"There's something missing, something missing I know...there's still one place I've gotta go!" - Sabrina, 1954

 

    The Eiffel Tower! It was so exciting for me to see it at night because I never have before! I felt like it was my first time being there. The temperature here has dropped significantly since I arrived last week and we were definitely feeling it tonight. It was Diana's 21st birthday, so despite it being a Tuesday, we had to celebrate by going ice skating on the first level! It was the last night of the year for skating and we went late at night, so we were the last skaters until next year! It was so much fun sliding around like fools and freezing our butts off and it's something I will never forget.

It sparkles on the hour.

Ice skating like a fool on the Eiffel Tower

Happy birthday, Diana!

    Visiting the Tower was a welcome break from the stresses of real life in Paris. On the way to class, I tried to get an Orangina from a machine in the Pernety station just to fill my stomach with something, but the machine ended up eating my two euros- and hey, that's a lot of money! After class, I had thirty minutes to find the EUSA office for a meeting to discuss my internship interview at French Travel Partners next week, where I will (if I'm hired) help book accommodations and make phone calls in French all day long. Since I haven't quite figured out myself here yet, I didn't eat breakfast before my morning class at 11 and then had no time in between class and the meeting to eat. By the time I made it to the meeting, I was exhausted, grouchy, parched and famished, which coincided with the time of day when I really just want to be American and eat a piece of pizza and be funny in my own language (Apparently being funny is one of the hardest things to do in another language/culture). On the way home, I continued my good mood by sitting on the métro, full of rage about life, and wanting everyone to stop staring at me all the time. The métro passages are also chock-full of Jean Dujardin smiling on The Artist posters at every turn, which made me want to punch him in his charming face, too. I also just found out I'm auditioning at the Schola Cantorum tomorrow for piano lessons, which I didn't know I was signing up for. Prepared? Nope. At the end of a stressful day, going to the Eiffel Tower does a person good.

Rachel

“Paris is always a good idea.”- Audrey Hepburn

     Paris in the winter is a whole different animal than in the summer. It's hard to think back to being here in the summer of 2006 and have the memories match up. Paris was crowded, touristy, sunny and HOT (Like 33 celsius). Paris right now, at the end of January, is drizzly, cloudy, cold and quiet. It's serious. The métro is full of people in black suits avoiding eye contact with one another and homeless people curled up in sleeping bags in the stations. I'm constantly just in people's way, it seems. In a lot of ways, it feels much more like New York than I remember. The architecture in my neighborhood in Montparnasse is full of concrete and modern, sober lines, that don't seem to fit the Parisian image that comes to everyone's mind. I'm excited for spring to spruce everything up, not that Paris isn't already beautiful!

     People are as friendly as you would expect in a large city (only when they have to be), which is part of the reason why Parisians get a reputation for being "rude." I don't think it's fair to say that people in Paris are any worse than other city dwellers and people can be quite nice actually; they just have a lot to compete for (i.e. space). I think people in a lot of European cities are much more accommodating than in American cities, because if you don't speak French (or another local language), you'll be fine since English is so widely taught here (Plus pointing and gesturing helps). If you come to America from Europe and don't speak any English and go to a restaurant, would the waiter or waitress be able to take your order? It'd definitely be hard. 

     This weekend was so much fun despite the temperature dropping and I can't believe I've only been here a week! It was nice to take a break from trying to fit in as "locals" and just be Americans in Paris. On Saturday, a group of us girls visited Notre-Dame (which I think I've done every day I've been here so far), and walked around the Right Bank to see Hôtel de Ville, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Archives nationales and the Marais, where I tried really hard to find the apartment my family and I stayed in on the rue du Temple. From there we went to Trocadéro métro stop to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower. We ate on the heated terrace of a cute little Italian restaurant off the rue de la Huchette, which I found out later is nicknamed "Bacteria Alley" for reasons I hope don't happen to me. I've had enough food poisoning for one year! I treated myself to wine that cost €12,00...but at least I got an entire 37.5 cl bottle, instead of one glass. It was definitely a fun night of laughing and meeting new people in Paris!

   Today a few of us went to the Chinese New Year celebration in the 13th arrondissement after going to mass at Notre-Dame. Imagine the amount of people at the MN State Fair in about two city blocks to watch the parade. I couldn't move at all. There were firecrackers going off everywhere that apparently hit a few people and it was just nuts. I felt like it could've gotten dangerous really fast and being trampled was a big possibility. It was fun to see so many different cultures in one place though! Tonight I just went to a little party in the kitchen of my foyer with galettes des rois where I met some of the other girls that live here and found la féve- the porcelain trinket hidden inside the cake- so I got to wear a gold paper crown! (This link below explains more about this tradition.)

Rachel

Better-than-Swiss-Miss chocolat chaud- makes a cold day lovely!

The ladies mapping our way to the Eiffel Tower

Every tourist there got one of these!

This wine was worth every euro- it was délicieux!

Outside Notre-Dame

     

"To err is human. To loaf is Parisian." -Victor Hugo

     In the past few days, Paris has subtly, and not so subtly, let me know that I am huge. Like literally a giant. Every café or restaurant establishment that I have been to, I have had to smash myself very precisely into my seat. This sometimes requires pulling out the table to let me into the booth and then having it shoved back into my lap once I sit down. Also on my lap is my purse/backpack bag because we've been warned and warned and warned about pickpockets. Getting up to go is another hassle because the too-large furniture for the too-small establishment traps my feet and I have to gracefully stomp over the chair to get out. 

     In the shower, the shower head is one of those hand-held hose ones, which of course, is too short for me so it's almost impossible to get the shampoo off the top of my head. When I stand in front of the mirror, I can only see from my chin down, so I have to bend over like I have scoliosis to look at my face. And at Foyer Protestant, you better damn well take your shower before 9:30 PM and not flush the toilet, either. These and other bizarre rules can be found on about fifty passive-aggressive handwritten posters all around the foyer. In French. So when you're tired and want to do pretty much anything, you need to read a poster, read it again, and then try to figure out what it means. And it always means 'no' to what you're hoping to do.

     There's also a mouse problem here. One of the first nights, I was sitting in the kitchen and I saw something move out of the corner of my eye in the hallway and the next night someone told me about the mice. I've been told to store my suitcases in the attic so they don't nest in them. At least there are no spiders or crying babies in here, because then I'd go all Jenna Marbles in here and end up on YouTube.

     After classes today, we went over near the Place d'Italie as a group to see The Artist, which I was really excited about since I had never gotten around to seeing it before I left. The movie theatre was like a large home theater with no sticky floors and no snacks. After the movie, we searched for somewhere to eat since it was 8 PM, which is dinnertime in France, but everywhere we went had stopped serving food for the night, so people were just drinking. We ended up eating Chinese after realizing this at another restaurant and then going out for drinks at a bar nearby, where we all bought pina coladas and shared some first hysterical laughs. Despite all the problems and annoyances, it's just a part of what Shelley calls "culture stress." If we weren't annoyed or stressed, she wouldn't be doing her job, she said. Being annoyed comes with adapting to a new culture, so the good news is that I'm adapting!

The shower for short people.

Courtyard at L'Ecole L'Etoile

My first pain au chocolat ever! The dome down the street behind me is the Sorbonne.

The Artist

My first drink in France.

Rachel 

An American in Paris

     I started my introductory class today at l'École l'Étoile on rue Raspail, which I will be doing every day from 11-1 until February 20. While sitting in class, I kept forgetting I was actually in France, because it was so similar to the other French classes I've taken. Yesterday we took the placement test to put us in classes that will get us ready for our classes at the Catholic Institute. I was placed in the second highest level out of five (I think?). There are seven students in the class and three of us are from the Central program. It was hard because our professor, Valérie, kept repeating to us "Il faut parler!" ("Speaking is necessary!") but it was our first day and we didn't know what was expected. 

     After class, Mary Kate and I found a Monoprix where I found towels! I had been showering with a hand towel for the past few days and now I have real person sized towels! Beforehand, we ate at Loulou' on the boulevard Saint Germain, whose sign says "a friendly place" which was enough to get me to come inside. I ordered un cheeseburger and the waitress spoke to us in English, which was the first time anyone has shot down my French skills thus far. The restaurant was American-themed, which was funny and nice to have a little piece of home with a good old cheeseburger and fries. I still say we do fries better than the French! Walking around, I heard a man whistling la Marseillaise, the French national anthem. The French definitely have more of a cultural pride than we do at home (I've NEVER heard someone whistle "The Star-Spangled Banner.") and you can just sense it without any whistling.

     We had a meeting with Shelley at 3 and we discussed advising. I'm pretty much decided on my classes- one on tourism and gastronomy (!), two French language courses and a French literature course. I'm thinking about taking piano lessons at the Schola Cantorum, but I'm not sure if that'll be too overwhelming since I'll be interning three days a week, 9 AM to 6 PM (FML) and taking classes the other two days. I might also take a watercolor class through the city of Paris, because the government subsidizes things like art for its citizens.  

     Elise and I walked around the boulevard Saint Michel area at dusk, and I think that was the first moment where I realized how much I love Paris. During the past few days I've been under so much stress and seeing how absolutely beautiful the crooked little streets are just reminded me why I'm here. I'm dying to go visit Montmartre and the rue du Temple in the Marais where my family and I rented an apartment when we were here last time. It makes me wish I was living more towards the Right Bank area, but I'm sure I'll end up loving Montparnasse, too. 


By the way, did I mention that it rains here all the time? 

Rachel

Notre Dame

Crooked little alley

First day of school outfit! I tried to look more  parisienne!

Bienvenue à Paris !

     I have learned a lot of things in my 2 days here. Number one: time doesn't mean much to the French. When I landed at Charles de Gaulle, I raced through the airport to get my bags to make it to my shuttle by 8 am. The shuttle came after 9. So that was an hour of complete panic that had me on the verge of tears. Number 2: the internet in Paris is horrible. I have been told to that I will be lucky to have a website load in five to ten minutes. And forget about the wifi! I have to use the computer in our study lounge and the keyboard is all rearranged so my As are usually Qs and Ms are commas. It was a rough first day on Monday, but slowly things are starting to improve and I don't feel as sad and lonely as I did at first. Plus, we ordered Domino's the first night. I have a really nice roommate named Aude, who is from Normandy. She doesn't speak much English, so it's hard to talk to her. I'm trying not to seem antisocial but I can't always figure out what to say or how to say things. We have mostly had meetings that last most of the day, but today I went with a few girls in the bitterly cold rain to see Notre-Dame and go inside where I lit a candle for my family. We ate dinner at a nearby café called Quasimodo de Paris- fitting, right? The bread and pastries are absolutely fantastic, so I'm definitely not starving!

I will try to get some pictures up once I, fingers crossed, get my wifi up and running so I can use my own computer.

Rqchel, I mean Rachel. Crazy keyboard!

“Oh, but Paris isn't for changing planes, it's for changing your outlook! For throwing open the windows and letting in... letting in la vie en rose.” -Sabrina, 1954

     I leave for Paris in 3 days and I couldn't feel less prepared. My packing has consisted of me coming across things around the house that I think I need, but probably don't- i.e. Scotch tape, three different bikinis, a baseball cap, an Italian dictionary, leftover candy canes from Christmas- and dumping them in a spot in the basement I've designated for all the things that I want to fit into my two suitcases. I haven't even begun thinking about the clothes that I want to bring because all of them will fit, right? Right. Be honest, how can a person pack light for four months, which includes winter, spring, and part of summer? I'm going to ignore the list they gave me on what to pack when it comes to clothes. In front of basically every item on the list was a 1. One pair of jeans, eh? Nope, that's not happening. I don't think I'll be bringing fewer pairs of jeans than I am bottles of hand sanitizer.

     I just booked a shared shuttle from Charles de Gaulle to the foyer where I'm living, on the rue Pernety in the 14th arrondissement. It's completely maddening just trying to figure out the logistics of getting my little self all the way to my new bed in Paris. My flight arrives at 8 AM (Paris time) on Monday and as far as I know, I will have 15 minutes to get through customs, find my luggage, call the shuttle driver and tell him or her I'm alive and find where ever the hell the shuttle is among the nine terminals at this particular airport. Once I get to my foyer, I have to get through the (locked?) gate, which I have no key or passcode for at this point, ask the front desk for an envelope which will supposedly have written directions and a metro pass in it on how to then get myself to the Central College Abroad office later that day. If I can do all this on my own, I SWEAR I will get myself on The Amazing Race. Or in a Dan Brown novel.

     I'm about halfway through my goodbyes with friends and family, which has so far made me as emotional as I was when I saw The Muppets (unexpected crying in both cases). I need to keep reminding myself that I have been planning this for five years and that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I need to have the courage to believe "I can do this!" So, let's do this! 

À Paris!

Rachel