Where in the world is Val?

Monday, 7 July Since I didn't have to work Monday, I spent a few hours in the morning putting the finishing touches on my putain de rapport de stage. Luckily I had enough done at this point that what was left, formatting etc, was not tooooo onerous. (just rather onerous). When I finished, I went for a walk through the third and into the fourth. I love the juxtaposition here of old in the foreground and modern in the background : For lunch, I returned again to rue des rosiers : But no falafel this time! Much at the end of the street, 3 rue des rosiers, is my favorite restaurant : The name, if you couldn't guess from the picture, translates to "The dormouse in the teakettle." The interior is as homey and intimate as the name would imply : The tables are very close together (as in any restaurant in Paris), the furniture doesn't all precisely match, the walls are painted and plastered with posters for events around the city. I had been here once before, a few week...

Sunday, 6 July The 6th was a lovely day. I went to the market, of course. They have such an incredible range of produce and foods for sale! I think this is the most expensive thing I saw while I was there - langoustine vivante : That's just over US$100 / 4.5 lbs for "living" (maybe just uncooked? they don't look very alive to me) very oversized shrimp. I mean, does anyone actually buy that??? I suppose they must, or they wouldn't sell it. And here is a staple in all of my cuisine : mm, pig snout. I don't remember if the last time I wrote about the market I mentioned all the herbs and spices they have for sale as well : And the vegetables are all just beautiful. Now here is something unusual, that I had never seen before : What is it? It looks a little like an orange tomato, but that isn't it at all. According to a little booklet they had with it at the market, it is a "sharon fruit" - evidently, the sweetest of the persimmons. The booklet w...

Wednesday, 2 July I had hoped to visit a new area of the city after the work on the 2nd, but it was raining and I had a paper due the next day in my class, so unfortunately I didn't have a very exciting day. For lunch, I visited a small bakery and for once, I ate in to avoid the rain. I had my first flan, which was incredible and lead to many more flans over the following week. I am sorry to say that as I am writing about this day more than two weeks after it occurred, I do not remember it very clearly. Thursday, 3 July Since it was Thursday, of course I went to the market for lunch! I visited my favorite vendors for cherries and peaches, as I always do. Evidently, we had become quite good friends by this time, because not only was I greeted with a smile of recognition, but on a fait la bise - that is, we did the 2 kisses on the cheek. The vendor who you can see in my original market entry, the one with the cherries over his ears, evidently decided that now...

Tuesday, 1 July 2008 At work on Tuesday, we were preparing for the mailing of the invitations to the next vernissage (opening) which is September 6, for the german painter Martin Kasper. It would seem that July would be a little early for this invitation, but the gallery closes at the end of the current exhibition, July 26, and remains closed until about September 2. There would be no reason to stick around - the entire city packs up and leaves for vacation for the month of August so there is no one around. Not a bad way to live, really, with a month off every August..... For lunch, I returned to my favorite street and this time I took pictures... I ran into a friend, along the way : I'm not sure why he was hanging out in this glasses store, but it made me smile. So, here we are : This sign is at the beginning of the road just next to rue du vieille du temple. This next shot was taken from the other end of the road : It is a narrow road, with cobble stones, and it winds just a ...

I got back to Baltimore yesterday afternoon. I have not forgotten about this blog, I have just been incredibly busy in the last week with the end of my internship and class, a final exam, an oral defense of my 30 page internship report, and trying to get every last minute thing in for Paris!! But now that I have a few days to relax, I will try to finish up the posts from the last week. A bientôt,

Happy 81st birthday, Grandma ! It's no Alaska, but here are a few images you might like from Paris.... At the foot of the Eiffel tower... In the tuilerie gardens... Just below tour Montparnasse : At Place des Abbesses, in Montmartre : And finally, again at the tuileries, where they have an entire Place du Carrousel! I hope you are having a wonderful day! Joyeux Anniversaire !!! As a slight side note, there was a photo contest for the BU program, and we were allowed to submit up to 2 photos for consideration. I submitted the first scene of the Seine at dusk (a few entries ago) and the picture of my espresso in the previous entry. I don't know how many photos were received in all. It was a contest for the best picture representing Paris.... ... and my coffee won! I got a digital photo frame for it. I hope I can fit it in my luggage..... A bientôt !

Sunday, 29 June I am sorry to say the 29th was not a very exciting day. I visited the market in the morning, and I brought my friend Julie, who is also in the BU program with me. We got plently of food - cherries, peaches, watermelon for her, and ingredients for a pretty serious dinner for me. Killian and I had been talking about making salmon for a while, especially now that we're seafood experts, so I got salmon filets and lemon and green beans for dinner, and rhubarb for dessert. It was Julie's first trip to the market, so we spent probably an hour wandering around, being flâneuses, trying to compare prices and pick the best looking fruit. I of course went to my favorite vendor, who I am pretty sure told only charged me 1 E for my 1/2 kilo of cherries and peaches. I am a little bit in love with this man. After the market, I spent several hours working on my rapport de stage - my internship report - which I have probably mentioned previously, perhaps in rather colorful ...