Mon coup de cœur. Paris.

[thenordroom]

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Paris, vous me manquez

[silly-luv]

[paris-cestlavie]

While coming home after class with groceries in hand

"Ahhh, tu es très gentille!!" (trans: you're so nice/kind!) I see a pair of hands reaching towards my groceries before I slowly looked up to discover that it was one of the waiters from the little restaurant I was passing by on my street, talking to me with a smile... and of course I was utterly bewildered (there goes that stereotype of Parisians being cold and unfriendly. Here is one not only talking to me but trying to joke with me). With a tiny smile frozen on my face, a hundred different incoherent phrases ran through my mind (if you haven't guessed already, I was struggling to form a comprehensible French sentence) but the only thing I eventually managed to get out was a nice "Bonsoir!" That's right. Someone is actually being friendly and wanted to joke but all I could do was continue walking (to ease the awkwardness you know), deepen the smile on my face, and yell GOOD EVENING! sorry waiter, if only I was at that level where I can joke in French without you noticing that I wasn't really French. I guess I'm kind of flattered that people have been speaking to me in French now (at least I have successfully integrated and can pass off as Parisian)! But really, my slow improvement in French after being here for more than 3 months is making me feel just a tiny bit guilty and inept.

[witty-pastiche]

[paris-cestlavie]

The French have a lot of quirky little celebrations/holidays.

Today, the third Thursday of November (Nov 21st this year), is the day of Beaujolais Nouveau. It is as my French teacher says, "une grande technique de marketing!" (a great marketing technique).

So what exactly is Beaujolais Nouveau? The term "Beaujolais Nouveau" refers to the red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is a vin de primeur, which means that the wine is being sold in the same year in which the grapes used to make it was harvested. The wine is oftentimes made only a few weeks after the grapes have been harvested.

Nouveau wines are often light bodied and paler in color due to the very short (or nonexistent) maceration period followed by a similarly short fermentation period. Oftentimes the wines have not been exposed to any oak or extended aging prior to being released to the market. They are also characterized by a fruity taste and may contain some residual sugar. Nouveau wines are at their peak drinkability within the first year, meaning that this is the time period in which they should taste the best. 

There is a reason why my French teachers says that this day is just a big marketing technique. There used to be races to get the first bottles to different markets around the globe. Restaurants like the one above often put out posters to invite people inside for a wine tasting. Also, Beaujolais Nouveau are usually made of what's left over after the winemakers have finished using the best ingredients to create their wines. The Beaujolais wine image was tarnished with the adding of flavored yeast (such as banana, pineapple, etc.), so it is no surprise that there is a kind of social stigma associated with the wine.  French people usually don't drink Beaujolais because they don't consider it "real" quality wine.

[paris-cestlavie]

Karl Lagerfeld came to Sciences Po to give a lecture to the master students and fashion class students today! At first the halls were pretty empty and we just thought pshaww maybe only us foreigners are making a big fuss about it…the head fashion designer and creative director of Chanel and Fendi coming to our school? no big deal for the French students! But how wrong we were. When Karl came out of the lecture room, there was suddenly a rush of students from every corner of the lobby just appearing and circling him to take pictures (French and foreigners alike). Guess this made up for missing most of fashion week because I was sick last time :D

[paris-cestlavie]

Pretty much sums up my Parisian experience of studying at a café.

[paris-cestlavie]

I'm guessing France really has no other major holidays between now and Christmas - when I walked into Carrefour today, they have already set up their Christmas candies!

[boujhetto]

Wine 101 

How-to Choose

How-to Pair w/Food

Using The Right Glass Shows You Have Class 

Basic Types of Wine

Expanded typing of Wines

What Temp For EachType of Wine

Knowing Your Wine Colors

Wine Type Descriptions

Caloric Comparison vs. Beer

Coffees  

A friend once told me (while discussing wines & spirits) to learn about coffees too… " Because you’ll eventually need them, if / when you enjoy too much good spirits."

Infographics: Wine Folleys, Primer Magazine, and Chicago Food Magazine.

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How to be an Adult 201

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This is the most beautiful post I’ve ever seen.

[the-cryptid-next-door]

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Because this is actually relevant to what I’m studying

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Seriously.

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quick lesson on how to distinguish real champagne from sparkling wine (as taught in my wine class):

real champagne has bubbles that will continuously travel up to the top of the glass and it is best served/drank in a flute glass!

[paris-cestlavie]

Yesterday I went to a wine tasting festival at Fête Des Vendanges (Montmartre fête l'Amour) in the Montmartre Basilique Du Sacre-Coeur.

There were also fireworks (with music this time!) and I was able to catch the last of them since my friend and I got there late (the fireworks started at 9:45pm and we got there at 10). There were SO MUCH people though. While going up to the church, I barely had to move, I was just swept along by the crowd.

Set up around Sacre-Coeur, there were various wine tasting booths and also stands that sold French traditional food such as foie-gras (note: some of these pictures were taken by my friend, thank you!).

French lesson of the night: Canard = Duck and Oie = Goose.

[paris-cestlavie]

After having complained so much about Paris weather last time, Paris actually does look very beautiful whenever it is sunny. Like today for example! Such gorgeous weather! Too bad I need to stay home to study...

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Rainy day in Paris today - continuing from the last post, compare the first picture (Paris in the rain) with the rest. It clearly shows which weather I prefer haha (and it doesn't hurt that LMH is the starring lead of this drama...)

Movies like Midnight in Paris tell us things like "Paris is the most beautiful in the rain". From personal experience, that, I can assure you, is very far from the truth! ...uh well, but I guess it does depend on how you look at it. 

Excluding everything else, Paris is indeed beautiful in the rain, as it gives off this depressing and mysterious aesthetic feeling (jk about the depressing part...but not really...) to the entire city. Most of the French (like the British people) have perfected the art of walking around in the rain without the need for an umbrella - a feat, as I must say, that I don't think I will ever be able to obtain. Without proper rain gear (boots, waterproof jacket/coat, umbrella), one can probably still stroll along the streets of Paris perfectly fine GIVEN that there is no wind. But as is often the case, rain does come with wind. When that happens, you will simply feel miserable in the Parisian cold as the rain drops start escaping your shield of an umbrella and begin hitting you squarely in the face and on your body. 

[paris-cestlavie]

So I was watching Heirs (Korean drama) yesterday as, I guess you can say, a kind of stress-reliever. Before the show started, I have already heard that some parts of it was filmed in SoCal (mainly Santa Monica, downtown LA, and Malibu). Though I had expected it, I was still nevertheless amazed by the beautiful filmography of these dear scenes of my hometown.

I guess after having lived in Cali for so long, I have become somewhat immune to its beauty and all its elements that have drawn tourists from all over the world to this sunshine state, mainly: the sandy beaches, wide streets, palm trees, Disneyland, and the glamours of Hollywood.

But after seeing this drama yesterday and the scenery in it, it suddenly made me miss home quite a bit - especially that nice and sunny California weather. Suddenly, that quote from the drama in the last picture "everything you ever wanted is here in California" feels very true! (because home is where everything is).

I also finally understand why so many people yearn to study or live here. When I was talking to a few of my fellow exchange students here, I was surprised to learn that the competition to study or do an exchange in the States is high, because it is almost everyone’s first choice to go to the U.S. (even if it is to lower-tier schools than those they would have gotten into if they chose another country). As someone who has grown up here in California and wished more than anything to study/live in Europe, I was confounded by this piece of news. But after watching the first two episodes of Heirs, I think I can finally understand why. As per usual, the stereotypes of Californians were fully portrayed in the drama (it was almost painful to watch, really). However, it is exactly these portrayals that have given so many that "perfect" false illusion of what California, or even the entire U.S., is like. California has been glorified in its entirety as a carefree haven where everyone goes surfing and partying on the sunny, sandy beaches every day, where people live in big houses, and drive around in Maseratis. 

I guess you can just say that California advertises itself really well. However, there are many other places that have also been glorified by the media - and one of the most prominent ones that I can think of right now is, of course, Paris.

Called by many as the City of Love and Romance, Paris is, in reality, just like every other city that has been glorified. Under its glamour, there are many problems hidden in the dark that one may not have noticed lest they lived here for a period of time (as I am starting to discover). But of course, every city has its good and bad - it all depends on how one looks at it. 

[paris-cestlavie]

Paris Fashion Week

It was Paris Fashion Week last week! (September 24 - October 2, 2013). On September 27, they also held a Paris Fashion Night Out near the Louvre, where stores opened late into the night holding events and activities to start off the fashion week.

There were so many reporters, fashion editors, celebrities, and models out and about all around Paris, especially in districts of the 1st (where this year's main arena was in - the Tuileries Gardens), 6th, and 7th arrondisements. Everyone in these districts were all dressed up so nicely and fashionably.

Living in one of the most popular, rich, beautiful, fashion-forward, and touristy area, the 6th arrondisement of Saint-Germain, you would have expected me to run into these fashionistas left and right. BUT, as is always with my luck, I did not run into anyone!

To make matters worst, some of my friends apparently ran into Dakota and Elle Fanning. And two of them talked to the Brazil Creative Director for Vogue over coffee when they didn't even realize who she was (they were sitting next to each other in a cafe by coincidence).

It also didn't help that I was sick (great timing) for that entire week and had to stay in bed.

So to console my sadness of missing one of the most exciting weeks in Paris, I will post here some photos of the Fashion Week.

Valentino - Paris Haute Couture

These two sisters.

Princess Charlene of Monaco wears a bright lipstick as she arrives at the Louis Vuitton show.

And other street styles as gathered by Vanity Fair (this is really what you will see on the streets though!)

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2013/09/street-style-paris-fashion-week