We'll always have Paris

     Coming back to Paris from the south of France felt like coming home. It was nice to come back and know the city and see the familiar sights and sounds again. My internship is starting to pick up and I'm feeling like I'm actually helping for the most part. On Friday, I had to call every three-star hotel in the 10th arrondissement- a whole page- in French and see if they had available rooms. When my boss told me to do it, I thought she was kidding. She wasn't, and I had to make my way down the list. Bonjour, je cherche des chambres pour vingt-cinq personnes...Speaking on the phone isn't as hard as I thought it'd be, even though one person asked me to send a written message instead because he couldn't understand me. I'm busy all day now and I have my croissant-based lunch every day in the Place des Vosges, where I get harassed by fat little pigeons that eat the flakes of croissant that I drop. I also got a chance to draw a little bit, which made me really happy.

View from my bench in the Place des Vosges (I made a sketch of this woman)

My desk!

    It was Elise's birthday on Tuesday, so we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe at night to take in the view, followed by sitting by the Seine with some wine for the birthday girl. It was so much fun to hang out, be really silly and to take my mind off being sad about missing my grandma's funeral, not being able to see my extended family that I never get to see and not being able to be there for my mom. My mom told me she read my last blog post at the funeral and "there wasn't a dry eye" in the audience and that it was like I was there. Hanging out was also a welcome respite from all the seriousness of having to act professional full-time during the week at work and at school and pretending to be French. And honestly, what's more beautiful than sitting by the river with wine, croissants and good conversation in Paris? I don't think it gets much better than that. Sometimes I forget this is my life.

Happy birthday, Elise!

     This weekend, my boss gave me free tickets to see Avenue Q in French, because she realized that she couldn't take her kids to see it since it's essentially a dirty version of Sesame Street. I'd already seen it a few years ago in Chicago, but I happily took the 40 euro tickets to see it in French. I guess there are a few perks to being a stagiaire!  

     And, just for kicks, here's a funny story: I was in the métro stop Châtelet today and the inevitable happened. I missed a step and landed straight on my knee, which started to bleed and swell. I spent the rest of the day hobbling around the Louvre and the Marais and I'd really prefer not to think about how the bacteria that's growing on every surface in the métro is probably now in my knee. I really need to carry a first aid kit around with me. 

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

     

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!