Le meiulleure repas à Paris!

Tonight I was fortunate enough to dine with my roommate Ellie and her Dad at Le Train Bleu. The restaurant is located in the Garde de Lyon railway station, where trains depart Paris bound for the south of France, Provence and Nice for example. The grande belle-epoque style dining room had floral chandeliers, beautiful frescoes, and a wonderful waitstaff. Someone the other day asked me what the best meal I ever had was, and I have to say this meal tops the chart. I enjoyed every single bight of flavor; it was the perfect melange of gouts (tastes).

I had the TGV prix-fixe. The TGV is the fast train throughout Europe, and the meal was supposed to be served in 45-minutes or less! I had foie gras, lamb with potatoe gratin, and some sort of chocolate mousse-death-by-chocolate concoction, not to mention the fabulous wines that accompanied the meal. I was in heaven. You know when you have those unforgettable meals, or taste something so extravagantly perfect that you are completely satisfied? That's what our dinner was tonight.

And last night we had another wonderful experience at Chartier! While much more low-key and catered to the neighborhood, Chartier was a fabulous experience as well. We dined on a caraffe de vin rouge, escargots with a lovely butter-garlic-herb sauce; I had lamb, again, with pommes-frites. I find it a delicious meat that we don't have enough of in America. This is a great place to take out-of-towners for an "experience vraiment francaise" that's easy on the wallet, even though the line goes around the block after 7:30pm. I wish I could have taken you all there!

That's all for now as I go and digest.
Bisous,
Remy

Le Printemps!

The flowers have finally started to bloom, the trees' haze around the branches is no longer gray but green, and it has stopped raining (for now). Yes, I do believe it is springtime in Paris!

Last week, it was a high of 60*F all week. While it may have been a fluke, I took every moment I had to soak in the sun. Whether it was a trip to the Luxumbourg gardens for the afternoon, a walk home from school, or simply sitting at a cafe and taking in the sun, I was a very happy girl last week. Well, after Wednesday anyway...

I started my week with a trip to London for 24 hours to visit Dad. My camera died as soon as I got there and all I got was this picture of the Sherlock Holmes Pub near our hotel. We dined on fish and chips, and strolled London on another glorious day (a rarity I was assured). While our time together was too short, it was so nice to see family after this long time away from home. Hint, hint, to you all...

I then returned to Paris for a few days of midterm hell, but I made it through. I celebrated by making a picnic on the Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffle Tower, where I promptly passed out in the sun. As I was leaving the park, I found a dog-run, and I heard this huge bark. I turned around and there was a Harlequin Great Dane like Harvey; I immediately started to cry. Don't worry, Harvey was obviously cuter.

I had a friend from GW staying with me this week, Juliette, so I played tour guide, which is always a nice reminder of how much I really do love Paris. I've decided (to the chagrin of some, I'm sure) that if I were to go to cooking school, I would have to do it here, no question. We went to the Orangerie, one of my favorite museums here, the Marais for falafels and vintage shopping, and a food market on Avenue President Wilson where I wanted to buy everything I saw. I ended up buying some olives and strawberries. The olive vendor knew instantly that I was American and asked if I wanted 50 kilos of olives; and then laughed at me. The strawberry vendor told me in French he was having a two-for-one sale on strawberries, so did I want 2 kilos? I said, sure, why not? Little did I know that I had just purchased enough strawberries to feed an army. I'm still working on my metric conversions.

I am half way done with my program, and I don't know where the time has gone. I have another friend coming to visit me in April, then I'm off to Florence for Easter weekend, followed by Amsterdam the next. Mom is coming to visit me at the end of April, and then it's May! I hope to get to the south of France then, and hopefully conclude my time in Europe with a week in Greece at the end of the semester.

Bisous,
Remy

Back in Paris

I have just returned from Rome and Barcelona; what a trip.

I loved Rome. I had an amazing time, visited (almost) everything I wanted to see, and really enjoyed myself. My roommate Ellie couldn't come with me so I was on my own. While I had friends in Rome, I spent the days by myself. I was at first terrified to travel by myself, but then as I roamed Rome by myself I found complete comfort in my surroundings. I had a wonderful time with Kelly, my roommate from freshman year. We took Italian Baroque art together, so we were equally as excited to see things in person rather than on a screen. My last night we went to this art space called Rialto; it was part bar, part art, part best dance grooves ever - i.e. sly and the family stone, aretha, tina turner, james brown, a.k.a. all of my favorites. And we got to look at awesome art too!

Check out my pics from Rome here.

Barcelona was different than I had remembered it from a few years ago; probably because I was with two guys as my protector then! But, nonetheless, I had a wonderful time. Most importantly, I saw one of my best friends from GW, Michelle. We had a ball together! I spent my 21st birthday in Barcelona, and there was no better place to do so. We had dinner with a few other GW girls and a friend from Fieldson, Justin Forman. It was delicious and cheap. Then we went to a few bars, where after a few drinks I started speaking French to everyone and for some reason no one could understand me...oh, that's right; wrong country! The next day Michelle and I had lunch down at the harbor, listened to some music, and enjoyed the sunshine. Rather than try to go to every single "touristy" attractions, I really tried to immerse myself in the Catalan culture and just enjoy the city. However, I did make it to the Picasso Museum, the Miro Museum, Parc Montjuilc, the Ciutedella, and my personal favorite, the Chocolate Museum. While it was overcast and chilly almost every day, and I was assured it was the worst weather anyone had seen during their time this semester, I still had an awesome time.

Click here to view my photos from Barcelona, including my birthday outfit mom...

When in Rome...

Sitting on my balcony of my funky hotel, having coffee (breakfast is included!) Taking in what looks to be a magnificent day. I almost forgot what sun felt like, but who could forget this.

Yesterday I wondered by myself which was surprisingly nice; started at 830 and went till 6! I went to Quirinale, where there are a bunch of churches I had studied, Palazzo Barberini to see art, got a panini and fanta and ate in Park Borghese, attempted to go to a museum there for the second time but you needed reservations, walked down the hill to the Spanish steps, strolled down Via del Corso where I wanted everything in the windows, went to another church in Piazzo del Popollo, then to another by the pantheon.

Then I met up with kelly and got caught in a downpour. We stopped for pizza and it was delicious of course. We went to a club, where we celebrated Mardi Gras but apparently no one else was!

Today I'm off to the vatican and possibly the forum. This city is amazing because old and new are so intertwined. Missing you all very very much, especially as this weekend approaches...

Lots of love from Roma,
Bisous