Trainspotting is wonderful, but I'm convinced that listening to "Lust for Life" one too many times left me with an extremely painful ear infection — my first in 13 years, perhaps? I mean, of course I've had it in the ear before! I was (according to my parents) a baby with a perpetual ear infection. I had tubes put in when i was young. Before I went under, whoever was anesthetizing me asked me what I liked to do for fun, and I said I liked to play with Barbies in the driveway, which was a blatant lie. To this day, I am not entirely sure what the tubes were for. I'm also not sure why I said what I did.

buddenbrooks

as mentioned earlier. i wish i could read german, or at least appreciate exactly what certain german dialects (the usage of which mann seems so fond) imply about their speakers. i cannot and may never, but i recommend this book anyway, as it was recommended to me — for those who read jane austen and know something of german history and eat chocolate with an eighty-five percent cacao content.

lost in (the first, lowe-porter) translation: much of the book's charm, i think.* i could barely get past the endless descriptions of one (1) dinner at the beginning of the book. i had no idea how anyone, much less the highly intelligent person who recommended it to me, could call buddenbrooks their favorite book. the woods translation remedies this; it wasn't a chore to read, not at all. it was a joy! the purest of them! plein de gratuitous french to boot! the chapters are of such manageable sizes that buddenbrooks managed to break my heart every morning over a bowl of oatmeal.**

consumed, lately

by forces within and without: me. i've been at college for one-point-five weeks, in class for point-five. the bullet journal has kept me out of trouble. by "out of trouble," i mean that i've taken my multivitamin every day, i haven't been late to anything (yet), and i did my laundry before i ran out of clothes. two small victories! and one big one! yes, that last is really an accomplishment, considering that i didn't pack enough clothes.

by me: a few books, more films (rare!), some good food. even more not-so-good food.

stay tuned

mangez !

• yogurt cakes are wonderful in their simplicity: eggs + leavener + a few ingredients all measured in a pot of yogurt. for example: two pots of flour, two pots of oil, one pot of sugar. no frosting! no frosting anywhere in france.
• goat cheese (chèvre) is great with apples and even better in the way my second host mother prepared it. this, too, is simple: slice an apple in half, top each half with goat cheese, bake! sprinkle with thyme.
• france has a bread law. a bakery can't call itself a boulangerie unless it makes its bread a) on the premises and b) with only four ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast). this has deterred nobody, as i saw boulangeries on every street corner. however, crustiness is not standardized.
• french sandwiches are revolutionary, perhaps because of the bread. they're big and filled with cheese (always) + whatever else you desire. my favorites are tomato/mozzarella and cucumber/chèvre. obviously, you'll have several more options if you eat meat.
• honorable mentions: fleur de lait ice cream, buckwheat crêpes, savory tarts!
• lastly: i never thought i'd actively search for a website called cheese.com, much less actually spend time reading it, much less find its contents fascinating. and yet: here i am.

pillars

reims and troyes are old, very old, old enough that i found mention of both in first few chapters of the book i selected for my flight home -- crown and country* (david starkey, who has recently been in the news for being a "dyspeptic television personality" of a historian who advocates britain's inherent britishness; this book hits you over the head with that belief).

this is reims part ii, in which i do visit the cathedral notre-dame de reims (along with two others + a basilica), and in which i also eat a single shining macaron from la petite friande. this particular macaron is called "stade de reims," and sports the colors of a) the local soccer team and b) the famous biscuits roses of the city. it is, according to my host sister, the best macaron in the world. i don't disagree! however, i've only eaten two macarons total.

*it was starkey or a biography of john lennon. looking for sheer length, i failed to take into account that historical surveys of royals (and exclusively royals) are hopelessly dry, william the conqueror's bursting bowels notwithstanding. howard zinn, this is not.

read on for history + photos

for your health

or, six things i by-hearted (roughly translated, here) from the health advisories on french television, posters, and billboards -- while i wasn't even paying attention!

• eat at least five fruits and vegetables per day
• avoid snacking between meals
• avoid eating a diet too high in sugar, fat, or salt
• eat three dairy products per day
• practice a physical activity regularly
• water is the one essential drink -- even more so than milk