Le pain (Bread)

So, as you might imagine, they eat a lot of bread here in Paris. Don?t get me wrong, I love bread. But?one problem. I?m allergic.

Okay, so I?m not a celiac. And I won?t convulse on the floor if I have a little. It?s very mild but it makes me really uncomfortable ? like lethargic and bloated and itchy eyes and skin. Not fun.

I had my first run in this morning. We got to school at 10:00am to find a table full of different pastries ? pain au chocolat, croissants ? you name it. Glorious, right? Well, I decided to indulge in my very first pastry of my trip and loved every bite. The after effects? Not so much. I nearly fell asleep at the table!  And yes, I slept last night. And no, it?s not jet lag!

Well, lunch came around several hours later and what do you think it was? Sandwiches! Delicious, yes. Mais pour moi ? not so much!

Sad, yes? Don?t know what I?m going to do about the whole bread situation. Seriously, this is Paris. I?d LOVE to indulge in a croissant every once in aewhile. But I?m not sure if I can handle the bread everyday thing.

Oh and I didn?t even get to dessert! We shared a galette among the group -

The tradition in France is (at least what I remember of what our teacher explained?) that in the galette there is a little ceramic piece hidden (traditionally it?s something else but I don?t remember) and if you get it you get to wear the crown?or something. (Okay, I?m butchering this story?but it was neat at the time!) The youngest person goes under the table and yells out who to give each piece of the galette to. It was cute and a really neat tradition. And of course, the galette was delicious.

Gluten:2  Courtney:0

So what?s a girl living in Paris to do for 5 months? Je ne sais pas! (I don?t know!) I?m certain I?ll figure it out. But ? at least the symptoms I get are mostly discomfort. The whole itchy-red-face-lethargic thing isn?t fun, but I think it will be bearable for a pain au chocolate here and there

The rest of the day was lots of fun. It was really cold and we woke up to lots of snow on the ground. This is what it looked like  in the courtyard when we got to school this morning?

Pretty darn amazing, huh? I had to pinch myself a little

After a bit of orientation ? an intorduction to living in Paris (did you know that if you accept a drink from someone in a bar here, you are basically agreeing to sleep with them? Yahhh?) we headed out for a ?practical walk? to see the area and all the important resources we will need while we are here like le pharmacie et le tabac for stamps and such.

After our walk we headed over to La Coupole ? the largest brasserie in France. It?s located in Montparnasse and was frequented by many of the greatest artists of the 20th century. We all ordered coffee (cafe creme pour moi!) and talked about the cafe while we sipped somethin? warm.

The rest of the day was spent running ?errands.? My roommates and I are trying to get ?go phones? so we can communicate with each other and the people in our program. The place closed minutes before we got there. But we did find one great thing on our shopping trip!

Wine! For 2.60 euro!! Woop woop. We are all sitting in the apartment sipping some wine (out of tea cups!) and finishing getting settled in!

Hope you guys had a nice day too! It?s gettin? late here in Paris! We have an early day tomorrow?We are going on a tour of Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle, then to lunch at the Creperie de Cluny!

Good night!!!

Bon soir!