Plusieurs crêpes, et le commencement de Noël

So the past two posts haven't been wonderful and 'year abroady', I'll admit. The first time I posted in November, I basically just whinged for 905 words about how stressed I was etc etc [and really, they weren't exactly third world problems], and the second time was just an update to my things to do list.

But, I hear you all cry, 'what have I actually been doing?'

Well, read on, dear friends, because I shall keep you in suspense no more.

To start with? My mum tells me that my extended family are all under the impression, presumably from my Facebook account, that all I do out here is eat. That's not true, although this post is going to do a horrendous job at proving my point!

So: Mention of food #1: Pretty early on in November, we had one of the other QM/Paris girls and her boyfriend over to stay in our apartment for a while, and while they were around we found our way for the first time to Paris' Chinatown in the 13th Arrondissement near where we live, and had a very nice, very reasonably priced Chinese.

Mention of food #2: Also while they were staying with us, and also on the food front, we went to Rue Mouffetard in the 5th and bought a savoury crêpe each at a little place called 'Au P'tit Grec'. It had some pretty good reviews when we googled it and quite a line in front of it, which usually suggests good food, and it didn't disappoint! I can't remember what the others had, but I had a 'Bolognaise Gallette'. It was really very good, although I only managed to eat about a third of it - they're not expensive, but they don't skimp either, and the crêpes are very big, very filling, and absolutely laden with cheese. 

Au P'tit Grec, in the 5th Arrondissement. It doesn't look like much, but don't let appearances deceive you.

Really good food, and its really reasonably priced too :)

People visiting Paris, if you get a chance, I strongly recommend it. I'm personally waiting for a change to go back so I can try their Chocolate Orange crêpe with Grand Marnier. I'm drooling at the very thought of it...

Mention of food #3: Continuing with the crêperie theme, I also had a crêpe at Le Terroir, which is near Les Gobelins in the 13th Arrondissement. 

Crepe St Michel

Also very good, also very reasonably priced. This one is called "St Michel" and basically consists of Apples, Sorbet and Calvados (Apple Brandy) which was very strong (I felt like my tongue had been anaesthetised) but very moreish, and there were several other crêpes on their menu which are just begging for me to go back and try them!

(In the interests of full disclosure on the food (Mention #4) front, I also feel compelled to mention at this point that in addition to the sudden influx of crêpes, I seem to have taken up sampling the croissants of one or two local patisseries, on occasion, to see the difference between them. All on a purely scientific basis, of course. Not just because I happen to pass said patisseries and develop a sudden instantaneous pastry craving. Not at all.) 

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What else? Well tonight, I trekked over to the Champs-Élysées where the 'illuminations' (read: Christmas Lights) were being turned on. It didn't happen until nearly 45 minutes after the advertised time, and I'm fairly certain that I'm going to lose all my fingers from frostbite as a result. The lights were pretty, though.

The moment the lights were turned on, we were all covered in silver confetti :) I have to admit, it looked gorgeous!

Looking towards the Arc de Triomphe; there were loads of people on the top [of the Arc] watching the lights get turned on. I wish I'd thought of that - I bet it was really spectacular watching the whole avenue light up at once!

I love this picture. Makes me think of a proper winter wonderland..

Not sure they were pretty enough to justify my losing all my fingers from sheer cold, but still very pretty! :)

After that, I decided, with my cold addled brain, not to go to the closest tube station and therefore perhaps save at least my thumbs, if not my index fingers,  which would have been the sensible thing to do, but instead to wonder down towards Place de la Concorde where a Christmas market has set up camp (which admittedly, was the more fun thing to do). 

Christmas Market on the Champs Élysées

There, (prepare for mention of food #5), I decided to buy myself some Churros, which I was introduced to when on French exchange back in 2010 and which I now cannot resist on the rare occasion I see them for sale!

Churros are so so bad for you, but mmmm. Roll them in sugar and they're so so good!

There were some beautiful things that I was dying to stop and buy, but a) I was on the point of hypothermia, b) I'm a student on a very tight budget, and c) I'm going to be seeing a lot more of Christmas markets in the next month or so and it seemed a shame to blow out on the first one I came across.

So I didn't buy anything. But I may have to go back before the end of the year!

So that's most of my November in a nutshell. We've got guests again this weekend, but with my budget running rather low, I doubt I'll be doing anything terribly out of the ordinary or blogworthy, so this post will probably be the last for this month, although I will of course post if something terribly exciting happens, like I meet the président or something. Unlikely, but there we go. 

And with that, I realise that now we're nearly into December, and Christmas is really starting to feel close! My lovely mum sent me out an advent calendar and lots of chocolate (does this count as mention of food #6?) in the post, haha (and actually did it some weeks ago, so I've been well prepared for a while). 

My December is going to be awesome - I've got a lot of fun things on, so expect loads of blogging from me next month. Specifically, other than going home for Christmas, which I am so excited about, in the next few weeks I have two things planned which I'm particularly looking forward to, and there should be loads of pictures, which always makes a blog nicer to read!

Until then -

Vicky xx

PS. Despite the numerous mentions of food in this post, I am sticking by my earlier claim that I don't actually eat all that much, outside of regular mealtimes. November just seems to have been a bit of a blip...