Falafels, Yamikas and Snooty French Museums

Friday, May 14, 2010

Day 16

Friday was a sad day in that our class time was changed to 9am (we switched times with the other class to make it fair). Boy does 9am come early in France! After suffering through class ('Ah! To suffer in Paris!') I went on the Marais Walk (2) with Betsy, Paige, Sarah (Blackhurst) and Jessica. The Marais district stretches north from the Seine to an area just south of the Place de la Republique and from the Place de l'Hotel de Ville east to the Place de la Bastille, including parts of the third and fourth arrondissements. Marais means "swamps," and the area is built on old swampland. Henri IV (king of France from 1594-1610) played a major role in making the Marais a desirable place to live by attracting nobility, clergy, and philosophers. After the revolution the area fell into disrepair, but today it is again a popular district. This walk focused on the Jewish Quarter of the Marais. It was funny because you know immediately when you arrive because there are men with orthodox clothing everywhere. I saw a lot of beards, hats, and yamikas there. It felt like we'd walked into a different world--which we kind of did in a way. The area was actually really quaint, with narrow cobblestone streets, and there were Jewish shops as well as high-end boutiques along the way. We stopped at the "L'As du Falafel" a wicked popular falafel restaurant, as evidenced by the throng of people waiting in line for one. It put all the other falafel shops on the street to shame. I didn't get one because I'd packed a lunch that day, but I had a bite of one. It was pretty good. A falafel is ground chickpeas that have been rolled into a ball and deep fried. They are served in a pita filled with salad greens and sometimes meat (depending what kind you get) flavored with sauce. Yummy!

The falafel place was so crowded that they have waiters on the street who take your order there and then give you a ticket to redeem at the counter to pick up your order. Its crazy. It was funny though. The waiter came by when the girls had gotten their falafels and asked if they were good, and upon answering in the affirmative he made a joke about how Jessica shouldn't have gone to the other falafel place directly across from his because she was still waiting to get hers, even though the line was shorter, and because his falafels were better. Haha.

While the others were getting falafels, Betsy and I went back up the street to a bakery and she got a croissant. However, they had some amazing looking twisty bread and lots of tasty looking pastries, including cookies with jelly centers and yummy pies and brownies. I'm tempted to go back someday and buy a yummy twisty bread. Mmmm...After they finished the falafels we continued our walk. We passed the popular Finkelstein's bakery and then went by a historic Jewish elementary school that had some memorial plaques placed there after WWII. Apparently the principal of this school helped to protect the children there from being taken to concentration camps. The area itself has been a site of several anti-Semitic manifestations, including the violent 1982 terrorist attack on Jo Goldenburg's deli.

We then went on to see the Hotel de Soubise, one of the most lavish mansions in Paris. It is the home to the Archives Nationales. Francois de Rohan, the prince of Soubise, commissioned its construction in 1705. Its architecture is marked by the classical style of twenty-four pairs of Corinthian columns, while the interior ground floor has excellent examples of the Rococo style in Paris. We decided not to go into the archives though. I had to ask the security guard if it was open (he told me in French that it would open in 15 minutes) and whether or not it was gratuit (free) to which he replied that there was a reduced price for students. I was proud of myself that I could communicate in French and totally understood him. It doesn't take much for me to be happy about French--if someone says Bonjour to me I'm ecstatic. Ha. Fluency here I come!

~Archives Nationales~

After the archives we went into the Cognac-Jay Museum. It was a nice enough museum. I was glad that it was small. I was rather put off though by one of the museum "guards" (although she wasn't a guard per se) when I accidentally forgot to turn off my flash and took a picture. She came in and, very snootily, told me that flash photography wasn't allowed. I apologized and put my camera away, even though pictures were allowed, just not with the flash. Now, I don't know if she thought I couldn't understand her, but she repeated herself about three times. "You can't take pictures with the flash. It has to be turned off." "There is no flash photography allowed in the museum. It is forbidden. Turn off your flash." Etc. Etc. Okay, thank you ma'am. I'm sorry. It was an accident. I won't do it again. Sheesh. I mean, I was totally with her the whole time. She saw me put it away too. And then after her two minute repetitive spiel, she just stood there awkwardly looking at me like she expected me to do something. What!? I already apologized more than once and put my camera away. Okay, I'm going to look at the rest of the museum, thank you for your candor and complete lack of hospitality. Can you tell I was upset? I've gotten used to the French attitude here--its really not all that bad, most of the French are actually incredibly welcoming and nice--but this was really annoying, and she totally fit the stereotype of the snobbish French who hate Americans--especially those armed with flash photography aimed at their precious museum artifacts. Sorry, I think your pretty rococo-style desk (the object I was caught photographing) will survive a split second of light. Just a thought.

Here is the table/desk that I so offensively captured on camera.

Notice the excellent lighting--yes, that is due to my great

photography skills made possible by the flash.

This is my way of getting revenge on that museum lady. Take that! Haha.

Anyways, sorry for the vent sesh, it really wasn't that bad. I just don't appreciate patronization. After the museum we were finished. Technically there was supposed to be a stop to the Picasso museum, but that is closed for a while (like a year or two or something, I don't know). So we just headed home.

After relaxing a bit at home I got a text about a movie night back in Paris at the BYU apartment at 9pm. So I left around 8 and rode the metro back in (all by myself! I'm starting to look like a real Parisian, haha...yeah right). We watched Prince Caspian. It was fun, especially with Professor Erickson who asked us within the first minute what was going on...well, if you just watch it, you will find out! Haha, and it was funny to listen to him during the movie because he got really into it. At the scene where Edmund drops the flashlight while on the tower Professor Erickson exclaimed, "Oh no!" haha, you kind of have to be there, but it wasn't that dramatic ofa scene and he seemed really distraught over it. Good times. It was also nice to just see a movie--the first time since I've been in France! After the movie we headed back and I got home around 1am. Hence, my lack of blogging recently.