true story: i was radicalized by my french wine&cheese tour
hellloo again!!
i recognize the title is clickbaity but 1. it’s how i actually feel!!! and 2. i’m trying to boost engagement (u know who u r).
since i’ve last checked in
shayna and kat visited!!
we got coffees and yummy food and did a walking tour and explored madrid and this is how it felt to have them here (in coffee form):
warm and full of loveeee <3 <3 <3 shayna and i went to granada!
granada is a 4 hour train ride south of madrid - closer to the coast and at the base of the sierra nevadas in spain. there used to be a jewish community there (so we did go to a sefardi museum where the list of spanish surnames included my alter ego: ocaña) but it’s most well known for the moorish influences - tons of middle eastern foods and a beautiful old palace called the Alhambra that’s been well maintained with expansive gardens and wood/stone/plaster/mosaic detailing throughout
the halls are being decked in madrid
they are OBSESSED with xmas here. almost all of the main streets have lights strung across them with cool designs and it’s BEAUTIFUL. there are xmas markets on many streets and lots of storefronts and restaurants have decked out with cute lil designs — even my housemates put string lights around the potted tree making this the first time i’ve ever had a christmas tree at home!
i counted baguettes in paris
ok i did more than count baguettes while i was there but, as a woman in stem, i am proud of my counting and graphing skillz and wanted to share. i was in paris for 3 days and i counted a total of 34 baguettes being carried around by folks. some of these were multiple baguettes carried by one person (the most egregious example was a person carrying 7 baguettes - i looked around to see if anyone else thought this was comical and no one else seemed to think so)
most delicious graph i’ve ever made
other paris highlights include:
tour of montmarte!
yummmy pastries & also yummy non-parisian cuisine
mamiche (patisserie in paris) omg these pastries were YUM
i know it’s random to have falafel in france but multiple people recommended this place and i would too - best falaf i’ve had outside of mizrachi and jerusalem louvre
the paintings are cool and all (s/o mona) but the best part to me is the building!! it’s so massive and so beautiful and it was meta to see this painting of the building while inside of the building
louvre @ louvre!! see how stunning the building looks!! i also loved the marble statues — they’re so realistic it’s wild i was very impressed
more toes!! it looks like a photo!! oh and what you’ve been waiting for - a french wine and cheese tour
we started the tour by taking a lil walking tour through the rue mouffetard market led by chef alex (it’s a street with tons of product specific stores like a cheese store, a produce store, a patisserie, a butcher shop, a boulangerie, a fish shop). there, alex instilled in us the importance that french people place in the food they eat and the quality of it. he mentioned the class system and how we should always be fighting for the masses!! he mentioned that cheese should be stinky!! he mentioned buying from local produce and using your dollars to support what you support!! basically everything he said was connected back to how we can use our voice and time to have impact and make the changes we want to see. maybe it felt especially pertinent because d*****d t****p was in town for the notre dame re-opening so impact and value of a voice felt top of mind but it was overall a good reminder and lesson in passion. chef alex also was a h8er of big grocery stores and described them (not just the ones in the us) as selling poison (he specifically mentioned that cheese was bad in grocery stores but i dont think he’s been to trader joes) and explained how gluten and lactose bacteria are good for us but grocery stores sell bread and cheese that have a manufacturing process that doesn’t allow those bacteria to be digested by us from their products (some follow up research to be done on that). after the food market tour we went to his restaurant and sampled cheeses and wines (all paired nicely and with yummy things like bread and butter and fruit and jam to add to the pairings). he talked about food&wine as a tool for connection between all of us random people on the tour and it was a reflection of the slower-paced, food-enjoying lifestyle that i’ve been experiencing while abroad. it was such a great tour AND i learned how to ask for a baguette in french (i hope my graph above demonstrated how important that sentence is in french communication)
i’m nearing my end date in madrid and filling these last couple weeks with lots of travel and fun that i’ll upd8 y’all on later!! it’s bittersweet because i looove living here but i’m really missing san francisco and excited to be back there soon!!
love y’all lots <3
again requesting upd8s on your end!!
xx
noa