Une Baguette, s'il vous plaît

The rest of my week went well. I had classes again Wednesday and Thursday. I’m still not sure what I think of most of my classes and I haven’t really figured out how difficult/ easy they will be. It seems to me that they will be mostly reading, except for my French language class. My reading for my PoliSci. EU class was extremely long and would have been challenging in English, so it was definitely a task in French. But it seemed like most of my class felt about the same way.

I didn’t have class today (Friday) so I spend the morning running errands. I bought a new book to read for pleasure since I finished Harry Potter. They didn’t have the seventh Harry Potter book in the cheaper pocket size, so I bought the second book in the Golden Compass series. If that goes well I’m thinking about buying Anna Karenina next sine I never got around to finishing it this summer. We’ll see how ambitious I’m feeling – it might end up just being Le Petit Nicholas (children’s book for 7 year olds – very cute and amusing, nonetheless). After Fnac I went to Monprix to do my grocery shopping. I’m hoping it will last me two weekends (besides maybe a new baguette and some more lettuce). I was better about healthier items this time, now that I wasn’t feeling quite as overwhelmed. Buy bread still causes problems for me. For some reason whatever type of bread I decide I want is never labeled with a name – all the other one’s are, just not mine (and I did try the walk up to the counter and ask for a baguette idea, the baker looked at me and was like which type?). What I want is probably never labeled because it is like one of the most basic types and every French person knows what it’s called. But for me this leads to a very complicated process of me trying to tell the baker guy which loaf I want without just pointing. I sounded especially like an idiot today. But I finally ended up with a batard (yes they call a type of baguette “a bastard” here). So maybe I’ll just stick with that for now on to limit my mumbling descriptions.

So after running errands I was ready for lunch and made myself a salad and had some hummus and little toast crackers with it. Then I headed over to the Louvre for a couple of hours. I figure since I have unlimited access to the Louvre I can take it slowly so I just chose a section and walked around that, it was almost all sculptures. I had so little time last time I was in the Louvre, I didn’t really have time to admire the building itself. You see this amazing, huge building from the outside, but when you get inside you’re distracted by all of the artwork. The building itself is amazing!!! I really wish I could take a tour that talked about that and not the art. I tried to make a point of really taking in each room as a whole and then looking at the sculptures.

I decided to mail some postcards from the post office in the Louvre because I was feeling too tired to find one of the post offices in my suburb. While in there, this American couple came in and asked about buying a phone card. The guy behind the counter offered them a 6 euro phone card, but the guy just wanted to call a restaurant to make a reservation. The post office wouldn’t sell them anything less, so I offered to let them borrow my cell phone (I figure I could always use a little extra good karma).

By the time I decided I was tired and should head home, I was really hungry and it was only 4pm so I figured I could get a crêpe somewhere as a snack. I refused to buy my first crêpe in Paris from the Louvre food court, but sadly the Louvre is surrounded my touristy shops and then super chic and ritzy areas (literally – I stumbled upon the Ritz in my search for food). So there were sadly no crêpes for Devon (the only ones I could find were pre-made and then the guy would just heat them up and add filling – not authentic!). I headed home, even more tired from my crêpe search, and made dinner. I should really start thinking about doing some of my homework, but I think that will just have to wait for tomorrow…

Is that French or Italian I Hear??

Well I had my other three classes today. It was a VERY VERY long day. I left the house at 8:10 and didn’t return until 6:20. My literature class seems like it will be a little dull – but maybe that will also translate into not too much work? One can hope! I think I will really learn a lot in my politics class about the EU – that is as long as I can understand my prof. He’s Italian, and French spoken with an Italian accent is about the most confusing thing my brain has ever heard!!! I felt like I was listening to someone speak in Italian except for the fact that a large percentage of the words sounded familiar. Hopefully I will grow accustomed to his accent and it won’t take quite so much brainpower to comprehend.

Other than that I spend my two two-hour breaks reading, mostly for class – a little of Harry Potter. I also got lunch at my favorite Boulangerie (a chicken panini) and I returned a couple of hours later for my first French éclair. It was coffee flavor and pretty yummy although a little too sweet and large for me.

I forgot to mention in my blog yesterday that I was once again asked for directions, this time in the shopping center in my suburb. I was wearing my bright yellow shirt, which is basically a large “I’m not French sign” considering everyone here wears neutral colors with the occasional shade of teal, eggplant or pale pink. Yet this lady stopped me and asked me where a store was. Luckily I had walked around the shopping center enough to have seen in before and was able to point her in the right direction. I should really get a start on my reading that needs to be done for Thursday, but I just don’t want to do anything tonight but read or watch a movie.

Continuing Love Affair with Falafel and Fnac

While Sunday was the second day of the “Journés du Patrimoine” Abbey, Brad and I were all feeling a little less ambitious after our rather full Saturday. We decided on going to Victor Hugo’s house at the much more reasonable hour of 10am and then perhaps another sight in the area. Victor Hugo’s house was a nice change of pace after the Elysée the day before. No line! There were people there, but it was much more manageable. I wasn’t really sure who Victor Hugo was before Saturday night when I read in a quick Google search that he had written “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” upon getting to his house I also discovered that he wrote “Les Miserables.” I have fond memories of watching the musical movie version during many of the summers I spend at my Aunt Therese and Uncle Peter’s house.

A bookcase in Victor Hugo's house.

A cool chandelier.

Victor Hugo's desk.

After Victor Hugo’s house we decided to go check out the Picasso Museum, but unfortunately when we got there we discovered that it is closed for renovations until the 24th of October!! Slightly disgruntled we decided to give up on more sightseeing and head for the delicious falafel place only a couple of block away. With our craving fulfilled, we all headed home for a quiet relaxing afternoon. I spend the afternoon in bed: reading, watching Something’s Gotta Give in French, and doing a tad bit of my homework.

Today (Monday), I had my first day of real classes. I started with my France/US comparative politics course. I really like the professor; he seems genial and interesting. I hope the class continues in that direction! After that I had my Architecture of Paris class. I think I can really learn a lot in this class, not only about architecture, but also Parisian history. I was really happy to discover that I don’t have to buy any books for either class! Both teachers put together a course reading packet with photocopies of all of our assignments. This afternoon I did the rest of my French homework and went and bought a USB hub at Fnac, my favorite 2 in 1 combo of Border’s and Best Buy! Tomorrow I have my other three classes (the first one starts at 9am and the last one ends at 5:30pm) so it’s going to be a long day. I’m off to bed now.

Large and Shiny Objects

Friday I woke up feeling the start of a cold, but wouldn’t let it get the best of me. We had our IES “Welcome Lunch” on the Eiffel Tower at Altitude 95 (The restaurant on the first landing). It was very delicious! After that, Abbey, Brad and I tackled the stairs and climbed up to the second landing – it was a little more than I had bargained for, but we all survived. The view was excellent and we decided we didn’t need to pay 4.20 euro to go up to the top (the school had only bought us tickets to make it up to the first landing…). IES had also given us tickets to take one of the tour busses that go around the city and stop at all of the famous tourists sites. In theory you get off at each one and then get back on when you’re done looking (the ticket is valid for 2 days). We were feeling to lazy to get off at any of the stops, but sat on the top level (they’re double decker busses with an open upper level) and took lots of pictures and listened to the descriptions of all the sights. By the time we got off the bus we were hungry again and decided to do dinner together and pick what sights we wanted to the next day for the “Journées du Patrimoine.”

*** The Journées du Patrimoine is a weekend where all of these national sighs are opened and entrance is free. Not only can you go to your normal assortment of museums and old buildings, but also some sights that are closed to the public the rest of the year are open especially for this weekend.

Today I woke up at 6am to try to get to the Palais d’Eylsée (Presidential Palace) before the crowds. The building is not normally open to the public, so everyone wants to see it this weekend. I got there a little before 8 and found a long line, but not as long of a line as it was 40 min. later when Abbey and Brad arrived. Luckily they were both able to cut in line with me so we could go in together. I spend an hour and a half in line outside the gates and then a little more than 2 hours in line in the Palace gardens. It was quite the wait, but people had told us we would wait in line 4-5 hours and we made it in under 4 so I was proud. We also got quite the surprise while waiting in line. President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni showed up in the garden! I made it within 4 feet of him and got a pretty good picture of the two together. When we finally made it into the building, it was quite lovely – well except for the one room and hallway that had been redecorated in 1970’s modern fashion. The palace reminded all of us of a miniature Versailles. We made our way through the many rooms, including the President’s personal and official offices and also got to see a display of presidential vehicles throughout the years.

After the Eylsée, we headed to Les Invalides and took a break on the lawn to ease the pain from standing for so long. After that we got some lunch and Abbey and Brad went to the Army Museum while I went in search of a toilet and then Napoleon’s tomb. Last on my list for the day was the Bacarat Museum, which was very sparkly and made appeased my affinity for shiny objects. It was then time to head home and rest as I could feel my cold resurfacing. Tomorrow is another day of braving lines and people to enjoy the last day of the Journées du Patrimone!

Pictures linked to title of post!

Le Marais

Wednesday was a pretty blah day. I didn’t have class until 1:30 so I slept in a little that morning and then changed my sheets and tidied my room up. I read some more of my book and ate a leisurely lunch of bread, cheese and hummus. After class I returned home because I had an essay to write for my French class as well as a test the next day that I wanted to review for. During dinner my host mother started talking about Thanksgiving and we decided that I would make Thanksgiving dinner for her since she wanted me to make authentic American food and I was not making hamburgers!

Today was much more interesting. I turned in my paper and took my test and then did a little bit of research/ reading in my guidebooks before setting off for the Marais section of Paris. Marais is one of the oldest quarters in France and is now a mixture of trendy boutiques, the Jewish quarter, and old architecture - could it get any better for Devon? I decided to do both walks #5 and #6, which looking back I probably should have done separately and taken more time to enjoy them, but I will definitely be going back to the quarter again soon! So anyway I started out at the Hotel de Ville of Paris (this is where the mayor work – and may or may not live, I’m not sure how it work here). From the Hotel de Ville I had an amazing view of Notre Dame’s size on one hand and on the other I could see the extremely modern and colorful Georges Pompidou Center (I will be going there soon and you’ll get more explanation then). From there I walked past an amazingly large department store called BHV – shopping trip anyone? (BHV had an annex store a block down that was dedicated solely to items for dogs, well at least pets – ‘Rents: tell Whisky he’ll be getting a present). I meandered around a couple of streets, walked by St. Gervais (well technically I sat down and ate gelato in front of it) and then continued on to the Holocaust Memorial. I didn’t go in today, but there was a wall with plaques full of names along it called the Wall of the Righteous and it lists the names of people who helped Jews while the Nazi’s were in France. From there I continued on down a road that ran parallel to the Seine and past the Hotel de Sens which according to my guidebook is one of the few remaining examples of gothic architecture in Paris. Across the street was a section of the wall that used to surround Paris in the 12th century and now guards a playground for an elementary school. I then continued on my walk through a series of courtyards that were once a part of Hotel St.Pol and then past the church of St. Paul. From there I started my next walk.

My first main stop on this walk was the Place des Vosges. It was build as a country retreat for Henry IV. In the center is a park, which is contained on all four sides by “town homes.” My guide book says that each side is 9 homes… I definitely want to own one of them one day! Next I headed to the Carnavalet Museum, which can be found in two connected mansions. One the homes originally belonged to a Mme. de Sévigné who was part of Louis XIV’s court. The museum consists for the most part of salvaged rooms from historic homes that were torn down in Paris and some amazing artwork. By this time I was more then ready for lunch and headed to the main street of the Jewish quarter to get some falafel, it was sooo delicious!!!! The pita tasted fresh and it was filled not only with falafel and tahini, but shredded cucumbers, cabbage and grilled eggplant. If it was so out of the way I would be eating there all the time, but I expected to go back a fair amount nonetheless. After thoroughly enjoying my falafel, I went into one of approximately four Jewish bakeries on the street and bought a small Challah and a huge baklavah. Challah in France tastes different from its American counter-part, but I enjoyed the bit of both I ate and now have the rest awaiting me tomorrow. I then continued on past the Museum of French History and skipped the stop at the Picasso Museum (I want to save that for a day when I have energy to fully appreciate it) and headed towards the Temple Square. The Temple Square was once the site of castle of the holy Knights of the Templar Order and was where Marie Antoinette and her son were held prisoner, but it was destroyed during the revolution. By this time I was thoroughly exhausted and my shoulder was killing me from carrying my school bag all-day so I headed for the metro and went home.

I basically spent the rest of the evening curled up on my bed reading at watching The Family Stone dubbed in French. Tomorrow IES is having a Welcome Lunch – a little late I feel – on the Eiffel Tower and I haven’t decided what I’m going to do afterwards. I still have to figure out my weekend plans too. All my classes start on Monday and I won’t have the free time during the week like I do now.

Click the title of the entry for the photos!!

The Bois and More!

Monday I had French class from 9-11am. After that, Shaina and I decided to venture over to the Bois du Vincennes, which is within walking distance of where she lives. We made a quick stop at her apartment so she could drop off her things and take a quick shower (she was in Spain all weekend and took a sleeper train back to make it to class that morning) and then we were off! We entered the woods from what appeared to be a very unused area and had to meander around for a while using the map from my guidebook to find the populated pretty part. There was a beautiful lake, which we walked halfway around until we saw the zoo and decided to take a detour there since Shaina is a biology major. The zoo was pretty quiet as it was a Monday afternoon, but we wandered around and got to see Giraffes much closer up than you would ever be in the U.S. There was only a small ditch and a rope fence between us. The zookeeper did have to come out once and yell at the Giraffe for getting too close… The monkeys also provided a great deal of entertainment and there were a couple of baby monkeys that were extra cute to watch interacting with the adults. I would guess we spend a good 20 minutes just staring at the monkeys. After we were done at the zoo we continued our path along the other half of the lake and then I headed home for dinner.

My host mother made zucchini mousse (aka soup) and a chicken and green bean dish. It was rather delicious! I took a picture of the table because it just looked so cute and French! We tried this new red wine last night that my host mother really liked and I found interesting. Red wine here seems to have a lot more flavor than in the U.S. I had tried a red wine from Spain that Shaina ordered at lunch last week and it also had a lot flavor – almost spicy!


Today I went to class again… oh the repetition! And then I decided to go buy tickets for High Holiday services. Well first there were metro problems… there was some sort of technical problem at the Montparnasse station (really big – has like 4 or 5 lines through it) and it was backing up trains 3 stations away. So after sitting around for like 10 minutes and changing train 2 or 3 times I finally found one that was going somewhere and made it work for getting to the synagogue I was trying to find. I got off at the metro spot, picked a street that I hoped was the street I saw on Google Maps a day earlier and hoped I was headed in the right direction. Luckily I was, and I found the synagogue without too much of a problem. The secretary was really nice and printed out maps and hours and everything for me so I’m all set to go now, I still can’t get over how expensive tickets were though! After that I headed back to the metro, but it was lunchtime and I was hungry. I sat down outside at a café next to the metro stop and ordered a kir (white wine with crème de casis liqueur) and a sandwich with goat cheese. Both yummy, but I’m still trying to get used to the fact that the French put butter on their cheese sandwiches… it’s slightly strange and I can feel the extra calories!

This evening I went to see Mamma Mia with my host mother and her friend, tickets were only 3.50 euro because of a special “back to school” type promotion!! The movie was cute, but I felt guilty listening to so much English. I did however have to read the French subtitles a couple of times when I could understand/ hear what they were saying in English! For dinner we had Farsi tomatoes (hollowed tomatoes stuffed with a beef and herb mixture with eggplant and squash on the side – all baked). Now I’ve just about finished my homework and am debating between just going to bed or reading for a little while. I don’t have class until 1:30 tomorrow!!

One last thing. I was just talking to my dad on the phone and looking at the schedule for High Holiday services and I noticed that this synagogue does Tashlich (for all my non-Jewish readers: a symbolic purging of sins by throwing bread crumbs into flowing water) on the Seine by the Eiffel Tower… how amazing is that?! I’m definitely going!!!

Five Times Over the Seine

I set out for Paris this morning and decided to take bus #72 instead of the metro. My host mother had recommended it to me my second day but I had yet to feel adventuresome enough to take it. Anyway the bus goes through my suburb and then through the 16th arrondisement and follows the Seine into the heart of Paris. This basically means that you get awesome views of all the big tourist sights, aka amazing Eiffel Tower photo opportunity. But alas I wasn’t feeling touristy enough to start snapping photos in the bus, but maybe next time.

I got off right by the Pont d’Alexander III, a really ornate pretty bridge. Walked across took lots of pictures of the bridge and the Eiffel Tower from the bridge. From the other side of the bridge you are smack in front of les Invalides, so I took pictures of that as well. Then I went back across and walked by what I thin was the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, but haven’t verified that. There was a huge line to get into one of them and I saw a sign that said something about biannual antiques… I will have to investigate further. My walk along the Seine took me to Place de la Concorde and many more pictures ensued between the Obelisk, fountains, Champs Elysée and la Madeline. It just wasn’t the same there without my French group from high school and Mme. Sowar though. After that I took the Pont de la Concorde across the Seine and ended up at the National Assembly – think our capital building. Took some more pictures and wandered back behind it and down a side street and then back up to the Musée d’Orsay. I didn’t really have time to actually go in the museum, but I figure I’ve got all semester to go at least twice. I then went back across the Seine and into the Tulleries Gardens, which are in front of the Louvre. I made a quick detour into the Louvre to use their “facilities.” I tried to find the entrance that take you directly to the “Carousel du Louvre” – the shopping part instead of museum part – but sadly I couldn’t remember where the entrance was and only found the entrance for special groups. So alas I had to wait in line and go through the main entrance at the pyramid. After that I deviated from my guidebook’s instructions slightly and went around the other side of the Louvre on the rue de Rivoli and around the backside. I then headed back to the Seine and took the Pont des Arts back across. Next time I will have to actually take the Pont de Neuf, but the Pont des Arts gives you the ability to take pictures of the Pont de Nuef and the island. After stopping to admire the Institute of France (now on my short list for the Jour du Patrimone) I took a street that was lined with art galleries (sadly not my preferred style of art, but none the less made interesting window shopping) and headed towards my metro shop.

This afternoon I accompanied my host mother to the event at the Mayor’s office. They have two days where all of the clubs and organizations in town set up tables and people can come and get info about the activities. Her golf club had a table and she needed to go collect the checks they had received. We meandered around a little and I saw there is at least one if not two places to take figure skating lessons, so I might look into that. The evening was quiet… I did my homework finally and read a little more. Now it’s time for me to go to bed, I have class at 9am which means I have to leave at 8:15am!

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