Black Friday à la française

Les Soldes
In France, unlike in the US, stores don't have regular sales throughout the year, helter skelter. Pfffff. Non non. Here, the sales are regulated by the government and happen twice a year, nationwide. For a few weeks in January and, evidemment, in June.

Navigating through the hords of people today, anxious to take advantage of the deals, 20, 30, 40 or even 50% off, before everything has been thorougly picked through, I was reminded of a much hotter version of our own nationwide sale tradition, full of bargains, but sometimes deadly, Black Friday. For any non-Americans reading this, this is a huge, huge sale the day after Thanksgiving (hello Christmas shopping). People have even been trampled to death attempting to nab the last Tickle-Me-Elmo on the Wal-Mart shelf. It's the real reason we stuff ourselves on Thanksgiving: so that on Black Friday, we don't have to stop for food.

Though I'm still on the hunt for something one-of-a-kind from a Parisian boutique, which I can now (sort 0f) afford, I did manage to survive the heat of the zoo-like Zara at Chatelet to emerge triumphantly with two new items in my wardrobe. Siesta time!

PS: Les Soldes means sale in French, and if something is "on sale" it's solde with an accent on the e.

La Fete de la Musique/La Coupe du Monde

the Parisian masses in front of Notre Dame

Random psuedo-marching band on a side street in the Latin Quarter.

La Coupe du Monde, aka the World Cup (soccer), screening in front of, duh, la Tour Eiffel.

So a little culture today:

Part I

La Fete de la Musique is an annual, nationwide celebration of music which started in 1982. It happens in other places around the world too, but it is definitely a huge affair in France. Amateur and professional bands and singers perform all over in different venues as well as just right in the street. Several metro lines even stay open 24 hours (they usually close at midnight on weekdays). A bunch of us walked around to experience the madness--music on every street corner and Parisians and tourists flooding the streets. A unique way to spend the first day of summer!

Part II of this post must be dedicated to Europe's (mulit)national pastime: football, or as we have strangely dubbed it, soccer. Now in the midst of the World Cup, depsite the fact that I, like many Americans, couldn't care less about this sport, also cannot avoid it in a country consumed by the action. Unfortunately for les Francais however, les Bleus (the French team) hasn't played well for a few years now, and to really turn the knife, the US is actually playing really well, qualifying on Wednesday night in a 1-0 match against Algeria! Qualifying for what exactly, don't ask me--like I said, I couldn't care less. Nonetheless, it's hard to avoid the general excitement, so GO USA!!

Into the Mind of Van Gogh

Our adventures in Arles were mostly focused on one man: Van Gogh (or as the French call him, "Van Gog"). The only thing we didn't see was his severed ear...

In 1888, he moved to Arles where he stayed for about a year, painted many of his most famous works, and entered a hospital there. In 1889, he was transfered to the location pictured below, the St Paul Monastery and Asylum in St Remy (about 45 min from Arles) which is still functioning today. They section off a specific portion for Van Gogh enthusiasts such as ourselves.

We had a delightful time during our 3 days in Arles, which is a very charming and easily walkable city, though we had trouble finding some good food, besides our delectible lunch at the amazing market and our favorite ice cream place, Soleileis, recommended by our pal Rick of course. Our hotel room was even quite spacious with enough beds for a family of 5 and a million-dollar view overlooking the red-orange rooftops of the old city (refer to my facebook album for visuals). We also finally saw some lavender as well as this beautiful field of red poppies, both of which are ubiquitous in Provence. Also ubiquitous: les moustiques, aka mosquitos! If in Provence in the summer, don't forget some spray!

Avignon: Pope-ing it up

Joy in our favorite restaurant in Avignon, Le Petit Bedon--our best meal of the whole trip was our first one! If you're ever in Avignon, go there. You won't be disappointed. It's just the type of place you hope to find in Provence--intimate, affordable, and delicious local dishes and wines--plus, no super weird stuff! haha.
We were actually looking for a Rick Steves recommendation when we stumbled upon this instead, on a quiet side street. We had the resto to ourselves for lunch and for the best meal I've ever had, I paid 15 euros, plus an extra tip (generally you don't tip in Europe cause it's already included, but if you have really good food/service, you leave a little something). The waiter was really nice and the chef brought out our meals himself! We shared a demi-bouteille (half bottle) of some amazing rose wine from the area and we both got one of the plats du jour--salmon for Joy and (what I later found out was) guinea fowl for me (some sort of bird) with cherries and a risotto of a local grain mixed with spices on the side, complete with a roasted garlic clove (sooooo delicious). I can still taste it. I even went back there on my last night (went back to Avignon at the end b/c it's the easiest place to connect with Paris). Joy would have come too, but she got sick and went home a day early :(

View of the Pope's Palace across the Rhone. This is Avignon's main claim to fame--in the 1300-1400s, the Popes moved from Rome to Avignon, which was actually owned by the Vatican until the French Revolution (1789). On my last day I took a bus across the river to climb the Tower of Philippe le Bel (located in Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon, the "French" side, built to control access to France) for this lovely view.

Our arrival in Provence! Just leaving the Avignon train station, still laden with our backpacks.

Provence with Rick Steves

Travel updates, finally! I just returned from Provence last night and have begun to settle into my home for the next 6 weeks in Paris...but more about that later. First Provence! So naturally, Joy and I relied on our friend Rick to take us through the magical region of Provence, and he did not fail--and he's always good for making instant friends when traveling through Europe. You always see other Americans toting his blue-and-yellow guide books, trucking to the same restaurants and through the same self-guided tours. Whenever you have the chance to come to Europe, trust me, he's your guy (and your guide).

With his help, we made it to 10 cities in 9 days, despite periodic rainfall. Basically, we went everywhere you can go without a car. I'll write about each place in more detail, but in general, Provence is full of Roman ruins (which we definitely got our fill of by day 3), rows and rows of vineyards, colorful shutters, great markets, and amazingly nice people.

I loved every city, but especially liked Avignon and Arles, the views from the hilltop village of Les Baux, and the St Paul Monastary and Asylum where Van Gogh spent about a year.

It was a really great trip, but extremely exhausting, and despite the cloudy, cool weather in Paris, I'm glad to be back "home." I still have my tan, bug bites, strawberry-vanilla jam, and thousands of pics to enjoy!

A Paris, enfin

So I finally made it to Paris, which was a miracle since my Reno-Denver flight was going to be 2 hours late, causing me to miss my connecting flights and I had to be re-routed. Twice. Plus, to make things more difficult, British Airways decided to be on strike. Merci beaucoup. But I made it, only a couple of hours later than originally planned, after more than 20 hours of traveling!
Today I met Joy in my beloved Place des Vosges, we bought our Provence train tickets, and wandered around my old neighborhood. I showed her where I lived in 2007 and we went to my boulangerie where I got a pistachio eclair, which, case you were wondering, was absolutely delicieux! I also got a French phone and we dragged my heavy suitcase down 6 flights (well 7 since floors are numbered differently in France--the first floor in France is the second floor in the US) and hauled it over to her room for storage till we get back from Provence. This is also where I will be staying for the summer, so I got to check it out a little. Similar to our accent housing (for my study abroad friends), minus the kitchette and ensuite bathroom--we share those amentities. But it'll definitely do for half the cost of any apartment here!

After only 2 nights here, tomorrow morning I am off to 9 days in Provence with Joy! We are soooo excited, but you all will have to wait to hear about it :D If you gave me address, you might have a postcard coming your way though!

Ok, that was short and sweet, I'm off to meet my friend Eglantine who I am staying with until tomorrow morning. I'll update again asap!

xoxo

En Direction de Paris

Bonjour tout le monde!

Tomorrow I'm jetting off to la belle France where I'll be spending most of the next year, first in Paris to finish my masters degree and then in Lyon as an English teaching assistant (I know, my life is tough). I figured that with this exciting (and scary) year ahead of me, the time had come for me to finally join the blogosphere to share my experiences and maybe even prove that I did more in New York than wander through Central Park, eat and go to Broadway shows. Well ok, that's practically all I did...

Anyway, hopefully I'll make you all jealous enough to come visit me! Time to start saving for a plane ticket!

So, after my 17 hour flight (trust me, you'll want to skip this part), join me on my aventure francaise, as I eat my way through every patisserie in the country, travel to new places and return to old favorites and live life a la francaise.

I might be MIA for the first couple of weeks while I traipse through the Roman ruins, lavender and sun-drenched hills of Provence before classes start, but I'll do my best to update regularly after that. Even if I fail on the blogging, there will still be my facebook photo albums to provide you with visuals and historical tidbits!

A bientot!