Postcards from Paris: Out and About

When I went to Paris for the first time in April, I was much more excited by the prospect of desserts and museums than I was about actually seeing the big "sights". Like the Eiffel Tower. It was about a week after I'd arrived in Paris that I actually made it to the tower--because, how big of a deal could it actually be?

But, once there, at sunset, watching the lights glitter, with the silhouette against an uninterrupted gradient of colored sky, I got it. I understood the romance.

Mostly when I travel, I just like to walk around and run into whatever I run into. A few weeks after returning from the trip, I discovered that my phone's health app had been tracking my steps each day, and for the week I was in Paris, it was off the charts. I walked everywhere, hoping that my meanderings, combined with serendipity, would take me to see the best, undocumented-in-a-guidebook corners.

When not walking, I did sort of fall in love with the Paris metro system. Maybe it's just that it was wonderful being back in a city with a proper metro, by which I mean one that runs at reasonable hours, with a convenient and constant availability of trains, and with stations pretty much near everything. Throw on top the beautiful station-specific designs that pepper the system, and one starts thinking of the dizzy, convoluted, dense maze of colored lines as idiosyncractically artistic. The metro system sure does have character, I'll give it that. Also, if you are ever near the Arts & Métiers stop, you must go explore it. I missed my chance of getting a photo of it (I have a phone photo somewhere...), but one level of the station is totally steam-punked out, covered wall to wall with copper plating, holographic portholes, and gigantic exposed gears protruding from the ceiling.

I will say, though, Paris gardens are a funny breed. After being used to the rambling, "I woke up like this" unkemptness of English gardens, I wasn't expecting the expansive, gravel-sand boulevards that are favored in Paris, which are lined with hedges cut in unnaturally rectangular rows and studded with statuary. Also, everytime I find myself in England, or now Paris, I'm thankful that I'm from a country that doesn't care so much for people to walk on and enjoy the grass, because what's the point of swaths of lawn in no one can wiggle their toes in the dew-green blades?

The ducks get to enjoy the grass...

So this post is just about the outdoor scenes in Paris. For inside museums, see the previous post here. I'm saving the food for last... and also, a most serendipitous meeting with a fellow food blogger halfway around the world.

One last thing, yay, SCOTUS! Go, equality.

Postcards from Belgium

I'm writing most of this post at 2:39 am. Because... jetlag. Because... Belgium!

Land of the EU, and waffles, and Tin Tin, and curious, cone-shaped sugar candies called cuberdons or 'little noses'. I just got back from a week-long trip to Belgium--primarily for work at the university in Leuven, but my collaborator made sure that I did get a little bit of sight-seeing in towards the end. So here are photos from my quick, 48-hour whirl around the Flemish region of Belgium.

Pictured above: central Brussels train station entrance. I'm obsessed with the font, mainly! Perhaps I've watched too much of Agatha Christie's Poirot in my life, but I loved the art deco-y and art nouveau-y architectural details endemic to the region.

Most of the photos below come from a day in Ghent, a picturesque city about an hour-ish train ride west of Brussels. Apparently, Ghent is particularly pretty because it was restored and cleaned up for 1913 World's Fair. The canals do make it quite charming to stroll around and get lost in, with plenty of fun little shops (a mustard shop, for instance?!) to peek into and cafés to leisurely people-watch from while sipping on hot chocolate.

And of course, no proper Western European old city would be complete without the requisite grand churches, a castle, and canals. Pictured below: Saint Nicholas' Church, Gravensteen Castle (which made me crave apples), building façades along one of the canals.

In our wanderings, we stumbled upon one of the graffiti alleyways in Ghent, where one is allowed to freely paint on the walls! The artwork ranged from your regular tagging to beautiful, floor-to-top paintings--all temporary and ever-changing. And, I got to do something I've always wanted to: leave a little DfB mark of approval (hey, sometimes it pays to be a packrat and carry around Sharpies everywhere).

And street snacks! They have these cone-shaped sugar candies called cuberdons, which have this thin sugary shell on the outside and are liquid sugar syrup on the inside. Texturally, the cuberdons reminded me of those giant jelly beans that one can get around Easter, except more liquidy inside. Traditionally, they're raspberry? flavored and colored purple (meaning, they may be raspberry flavored in theory, but they just taste purple), but we managed to stumble across anise-flavored black ones too which were a bit like eating liquid licorice.

The waffles, I have to say, were ah-mazing. I so wish I were capable of replicating them at home! They are a wee bit caramelized and crunchy with sugar on the outside, but inside, they are hot and custardy. I also made sure to pick up plenty of fries and chocolate and marzipan petits fours during the trip--all delicious. For the fries, there were a bajillion different sauce flavors to dip the fries in, like andalouse sauce, which is this tasty amalgamation of ketchup, mayo, and spicy almost-cajun-ness. So perfect for my would-you-like-fries-with-your-sauce tendencies! (Although, I have to admit, I'm still partial to German curry ketchup. :))

On my last day, we had a quick hour or two to stroll around the city center of Brussels, which is filled with endless dessert and chocolate shops. Ah, be still, my heart! It was like being dropped into sweets heaven. The royal galleries, for instance, were lined with chocolatier after chocolatier after chocolatier, and punctuated in between with pâtisseries of all different cultures galore. .. for example, a pastry shop specializing in nut-filled and brightly-colored Middle Eastern desserts! -- second photo below.

We also happened upon one of the best French shops for perhaps the next big dessert craze after macarons: merveilleux! I actually didn't know what these were at all, but there were these brilliant little domes piled high with shaved chocolate calling out to me from a window display, so naturally, I had to go in and investigate. Turns out, these are little dessert domes made up of fluffy and crunchy and creamy layers of meringue, flavored creams, and chocolate--in a variety of flavors ranging from cherry to chocolate to coffee to speculoos. They melt like luscious air into your mouth when you take a bite. It's sort of like a pavlova or an Eton mess in handheld form. So worth the investigating.

On the plane ride back, I realized that I am so thankful that my job allows me to travel so much and to see and experience new adventures. It's wonderful that I get to do that and, at the same time, spend the time exchanging intellectual ideas with fellow scholars at other unis. Yes, I realize that this is a highly romanticized view of academic life, but at times--especially when filled with meringues and chocolates and art deco architecture and engaging discussions--it is just that good.