Plus Petite

Everything is smaller in France. The sidewalks, the drinking glasses, the ceilings in the mall, shampoo bottles, cars, all that jazz.

They have less space in France so it would make sense to have smaller things and be more prone to conservation but I also think it’s representative of the culture of excess in the United States. We have to have things bigger better, more impressive.

I think that this “culture of excess” can be linked to American eating/exercise habits as well. People in France and Poland put butter on their sandwiches, that’s like unheard of in the United States. (Although I’m starting to realize now that I’m here in Krakow that just as many Polish people are chubbin it out as Americans, and I shouldn’t go by my super tall/skinny cousins as a guide to the Polish norm! lol) Americans are carb weary forgoing pasta and bread for lettuce wraps while in France they chow down on baguettes everyday. Milk in France is like half and half! I drink skim milk at home and I’m going to have to take some time to get used to it again because the milk I drink every morning in France for breakfast is creamy and delicious.

I feel like Americans are super health conscious on one end and then really chubby and lazy on the other - there’s like no middle ground. Exercising and going to the gym is much bigger in the U.S. than it is France. I honestly don’t think the concept of moderation exists in the U.S. Thus we are both one of the heaviest populations in the world as well as the ones obsessed with dieting, exercise, and body image. I think I eat healthier in the U.S. but eat more and obviously walk less even on campus than I do here.

Europeans I’ve noticed both in Poland and in France utilize space better in their homes. They make the most of what they have.

My host mom in France considers Tours a small city but to me it’s pretty grand especially compared to a place like Grand Blanc, Michigan.

I went to a bar/café in town called The Guinguette on the banks of the Loire River and it had such a nice ambience with strung lights, completely outdoor tables and chairs, an area for games, a stage for music that I thought I would have loved to have had this place around when I was a teenager.

There are so many cafes, parks, and shops in Tours! In Grand Blanc the main hang out was the Starbucks where I went to too many times. Teenagers hang out along the banks of the Loire at night in circles talking and smoking (tobacco and weed) and it seems like such a nice slow paced sort of lifestyle here that I wonder how my life might have been different had I grown up here.

All this being said, I still feel like the United States is my home and always will be. 

Les Femmes! Fumez!?

My French professor here in Tours, Olivier, was telling us about how the division between the sexes in France is manifested through differing standards on public smoking. He said it was acceptable for men to smoke in public but less acceptable for a woman to do so.

Now surely a lot has changed especially in the past 50 years, but I think he said they were still vestiges of this double standard left in society.

Maybe I could equate it to something like double standard on sleeping around in American society – even though women sleep around as much as guys nowadays it’s still looked down more upon a woman if she sleeps around than it is for a man.

Anyway he gave an interesting explanation as to why it was more unacceptable for a woman to smoke in public. When a woman smokes in public it shows that she is doing something for herself in a very open way and in a patriarchal society women aren’t allowed to do things pleasurable for themselves. However it’s okay for a man to smoke in public because he can partake in pleasurable things while women had to cater to others not themselves.

Disclaimer: this was all explained in French so there’s a possibility I could have missed something. I don’t think I was paying attention but started to when he began explaining this so I could have missed some stuff.

What do you guys think?

(Image from weheartit.com)

Interlude: London

I went to London this past weekend! Well, we only got to really explore the city for one day on Saturday. My friends Mary and Kaitie and I got into the city late on Friday night after about 7 hours of traveling! It was pretty hectic but we figured everything out, due in large part to Kaitie's awesome navigation skills.

St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, and namesake of the hostel we stayed at in London! :)

Looking back on the weekend, I am so happy.

Being a traveller gives you this amazing sense of adventure and joy but transporting oneself from one place to another can be draining. I feel like a lot of the time I set off to have the perfect experience, try to plan everything, attempt to make everything perfect, and worry about things not turning out the way I planned. And it never makes me happy, only grumpy. I think if I learned more to take things as they come, I'd be better off and enjoy the moments as they're happening.


Despite being in London for essentially only day I did a lot of cool things:
1. Drank traditional UK/Irish drinks (Pimm's and Guinness) at two pubs in South London

2. Walked through Green Park and Hyde Park. (The British definitely do Parks better - they actually have flowers in them! ) :)
3. Saw Buckingham Palace and some redcoats
4. Went to TopShop and though it was fashion heaven the price to fabric ratio were not worth it at all - horribly overpriced! Gimme F21 over TopShop any day
5. Went to the National Gallery of Art in London and saw a Vermeer, Redon and Van Gogh art in addition to finding an interesting Renaissance artist that I want to learn more about - Jan Gossaert

6. Convent Garden
7. Talked to British Evangelics about Jesus
8. Took the Tube, Underground... Mind the Gap!!!
9. Walked along the Thames and saw Parliament, the London Eye, and Big Ben

10. Listened to British radio and were laughing and heard people talk about stereotypical British things like Posh and Becks and soccer
11. Got to talk to a few locals, though I would have liked to talk to a lot more :( that's what traveling is all about meeting new people!!
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When we got into the city Friday night we were all a bit frustrated from so many long hours of traveling then having to navigated the London Underground for the first time to get to the hostel was a challenge after being so tired.

When we finally did get out unto the street where our hostel was at and check in we went in search for a nice chill place to have a drink at. We were staying south of the Thames I think in the neighborhood Southwark.

We went up and down Borough High Street and it felt like EL on a Thursday night. The hostel bar was jam packed and there was club music on and a guy completely passed out in front of the bar on the ground surrounded by friends and police.

However we found the Old King's Head bar in a passageway and had a great first night in town. The Old King's Head was beautiful and classy on the inside and we all tried Guinness. The bartender was really cool and when he saw my passport started joking around about having to charge me more because of that 1-1 England vs US world cup game last weekend.

The next day we were up bright and early and were literally on our feet for 8 hours. I now possess an impressive level of endurance for walking. 

We started on the tube which took us across the river to Green Park. We walked around Green Park for a bit marveled at the sun chairs in the park and strolled over to Buckingham Palace. It looks more grand I think in pictures or maybe just the clusterfuck of tourists waiting for the changing of the guard turned me off  to it.

Then we strolled over to Hyde Park and walked around. Hyde Park is so beautiful! European parks actually have gardens in them, not just a rare and meek scattering of flowers as in the U.S. There was an enclave of roses surrounding a cherub fountain and it was one of my favorite places if not my favorite in London because once you stepped there the smell of roses surrounds you.

Then we went up through Soho/West End area and ate at Pret A Manger a healthy-environmentally friendly British fast food chain then headed to TopShop. Despite being in fashion heaven there, the prices plus conversion rate are too ridiculous and after much debate, left empty-handed.

We then stopped at Cafe Rouge and had a drink. One thing I noticed about London is the city's propensity to French themed food places. There were a significant patisseries and cafes lining the streets as we strolled through Soho, the West End, Westminster, and Convent Garden. I also heard French frequently spoken on the streets.

Eventually we ended up in Trafulgar Square where 3 awkward Evangelicals approached us. We had nice small talk with two of them until the whole God thing was brought up. One of the guys had a skin disfiguration and I was thinking that it must be better for him to believe what he believed given his struggles and disability from what he was saying to us about not letting other people's opinions get us down.

After the three guys had prayed over my friend Kaitie we headed to the National Gallery of Art and saw works by Van Gogh, Redon, Monet, Cézanne, and Vermeer.

We had dinner, strolled along the River Thames, and ended our stay in London by going to the Trinity pub in Southwark.

My only regret is that we didn't talk to more locals especially at the pubs. To me that's really the best part about traveling - meeting new people rather than wasting time and money in tourist traps.

Chenonceau and the original cougar

Our class went to the château Chenonceau (pronounced Sh-non-so) last weekend. It is a beautiful castle on the Cher River that was built in the middle ages and is situated not far from where I'm studying in Loire Valley. I didn't do any research to the history of the castle before going. On the way back to Tours I became intrigued by the history I was reading.

The first page of the guidebook has the heading "château of Chenonceau, the ladies' château" and as you flip through the most of the pages, you realize that the history of Chenonceau belongs more to the women of the French aristocracy than it did to the kings.

Most of the rooms bear the names of the woman who lived in Chenonceau throughout the years and its their lives who gave the château meaning and character.

In 1547 after the death of his father, Henri II offered Chenonceau to his beloved and mistress Diane de Poitiers. Diane was 20 years older than him and had known him and mentored him since he was a child! The original 'cougar' - Diane de Poitiers!

She had the most beautiful feature of Chenonceau built when she extended the château to connect to the opposite bank of the river. It is an interesting and unexpected feature and when you look out through the windows in that part of the château and the flow of the Cher river induces calm.

Diane wielded considerable power at court and influenced Henri's political decisions. Around Chenonceau one can observe the initials of Henri II and his wife Catherine de Medici, but the letters H and C are interwoven in such a way to form the D of Diane.

 >> me in the gallery overlooking the Cher!

I admired Chenonceau for its architecture the most. There wasn't much furniture inside the château as the kings of France moved often from château to château during the Middle Ages. This was done so the king could see and visit the common people all throughout his kingdom. It is said that the change to a permanent residence at Versailles for later kings of France helped contribute to the downfall of the monarchy because the king had lost touch with the people.

Most rooms, like I said, were minimally furnished and looked the same with a small square bed with a canopy and tapestries from Flanders decorating the walls. 

My favorite room was Louise of Lorraine's. The walls were painted instead in dark grey color with white accents of mourning objects such as silver tears, crowns of thorns, and widow's cordons, since she retired to Chenonceau after the death of her husband Henri III.

There is also a prie-dieu in Louise's room. A prie-dieu is a wooden structure designed to aid one in praying situated in front of a tall windo, which I thought was interesting!

 >>my friend Kaitie tryin' out the prie-dieu!

Tomorrow my class is going on another excursion to the châteaux Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry also located in the Loire Valley, the premier hotspot for châteaux in France.

La nourriture (Food)

I'm concerned with my diet in France. I eat bread and butter/or/cheese at literally every meal.

When you walk down the streets of Tours during lunchtime you cannot walk one block without seeing at least 3 people eating baguettes or baguette sandwiches.

I talked with my host mom this morning about the diets of Americans and French. I told her that a lot of Americans are carb weary because of the Atkins rhetoric we hear all the time. She cooks a lot of good food, but we eat cheese, butter, and cream sauces often. I wonder how the French stay so skinny!

Her answer was that it's the processed foods that make one fat not the natural stuff like bread, potatoes and butter! She also said that France was catching up with America in terms of weight gain. :P

It also seems as though the French don't drink as much during meals. They'll have a glass of wine during dinner or a glass of water but the glasses here are small compared to those in America and I feel like I look odd pouring myself as many glasses as I do during a meal!

I guess it's part of the culture of excess in the United States... everything does seem to have to be bigger in America. I'm going to talk more about the "culture of excess" in another blog post!

Oh another funny thing - I bought tweezers here that have pictures of French macaroons on them. The macaroons here are different than the American version and I'm excited to try them!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37158245/ns/travel-luxury/?pg=10#TRAVEL_100514_WhatNotToDoParis_Concierge

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Here's a typical sampling of what I eat daily in France:

Breakfast - Baguette with butter, jam, nutella, or honey, pain au lait (small rectangular bread), café au lait, les chouquettes (think of cream puffs without the cream, pictured below)

Lunch - Baguette with cheese, baguette with sliced ham, cheese and butter = classic French sandwich and lunch, various crudités.

Dinner - Lettuce with vinaigrette dressing, wine, baguette & cheese, some type of meat, vegetables (vegetables and meat are prepared with only a little spicing), and a speciality dish from different regions in France particularly Lyon because that's where my host mom was born.

Dessert - French desserts are reaaaalllllyyyy good, crème chocolat, tarte aux fruits, or simply fruit after dinner.

*My host family doesn't do courses, but a lot people who I've talked to their families do.

à la messe

I went to church this past Sunday in grand ornate cathedral dating back from the Middle Ages. As the small compact car my host mom owns pulled up in front of the cathédrale de Saint-Gatien, I was taken aback - the sheer intricacy and grandeur of the place is unbelievable.

To be sure there are very few churches in the United States that are built in a gothic style... I told my host mom, Monique, that Saint-Gatien was reminiscent of St. Patrick's in New York.

As I stood outside looking up at it in awe this French man around my dad's age walks past me and says "oooooh mignonne." I've heard that European men do express themselves in such an outward manner (or should I say creepy?) but here's to hoping he's a creepy outlier and not the norm.

During the service I encountered a bit of cultural misunderstanding. During one part of Catholic mass in America one shakes the people's hands who are by you and says "Peace be with you". In French mass you say something like "La paix de Christ" and in addition to shaking hands, "kiss the air" around the people's cheeks. I didn't know this and I felt bad for the boy in front of me who leaned in as I awkwardly paused and said nothing (because I wasn't sure what was being said - I was thinking they were saying "le corps de Christ"). I wonder what he thought about me! lol

The most interesting thing though was that my host mom told me that she doesn't go to this church like at all because most of the parishioners are the bourgeoisie. In French class professors always told us that the bourgeoisie was akin to America's middle class. However I'm confused because my host mom appears to fall within the scope of the middle class, according to American standards anyway.

She reads extensively, from what I can tell. The books that pack the shelves in her living room consist of books about Chopin's time in France and one entitled "Sexe et l'identité feminine". The poor classes in America are known to be less educated than other classes, so this also poses another question in terms of correlation between education and class in France.

Le rêve Européen

Finally in Europe for the first time in my life. My journey began with the 5 hour car ride from Chicago to Detroit to board the group flight yesterday, followed by the 8 hour plane ride, and then a 3 hour bus ride from Charles de Gaulle airport to Tours, France where I will be staying.

Traveling is hectic. Air France, while being very hospitable, is not a good place to catch some shut eye and with all that sitting down my legs hurt incredibly and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything.

I haven't done any exploring but I have observed something interesting things already.

The 3 hour bus ride through central France was for the most part un-riveting. The French highway system would probably be undistinguishable from the American version in terms of landscape save for a few interesting features.

Most of the houses that dotted the countryside were similar in construction - all were very old with cream/tan exteriors and roofs in various shades of orange. Throughout the rase campagne (open country) stood majestic cypress trees and along borders of the highway were beautiful bright red-orange poppies. These little details struck me because they've been ingrained in my head through Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, though I hadn't realized it til today.

When I finally saw them it was an odd moment... to recognize something you've never seen before.

Monet

Van Gogh

Van Gogh