Delightful pastries and Invisible Cathedrals

It's not very hard to detect symbols in the French culture. For example.

This:

A raspberry-pistachio eclair :)

and this:

A lemon tart with a chocolate treble clef on top!

are symbols of how much French people value food (especially dessert). La cuisine is practically an art.

Yesterday, Miranda, Megan and I went to a very quaint cafe called Angelina. Apparently it's world famous (although I'd never heard  about it, haha). We could have payed upwards of 25 euros a plate if we had wanted to eat a meal there, but there was only one thing on our personal menus that night:

Hot chocolate.

". . . In the middle of July?" you ask.

Well, you see, this isn't just any hot chocolate. It's Angelina hot chocolate. That's where the world famous part comes in.

And okay, confession time. I don't even know how many years it's been since I've had hot chocolate. The last time I drank some, I experienced so much pain that I haven't had any since. So we'll just say that the hot chocolate was on Megan and Miranda's menus, and I came along for the ride. But usually when that happens, I end up hopping on the ride, too. Needless to say, this was our dinner:

Just imagine melting your favorite chocolate bar, or melting a bunch of chocolate chips, and that's the consistency the hot chocolate was. It was super thick and super rich. I got two spoonfuls down and my stomach started to say, "Do you want to kill me??" I barely managed to eat half a teacup full of the stuff, and I can't quite say that it was worth it . . . I also ate my first millefeuille ever. It was probably the most expensive pastry I'll ever try! I think it was about 7 euros at Angelina's, where normally they're about 4 euros everywhere else I've seen them. But we shared it between the three of us, and then I gave Megan the rest of my hot chocolate to drink because dying that night once was sufficient. :)

Then last week on Thursday, I was walking around the streets of Paris, hoping to find some dinner. I decided to walk some back streets and look at the shops and cafes. When I finally found something that looked pretty good - a quiche loraine and an eclair (because lets be honest, I think eclairs are my most favorite pastry), the next thing I wanted to do was find somewhere to eat my dinner. So I kept walking and soon happened upon a little park. The above picture is of the cathedral that seemed to share the grounds of this park.

So I sat down and lo and behold there was a sign on my bench that said, "Paris, free wifi". So I whipped out my phone and connected to the internet, in hopes that I could call my family :) As I was sitting on the bench, these army guys walked past me. The amount of security here in Paris is crazy, but I sure am grateful for these men who are walking around ready to protect anyone from danger.

I was able to talk to my family for a wonderful ten minutes, and I showed them the cathedral and the park. When I had to hang up with them, I decided to leave to go home. I just had to figure out where I was and how to get back to my apartment. So I started walking around this cathedral and all of a sudden, it began to look familiar . . .

You'll notice if you look closely that these windows don't belong to just any French Gothic cathedral . . . It was the other side of Notre Dame! I've never been all the way around it before, so I was pleasantly surprised when I came around to the front and realized I knew exactly where I was. It's so funny how sometimes things work out for our benefit when we least expect them to :) All in all, it was a very pleasant evening. This little adventure helped me to realize that although in our lives, we may sometimes feel lost and confused because we may not have all the answers to our questions. But if we will just start walking, if we keep going, that's when the Lord can steer us in the direction we need to go. But we are the ones that have to take the steps. Someone once told me that God can't steer a parked car. So I say take courage and keep walking :)


The following pictures are from my adventure on Sunday. I went on a walk around a park called Parc Montsouris. It's a relatively small park filled with pigeons and ducks and black swans (I know, right??), and you'll never guess what else . . .

it was also filled with people playing PokemonGo.

???

For those of you who don't know what PokemonGo is, don't ask me because I don't really know either. Basically, the App uses your surroundings to tell you that there are little Pokemon characters hiding around nearby, and you walk around trying to "find" them, though they are only "found" on your screen. It's kinda like a virtual reality app if I understand correctly. So if you look closely at the picture below, you'll see in the background that I secretly snapped a picture of someone in the process of catching a Pokemon.

 I was disappointed though because there seemed to be so many people using the Wifi to play this game that I wasn't able to connect to it and call my family. But that's ok. I made friends with these black swans.

Another symbol of French culture is a park, or better yet, a park bench. At any given time, you can find lots of people in a park, reading the newspaper, reading a book, talking to their friends, people watching, or playing PokemonGo (as it were). I love this part of their culture because it shows how they really value their time. I don't know what the statistics are in terms of TV watching versus spending time in the park, but I'd say that going to the park is a pretty popular activity. I'm definitely adopting this symbol into my own life :)

Here I am doing a mini piano concert for some elderly people. It was wonderful, and they are so kind to us! One woman we visit always asks if I've found a Frenchman yet, and I have to break her heart every time by saying, "Not yet, but maybe someday!"

Snowmen and Galettes Bretonne

I have finally decided that I can't rely on public transportation. I'm pretty sure it's parallel around the world, in the way that just when we need to get somewhere, that's when we have to take a less convenient path to get there.

Lets just say I've done a lot of walking in the past two days because somebody somewhere decided to close an entire metro line, or part of a bus route, or there was so much traffic that the bus driver abandoned the route and said he'd not be going to any more stops. Not so fun without a GPS, and I've got the blisters to prove it ;) I won't be posting pictures of my feet though, sorry.

But what I do want to show you is a little bit of what I have done so far this week:

I built a snowman!! Je voudrais un bonhomme de neige . . .

I went to visit one of my adopted grandmothers on Monday, and I brought some Play-dough with me. It's too painful for Mme Bourbon to leave her apartment so she usually just sits in her house and colors pictures.I wanted to change things up a bit, so we decided to play with Play-Dough and build some snowmen :) Also it was like 88 degrees plus humidity, so I'd say psychologically, it was a good idea to build snowmen. Mine's the red one!

Then I told her that when I was little, my mother used to make our play-dough, and she would make birds for my sister and I. So we made a bird nest first, and then the mother bird. I used the blue play-dough to make the mother bird, but Mme Bourbon got confused and didn't believe me when I said bluebirds are real. In her mind, everything is either gray, red, or green. So I told her we would just pretend they can be blue. Then we made some eggs for the mother bird to hatch. Thinking we were done, I said, "Do you like it?" "Oh yes," she replied. And then I asked, "Do you think we need a papa bird?" She laughed, so I took that as a yes. I think I like my blue bird better. This is what we ended up with: (How'd I do, mom?)

On my way back from her apartment, I cross the river Seine. 

 I tried my first galette this week! They are like crêpes but with a darker flour and they are cooked to look like this:

I think traditionally, they put an egg in the middle - it's not usually cooked hardly at all, but when you eat the galette, you just break it and spread it around. And they sure do go heavy on the cheese! Well, it was too much cheese for me :) Below is a picture of Megan (a former BYU student also participating in the same program as I am), and she is the one who found out about this place. Apparently, it's the best one in Paris! That is, according to one of the JAS we met on Monday night (JAS means jeunes adultes seuls, which is french for YSA - young single adults).

I have to admit that I will miss the sunsets here! We were walking over the Seine last night and the sun was setting at the same time. It's such a dream come true to think that I'm here in Paris, going to crêperies and patisseries and visiting monuments and cities I've only ever read about. I'm so grateful to be here!

Apparently, they took down what was formerly known as "the lock bridge." But it looks like there are people who are interested in making another lock bridge. As the story goes, you put your love lock on the bridge and throw away the key - symbolizing unbreakable love. Cute, eh? 

Something that I have been reflecting on a lot recently is what it means to love people, and what it means to love who I am. This quote from C.S. Lewis has always helped me to see things in a different way:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."

The reason this quote accurately describes my internship in Paris is because I can either choose to maintain a distance from the elderly people I visit because maybe some of them speak or walk differently than I do, or I can choose to love them. So what should I do to show both love - the feeling, and love- the verb? Both are empowering, but I have come to learn from the people I visit that love, the verb, happens when I make the decision to go out of my comfort zone, talk about my life, ask them questions about theirs, and decide to create a friendship. 

The same thing applies to whether or not I choose to love where my life has brought me so far. Am I going to love my experience here in France? Will I let it change me? If I want my heart to change, I have to allow it to break - to leave the comfort of what I'm used to and turn towards the unknown. 

Today I heard some girls complaining about our concierge, which was understandable. Apparently he hadn't been very understanding when they went to talk to him about their broken showers. Later this evening, after a really long and hot day, I was walking by a patisserie by my apartment, and decided to go inside to buy something. I came out with a lemon muffin and some sort of tarte that had a pear on the top.

As I walked into our apartment building, I felt like I needed to give our concierge the muffin. So I walked over and said, I have a muffin for you! He was so touched and instantly wanted to talk to me. I feel like so often, we can be quick to judge people, not taking the time to see their perspective or understand what they are going through. But a little bit of kindness can truly turn that around. So go out and find someone who might need a little bit of love, and perhaps a lemon muffin. :)

Weekend of Royalty

Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. It's what brings us together. And that, my friends, is exactly what the French people think, too. I have noticed that it is such an important part of their culture that they will often set up their schedules around their meals. 

That might have been a bit of a generalization, but from my point of view, and especially from what I've seen at my internship office, that is exactly what they do. And can you guess the most important meal? 

Lunch :)

I've noticed that in the mornings and evenings, the metros are packed with just as many people who are commuting to and from work as they are during lunch time. The streets are lined with Bistros and cafés and patisseries, not to mention the many many restaurants. Something I’ve learned about going to eat at restaurants is that when you walk in, you greet the waiter or waitress, who is usually standing either outside or amongst the tables. Sometimes, you walk in and sit down first. They are really talented at keeping an eye out for new customers. You tell them how many people are in your group and they find you a table. In France, you don’t leave a tip for your waiter – the food is expensive enough I guess :) Miranda and I went out early one morning so we could get first pick of the delicious pastries. It was definitely worth it. I got a croissant with cheese and ham for breakfast. SO good! 

Then on Saturday afternoon I went to Versailles with Sarah Laurent. Here are some pictures from inside the castle.

I can't believe I actually got to be standing next to a painting I've only ever seen in my textbooks. This is Marie Antoinette with two of her children.

This is the King's private chapel. Pretty sure the gold is real!

This is on one of the ceilings. Isn't it incredible to think that someone painted this probably while lying on his back? 

I don't think there has ever been a moment in my life where I have wished more to be dancing in a beautiful dress with a handsome gentleman, waltzing the night away than this moment. The glass in this room is still the original! Every detail is so exquisite.

I must say though that I definitely prefer le Domaine de Marie Antoinette over the castle itself. She preferred to live in her own little castle, still on the grounds of the Château de Versailles, but just far away from the royal court and the public. I appreciate all that Marie Antoinette went through as a young ruler. Sarah explained to me how she pictures this part of the grounds as being her sanctuary, and I definitely agree. Her little castle only really has one room – her bedroom :)

And now, what’s really magnificent, is that there is an LDS Temple being built five minutes from where she stayed. It was beautiful! Even though it isn’t finished yet, I felt such peace as I stood outside the fence. The temple has the power to do that. The workers aren’t allowed to smoke or drink or swear as they work on the grounds, and I think that’s what makes it feel like such a special place because it’s so different from the busy city that sits around it.

 I really appreciate this quote from Le Petit Prince. "C’est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante." Basically, what it means is that the time that the little Prince spent taking care of his rose is what made her so important. Indeed, as we spend time with the people that matter most, we grow to love them. In a special way for me, it explains how much I am growing to love the people here in France. (And also the food :) ) Happy Sabbath!

A Paris, c’est la fête!

 Before starting this post, I just wanted to add in a couple thoughts about the recent attack in Nice. I went to the Eiffel Tower with two other BYU students, Megan and Miranda, to watch the fireworks that night, as it was France's Independence day celebration. After the program had ended, there were hundreds of thousands of people trying to get back to the metro. We were right in the middle of a huge crowd when Miranda stopped and said that she was receiving messages on her phone from friends, asking her if she was alright. Confused as to why they were inquiring about her safety, we investigated a little and soon learned that there had been a terrorist attack in Nice (Paris is about 8 hours north of Nice). As the story developed and the death toll increased, I felt very afraid and very vulnerable, not to mention that my heart ached for those families who had been affected by the attack.

But as I have been reflecting on this event, I have realized that even though there are horrible things happening around the world, I know that I can find peace. The way to do that is through prayer. Prayer will "change the night to day." I know that as we pray to our Heavenly Father, He can bless us with peace, comfort, and joy. Not only that, but as we come to know how much He loves each of us, that love will cast out any worldly fears we may have because God will give us confidence, courage, and empower us with love. May we replace fear with prayer and faith, especially for those around the world who are affected by these attacks.

Well, on a lighter subject, you may have noticed that the title of my post is in French - it was the theme of this year's program for the Fête Nationale, or Bastille Day as we say in America. The 14 juillet is the day that France celebrates its independence. So, where better to celebrate a French holiday than at the Eiffel Tower??\

In France, on the 14 July, there is always a fireworks show that usually lasts about 35 minutes. Before the fireworks, they usually have a concert from about 9pm-10:30pm, and the fireworks starts at 11pm. This is a picture during one of the performances. There were probably 6 professional opera singers who sang during the performance, a children's choir and an adult choir, and an incredible violinist and pianist as well who played with the orchestra. 

Here is a video clip I took of their national hymn, La Marseillaise. In the background, you'll see the French Flag projected onto the Eiffel Tower while the orchestra, opera singers, and audience sing l'Hymne National. 

After the orchestra, opera singers, and choir had finished, we waited about 20 minutes for the fireworks show to start. The theme of the program was, "A Paris, c’est la fête!", which pretty much means, "In Paris, it's a party!" For about 35 minutes, I watched an incredible fireworks show, which consisted of 7-10 songs to which the fireworks had been choreographed. It was unlike any fireworks show I'd ever seen.

Megan, Miranda, and I standing on le Champs de Mars which is a long park just next to the Eiffel Tower. Someone told me that were 400,000 people there! We had really good seats because someone went and saved them for us. Otherwise, when I got there, two hours before it started, there wouldn't have been any room for us!

The clip above shows one of my favourite parts of the program - the Eiffel Tower lit up like stars. For me, it was a fun time to reflect on family camping trips, star gazing in the mountains sitting on the cabin porch in Pine Valley, and also remembering that Heavenly Father created the Earth and everything in space. He knows all the details from the furthest star to the smallest fish in the sea to the red-headed Utah girl on an internship in France. He made the sky to be full of stars :) 

On the 13 July (Wednesday), I went to the Panthéon with Sarah Laurent! We had a wonderful time. We were both missionaries in the Canada Montreal mission, and I got to do several missionary exchanges with her. The Panthéon was origionally built as a church and dedicated to Sainte Genevieve, a Catholic saint. But it is now a mausoleum where celebrated authors, heros, and other philosophers from the age of Enlightenment are buried. I saw the tombstone of Voltaire, Marie Curie, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Louis Braille (who invented braille!), and many other war heroes as well.

Next to a giant mural of the life of Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc)

Rousseau's tombstone

Marie Curie and Pierre Curie's tombstones

We went to a café near the Cathédrale de Notre Dame and ate some really good French food. I think this particular dish could be described as grilled baguette with goat cheese and canard fumé (smoked duck) on top, an egg/potato soufflé and a salad. This is what Sarah ordered. I ate one of her slices of bread with duck on it. Can't say I fell in love with goat cheese, but the duck wasn't so bad. 

This was my very boring but pretty good italian version of the above dish. The meat on mine is ham, and unfortunately the name of the cheese escapes me at the moment.

Then we bought dessert here at this crêperie. Only in France can you buy crêpes through a window on the street, haha. 

It was a butter and sugar crêpe with lemon juice, and it was so good! Well worth the headache I got afterwards!

I absolutely love what I am doing right now with my internship. I wish I could share with you the photos of the people I visit, but I'm not allowed to. Just as a closing note, remember that the best things in life are not material possessions, but rather they are memories. So go find someone today who needs you to help them make a happy memory that they can keep forever.