The Good Things in Life: Parisian History, Delta Cookie Butter, and Theater

Monday, January 8th - Wednesday, January 10th, 2018

Paris, France

I realized I'm a little behind on posts, so here's Monday through Wednesday. I didn't think it had been that long since I'd last posted, but then I tried to remember what I did on Monday and I came up blank. Time flies when you're having fun, right? ;) I had to sit down and map out the past few days with my photos and ticket stubs to remember exactly what I was up to. It was some good stuff, good stuff. That I evidently forgot about... Whoops. That's why I have to write it down! Moving on here we go. Let's dig into some Parisian history. 

Monday, we visited the church Saint-Germain-des-Près, which means Saint Germain of the meadow (because the surrounding area used to be a meadow.) It's an early medieval abbey founded by the Frankish king Childebert I, the grandson of Clovis I (the first king of the Franks), where the Merovingian kings were traditionally buried. (Clovis and Childebert are both part of the Merovingian dynasty.) 

Interior of Saint-Germain-des-Près

Monday night, a big group of us went out to explore the city's nightlife. We got a bit confused on the metro (which I think might be a theme of this trip hahaha.) Ended up getting out at the stop Bastille, which was actually the right stop, but we thought it was wrong. So we all got back on the metro, road for 20 min, switched trains, and got out, about a 20 min walk from our destination... Which turned out to be right next to Bastille... All in a night's adventure though, right? The street was full of little pubs, bars, restaurants, and clubs. We walked into some random open mic night, a weird restaurant that was so full of fake plants you couldn't see in the window, and then ended up going dancing at a place a few doors down. 

Tuesday, I did a takeover of the St. Olaf Instagram account. For those unfamiliar with an "Instagram Takeover", it's when someone else posts on someone else's account for a day, and St. Olaf has students do takeovers every so often. We had a really fun time with it!  

We were supposed to go to the Louvre that day as homework but turns out, it's closed on Tuesdays... So we had to be flexible, and we settled on going to the Jardin du Luxembourg. (Can you imagine? Ugh what a MAJOR let down, strolling through a Parisian garden... Still getting over my disappointment.) The gardens and palace were built for Marie de Medici, and they're full of statues, fountains, and orchards. 

Alanna and I at le Jardin du Luxembourg

Nick, Bjorn, me, and Drew at le Jardin du Luxembourg

We also stopped by Café Angelina, that my friend Corentin recommended. Their hot chocolate was amazing and basically just melted chocolate but also wow, it was a lot. Out of the four of us that ordered the hot chocolate, only Nick finished his. Still, worth it. 

Alanna at Cafe Angelina

We did a lot of walking and metro-ing and swung by to see Sainte-Sulpice (although we didn't go in) and Hôtel des Invalides (we'll go in that later when we're studying Napoleon). We did get lost in the metro again. But not toooo lost. We only got on the wrong train once. I think our navigational errors have less to do with not knowing where we should be going, and more to do with bad group coordination and communication.

Saint-Sulpice selfie, with Alanna and Nick

We rounded off our evening with a visit to the Effiel Tower. I have such conflicting opinions about the Effiel Tower because, on one hand, it's actually kind of ugly and underwhelming. It a giant metal triangle and there's not much to do there. But on the other hand, it's iconic and kind of magical, especially when it sparkles at night... Hello! It's THE Effiel Tower!

Drew, Alanna, Nick and I at THE Effiel Tower

Wednesday we hit the Louvre since it was actually open. It was nice, but I was tired, and being tired at the Louvre is pretty overwhelming. The security was pretty confusing too, and it was a bit hard to tell where to go. I got yelled at for going down the wrong staircase... Whoops. Our assignment was to see the old foundation of the Medieval Louvre, built by King Philippe II Auguste. My pal Jenna and I walked through the Greek and Egyptian art before we headed out. (No Mona Lisa for us this trip, but we'd both already seen her, and anyway, we have another assignment at the Louvre a little later in our course, so we'll be back. Also, did you know that the Mona Lisa in French is, La Joconde?)

Left to right, Abby, me, Alanna, Jenna, and Elissa in front the Louvre's glass pyramid (and Drew in the background LOL)

Wednesday was also an exciting day because I tried Speculoos butter on a crêpe. Speculoos are Belgian cookies, but I'm only familiar with them insofar as they are Biscoff Delta cookies. Speculoos butter sounds absolutely disgusting, but it looks a bit like peanut butter and tastes like Delta cookies. I'm pretty sure it's not at all French or a traditional crêpe topping, but some places have it anyway. I had a Nutella and Speculoos crêpe and again, it sounds really gross, but it was so good! TRY IT NEXT TIME YOU'RE IN FRANCE!!! (Or, like, just buy a jar of Cookie Butter at Trader Joes and make your own Speculoos Nutella crêpe.) My roommate Alanna has been waiting to try a Speculoos crêpe and now she has a jar of it in our room, so I think it's safe to say that she is also a fan. 

Left to right, top to bottom, Abby, Elissa, Jenna, Alanna, and I eating crêpes

That night, the whole class went to see a play at the Théâtre Lucernaire, and this was both great and bizarre. First, the Théâtre Lucernaire is a cultural center in the 6th arrondissement. It looks like the kind of place hipsters would hang out, but the patrons I saw were mostly older adults (although there were some 20 somethings working there and smoking outside.) It has a few small theaters, a bar, a restaurant, a cinéma, a bookshop, a photography gallery... It's a bit of everything. 

We saw the show "Carnet de Notes", by "La Companie du Sans Souci" (The Company Without Worries) and directed by Mariline Gourdon Devaud and Isabelle Turschwell. It was a musical and comedic analysis of the French education system, following school children, teachers, and parents, kindergarten through passing (or not passing) their baccaluréat. It was in a fairly small theater, with minimal set and costumes. I usually don't like minimalist sets or costumes (not as any sort of formal critique, I just like seeing elaborate pieces) but this was done very cleverly. They had six black blocks that opened, that were used alternately as desks, seats, lockers, and once, a trash can. Inside, they hid props, musical instruments, and costumes. The performers would play their own accompaniment and passed around guitars, recorders, a cello, a ukelele, and a little melodica. 

The seven actors were all almost always on stage and rotated between roles by doing quick changes on stage. They were dynamic and expressive enough actors that they actually really pulled it off. The only thing was that some of the jokes, although still funny, were less relevant since I didn't grow up in the French school system. Somethings were universal, like the whole song about learning the reproductive cycle in biology, or the song about middle school relationships. But some things were a little more uniquely French, like a lunch monitor that checked to make sure you finished all your food (she seemed a little more extreme than any lunch monitor I had) or trying to find your name on the posted list of bac results. Overall though, it was funny and entertaining. Here's a clip of their encore in the theater lobby. 

"Carnet de Notes" Lobby Encore Clip

More soon! À bientôt, 

Cristiana