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!