Things Yasmeen Eats

Today I woke up and skipped French on account of still feeling like garbage, I tidied up the room some but couldn't shake that sick, dirty feeling. I kept brushing my teeth and washing my face trying to make it go away. It felt like the girls were away from class forever as I was confined to my little bed doing nothing. I talked with Amanda and Jennifer and they were able to make a doctor's appointment near Accent at 4:15. So at 3:00 I headed down there with Tori and picked up a directions sheet from Jennifer. I then headed toward the office, I got a little lost but not too bad. Basically I had to cross a round about and got off too soon. Getting into the building was quite the scene as there are all these buttons and buzzers and I didn't understand, thankfully I was there early and could simply sneak in when others walked out. I then waited in the waiting room until the doctor got me and I got the bad news I thought I might hear-it's a viral infection. Meaning, we can...

So today I had a smidgen of a sore throat upon waking up so I took a bit of Advil cold and sinus and headed to class. I also grabbed a liter of water to drink. At our meeting with Amanda I mentioned having a bit of sore throat and she recommended maybe telling them my issues at the pharmacy and they could help. So we met with Amanda who said the film was looking good and suggested adding a numerical element to our analysis which we struggled to come up with. Unfortunately my night took a turn for the worse when after working with Hannah and Katie I became extremely ill. I had a sore throat and stuffy nose so bad when I'd try to breathe in it was like I didn't have a nose at all-which was terrifying. Rather than regular cold body aches I had sharp, acute pains that were in my lower back on the left side. They were what I imagine contractions would feel like, they were so painful I was stuck waddling and when I'd get up I'd gasp in pain. I also had a fever, and at one poi...

Today was relatively uneventful. Sort of like most of this week will be, today was just going to class  then working on the project. We had a picnic with Amanda today at the Eiffel Tower where we discussed our most confusing reading and I brought the fresh squeezed orange juice. The orange juice was from Franprix and I'm pretty sure they might hate me now as the machine was broken when I arrived and I lurked around the store while they fixed it and still had issues with it. I got two liters of the juice and some cute little teacups for drinking. At the picnic we saw a couple doing wedding photos, they appeared to be Japanese and we weren't sure if it was cultural but they didn't seem very happy or affectionate in between shots. We then realized they were probably doing a photo shoot. Afterward we headed home and began doing tons of work on the project. I forced Caroline to come to crepe man with me where I had another chicken and cheese crepe and did a live food review for ...

Today Caroline and I stayed in bed just about all day. We were finally pried from our beds by Tori when we decided to go see the end of the Tour de France and get dinner. We opted to eat at Chipotle funny enough and I do like eating at American chains and then being able to compare the food! I got a chicken burrito and the biggest discrepancy would be that it's much smaller, other than that it did taste a lot fresher. I also got a margarita because they sell them there and was carded which is quite funny. Then we headed to the Champs Elysée where we jumped the line and headed in and caught the very tail end then just wandered around for fun. Overall, it was a pretty chill day with not too much going on.

Today is the day we have all been waiting for! Lollapalooza day! So, the daytime was actually pretty casual, I worked on homework in my room with Caroline and we went to the bakery with Tori in order to buy vodka and orange juice for the copious vodka oranges. We also stopped by the boulangerie where I tried some pieces of tarts! I got a pear and raspberry piece as well as accidentally buying a blueberry piece. They were so good! I couldn't tell which I preferred as the blueberry was more juicy and sweet and closer to a pie at home, but then every time I'd go in for a bite of pear I would love how that one had a lot more pastry crust to it. The pastry used to make them was really cool as it was like a combination of pie crust and shortbread so it had even more shortbread to it than the crostata I make at home. After doing homework we all began to get ready and Caroline and I got another chicken and cheese crepe for dinner which is quickly becoming a staple in my diet here. With...

So today we only had French class which was so nice! But unfortunatley because we have phonetic it did still make our Versailles plans run late into the day. I was campaigning to return to Cité to drop off bags and because I wanted to do a costume change, but one of the girls wasn't having it so we did a classic break off. We came back and printed our Lolla tickets then got sandwiches and I had some of the magical orange juice form the machine (10/10 for every fresh squeeze oj machine in Paris, btw). With that we headed up to Versailles, upon arrival we went to a help desk to discuss going to the Jardins first and the palace after, which they recommended and told us we should be able to get into the palace for free and quickly when the line drops off at 3:30. We we all enjoyed the gardens and the most perfect weather that we had for it, I had more fresh squeezed orange juice at the musical gardens which are arguably my favorite place in the world! The girls didn't want to do ro...

I wish Thursday was the last day of French class each week but unfortunately it's not, but I keep feeling like it is inside my head-this makes things hard. So today class was relatively uneventful with the exception of spending an hour or so in normal class discussing with everyone what their favorite foods for their home countries were. This was fun! We then had to head directly to Montmartre to meet with Amanda because we opted to move class time up. So we picked up sandwiches at the boulangerie and hopped on the train. We actually climbed way less stairs this time than last on our way which was really nice, because last time was pretty crazy. We met Amanda in a park with a small amphitheater like set up in which we sat on for our debate which was fun! We debated sexism in the case of Franklin when it came to the discovery of DNA's double helix structure. Unfortunately, I was assigned the anti sexism side which made prepping hard as I obviously don't believe that (no one ...

So, today was really hard to get through phonetique as we have to sit and listen to ourselves talk on the recordings. I'm digging through my purse searching for some lipgloss as I listen and my teacher jumps into my headset like "CAVA????" and I'm like, "ca va bien!!!" as I throw my purse away from me as quickly as I can. She then begins a small quiz with me regarding the things we have been learning and I did okay, but jesus that was scary! As it turns out she does this with everyone, everyday, so new thing to be prepared for! We had to go directly to the cemetery as Caroline and Tori needed to go get an interview at 3:00 so we moved class up. We did an informal debate surrounding Hep C cure which was pretty fun, I got the better side of giving access to all people and not making them wait until they are one foot in the grave for treatment. With that over we walked around the cemetery with Amanda and her husband, who is very nice. Then on to accent to condu...

Okay, so today Phonetique started and in my 30 minute break between classes I enjoyed a Chardonnay. It's also worth nothing how hot it was today that just a simple 10:30 am class of wine had me feeling a smidgen lightheaded as I sat down to practice prononciations. However, this turned out to be totally necessary as the teacher was deeply frightening. First, we had to sit through several minutes of musical chairs as who was in what class was oriented, thankfully Nick Viall and I are good and got to stay together. But then it happened, I was called on to say some things and I guess I wasn't saying them properly so she quite intensely insisted I look her in the eyes in French and follow what her mouth is doing. It didn't horrify me at the time but really freaked Jack out and upon later reflection this was quite alarming. Moving on from there we attended some class with Amanda in the Latin quarter and then met up with Tori's friend Sabrina at our classic Au Petit Bistro fo...

So, today was relatively uneventful when it comes to class-we got to enjoy the pure bliss that was not having phonetique class until Tuesday so that is magical enough to note. Moving on from there, Tori and Caroline left to a hospital for their project between Sorbonne and Amanda class which was sad, so I was left alone and actually DID NOT fall asleep. I went to the library to print my group appeal where I was awarded yet another card! (Yay! I am now up to approximately 9 cards) After printing I met the other girls where we took the tram (seriously, how do they always find a tram route?) to go see Amanda at Ernest Hemingway's apartment. From there Amanda got us slightly lost which was funny and we actually returned to the Jardins du Luxembourg where we saw a cool fountain we hadn't seen previously. At the end f class Amanda informed us that we could have until Monday for our appeals so we took ours back to edit some more. Caroline and Tori and I then headed to Monoprix to see ...

So today started at the perfect time-noon. I finally caught up on sleep and got to get up nice and late! Caroline and I did a classic Boulangerie run where I tried a Chausson aux Pommes which is like a little apple hand pie-so good. It was like a puff pastry outside filled with apples, while I anticipated a traditional apple pie filling this filling was actually a more apple sauce consistency. It was still lovely, as apple sauce here is much better like most ingredients in general. This pastry gets a 10/10 for possibly being my new favorite. The mid part of the day was spent in a quiet way of simply doing homework. But once that was completed Caroline and I decided to grab Tori and make a trip to the Jardin du Luxembourg and possibly to eat after. After wrangling Tori into our plan we made the quick trip over. The weather was really good with a nice pleasant breeze and I'm so grateful! All in all the Jardins were so nice and idyllic, the palm trees gave me slight LA vibes but I wel...

So today started on the right note given that I slept until like 11am! With that out of the way Caroline and I opted to go to the boulangerie and Franprix, we ate lunch in the park and had some ham and cheese sandwiches from the boulangerie. They had sundries tomatoes that I was skeptical of but turned out to be very tasty. I also had some little cheesy crackers from Franprix that were buttery and delicious-not cheesy as promised but the copious butter made me forgive them. 9/10 for being buttery. The sandwich gets a solid 7/10 for being a little more than I bargained for but still coming through. However, I do appreciate the simple things in life like sandwich that is cheese, ham, and a good thick layer of butter. After this adventure we did some homework before heading to the shops surrounding Chatelet. We went to the Zara outside Châtelet where I got a gorgeous bag, a cute top, and most importantly broke my 500 euro note!!!!! Finally! So Caroline and I purchased our stuff together i...

Today I saw the President of France in the flesh but had to also look at the President of the United States on various screens-rude. We (Caroline, Tori, and myself) went to the Champs Elysée for the parade at about 8:30-45, the other girls at 7:30. I'm pretty sure we got better spots. We got really nice spots actually, it was odd we were in a special gated off close area but they stopped letting people in when it was maybe 1/5 full? Probably for security reasons so they could monitor us more closely. We saw Macron which was really cool but we didn't even get photos because he passed with so little fanfare I questioned it was him the whole time he passed. The parade otherwise wasn't my favorite because there were lots of long stretches were nothing happened. Thankfully the weather was nice! We stopped at a cafe on the way back where I had a lackluster pastry and baguette. This boulangerie had a more bougie vibe but the food didn't live up to the ambiance or prices. 3/10 ...

So today was Thursday, I came to class on 4 hours of sleep and felt amazing! Thankfully, I do not have to call the FBI or fire department because Pain aux Raisins are back at boulangerie! Phew! I was worried. Anyways, class went well and I actually seemed to have had a better go of things than Nick Viall despite leaving the bar later...what can I say? So following that I headed back to Cité where I was able to take a nap (small nap, only 10 minutes-sad!), do homework, and print my appeal thanks to the help of a kind stranger in the library. Class was at Musée Rodin-aka my wedding venue. It was quite beautiful, with the gardens that I found so tranquil and the sculptures that lined the premises. The chateau was also stunning, and as a museum not so big it was overwhelming. So...I'm getting married there. After class Tori and I got a gelato at the gardens and sat and ate before exploring the museum. We then returned home to freshen up before going to a fan favorite Au Petit Bistro fo...

It. Happened. Doug. Luckie. Is. Gone. Today it happened, quietly without much fanfare Doug Luckie fluttered off into the Paris sunset to go home and drive his smart car to wherever the hell Doug Luckie goes. Amanda is now in charge of us and I think I heard bells when it happened. We have had a third day of crisis as the boulangerie is STILL out of Pain aux Raisins, I'm thinking about calling the fire department. Today class was uneventful with the exception of successfully inviting Nick Viall & Co. to come to Fleurs with us for karaoke and celebration of escaping the wrath I've endured. I had quite a bit of homework that had piled up for me to go through so I had a trusty sandwich at maison and got to it...however, in the midst of trying to read about Pasteur I fell asleep approximately 3 times? I would be laying in bed reading and just drop the book on the floor and fall asleep. Did you know, Caroline's journal is almost exclusively her complaining then discussing ho...

So today started out with the patisserie by school being out of pain aux raisins and I'm just like, "first of all, how dare you?" With that catastrophe behind me I attended French class and to my surprise Nick Viall hadn't dropped off the face of the earth...he was just sick. Nonetheless, we chatted and he was happy to be invited to come do things with my friends and I. So with that mission completed I was emotionally available to head to Versailles with the girls. The thing I've been most excited about in Paris has been seeing the Jardins de Versailles! So I grabbed my trusty Maison sandwich and boarded a tram, then a fancy two level train that reminded me of Source Code (Jake Gyllenhaal train  movie). However, upon arriving we were met with two inconveniences 1. we could't weasel in for free 2. a two hour line. Rude. Well, thankfully the weather was absolutely perfect for standing outside for hours on end. There was sun intermixed with a lovely breeze-but do...

So, today was Monday. The guy I'd been trying to sit by in class so that we could invite him and his friends to things was not there. (Guy from Petanque who looked like Nick Viall) so I'm running out of the energy to make this friendship happen. So today was a tad bland as I went to school, then had a sandwich at maison (the kind from day one of this program wit the ham and cheese and butter) I really enjoy these sandwiches and the way they have become a bit of a staple in my life here in France. We went to class and took a quiz and did our vivisection debate. I enjoyed that class was at Accent because that meant I got to have wifi there. Cool! Then we headed to the mall again to look for the jewelry I saw over the weekend but didn't pick up. Unfortunately, the store was out of the jewelry I liked (the rings) so I can't pretend  to be married if anyone I don't feel like chatting with talks to me. From there we headed home where we tried a brasserie right by maison, ...

So today was amongst my most uneventful days as a highlight was me falling asleep not once but twice while reading a book. I also didn't wear pants the majority of the day...that's the real highlight here. So today started as all good days do with me waking up and watching makeup tutorials when I could've gotten homework done...#goalz. Then I got ready in a short amount of time to head to the bakery where I got yet another wonderful Pain aux raisin but also decided to sample something a bit more interesting in the same concoction I had last week but with Camembert rather than ham. Unfortunately, this was also a miss. The smell of the cheese was just very off-putting and furthermore  it had a lot of rind in it that made the texture of the bread and treat as a whole very lackluster. Thankfully, I saved my favorite for last in case a tragedy like this one took place. 3/10 for disappointing Camembert but points for carbs. 10/10 for pain aux raisins coming through like always! T...

So today started at 10am by heading out to the largest flea market possibly in the world...definitely in Paris. To attend much a bazaar we took the subway all the way to north Paris and exited in a sketchy part of town that reminded me of going to the alley in Los Angeles. Upon arrival we were greeted by men selling fake designer sunglasses and purses, quite aggressively. This amused me but seemed to startle some of the other girls. Moving on from there we had to make it through a sea of tents pushing similar wares that did make me feel rather uneasy. It was the kind of place you wanted to hold your purse extra tight in. Sadly, I was too nervous and uneasy to stop and try to get Austin a Fly Emirates jersey from one of the vendors...I also didn't know if they looked fake or not. However, I would find it quite amusing if I had actually gotten him a terrible knock off...that's probably more fun than if I'd gotten a decent one. We perused the flea market, which was exactly as ...

So today was Friday and we only had French class which was a welcome change of pace. However, in French class a small tragedy took place. I had mastered the art of undone but done hair after not washing it the perfect amount of days and I wore my denim jumpsuit-which always makes me fell lovely then I arrived in class. I was prepared to seat myself inconspicuously next to Nick Viall dopelganger and have a riveting conversation...only he was MIA. What a waste of a good hair day! Following that tragedy I returned to the bakery I have been frequenting for daily Pain aux Raisins and decided to sample one of their sandwiches of the ham and cheese variety. I was mildly alarmed when I suspected it may lack butter...however, as I enjoyed it I noticed a buttery taste running throughout and suspect melted butter within the sandwich may be in the mix. This, coupled with the more flour-y baguette being used makes this one of my favorite sandwiches thus far. I think I will be having another one of ...

Whew! Today was a doozy, mes amies! I honestly don't really recall how this day started...probably school? Oh yeah! We took a different route to school today at the request of some of the other girls and gosh that was not a great choice (so damn hot). So we hop onto the most crowded Tram of my life...I didn't support my own body weight because that train was so full of other people who could do it for me. After class I went to the Champs Elysée with Caroline and Tori where we found a cute shirt and a plethora of phone issues. So basically Orange only sells locked phones so I can't buy a phone and sim card there (crap). Then, we headed to class after lots of running around the road and it overall being hectic where I got some crummy news. I did really poorly on my presentation and I lot of the grading is a bit asinine. So that really killed my mood and morale for the day and for this class/trip in general. It's two days later that I write this and I'm still highly on...

I believe the single largest factor that contributed to the widespread embrace of the work of Galen is the religious approval and religious element that existed in his work. As we see today individuals with a strong faith will reject all sorts of things despite the evidence that do not adhere to their religious doctrine. This was true of the time then as well and we must bear in mind what a larger role the church played in society. The church not only served as a place of worship but it also stood in as government. So to believe Galen's work was to believe a body of work that was backed by both the government, most other scientists, as well as your place of worship. Furthermore, the fear of going against the church and being prosecuted which may prevent individuals from publicly supporting Harvey's work even if they did believe it was true or had value. I believe similar to today when an idea (Galen's) is backed by all the major regulators of knowledge (government, fellow e...

Today was quite the day. My morning started when I woke up early to be ready at 7:15 to head to Rue Dauphine with my group for shooting...at 7:21 I got a message saying they left without me. That was where we began. I chased them down to Rue Dauphine on some Liam Neeson taken level determination only to be told to just go to the Sorbonne upon my arrival. No. I found them. (actually we just ran into one another, but still) I had used overage data for that. We continued onto class where I enjoyed this confection from a different patisserie than the previous few days and I actually prefer this one! It has the more croissant, flaky texture I sort of expect out to the pain aux raisins. It also feels more buttery which is my jam. This pastry is an easy 10/10 as it's thus far my favorite one! Also, it's easily accessible to enjoy most days of the week. After class we returned to our street to film then went to Musée d'Orsay to look and find a sketch for an assignment fr...

So today before class I got another Pain aux raisins from the place I've been frequenting and my review is as follows: it is much more cake than the ones I've had perviously. I don't like or dislike this feature but it's worth noting! I'm not totally married to the idea of this cakey edition but it is quite good. After class I returned home with Tori and picked up a baguette to enjoy with cheese before taking a nap. I got the bread from the same bakery as the pain aux raisins and it's more flour-y. It's also much softer than other baguettes I've been having which is very nice. After the nap I headed to the Jardins du Tuleries to meet with Luckie where he not so subtly told us to redo our GPSAs. We then hashed out a new storyboard for our projects using Bitmojis that I'm incredibly excited about. I went to the Champs Elysees with Caroline and Tori after which was fun and we found a sign outside Christian Dior that read "We Should All Be F...

So today's offerings began with a pastry from a little boulangerie on the way to the Sorbonne for my first day of classes. I neglected to take a photo as we were rushing at bit (people left at 7:00am for an 8:30am class!) but I'll have photos in the future as this place my fall into the routine Luckie suggests we make for ourselves (which currently feels all but impossible). After class we headed back to Cité and I finally got another one of these sandwiches! It's ham, cheese, and butter (mwahaha) I had one the very first day when some of the girls suggested we eat in the café at Cité which I was initially very annoyed by as I was expecting gross and overpriced food. However, I reluctantly purchased this sandwich and fell in love! It's simple but delicious-and only 4,50 euros. So an all around 10/10 and this sandwich will likely become a fixture of these blogs. Today was Tori's birthday so we headed out for our Seine river cruise which was so much fun! We were serv...

So this Sunday we got to sleep in and get the day off to a slow start which was much appreciated after the late nights and early wake-ups of the past several days. Once we uploaded GPSA's I went with Tori and Caroline to the bakery down the road that we have been frequenting and I am trying to do as Vanessa said and try a new pastry each day. Today I got my classic raisin roll which earned it's classic perfect score for being a perfect pastry...done and done. However, this more savory offering that I tried was a miss...it was much like a high quality hot pocket? The meat in it was much too salty and fatty. In the future I would be willing to try the cheese version of this as the bread was quite good but I will pass on the jambon variety. 2/10 Not to be deterred, after some relaxing Tori and I made a trip over to Bercy Village, an outdoor mall that gave me Brentwood Mart flashbacks. There we didn't buy anything as the stores were more high end but we did smell...

Today started with a trip t o the patisserie before going to the Louvre-confession, I've been getting things at the patisserie but not reviewing them for a few days now. Here is my full disclosure review though: Pain aux Raisin over everything. That is my favorite. In the days to come I will show some but it's a pinwheel of croissant dough packed with sweet juicy raisins and coated with some shiny, delicious pastry glaze. I got one today, it was perfect as always. After a long day at the Louvre I came home without really eating and after striking out on sandwiches at the Maison Internationale café I headed to Franprix. There I was enticed by the cookie aisle and got these MooMilk cookies that reminded me of Petit Écolaire cookies (which I saw but forced myself to branch out). So imagine my disappointment when I got home, researched the ingredients and found that I cannot eat these as they're hazelnut. 0/10 for not reading the ingredients at the store. So to soo...

So today kicks off a new style of blogging in which I post updates about multiple food items enjoyed throughout a day! To start my day I went to Point Neuf with my group and we filmed on our street Rue Dauphine. After some filming we enjoyed breakfast at a café that can be seen in the background of our GPSA's. Though it was early I saw a Croque Monsieur being offered and had to check it off my food bucket list for the trip! Though it is amazingly photogenic I would say I need to be trying another to get a fuller Croque Monsier experience; I felt the bread used here left something to be desired. Croque Monsieur is one of those dishes I want to try several times at several spots during my trip to get a more robust idea of what the dish is all about-this was a solid start that leaves me room to grow. 5/10 Next up we have my Starbucks adventure! I stopped by the Starbucks on the same street as Accent in the shopping district. The woman working in there was super nice and we h...

So today we had quite the day filming in the rain I was under dressed and under fed. After escaping the rain and winds at Point Neuf I tagged along with Tori, Caroline and their group to their street where we filmed and ran into a restaurant about as quickly as we could! The restaurant had a bit of a beachy American theme, though the menu appeared largely French. I opted for zucchini risotto-because I love carbs-and a glass of white wine. This was my first wine experience outside of plane wine and I'm still new to pairings. I have to get to the wine shop to develop my palette as I play it safe and stick to Chardonnays, case in point. I love the way they bring us French bread at restaurants here because the aforementioned love of carbs I have. Onto the risotto: I was taken aback slightly by the color and the way the zucchini was clearly pureed in as opposed to chopped and sitting in the risotto the way I have made it in the past. However, this aided against soggy zucchini chunks s...

My first proper dinner in France was at none other than a bistro and was none other than steak frites! As a lover of all things steak this was high on the must eat list. I was so pleasantly surprised you can get steak dishes like this in France for under 20 euro! This one here was only 14! That being said, I knew the cut of meat was not going to be the fanciest but I was more than pleased with this! The real standouts of this dish were both the pepper sauce for the steak as well as the dressing on the green salad. I choose pepper sauce because it seemed to me to be a safe and simple choice, I made the right one! It was creaming and peppery without being overbearing. The dressing was light and I honestly cannot place the taste but I enjoyed it. A slight loss of points comes from the fries as the oil they were fried in leaves an aftertaste I cannot place but do not care for. Also, having a drink with dinner is a new phenomenon that was fun and indulgent. The mojito reminded me of Mexic...

My first meal in France was a crêpe from a crêperie just steps from my hotel as I was too nervous to eat alone at a café. Instead, I circled the blog eating a ham and cheese crêpe from a stand with a very friendly owner. We had a conversation in all French where I lied and said I am from Toronto which is only a half lie because I am Canadian and I go to Toronto sometimes. It was my best French conversation yet. He made my food using a bowl of shredded cheese that I assume is gruyere because I love gruyere and I want that to be true. Overall, I give my crêpe a 10/10 for giving me a warm welcome to the city much like it's maker. I am getting excited for a place where ham and cheese themed foods are much more of a staple than in the US...or Canada.