Crêperie Beaubourg

If hunger strikes after all the walking and art admiring at the Centre Pompidou, do not worry!  A couple of blocks away is the Crêperie Beaubourg, a nice little restaurant specialized in -you got it!- crêpes.

The walls are filled up with paintings and drawings, a lot of which represent the culture from Britanny, a region in the north-west of France -they speak French and Breton, and are famous for their amazing butter and crêpes.

I'd say it's quite cozy, only a bit too crowded as the place is small and the restaurant is always full. You might have to wait a few minutes for a table. Take that time and search the menu to try to decide what you're having - a process which is not at all easy, as there are inumerous and delicous fillings (salty and sweet).

 The fixed menu* of the day included a galette, a crêpe sucrèe and Cider, which is what you normally drink with crêpes, at a very affordable price.

I'm not really into the crêpes sucrèes, though, so I chose my lunch from the carte.*

*In French, the menu has a fixed composition and "la carte" is the menu with all the plates which you can choose from

I went with one of the vegetarian galettes (a sort of crêpe with a salty filling) of which I can't recall the name, that contained onions, champignon and melted gryuère. It was very good; the crèpe wasn't too dry nor too soft, and I don't even have to explain my love for melted French cheese and champignons.

After a very fulfilling meal (I don't know why I had the very off idea that in France the portions were small), nothing more fitting than a nice cup of tea. They have a selection of teas from the Marriage Frères, a famous French tea company. Of course the name Casablanca caught my eye. It's a mixture of green tea, Marrocain mint and bergamot-flavoured tea. Delicious and soothing!

My parents orderd a sweet crêpe with blueberry jam and a colobiam coffee, which they said tasted marvelous. Knowing my light stomach, I decided to finish with simply the tea.

After we finished and paid -I can't recall the exact price, but it wasn't expensive at all, specially when comparing to other places in Paris- we went for a walk around the neighbourhood and then took the subway to the Musée d'Orsay, as it was the first Sunday of the Month, a day in Paris where all the entrances to the museums are free.

But if you don't feel like taking the Metro, you can always go window shopping at the lovely boutiques in the Marais area or, if in winter, go ice-skating in front of the Hôtel de Ville, a few blocks away.

Crêperie Beaubourg
2 rue Brisemiche, IV arr.75004 Paris

Le Rempart

A few blocks from the Bastille, in the middle of Le Marais, is the small and cozy Le Rempart.

It's a typical French brasserie, and you won't find that many tourists eating there - which is a good way to actually observe and play the part of a real French citizen.

The staff is very nice -and hardworking! They keep running everywhere, stopping only every once in a while to chat with the clients. The place is quite small, so if you don't want to wait for a table, it's better to arrive a bit later than usual... and avoid going there when they're showing a race or a soccer match -although, it really is quite amusing to see the men at the bar discussing the game.

Even with a short menu, Mom wasn't sure about what we should order.

But let's talk about the food! The menu isn't very long, but the few plates are delicious and, amazingly, quite cheap (specially when we're talking about Paris.) As Entrées, we ordered an Assortiment de Fromages (a variety of cheese on a plate) and Escargots, which I absolutely love.

For those who are afraid of trying out this piece of heaven: don't be! As long as they are well done, they taste delicious and are very hygienic. I think that's def on the things I'm going to miss the most from France.

As the Plat Principal, I went with the Poulet Rôti with Salade Verte and Frites (Roasted Chicken with Green Salad and French Fries). The poulet was very good, not at all dry, and the Salade Verte was topped with a Vinagrette sauce with a bit of mustard. Delicious!

And though I didn't take a picture, the expresso is also really good. And aftery you've finished your meal, you can go for a walk and visit the nearby Place des Vosges and the Maison Victor Hugo, open Tuesd. through Sat.

Le Rempart is located at 15 rue St. Antoine, 4th arr., between the Metro stations of La Bastille and Saint Paul.

www.le-rempart.fr

Bonjour, Paris!

I speak to you no longer from Amboise! I'm writing from Paris, more precisely from my hotel in Le Marais (it's a cool neighbourhood with lots of cafés, bistros, boutiques and the Place de Vosges and the Maison Victor Hugo). We got here on Saturday and, though a bit cold, it has been great. 

I absolutely love it here. The food is pretty expensive and it's very easy to find a very disappointing restaurant, but the charm... Oh, the charm! I keep looking at the buildings and at the sky, imagening myself in a movie -then quickly looking down to make sure I won't step on dog poop.

Pont Neuf

Lovers write their names on a locker and the date when they were in Paris and lock it on the fence. The idea is that even if the relationship ends, there'll always be a proof that it once existed, and, because of that, will always exist in some sort of way. Isn't it incredibly romantic? Oh, that's right, it's Paris!

Hotel de Ville

Centre Pompidou

VLOG #5 - Eurocentres

Hey guys! I'm at Eurocentres right now, I'm having the afternoon classes that are a part of the intensive course. My parents arrive today around 6pm and I'll meet with them and go out to dine. Tomorrow is my last day at Eurocentres and Saturday I leave for Paris. I have to go back to class now, ttyl!

Lots of love,

Royal Trip - Blois

The weekend before this one, some classmates from Eurocentres and I rented a car and took a short road trip to visit some Chatêaux close to Amboise. To those who didn't know, the Loire Valley is known for its numerous Châteaux -over 200- which go. Sadly, I don't have the time to visit all of them (heck, I don't have to visit half!), but I did get to know Blois, another small city close to Amboise (about 45 min. by car) and the Château de Chambord e de Chenonceau.

Prepared to go exploring on the cold

Side view of the Château de Blois

Jeanne d'Arc got her blessing in the Château de Blois before leaving for Orléans with her army

 

View from the terasse of the Château de Blois, with the cathedral behind it

Old Boys School

Last Days!

It's been quite a long time since my last post, and already, my course in Amboise is coming to an end! My parents will get here on Thursday, my classes end on Friday and I'll leave to Paris on Saturday. Time flew pretty fast, which is funny, considering there's not much to do here in the winter... Being such a touristic town, almost everything closes when it's not high season. I swear I think "You should see Amboise in the Summer!" is said at least once in any conversation I try to engage with an Amboisien.


All things considered, though, I have to say it was a pretty great experience. I made some great friends, had a I good time and I do believe that my French improved a lot! In the begginning, I was kinda worried there wouldn't be anything to do and that staying here would be awfully boring. I mean, things here close on Sunday and Monday, there are no clubs, almost no shops and one tiny cinema. But you know what? I'll miss Amboise. I'll miss my long walks to and from the centre-ville, the cute, old houses that creep me out at night, the friendly people in all the cafés...

Check out the creepy face Sticker on the right... saw it when I was going back home.

People here really are very friendly, and I was also very lucky to get to know some extremely nice and cool people at my school. I'm pretty sure we were the biggest agitation to happen in Amboise during the winter. Like I mentioned before, there aren't many places to go, but we figure it out! Like yesterday, we went to Le Shaker, a bar on the other side of the river. The owners and bartenders are very sympa and they have amazing and inumerous drinks, alcoholic and non. 

Today I decided to stay in, study a bit, watch some episodes of Pretty Little Liars and relax. I didn't even go out for lunch and ended up making a Spinach and Cheese Risotto that turned out delicious! I had to admit I was pretty proud of finally doing something that tasted good and didn't have suger involved (what can I say, I just love baking!). 

Tomorrow I don't have classes after lunch, so I might go to Tours or Orleans. And Saturday, I'm off to Paris! I'll try to post some stuff from there, but I think it'll be pretty difficult, considering I won't have so much time to spend as I do here. And even with all the time I have, I hadn't posted in a while! This time, though, expect to be hearing from me sooner.

Enjoy the end of your lazy Sunday -I know I am- and good luck waking up tomorrow and dealing with Monday -I know I'll need it...

Lots of  Love,

Vlog #4 - Amboise!

Hey guys! It's already night here, and the day was really great!

 We went to the Château d'Amboise, which was really beautiful, even if the day wasn't that good. I took a lot of pictures, which you can view on my Facebook page, but I'll upload some here aswell:

That's the only château I've visited till now, but we're thinking about renting a van and going to another one this Sunday. After the visit to the castle, I went back to the school with 3 of my other classmates who were there and we had a baking class, and we made a Galette de Rois:

If you look closely, you can see the Brazilian, English and French flag!

The Eurocentres School of Amboise

After eating the Galette, me and friends from the school -Jamile, Ana and Murilo- walked around town, went to the bookstore (where I got some fashion magazines to improve my french vocabularie!), and tried to find a nice, open little restaurant/bar to enjoy the evening. After a lot of walking around, we ended up at Ô Pub. It was empty except for us and two other guys, but, like everyone here says, "c'est l'hiver!".

It was very nice and the people were very polite and helpful. All in all, a great way to end a great day. Tomorrow, I have class untill 6pm, and I think I might go to the movies after that... If not, I'll stay home, read and study a bit, and hopefully finally make another fashion post (maybe about the sneakers trend?). On verra!

Grosses bises,

Vlog #3 - Arrival

Hey guys! I'm writing this from Amboise, a small city in France where I'll be staying for about a month. I left Paris yesterday by train and when I got here Madame Bouteillier, my hostess, picked me up at the Gare. Everything went well, even if I did jump out of the train before than I should have, having to wait in the cold before another one came.

Brrr!

The house is very good (and warm, which really is a relief!) and Madame Bouteillier is very nice and welcoming. I haven't taken any pictures of the city yet, but I intend to do so today, when I go out for lunch and "faire des cours" at the flea market.

There's another exchange student staying here, who (Gasp!) is also Brazilian. I'm trying not to speak Portuguese, though, and make better use of my time being in France! School starts Monday, and I'm looking forward to getting to know the other students and the teachers.

Au revoir mes chéries!

Vlog #2 - Almost there!

Hey guys! I write to you from Lisbon, with swollen eyes and a tired back... The flight was actually pretty good, but, sadly, I lack completely in the marvelous ability to sleep on planes.

Sleep? Nah, too mainstream

 So yeah, 'twas an all nighter for me! But nothing some good expressos can't solve, for sure.

 I'll be catching the plane to Paris in a few, so I leave you with my best wishes and lots of love!