Paris

el

I didnt realize how long its been since my last post, for that I apologize, as I know there are loads of people following this and just cant stand the fact that they dont know whats happening in my life. haha
Anyway for the week break in February, because more than a month of school is just too long to endure without a break as decide by the Minister of Education, I went to Paris to see my good friends Caterina and Quentin. Cat was kind enough to let me stay at hers which significantly reduced the price of the trip since you can not find a hostel cheaper than $30. Also she showed me around her arrondisement which was great and centrally located so we never really had to go far to see anything. It was great, I mostly walked from cafe to cafe getting something to eat or drink, ok not really but this is what it felt like because every couple of hours I was stopping in at some recommended spot for a snack. One snack in particular that I would like to discuss is my hot chocolate from Deux Magots, yes the Deux Magots written about by Hemingway, and got a goute (snack) from Laduree. Mmmm the Macarons from Laduree are amazing and typical to the arrondisement in Paris. I dont really think this does them justice but it is kind of a sponge dough that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside (think cookie shaped) with two pieces stuck together with some sort of filling. My favorites were blackberry and caramel!
Back to the subject of Paris, since it was my fourth time to Paris I decided (again) that I would not do all of the touristy things, didnt happen I took around 20 pics of Notre Dame, love that place. But I did make it out of the touristy area and hit up the 13th arrondisement which is the Asian Quarter. Not going to lie, I would stay in the touristy area, there is a reason its popular, its because its pretty. The 13th arrondisement was not the beautiful Paris scene that you dream about, instead it was tall grey or white buildings built somewhere between the 1950's-1970's not a particularly beautiful period of architectural history, at least in my mind. So this place looks like you would image the old Eastern Block to look like, save one plaza that had pseudo-asian architecture, plus it was a gloomy day which only added to the oppressive and dank feeling. But it did have one redeeming quality, the Asian market, I dont know about all of you but I quite enjoy my Asian food and this place was like Mecca yet it was not the beautiful Americanized Chinese food we all know and love. This was some of the most bizarre food I have seen packaged in unassuming boxes and plastic wrap. One example; a can of jus de coco asada, sounds great right, roasted coconut juice/milk. NOT. This was a pretty can labeled in English and Spanish that had CHUNKS of coconut floating in it, Im not a huge fan of pulp so having a chunk the size of a pea float through the luscious cap and into the back of my throat was 1) not something I was expecting and 2) is not a sensation I would recommend to anyone. Upon further inspection I found that it was not an accident but the can was crawling with chunks of coconut, not pretty white flaky coconut but nasty brown and white chucks that looked like puke! However undetered I also tried a nice bottle of Ginseng, with the root floating in the bottle but luckily for me and the people around me in the 'splash zone' the root did not exit the bottle mid-sip.
Although I put a slightly negative spin on my purchases I did get to see some man order 7 kilos (about 14 pounds) of fresh tune. One hopes that isnt just for him and he also received this treasure in a white garbage bag and it cost him over 120 euros! Probably much cheaper than anywhere else. Yet I did not question how fresh the fish was, one because I was overwhelmed by the variety and two by the smell, and it wasnt until I saw large fish tanks in the back that I realized just how fresh that fish might have been, not saying that every fish I saw was alive but I would say that those fish looked like they do in Pike Place Market, for those of you who have been to Seattle you know what Im talking about, for those of you who have not, I would highly recommend taking a gander at the fisherman who literally chuck the fish at each other while they are serving the customers.
Overall and as usual I had a great time in Paris.
OH I almost forgot, I went to Sciences Po with Cat (if you read this thank you so much for going with me) who had to find it because there are several different campuses none of which are clearly labelled. So at Sciences Po I spoke with the woman in charge of the program for about an hour about the varying aspects of the program and the university. All I can say is please keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer or whatever it is that you do, for me because I really want to get in!