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Coming back in 5 days....
I can't wait to go back...but also want to stay here forever..
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Toussaints - Florence

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I’ve written a blog post. When I first started I was so determined that I would post once a day to at least keep myself in check… But midterms, vacation, and being incredibly lazy took over my life for the last month! Although I’ll probably be even busier this month, I’ll be posting more because I realized I have 3 weeks left in Paris….ridiculous.

Quick Recap:
We had a 10-day vacation period called "Toussaints" a few weeks ago and I was able to visit Florence, Rome, and Athens. Although, it wasn’t really a vacation because I have never been so tired in my life (a daring statement to make considering the fact that I’m always sleepy hahaha)

Our flight was at 8 in the morning at an airport that was very difficult to get to. We had to take a night bus and then an hour shuttle bus from Paris...We flew on Ryan Air which was the shadiest airline ever. The stewardess warned us to place ourselves and our luggage strategically to not throw off the balance of the plane...

We arrived at the airport in Pisa and took a quick detour to see the Leaning Tower!
Pisa: 

I thought it would be funny to push up the tower with my midget pinky...not as funny though 

Florence:

We took an hour train ride to Florence which was my favorite city during Toussaints. The city is very small, friendly and the architecture is very village-like and homey.

First (of many) gelato in Italy! Nocciola (hazelnut) flavor is soooo delicious

Just a regular sight in Florence....

On our way up to see Florence from a higher point

Drinking wine and eating rice crackers on a terrace overlooking the city

Gusto Pizza....best pizza ever

Aperitivo - There were tons of places to have appetizers and wine before dinner

Coolest, self-service wine bar

Cannolis...they're supposed to be a specialty in Italy but we never got to try them :(

Hazelnut/Pistachio Gelato bar....

On our way up the Duomo on a super scary, dark, and spiraly staircase, we ran into little bits of light... 

View of Florence from the Duomo

Favorite gelato place in Italy...I think I got...chestnut and persimmon? :) 

The lady put my gelato cone in this nifty holder thing when I was struggling to get money out of my wallet with one hand :) 

Popular panini place in Florence

The line was crazyyy

Only in Europe, a place to hold wine glasses as you eat outside

Random parade through the streets of Florence

Le Marche Dimanche

Every Sunday, I've been going to an outdoors organic market that is only a few blocks away from my dorm. Why? Almost nothing is open on Sundays in Paris... whether it's department stores, bakeries, pharmacies, restaurants, etc. I find it really funny that the places that are open are the Jewish ones (they rest on Saturdays instead) or the Asian ones (too cheap to close shop). However, I found out that stores that remain open on Sundays usually have to pay a fine...strange.

Anyhow, I thought the novelty of an outdoor Parisian market would wear off because the stands are the same every week, but it hasn't... at all. Every week, I am absolutely enraptured by the color of the fruits, vegetables, and food at the market. Maybe because my dormitory serves ratty, holey, bruised fruits for breakfast, or because it's impossible to spot vegetables in the normal Parisian meal. The market also gives off this energetic, fresh, healthy vibe because the sellers are really passionate about their homemade or home-grown products. Usually, I've felt that many Parisians don't really like the job they're doing, perhaps because a quarter of them are civil servants (hahaha). At least at this market, the producers are very friendly, well-knowledgeable about their products, and seem to be more passionate about their work even though it's neither high-paying nor easy. Very refreshing! Also, if I could communicate smell through the Internet, I totally would, because the market experience is not complete without all the delicious smells wafting around.

The Three Animals of L'Opera Garnier

First off, the answer to the puzzle that I sent in the email is....

the Titanic!!!

People in higher economic classes survived more than those beneath them because poorer people were in lower cabins on the Titanic. And more males died than females or children because of the idea that "women and children on the boats first". Interesting, right?!

Last Friday, I went on a guided tour of L'Opera Garnier, the famous, very decadent Opera house in Paris, with the rest of my program. I'm determined to watch a ballet there! Apparently, you can buy 100 Euro seats for 20 Euros if you wait in line the day of the show at the box office...but the catch is: people start gathering for this line at 4...in the morning. Sigh...I might actually have to do that because the Opera was not built for all of the audience to even see the stage. Seriously, some tickets are labeled "non-visibility" because you can't even see the stage from your seat. Isn't that sad? 

During our tour, the guide taught us that there are three animals that live within the Opera...crazy, right? 

1. Les Carpes (Carps, as in fish)

When the architect Charles Garnier started to build the Opera house, he found that there was a huge pond in that plot of land. This is where the legend of the Phantom of the Opera originated! Remember that scary, foggy river the Phantom rows through under the Opera house? That's the same body of water as this... but sadly, it's just a legend. The water isn't actually there anymore because it was impossible for Garnier to build an Opera house on top of a body of water. BUT, he collected all the water (along with the fish) and made a reservoir within the Opera. So under the Opera, there is this reservoir (full of carps) that no one is allowed to see except for the technicians...There used to be trout and other small fish that originally lived in the pond, but the technicians would secretly fish for them... So, the Opera decided to put carps inside the reservoir because it's apparently really hard to eat carps. hahhaha

2. Les Abeilles (Bees) 

These same technicians got bored and started to cultivate beehives on the roof of the Opera. What's amazing is that the bees feed off the flowers from all the nearby famous public gardens in Paris: Luxembourg Gardens, Tuileries Gardens, etc. These huge public gardens don't use ANY pesticides, so the honey that these bees produce is supposed to taste amazing...They only produce 60 kg of honey a year at L'Opera and it's supposedly very exclusive and very expensive. I wonder what kind of power/money you need to get a taste of that honey...

3. Les Petits Rats (Direct translation: the small rats) 

There aren't really small rats inside the Opera. "Les Petits Rats" is an idiomatic phrase for children who practice ballet inside the Opera. So not a real animal, but close enough! 

The Opera house was really ornate and there were so many details in the walls, ceilings, etc... 

Can you spot the two dates (in years) in the ceiling? They're the years of construction...see what I mean by detail?

The Foyer....(real) gold everywhere

The amphitheater was built really simply with a burgundy and gold color combination but in real life, its grandeur is soooo breathtaking. It was hard to capture on film...

The ceiling inside the Amphitheater. To give you a sense of scale, the small inner circle (where the chandelier is) takes up as much space as a small Parisian studio...

The original ceiling was actually replaced by this modern art ceiling created by a Russian artist. The juxtaposition of this modern art versus the Parisian architecture of the amphitheater was really interesting. It has the famous Parisian landmarks on the ceiling...I zoomed in! 

 L'Arc de Triomphe

Le Sacre Coeur

Me at the Opera..hahaha

After the tour, I went and got Korean food. I know...But even though I'm in Paris where the food is amazing, etc, I really crave certain foods that they don't really have here: Korean food, Mexican food (I would die for a Chipotle burrito), steak fries, Governor's chicken from Joy Yees (is it sad that I miss Joy Yees the most?), and a grilled Tostada Chicken Salad from Cheesecake Factory. 

The bibimbap I found at this place called Ace Bento (it's on this heavenly street full of Japanese and Korean restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries) was fairly cheap and satisfying :) My first week in Paris, I craved Korean food so much I impulsively went to the closest Korean restaurant and bought this tiny bowl of soondubuchigae for 15 Euros...biggest and best mistake of my life here. 

Ble Sucre

A taste of upcoming food posts…

Today, I trekked across Paris to this patisserie named Ble Sucre (means “Sweet Wheat”) famous for its reasonably-priced, absolutely delicious pastries. This is by far my favorite patisserie in Paris!

Its Madeleines, the iconic French cookie, is especially famous and tastes one hundred times better than those madeleines I used to gulp down from Costco .

cute storefront

From recommendations, I bought a pain aux raisins and Madeleines (they’re supposed to be the best in Paris). The pain aux raisins cost 1,20 Euros (they use commas instead of periods!) and a bag of 4 madeleines were 3,40… (very reasonable, I think!).

I actually don’t even like raisins but I really enjoyed the pain aux raisins. Maybe because, it was the perfect combination of chewy, flaky, sticky and sweet…

Le Pain aux Raisins

The madeleines tasted so light and fluffy and they had an outer shell of light citron frosting that was so flaky and not too sweet. They literally melted in my mouth, probably because there is a gigantic amount of butter in and on them. (Lexi, I expect you to remake these when I get back) I'm not sure why I took so many pictures of these madeleines....they were just so goood. 

It kind of looks like it has a tumor...

In the middle of eating...

Can you see the flaky frosting!?

I decided I’m going to try one of every pastry in this store by the time I leave even if I have to skip lunch (and maybe dinner) to balance out my daily calorie intake…sigh…(truly a Paris problem)

In conclusion, Bennison’s Bakery in Evanston…outdone x infinite.

On a side note, I really like when guys in Paris walk around with their motorcycle helmet still on.

(Sorry, old man for creeping on you while you were innocently buying pastries.)