Shopping, Classes, and Cake; oh my!

Hello everyone!

This week was my first week of classes which was à la fois exciting and terrifying! I'm really excited about my courses, though, because they seem like they'll be really interesting. I'm also getting to take journalism and what I can only hope is a choir class and those both seem like really great fun. So classes were good--still waiting on my student card, but no big deal.

For those of you who aren't familiar with French culture, there are only two big sales here (unlike in the States)--one in the winter, and one in the summer. Pretty much every store has sales, and they last like 2 or 3 weeks each. And then poof, no more sales for the rest of the year. Well, the winter sale started on Wednesday. Being true American shopping girls, Maddie, Angie, and I just HAD to go out shopping. So we did. For about 7 hours straight. Needless to say, my feet KILLED by the end of the night, but I found some good bargains, and I'm going to go out later next week to see if I can find some things even MORE on sale.


Friday night, after shopping, the three of us went out to a nice bar called Au Bureau. The atmosphere was nice, if a little crowded, and I had the most ridiculous, delicious sandwich known to man: The Croque au Bureau.

Yes, that's a fried egg. Yes, that is a hot dog (two, in fact!). In case you can't tell, there is melted cheese on top of that piece of bread under the hot dog. What you can't see is that under that piece of bread is some ham and some more melted cheese, and then another piece of bread. Yes. A sandwich, topped with melted cheese, TWO hot dogs, and a fried egg. Yes. It was delicious. If you are ever in France and come across this monstrosity, I beg you to give it a chance.

So, THAT sandwich happened. Then yesterday, we (Angie, Maddie, and I) met a girl from Angie's class and went to her place to make a galette de rois (King's Cake). For those of you unfamiliar with the French tradition, King's Cake is what they eat for pretty much the ENTIRE month of January. I don't think I've gone more than a day or two without having another piece. King's Cake is especially fun because inside the cake is a little figurine, and whoever finds the figurine in his/her piece of cake is king/queen for the day. Not to mention, the cake itself is delicious. *Enter cake montage*

All the ingredients!

Angie mixing up the filling

Maddie pouring the filling onto the bottom piece of crust.

Our beautiful cake before it goes into the oven.

Maddie with the finished product.

We had to let it cool outside for a bit--très français!

Clockwise from left: Stacie, me, Maddie, and Angie; toasting our skills!

Maddie, the youngest, got under the table to ensure everyone had a fair shot of getting the figurine.

My beautiful piece of cake, emblazoned with "2012" to commemorate the occasion.

We all sat around and talked for quite some time before Maddie, Angie, and I headed back to the centre-ville where Angie headed off to meet a friend. Maddie and I had McDonald's. I know, I know! It's so bad, and SO unoriginal. BUT, we had to try it, even if only once. And it truly was a little comfort food to remind us of home.

So that was my week! Next weekend I believe we will be heading off to Paris, so get ready for the EXCITE!