OIB, Food, and the Eiffel Tower

AS I HAVE mentioned several times on this blog, I teach history and economics at an international school that offers the international option of the French baccalaureate (it's called the OIB). The option that we teach is the American option -- meaning the history and literary program has a slight US-lean to it. For example, in the terminale year we teach two major units over the course of the year: international relations during the Cold War, and US domestic history during the same period. It is a very demanding program and it is also growing rapidly around France and the rest of the world. A couple weekends ago I represented my school at a meeting in Sevres (just outside Paris) where more than 200 teachers and administrators from around the world (literally) came to discuss the OIB program in general. It wasn't just the American option -- the OIB currently includes Spanish, German, Italian, British, Russian, Danish, Japanese, Chinese, and many other 'options.' It was the diversity of the people at the meeting that was the most interesting and encouraging.

But why bore you with that! The most important part of the weekend was the food I ate. I had two incredible meals I ate with some colleagues in the 7th Arrondissement. The first was at La Fountaine de Mars and it was fantastic. I'm not usually one for hyperbole, but the beef burgundy that night -- which our waiter explained had been marinating in red wine for two days -- was the best thing I have ever put in my mouth -- and that includes Hot Tamales, which now rank second. The next night a few of us ate at a little bistro near the École Militaire called Le 7ème Vin. This time the food item I will remember was the Autumn Vegetable Soup -- a delicious puree of seasonal vegetables like pumpkin, squash, and potato.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: nothing is better than Paris on a per diem.

Oh, and on the walk back to my hotel I snapped this photo: