A night in the Marais + Sundays at the open market

After spending my first week of the practicum, an 11-day intensive French course, in class, on an excursion, or doing homework, I finally had a weekend off to relax and explore. A few girls and I decided to walk to the Seine and try and catch a boat ride down to the Eiffel Tower. There are lots of boats that ride up and down the river stopping at major tourist spots like the Louvre and Notre Dame. Sounds fun, right? Well it probably would have been if we had ever found a boat to get on to. We walked down the Seine and saw plenty of sparkling, lit up boats packed with tourists enjoying the sights, but we could not find a dock. It was pretty sad. So after walking all the way to the Notre Dame, we gave up and vowed to take a rain check on a boat
ride.

However, it wasn't all in vain, since we got to enjoy a warm night walk along the Seine and even find out the cool spot where everyone hangs out on weekend nights. Music played, people danced, and everyone shared bottles of wine and beer. We just walked by, but I think we may come back another night to check it out and even talk to some local Parisians. After our boat ride defeat, we realized we were close to the Marais district so we walked a little farther (my poor feet) and found some cute bars and cafés. We chose the one that was still doing happy hour because, well, we're poor. After finally sitting down, we all got some drinks (the tastiest, coconuttiest piña colada I've ever had) and split a basket of fries. One of the best things about cafés here is that you can stay as long as you want just talking and the waiter doesn't bother you or try and push you out. Also, you don't have to tip!

To let my feet recover from Friday and Saturday's walkfests, I stayed in, did some homework, and of course updated my blog. (Also I may have watched way too many episodes of Parks & Rec, but that's neither here nor there). After a nice run, which will be a blog post in and of itself (stay tuned!), I headed over to the amazing open market a few blocks from my apartment, the Marché d'Aligre. It's packed with fresh fruits and vegetables for crazy great prices. If only American markets were like this. The other day I bought mushrooms and they were covered in dirt. Aw yah, supah fresh. Also I found four avocados                                                                                         for two euros so I just live off of those now.

As gorgeous as the multitude of farm-fresh stands looks, the inside of the market is even better. A flower shop with bouquets of roses, a fromagerie filled with every kind of cheese you can imagine, and even a meat section with a whole roasting pig (kind of gross, kind of cool). One of my favorite sections is the poissonnerie which has all kinds of fish, shrimp, mussels, and even octopus. I still haven't bought anything from there because it's a bit intimidating (how do you cook fish with the head still on???) But just walking through and checking out the fresh meats and cheeses is so fun. I love that everything you eat here is fresh and preservative-free. If I had a better kitchen in my apartment instead of two tiny burners and a mini fridge I'd probably cook a lot more. In case you can't tell, I love to eat.