Back from the dead!

Wow, so its been a little while since I wrote about my life. Over a month. I’ve been rather busy, you know, traveling, living in Paris, eating good food, etc. Just living the life. Since I last wrote, I’ve been to Strasbourg, Cinque Terre, Italy, and Brussels, and Normandy, and had some excellent Parisian adventures. I’ve also planned out my spring break travels, which I will elaborate more on in a bit.

The 3^rd weekend in March, a couple friends and I decided, rather on a whim, to go to Strasbourg. It was my first time out of Paris (except for daytrips with my program) since I got here, and it was SO refreshing. We took a leisurely train ride there on Friday, and had most of the day to look around. Strasbourg is one of the most adorable cities I have ever been, almost painfully so. It’s all wood-framed houses, a beautiful river, lots of swans, and a wonderful mix of German and French that takes the best elements of both cultures.

We went to the Alsatian museum, which was both beautiful and interesting (quite like me, in fact), and was full of objects, furniture, and history of the daily life of an Alsatian in the past. We also saw the famous Cathedral, in all its ridiculously ornate Gothic glory. We also went to the European Union Parliament, which was pretty cool. Everything was wonderful, but it pales in comparison to the food we enjoyed there. Like everything else about the city, it’s a mix of German and French, and it is mostly definitely comfort food. Our first night there we splurged and got Baekoffe.

This wonderful Alsatian dish is 3 different types of meat (beef, pork, and lamb), potatoes, carrots, and lots of herbs in a white wine sauce. The waiter brought out a huge ceramic pot for the 3 of us, and it was probably enough for 3 meals for all of us, but of course we finished it. It was magnificent.

The next day, to save funds, we went to the produce market. There we found sauerkraut, sausages, finger potatoes, onions, bread, and some delicious greens for a salad. We used this to create our own Alsatian feast that night for dinner. It was even better than a restaurant cooked meal, because we had made it ourselves. I have to admit, the produce market got the best of my wallet, as well as my friends’, and we splurged on spiced bread, white creamy cheese with fruit, honey, and a fruity bread thing. It was so worth it though. Strasbourgian food is soooo good.

Later that day, outside the cathedral at sunset, we came across a rather interesting street performer. I won’t say more at this juncture, but it’s worth checking out the video.

We then walked over to Petite France, the even more adorable (more touristy) part of town with lots of restaurants and pubs. We celebrated being out of Paris by drinking some delicious beer, which is rather hard to find in the City of Lights.

Our last day in Strasbourg, we went up to the top of the cathedral’s tower. That is to say, we climbed all 432 steps to the top…The view was spectacular, though and the weather gorgeous, so I can’t complain. That afternoon, we stumbled across the carnival that the city puts on for the Jewish holiday Purim. We had no idea what the carnival was for until much later, but we enjoyed the flamboyant and hours –long parade that it included. We basically bummed around for the rest of the day until dinner when we tried the famous flammenkueche, a pizza like dish with crème fraiche for sauce, bacon, onions, and potatoes. It is of course, delicious. After that we left on our evening train back to Paris.

Alright, this is the first of a 3 part installment about my travels. Next comes Cinque Terre, so tune in soon to find out about my Mediterranean vacation!