The Journey Begins in Paris, France

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.” – Thomas Jefferson

Day 1: Paris, France

After being in France for a week prior to the course, I finally met up with the group. Although very zombielike from the plane ride to France, we had a very eventful first day in Paris. While walking toward the Louvre, a few of us came across a small Christmas market nearby. The market contained a vast array booths of food and small items for sale. As we took our first step into the market, we immediately caught an aroma of breads and meats.

What caught my eye instantly was a booth to my left, which is seen slightly in the picture above. I was in awe of the woman scraping the melted cheese onto the fresh baguette with meat. This is known as a raclette, which I have never tried before. Unfortunately, the group I was with was walking from a small café we just ate at. Our stomachs were full, which we regretted once we stepped into the Christmas market. However, we knew we would have time the next day to come back and eat lunch. So, we did exactly that.

Day 2:

The next morning, I could only think about the raclette after laying my eyes on it yesterday. The same group of us decided to go back to the Christmas market for lunch. I immediately got in line to get the sandwich I could not stop talking about.

Here is woman scraping the perfectly warmed cheese onto my baguette with prosciutto. I was in awe, and super excited to try something new.

She handed me my raclette and of course I needed to take a picture of it before eating it.

As I took the first bite, the warm cheese hit my tongue and I instantly fell in love. Out of the many food stands at the market, I do not regret picking this one. With the limited time in Paris, I wanted to challenge myself to try something new. Although a raclette is very simple, once I saw it I knew I needed to try it.

I can say that I am very satisfied with my decision. I hope to have another raclette, and maybe I can even make one on my own. I would love to have my family try one and share my experience with them. We may just have to come back to Paris to get one together (I hope my Mom is reading this). I am very grateful I was able to spend time in Paris. Although our time in Paris is at an end, we our only beginning our journey. Now onto Germany!

-Theresa Prayther