Bonus Post:: Touring Paris with the Tastebuds

I'm no food blogger, but I realized when I went to Europe that in any country the food is a large part of the cultural experience. In France, eating and preparing food was viewed as being tantamount to a sacred ritual.  No wonder French cuisine was added to UNESCO's list of the world's "intangible cultural heritage". Sometimes when I came aross something really tasty, unusual, or something with symbolic significance to my experience there, I took a picture of it. Here is my trip, as experienced through my taste buds.

First drink purchased ever...pint of Guiness

What was to be the first of many, many macaroons. Purchased from my favorite patisserie on the corner of blvd St. Germain and Rue de Bac.

Tartine w/ tomates et fromage. Purchased during dinner with the Berkley Girls after a Welcome Week session with "Gregoire".

A glimpse into my grocery basket...

Fettucini with morels. Consumed during my Welcome Week group dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the Seine and Notre Dame

First Ladurée St. Honoré

Falafels with hummus and tahini sauce. Dinner in the Marais on a cold winter's Saturday when L'As du Falafel wasn't open

Close-up of a chocolate eclair

Starving on Champs Elysées, I decided to try the first Mc Donalds that i'd had in years out of perhaps a misguided sense of homesickness? Right after I experienced a surprisingly suggestive wink from a French waiter at a nearby café.

L'as du Falafel falafel. aka "vegetarian's best friend in Paris" aka "delicious cheap eats"aka "best falafel I have had and probably will ever have in my life." Lenny Kravitz approved.

Coffee purchased on a Sunday when Pedro, Isa, and I went to hang out around one of Paris' canals.

Best Chocolate Mousse in Paris at Chez René on Blv. Saint Germain, according to Le Figaro

Pizza during a much-needed dinner outing with Elise and Prerna.  Boy talk heals the soul.

Kir, my favorite drink. Mix white wine and syrup of cassis.

Nachos-my version of comfort food. It took about 2 days to compile all of the ingredients required to make this. Not pictured: sketchy guy selling avocados out of boxes near the metro entrance.

One of my many lunch dates with Isa E. Croque Monsieur for her and Club Vegétarienne for me.

Salad au Chevre Chaude from an Ashkenazi restaurant in the Marais

And for dessert, créme brulée!

Blurry, but awesome. Piece of Mille Feuille (literally, "a thousand sheets") with a chocolate fan on top that my friend Victoria S. got me for my 21st birthday.

Fresh produce from Marché Richard Lenoir in the Bastille

60% of my diet in France: baugette and cheese

St. Honoré au Framboise (raspberry) waaaayyy better than the original. So delicious. And yes, that is a rose petal on top.

France taught me to value the preparation, the consumption, and the quality of food. Not to say that I won't eat a Dorito from time to time but I do think more about the quality of ingredients that I use in my food now than I did before. Well prepared food can be something that brings you and your friends together, or give you a reason to savor a certain evening or event. For me, each of these meals represents a memory.