By Megan Storch & Claire Woynerowski
The last few days have been packed with fun, learning, food, and traveling! Not only did we have a free weekend, we started off the week with lectures and a guest speaker.
Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to travel outside of the city of Aix. Some of us chose to spend our time in the seaside town of Cassis for a day of touring the Calanques, trying local cuisine, and even learning about the vineyards there. Starting with a boat tour of the Calanques, we were able to see the towering cliffs that formed beautiful coves upon the shores of the Mediterranean. While we did not choose to hike through them, we learned that many locals will spend their weekends hiking an hour or two through the national park to spend a day upon the stunning, rocky shores. In addition to visiting Cassis, some students also traveled to the Mediterranean city of Nice and spent the weekend relaxing in the sun and exploring.
While Claire visited Cassis, a group of girls and I went to Paris for the weekend and attempted to explore the whole city in under forty-eight hours! We all made it to the train station to depart by 7:00 am and began our journey to the city. Once we arrived, we immediately bought Metro tickets for the weekend and began the day’s itinerary. First, we started with food at a cafe called “La Creme de Paris” that included a view of Notre Dame. We all ordered crepes and coffees that were absolutely amazing.
After this, we began the long day of walking to every item on our bucket list. We visited Notre Dame and Hotel de Ville before adventuring to the Luxembourg Gardens where we saw the first view of the Eiffel Tower! The garden was absolutely stunning and we got to listen to live music in the center and watch little sailboats in the pond. We walked around before heading to the Metro to catch a ride to the Eiffel Tower. Once we arrived we took pictures, then headed over to the dock for our boat tour of the city, and ended our night with dinner at Big Love. Day two was much calmer but we were still able to see the Louvre and climb the Arc de Triomphe. Finally, we grabbed some food and headed back to Aix on the train.
After arriving back in Aix, we dove straight into content about the United States healthcare system. We talked about life expectancies, healthcare spending, and the nuances of the health insurance system within the United States. We then discussed how U.S. food culture contributes to our health. Since Americans tend to eat more processed foods than other countries which may contribute to more health concerns and spending. Following the lecture we then heard from our guest speaker, Emilie Kassentini, on global food culture.
When considering global health, diet is a major factor that can determine the health outcomes of individuals. Especially when compared to the United States, diets in the south of France place more emphasis on locally sourced produce, meats, and grains. Additionally, there are fewer processed foods, and food is usually prepared in the home rather than through the purchasing of pre-cooked meals. After discussing these differences with our guest lecturer, we closed by learning the importance of taking the time daily to prepare fresh meals not only from a health perspective, but in order to preserve one’s heritage through food. Au revoir!
