mostly about food

So I finally caved in to my desires and bought some peanut butter.  I didn't have too look too hard for it (thanks to a tip from another American).  I finally got tired of goat cheese for lunch every day!  I never imagined that could possibly happen, but alas.  Paris is opening my eyes to so many new things!  (Also, my own personal insight on why the French don't normally eat peanut butter: their word for peanut is cacahouette, pronounced ca-ca-wet.  (So peanut butter is buerre de cacahouette.)  Why would anyone eat something with that name??  It's one of few really inelegant French words.  I can't speak for the aversion the rest of Europe holds for peanut butter, but I am just sure that this awful name plays some part in its lack of popularity in France.)

4€ for this tiny jar about the size of my hand! (And well worth it!!)  And, yes, Skippy was the only choice.

Another American food I've really been missing here is... any guesses?  Grilled cheese!  Obviously cheese and bread both abound here, but I have not seen a single grilled cheese on any menu!  Even at "American" restaurants!  I mean, there are always crepes au fromage and paninis, but they're just not the same as a good, greasy, grilled cheese.  Alas.  Still, the panini pictured below was quite good.  It almost filled the void...  I think for this one I'll just have to wait till I get home!  (Of course, I could cook one myself, but I haven't seen cheddar cheese on sale here, and I feel that all of the cheeses I've tried here, while delicious, would just not be right for a grilled cheese.)  Anyway, also below is the café where I purchased said panini.  It's quite near the art history building, where I have classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and now that it's getting colder (and the building is apparently not heated--the radiators are evidently just a cruel art installation) I like to get hot tea or occasionally un chocolat there before or between classes to warm things up a bit.  Their hot chocolate looks just like it does in the States, so I didn't bother taking a photo, but it definitely does not taste the same!  It's much less sweet, and much more delicious!  (Like most foods here...)

A nice little café with good, cheap food you can get to-go.

It's almost a grilled cheese.

Speaking of sandwiches, I thought I'd put in a photo of our local boulangerie/pâtisserie, where I buy a demi-baguette every day (except Monday, when they're closed) to make my lunch (either cheese on baguette or p.b. on baguette).  Not only is their bread delicious, but it's also quite reasonably priced!  It's less than a euro for a whole baguette, and only 48 euro-cents for a demi-baguette.  I occasionally treat myself to one of their delicious pâtisseries as well--I've gotten pastries elsewhere,  but all the ones I've shown on the blog so far have come from here, so I figured I'd better give credit where it's due!  Delicieux!

So this last photo is the only one that's not about food.  I'm not sure what it is... I mean it's an arc, obviously, but I'm not sure what it commemorates (if anything) or why it was erected, or what it's doing in this neighborhood (my neighborhood, the good old 10th--well technically it's on the border of the 10th and the 3rd arrondissements).  It's only a short walk from the apartment here, in a neighborhood that I've been coming to quite like, and it's nice to look at (the bus I take to get to art history goes right past it).  It's at the intersections of Boulevard St-Martin and Rue du faubourg St-Martin (near the Canal St-Martin)....  Maybe it's meant to honor Saint Martin?