Little Me in Paris

A Week in Paris
On Friday evening last week I embarked on my solo journey to France with far too much luggage and not enough snacks. After a chaotic sprint through the Berlin bus terminal, I hopped on a 17 hour overnight bus and got comfortable. I listened to the Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack for the first time (and then a second and third) and slept a solid 8 hours through the night. Thankfully no one sat next to me until the very last 2 hours of the ride, but those 2 hours I spent dying to get up and run in circles.

When I arrived in Paris, it was time to take the Metro to my hostel. The bus station is in the middle of a park, and France is TERRIBLE at signage, so I spent a good while walking around trying to find the Metro station. When I did, I couldn't figure out how to use the ticket machine (a weird roller ball controls the menu) and then had a fight with the train doors to get my whole body inside. I was crushed for a moment between the Metro doors, but once I squeezed my way in a very angry French man was grumbling at me. I also speak no French, so who knows what the grumbling meant. I eventually found my way through the labyrinth that is the Underground, to my hostel.

My hostel was very nice and clean, and the girls in my room were from all over the world! I had a brief moment to change my nasty bus clothes before running off to meet a friend from Berlin, so I didn't actually meet my roommates until later. I changed, got back on the train, and spent the afternoon at a flea market that was a mix of typical aggressive tourist stands selling knockoff brandnames, and really interesting vintage furniture and clothes. After the market, we found our way to a long street leading up to the Sacre Coeur, the highest point in Paris. The street was lined with fabulous patisserie and bread shops, produce stands, cheese and meat stores, flower shops--it was unbelievable. We bought a baguette, fig chutney, and fresh goat cheese, which was enjoyed overlooking the city. I also enjoyed a meringue tart with pear and chocolate, and some gelato. The food was the most important part of this whole trip--I won't be ignoring a single meal when retelling it.

Day Deux
I walked from my hostel across the St. Martin Canal for breakfast, which was the best croissant I have ever had. The good coffee was quite a shock to my system after having only German coffee for so long, I knew this would be a good week. I watched a boat going through the lock system on my walk back, which was really cool up close. After a short Metro ride, I had what was meant to be "France's Best Falafel," but was really just okay. What was really interesting, though, was the Jewish quarter we walked through to get to the falafel. There was a synagogue with kids running around, and people were selling "Etrogim," citrus fruits with religious properties, and woven palm leaves. We saw the history section of the Jewish Museum of Art and History, which had some really beautiful artifacts and little English explanation. Afterwards, we met up with another Berliner and had (pear, dark chocolate, caramelized almond, and vanilla ice cream) crepes. Back at my hostel, I watched some sort of coffee pouring competition happening on the rooftop, then headed towards the canal for an unknown adventure. I ended up in a Portuguese bakery, where I had a panini and a strange moment of hypersensitivity (empathy??) towards the meat I was eating, and decided I would no longer be eating meat for the trip. I walked the canal for a while before going to the Seine for drinks and dancing.

Day Three (Felt Like Five)
For breakfast we ventured to an Australian pancake place, which got me way too sugared up (fresh figs, hazelnuts, whipped cream) and eventually led into a tired afternoon at a park. Before getting there, we did stop at a giant food hall (five stories) and search for gifts to bring home. I was stunned by the sheer volume of chocolate and preserves, and had trouble picking anything at all (don't worry parents, I got ya'll a little something). That evening, I went back to the Sacre Coeur street of produce and patisserie and enjoyed a vegan burger and some window shopping.

Day Four, How Many More?
I got up bright and early to go see the Eiffel Tower before the crowds arrived, which was monumental (but it's no Florence Duomo--my point of reference for Western architectural beauty). I had a delicious pistachio swirl pastry in the Champ de Mars park, and set off for the Museum of Modern Art. I had only chosen it because it was closeby, and it ended up having an amazing exhibit on a German (the irony) artist, Hans Hartung. He moved to France in his early life and did most of his art there throughout the 20th century, dying a few days after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He used only pure colors (no mixing) with deep black streaks and splatters over them, I really really enjoyed every single painting. Some took up entire walls, forcing me to sit and stare for minutes. I was lucky to find something I liked so much by accident! After that I wandered around searching for a cafe, and spent the afternoon in the Wine Museum. It was an underground cavey place (for storage purposes wine cellar places are always cavernous like that), filled with tools and technology spanning hundreds of years. I enjoyed a glass of sweet white wine from Toulouse, which was more like apple juice for some reason. I headed back to the hostel area for dinner, where I decided upon a juice bar because HOW MUCH BREAD AND CHEESE CAN A PERSON REALLY HANDLE? I was happy to have a change.

Day Five
Again, I got up bright and early to be the first in line for the Louvre--a very good idea considering I only waited in line for 30 minutes and got in for free as an EU student. The museum was huge, every room leading to three others, impossible to stay on a path. I wandered around for 5 or 6 hours, eventually confused as to how to escape the maze of never-ending art. The highlight was the Islamic section, which had beautiful tiles and rugs (kind of hidden away). After the Louvre I went back to the Lafayette shopping area, and then joined a friend from Berlin for crepes!

Day Six (AGH)
Being my last full day, I had to do everything else on my list on Thursday. However, my list was basically empty at this point, and the one museum I wanted to see was closed. So I walked aimlessly until I found the Pablo Picasso Museum, which was very interesting (but simple). After that, I walked to the Jewish quarter and quickly did the Shoah Museum before heading to my scheduled puff pastry class! This was the thing I had been most excited for during the trip, and it totally lived up to my expectations. We made mille fuilles, palmiers, cheese twists, and savory pinwheels. Everything was delicious. I fell asleep way early that night, and in the morning woke up also way too early, so I headed to a coworking space to do some homework until my bus home.

The Never-ending Bus
The bus left at 4PM and arrived in Berlin at 10AM the next day, with stops more often than I would have liked. There were always people sitting next to me, and I slept from like 4:30-9AM. Luckily, I took a short S-bahn home after the bus and slept until 1PM. It was overall a really fulfilling trip, and left me tired and ready for a day of rest before school on Monday. And Monday went as well as one would expect after being gone for a week--I left all my workbooks at home and took the wrong bus to campus. But I also got good scores back on my midterms (and won first place in German Kahoot, very important). Focus is shifting towards our research papers, and I'm very excited about both of mine. It's going to be a good week!

I'M BUSY

Midterms!
This week we had our midterm exams. I just had to prep a few essays and review some film vocabulary, so studying for my subject courses went smoothly (as did my tests). I dropped the ball on my German exam by studying only grammar, and then not knowing articles or plurals for super simple words. I've been doing relatively well in German (49/50 three tests in a row😉), so I'm not too concerned about my overall grade. Anyways, now that tests are over here's a little look back on the week and forward towards what's to come!

Last Weekend
I finally found BAGELS. After months of bagel-less breakfasts, I accidentally stumbled upon a cafe with every kind of bagel you could imagine. I had a sesame bagel with cream cheese and oh my goodness it was so good. I spend most of Saturday morning wandering around Bergmannkiez, where I found a food hall (with Italian fig jam! And peanut butter!!) and a vintage clothes market. That night my friends and I ventured back to the rooftop bar from Week 1, where we FINALLY bought our plane tickets for London! In November we'll be staying for a weekend--right before final research papers are due but it's fine.

Nothing Exciting Happened This Week...
I was guilting myself into writing this update but there's a reason the update didn't feel necessary: nothing really interesting happened this week! I took some tests, hung out with my people, had some good cheesy bread, and watched Big Mouth. I'm leaving for Paris in a few hours, so I've been thinking about that basically 24/7. I reserved a spot in a puff pastry class for Thursday, and mapped out most of my trip. I have not yet given up on seeing King Gizzard, so I'll let ya'll know if that works out in the end. (Once I'm back in Berlin I'll be seeing Steve Lacy!)

In Other News (News Is A Strong Word)
I've been pushing myself to speak German more than ever, and I think I'm getting better when my anxiety doesn't get in the way. I shouldn't expect myself to have a perfect food order in German, when I can barely do it in English. I would really love to come back here after I graduate (or sooner) to work on the language. I have really grown fond of this city and will miss it very much when I come home.

I Just Love Berlin

Unity Day!
This city is perfect. This week we celebrated German Unity Day with a 4 day weekend, and I've been making the most of it. The fun began on Tuesday, when I went to see La Traviata at the Deutsch Opera. It was a long and beautiful show (with German and English captioning). The female lead was one of the most talented singers I've ever seen live. At the end, the cast came out for like a dozen bows, and everyone just kept clapping. I hope to go again before I leave Berlin.

On Wednesday evening, I went to a reading by Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer. She was an adorable 97 year old woman, who spent an entire hour reading her biography to us. She told her story of her family's arrest in 1943, shortly before she went into hiding for a year and three months. She was hidden by the Berlin Underground (if you've seen The Pianist, picture that sort of hiding). Her family was killed in Auschwitz immediately upon arrival, and she tells her story with clear remainders of survivors guilt. She didn't write her book until after her husband's death in the early 2000's, and moved back to Berlin in 2010. She talked about this controversial decision with us, explaining how she's here not to face her perpetrators, but to connect with 3rd and 4th generations about the issue. She preached empathy; "All blood is human blood, regardless of race or religion or age." It was a really special experience.

On Thursday, I took off on my own to the Babylon (which is my new favorite place ever). I saw "The Threepenny Opera," a 1933 satire musical about class conflict and crime and gender and it was SO GOOD. I've decided it will be the subject of my film class research paper. I also had a kouign-amann for the first time ever--I just love patisserie. I am so excited for France, and French dessert.

Yesterday, a friend and I ventured to the Neues Museum, which features Roman and Greek statues, sculptures, and art. I have so little knowledge on ancient history that places like that always leave me feeling inspired to read more. It was a pretty cold day, so we went for some Vietnamese food and then to Alexanderplatz for shopping. I bought new sneakers, and am one small step closer to being a true Berliner.