Paris from my Phone

 À Bientôt !

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Scandinavia, Sailing & Sweet Treats

After our very serious study of Pixar art (!) which I spoke about in this post, it was time to fill up on some comforting & warm finnish food at the Institut Finlandais. It's just round the corner from the Sorbonne, but I think that it's one of the Latin Quarter's best kept secrets. It looked like in-the-know students had brought laptops in for studying and the atmosphere was fresh and airy. 

Both myself & my sister got the soup of the day which was the perfect blend of smooth, wholesome &  sweet-smelling apples and parsnips - making my head happy with the knowledge that I was checking off 2 of my 5 a day, and my belly very happy, knowing it was in for such a warming treat. The soup was served with warm rye bread, not bad for €4.50.

To wash down our food, I chose a cappuccino and my sister got a filter coffee, which was wholly appropriate as apparently Finns are the biggest consumers of coffee in the world! The waitress told us that this type of finnish coffee is only served in two places in Paris, and its special way of roasting the beans gives it a sweet, honey-like taste. Happy smiles all round! 

We could have had a look at the Institute to brush up on our Finnish roots (yes, we do have some Scandi history in the family!) but instead decided to focus on the French sights & sounds to be discovered right under our noses. Off to the Luxembourg Gardens we went!

After larking about in the Jardins & learning that there was no sailing boat hire in the winter, our wanderings under the sparse trees led us to an Angelina, which proved to be a tasty surprise. We shared a hot chocolate to take away, but as if one sweet treat wasn't enough, I had promised to take my sister to a Pâtisserie de Reves after she saw a programme where Michel Roux Jr visited famous French bakeries on the television.

It was hustlin' and bustlin' for Christmas, so we didn't have long to ogle the cakes before someone took our order. We went for the bakery's best-seller, the Paris-Brest and a double chocolate delightfully decadent eclair, filled with ganache and wrapped in a crisp shell. Part of the delight is the packaging and the gift bag which made me feel a million dollars as we strolled home.

More adventures tomorrow!

À Bientôt !

x

Scandinavia, Sailing & Sweet Treats

After our very serious study of Pixar art (!) which I spoke about in this post, it was time to fill up on some comforting & warm finnish food at the Institut Finlandais. It's just round the corner from the Sorbonne, but I think that it's one of the Latin Quarter's best kept secrets. It looked like in-the-know students had brought laptops in for studying and the atmosphere was fresh and airy. 

Both myself & my sister got the soup of the day which was the perfect blend of smooth, wholesome &  sweet-smelling apples and parsnips - making my head happy with the knowledge that I was checking off 2 of my 5 a day, and my belly very happy, knowing it was in for such a warming treat. The soup was served with warm rye bread, not bad for €4.50.

To wash down our food, I chose a cappuccino and my sister got a filter coffee, which was wholly appropriate as apparently Finns are the biggest consumers of coffee in the world! The waitress told us that this type of finnish coffee is only served in two places in Paris, and its special way of roasting the beans gives it a sweet, honey-like taste. Happy smiles all round! 

We could have had a look at the Institute to brush up on our Finnish roots (yes, we do have some Scandi history in the family!) but instead decided to focus on the French sights & sounds to be discovered right under our noses. Off to the Luxembourg Gardens we went!

After larking about in the Jardins & learning that there was no sailing boat hire in the winter, our wanderings under the sparse trees led us to an Angelina, which proved to be a tasty surprise. We shared a hot chocolate to take away, but as if one sweet treat wasn't enough, I had promised to take my sister to a Pâtisserie de Reves after she saw a programme where Michel Roux Jr visited famous French bakeries on the television. 

It was hustlin' and bustlin' for Christmas, so we didn't have long to ogle the cakes before someone took our order. We went for the bakery's best-seller, the Paris-Brest and a double chocolate delightfully decadent eclair, filled with ganache and wrapped in a crisp shell. Part of the delight is the packaging and the gift bag which made me feel a million dollars as we strolled home.

More adventures tomorrow!

À Bientôt !

x

Pâtisserie, Protests, Patriotism

Today was my first "controle", an exam "sur table" (under exam conditions) to check our understanding of the works we're studying in class. After 45minutes of fairly stressful scribbling, I hopped gladly onto the metro to meet a friend and appeared, blinking back fatigue, at Victor Hugo metro. The 16e arrondissement is famous for being even more affluent than my turf in the 7e. 

After wandering round and round the beautiful central "Place Victor Hugo" and playing guess-the-price in English export Laura Ashley, we got a drink in a cute pâtisserie cum cafe. 

   

Coffee drunk and catching up caught, we wandered along to Trocadero & found another friend, along with a protest to end discrimination towards those living in poverty. 

 

Pâtisserie, protests and a very Parisian landmark, what could be more French?!

Probably only the interior of the Cadet metro station.

Talk about patriotic.

À Bientôt !

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Parisian Pals

Being an Erasmus student is hard. With minimal language, it's difficult to make jokes, be yourself and show that you actually have a personality. I feel like a fool every time I have to say 'pardon ?' and ask someone to repeat themselves. Teachers tend to ignore you in class, French students (understandably) already have friends and it sometimes feels like a miracle that anyone would reach out to you! So, I feel very lucky to have been befriended by a group of French/French speaking girls in my lectures at Malesherbes.

With Arabic, French and English as common tongues within the group, we've been speaking a bit of a "melange" of languages - who knows, perhaps by the end of the year we'll all be fluent in all three ;) So far we've just been having lunch together and drinking coffee, after bonding at Soiree de Rentree at Le Barilleur in the 5e arrondissement.

Bonding at La Barilleur :)

Shopping at La Defense

 Free Nespresso Coffee at La Defense

My coffee was quite strong - can you tell?!

Unfortunately expensive hot chocolate at Malesherbes

Next on the cards, we might branch out from drinking beverages..a trip to the Musee Rodin is on the cards - watch this space.

À Bientôt !

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