Salut, Paris!

So, I hope everyone understands that my lack of blogging is actually a GREAT thing, because I really am just too busy! I don't even get to my computer every day anymore. I guess that's all going to change in a few days...

Where did the time go!? What a great finale to a crazy trip. The past few weeks were packed with visitors, last minute touristy things, and tons of exams (blegh!) Yesterday was my final oral exam, which ironically was definitely the best of all of them. After it was over I walked out a little shaky, finally realizing that I'm actually finished. 

Let's start from a few weeks ago! The rest of my mom's visit was fantastic. We ate at a bunch of really cool restaurants, including Laduree, which is a teahouse pretty similar to the famous Angelina's, except without all the tourists. I had a spectacular pistachio maracon and a pure chocolate hot chocolate, which was sickeningly good. Literally. 

I also got to FINALLY see the Saint Chapelle! It was a rainy day but the chapel was beautiful, as expected. It's really small, but the walls are almost all completely made of stained glass- each one with a biblical story. The back of the chapel has these huge doors (like 4 horses could walk through at one time) and then a rose window that I could only imagine to be gorgeous with the sun shining through! 

Last Saturday the CCA group took a trip to Fontainebleu- definitely one of the coolest spots we've seen. It's a castle that almost all of the kings of France have used- and the tour guide took us through the smaller royal chambers that are only open some of the time. She did such a great job of explaining everything. I had no idea that the furniture used to actually be really brightly colored! It makes sense, but I just didn't think about the changes in color would make to what the halls actually looked like when they were being used. Some of the furniture was restored and some was left to the originals, so you could actually see the differences. They even used bright purple for the salon! The guide also showed us a door where Napoleon (1?) would privately use to travel to his wife's room, and vice versa. When he decided to divorce his first wife since she couldn't bear his children, he actually bricked up the whole door so she couldn't get back through! What a way to break up with someone. 

Anyway, the castle was really cool. In one of the gardens it even had a fountain of peeing dogs... (the French certainly have an interesting sense of humor!) Pretty funny stuff. OH RIGHT! And... Picasso also went and stayed there for 2 years in the 20s for inspiration... I found a book that actually showed his works compared to some of the sculptures/paintings in the castle itself. Kind of crazy! 

So yes. That was a cool last trip with Central... and then last week was full of exams! I had an Art History exam, Film, Phonetics test, and an exam for the Central College class. The final HUGE grammar exam was on Saturday, which was pretty difficult. Like I said, yesterday was the oral exam, and I just got to talk about Victor Hugo's Demain, des L'aube- a poem that every French student has studied multiple times. 

In between all of the studying and exams my friend Caitlin from Drew and a friend of hers came up to visit for their last week! They stayed just outside of Paris with another friend, so I got to see them a few times during the week when I wasn't locked away in a cafe studying. :) We checked out the view from the top of the Galeries Lafayette, which was so cool! The rooftop/high city views here are really great, because it gives you a totally different perspective of the city. Paris feels like it's huge when you're trying to get around it, but then when you actually see how squished together everything is it's really surprising. 

So yes, lots of touring and eating baguettes/hummous in the parks and along the Seine. The parks continue to be my favorite part of Paris, so I plan on spending the majority of the next 48 hours in them! I can't believe it's time to go home... I've been going through intense bouts of excitement and then changing to complete dispair in leaving this beautiful city. I don't think I would ever be able to completely make up my mind about wanting to stay or go- I think that knowing I'm going home in 2 days is making me excited for it, but if I had to stay a few more months I wouldn't complain. :) This was such a journey- going through so much culture shock and getting used to the language, and now having to go home! It's insane. I'm so glad I did it- I know now if I had to (or just wanted to) move somewhere pretty far away, it's not impossible! It just takes a little getting used to. 

I'm going to put some pictures up and get off of the computer- I don't want to spend my last hours inside! It's BEAUTIFUL out today! 

(Side note...)I guess it's pretty fitting that up until yesterday, my login password was salutparis. Salut can mean hello or goodbye, and the password changed just as I was about to leave! Ironic. 

And.. signing out, for the last time in Paris. Au revoir!

a very delayed response.

What a crazy three weeks! I have decided that my “culture shock” is FINALLY officially over and I’m ready to just live here for the rest of my life. It’s almost like you have to go through trials to become officially prepared to live here- 5 months just isn’t enough time! First there’s the language adjustment, then the people. Then you have to be able to let go of some of your own traditions (granted, I still waaay prefer the American breakfast of an omelet or pancakes over some bread and jam) and just kind of get used to some of these ways of life. I finally realized that it’s not about changing who YOU are, it’s about letting yourself accept who these people are, and dealing with it.

            Seeing as I haven’t written anything for about three weeks, there obviously has to be a reason. After my “buttons” finally disappeared for good, I decided to make good use of the last three days of Spring Break- I spent a good four hours wandering around the Louvre, ate a spectacular dinner at a great bar called Styx (on Mondays they have jazz night!) and of course took another trip to Breakfast in America. Yes, it’s American, but at the same time it’s crazy to see how many people actually go there. It’s pretty popular among French students around brunch-time. J

            School started back up, and all of my professors have been beginning to prep us for exams (next week! ah!). I have an exam for my two conferences (Art History and Film) as well as a written exam and an oral on a separate day. The Art History professor literally told us that he wouldn’t be giving us any paintings we couldn’t go visit ourselves while in Paris, so as to better prepare ourselves for the questions. That’s so cool! This gave me the incentive to finally drag myself to the Musée D’Orsay (the Impressionist museum in an old train station). What a mistake to only give myself two hours. First of all, I am utterly ashamed that I have not visited this museum once a week since I’ve been here- it’s amazing! It’s like someone took out all the boring paintings that no one wants to look at and just put all of the beautiful famous ones in it. (This is partly because most of the paintings were donated by the same owner- a doctor who bought up all of Monet’s, Renoir’s, Corot’s.. etc. paintings to support them when money was too tight to afford paint.) Anyway- I know the museum is famous, but I cannot stress to you how beautiful it really is. Even the train station is beautiful. It’s wide and has huge ceilings so you don’t feel claustrophobic like so many crowded museums seem to do.

            The CCA class for the week was a visit to the National Museum of Immigration, which turned out to be really cool! It showed an evolution of immigration, with the different numbers of immigration over the years, as well as the country’s current problems and examples of real problems that people are still facing today. It was worth the trip, and the tour guide was really great (We kept trying to guess where she was from… she was speaking French, but in a completely different accent! It came down to a tie between Brazil and Portugal. Who knows. It’s crazy to be able to notice things like that in a different language though…)

            I am really disappointed to not be running the marathon- it’s next weekend! After my chicken pox, it was too much and too close to start training again, so I took some time off. I’ve gone on a few great, non-stressful runs that have ended up pretty nice, especially in the afternoon sunshine around the Tuileries. Plus my mom is visiting this week! I’ve taken them to all of my favorite eating places in the last three days, so it was definitely a weekend full of food. We went to Angelina’s (the teahouse by the Tuileries), had a picnic with my favorite pastries today on the Champ de Mars (the park right below the Eiffel Tower) have had lots of coffee, pizza and crepes.

            Last night, my friend Margaret and I went to a party in Neuilly-Sur-Seine- a kind of suburb of Paris that’s still on one of the metro lines. It was a friend of mine who I met a few weeks ago, and it was awesome! We were the only two Americans, so of course we became the “token” English speakers for the night and had an interesting time trying to comprehend the attempts at phrases. It’s fun to do that sometimes though- usually it’s the other way around and I’m trying to make some sort of argument in French! By the end of the night everyone had switched back to French, so my brain definitely hurt from thinking so hard. I still love it though- I’ve definitely come a long way from being petrified to even start a conversation! Three weeks left won’t be enough time for perfection, but I definitely want to keep practicing until the moment I get on the plane. 

            

Paris from my bedroom

It's so GOOD to be out of bed for more than 10 minutes!

I'm finally sitting in the accueil using the computer, after 3 days of hurriedly checking my email in the little spot outside that gets internet. (I'm not quite as terrible to look at today) The chicken pox. Who gets the chicken pox at age 20, in a foreign country, on their spring break? Yup, me. No marathon either- it's totally shot my immune system and this was a big run week. Seeing as someone else is getting my groceries, I guess I can't do my 15 miles. Oh well, another one will come! 

Not much to report of the French life as my spring break has so far been spent with a high fever, some strange nightmares (including one with eggs exploding out of my refridgerator) and getting to experience the life of a teenage boy with terrible acne problems. I've watched all of season two of the Gilmore Girls, Scrubs and finally finished Sex and the City! (The last 2 episodes take place in Paris, so I guess that counts for something!) Today Katie was back and we ate jelly beans and watched Grease. Fun day. :) 

Besides staying in bed and out of Paris, I've realized that the week of solitude has also minimized my speaking time. I think it has given my brain a little rest too- it's the first week where I haven't had to always search for words to express myself. I wasn't really thinking about that when I was lying in bed debating on where to put my arms because any place was painful (ugh), but looking back (and feeling a little bit better, with some food and lots of meds in me) I guess the communication break was nice. Besides my roommate the only person I said any French to was my doctor, who (in English) kept telling me I would be contagious until all of my "buttons" are gone. Trust me, these things do NOT deserve a name as cute as "buttons." 

New topic. I'm ready to not be miserable for a few minutes! Or maybe even the rest of the day... (here's hoping).

It is so beautiful out! I still don't have much energy so I've been opening up my windows completely and it almost feels like I'm outside. My room is so nice in the afternoon- the sun comes in at the perfect angle and despite the terrible construction racket they seem to cause

 from 8am until dusk, there's not much other noise. Yesterday I heard a band playing though.. I totally knew the song too! No idea of the name. I can't wait to go back out and explore all the rest of the parks... I found an excellent coffee shop that's good for sit-in and take-out: it's got an amazing little atmosphere with great food (even for vegetarians!).. and it's not too far from the

 Hotel-de-Ville. 

Since it's finally nice all the time I want to go eat lunch on the Pont des Arts- a bridge just past the Pont Neuf, right on the Seine before the Louvre. It's an old wooden bridge that seems to always be full of people- couples, friends eating lunch, artists, bikers, runners (usually me) and lots of kids. It's also (recently discovered, but is not my purpose for loving the bridge) the bridge Carrie is standing on at the end of Sex and the City. So I kind of visited it today, right? 

je suis un poisson d'avril...

What an INCREDIBLE week to change my mind about things! 

Even Paris doesn't look pretty in cold, rainy March days. But when the sun comes out, the fountains of Versailles all come on and the noise of the Paris Marathon wakes me up on a Sunday morning, it's definitely time for spring.

My friend Amber came to visit this week, bringing two of her friends (one from school, and the other from her program in Denmark). It was perfect timing for me to explore some of the more touristy parts of Paris. The first night I took them to my favorite Creperie by Montparnasse- one of the bigger districts with lots of lights and movie theatres. We ate lunch next to the Seine on Ile St Louis, with hot baguettes, fromage de Savoie and Camembert, and finally wandered over to the Centre Pompidou (or Beaubourg)- Paris's modern art museum. We didn't even make it inside- it was so beautiful out, we just napped in the sunshine. There was a guy attempting to sing Beatles songs on the guitar (Baby's good to me, she's happy as can be, and I feel sad. what?!) 

Just like our April 1, the French have le Poisson d'Avril, where on April 1 people take cutouts of fish (they used to be real fish) and pin them on strangers' backs. It was funny to watch outside that day- especially in the more crowded districts there seemed to be some "fishy" situations. (haha..)

Saturday we finally went to Versailles! Aside from the 2 hour line (that's what you get for going on a Saturday) it was absolutely beautiful. There was an exhibition on Court dress during Louis XVI's reign- which was pretty interesting because most of the clothes were from other countries. Apparently the French didn't save very much in terms of apparel from the Louis periods. 

The Hall of Mirrors was so beautiful- it was really cool to see how all of the mirrors on the one side (overlooking the gardens) reflected the daylight and illuminated the entire hall. On either side of the hall were the rooms of Paix et Guerre (peace and war). It was supposed to help represent a transformation, as well as an equality among the two ideologies. One room had symbols of peace and tranquility, and the other used to house all of the war trophies and victory paintings. 

But SUNDAY. Best day of the week. I woke up, after an excellent 11 hours, not really wanting to get out of bed, but not exhausted either. Sundays are my long run days, so I finally made myself get up and go downstairs to make breakfast. As soon as I got outside I could hear the music and the chanting- and in the kitchen there it was. The Paris Marathon. The very one I was hearing outside of my door...

Right after I watched the winner of the 26.2 (or.. 42.3 here) finish in 2:05 (yeah... that's a five minute mile) I decided I was inspired enough to go on my own long distance. Of course, mine was half the length in the same amount of time- but it was so great! I could see the remaining marathoners finishing the race- people rollerblading next to them, and everyone watching from the bridges as they passed underneath. I forgot how great sports are- how unifying they can be for a city. For me! I even got some lucky droppings on my shirt/down my arm just as I started the run. Gross. 

This is the last week before Spring Break! It's a crazy week of Phonetics, classes, and thinking about next semester. It's very strange to realize that life will actually continue after I leave Paris... I feel like I live in another dimension!

A toute!

A river runs through it

What a crazy week! Seriously, weeks with Phonetics classes are insane. It's like I live on the metro and in a classroom. Kind of cool though... instead of walking five minutes to class through campus I'm passing the Pantheon. 

It's weird to be so busy in a place that you just "started" a life- usually getting to be too busy is because you have so many friends in one place or you've been doing one thing all of your life and have to squeeze something else in. I'm not even working- it's just a ton of classes, running, seeing NEW friends and oh yeah, seeing Paris. 

Being the mid-point of the semester, this week I finally defined one of my favorite things of Paris. It happened when I was walking back from the Metro around 11pm on Wednesday (my friend Tara always has friends over for a culturally themed dinner- this week it was Mexican stir-fry). There was almost no one around- no cars, and only the occasional biker. It wasn't freezing out, but there was the definitive crisp air that only seems to come on those early spring nights, when the weather is just in between the two seasons. I was walking onto the bridge (Pont Marie) when I just stopped, in the middle of the bridge. It was almost silent, except for a slight breeze that still seemed far away. The Eiffel Tower was lit up way in the distance, and all the way down the river every bridge had their streetlights on. Some of the buildings that lined either side of the river were lit, and some were almost pitch black. It was kind of comforting, almost like I was having alone time in the middle of a city that was usually bustling with noise and crowds. And the people were still there- the lights in the windows indicated the silent presence of the city at night. All the way down the Seine. 

Paris really is beautiful. The people, the architecture, the river... it's all there, and it all just fits. 

Today was finally daylight savings time... so it will be dark an hour later today! Meaning that I had time to procrastinate this morning before getting ready to go for a run. I'm going to go explore the Bois de Vincennes.. it is supposed to be one of the prettiest parks, arguably prettier than the Bois de Boulogne. (I think I still might prefer my afternoon short runs through the Tuileries- even if I'm not going INTO the Louvre all the time I can still look at it every day.) 

A bientot!

Paris: Respire

Sorry it has been so long! I feel like I’m sitting down to write, and all of a sudden it’s two weeks later. It’s kind of crazy how fast time flies, but how it simultaneously feels like I’ve been here FOREVER.

I’m officially halfway through! I don’t really know how to describe it, other than that my brain feels like it is about to explode from the amount of stuff I’ve learned so far. Spring break is only 2 ½ weeks away!

Friday night was Central’s trip to Marseille! What an interesting city. We took the train (the TGV) which was about three hours, and absolutely gorgeous. Seeing all of the mountains and hillsides really made me want to go hiking and be outside. Being in a city for so long, I forgot that there’s a France outside of Paris!

Marseille was not what I expected. It’s a port town, so there were a million boats in the harbor and a fresh fish market on Saturday morning. It’s much younger than Nice in terms of people- and more industrial with a kind of “working class” feel. It is really old though- we toured one of the oldest churches in France as well as the origins of the city (it is still one of the biggest ports in Europe, and the biggest importer in France!) Even with the chilly wind, the sun was spectacular when it hit you in the right place. We were only there for a night, but it was a perfect time frame. Seeing the history and the harbor was beautiful, but after that everyone was about ready to go back to Paris.

The rest of the weekend was pretty calm- it got cold again! It was a little disappointing after such a beautiful week of sunshine last week. Monday and Tuesday were once again crazy days- I don’t really get to sit down until after my art classes end around 9:30. I have mixed feelings about my busy beginning of the week- I really enjoy all of the classes I’m taking, but they’re so smashed into two days it doesn’t give me a break to appreciate them! Today is finally Wednesday- after our CCA museum tour I plan on taking a nice long nap.  On my run yesterday I was thinking about how much stuff I've been doing, and I saw one of the signs that are all around the city: it said, "Paris: Respire!" And I realized that might be something that I HAVEN'T been doing enough of. 

Hellogoodbye (like the Beatles song)

Salut tous!

This week was insane! I feel like it was so incredibly long, yet instantaneous at the same time. My friend Dan came to visit with his dad for the week, and on top of wanting to show him everything cool about the city, I had phonetics (I only have the classes every other week). In short, it was definitely very busy, but really good! Kind of ironic, because on one hand, I’m finally beginning to feel like I’m getting the swing of things the “Parisian” way- conversing, all of my classes, sitting in restaraunts, ect. On the other, I felt pretty touristy trying to take Dan to all of the “must-sees” of the city. Highlights of the week:

 

-Art classes. Just like last week, they are both still SO HARD. But so good! I had live models for both classes, which is both challenging and inspiring to try to work from. In Painting (the Tuesday class) the model had her dog with her.. kind of taking a twist on the whole “still life” effect, as the dog decided to move whenever he wanted. J

 

-The Louvre!! I FINALLY went. I regret to say that it was a required visit for the Central class, so I had to go whether I liked it or not, but I am so happy that we did. We went on a tour of some pieces during Louis XIV’s reign.. including Fragonard, Hubert Robert, Chardin and Rigaud (all artists who I have studied before and thoroughly enjoyed). The tour guide was an older French man who knew everything and anything you asked him, and was so interesting to listen to! Not to mention, he was hilarious. He kept yelling at people who were talking too loudly (we were all listening to him through earphones, and he had a mic attached to his shirt) and he would switch back from French to English whenever he felt like it. I even got to ask him a little about some of Robert’s work- an artist who loved to paint the ruins of the city and give them a fantastical feel- but unfortunately the piece I was thinking about isn’t in the Louvre. Even so, it was a great tour.

 

-Les Eglises. Dan’s dad really loves organs, so whenever we were walking down a street and saw a church, we went in to examine the organ size and age as well as the history of the church. Once again, I want to slap myself for not doing this before! Every church we went into was absolutely beautiful. I don’t remember the names of the 6 or so that we went into, but there was also a visit to Saint Severin and Notre Dame. (The Sainte Chapelle is next on my list!) I have also been seeing a lot of signs for free concerts in different churches, so I definitely want to try one of those soon.

 

-Père Lachaise. What a beautiful place. It is by far the most serene, peaceful place in the city- and even for a cemetery it just has an air that is both solemn and comforting. We spent all of Friday morning walking around- seeing Jim Morrison’s grave, Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Balzac, Moliere and Lafontaine, but in truth every grave was beautiful in its own way. There was one statue that really struck me- a life sized bronze (now green-ish) statue of the Virgin with her hand covering her face. It was so sad, and just seemed so real. On a lighter note, there was a grave right across from Chopin’s that had a clay painting on the tombstone, along with a pretty poem. On a closer examination of the person’s grave- the painting had a signature- Marc Chagall! How insane is that- a grave of a person I had never even heard of, with a personal tombstone by Chagall. I wonder how many people walk by it every day without even knowing what it is.

 

The week ended with a Friday night raclette dinner and a trip to the Eiffel Tower. It was so, so beautiful out- the air was crisp but not too cold, and we watched it start to sparkle as the clock struck eleven. I was sad to see Dan leave, but I’m pretty sure he got a good idea of La vie Parisienne. Let’s see what this week brings!

It's March!

Who would ever think that not having the internet in your room would be such a pain? I hate to say it, but I actually miss instant internet access. Oh well, you live and learn! I’m sure this is a good thing.. but it sure does make it hard to write a blog regularly. So here comes a big one.

The past two weeks have been a blur. I have officially taken ALL of my classes (including art school! Ah!) and I officially like all of them. They are all two hours (except for phonetics, or phonetique), and as of yet my restlessness hasn’t gotten to me. The conferences are well taught- the Art History professor is easy to understand and hilarious when he’s addressing the students. I’m sure it helps to have a background in most of the things he has gone over, so when we learned words like clair obscure talking about Rembrandt, I knew he was referring to the artist’s famous use of light in his works.

Anyway. Something new every day, always learning new words… blah blah blah.

ART.

Oh my goodness. I don’t think I’ve ever been challenged as much as I have in the past two days. Monday night was the first night of my drawing class (croquis et dessin) and WOW. To start, we examined a human skeleton (a real one… that was deteriorating and missing a few bones!) to see the patterns that even the skeleton alone presents when drawing a figure. We went on to draw the model, as the entire class is based around a live model each week. It was so difficult- I’m used to using a huge piece of paper and focusing on specific sections of the body- here we were instructed to draw the entire figure and I was using a much smaller piece of paper! It was frustrating, but exhilarating at the same time to work on something that challenges me so much. The professor was very descriptive and instructing, and surprisingly I understood him! That was also an accomplishment. I am the only foreigner in both classes, so it’s nerve-wracking but so cool.

On Tuesday I have painting and drawing, focusing on both live models and still lives. Coming into this one I knew was going to be tough- in painting I have always depended on either abstract figure paintings or nature/landscapes (more of the latter). Everything here is indoors! The professor is absolutely insane, and a perfect art teacher. He’s an identical Robin Williams with a ponytail, and a little bit shorter, short enough so that while you’re sitting on the stool with the canvas in front of you, he can stand and get right in your face to try and make his point.

Which is what he did. I couldn’t believe how much this guy ripped me apart. It was kind of like going to art reform school- he told me to sit up straight, slow down and hold my pencil a completely different way (as he shoved the canvas away from me and said I was too close). He said he “doesn’t understand why the young ones are always rushing- they have nowhere to go!” It was SO intimidating, but I guess it’s what I need. I do also think I’ve found someone who makes more funny noises than me… J

It’s only Wednesday and I feel like I’ve had a whole week! All of my conferences and art classes are done for the week- so just Grammar from 8-10 the next few mornings and then it’s the weekend! I can’t wait to have some free afternoons to do some exploring. This afternoon we (the CCA kids) went to the Musee Galliera- a fashion museum from the 1800s! It was absolutely insane to see how small the women were- their waists were about the size of one of my legs. The dresses were very pretty too- it was cool to go to something I wouldn’t normally look for on a day off, and it turned out to be interesting. (Although, one of the dresses had the same pattern as my parent’s bedsheets when I was little.) Shelley also gave me a list of lectures held at the Ecole du Louvre- which are once a week and a free hour lecture on something in the museum by a French professor! I can’t wait to go. And no, I have not been to the Louvre yet. The end of this week. Period.

On a side note before I head to dinner- Lauren and I took an accidental detour on the way home from school yesterday, and just happened to see a sign on a building that said, “Hotel de Marcel Proust.” And underneath, “Hemingway lived here from 1921-1925.” Oh, the things you just happen to see in Paris. 

Time for a new post...

..That I have been putting off for too long! I guess being busy is a good thing. It's been a long two weeks.

I have officially had all of my classes (except for the Art ones, so not really) at the Sorbonne! This week my two conferences started, and I had my first week of phonetics. Technically.. I'm still in the middle of it. On Monday along with grammar I had my first "conference," in a lecture hall with about 150 students (rough estimate, but there were a lot!) The class is based completely around French film, and the professor started out introducing the different generations of film (very similar to American, but it seems like they were comedically oriented before we were). The rest of the class period (it's two hours) we watched a movie called Oscar.. a 1960s comedy that made no sense plotwise but was absolutely hilarious. I reccommend it.. even if you need the subtitles!

The second class was on Tuesday- a 2 hour Histoire de l'Art Francais. The professor is great! He wrote out a huge bibliography of great books to use, as well as already typed out the information for each piece we review. In order. He also played a song for us by a famous French singer from the 1800s, who was actually for the inspiration for a number of Toulouse-Lautrec's drawings and a slew of other advertising campaigns! It was cool- cause you see her face everywhere. Her name is Yvette Gilbert. This is one of Toulouse-Lautrec's prints...

Anyway! Enough about classes. NICE! Absolutely an amazing weekend. Not what I expected at all... I was kind of thinking that the idea of Carnaval would make it a huge party all weekend, so it was a little intimidating. Nice is a pretty big club town... but it is absolutely gorgeous! And it didn't turn out to be like that at all. The parade on Saturday night was excellent- there were huge floats with different characters and themes- kind of crazy, like one was a huge woman's head and her mechanical arm was "eating" the head of Sarkozy (haha) and another was a giant dragon skeleton that was breathing smoke. It went on for a few hours, and there were silly string and confetti fights everywhere! What a fun night. 

Of course.. one of the best parts was the run. Right by the crystal clear water, along a promenade that stretches along the entire city's coast. We also stayed outside on Sunday morning, and the 60 degree sunny weather was perfect for sitting on the black pebbles that make up their beach. 

I forgot to mention the food! All Italian style- gelato, lots of pasta and pesto. Yummmmmmm :) 

Anyway, so great week! It was good to spend a weekend with everyone from Central, we really don't see each other together that often, so it was refreshing. 

And honestly- it's just so amazing that most of my daily interactions are in French. I know I keep talking about it, but it's insane! There are definitely still the slip-ups in understanding, but even watching the movie the other day with only French subtitles and sitting through 2 two hour lectures (understanding pretty much all of both) is pretty sweet.

I went on another beautiful run today, through the Tuileries and around the Louvre! I think my goal for Friday afternoon is to go and just meander, since I am sorry to say I have yet to go inside. (On this trip at least)

A bientot!

confession

I totally went to an American diner this morning. It's called- the All American Diner. But, it was AMAZING. I had a bottomless mug of coffee and a real omelet with lots of veggies and homefries. So, so, so necessary this morning. I felt bad going, but first of all, it's apparently one of the best breakfast places around anyway (I looked it up), and there was also a huge line out the door, so it's not like people look down on it. Second of all, I feel like I'm still immersing myself in this place, but everyone has to have their pieces of home, right? And my piece of home is BREAKFAST. I hate not being able to go to the diner or the little restaraunt and order something other than a croissant and jam. Granted, it's good, but you're hungry like an hour later.

So anyway. My guilty pleasure of the day. :)

A quick note...

Just to say what an amazing week I've been having!

I went for one of the best runs of my life yesterday through the Tuileries in front of the Louvre. I cannot believe how beautiful it was, even with no leaves on any of the trees and not a flower in sight! It was just a beautiful park, with kids playing everywhere and people visiting on the benches or reading on the big green lounge chairs. It was the afternoon, so the sky was beginning to turn purple behind the clouds, and the Eiffel Tower (only a few blocks away) was just kind of illuminated in the sky, even without its lights on. I know you're supposed to keep your "guard" on in Paris, and not show emotion or anything on the street, but I don't think I stopped smiling the whole run!

Of course, today I had to take Lauren on a similar run, once again through the Tuileries. We played on the French playground afterwards (SO much cooler than ours. They have these weird circle things that are tilted so you just spin around and around until you feel sick. Excellent.) We also grabbed a coffee in a cafe that Liz and I went to the morning we visited the Louvre a few years ago, and once again, the croissants there were delicious.

And then TONIGHT! The group went to see Madame Butterfly at the Opera Bastille. Man, Puccini knew what he was doing. The orchestra was magnificent- I'm pretty sure I counted about 9 cellos, 6 stand-up bases, 5 French horns, and a trillion and one violins/violas. There weren't too many flutes/clarinets, and (of course) the percussion only had 3 members (but talented ones at that).
My point is, it was beautiful. The opera itself was simplified, with basic black/tan/beige costuming and little movement across the stage, with almost no set. Even said, a glamorous stage wasn't necessary- the music definitely did the talking. There was about a thirty minute instrumental section with just a little boy moving around on stage, and it was beautiful.

There are so many more things to write about..... I went to a Raclette party last night! Raclette is an amazing cheese that you cook in little pizza slice shaped pans on a special heater, and eat it with potatoes or meat. It was at my friend Danielle's boyfriend's house, so naturally there were 10 or 12 French people there. CRAZY! I can't believe I'm actually interacting with people in a different language. I didn't think it would ever be this possible, but I guess when food is in the mixture, anything can happen. Especially when it's raclette.

Oh right, and I started school this week! I actually tested into a class way below my level, so it kind of felt like starting over a beginning French class. I talked to the professor and got to move up a few levels, so in my new class tomorrow hopefully it will be better. They're decent sizes though- I'm pretty sure no one has a class with more than 12-15 people. The other classes I signed up for don't start for a few weeks, so right now it's just Grammar from 8-10 every day. It's great, because then I have the rest of the day to do other things! (Like sit in cafes and eat bread... very important on my to-do list.) Being up that early is also really cool- you get to see all of the students going to class/people going to work without all the tourists around. It's kind of like a secret window into the "real" Parisian world....

Bonne nuit!

Art school!

This is the link to the Art School I'm attending.... so exciting!

http://www.academie-charpentier.fr/spip.php?page=sommaire&lang=en

I had to go talk to the director of the school yesterday.. it was scary but awesome to actually have a meeting in French. Ahh!

Mm... I'm living in Paris.

I cannot believe that it has been a week. I know I keep saying that, but seriously. This was the fastest week ever. It was also incredibly awesome!

The students at the Institut Catholique de Paris started their two week "boot camp" this week- another intensive language thing where they go to class all day and work hard.
I, on the other hand, was in the small group of students who chose to take classes at La Sorbonne this semester, so other than a short but rather difficult placement test we took on Wednesday, we have had the entire week off! It was excellent. I spent a day exploring cafes with my friend Danielle (who is from Drew, and has been here the whole year), and of course had to go to Les Deux Moulins.. the cafe where Amelie worked. :)

Other than that, the week was just exploring the city. We bought metro cards for the month, and they're a huge help- it really does make it easy when you don't have to pay to get anywhere!
Right over the bridge from Notre Dame is la Rue Saint-Michel, which is just a loooong row of bookstores and little shops. It's definitely a really crowded area, but it's so cool because everyone is just kind of in their own world. There are so many people in this city, and with every one comes a different story. Walking down the street, you probably hear 4 different languages within a block.
Of course, we had to try some of the famous Berthillon's ice cream, which is honestly the best ice cream in the world. It's a perfect combination of gelato and ice cream... I don't know how else to describe it.
Wednesday night the group took the Bateaux Mouches- a boat tour around the Seine of the city. It was cold on the deck, but so pretty and quiet. It's nice to get to see everything without the huge crowd sometimes.

Thursday night was excellent. We went to a concert in the 20th arrondissement at a cafe called La Bellevilloise- and it was so unlike any of the cafes we had been in yet! It was definitely a younger crowd, since we were on the outskirts of the city. (The best part were the Olive trees growing up through the center of some of the tables.. you kind of felt like you were outside, except much warmer.) The band was from Algeria, and consisted of a violin (who played with it on his knee!), bass, mandolin, electric/acoustic guitar thing and rhythm. It was so much fun- everyone was up dancing by the end of the night! I can't wait to go back.
I'm sure I missed something I wanted to write about, but it's all happening so fast and there's so much to say, it's too hard to fit it all in! I want to go check out some museums this afternoon- I can't decide on the Louvre first, or the Musee D'Orsay. Tough decisions....

Oh YES! I went for a run the other day, and turned around at the Louvre. No big deal, just fifteen minutes or so from my front door. Incredible!

Paris!

This week, let alone today, has been an absolute whirlwind.

Despite the disgusting Thursday spent at home sick with the flu (gross) the week flew by.. we finished up classes and discovered some more of the little shops throughout Tours. My host mom recommended a bookstore called La Boite a Livres, which was a smaller (and very French) version of a Barnes and Noble, except it's not a chain. It took some nerve, but I restrained from buying anything toooo unimportant. ;) It's okay, anyway- my host mom bought me a book from the same store that she gave me on my last day, on the artist William Turner (who did some very pretty landscapes of the Loire, as she duelly noted my love for the beauty of the river).

As much as I'd love to write more about the past week, today has been far to exciting and I just have to get it out.

I LOVE PARIS.

There are two other girls in my foyer from Central- Katie and Caci. We got to the foyer on the Ile St. Louis in the afternoon, kind of confused because the address and sign was just a slate and a huge door. After ringing the bell, the door unlocked and we pushed it open to reveal a huge, gardened courtyard collecting the five residence buildings of the Foyer Vigie! The foyer is very quiet, and we all live in different buildings on the fourth and fifth floors.. it's definitely some good exercise up the stairs.

I was so nervous to meet my roommate. First of all, I knew she was going to be Francophone... so what do I say? Uhh, nice to meet you, sorry for my huge bags I'm dragging in? It was such a relief when I walked in... she had left me a note on the dresser (in half English/half French) saying welcome with a jar of peanut butter on my desk! SO COOL. She also labeled all of the items in the room with English/French translations (lightswitch, doorknob, towel rack.. ect).

The room itself is a decent size- probably the size of a double at school. It has a big window (with curtains!) at the head of the two beds with nightstands and lamps on them. We each also have a desk, and there is a sink/medicine cabinet and towel racks cornered off from the bed area. The toilet is right outside the door, as well as the two showers. Convenient.
(I'll put up pictures in a few days... today was just way too overwhelming to bring out the camera.)

So ANYWAY.. out of the room, onto the Rue Poulletier, and five steps to the island's edge, where on our way to the metro we faced Notre Dame, literally five blocks away and in plain sight.
...gorgeous.
If that wasn't enough, on our walk back after dinner we passed the Pantheon, and the Place de la Sorbonne, aka my school. AAH!

Oh yeah, and we had to pass Notre Dame to get back to our house. Like, walk in front of it. Incredible.
I'm sorry if my vocabulary isn't getting very far past, great, wonderful, and gorgeous... it's just all so EXCITING!

I finally met my roommate on my way in as she was leaving- her name is Colin, and she is so sweet.. she asked which one of us was me and introduced herself before she left. (Did I mention there's a copy of "Un tramway nomme Desire" on her nightstand, and she has a copy of "L'Etranger?!")

Tomorrow is our Redcar (double decker buses) tour of the city, and after that, some more exploring! I don't have internet in my room, so the skype/phone call thing probably won't happen as much. :)

Salut!

Nouvelles!

So today we have our meetings about classes and such... starting in the next few weeks. In PARIS! Two other girls (both named Katie) and I ended up eating lunch with Shelley, the program director today, and she took us to an amazzzzing sandwich shop where we had a "Formule," aka Combo, of a drink/sandwich/tartelette for 6 euros. (Pas mal!) Anyyyyway, lunch was teriffic, but my my point was that Shelley told me I'm definitely going to be able to take art classes here as well! (Instead of so many lecture courses) I was not expecting to be able to continue with art stuff while I'm here... so this is such good news! She said the art school she wants me to go to is about a 30 minute trek from my foyer via metro, but it's well worth it and the classes are great. I can even get school credit... yay!

Tired this afternoon.. after our meetings I'm going home to crash and watch Wall-E. :) A tout a l'heure!

Pictures

I decided I'm just going to upload my pictures onto facebook, so if you don't have facebook or want me to send you to them let me know. Some of them will also be on the Central blog!

I've been here a week?

The first week comes to an end as the second one begins! (I guess that's how it usually works...) What a crazy week of classes, people and FOOD.

Tours is great! We've been taking classes at the Institut de Touraine, which is just like, Extreme French in two weeks. It's really nice that everyone is so enthusiastic about learning, and I feel like we are even beginning to speak French to each other more often. It just becomes easier, because even as you're struggling for words, someone is there to tell you what you're thinking or trying to say.

I have to say, staying with a host family for two weeks was an excellent idea. I only speak French with my host mom, who loves to cook (good for me), is vegetarian (like me) and helps me with little grammar puzzles every night at dinner. It's becoming easier to understand native Francophones, as you pick up the little colloquial phrases that were hard to comprehend before. Eating at 7:30 was weird at first- there's this whole gap in time between the noon lunch and dinner, but it just makes a good excuse to try all the tartelettes in the boulangeries. :)

Today we visited Chambord and Cheverny, two of the famous French chateaux on the Loire. Even in the rain and freezing weather, they were absolutely breathtaking, especially Chambord! I think I may build one someday. Or I'll just marry a king, one or the other.

There are so many times in the day when I have to stop and think about the fact that I'm in France. I'm actually here, experiencing this completely different culture and even still just absorbing everything like a sponge. I understand now why this is called the "Honeymoon" stage- there is just so much to see and do there's really no time to be homesick or question yourself. This is the time to see the French culture and begin to experience a little (especially in our host family setting), but I'm still on the outskirts. Still working on the language and the way of life- but that's okay. There is a lot of learning to be done!

Tours is so beautiful. The Loire riverbank has a sidewalk alongside it, so the other day Lauren, Katie and I bought a fresh baguette and Camembert cheese and sat on a bench by one of the old bridges. It was chilly, but the sun was forcing rays through the clouds as it started to set so the reflection of the opposite bank on the water was pretty. It was just one of those surreal moments on the trip, like, this is just the beginning of an adventure I know I'll remember forever.

Les classes commencent!

WE GET A NEW PRESIDENT TODAY!

Our whole group is planning on going out to dinner to watch it, I think it's at five our time. Yay!

Classes started today! I had my first three this morning, from 9-12, the first being a Phonetics class in the language lab, the second an oral speaking/presentation class, and the third was a "Civilisation" lecture class where the professor talked about French social classes in the last fifty years, unemployment, ect. I'm on break right now- this afternoon I have another language/grammar class and then my Orientation class which I'm taking with the entire group from Central College. I really like the kids in the group- everyone seems to be in the same boat, although there are two students who haven't had any French at all! I have no idea what they're going through- everyone speaks French here. Period. L'Institut de Touraine is for international students only, but everyone still comes from different countries so if you don't know where someone is from, it's natural to speak French. Weird!

My host mom is an excellent chef! (Of course, not as good as you, Momma ;] ) Every morning she sets out la confiture (jam) and bread, along with yogury, cereal and a pot of coffee and juice. For dinner, we always have an appetizer, main course and then finish with my choice of cheese from the cheese board and some fruit. Last night's hors d'oeuvre was mangoes chopped up in a coconut cream sauce with spices... something I've never tasted but so delicious!
On Sunday, there are two more students from Italy coming to stay... I'm curious to see how four girls will fare in a small house with one bathroom! Oh well, the more the merrier. I also wonder how their French/English is... will there be any communication at all? :) Always an adventure.

I have an oral presentation to do next week on how to spend a weekend in New York... should be interesting! I'll be putting up pictures soon although I really haven't taken many yet. Au revoir!

Beautiful

I went for a run today along the Loire river. It was absolutely beautiful.

Starting classes tomorrow! I think I'm finally getting the swing of this French speaking thing....

Bonjour!

What a long weekend! It feels like two days ago was a year.

My flight landed in Paris safely yesterday morning an hour early, around 10am. (We're six hours ahead of U.S. time) Of course, I couldn't find the baggage claim, so after about ten minutes of running to the ends of the airport, I finally asked someone and it seemed I'd left the secure part where you were supposed to pick it up, so he let me back in.

I took a shuttle to our hotel, "Hotel Arotel," and dropped my two boulders (bags) off and took off to find something to eat. It was kind of crazy-I was still in too much shock of being here to actually comprehend my surroundings, (such as the fact that everyone but me was speaking French!) so I walked for a while down La Rue Montparnasse until I finally ventured into a busy patisserie on a streetcorner. (By the way, I love how everyone just holds onto their huge sandwiches (they use a baguette for the roll) and eats them walking down the street, whereas drinking a cup of coffee in a cafe takes about 3 hours.)

Around four, I met some of the new students, as well as another who is doing Central's year-long program (and swears she isn't going home). We went to one of the cafes on a main street, whose claim-to-fame was the list of artists and writers who had once been frequent visitors (Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Hemingway, and Sartre) A little expensive, but definitely the Parisian cafe experience. Even in the winter, everyone still sits outside!

We ate dinner as a group (18 students altogether) in a creperie around the corner from the hotel, and of course, it was absolutely delicious. They served us traditional cider from the Bretagne reigon, and our waiter was even describing how you can separate France into different reigons just through their food and beverages. He told us, "France existe pour deux raisons: pour manger et boire!" When we tried to describe a bagel to him later, he was appalled by the idea of "destroying good bread."

We took a train to Tours at 12:30 today- what a disaster! 18 students with huge bags, walking two blocks to the station, dragging them onto the escalator (I took the stairs- BAD idea. I think my arms are going to fall off) and then fitting them into the tiny overhead compartments was certainly a loud and very "American" adventure. I can't wait until the trip back...
Anyway... once in Tours we met and went home with our host families. My host mom Jacqueline is the librarian in Saint-Pierre de Corps (another part of Tours), and her house is overflowing with books. (It's wonderful!) She made me lunch and I tried a new cheese for dessert- I forget the name, but it was delicious. I also learned that in France, it is impolite to put your bread on your plate- it must be placed on the tablecloth! She told me that every time an American student visits, she has to re-explain the mannerism. Crazy! We then drove around Tours, which is pretty small for a city, but definitely full of life- there's a section that was originally built in the Middle Ages, and there are a million little shops and cafes.

And now.. I am going to attempt to find the Loire river, which is apparently only a few blocks away! A tout a l'heure!

2 days to go!

Hello all!

So.. it's finally happening. I'm going to France. It brings a mixture of emotions- I'm so excited but don't think I'll be able to understand the reality of it until I get off my plane in Paris. AHH!

I plan on writing a blog while I'm on my trip, including pictures and lots of fun stuff about my adventures. I'm writing for the Central College (the school I'm traveling with) website, so most of my posts can be seen there, but I'm going to include them on this site as well. The site is: http://blogs.central.edu/abroad/

For the first week (until the 31) I will be in Tours, France- a city about an hour southwest of Paris, with a host family. The address and info is below, but my real mailing address will be at the Foyers Vigie in Paris (also below). I'm living on the Ile de France (right in the center of Paris, across from Notre Dame!) in an international student foyer for women. I probably get a roommate, but I haven't met her yet!

I will also be using Skype to call or contact anyone, so if you have it, add me! (Merion Read) If you need to email me, use my gmail (mread7@gmail.com) instead of my school mail.

Address in Tours (1.18-1.31)- only for emergencies!
33 rue Jean-Jacques Noirmant
37000 Tours


Paris address (2.1-5.29!)
Foyers La Vigie
7 Rue Poulletier
75004 Paris, France


The next time I write, I'll be in France!

Au revoir!
Merion