March 29, 2011 at 4:31 PM

A Macaron Adventure

Le Jour du Macaron!

Photographer Amanda August is studying abroad in France this semester. Here, she discovers French macarons.

 

Paris in the springtime is amazing! This past Sunday, the 20th of March, I spent the day roaming around Paris collecting free macarons. Macarons are a delicious mixture of cookie, cake, and cream filling, and a  French specialty. One macaron company, Pierre Hermé, celebrates the beginning of spring by having one day of free macarons. At each of the seven Pierre Hermé stores in Paris you can go and get three free macarons. The store requests that you give a small donation to their charity of choice: Autour des Williams. It is a great cause to which I was happy to donate to in exchange for a few macarons.
 

I started my day of macarons along with a friend at around 9 in the morning. We arrived at the first of the seven stores to be the first in line. After waiting for 45 minutes for the store to open, I chose my three macarons: coffee, chocolate and creme brulee. On to the next store, and the next and the next, etc. The longest wait in line we had was five minutes. We went to all seven stores in just a
little less than three hours! I got as many different flavors as possible, which lent to some very strange sounding flavors: rose, jasmin, olive oil and vanilla, mandarin and olive oil, licorice & violet, carrot & orange, fig & fois
gras, mushroom & hazlenut. But all in all it was a great day in Paris in the springtime!

 

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March 29, 2011 at 4:19 PM

Baking Baguettes

Photographer Amanda August, who is studying abroad in France this semester, gets to experience the taste of fresh French bread.

 

My language and culture class was privileged enough to take a behind-the-scenes tour of Boulangerie Patisserie Au Grand Richelieu in the first arrondisement of Paris. This bakery, owned by Claude Esnault, is the oldest functioning bakery
in Paris, baking bread since the 1800s. Our tour started with a brief description of the ingredients of bread and how it is made. Then Esnault showed us how to form a baguette, which a machine does. Then he pulled out some already formed baguettes that were ready to be baked. He let us each slice open a baguette with a neat little fork before they were placed in the oven at 220 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. During the time that the bread was baking, Esnault showed the class how to make croissants. We each got to try rolling up the dough to form a croissant. Then he showed us how to make the pain au chocolat, a crowd favorite, which is basically a croissant full of chocolate! We each got to try a piece of the chocolate that goes inside as well, which was delicious. When the bread was done, Esnault got us two baguettes so that we all got a piece of steaming fresh hot baguette. It was the best bread I have had in Paris! It was a great class and a wonderful way to experience and learn more about an essential part of French culture! Bakery's are such a huge part of the French culture that they aren't even allowed to go on strike.

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March 24, 2011 at 4:53 PM

Photos of the Week: March 18- March 24

Here are the Daily Collegian photographer's photos of the week. We have a lot of sports photos this week, with photographers shooting two different NCAA teams during their match-ups this past week and weekend. Which news and sports photo would you choose?

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March 20, 2011 at 6:02 PM

Photos of the Week & of Break: March 4-March 17

Here are the Daily Collegian photos of the week from March 4 until March 17 (Spring Break fell in the middle). The winning photos are M. Antonio Silas' magician photo, and Kelley King's basketball photo, the first two in the slideshow.

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March 3, 2011 at 5:09 PM

Photos of the Week: February 25-March 3

Have a look at the Collegian photographer's photos of the week. Winners are Chloe Elmer's Talor Battle photo and Kelley King's dancer photo. One sports and one news photo is chosen as a winner each week.

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March 2, 2011 at 5:40 PM

Photos of the Week: February 18-February 24

Check out the Collegian's photos of the week, featuring photos from THON 2011. Our winners were Sarah Bond's basketball photo as well as Andrew Dunheimer's club cheerleading photo from THON.

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February 21, 2011 at 7:06 PM

Photos of the Week: February 10- February 17

Take a look at our photography showcase for  the week. Our winning shots are Tyler Sizemore's photo of the Lady Lions and Venkatesh Krishnan's photo from a horse barn.

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February 16, 2011 at 7:27 PM

The Food of France

Our photographer Amanda August is studying abroad in France this semester. See what she has to say about the food of France so far.

France is known for its food, so basically all I do in France is eat. The French normally do not snack, but I can't wait nine hours in between lunch and dinner, so I've now found places to both snack and have meals. There is a wonderful creperie near my classes and one near my favorite bookstore. I have found a favorite grocery store, Carrefour, which is on my walk to-and-from the metro. I have also found my favorite ice-cream shop on the Ile-Saint-Louis, behind Notre Dame. Food is practically a hobby for my friends and I in Paris.

There are a few things that everyone must eat when in France: cheese (which I don't like but have tried), wine,  bread (baguettes are wonderful), pain au chocolat (a favorite snacks, crepes (especially Nutella flavored), galettes (a healthy crepe with cheese, meat, and veggies), macaroons ( tiny cakes) and my personal favorite, the ice cream and gelato.

Cereal is different here too. One of my favorites consists of granola and dark chocolate shavings. There is also cereal made of Nutella. Nutella in France is much better than in the United States, and some people eat it everyday for breakfast.

I've had an interesting experience with steaks here as well, because French people eat their steaks still mooing basically. One of my first meals here was a hamburger steak...totally rare, though I asked for medium rare. From that point on, I've been cooking my own meat.  

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February 16, 2011 at 7:11 PM

Eiffel Tower Ice Skating

Our photographer Amanda August is studying abroad in France this semester. See and read about her adventure ice skating on the Eiffel Tower:
 
 
Most people who visit Paris go to the Eiffel Tower; however, not many people can say that they have had the chance to ice skate (or 'partinage' in French) on the lower deck of the Eiffel Tower. I got the chance to, and it was awesome! It may be the smallest ice skating rink known to man but it is one. We first walked up about 400 steps to get to the first level of the tower, and then went ice skating. They had hockey-skate boots with figure-skating blades, and it felt very wobbly, but it was still a lot of fun. We were basically just skating in a bunch of circles, but the view was amazing!  After ice skating for about half an hour or so I then climbed another 300 some odd stairs (for a grand total of 669 stairs) to the second level of the tower. The view from there is even better, but very windy! Unfortunately the top was closed. Finishing off the day, I treated myself to a delicious hot chocolate in one of the cafes on the upper deck.
 
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February 10, 2011 at 8:09 PM

Photos of the Week: February 4-February 10

Imagine your assignment sheet reading "President Barack Obama on campus" while you are looking at events for the next day. That's exactly what our photographers were able to experience last week. The hype and thrill of having a sitting president on campus comes with everything: motorcades, protests, the landing and take-off of Air Force One, etc., including the ever-loved photo page. In addition, our news and sports genres were brimming with assignments over the weekend, and we came out strong. Our winning photos of the week are Pete Tesoriero's basketball shot of Tim Frazier being blocked, as well as Andrew Dunheimer's shot of the President onstage waving to a full crowd in Rec Hall. Enjoy!

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