I think I'll go backwards this time, with the most recent thing first. So, here we go!
Thanksgiving was an interesting event. One of the MBA students, Sean, rented out the kitchen of what is affectionately known as the escargot, which is actually the campus chapel. The reason it has this name is because it is actually shaped a bit like a snail. It is circular, and all of the hallways inside of it even go in circles. I showed up in the afternoon to make some yummy mashed potatoes. You can't go wrong with those, right? While I was making the mashed potatoes, Sean was working on his 15lb turkey (which didn't exactly fit in the oven), and Anna was making a homemade pumpkin pie straight from the pumpkin. After I was finished, I left for a little bit. When I came back, there were a ton of people cooking. I would say that at least 10-15 people made different dishes for the meal, and then 20-25 people ate it. It was a different celebration from what I am used to, but it was still a good experience.
I have also visited the Chinese quarter in Paris. It was not as spectacular as the Chinatown of San Francisco, nor the one in New York, but it was still good on its own regard. There is a nice supermarket not far from the metro station we entered at, and I know I will be returning there. They had a lot of different products crammed into a tight space, and it was all at a very reasonable price. I was finally able to buy some sesame oil to properly make fried rice, and they had a whole aisle of different types of noodle soups. We also walked around in a couple of clothing stores and gift shops. There was one store that was full of kitchenware - beautiful dishes, tea sets, and they also had a large selection of items to be used in a kitchen. We ended our time in the Chinese quarter by visiting a restaurant. Yummy chinese food ;-). We then headed to the Eiffel tower to see it at night, and I was actually able to take a few decent pictures!
Becca, Sarah, Anna, another Becca, and I went to Eurodisney a couple of weeks ago. The parks were decorated for Christmas, and it was beautiful. It was also absolutely packed. We made it on to 9 or 10 rides, and each ride had a wait that was somewhere between 30 and 80 minutes. Even with the fast pass there was still a long wait a lot of the time. All of the rides were actually the same as what can be found in Disney World, with the only difference being that the majority of the actually ride is indoors due to the climate. A good example of this is the Rockin' Roller Coaster which was completely inside, but at Disney World a good portion is oudoors. I also indulged in buying a few more of the collectible pins, in this case Wall-E pins and Eurodisney pins :-). Another interesting difference was the type of food that was offered. In the cafeterias, they had croque monsieur and different French sandwiches. Without a doubt, in the US this would be chicken strips and hamburgers. Also, the food carts served things like crepes, and in the US they would serve funnel cake. Can you tell which one is healthier? But continuing on... We stayed till closing time, and were able to see some of the fireworks. Gorgeous! Then, it took us over 2 hours to get back to Jouy. We didn't even catch the last train out of the park, but we were rushing to catch the last train heading to Jouy.
For Armistice Day, Anna, Sarah, and I went to Chartres. It's a small town about an hour out from Versailles, but definitely worth visiting for a day. The main sight in town is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres. We spent a bit of time there, and climbed up one of the towers. It provided a nice view of the city, and an opportunity to take fun photos. Then we walked down to the old city. It was absolutely gorgeous. While we were walking about, it started raining just a little bit. All of a sudden, there was a rainbow! The first one I've seen here, I believe. Most of the time it's just too cloudy to see anything but clouds. Before leaving Chartres, we decided that we wanted to have crepes. However, all of those restaurants that we had seen open all day long closed! It was due to Armistice Day, I am sure, and we continued to walk around until we found a slightly over-priced restaurant/pub to sit down in and have the crepes.
I also went to an election watch party the night of the election. That was absolute madness, I'll tell you. Doors opened at midnight, and we got there around that time. The line was absolutely crazy (the French seemed to like to shove their way to the front of a line) and at one point they stopped letting anyone in. To try to stop the madness, the organizers decided to try to let people in alphabetically, which did not really work. One of the main problems was that they were expecting 3-400 people, and I think over 1000 sent in an RSVP. Then, probably double that amount showed up at the door, so there were people who had not RSVPed mixed in with those who had, and they were shoving to the front. So, long story short, we didn't get inside until 2 or 2:30. It was a bit crazy inside, too, only enough room to stand. When a state for Obama would come in, people would cheer and dance, but when it was for McCain the boos were absolutely deafening. I left around 3:30, and even our cab driver was listening to election news on the radio.
We also went to both Ste. Chapelle, and Musée d'Orangerie. Ste. Chapelle is near Notre Dame, and it was gorgeous. There were some wonderful stained glass windows, and they all depicted stories from the bible. Then, Musée d'Orangerie has the water lily collection of Monet. These pictures were soooo long across the walls. We had some fun taking pictures by the paintings.
That's it for now, I'll say. Now I need to try to figure out what to do with myself next year, and practice to take the GRE!
I also went to an election watch party the night of the election. That was absolute madness, I'll tell you. Doors opened at midnight, and we got there around that time. The line was absolutely crazy (the French seemed to like to shove their way to the front of a line) and at one point they stopped letting anyone in. To try to stop the madness, the organizers decided to try to let people in alphabetically, which did not really work. One of the main problems was that they were expecting 3-400 people, and I think over 1000 sent in an RSVP. Then, probably double that amount showed up at the door, so there were people who had not RSVPed mixed in with those who had, and they were shoving to the front. So, long story short, we didn't get inside until 2 or 2:30. It was a bit crazy inside, too, only enough room to stand. When a state for Obama would come in, people would cheer and dance, but when it was for McCain the boos were absolutely deafening. I left around 3:30, and even our cab driver was listening to election news on the radio.
We also went to both Ste. Chapelle, and Musée d'Orangerie. Ste. Chapelle is near Notre Dame, and it was gorgeous. There were some wonderful stained glass windows, and they all depicted stories from the bible. Then, Musée d'Orangerie has the water lily collection of Monet. These pictures were soooo long across the walls. We had some fun taking pictures by the paintings.
That's it for now, I'll say. Now I need to try to figure out what to do with myself next year, and practice to take the GRE!
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