I am using as a scarf- need to invest in one!)

On Saturday, I learned a new French word: "flâneurie". I was flipping through my Lonely Planet guidebook and stumbled on the word. According to my guidebook, "Writer Charles Baudelaire came up with the whimsical word flâneur to describe a 'gentleman stroller of city streets' or a 'detached pedestrian observer of a metropolis'".  Evelyn and I have decided that we are indeed flâneuse (feminine version of flaneur) because are "lady strollers of city streets". Saturday, we went to the Champs-Elysees just to do some light shopping. We ended up strolling all around the Champs-Elysees, through the Jardin des Tuileries (a really large "garden" with almost no flowers, just trees and statues) and eventually ended up at the Louvre museum, with no intention whatsoever of ending up there. We sat there for a bit, and then went over to the Seine to sit there for a little bit. We felt very Parisian!

Some sort of statue in Jardin des Tuileries 

In front of the Louvre! 

Sitting on the Seine

The middle road is "Avenue des Champs-Elysees" and was our walking path!

Later in the evening, Claudia and I came back to the Champs-Elysees where we wandered around for about an hour looking for a cheap place to have dinner (not possible, everything near the Champs-Elysees is expensive) but finally we found a place where we could split a pizza. It was quite delicious! 

Yesterday, I met up with a few other girls from Drexel who go to a different university in Paris than I do. We went to Marche aux Puces, which is Europe's largest flea market. It was cool to walk around and see all of the antique stores, and we enjoyed saying what ridiculous things we would buy to decorate our rooms (like a frog statue and a huge metal shark). It was a bit crowded, but a very Parisian experience, and we enjoyed our first French ice cream there as well. 

Antique Chanel bags!

I am soaking up everything I possibly can about Paris right now and absolutely falling in love with the city. I could go on forever about all of the different things I've seen so far, but I will just keep it (somewhat) short for everyone to read back in the US and I will be updating Feldy Takes France again shortly!

J'espère que vous avez un grand jour! (I hope you have a great day!) 

Feldy