So, it’s been another week in France and it still feels like jumping into a cold pool—sort of painful, a little shocking, but oh, so refreshing! Good news is that I am starting to get used to the sensation of living in a foreign country. As I was telling someone in an email, sometimes I still have moments in which all I want to do is eat peanut butter in my own American kitchen wearing my pajamas, but most of the time I am happy and excited to be out here!
This week I started classes and they were really fun. I like taking French with a smaller class (there’s about ten of us), my religion teacher is really inspiring, and my fine arts teacher takes us around places in Paris analyzing the architecture of buildings. It’s nice to get some routine back into my life.
Here are some updates titled nicely for everyone to read, aka, skip the ones you’re not interested in (I recommend the last section titled Other Stories/ Updates, if you'd like my input)! If you’re interested in all of them, you must either be my mom, my soulmate, or a true francophile. Enjoy!
This week I started classes and they were really fun. I like taking French with a smaller class (there’s about ten of us), my religion teacher is really inspiring, and my fine arts teacher takes us around places in Paris analyzing the architecture of buildings. It’s nice to get some routine back into my life.
Here are some updates titled nicely for everyone to read, aka, skip the ones you’re not interested in (I recommend the last section titled Other Stories/ Updates, if you'd like my input)! If you’re interested in all of them, you must either be my mom, my soulmate, or a true francophile. Enjoy!
WHERE I WENT
1. The catacombs have got to be one of the coolest places I’ve seen since I’ve been here. It is basically a two hundred year old community burial place underneath the streets of Paris running for something like 2-3 miles. We walked through the damp tomb and saw literally hundreds of skulls and bones of dead bodies. On the walls were posted things like, “Ou est elle, la Mort? Toujours future ou passee. Apeine est elle presente que deja elle n’est plus” (meaning roughly, “Where is she, Death? Always future or past. Hardly is she present that again she is no more.”)
2. St. Germaine En Laye had a sweet cathedral that was turned into a museum of ancient artifacts. It had the biggest mosaic I’d ever seen in my life (okay, it’s not like I’ve seen a lot of mosaics in my lifetime, but it was still big). We walked around the park next to it and explored the shops in the town.
3. We went back to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur to really explore it. We saw a cabaret called “Le Lapin Agile” (“the nimble rabbit”) where Picasso, Utrillo, Dali, and other artistic contributors were regulars. The Salvador Dali exhibit we went to was exceptional. The Place de Tertre was good, as was the Montmartre cemetery, and Moulin Rouge.
1. The catacombs have got to be one of the coolest places I’ve seen since I’ve been here. It is basically a two hundred year old community burial place underneath the streets of Paris running for something like 2-3 miles. We walked through the damp tomb and saw literally hundreds of skulls and bones of dead bodies. On the walls were posted things like, “Ou est elle, la Mort? Toujours future ou passee. Apeine est elle presente que deja elle n’est plus” (meaning roughly, “Where is she, Death? Always future or past. Hardly is she present that again she is no more.”)
2. St. Germaine En Laye had a sweet cathedral that was turned into a museum of ancient artifacts. It had the biggest mosaic I’d ever seen in my life (okay, it’s not like I’ve seen a lot of mosaics in my lifetime, but it was still big). We walked around the park next to it and explored the shops in the town.
3. We went back to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur to really explore it. We saw a cabaret called “Le Lapin Agile” (“the nimble rabbit”) where Picasso, Utrillo, Dali, and other artistic contributors were regulars. The Salvador Dali exhibit we went to was exceptional. The Place de Tertre was good, as was the Montmartre cemetery, and Moulin Rouge.
WHAT I ATE
I realize this is a ridiculous heading, but I’m living in Paris for goodness sakes, so it seems rather important!
1. My favorite thing of consumption this week over anything else was a croissant. Seems obvious, doesn’t it, to think that a French croissant would be better here? But I think that the croissant is much too overshadowed by the baguette and the crepe, and should be given a little more credit. Flaky, buttery, delicious.
2. Natural yogurt. Ever tried it? The first bite tastes like sour cream, but with a little sugar, it’s actually almost enjoyable. Almost.
3. Confession: I went to McDonalds to use their free wireless internet and I missed American food so much that I caved when I saw those golden arches and bought food. And I gotta say, a cheap, salty burger never tasted so good!
4. Amorino’s Italian gelato is the best frozen treat I’ve ever had. Best flavor—Nutella! The girl at the counter was adorable. She made our gelato into cool shapes in the cone and put extra cones in the cups. We had so much fun with her that she happily agreed to pose in a picture with us. A couple of us went back a few days later and she totally recognized us. We’ve decided to go there weekly, not just for the gelato, but for the service!
5. Other foods: Lemon potatoes, pain au chocolat, zucchini casserole, hot dogs in cous cous (don’t ask me where they got that idea), runny omelet with ratatouille, baked apples, and something called blanche fromage (a sweet, dessert cheese).
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT FRENCH CULTURE
1. I’ve discovered that the French are very minimalistically-minded. For example, if one only NEEDS so much breathing room on the metro, only take so much. If one only NEEDS a tablespoon of jam for a piece of toast, only take so much. Need I go on? If you only need three minutes in a shower to not smell, take a three minute shower. If you only need one blanket not to freeze, only use one blanket. If you only need half a glass of water not to dehydrate, guess what you should do? That’s right, only drink a half-glass of water. For the French, minimal = practical, and the French are quite practical people. Except when it comes to elevators fitting only two people maximum. Yeah, that's me in an elevator.
2. At dinner one night this week, my roommate asked Mme de Boudemange how she perceived Americans. Her response was that she saw Americans as children, in the best sense of the word. They are innocent, eager, and want to learn and take in everything. They are more open and say whatever comes to their minds. This is different from the French, she admitted, because the French are much more reserved and private. They all have their gardens fenced off, so to speak. I found this to be very true.
OTHER STORIES OR UPDATES
1. While walking home alongside the fence to a schoolyard yesterday, my roommate sees a little face peering out between the bushes. We keep walking and five seconds later, we hear in an adorable French voice, “Bonjour!” We answer, “Bonjour. Ca va?” And the little French voice replies, “Ca va!”
2. At the Montmartre cemetery, we visited the grave of the famous French filmmaker Francois Truffaut whom I adore and when we got there, we saw that about a hundred people had placed their metro tickets on his headstone held down by little weights or pebbles. As I explained to my roommate why people would do that, a man in his twenties came up and listened. We walked away, but he followed us and asked us if we were German. “Not many Americans know this director.” When we confirmed that we were American, but that I did indeed know Truffaut’s movies, he seemed to not believe me. “What’s your favorite film of his?” “The 400 Blows,” I replied. That gave us a green light. He then proceeded to give us a tour of the cemetery since he is a regular in the area!
3. I went jogging for the first time since I’ve been here! My route is a dirt path that runs along the Seine River. Definitely the most beautiful run I’ve ever been on, especially since it was sunset.
4. We washed our clothes for the first time early in the week, but we didn’t know that Mme de Boudemange’s dryer doesn’t work very well, so we ended up hanging our clothes all over everything in our rooms; socks on doorknobs, shirts hanging from chairs, etc. By morning, my jeans still weren’t dry and I had to borrow shorts from my roommate to wear to school!
5. This weekend, we’ve been asked once if we were Canadian and twice if we were German. Okay, so it’s not French, but at least it’s not American! It’s the epitome of fish-out-of-water to look American when in France!
6. We went to the really red light district in Montmartre (in the afternoon, mind you) to see the Moulin Rouge. We took our picture in front of the windmill and after walking past sex shop after sex shop, decided to go back to the metro and get out of the area. This idea proved to be a good one, seeing as a sick older man leaned over my shoulder and made a half growl- half snort in my ear as we were walking back. Ew!
7. I saw a full string orchestra in the metro station playing classical music. You can see some really, uh, interesting musical performances while riding the metro, but this one was actually good. The worst act I’ve had to tolerate was some guy who brought a little portable karaoke machine onto the train and made us suffer through “Killing Me Softly” and three other unbearable tunes.
So, that’s about everything for the week. I hope it wasn’t too dull, but if it was, just skip around next time! I love you all and still miss you like crazy!
1. I’ve discovered that the French are very minimalistically-minded. For example, if one only NEEDS so much breathing room on the metro, only take so much. If one only NEEDS a tablespoon of jam for a piece of toast, only take so much. Need I go on? If you only need three minutes in a shower to not smell, take a three minute shower. If you only need one blanket not to freeze, only use one blanket. If you only need half a glass of water not to dehydrate, guess what you should do? That’s right, only drink a half-glass of water. For the French, minimal = practical, and the French are quite practical people. Except when it comes to elevators fitting only two people maximum. Yeah, that's me in an elevator.
2. At dinner one night this week, my roommate asked Mme de Boudemange how she perceived Americans. Her response was that she saw Americans as children, in the best sense of the word. They are innocent, eager, and want to learn and take in everything. They are more open and say whatever comes to their minds. This is different from the French, she admitted, because the French are much more reserved and private. They all have their gardens fenced off, so to speak. I found this to be very true.
OTHER STORIES OR UPDATES1. While walking home alongside the fence to a schoolyard yesterday, my roommate sees a little face peering out between the bushes. We keep walking and five seconds later, we hear in an adorable French voice, “Bonjour!” We answer, “Bonjour. Ca va?” And the little French voice replies, “Ca va!”
2. At the Montmartre cemetery, we visited the grave of the famous French filmmaker Francois Truffaut whom I adore and when we got there, we saw that about a hundred people had placed their metro tickets on his headstone held down by little weights or pebbles. As I explained to my roommate why people would do that, a man in his twenties came up and listened. We walked away, but he followed us and asked us if we were German. “Not many Americans know this director.” When we confirmed that we were American, but that I did indeed know Truffaut’s movies, he seemed to not believe me. “What’s your favorite film of his?” “The 400 Blows,” I replied. That gave us a green light. He then proceeded to give us a tour of the cemetery since he is a regular in the area!
3. I went jogging for the first time since I’ve been here! My route is a dirt path that runs along the Seine River. Definitely the most beautiful run I’ve ever been on, especially since it was sunset.
4. We washed our clothes for the first time early in the week, but we didn’t know that Mme de Boudemange’s dryer doesn’t work very well, so we ended up hanging our clothes all over everything in our rooms; socks on doorknobs, shirts hanging from chairs, etc. By morning, my jeans still weren’t dry and I had to borrow shorts from my roommate to wear to school!
5. This weekend, we’ve been asked once if we were Canadian and twice if we were German. Okay, so it’s not French, but at least it’s not American! It’s the epitome of fish-out-of-water to look American when in France!
6. We went to the really red light district in Montmartre (in the afternoon, mind you) to see the Moulin Rouge. We took our picture in front of the windmill and after walking past sex shop after sex shop, decided to go back to the metro and get out of the area. This idea proved to be a good one, seeing as a sick older man leaned over my shoulder and made a half growl- half snort in my ear as we were walking back. Ew!
7. I saw a full string orchestra in the metro station playing classical music. You can see some really, uh, interesting musical performances while riding the metro, but this one was actually good. The worst act I’ve had to tolerate was some guy who brought a little portable karaoke machine onto the train and made us suffer through “Killing Me Softly” and three other unbearable tunes.
So, that’s about everything for the week. I hope it wasn’t too dull, but if it was, just skip around next time! I love you all and still miss you like crazy!
1 comment:
Killing Me Softly?!--Please say it isn't so!! That is hilarious!! And also wow, way to impress the French with your knowledge of their films. That's awesome!! I LOVE reading your blog!! PLEASE keep these wildly entertaining posts coming!! :)
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