smart phones and french food (and other photos)

smart phones

the first time we rode the paris metro, i whispered to j "there's no one on their phones!" you know how on BART, there's usually a good number of folks looking and engaging with their phones? there's generally no one doing that on the parisian train - they're all reading books or the newspaper. when dining out, no one takes out their phone to kill dead time either, or to search for things. instead, everyone's talking earnestly with their dining companion(s), which i find really refreshing. from what i can tell, the stereotype is indeed true: people seem to spend lots of time sitting with friends, smoking, and drinking wine. thirty five hour work weeks are a given, six weeks base vacation, and a lot of government subsidies. our paris greeter told us that most college students pay no tuition, with the government paying 80% for higher ranked schools. good times. 

french food

my favorite food in paris were the croissants and coffee. every morning we'd go to a bakery and get a fresh croissant or pain au chocolat and grab an espresso. the crust of the croissant was always really crispy, but the inside soft and airy. parisians seem much less into getting a large coffee and sipping as you go along, though in those instances, it's always a starbucks drink. the practice seems more to be that for breakfast, you'll go to a standing bar, order a shot of espresso, dump two packets of sugar, and gulp it all down, alongside a croissant. it's kind of brilliant really, your coffee will never get cold if you drink it all right away. 

we also got to try lots of parisian restaurants. in this picture i got a rabbit shepherd's pie and j got veal ravioli. all very tasty with lots of crunchy bread! side note: everyone was very helpful and friendly. waitresses routinely would tell us that "i will come back to help you with the menu" after we were seated and were very gracious in translating the menu for us. as a whole, they know MUCH more english than we did french. 

side note: we're the annoying breed of tourists who try restaurants that have been featured on anthony bourdain shows and are all surprised and indignant when there are many other americans in the restaurant. my favorite dish was at one of those a. bourdain recs - Crispy veal head, Puy green lentil, gribiche sauce. google images is failing me right now but basically it was a croquette of ground veal meat over a bed of lentils and this mustard sauce. 

we also tried macarons and decided that we like them. even mcdonald's sells them. apparently they're made by the same manufacturer as laduree, but shrug. this bag is from pierre herme:

clockwise from top -celeste - passion fruit, rhubarb, and strawberry;  foie gras hazelnut;  mogador (milk chocolate and passion fruit); white truffle and roasted piedmont hazelnut slivers (the cashier recommended we eat this one last as it was "strong;" and ispahan (rose, litchi, and strawberry)

we also tried really really delicious ice cream from the famed berthillon ice cream makers the Ile Saint-Louis, which is across from the Notre Dame Cathedral. these guys are the o.g. salted caramel ice cream makers and oh boy, their ice cream is AWESOME. i got peach flavored the first time, and j got hazelnut; both so good. i forgot the flavors we got the next time, but they were also really great.

i'll leave you with more pics:

it was pretty cold the whole time we were in europe - generally 35 - 45 degree F. in the uk, the days are really short during the winter. the sun rose at 8 something and set by 4 pm every day. you'll also notice that i'm wearing the same outfit in every picture. 

we visited versailles, king louis XIV's gigantic palace about forty minutes' train ride outside of paris. also rumored to be the location for kim and k a nye's upcoming nuptials. from wikipedia: the court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the french revolution (marie antoinette and her husband king louis XVI were captured and later executed.   

selfie with marie antoinette

 this is the view from the back of the main chateau. the grounds stretch on forever.

near the back of the estate, marie antoinette constructed a little hamlet of a provincial town. it was said that she liked to pretend that she was living back in the "simpler" village times (not that she had ever really lived like that), and dress up in peasant clothes. there are about 11-12 little structures, and it almost feels like disneyland, it has that faux provincial look to it.

 this is the front gate.

 the hall of mirrors, where the treaty of versailles was signed.

 arc de triomphe

Sainte-Chappelle, begun in 1239 and consecrated on 1248, has really beautiful stained glass. it depicts scenes from the Bible, starting from Genesis, with the middle showcasing the Passion, and more or less ending in Revelation, with some french history thrown in. it's really breathtaking.