Macarons et Escargot

Today has been another wonderful day in Paris! Karin and I had to wake up early to get to the Institute building on time for class. It isn't that far away from where we live, but we have to walk about 10 minutes to the metro, switch to 3 different metro lines, then it takes us about 5 minutes to walk from the other metro stop to the Institute building. With all of that, it takes about an hour to get there! I had my first day of my European Studies class which is a comparison of French and American ideals, most specifically, each of our revolutions. It was actually very interesting! As much as I wanted to sleep, I think Professor Patterson would have given me a hard time about it for a while, plus there were only about 7 other students.

After class we went to one of our favorite patisseries then headed to l'Eglise de la Madeleine. It was my very favorite church that we've been to. All of the other ones basically look the same. This one has a little more history behind it that makes it a bit more exciting! It was initially built to be a Catholic church, but Napoleon demolished it in order to make a monument to himself and his army in that place. After the restoration of the throne to Louis XVIII, it was changed back into a Christian church. Hence, the outside is covered with huge Corinthian columns and it obviously has a much more pagan influence on it than the other Christian churches.

After l'Eglise de la Madeleine, we had the most amazing experience with one of Paris' most popular pastry shops, Laduree. We bought some rather pricey but petite macarons, not the same as macarOOns, at 6 for about 10 euros. Next stop was an unknown and small chapel down the street. We came in to the beautiful sounds of a girl rehearsing Ave Maria, accompanied by the organ. It was incredible! We sat in that chapel for a little while and soaked in all we could, then headed off to the one and only perfume museum in Paris, Frogonard. After meeting up with some friends at our favorite little Eiffel Tower, we headed home for a much needed NAP.

Tonight we had a little adventure. Our host family served escargot for dinner! Karin and I have been apprehensive for days. The hour finally came! The escargot was sitting in front of my and I didn't even know how to eat it. We waited for a demonstration by our host sister. I pulled the little slug out of the shell all covered in garlic and butter and put it in my mouth. The first bite was a little...ugh. The flavor was incredible, the the texture was like...I don't know, a cooked snail or something? :) But I liked it! I just pretended that it was a little piece of steak rather than a snail and it was fine! It is one of my favorites now! But I guess anything covered in that much garlic and butter will taste pretty good. Karin didn't have the same luck as I did with the situation. She put it in her mouth, got a funny look on her face, chewed for a minute, then exclaimed with a mouth full of food, "I can't swallow it! I can't swallow it!" Our host mom then made her some eggs while I ate them little buggers like candy. Also I don't know what I am going to do when I get back to the states and every meal is not followed by a course of bread and camembert, brie, gruyere, and fromage du chevre! I look forward to all of the other French delicacies that I have yet to try!




















These are the huge pillars! Karin could almost put her arms all the way around.
















The beautiful and delicious desserts at Laduree.





















If you want to see escargot pictures, look at Karin's page! It is on my blog list.