Being an expat living in another country is not without its challenges. Living far away from your friends and family in a country that speaks a different language then your own can make life feel a bit lonely and isolating at times. I'm pretty fortunate here though because not only am I in France with my wife, who I adore, but I'm also here with a number of other expats that I know from back home who also work at the same company as my wife. These other expats also moved here with their spouses so we often get together as a large group to celebrate special occasions or generally just hang out and be social. We have basically become a little makeshift expat family - so to speak.
There are currently two other husband's here that I know and see quite often. We are all roughly the same age and we all live fairly close to one another. We try and get together a few times per month to be social and to maintain our sanity while our wives are at work all day. I'm currently working part time here and I'm not an overly social person in general but there are times when being alone for extended periods can make you a little crazy - hence "getting together to maintain our sanity."
As a group we try to meet up once a week or bi-weekly for lunch or a beer, but every once in a while we go on slightly more elaborate outings, like to Paris for instance.
This post is about one of our outings in the big city of Paris.
We went to Paris this day specifically to try the alcoholic beverage known as Absinthe. It was something that I really wanted to do while I was in France and the guys here were more than happy to join me. In fact, they were pretty much gung-ho for the idea the moment I first suggested it. So a few weeks ago we took the opportunity to head to Paris to fulfill my desire to drink Absinthe.
We arrived in Paris quite early in the day and did a a bit of a walking tour to a few different areas before heading off to the Absinthe Cafe.
The first stop we made was in the Latin quarter to see the Shakespeare and Company book store. Unfortunately, the book store was closed until 2pm that day so we couldn't actually go inside. I took a picture of the Odette bakery around the corner though (see below), which is a famous bakery that specializes in delectable cream puffs. Its set in a very unique historic house that's tucked into the corner of two other more modern buildings. It's actually pretty cool to just see the building itself.
Next we made our way to the Luxemburg Garden, which is an expansive 25 hectare park and greenspace that is located in the heart of the big city.
It's full of numerous potted plants and fountains; is has multiple gardens and an orchard, and it has easily more than 100 different statues scattered throughout its vicinity. It's entirely free to enter so it's worth stopping by if you're in the area.
This one statue of an actor reading lines in a play was my favorite. For a moment I imagined a more modern interpretation of a man watching videos on his cell phone. It kind of looks that way at first glance.
You can see also the Pantheon building behind the statue off in the distance.
Located near the entrance of the garden is the Luxemburg Palace which is currently being used as a meeting place for the French senate.
Another interesting monument is the statue of Liberty. You may not be aware of this but there are actually at least 11 statue of Liberties of different sizes, located throughout Paris. This one was quite small compared to its sister in New York. The statue itself was about as tall as person.
Walking through the city I happened to see this mural of Tin Tin and the Captain making out. Naturally, I had to take a photo.
And now, on to the Absinthe Cafe.
We sat out on the terrace to enjoy this much anticipated beverage.
At the time, only terraces were opened anyhow but it was a really nice day so we would have sat outside regardless.
With all the tables moved outside, the bar was quite bare in the interior.
There is a bit of a process to drinking Absinthe and if nothing else, it adds a bit of fun and romanticism to the overall experience so I'll walk you through the process.
Absinthe has a very high alcohol content, around 70% or more abv, so it's typically mixed with water and sugar to make it more palatable.
You start by placing a sugar cube on top of a special spoon that is aptly referred to as an Absinthe spoon. Then you pour a shot of Absinthe over the sugar cube and into the glass below.
Next you light the sugar cube on fire and let it burn for a few moments in order to caramelize the edges of the sugar cube.
Because of the extremely high alcohol content, the flame burns perfectly clear. You can barely see it by looking at it so it definitely didn't show up in any of my photographs.
Next you open the spout on the water carafe to a very slow drip and allow the water to drip over the cube until it is fully dissolved. You can add as much or as little water as you like but my understanding is that the drink at this point should look cloudy not clear.
Now it's time to drink.
With such a high alcohol content you would think that the absinthe would drink like a swift punch to the face, but the sugar and water actually makes it drink a lot like a very sweet liqueur. It has been compared to limoncello or a sweeter version of sambuca. To me it was closer to Sambuca than it was to Limoncello.
The predominant flavor in Absinthe is star anise so the drink tastes like a strong black licorice. If you don't like black licorice then you probably won't like Absinthe.
Overall I really enjoyed our Absinthe experience though I did find it to be a little too sweet for my taste. If I were to do it again I would probably opt for about half the amount of sugar as this first time around.
What about you, have you tried Absinthe before? What did you think of it?