Un week-end de pistaches et de soie

A weekend of pistachios and silk
Bonjour! A couple of weekends ago, like every other weekend in Paris, was a whirlwind. The weekends are full of enjoyable activities of exploration and discovery and blossoming friendships. That Friday was the music party, and I went to check out a vocalist and grab some Vietnamese food with a friend for some French conversation. Then, we found a street party near the Paris Opéra and spent time people-watching, dancing, and getting wet from the rain (La Fete de la Musique). 
Paris is such a vibrant city with so many people and cultures that seemingly effortlessly blend together. After recent elections, I am curious about: 

• How are cultures actually blending together? What are the cultural identities here, and how are they described? 
• What are the racial politics in Paris and around the country?
• Why was the extreme right (l'extreme droit) gaining power, and why is there fierce resistance from those on the left to eliminate racism, sexism, and xenophobia?

I browse social media, watch soundbites about politics, and read the newspaper about what's happening in France. I watch the media in French in its natural form so that I might get a true understanding of what the people are saying. That's one of the beauties of communicating in a different language because there is a higher level of knowledge of the subject you were discussing. 

Let's go back to the weekend. 
You could not tell me I wasn't leaving my house. One Saturday, I ordered Vietnamese food through Uber Eats. Then, I got a phone call from my new friends who wanted to go and grab coffee. I know that I really liked these girls already because I really had to fight with myself to stay in the house, so eventually, I decided to eat the food that came and then meet them for coffee since we were only going to République, which is on the #3 metro and at the tripoint of the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. It is also about 25 or 30 minutes away from my home. So we met for coffee at a cool café with a beautiful selection of vinyl in the front of the store. Then, we went to find food to eat and stumbled upon a delicious Asian restaurant that served these delicious sandwiches. Happily, both of these girls speak French, so we had conversations in English and French. We will continue with our French because that helps us grow as French speakers. 

Well, after dinner, one of the ladies and I went to get ice cream, and I got a really delicious scoop of pistachio ice cream. If you're reading this blog, you'll see pistachio come up several times because I absolutely love pistachio. And the more pistachios, the better, especially in ice cream, on ice cream, and pastries. So we walked and chatted for about 45 minutes to an hour. I got about 13,000 steps on Saturday, completely different from the zero steps I had intended. 

Definitely two different occurrences of pistachio ice cream! Which one would you prefer? 

Sunday brunch, a passage, and silk 
However, there's always time for brunch and new people. So, on Sunday, I went to a cute place with another friend, where we thought we'd have an American breakfast. En fait, it turned out to be Danish breakfast, and it was pleasing. But, for dessert, the blueberry tart with whipped cream stole the show. Parisian tarts are always filled with fresh fruit, which makes them feel just a little bit healthier. You always know you are not getting a weird store-bought filling from a can. Sometimes, the crusts are also less sugary and thinner than you would typically find in American desserts, which is no shade to apple pie. I absolutely will always love apple pie with a scoop of ice cream. 

https://sera-studio.com/about/ One of the things I love the most about Paris is meeting the designers! I met Sera Oltan, a Turkish designer who founded Sera Studio in 2020 in Paris, France. You can follow the company on IG @sera__studio

Monday blues 
I used to dread Monday, and these days are not much different because we have exams every Monday. However, at least at the end of the day, I can go home and forget about French and watch the latest episode of House of Dragon. Today's exam featured an oral comprehension exercise, negation with ne...plus, ne...jamais, ne....aucun, etc, using the present and passé composé forms. There was also a writing exercise. I enjoy writing in French, probably because I enjoy writing in general. Here's a look at some of the new work. ​