Crazy times...this was my last weekend in Paris proper. Next weekend I'll be in London visiting my cousin Molly, and the weekend after that, a school friend in Madrid. The last weekend I'll be visiting my uncle's family near Alsace, in the east of France. I didn't think I would want to leave France once I was hear, but the opportunities arose to make a few special trips to nearby countries, and I couldn't resist, knowing it will be my only chance in a long while.
So, I did my best to be very Parisien this weekend. Friday evening, Rachel invited me over for dinner since her host family was out of town for the weekend. They had prepared food for her though, so we got to have quite the dinner. We started with spiced pumpkin soup and salad, then had roasted veal and rice with a lemon sauce. After that, a bit of flan nature was enough to finish us off and we just sat around and listened to a Jacques Brel album we found in the stereo.
After dinner, we went to le Caveau de la Huchette, a famous Jazz bar that had a big cave downstairs with a dance floor lined with benches and a few smaller sitting rooms. A quartet of soprano sax, drums, bass, piano was playing some lively tunes, and Rachel dragged me onto the floor to step on her toes as I tried to not embarrass myself next to a trained swing dancer. Andrea and Kallie showed up, and we watched with amusement as Rachel danced with various other fellows, including a 70-something year old who knew some good moves. We finally left and caught the very last metros home.
Saturday I went to the Salon International de l'Agriculture at the Porte de Versailles convention center. This was an 8 day, 8 exposition hall epic display and taste of everything you could and couldn't imagine about food, drink, animals, and farms from all around France, and all over the world. Rachel, Andrea and I spent five and a half hours roaming several halls and sampling assorted cheeses, meats, wines, aperatifs, fresh fruit, strange dried fruits, chocolate, yogurt, and more. They had a milk bar where they served up fresh milk flavored by different syrups like mint, cafe moka, or strawberry. This big display also featured a guy juggling milk bottles in front of a DJ mixing up some sick Moo-beats.
There were easily a hundred live cows and bulls on display, some for milking, some I'm sure will end up producing some amazingly juicy steaks. The shear size of these animals was mind blowing, and it brought to mind some of the things we are learning in our biology class about selective breeding. There were also a bunch of big soft looking sheep, goats and pigs. Another hall had arenas for horse shows, dog shows, and vendors showing off the newest in all the related gear and food.
The food hall had two levels, and both were jam packed with people showing off the best of the best from all around the world. I had a cured duck meat sandwich from Hungary, with sliced cucumber and tomato. I got a handful of wasabi covered peanuts, and nearly died from one overly saturated one that just about exploded my sinuses. I was able to convince Rachel to try one, and the look on her face was priceless. We sampled a watered down fruit beer (no wonder it was only 3.50 for a big bottle), some spicy yet silky red wine, and a wine based aperitif called Diablito. Everyone was so eager to share their treasures, and so proud of what they had. I surprised the girls with a kilo of some crisp delicious apples, because I couldn't live with only a small slice to sample.
After we were thoroughly satiated and exhausted, we returned home to digest what we just experienced. I found a cd of Bach's violin Partitas and Sonatas and we listened to some of my favorite pieces. For dinner, Rachel took me to an awesome organic food store where we picked up ingredients for a hearty beet, avocado, small leaf lettuce and goat cheese salad. I fried up a couple eggs and put them on top of slices of a good dark baguette with thin layers of comte cheese in between and a few slices of salami and cured ham on top. Shredded carrots accompanied, and a small bottle of red helped wash it all down.
After dinner, I went to a small concert at Church of Saint Severin just below the little island that Notre Dame is on. A violin soloist was playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons, accompanied by a string quartet and harpsichordist. I didn't realize how many movements each season was, and it was a struggle to keep from dozing off. I did really enjoy the music, especially the way it resonated in the tall ceilinged church. However, I decided to forgo the last two pieces and return home after Vivaldi to get some sleep. I did, however, have to stop and get a banana and nutella crepe on the way to my metro. So good.
Sunday, Rachel and I met up at a small bike shop that rents bikes and we soon found ourselves riding along the Seine river under a semi sunny, mid 50s day. It was absolutely fantastic to finally be back on a bike after 2 and a half months off. We found some really bumpy pave to ride on, and made it across Paris in about 30 minutes. After an apple stop, we continued on to the Bois de Boulogne, a big forest area just outside of Paris on the lower west side. We rode around the lakes and through the trees for a while until we made our way back along the Champs Elysees. Granted, riding with Sunday car traffic was not the same as a pelaton in the Tour de France, but riding around the Arc de Triomphe and then down to the Concorde was really special. After a bit of an urban riding detour, we finally made it back to the bike shop. Famished from our two wheeled excursion, we stopped at a bakery to grab some pastries. At the house, I ate my first ever croissant au chocolat et amandes...i had to close my eyes while I ate it so more of my energy could go towards enjoying how freakin delicious and gooey it was. I guess not eating lunch may have also affected my opinion of this pastry. I washed it down with another pastry, a Pain au chocolat, and a glass of milk, then waited for the food coma. After an hour of slothing on the couch, I went back home and had dinner with my host family. Salad, breaded chicken, noodles, baked tomatoes, and a tangerine finished my weekend of food indulgence. We watched the new minister of foreign affairs give a speech on TV, and then I retired to bell tower for the night.
A demain!
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