ON THE MENU: “I eat dinner with my host family at night. One night my host-father made an incredible veal dish called blanquette de veau. I also enjoyed possibly the best duck confit and tarte tatin (caramelized apple tart) I will ever eat. Classic French dishes abound in cafes: onion soup, croque monsieur (grilled cheese with ham), and omelets are always on the menu.’’
METRO NO-NO: “There are two bakeries conveniently located on my four-minute walk to the Metro in the morning, so I thought it would be a good system to grab a croissant and eat on the ride to school. After noticing some pointed glances, I quickly realized that no one ever eats on the Metro. It seems that the idea of meals-in-transit does not appeal to the French.’’
ATTENTION, PLEASE: “Having two two-hour-long classes each day was a major adjustment. Other than giving my attention span a workout, classes aren’t all that different from those in America. They’re pretty standard, small seminar classes, just taught entirely in French.’’
BOOK WORK: “I do sometimes feel that there is too much to achieve a good balance between going to school and taking advantage of living in Paris. And there are assignments that would be unreasonable in any country: 300 pages of reading in a week?’’
MISTAKE DU JOUR: “Menus have been an unexpected challenge. I’ve had numerous mistake meals, such as a dish of whole chickpeas adrift in a sea of oil when I was expecting hummus. I also ordered ‘andouillette’ for lunch, excited to try the sausage until my teacher warned me that it was filled with tripe. The phrase ‘I’m full’ happens to not translate easily into French. The literal translation, ‘je suis plein,’ implies that you are pregnant.’’
CHRIS MURPHY
