July 25, 2011
La Fin

I arrived over the weekend back in the US (without my luggage) and I thought that I should write one more entry as a conclusion to my adventures in France.  I definitely miss my new friends but I am also glad to be home. 

Some of the things I have missed the most:

1.     MY DOG…and family

2.     Summer

I had no idea that it is so cold in France; 50’s to 70’s in the June and July.  We’re currently in a heat wave in St. Louis and I kind of love it. Ask me how I feel about it in a few days and I’m guessing I will have a different answer.

3.     Giant Coffees

I’m fine with shots of espresso as long as they come with a quart of steamed milk.

4.     Ice

Even at McDonald’s the sodas don’t come with ice and if you ask for ice you will get ONE cube.

I wrote in one of my first entries about some of the goals that I had for the trip and I wanted to revisit them:

1.          Practice French

Learning French was completely unsuccessful. The ultimate sign of defeat being when I packed to go home I left my French textbook at the hotel.

2.          Go do touristy stuff i.e. Mona Lisa, Eiffel Tower

Definitely did some touristy things. I wish I had more time to explore but not seeing everything is all the more reason to go back. 

3.          Try some really good red wines.  Word on the street is that there is some good cab franc in the Loire Valley.

Yes.

4.       Eat cheese!! It’s very possible I was a mouse in a past life.  That is how much I love cheese.

            It’s fair to say that 75% of my meals consisted of cheese and crackers/bread.

5.    Get good grades. As far as school goes, I am interested in finding out as a consumer how marketing practices differ in Europe.

 I got A’s thanks to studying with ChingYi and I learned a ton about the EU and economics.

6.       Go to Barcelona for the weekend
            I didn’t make it to Barcelona for a weekend.  I tried, but Angers is pretty out of the way so it can be difficult to take a weekend trip to anywhere.  Just getting to the airport in Paris can cost 120 EURO round trip.  I elected to go to Porto in Portugal instead because there was a cheap flight from one of the neighboring towns.  Porto was awesome! It turned out to be one of my favorite places I have ever been.  Barcelona will just have to wait for next time.

 

7.       Go to Bastille Day in Paris

            The weather was great and it was interesting to see how other countries celebrate their independence day.  It was a nice consolation for missing the 4th. 

In conclusion, the trip was really great and although I did not complete my “to do” list there were many unplanned parts of my trip that made it so much better than even what I expected.  I’m really happy I kept a blog.  It’s only five weeks later and I would have already forgotten some of the things I put in my first entries if I had not written them down.  Also, I’m very grateful to my jobs for letting me take a break and run around Europe for the last five weeks and to my awesome roomy for holding down the fort while I was gone and picking me up/finding me at the airport. 

Au Revoir, THE END, Ciao, La Fin, Adios, etc.

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July 25, 2011
Great photo taken by Diana on Bastille Day

Great photo taken by Diana on Bastille Day

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July 25, 2011

Paris

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July 25, 2011
Deyrolle

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July 25, 2011
J’adore Paris

Moving on to Paris.  We arrived in Paris on a Friday night and I was so exhausted from travelling all day that I was in bed by 11:00.  Our accommodations were really nice even though it was outside of the city.  After getting my first full night’s sleep in almost two weeks I woke up ready for some serious sightseeing.  I went to the Louvre and walked through a couple of the wings of the museum. I followed it up with Notre Dame for mass Saturday evening, and then made the great trip back to our hotel to have authentic Chinese dinner with a few of the ESSCA students.  The highlight of the dinner was either the chicken curry or that we ordered in four different languages.

 After a really great dinner we all went back to the hotel and scrambled to get ready so we could go out and experience some of the Paris nightlife.  Unfortunately, after 30 minutes in the metro and waiting in line to get into a club we found out that the metro closed (12:30 am weekdays 1:30 am weekends) in an hour and that a taxi ride was somewhere around 80 EUROS from where we were at.  Needless to say the evening was cut short and we headed home. 

We had our final exams on Monday and Tuesday so Sunday evening was delegated to studying.  Monday we finished our most difficult class and in the afternoon I went shopping and checked out Deyrolle, which is this really old taxidermy.  It sounds weird because it is, but it was really cool. I would definitely recommend it to someone visiting. It’s free and doesn’t take long to go through.

Tuesday evening I went to the Harry Potter world premiere (yes I am a nerd and I love Harry Potter).  The movie was fun and the giant crowds of people dressed as characters were equally as entertaining.  After getting out of the theater at 3 am I was forced to learn a new mode of transportation…The Noctilien a.k.a. the night bus.  This was a pretty daunting task.  They run infrequently and the schedules are incredibly complicated.  Two hours later we made it home but I felt accomplished for figuring it out on my own and it only cost 1.50 EURO.  In your face taxi!

Wednesday was destroyed by a long excursion to Jean Monnet’s house for school.  It was really boring and I was really disappointed that we had to go there instead of spending the day in Paris.  Sorry ESSCA, but I really didn’t like it.

Thursday was Bastille Day and the final day of our program.  We took a boat ride through the Seine, had a really nice farewell dinner, and watched the fireworks next to the river while a jazz ensemble on a nearby boat provided some background music.  All in all, it was a really great day with great weather and great people.  We definitely had a few teary goodbyes.  While sometimes I felt like the program wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, I don’t think we could have had a better group of students.  The directors even commented on how well we all got along in comparison to years past.   

Finally, I spent my last day in Paris with Kita, Mariana, and Mariana’s family.  I packed all of my stuff and it took two trips to get my luggage to Mariana’s family’s apartment.  We spent the day sightseeing and shopping at cool boutiques. I had my two best meals of the trip that day; lunch at a bistro, and dinner at a gastronomique. What a great way to wrap up the trip. It was definitely a highlight and I don’t know how to thank Mariana’s family enough.   I’m heading back Saturday morning and my next entry will be the conclusion to my blog.

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July 25, 2011

Brussels

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July 25, 2011
The Brussels Report

My trip is finally winding down and it has been about a week and a half since I have written a new entry.  In that time we have left Angers for good and travelled to Brussels and Paris.  I really enjoyed Brussels, it is like Washington D.C. for the European Union.  During our week in Brussels we visited many important sectors of government including representatives, public servants, and lobbyists. 

 One of the meetings that I enjoyed the most was at European Parliament.   We met with Isabelle Durant who is a member and vice president of Parliament.  She was definitely the highest ranking person we met while in Brussels but what I actually enjoyed the most was talking with a Latvian girl who introduced Durant.  The presentation she had prepared was mostly things we had learned in class but I found it really interesting when she went off topic and discussed her own feelings about some of the Eastern Bloc countries entering the EU.  Before this meeting, I had not thought about how entering the EU has changed some of the smaller developing countries like Latvia. 

She told us an amazing story about how her grandparents survived during Russian rule hiding in forests and being deported to Siberia multiple times.  She discussed politics in countries like Belarus, where similar practices are still continuing.  In class we discussed how many countries that aren’t even in the European continent have a strong desire to enter the European Union.  After hearing her narrative, it made a strong argument for former Soviet Countries to enter the EU and demonstrated how dramatically it changes the standards of living in those areas.

 I know it sounds cheesy but meeting someone who had experienced a government’s oppression first hand made me realize how much I take for granted in the US. It made me appreciate some of the most basic rights we had at home and gave me a larger appreciation for the accomplishments of the EU. 

 We actually had a little more free time than normal on the Brussels trip so I got to do some cool touristy things while I was there.  Belgium is known for its chocolate, beer, mussels, and fries and in my opinion they all lived up to their hype.  If you go you will definitely want to try all of these things.  There are a million restaurants in the downtown area but beware of super aggressive waiters that stand on the street and try to force you to eat at their restaurant.  It’s pretty weird and I’m still not sure what that is about. 

Also, be sure to pack really light for Brussels if you are on the program.  I would suggest trying to fit everything into a backpack.  We had to take public transportation from the train station to our hotel and even with one carryon size bag it was quite the haul. Well, I think that covers it for Brussels.  Next up, Paris.

Au Revoir

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July 25, 2011

Photos from our excursion to Domaine de Mihoudy

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July 25, 2011

Castles!

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July 25, 2011
Judging a Bottle By It’s Cover

Wine is a pretty big deal in France, so I think that it’s justified to dedicate an entire entry to the topic.  First, full disclosure; I have worked at a wine bar in Edwardsville for the last year and have had the good fortune to be surrounded by very knowledgeable wine guys and not to mention some pretty good juice.  It’s fair to say that I have a personal interest in this topic.  That being said, I have learned so many new things not only about the process of making wine but the impact the product has culturally, politically, and economically in France. 

Wine is one France’s top industries and its citizens are the number one consumers per capita in the world (almost 50L per person per year).  Going to any grocery store in France will make these facts very apparent.  The selection is huge and the price is often times cheaper than milk, orange juice, and even bottled water. 

You will also be amazed by how incoherent the labeling is.  The labeling of the bottle is one of the most interesting elements of French wine.  It represents culture, politics, and economics all smashed into a 2’x3’ piece of paper.  The labeling is completely different than almost every other wine producing country in the world and there are a variety of reasons for it.

Culture, traditions, and the idea of “terroir” play a major part in labeling.  The idea of “terroir” is something I don’t understand completely but basically it is composed of three elements:  a place (soil, climate, conditions), a grape (the most appropriate variety) and human action (know-how, heritage, preferences, etc).  “Terroir” reflects the French’s belief that wine is a cultural not industrial product.  It considers each wine growing area of France unique and only the best-suited grapes should be grown in the area instead of the most abundant or profitable.

This idea of “terroir” is the basis for the governing system for wine in France. This governing body is called, Appellation d’Origine Contolee (AOC).  The AOC is also complicated and I am trying to avoid turning this entry into a term paper on French labeling system. But, it essentially regulates what grapes you can grow in certain areas.  Only allowing the best grapes to grow in certain areas is a way that they believe guarantees quality and authenticity. 

Finally, this labeling practice has a major effect on economics. France is the number one producer of wine and having a labeling system that is so complicated can make it unappealing to the average consumer and it is costing them sales but due to tradition and French stubbornness (completely my opinion) I doubt this labeling practice is going to change.

I know this is kind of a dense entry but it’s something that is covered during our course at ESSCA because it really helped us understand our visit to the winery. Hopefully I broke it down somewhat sensibly and makes your next trip down the wine aisle less daunting.  

Au Revoir  

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