Barcelona!

Where is Rachel Feldman?

I have been kind of off the face of the earth for the past week and a half with my lack of blog posts. I've been quite busy after Marseille, with two midterms for my school here and two for my online classes, as well as a recent trip to Barcelona!!!

My school is currently on break, so I met up with Jake (friend from Philly who is studying in Amsterdam) in Paris to then fly Ryanair (always a fun experience...) to Barcelona! I'll give more updates later, but here is the basics on Barcelona:

1. It's Spain but isn't Spain...it's the capital of Cataluyna, a region in Spain, which has its own language called Catalan. Catalan looks a lot like Spanish and French's baby, with a few twists of its own. Cataluyna wants to be independent from Spain, and there were Catalan flags displayed everywhere.

2. Cheese tacos, as the menu claimed, are not cheese tacos. It is a plate of cheese with some olives.

3. Churros are absolutely delicious, but they put you in a food coma for a long time after eating them.

4. Montserrat is this huge mountain that is about an hour by train from Barcelona, and it offers some of the best possible views of the city. We hiked all the way to the highest point we could physically go to, and then ended up coming back so late we got stranded on the mountain and had to take a taxi to the train station, instead of a cable car. But it was so worth it!

I'm on top of the world!

5. Barcelona has one of the coolest churches in the world. It was built in the early 1900's by Gaudi, a famous Catalan architect. We waited about an hour to get in but it was so worth it. Pictures don't even do it justice! 

We having been touring around Paris for the past few days, I've taken Jake to the Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur, as well as the Latin Quarter and Montmarte. Today, we are off the the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triomphe! Tomorrow, we leave for Amsterdam! So this will be my last post for at least a week and a half, sorry blog world. 

Bonne Journee!

Feldy

Marseille!

This past weekend, I brought out my nautical side and went down to Marseille, a large city by the sea in the south of France.

Everyone back home in the States when I tell them says "oh my goodness, that sounds awesome, it must be so pretty there, I can't believe you get to go there!".

All of my European friends I have told about going there say "why are you going there its the most dangerous city in all of France".

CONCLUSION: It was a mix of both.

The inner harbor of Marseille is very pretty, lots of old buildings, hotels, restaurants, boats, churches, etc. We went on a boat tour which took us past a few islands and around the mountains/cliffs that are by the water, and they are gorgeous. Here are some pictures for proof:

I'm on a boat! (no, the Lonely Island and T-Pain weren't there :( ) 

Afterwards, we had a nice lunch at a restaurant in the harbor and visited "Palais Longchamps", which is an old mini palace in the area (I hoped I'd find some Longchamp bags there- no luck).

However, Marseille did turn a bit dangerous at night- it sort of seemed like the town was once really great, but over the years had gotten a bit run down. So, we decided it was probably better being three girls who don't know the area to just return to the hostel. It was a really cozy hostel, with lots of people staying there and a nice lobby/bar to hang out in, so we just hung out there for a few hours. 

In the morning we decided to get up early, grab breakfast in the lobby (another wonderful aspect to our hotel) and then attempt to go up to "Notre Dame de la Gare": a really on church on top of a HUGE hill that overlooks the city.

PLAN: take the metro to a bus stop, take the bus up the hill, take some pictures, come back down. Total of 20 minute trip.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: A bit concerned about time because we had a plane to catch at noon and it was already 9:15. Long line for metro tickets. Okay, we decided to walk to the bus stop. Bus doesn't come for another 20 minutes. Pointless to wait for it, so we walk up the hill to the church.

I wanted to fall over and collapse halfway through our hike up, but thankfully I did not give up because the views were SPECTACULAR! 

Church at the top of the hill

Just a few pictures of the amazing view!

 Thankfully, we found a bus back down, and made it to the airport early enough to not miss our flight home. All in all a successful trip!

Next weekend: Off to Barcelona to start my two week break off from classes!!

Bonne Nuit!

Feldy


P.S. I didn't realize comments were disabled on the blog unless you had created a Google account, so I finally fixed it and if you want to leave comments feel free to :)

It's Always Rainy in Paris

This is my weather forecast for the next week. Note the consistent "rain" "showers" and "drizzle".

Today, I would have described the weather as spitting. It was basically like constant rain/mist, with an umbrella not helping very much. 

However, Paris is still really pretty in the rain. So here are a bunch of pictures of Paris looking all nice in the rain. 

On the top of the Centre Pompidou overlooking Paris, in between rain showers 

In front of the Centre Pompidou 

The rain does not keep us from sightseeing! 

Mopeds in the rain 

Paris keeps moving 

At night, by the Seine, in the rain! 

Place de Concorde 

Les Halles 

The Seine is a bit flooded 

As the American rapper Waka Flocka Flame said, "Rain rain go away that's what all my haters say". Because only haters let rain keep them from sightseeing in Paris. It doesn't stop us!

Bonne Soiree!
Feldy

Je t'aime Paris

Je t'aime Paris. (I love you, Paris).

Well, its a good thing I love Paris since I am living here for about 2 and a half more months (WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?? IT NEEDS TO STOP!)

I have been wondering how do I compare Paris to Philadelphia? What is it about Paris that I really, truly love?

In Philly I love the people, the sports teams, how the city is on a grid system that makes it easy to say "meet me on the corner of 33rd and Market" and it is easy to find (In Paris, there are no numbered streets). So how could I possible fall in love with another city, when I already fell in love with the one I was born and raised in?

It was pretty easy. Comparing Paris and Philadelphia is like comparing apples to oranges. They are just not the same, and so I love both of them differently. But I couldn't really put my finger on the reason why I liked Paris so much. This past weekend and week, however, I figured it out.

Over the weekend, a few friends and I took a three hour bus trip to Lille. It is a small city about 3 hours northwest of Paris, close to the border between France and Belgium. It is a beautiful city, with great bars and a large park that we were able to wander around during the day Saturday.

Center of Lille

Park, on a beautiful fall day!

"Le Flammekuche": a flatbread with yogurt and other toppings that is native to Lille

Lille was good for the weekend, but at the end of the trip all I wanted to do was get back to Paris. I missed the Paris metro, how big Paris is, and how I never feel like I could see all of it one trip (definitely not just a weekend, like Lille was). 

The on Tuesday, I wandered over to "Le Marais", which is an area with lots of small streets lined with high end and vintage fashion stores, mixed with cafes and restaurants. Le Marais and the Quartier Latin, similar to Le Marais with smaller streets and more restaurants, I have determined are my two favorite places in Paris, and I am planning on returning multiple times during my stay.

Not the best picture of Le Marais, it was much prettier than this! 

On Wednesday it was cold and rainy, so we decided it was the perfect day to go sightseeing of course. It really is true: Paris is beautiful in the rain. Parisians break out their umbrellas, and everything keeps moving, and the apartments and old buildings still look gorgeous even in the rain! We broke out my good old Tour Book, and went on a "literary walk" around Paris, around and next to the Latin Quarter where great authors like Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Jack Keroauc, etc. lived and visited.  

Shakespeare and Company, one of the oldest and most famous English bookstores in the world. Downstairs, you can buy all kinds of genres, but upstairs is a library where you can read the older books the store keeps! 

Marking Ernest Hemingway's apartment! 

Paris in the rain, its just so beautiful! 

I love Paris because every arrondissement (sections in Paris) is completely different from the other, but in the end they all come together to make Paris both a bustling and homely city at the same time. I love the stores and cafes that line the streets. I love the little alleyways that you are never really sure if cars are able to drive down them (they usually can). I love how when it rains, at the restaurants all the patrons sit facing the street so they can still socialize with each other and watch Paris still bustling in the rain (its a phenomenon- this happened at every restaurant!). 

Study abroad is going WAY to fast- its scary! Everyone keeps asking me about other travel plans, and yes they are in the works, but I love Paris so much that on the weekends its often nice just to travel and explore my own city. 

And again, I am lating this post late at night, so Bonne Nuit for now! 

Feldy 

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