Pensées de mi-semestre et des choses qui me manquent

This week is midterm week, and not much interesting will be happening for me to blog about. However, midterms also mean another thing: I've (almost) reached the halfway mark. I can't believe how fast it has gone! To mark my halfway point, here are a few of my random thoughts on my first half of my semester abroad:

1. The views: You just don't get used to them. And they come out of nowhere. You know that scene at the end of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs when the sun rises over the snowy hill and it looks like mashed potatoes and butter? Well today, I was sitting at the bus stop, and I was reminded of that. I'm not entirely sure why; it didn't actually look that much like it. Just how my mind works I guess. There wasn't a snowy hill , but it was a little foggy, and the sun was breaking through in a way so that rays of sunlight were striping the houses set into the hill, and it was all bathed in light and really beautiful. I was sitting on a metal bench at a graffitied bus stop in front of a wall that has what looks suspiciously like a bullet hole in it, but across from me was this beautiful view of yellow Provencal houses in the sun. Pretty cool.

This is bad quality, but the best I could find. Throwback to childhood!

2. My French: There really is nothing better than living in the country if you want to speak the language. I am certainly not fluent, but I can definitely tell I have improved. It's really gratifying to be able to go through an entire day speaking only French. And there are less and less times when I don't know how to say something. I can't wait to see how much I have progressed by the end of the semester!

3. The juxtaposition of old and new: Aix is an old city, and so are its buildings. While in America we often tear down old buildings to construct newer, modern ones, the French have left the ancient - and beautiful - architecture intact and filled it with modern businesses and homes. The apartment my parents stayed in two weeks ago was built in 1655. The United States (as in the country, not the land) didn't even exist in 1655! We don't even have enough history behind us to have buildings like that. And on the bus every morning, I pass a yoga studio that is housed in an old stone building with gargoyles out front. You can't tell me that was built in the past century. Of course, there are some newer buildings too, but that just adds to the interesting mix.

4. The bread: The French are serious about their bread. "Sure, I know that," you say, but no. They don't just eat lots of bread here. They order their bread to their exact liking. On the back wall of any bakery, you will find an array of breads. You have your basic baguette, tradition, or compléte, plus the fancier stuff with olives or nuts baked in. But having your choice of eight or more different types ins't enough. The French choose exactly which individual baguette (or what have you) they want from those cooked that day. As if the baker has cooked each individual loaf for a specific person. I often do homework in the evenings in a bakery when everyone is buying bread for dinner on their way home. During the hour or so that I am there, I will hear any number of ways to ask for bread. "Bien cuite" if they want it crispier and more cooked, or "plutôt blanche" if they want something on the softer, less cooked side. And if they don't specify, the baker will hold one up and inquire if it is right before putting it in the bag. I have even watched people direct here - à gauche, à gauche, oui! C'est parfait! - until she reaches the perfect one. You have to have it just the way you want!

Although I do love France, there are a few American things that I definitely miss now that I've been here almost two months. Some of them are actually a little surprising, so I thought I'd share a few:

1. Fall: I really miss fall. It's just not happening here. Sure, the days are getting slightly cooler, so I no longer feel like I'm melting, but that's a decrease from highs in the 80s to highs in the 70s. That defintely is not fall. And it's not just the weather. There are no apple picking excursions or corn mazes in the the South of France. And no Halloween (not really) or Thanksgiving either. They just kind of skip over all the cool fall stuff and go straight to winter and Christmas. Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person, and I'm going to be going crazy doing all my Christmas shopping at the Christmas markets when the start (I'm actually super excited), but I do miss all the fall times too. I'll just have to stalk people's Instagram photos of Ursinus in its peak color season!

2. Breakfast: The French just don't do breakfast. At least not real breakfast. Pain au chocolat and croissants are delicious, but you can't have those everyday. Standard French breakfast is cereal and maybe a slice of toast. And though my host mom does occasionally give me cake with my cereal (I'm not kidding, actual cake), it's still not quite the same. I want my eggs and pancakes! I never, EVER, thought I would miss Wismer, but I'm actually kind of excited to come back to weekend brunch. Crazy, I know.

In keeping with the random theme of pictures... I wouldn't mind a storm of pancakes!

Of course, these are rather small things, and I'm willing to sacrifice fall and American breakfast for all the other amazing, new things. I've successfully conquered the first half of my semester abroad! Let's see what else I can discover before Christmas.

Le gôut de la France

Last Friday was my second cooking class of the semester, and it was another evening of delicious food and fun cooking! This week's menu featured fresh bread (of course!) and a leek tarte, followed by sesame seed encrusted salmon, and lemon pudding for dessert.

We always let the bread cool on the windowsill

One of the things I like about French cooking is that they often keep it pretty simple. Just a few ingredients that work well together, relying on the natural flavors of everything. The tarte was just leeks, pie crust, and a basic quiche filling to hold everything together, but it was great!

After the tarte, we had salmon for the main course with a side of candied carrots. Bruno arrived with two massive fillets of salmon with the skin still on them. He showed us how to check for stray bones, and then skinned each fillet in one swift motion. It was awesome. The loose skin looked like a silver ribbon, and Bruno offered it to us to make shoes out of it. For once, I passed on having new shoes... Once it had been portioned, we just rolled the fish in sesame seeds and seared it in the pan. I was the one who cooked a lot of the salmon, and I was quite proud I managed to not burn the sesame seeds! After finishing them in the oven, we added a sprinkle of spices and dug in.

Our dessert was technically the filling you would put inside a lemon tarte, but we just ate it plain, like lemon pudding. I love lemon, so this was definitely my favorite part of the meal. Plus, you know, it's dessert, and I love sugar. The key to a good lemon pudding, according to Bruno, is the lemon zest. Lemon juice is fine, but without the zest, you don't get that strong lemon flavor. And he was right! It was a powerful, delicious taste!

I won't have another class until November, after our midterm vacation, but I am excited to see what we cook next! Bruno decides the day of the class what we will cook based on what he can find that is fresh, so we never know beforehand. Fresh ingredients - just another secret to the art of French cooking!

Le château et le vin

I'm a little late posting this, but better late than never! Last weekend was busy! After spending Saturday at Arles, on Sunday a group of us headed out to Petruis to visit the Château Val Joanis (shout out to Gabby for organizing everything!). The Château Val Joanis has acres of vineyards, a beautiful garden, and an impressive wine selection. For just three euros, we got to explore the gardens and take part in a wine tasting!

We started in the gardens, which were absolutely stunning. Like something out of a fairy tale. People actually come from all over the world to get married here. I took too many pictures to ever put them all up on here, but here are a few of my favorites (the rest will be on Facebook eventually):

Afterwards, we had our group wine tasting. We got to try a rosé, a white, and a red. I liked the rosé best, but the white was quite good too. A little citrusy and a little sweet.

We had a little time between the end of the tasting and our bus, so of course, we went to a bakery! Then we found a little park on the canal and enjoyed the last sunshine of the weekend. A lovely Sunday afternoon!

Aventure à Arles

This past Saturday, my program had another group trip, this one to Arles. Arles is a city that was built during the Romans way back during the Antiquity, and the city still contains the ancient ruins today. We started the day at the museum, where our professor explained the history of the city. I kind of drifted off here and there (sorry, I don't take notes on Saturdays), but I'll recount the brief history that I remember, just for background. The position of Arles was chosen because it is the last reasonable crossing point on the Rhone before it branches out in a delta. The city was built on one side of the river but had a bridge crossing to the other side. The cool thing is that the bridge was actually just a bunch of boats lined up next to each other that could be moved if needed. Ancient Arles contained all the major Roman sites: a forum, a theater, Roman baths, and a mini coliseum. As things crumbled over time, a lot of the ruins fell into the river and have been recovered over time from the river bed. The museum houses a lot of these relics, including a bust of Caesar!After the museum, we drove the rest of the way into the actual city, and went in search of lunch. I managed to find this delicious wrap:

After lunch, we met back up and began our tour of all the major spots. We started in a set of underground tunnels under the Hotel de Ville (city hall). These were built by the Romans under the forum and were used for storage and passage between the two main levels of the Forum.

Next, we headed to the ruins of the baths. Through a clever system of hot air and ventilation, the Romans actually had a heated pool in their bathhouse! That's pretty modern for thousands of years ago, if you ask me.

This was the "heating system"

Next we went to the cathedral in the center of the city. We couldn't go inside the actual church because there was a wedding going on, (side note: they wear traditional costumes in many weddings in Arles, and we got to see them!) but we did get to go inside the cloister, which is the best part anyway. 

After that, we went around the corner to the old theater. The plays that were put on there were open to all citizens, and the theater once housed thousands of people. Fun fact: in Roman plays, when somebody died, the actor switched places with a prisoner who had been condemned to death, and they actually killed him on stage. If you were sentenced to death, you had to hope you got a noble death in a duel and not one of the scenes where someone gets mauled by a bear.

Our last stop was the miniature coliseum, which in French is called an amphitheater. Though not as big as The Coliseum, this was still pretty large for a small city. It's still used today for lots of different events. In Roman times, it would have been used for any variety of violent events. The Romans liked violence. After the fall of the Roman Empire, an entire city was actually built inside the coliseum because the walls offered more protection, and watch towers were built for increased protection. Today, they just offer a fantastic view of the city and the river.

This trip was certainly more historical than our last one, but as always, great views and an adventure! I'd like to just take a moment to point out that everything I've just recounted was told to me in French, and I managed to understand and recount all of it. It's pretty gratifying to be able to see my French improving every day. I guess that whole study-abroad-speaking-French thing is paying off!

Mon cours de cuisine

One of the great opportunities my school offers is a French cooking class, and of course, I signed up for it. Last night was the first class, and I cooked and ate one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten. We started with fresh bread and a squash bisque topped with chevre cream.

This was followed by chicken seasoned with thyme and olive oil on a bed of caramelized onions.

And for dessert, we had delicious, light and creamy chocolate cake!

Our chef/professor, Bruno, is a hilarious man who started cooking when he was 10 and went to the best cooking institute in France. He had us taste everything at every stage of the cooking so that we could understand what went into every step. It was also really cool because he teaches cooking using all the senses. You don’t put the bread in for a certain time because, as he said, ovens are like cars; each one drives a little differently and you have to figure out what is right for each one. So instead, we touched and smelled the bread to see when it was ready and watched for the perfect coloring.

Bruno supervises

I think the most eventful thing I did during the class was learn how to, in the words of Bruno, "attack a chicken." He brought us three whole chickens, and I was one of the people charged with cutting it into the proper pieces. It's harder than it looks! But overall, the evening was an amazing experience, and just the first of several classes. I love the art of French cooking, and I can’t wait until our next class!