Find of the day rather week...moving around in the crowded streets of Saint Michel, I found a sweet shop with a lot of Parisian sweets and wait...it had ZLABIA...and wat is tat...JALEBI!!...i asked the owner who cud talk in broken english and he confirmed tat it is inspired from indian jalebi!...u can see its pic.

Went on a cruise today in Sienne (equivalent in a way of Yamuna in Delhi :D)...it was organised for student exchange participants...many popular monuments and bridges in Paris are around Sienne. Eiffel tower is also on its banks. Louvre, the famous museum where Mona Lisa "lives"...it seems Napoleon was in love with the painting and kept it in his bedroom...his wife got jealous and sent it away. Saw the place where Louis XVI was beheaded by people. There are many such interesting tales like one of Joan of Arc, a 19 year girl who was burned alive. She was a farmer's daughter who led the French against Britain (looong back) and used to dress like a man. She was tried and whatever she said during the trials was recorded and became popular. Many movies, books, poems have been dedicated to her. According to our Prof who introduced her to us, she was "overvalued". Then there are places related to the French revolution and so many revolutions. Paris has an interesting history of revolts, revolutions or nowadays riots. People firmly believe that "State knows best" but take to streets of they need a change. Many decisions and decision-makers have been changed by people here. And almost all French revolutions have started from Paris.

One interesting thing about French language is that there is an academy dedicated to the language that takes care of it and in a way adds words to the vocabulary and sets rules of usage. French spoken anywhere in the world should be centred around Paris unlike English which is now truly Glocal (adapted all over the world and not necessarily the Queen's language).

More about French culture in the next post.