Le Tour du Monde en 80 Plats

So this is going to be a very short post. March 31 and April 1 in Besançon, there was the “Tour du Monde en 80 Plats” (tour of the world in 80 dishes). These nights are absolutely amazing and extraordinary. To simplify the idea of the two nights, students from more than 20 different countries all cook dishes from their own country. Afterwards, each country sells (not too expensive) these dishes to Besançon citizens, students, etc. There were more than 20 countries there, but there is no way I can remember each one. Every dish was incredibly delicious, but I think I like Venezuela, Iran and Thailand the best. I posted some photos below.

For example, there was:

Thailand, China, Taiwan, Libya, Madagascar, Japan, Venezuela, Romania, Russia, Iran, etc.

Venezeula – black beans, smoked chicken and beef with a small corn flour bread thing
One of the best beers of the night


Iran – rice with saffron, and other stuff I forgot; mixed with lentils and a yogurt and dill “sauce”

Thailand – chicken satay


You know how much I love Thai food; here’s some Thai students from the CLA


Welcoming in the hungry people

Amazing Cantonese rice

Venezuela – Yerba Matte

About two-thirds of the alcohol from the first night
Delicious…things from Syria

Fried sweet potatoes with a plum sauce from Taiwan
Japan girls dancing
Me with my pass for the night…this night I was named “Aína”

Chinese rice dish

– Matt Lipinski

 

Madrid Disposables

Disposables are trendy, sure, but it’s also just nice to have physical photos you can paste in an album (not the Facebook kind). Here are some disposable cam shots of Madrid from January to March 2011

A view from the street of some classic Madrid apartments

I found these goons at The Feast of Fools in Plaza Mayor, one of the Madrid Carnival events in March

Metro moment with my friends from France

The view from my bedroom balcony. Madrid gets balconies right. Balconies for errybody!

Angela is my good friend from New Paltz. She is in a separate program from me and goes to school in lovely Alcala de Henares. (Taken in my bedroom)

Party Morgan. Me dolled up at a party

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Paris

About two or three weeks ago, I finally went to Paris. It was a great weekend. I’m feeling really lazy today, so I’m going to post a few pictures at the bottom of the post, and the other photos will be on Photobucket (I’ll put a link on here once I upload them). P.S. I hope everyone’s digging this new font…I totally am.

 


The first day:

I got there around 11:30 am, got a map, and made my way to the hotel. I was kinda lost so I just walked until I found La Seine (the huge river running through Paris), then followed it – luckily my hotel was almost right along the river. I checked in, got the room…huge bed! It was unfortunately not that comfortable though.

Afterwards, I ate at this tiny restaurant next to the hotel; I had duck leg with a massive heap of mashed potatoes with garlic and oil – it was sooo good. For dessert, I had a chocolate mousse. That was either the best or second best chocolate mousse I’ve ever had (aside from my mom’s of course).

By around 2:00 pm, I actually started my day. It was really nice out so I just walked everywhere – I probably did a good eight miles throughout the day. I went to the massive Notre Dame cathedral; it is massive, and incredibly cool. The interior is really big, and there were about two hundred people inside. There’s a small treasury inside that I went into (sadly, you have to pay a few Euros). There were old pope headdresses, old crowns, church relics, etc. – very cool!

After that, I was supposed to meet up with Brittany and Alison for dinner at Hard Rock Café, which was quite far away from me. So I gave in and took the metro for a few stops. I arrived…somewhere, and I had about two hours to kill. Luckily for me, I saw “Choco Story,” this really cool…(you guessed it!) chocolate museum! So I went in there, watched a demonstration of professional delicious chocolate making, and then spent about 15 euros on chocolate and a hot chocolate made the way the Aztecs did in BC times – very different, still delicious.

Finally, Hard Rock Café. It was hilarious to see one in French – most of the menu had English names with some French descriptions. As always in Paris, more than half the staff spoke fluent English. I got a pulled pork sandwich, which is quite far from the French diet I’m now used to, so I was quite nauseated that night…oh well. So I got back to the hotel, hung out, watched TV (my first time ever in France), read, then went to sleep.


The second day:

The clocks changed, so I was really confused as to what time it was. That’s not important though. I went to a café and had a delicious bruschetta with fresh mozzarella and basil along with two coffees. I also “second-handed…ly” inhaled about 14 cigarettes, during my hour stay, from the twenty smokers around me – gotta love Paris (and France in general).

Then I went to the Eiffel Tower! Woohoo! I didn’t climb up because I didn’t have cash on me, I didn’t feel like finding an ATM, and I didn’t want to. I met this American couple that somehow thought I was French, even though I have a massive beard, and I was rocking an American t-shirt with a brown plaid-flannel. Those characteristics exist in like 3% of French people my age. Anyway, I took lots of pictures from the exact same spot and then went on my way. I also bought Paris shot glasses and some Eiffel Tower keychains…souvenir obligations for other people. Oh and by the way, there are literally over two hundred vendors roaming around and under the tower trying to sell you keychains and what not – you can encounter one about every fifteen feet. It’s a little ridiculous.

As for my last place to visit, I went to Le Musée d’Orsay. It was incredibly cool inside. You’re unfortunately not allowed to take any pictures inside, though many people did. On my way back to the train station, I walked past Le Louvre to check it out – I had a bit of time to kill. It’s pretty much exactly how I picture it. I’d like to go check it out next time I’m in Paris.

About 7:30pm or something, I got back on the train to Besançon. So the trip was awesome, and I definitely prefer Paris over NYC. I really don’t like NYC. The only downside to Paris, aside from the fact that nobody will let me speak French with them if they realize I’m American, is that Parisians are fairly arrogant. Not a big deal though.

Oh and by the way, on the metro back to the train station, there was a group of “middle aged” people dancing in the train with a huge stereo. It was really weird, and extremely entertaining. They danced to whatever song is “I’ve got a feeling, that tonight’s gonna be a good night…” and a few others. There’s a photo at the bottom. When one of the guys saw me with his camera, he posed a little. Epic train dancing.







To better explain why I did not look French


Awesome metro dance party

– Matt Lipinski