Salut mes amis!
So much has happened in the past week...I'll get you caught up as best as I can. Thanks to all of you who are keeping up with this as well as keeping in touch via facebook-miss you and love you all!!
Here's a running list of things I love about Paris:
1. On my walk to school there is a small grocery store owned by a man who often stands around with his siamese cat in his sweater. I'm bound and determined to get a picture of the cat and that man. He seems quite friendly actually.
2. Old people. They are everywhere and the women always seem to travel in groups of 2 and always are purchasing oranges. Also, while walking to class friday morning there was an elderly man walking ahead of me (probably 75ish) carrying a briefcase...you can't tell me HE was going to work?!
3. French children. They have adorable voices and dress so fashionably.
4. When you get genuinely smiled at on the metro. Let me tell you-to fit in you have to look bored and disinterested in everything. I can't help but smile sometimes and it's nice to get a return.
5. Dinners/meals in our apartment. I love the food here and between the two of us we put together a pretty good meal if I don't say so myself.
6. Waffitines. They are these amazingly delicious hot waffles with nutella (or other toppings) inside of them from this place called the Waffle Factory in Les Halles (an underground shopping mall). Could be the start of an addiction.
7. My new "navigo" pass. This is my public transporation pass-with my picture on it. No more stupid tickets-I'm a real Parisian now!
*For starters our first day of language intensive classes was last wed 1/28. I have a great professor Jeanne Fourneyron-she's hilarious and I'm looking forward to having her for the semester. Not suprisingly there are 5 Katherines/Katies in my class of like 15 people...figures.
*Prior to that on mon 1/26 after orientation jargon Becky and I along with a couple other girls took advantage of the "soldes" (sales) that are happening in France right now and finish up at the end of this week. On tues 1/27 Becky and I headed out to the 17th arrondissment where our friend Alex lives in a homestay which is near Monmartre/Moulin Rouge. We started out at the cafe where Picasso frequented with some wine and conversation. After that we headed out in search of some dinner which lead us through the redlight district. Nothing says Paris quite like trashy neon lights. After witnessing public urination we stumbled upon this very eclectic bistro that had a little something for everyone. Becky had indian food, Alex had coq au vin (rooster cooked in wine-a French classic) and I had une sandwich provencale. On top of it all our server was a cross-dresser.
*Survived my first French strike-if you want to even call it that. We got thurs off from class for it so I'm not complaining, but I guess most people had no problem getting around the city. I'm convinced its the French way to get a day off.
*Becky and I are offically headed to London Feb 13th-16th for a long weekend. We'll be taking the Eurostar train through the chunnel-pretty excited about that!
*Finally got to go running in Paris for the first time on sat. From Marie's apartment there is access to this great path system called the coulee verte. It felt so good to do something other than walk! I'm sure I'll be utilizing that as often as I can.
*Experienced some Parisian nightlife on friday and saturday. Went to a club called Redlight (should have been a warning) on friday with a group of people from our program. Interesting night to say the least...did some dancing which was fun for the most part until this Don Juan French dude decided he would try and pull out all the stops and tell me that I had a "jolie (pretty) voice" and "eyes that were like looking into the night sky" Please. After I escaped his clutches we got out of there. Saturday night was much more my speed...Becky had discovered a couple unique bars in the Quartier Latin which is sort of the student area of Paris. Our friend Alex met up with us and we went to the Guilliotine bar which was really neat. It had a guilliotine in it...not sure if it was the real thing or not. Then we headed over to a piano bar which was fun with the live music.
*I'll give you a quick run-down of my marathon of a day sunday. All the museums are free the first sunday of the month so Becky and I decided to hit that up. We got up early and headed to the Centre Pompidou (modern art museum). Glad I got to experience it but also glad I didn't have to pay for it. Kinda bummed because I wanted to see the work of Andy Warhol but it's not on display right now. I was entertained enough by riding the tube escalators and seeing the view of Paris from the top. Headed to the Holocaust museum after that...very interesting and moving as can be expected. Next stop was the Musee Carnavalet which is an amzing castle turned French history museum. Quick stop at Victor Hugo's former apartment where he wrote Les Mis. Our last stop was Place de la Bastille (the royal fortress turned prision and stormed and demolished by angry revolutionaires). Now a monument stands in its place commerating the revolution. On our way home we stopped at an amzing Patisserie (bakery) and I had a delcious pain au chocolat avec framboise-pastry with chocolate and raspberry. Need I say more.
Best part of the whole day-spent less than 2 euros.
I'll let you go rest your eyes. So, until next time...
A bientot!
Katie
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