Walk #19

Since I bought laundry detergent yesterday at Monoprix, I decided to do some hand washing in the sink this morning. Boy was I glad I did!! The water was disgustingly dirty after letting my clothes soak for a couple of minutes!! Between traveling and the big city, they are really getting worn. After hanging stuff up to dry around my room I went into Paris and finally did one of the walks out of my Frommer’s 24 Great Walks in Paris. It was pretty fun! I did walk #19, entitled “Following the Rose Line.”

I started off walking down Boulevard Saint-Michel and saw the Sorbonne and the Pathéon (which is in Paris, not the Parthenon in Greece, father!). Then I walked around the Luxembourg Gardens for a while taking in the flowers and fountain and pond. I even helped some lost tourists from New Zealand who had no idea where they were in Paris. After leaving the gardens I went out to see the front of the Palais du Luxembourg and then headed towards St. Sulpice. It’s a church that plays an important role in the DaVinci Code for all you fans. They’re doing restoration work on the outside, but the inside was very pretty and I took a picture of the meridian line. I really liked the surrounding neighborhood and decided if I had lots of money that would be where I would hang out (when I got home my host mother told me that it was one of the most expensive areas of Paris, I had a feeling from the shops I saw…). After St. Sulpice I strolled down a couple more streets, bought a fabulous gelato ice cream cone and wandered through a mini shopping mall. The family in front of me at the gelato place was from some other European country and didn’t know French, so to communicate with the guy serving gelato both parties were trying to use whatever English they knew. It was quite interesting to listen to them both trying to communicate in a third language! My route then took me past the Odéon Theater, and a big medical school before ending up at Boulevard St. Germain. Boulevard St. Germain has lots of shops and people and I meandered down it for a while, finally coming upon Les Deux Maggots and Café Flore, literary hotspots back in the day. I was going to sit and have a kir and perhaps lunch at Café Flore (I ate at Les Deux Maggots last time I was in Paris) but alas, there were no seats available. I decided that it was probably better just to head back home, eat there and save my money for another day during the week when I have to eat out.

Tomorrow I’ve decided to do walking tour #15 which will take lead me over a couple of the bridges that traverse the Seine. Tonight I’m going to try to do my homework and perhaps watch some French TV now that I have it working on my computer!

If you click the title of this entry it will take you to an album of my photos from the walk today!

Ikea and Versailles: All in a Day in Paris

Today was quite the day. I was just about to go out and run some errands when my host mother asked if I wanted to accompany her out the “compagne” (countryside) to run some errands. Her car had been at the mechanics since before I got here, but was finally fixed and needed to be re-broken in. So off we went! Apparently our errand was going to Ikea… I couldn’t complain; I love Ikea. Anyway, on our way there I saw lots of signs for Versailles and asked if we were close, Marie-Claire said that we were really close. Then like five minutes later she was like oh by the way there is Versailles over there. Low and behold there was part of the gorgeously huge castle just down the hill from us. Much cooler than anything I have ever seen between Tacoma and Ikea. Anyway we meandered around Ikea, bought a couple of things and ate lunch. I discovered that the orange and elderflower marmelade I love so much in the morning is from Ikea, haha! On our way back home my host mother asked if I’d like to see Versailles, which of course I did, so she took me on a little detour to get a good view of the castle, it was more amazing than I remembered it by far!!! It’s such a beautiful building and so ornate, I can’t wait to go back and tour it again, this time I will definitely make it an all day thing. We also drove around a really little, cute, quaint French village that was just adorable and I would love to one day own a little cottage there. Many of the buildings dated back to the 17th century according to my host mother!!

The afternoon I spent running errands. I went back to the mall and tried on some clothing. I think I found the dress I want to by for my sorority preference night in January and also a cute shirt and some boots. I might go back tomorrow and buy one of them. I finally bought something from Paul, the bakery; it was delicious! Then I went to a paper shop and bought some school supplies (some notebooks and some folders). Last on my list was Monoprix. I had to take a detour by an eyeglass store because while driving out in the country I discovered a screw had fallen out of my sunglasses and I could no longer wear them. Lucking a local store put the screw back in for me, free of charge. At Monoprix I bought some bread and wine along with some other necessities, like laundry detergent!

Tonight my host mother took me to the synagogue that is only a kilometer from the apartment. It’s a very pretty building and is on property that used to belong to the Rothschild family before WWII. We had to sit up in the women’s gallery, which I found rather awkward and it made it very difficult to see what was going on bellow. Services were quite different from those I attend in the U.S. Everyone walked around, chitchatted and had a side conversation with the Rabbi during services. People even walked on and off the Bima (pulpit) as they pleased. We started with Mincha and no one every announced a page number or prayer, so you really had to be educated to be able to keep up with where we were. I found it rather difficult! Services were quite quick though, probably due to the fact that they kept a pace about twice as quick as what I am accustomed to and there was no reading in French. There seemed to be a competition among the men as to who could read/ sing the loudest so that was rather amusing compared to the lack of participation I often see in the U.S. There is a conservative synagogue in the 15th arrondisement I want to try out, I looked into High Holiday tickets there and they cost 90 euros for students! We’ll see about that. Tomorrow I’m planning on going into Paris and doing something, but I’m not sure what. A bunch of the metro stations are closed because of the Pope being here so I have to find something that isn’t in the area of town…

20 Meters Below and Sustainable Architecture

Well class started and my blog immediately went by the wayside. I have a feeling once I’m taking all my classes I will only be posting entries once every two or three days. So Thursday we began our French class. We’re basically doing intensive grammar review for the next week to make sure we’re all up to speed and have good French when we start all of our classes on the 22nd.

We were divided into French classes based on our scores from the placement exam. The schedule we were given at the beginning of orientation said my group was supposed to meet at 1:30pm on Thursday but the paper we were shown Wednesday afternoon and all the teachers said 9am. So Abbey, Shaina, and I all showed up for class yesterday at 9am… guess what, class didn’t start until 1:30pm! We were then left with lots of time to kill since none of us felt like trekking back to our home stays just to return in a couple of hours. Since Abbey is still on crutches it wasn’t practical for her to try to go meandering around, so she installed herself at a table with one of the school’s laptops (with a French keyboard – it took over 5 minutes to figure out how to type her email password correctly!). Shaina and I decided to venture over to the catacombs, which aren’t far from our school and then come back and get Abbey for lunch. Shaina and I walked the 10 minutes or so from our school to the catacombs, peering into all the cafés and boutiques on the rue Daguerre along the way. We took the 90 steps down and meandered along the pathway for a while wondering what we were supposed to be looking at. It probably would have helped if I had read the guidebook a little more thoroughly before going down, but I hadn’t been planning on doing this an hour before. We finally got to the catacomb part and it was pretty interesting. It was very weird to think about and see the bones of 6 million people being piled up in designs and special arrangements. We continued on, avoiding – for the most part – the dripping water of “dubious origin” as Shaina’s guidebook had put it. As we were walking and discussing, a guide/ curator dude stopped us and asked us if we knew the history, we said a little and he offered to explain it to us. Shaina asked him to tell us in French so he did, somewhat reluctantly and spoke much to quickly for me to understand more than half of what he said. Afterwards he told us we could take a picture with the flash even though we had been told not to, so I took one of the bones that were 50 m deep. He then took one of the two of us and then offered to go drinking with us sometime. Great!! We told him we’d come back to visit and continued on as quickly as possible. Ascending the 90 stairs was much more of a challenge than I had anticipated but we succeeded and headed back to IES to get Abbey.

The three of us decided to do lunch at the café that is next door to the school. Our waiter was very genial and I ordered ravioli while Shaina and Abbey decided to split an item called tartare cru, which Shaina believed to be an open faced sandwich with French fries and salad. When it arrived Shaina and Abbey were surprised (to say the least) that their plate contained a pile of raw chopped meat artfully mixed with onions and herbs along with fries and a salad. It turned out Shaina had the words tartare and tartine confused! Luckily the waiter was very nice and understanding and took the plate back and brought them a large salad with toast instead. He did however make Shaina go back and explain to the chef that it was her fault and not the waiter’s so that the waiter wouldn’t have to pay for the dish out of his wages. At the end of the meal he gave Shaina his email address so we could keep in touch and perhaps have a drink and try tartare… oh these French men!

We finally went to French class and then I had to wait around for another hour after class for my academic meeting, so I didn’t get to head back home until close to 5pm. We had a homework assignment to do for class and I was so tired that it was the only thing I did last night.

Today we did actually have French class at 9am and then I had to wait around again because I was going on a tour of the Pavillion d’Arsenal at 2:30. Abbey and I went to get pain au chocolat for a mid morning treat and then we sat with Shaina and read and chatted until lunchtime. I found a gelato store on the rue Daguerre today that I somehow missed yesterday, so there will definitely be future posts revolving mostly around my ice cream consumption! For lunch we decided to go to the boulangerie (bakery) that is just across the street from our school since they have sandwiches and salads for a very reasonable price. We enjoyed our meal and Abbey tried Orangina for the first time!!

A group of about 20 of us took a tour of the Pavillion d’Arsenal. It’s a museum that basically talks about the construction of Paris since the 1100’s , the city’s design and layout over the years and some of the changes in architecture. The building is in an older part of Paris, really close to the Seine and all the architecture around it is really pretty and older. It was such a contrast to then walk into the museum and see the stark modern appearance with metal floors and unadorned wood accenting. I'm sure there was a point to all this modernity in an antique area... All I could think of was Sarah the entire time and how she should be there because she would really appreciate it and be able to explain it to me. But alas, the tour guide was pretty good (the tour was all in French), and afterwards Brad and I ventured to the second floor to look at the temporary exhibit. It was all models of buildings (once again I thought of Sarah and her hours of studio last year) that are being built or are planning on being built in Paris and the surrounding areas. They are all sustainable architecture and some of the designs and ideas were really cool. By this time my feet were killing me, so I decided to head back to the ‘burbs for the evening. I made myself risotto for dinner (I was pretty impressed with how it came out for the limited number of ingredients I had available) and now I’m just taking it easy. I think I’ll put on my PJs and read some more Harry Potter (en Français) for the rest of the night. Tomorrow I need to run some errands, and who knows what else…

Fishy Mashed Potatoes, Literally.

Yet another day of orientation… We started with our language placement test in the morning. Abbey and I both ended up in the same class, although we’re not sure what level it actually is. I guess at least you can say the French department at UPS is consistent. The rest of the day was filled with learning that there are cultural difference between the U.S. and France and that we might get a little depressed because of all of those cultural differences. Mon dieu! It’s not like we’re in a third world country; it’s Occidental Europe!! I’m really not that worried by the fact that the French don’t smile as much as Americans. In fact I did such a good job at not smiling or making eye contact on the metro this evening that two different people asked me for directions. I could understand and respond to one of them.

For lunch today we had mushroom soup, Brandade Morue (think cheesy mashed potatoes with cod that has gone through a food processor) and a fruit and egg dessert item. It was interesting, but I definitely ate more than yesterday. Tomorrow we start our language classes: I have mine at 9am. Then I have a 4.5-hour break between that and my academic advising meeting, so I am going to find something interesting and at least somewhat touristy to do in the intervening time. I’ve come up with a couple of possibilities and just have to narrow it down. I also have to finalize my class choices.

For dinner tonight we had leftovers from last night but the salad my host mom made was a little different tonight. It had palm hearts in it; I’d never heard of them before. They were interesting and by the time I’d eaten all the ones she’d given me, I’d grown rather accustomed to them. I think I’m going to read a little Harry Potter tonight and go to bed early. Having to set my alarm clock these last couple of days has really worn me out. I should have some pictures to post tomorrow night hopefully.

What I Learned Today: You don't eat nutella after the age of 16.

Another day of orientation. It was really almost all useless. Well unless I had been planning to get super drunk every night and be rowdy around police officers, then perhaps it would have been informative. I am considering taking a class at an outside university after the academic lecture though. I’m not sure why since all she did was discuss French bureaucracy and inefficiency in action. I am still undecided at the moment. For lunch they gave us crab profiteroles, young duck with turnips and chocolate mousse. While the crab did not actually taste like crab, it was still not very appealing to me so I ate a couple bits of the profiterole part, a couple bites of the duck, some turnips (which were too sweet) and most of the mousse (but that was also too sweet).

After orientation, Abbey and Brad decided to venture out to the ‘burbs because that was the only place I knew of off the top of my head for Abbey to buy her cell phone. We had a great example of French inefficiency in action while trying to navigate the metro stop with our beloved and crippled Abbey (she’s on crutches at the moment if I haven’t mentioned that before). We took one elevator down a level and then had to change to a different elevator to go down another level (this was kind of miraculous in itself for France considering most metro stations only have stairs). We hit the elevator button and waited for it to come from below, waited some more and some more. Finally it headed up towards us, and kept going! Ok, we thought, it will catch us on the way down. So finally it comes down to us and we get on. We push the button for the level below us and watch the count down above the door for the requisite 30 seconds it remains open. Finally the doors close and guess what, we’re heading up again! We stop at the upper level, pick up some more people, make another stop at the level where we got on at and then finally down to the level we wanted in the first place.

We eventually made it to my suburb, got Abbey her cell phone and then Abbey and Brad agreed to accompany me to Monoprix so I could purchase a couple of forgotten grocery items and some tissues. After much debate I settled on some Kleenex with some sort of additive, though I don’t think they’ll be as good as my Puffs Plus Lotion and Aloe that I love so much. I’ll survive somehow (Abbey is rolling her eyes reading this, I guarantee it!). I then headed back to my apartment because my host mother was making me dinner for the evening and left Brad and Abbey planning a picnic in a nearby park.

When I got back to the apartment I collapsed on my bed and watched some more of the DVD my host mother gave me yesterday to help me improve my French. It’s a fairly recent movie called Une grande année (A Great Year) in French and has Russell Crowe in it. I’m watching it with the French dubbing and subtitles, and it’s quite enjoyable. We had dinner around 7:30 and my host mother served a delicious salad with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado with her homemade salad dressing. Then we had a casserole type dish that was cauliflower and hard-boiled eggs in a béchamel sauce with cheese on top. I ate the double scoop she gave me with a piece of bread and had an apple for dessert. We’re apparently having the leftovers for dinner tomorrow and she also made veal with carrots and onions for another night this week. During dinner my Marie-Claire spoke some about her family and also told me great stories of her and her friends sneaking out of their rooms during the summer holidays late at night to go running around with friends (notably boys – which was definitely not acceptable at the time), it was quite amusing. Apparently her father caught her and her sister once returning home at 4 o’clock in the morning!!

I have my language test in the morning so I should probably head to bed so I can get a good night’s sleep and not disappoint Michel by being placed in a remedial French course. I had wanted to review some grammar but I’m feeling too tired, perhaps on the metro tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Some Requisite Touristy-ness

So my host mother and I went to the market this morning. I got the tour of good chunk of the area while walking there and back and found a couple of places I definitely want to go back to. The market was awesome: fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs, and fresh pasta!! I think I will go back next Saturday and buy some of my groceries from there. There were also some stands with some cute sweaters and jackets, so who knows… maybe a trench coat too so I can be a real Française! On our way back we stopped in the smallest Sephora I have ever seen because Marie-Claire is looking for a new perfume. Marie-Claire also showed me the most expensive clothing store in town and the chicest butcher-esque place. We walked by a pastry store that looked out of this world; I should have taken a picture. I will definitely be going back there soon!!! We also walked past what appeared to be a kosher butcher.

My host mother was bugging me to go into Paris and Abbey was nice enough to invite me along on her adventure this afternoon so we met up with Brad (not Brand as I called him in a previous post) in front of the Church Saint Ambroise in the 11th arrondisement. After deciding that Sunday was not the day to meander around a church, we took the metro to the Trocadero/ Palais de Chaillot for one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower in town. After doing the requisite touristy things like posing in front of the Eiffel Tower for pictures, we headed to a nearby café for an afternoon coffee.

Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides (the gold dome on the left) from the Trocadero.

The Palais de Chaillot with the Eiffel Tower behind it.

My evening was pretty quite, chatted with friends online and read some more Harry Potter. I think I’m going to watch a movie my host mother wants me to see (I think to improve my French). I also need to figure out how to get to the building where we’re having orientation tomorrow. A bientôt!

Fnac and Glace Italien

This morning I had something called “Le Petit Suisse” (the little Swiss) on my bread. It tasted like a cross between cream cheese and yogurt; it was pretty tasty and was lighter feeling than cream cheese, though the container said it was 30% fat. My host mother and I discussed the rising costs of food and the overall cost of living and also paying for school with scholarships, grants and loans and how the French are having to do more of that like Americans now. We also discussed Ikea and I think taking a trip there when her car is working again!! We’re going to the “marché” tomorrow morning and I’m hoping to buy some fresh fruit and perhaps a vegetable or two ☺.

Apparently Saturday late morning is the time for all the French to take a walk with their children as I observed while walking down to the mall, which is less than 10 minutes from the apartment. It’s amazing! I will definitely be going there again. I walked all around to see the different stores; there are quite a few that I want to explore. There is one that looks like the French version of Pottery Barn, some clothing stores, a purse store, and many others (Maren - they have a Paul bakery!!! I'm definitely going to get something from there next time!). I had actually gone to the mall to buy the 6th Harry Potter book in French and to grocery shop. My host mother recommended that I go to a bookstore called FNAC, it’s incredible! Imagine Border’s and Best Buy combined in to one store! Anyway so I wandered around for a while trying to figure out where one finds a Harry Potter book in a bookstore because I always buy them on the first day when you trip over them walking into the store. Eventually I found it and then headed to Inno (a grocery store) to get some food.

Inno was also incredible! It was really big, like the size of an American grocery store almost, and had a huge selection of items. I wandered around for at least 5 minutes before I decided to finally put something into my basket. They had a “world foods” section that had things like ramen, fluff, peanut butter (6 euros!), a bunch of British stuff and some Old El Paso products. I finally decided on pasta, tomato sauce, cheese, yogurt, bread, chicken, hummus and of course some chocolate. Hopefully I’ll more creative with groceries I stop feeling overwhelmed by the French versions of items. (BTW tomato sauce comes in MUCH smaller jars here, I bought the biggest one they had and it would take at least 3 of them be equivalent to an American jar)

After I finished my grocery shopping I decided to go back the Chocolatier that I saw while meandering around the mall. It’s called Jeff de Bruges and apparently it’s Belgian. Anyway, they had soft-serve ice cream, which is called Italian ice cream here, in amazing flavors! I finally decided on the raspberry and passion fruit combination to keep me going while I walked home. It was delicious!! For only 2 euro I will definitely be doing that again soon!!

My host mother and I talked while we ate lunch, she shared her salad with me and I ate some of my bread and cheese. Apparently she knows something about Oriental rugs too, so we discussed them for most of lunch. After lunch I just hung around the apartment and talked to friends and family online. Then my host mother’s friend Skype’d me and helped me set up French TV on my computer so I can watch it. I’m still having some technical difficulties and trying to figure them out, but it’s pretty cool! Talking to someone over the phone in French though is not easy and she was correcting me whenever I made a mistake, but I guess that’s good for learning… My host mother has also offered to help me improve my French by giving me dictations from Harry Potter if I’d like. I know I should take her up on the offer. For dinner I made myself some soup and ravioli and had some yogurt for dessert. I’ve started reading my Harry Potter book and I think I’ll do that ‘til I decide to go to bed.