Des Canards!

Out of chronological order...but...ducks!! Is it bad that I had duck for dinner? Nahhh....

L'Arc de Triomphe

This picture was taken shortly before I was propositioned by an old Moroccan man to be "his sweetheart."

Nuit

Perty! Night pictures are hard though without a tripod, sorry for the blur!

Jardin II

I should clarify that in the last picture the Eiffel Tower is waaayy in the background. The big building is the Senate in the Jardin de Luxembourg.

This is me taking a picture of myself...

Jardin de Luxembourg

Butt. Eiffel Tower. Fantastic combination!

Rain, rain go away!

I'm back in Paris after a whirlwind trip home. I don't recommend transcontinental travel twice in three days except under extraordinary circumstances. And even then, as it was the case for me, it's difficult! And not just because customs people think it's weird when people don't have luggage.

It was nice to come home though and see everyone. To assuage homesickness. I miss people, not really the place heh..because I missed Paris already for those couple of days. I wish I could snatch everyone out of MD and move them here.

Exciting times this morning, after sleeping for 12 hours I went to the laundromat and did my laundry! It was incredibly easy..but I discovered afterwards I need to buy some softener or dryer sheets... something! You can buy soap from a dispenser, but no softener. I'm going to really try to limit how much laundry I have to do because it takes about an hour and a half, two hours to finish.

It's pouring with rain today, so maybe I'll go to a museum. Tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be sunny, so I can save outdoor activities til then.

Straight as an Arrow!

Place de la Concorde, with the Eiffel Tower peeking out.

Musee D'Orsay

Moi, notice scarf :P

Oh la!

Well, this has been a great week of classes. I went to my first atelier d'oral on wednesday (Oral workshop :P) and I found that it was too easy. The other students, while very nice, just didn't have a high enough level to really give me any benefit. And the professor was kind of boring. So after the class I went to the office to talk to them about either changing levels or classes, but the lady (who was super-sympa) said that I could keep the same class and just change rooms and teachers, which sounded good to me! So today was the second first day of that class, and it was absolutely fantastic. The teacher is this adorable little French woman (as in she's teency) who looks like she's out of the 40s, swing skirt, button up sweater, rolled hair. And she is a wonderful teacher. We sit in a semicircle and she kind of walks in front of us and beckons with her hands for us to keep going. It's hard to describe, but it's very effective and she really instills a confidence that helps everyone talk much more. The other students are better than the other class, which also helps a lot.

We went over the intonation of emotion and how the French use inflection. And we also learned what letters and sounds to drop or change to make our French sound more authentic. All the absolute need to knows! It's really great.

After class I bought lunch and wandered around for awhile. Went to a market and bought a necklace and another shawl for less than 10 euros, woot. Picture of me wearing them trying to look French to follow.

I hopped the metro to the place de la concorde (forermly place de la revolution where the guillotine was and where the King and Queen were beheaded. Guess that's why they wanted to rename it concorde...) and ate my lunch in the Jardin des Tuileries. Then I walked for a long time and ended up out front of the Louvre. I went into the underground shopping area to find a converter so I could use my English appliances, and found one, finally. I also bought a book to read on the plane. Then I hoofed it back home to shower before coffee with Marc!

I got ready and walked to the cafe (not too far away actually) and met Marc. He's very, very nice with all the Gallic charm. We had a great conversation and I can feeeeel my French getting better. I don't have to search quite as hard for the right tenses (though still not fluent) and I don't have to make quite such frequent pauses. Yay!

So anyway, I'm getting ready to come home tomorrow for just two days, weird. But it'll be nice to see everyone :)

Here come some pictures.

Well apparently pics will have to wait because the server doesn't want to work!

What a day!

Well I went to class today and had a bit of a snafu in the morning (the woman who takes ze money made ze mistakes and she didn't even register me for the 2nd class I wanted). I ended up going to two hours of a class that wasn't mine, but the teacher took me to the office to get it fixed. So I had 2 hours until my other class started...what to do? Find a bakery!! And also, I realized, duh, that like.. this is school and like I totally needed a notebook. So I asked at the Alliance and they didn't have them..so I asked if they knew where I could buy one..and they didn't.. so I said to myself, fine! I'll find out myself. Wouldn't ya know.. literally across the street and down an alley I found 1) bakery. Bought stuffed baguette. 2) Librairie with beaucoup de notebooks. The shopwoman wasn't exactly "friendly" but she did the transaction in French and was polite. But GO ME for finding it hahaaaa.. and there's a place that sells sushi nearby. OO. So a word on the bakery, it was tres busy. And when there's a lot of noise going on and people talking and people asking "Oui et vous mlle! oui, vous!" My french becomes...garbled..but I managed to eke out baguette svp and got it haha. Then I needed to find a post office...because I wanted 1) stamps (which oddly, is timbre in French.) and 2) to exchange money because their rate is much, much better and they don't fleece me like the RIDICULOUS bureau de change at the train station (twenty euros in commission!!! BAH! which I didn't realize til late when I looked at my receipt. Voleurs!). So I walked in the general direction of where I thought there was a post office (thank you google maps)...but got a bit turned around (no such thing as a logical grid in Paris).. I asked two people on the street, who were nice but had no idea.. so I saw a taxi lineup and asked one of the drivers who was most obliging, and extremely smiley and nice who pointed me in the right direction. Woot.

So I finally made it to the post office and waited in a pretty long line where I got to see govt functionaries in their full, slow, splendor. They would put up this sign that said "Apologies, but this cashier is momentarily closed"...while they're sitting right there doing God knows what. AND I had a woman push past me when I made the LEAST hesitation to start walking towards the next open window. Damn! But I finally pushed my way past another woman who tried it, glared at her and she backed off. I think I'm getting the hang of it. My particular functionary spoke SO softly that I could barely hear her, let alone understand her and she would act a bit annoyed if I asked her "WHATTTT"....but she was at least polite and helped me out.

Then I walked back at a quick clip and went to my correct class. The make-up of students is interesting. Most of them are asian or other europeans who have French husbands. Where can I find a French husband?! I met very nice people and the teacher is fantastic. Typical, eccentrically dressed (colors everywhere!), yet still managing to be chic, parisienne. Yay. So I have class everyday, but it is't all day, so I'll still be able to do my sightseeing. Wednesday and Friday are the oral classes. Should be exhausting, but fun!

After class I wandered around the neighborhood near my house and to try to find "my" cafe. And I think I found it. It's at the end of my street, packed with natives, small but comfy (except the inevitable smoke) and the coffee is gooood. Yay! So maybe I can become a "regular" and meet people to talk to. I'm too shy to go to the bar yet, but maybe in a few days. Ooo, I hear dinner plates, I better go!

Notre Dame II

As seen from the side. I haven't been inside yet, so I'll probably do that this week if the weather holds.

Notre Dame

I really hope this weather continues!

For Sarah

It's really just an English language bookstore =)

Er, what's it called again?

I think you all know what this is. Picture taken from a Seine cruise boat.

Marie Antoinette

This picture (and the actual cell) really creeped me out. It's a recreation of Marie Antoinette's cell at the Conciergerie where she spent the last two months of her life before being beheaded. The mannequin is really realistic and because it doesn't show her face, it leaves so much to the imagination. Poor Marie.

First Sunday in the Month=Awesome

All museums and monuments are free the first Sunday of the month. It's impossible to do too much in one day though--it's exhausting walking around everything! But I saw Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie for free today. Saving about 20 euros. Went on a Seine boat tour, and went to a flea market where I successfully haggled in French to get 5 euros off a bag. Go me! So awesome. Here are some pics =)

Me with the Pont Neuf in the background and the tip of the Cite

Paris!!

I arrived this morning via Eurostar. Fast trains are awesome!! The weather is perfect. Gorgeous sum, relatively warm for winter and not a cloud in the sky. Here are a couple of my first pics, if they actually upload!


The Louvre

Achoo!

Well, I've had a bit of a nasty cold the past few days. Luckily I've been able to just laze around. I haven't had to go do anything or hike miles. I read three books and drank enough tea for probably half of Britain, but I think I'm on the mend.