I’ve got to work on posting more often. Cuz man, these are long. Sorry. Here goes:

Man, this has been a busy week. Last week, one of my brother Eddie’s friends from his summer job called me to tell me that she was in Paris, and wanted to see if we could hang out. Thursday ended up working out. It was also Amanda’s birthday. So after I picked Evelyn up from the Metro station near her hotel, we went up to Sylvana and Amanda’s.

We pre-partied there for a bit. Amanda’s boyfriend Alex had a bunch of his friends come over. We drank a little, and Sylvana had made Pico de Gallo, which made my heart happy. We fianlly made our way out, we walked down the hill to a club. After dancing for a little bit, someone decided we should go to another club, and we tried to go to the dance club at the Moulin Rouge, but they wanted 25 euro per person to get in. We all agreed that since the other club was free to get in, we were going to go back there.

Finally around 4, we decided to leave. Some of Alex’s friends offered to drive us home so we didn’t have to get a cab. That meant a hike all the way up the hill, and halfway down again. And Evelyn wore heels, so they clicked the whole time, it was pretty funny.

Friday was my first bad legs day. Maybe from the hike up and down and up and down Montmartre, or just everything catching up with me, but I could barely walk to the bathroom without my legs killing me. I spent most of the day watching movies, laying in bed. I did have to make a trip to McDonald’s to get the last minute details settled with my trip back to the US. The stairs sucked just a little, and I was happy to make it back home and put my legs up.

On my way home, there was a smoothie shop that I had been avoiding. I finally gave in, and got one. If you come to France, do not be fooled. Do not buy smoothies here. It made me cry. Almost as much as the so-called Mexican food spices.

Then there was the quick trip home. Oh man. Nothing about getting this whole paperwork ordeal settled has been easy.

Let’s start with leaving Paris.

I took the train out to Charles de Gaulle airport. My itinerary from Orbitz gave no indication of which terminal I was leaving from. So at the train station, there was an information booth. I asked the lady there, and she had no clue which terminal Lufthanza flew out of, so she said she thought it was Terminal 2. I took the bus to Terminal 2, no sign of it at all. I finally asked someone at a ticket counter, and he told me to go to Terminal 1. So I get onto a different bus, and head off to Terminal 1. Then everything came to a standstill, nobody was moving. Turns out, some idiot left a bag on the bus, and you know what that means, bomb scare. So we had to sit and wait until the police came, took the bag, and blew it up. After half an hour, we finally got going. You may ask, why didn’t I just walk to Terminal 1? Mostly because it was about a mile away. And there is no pedestrian access way.

So yay, I finally make it to terminal 1, about 1 and a half hours before my flight. I wait in line forever, and about 45 minutes before my flight was set to leave, they pull me to the front of the line. And then, the lady told me that there was a problem with my ticket, and that I had to go to a different desk for them to sort it out. So I went to the ticket desk, and she asked me why the lady sent me there. She’s French? I dunno. It took almost 20 minutes for them to sort it out.

I guess I should just be happy it got straightened out. I don’t know what happened, they never spoke loud enough for me to hear. Now I was on my way to the security screening.

By the time I got to the security screening, my flight was boarding. Of course the guard at the screening wouldn’t let me pass by everyone, he said I had to wait. So I did, and thank god I made it, but they closed the door not even 5 minutes after I got on.

That was the worst of it. There were some small problems transferring in Germany. But then it was a looooooooooooooooooooooooong flight from Frankfurt to LAX. And I really didn’t get too much sleep on the flight. I did watch cheeseball movies though.

On the flight home, I started getting really excited about actually going home. About being in California, and seeing my family.

My parents picked me up with my brother, and we went to the Dodger Game. And I got a calendar, yay! Not sleeping had started to catch up with me, and then there was a huge fire in Venture which had started to set off my allergies. But I was still happy to be at the game, and happy to be hanging out with my family.

After the game, I went home, slept in my own bed. Which was nice. My body was a bit confused, I kept waking up starving. But I got up in the morning, had breakfast with my grandma, and told her some of my stories.

I then met up with Crystal and Mikey, and had lunch with them and my brother at Chili’s. It was awesome, but my stomach has shrunk so much, I barely was able to eat much. But it was soooo good. And it was so nice to be able to spend time with Crystal and Mikey, and of course my brother.

I conned a field trip to Victoria Gardens, and we went and saw Brandon. And then we went and did a little shopping, and I stopped by Macy’s and saw Jeff. He looked good, that was really nice for me to see.

And after all the running around, I went back home, and we were having a family barbeque. My mom made her potatoes, but sadly I had to pass for fear of my stomach’s reaction, and had steak and cantaloupe and garlic bread. That was heavenly though.

I went shopping with my mom, and got Mexican spices, yay! And a couple of other things (my crack, aka Orbitz bubblemint gum).

And then it was to bed. I didn’t want to completely exhaust myself on this trip, the worse thing I could do is wear myself out and make myself sick.

Monday was the day that I came home for. We went out to the embassy and I got my stupid visa. It took like 15 minutes. I guess when I have to fly 28 hours for something, I want dancers and clowns. Or at least jugglers. After getting the visa, we took Eddie home (he lives less than a mile from the consulate), and I got to see his apartment. His bedroom is bigger than my whole apartment. It’s ok, I’m in Paris, so I win.

The flight home was pretty uneventful, but my allergies were getting worse. I think that that going from Paris to California to Paris and spending all the time on the plane was just too brutal for my poor sinuses.

I got back home here in Paris, and took a little nap, and then went to babysit Christopher. And then back home. And bed. Wednesday was pretty much wake up, babysit, and then come back home. Sylvana came over for a while, we watched DVDs and hung out. I felt too icky to drink (what is that?). Then sleep.

Thursday I had to go out to Nanterre to take a placement test. Intermediate. Of course. I get no chance to actually speak French here. Everyone wants to talk English to me. But apparently everybody is placing in the intermediate. So I guess I don’t feel so bad.

I am still exhausted, Friday I can be a bum. I just have a few things to take care of in the afternoon. My sinuses are still screaming at me.

The past couple of days have been “administrative days”. Getting the paperwork taken care of for enrolling in the University has been fun. I’ve completed step one. Or maybe two (three?). I don’t know. There have been so many forms I’ve filled out that it’s hard to keep track. The French love paperwork.

I had to go get I.D. photos taken, for the Student ID card, and those I can get for fairly cheap at a Photo Booth in the Metro. Cheap, but horrible. Oh well. At least the picture I have for my ISIC card is hot.

I also got my bank account set up. The lady at the bank was super nice, and really helpful. She came in speaking English to me, and said, “I can either speak in English or French, which would you prefer?” I told her that I wanted to do it in French, I wanted the chance to practice, and to learn the words appropriate to their banking system.

I’m also making sure that I have all of my paperwork in order for my trip home, I really don’t want anything to delay me or keep me from getting everything taken care of. This paperwork thing has been such a nightmare. I will be happy to finally get it over with.

On the upside, I get to spend a little bit of time with my family, and briefly see some friends. And the Dodgers. Yay! Thank goodness that I am able to sleep on airplanes, otherwise, I don’t know how I would survive the coming weekend. I think it works out to something like 28 hours of flying in 4 days. (It would be shorter, except I am going through Germany).

I am a little bummed today though. Nancy at MICEFA has been hounding me for three days to drop the Architecture class and take a History of Literary Paris class. She said there were so many people signed up for the Architecture class, that I am better of waiting for Spring. I was really looking forward to the Architecture class, that was really something that I am super interested in, I am not too into Literature, but it involves field trips too, so I am going to give it a go. Plus, if someone is insisting on something as much as Nancy was, there must be a reason.

My babysitting job is continuing to go well. Today Christopher’s mom came home from her business trip, and we were talking. She was being super nice, telling me that she wanted me to think of them as my second home in France, and that if I ever had any questions or problems that I am more than welcome to turn to them. That was really nice to hear, and it made me feel good.

I finally found a Laundromat around my apartment; it is the next block over. I did my washing there, but since drying is 1 euro for every 10 minutes (drying was free at the Cite), I decided I can be patient and have things hang dry in my apartment (it was quite a maze getting around wet clothes hanging everywhere). There was a guy who came in the Laundromat, and asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from America, he acted like he fell in love. He told me that he wanted me to come to his house and have dinner with him. I told him I was sorry, I had a boyfriend. (Amanda’s advice: “You always have a boyfriend”). He asked me if I was sure, that it would make him so happy to dine with me, but I told him I was sorry, I didn’t think my boyfriend would like it. It was quite funny. My wash finished, I threw everything into my bag, and almost ran home.

And every weekday is trash day here. I have been sleeping with my windows open, because it has been quite pleasant at night. At 5:00 in the morning, the concierge takes the trash out, and rolls the trashcans over the uneven stones. And then at 6, she washes them out with the hose.

I don’t know if I have explained this, but my apartment is on the 6th story (5th floor in French terms), and facing the courtyard. The noise rises in the courtyard, and I think it gets louder as it comes up. I hear everything, and it sounds as if it happening right outside my window, not 5 stories below.

The little things that happen are quite funny. Everyday is a new adventure; some big, some small.

Sylvana and I were comparing the way of life here in Paris with how things are in California. Things are different, that is for sure.

And Sylvana is a fan of Mitch Hedberg. Awesome, my little quotations will not go completely unnoticed here. Everyday is an occasion to quote Mitch, even here in Paris. For example, the escalators weren’t working in the Metro today. I giggled, even though I got strange looks. I could go on, but I won’t.

On Thursday, I went shopping, close to my apartment. Yay! There is a supermarket two blocks from here, and the best part, they sell Old El Paso Mexican food spice packets. Fajita mix! And cheddar cheese. There are just some things I need for comfort’s sake. However, every thing is too good to be true, and they don’t sell tortillas. The lady I asked didn’t even know what they were. Tomorrow, my quest is to find tortillas. Someone told me that the Monoprix by Paris III has a Mexican section. I cannot wait to go check that out.

I was supposed to go to the Erasmus party, and since I wasn’t supposed to babysit, we were going meet up beforehand, and doing a little partying before. So after shopping, I went back to my apartment, and took a nap.

After my nap, just as I was going to jump into the shower, Christopher called me to tell me he was going to be late. I told him that I wasn’t supposed to babysit him today, his mom was going to be home (at least that was what she told me last week). He told me that she got her times mixed up, and she was coming in at 11 at night, and not in the morning. So I told him I would be there as soon as I could get there (the trip takes about 40 minutes).

So much for the Erasmus party. By the time I would get back, get a shower and get up to Amanda’s, it would be too late. Next week I guess.

I think I mentioned earlier the amazing view from the babysitee(?)'s house:


The babysitting works out pretty nice. Christopher is a good kid. He has a tendency to try to not do his homework, but then again, so do I.

His mom explained to me that when he was little, he had some ear infections that went undetected, and as a result, he was mostly deaf when he was little. But he had learned to read lips, so nobody noticed. He had to get eardrum transplants, and now he can hear fine. But he has to go to the Doctor’s each week for treatments; I am not sure exactly what they do. On Wednesdays I babysit him from 1-8, and his appointments are Wednesdays at 3, so I go with him.

I thought we would take a bus, his mom had told me that it was a little bit away. But Christopher decided he wanted to take his scooter, and he happened to have an extra one. It was about a 15 minute ride each way. It was fun, except for the whole uneven sidewalks things. Thank god I didn’t fall, that would have been embarrassing.

I didn’t really have any homework, so going home, I decided to take the bus. There is one that runs pretty much from where I babysit to somewhat close to my apartment. It was a cool ride. Sure it took more time that normal, but it was far more interesting. It went through some of the suburbs, through Paris, a little along the Champs Elysees, and ended at Invalides.

I took the Metro the rest of the way back to my apartment, and just decided to catch some sleep. I was just about to fall asleep when it started pouring rain, and a thunder and lightning storm started, right over my building it seemed. Half of me was expecting a lightning bolt to come in through my window. Other than that, it was pretty cool, I actually like storms like that, as long as I am inside and dry.

Friday was my last day of grammar class. Hooray! Not that it was horrible, but it was. But I am done. Mme. Anrig took no exception to being mean and long winded. Oh well.

I talked with my babysitting job, and she wasn’t going to need me to babysit Friday, so I went to the bank, I need to get an account set up. Since there was so much uncertainty with my paperwork earlier, it wasn’t exactly a priority. MICEFA has an agreement set up with one of the banks in the area, and they are super helpful with getting students set up with accounts. (Once I have a bank account, I can finally get the internet set up at my apartment.)

I also found a store that sold tortillas, and so I decided to go back to my apartment and make fajitas. Cooking is somewhat of a challenge, I have a microwave and a cook-top with two hotplates, and not enough counter-space to use them at the same time. But I got the chicken cooked, and got it going with the spices. And someone had left a sponge ruiner here (I guess I should call it by its positive name, cheese grater), so I didn’t have to buy one of those.

Finally, my fajitas were ready.

No wonder the French hate Mexican food. The “fajitas” tasted more like chicken with cheap barbeque sauce. But I still ate them. Indeed, I will be buying my own spices on my trip home.

Speaking of my trip home, my parents are taking me to a baseball game after they pick me up from the airport. Yay!

I ended up going to Sylvana and Amanda’s apartment; we drank wine, and watched cornball American movies. Nobody has a DVD player that will play movies from different regions, and we are all scared of messing up the ones on our computers.

Walking to their apartment, I got some ok pictures. I didn't have the right camera with me...


On Saturday, the day was mine. No obligations, meetings or classes. It felt kind of strange, that has only happened a couple of times since arriving.

So I decided that I would wander the Marais, which is the area across the river from me, and a little to the west. I decided not to take the Metro at all, I just wanted to walk around, and enjoy the journey. My goal was to eventually hit the Church of St. Chapelle, Victor Hugo’s house, and the Picasso museum.

I should pause here and say that this weekend was the Jours de Patrimonie. I don’t quite understand the whole thing (this would be an awesome time to have internet access), but from what I understand, different museums and landmarks do special events, and government buildings that are not normally open to the public allow visitors. I think the point is to encourage the natives to get out and be tourists. But I could be wrong. Nobody ever goes into much detail about it.

I made my way to St. Chapelle, which is near Notre Dame, and it is closed due to the special weekend. Blah. So onto my next destination, Victor Hugo’s house.

I start walking towards there, and encounter a protest. People were protesting the low wages in Paris, but the high cost of rent. There was a heavy police presence, but it seemed to be peaceful.


I continued walking, and came across an area where they were working on restoring a tower. It was really something, they had an exhibition set up, showing how they were doing each part, and how they were working to replace some of the carvings. I even got to watch somebody carve a stone for a little bit.



I then walked on, and I was getting closer to where the Victor Hugo house was, I heard loud music. I decided to check out what that was about. It ended up being the beginning of the Techno Parade.

Wow. It was literally a parade celebrating Techno Music. It was so very interesting to watch. There were trucks going by with different DJs, playing their music, and people walking along, dancing. I fast-forwarded the parade, and ended up at the Place de la Bastille, which is where the infamous prison used to stand. There is a monument erected there, but commemorating the victims of the July Revolution of 1830. (I’m sorry, I’m really trying not to turn this into a history lesson, but come on, it’s Paris…) People were all over the monument dancing. It was insane. Someone was passing out booklets, and it said that the Techno Parade is recognized by the police of Paris as a political event. It was very cool to watch, and I participated a little bit in it.



I then finally got to the Victor Hugo house. It is located in the Place des Vosges, which is where I had gone the weekend before with MICEFA. This is where he wrote, among other works, Les Miserables. It was beautifully decorated, and again, the awe of the history overwhelmed me.



After that, it was off to the Picasso museum. The Picasso museum is in the biggest house in the Marais, known as the Salt House, because it belonged to a guy who got rich off of the salt trade.

The Picasso Museum was really cool. It outlined his work in historical progression. Some of his work, which resembled “typical” artwork wasn’t anything fascinating, although was waaaaaaaaaay better thank anything I could produce.

However, the artwork that is of his signature style was amazing. He did more than painting though, he did sculptures and models and other forms of artwork. It’s little wonder his work is so popular, it really is art, and creative.



After the Picasso museum, I really felt like I had a day. My legs felt it too. But I decided to stick to my decision and just walk. It was really nice. I went straight for the river, and then walked along the banks of the river until I got to my bridge.

I am starting to really take ownership of parts of Paris. It’s my street, my arrondisment, my bridge. Soon it will be my city.

I got back home, and just wanted to rest. I stopped off at the boulangerie, got some bread, and went up to my apartment and made some dinner. Chicken and potatoes and corn and bread. Mmmmmmm.

The rest of the night I just took it easy, put my legs up so they could recover, and contemplated what I would do the next day. Thank god I bought the Frommer’s book before I left, it has been a great starting point and idea giver.

On Sunday, I kind of just decided that I wanted to take it easy. With the whole Jours de Patrimonie thing, I ran the risk of not being able to do what I wanted, and Monday will be another free day for me, so I decided to just wait until then. And Sylvana called me and told me that their plumbing went coo-coo, and asked if she could come over here and use my shower. So at least I don’t feel so bad about deciding to be a bum.

Besides, I needed to really spend time working on making my apartment more like a home. Every time I’ve thought about doing it before, I decided sleep was more interesting.

I know you’ve been waiting… here are pictures of my apartment.



And at night, I get to see this


So I am having fun... getting to know things better, exploring and settling in.

I really wish I had more time right now to put descriptions and stories with my photos. But with the way Flickr works, I have to be connected to the website to do so.

I am spending time at McDonald’s to get my pictures up. I don’t have the internet at my apartment yet. But I promise, within a month, my pictures and stories will kick way more ass. I am working on making the blogs prettier, with more pictures. I’ll get there.

In the mean time, just look at the prettiness of the pictures.

You can see that I absolutely love the floors here. There is so much attention to detail, and creativity in the flooring. Not just tiles to walk on, but they are art in themselves.

One more day of grammar class. Yay! I have three weeks of “free time” before the University starts. Of course I am losing some time in going home. But I can finally get a lot of things taken care of and settled since I won’t be spending a ton of time going to class and doing homework. Get a little settled before I become super busy again.

I am excited because when I come home, my parents are taking me to a baseball game. Yay!

Well, I am sick of McDonalds now. More soon.

Two-fer Tuesday

Warning: Set aside some time to read this.

So, I was having problems connecting with certain servers at the Cite. I wanted to post a blog last week, and then another one today. So you’re getting a two-fer.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006
I’m starting to feel like I’m in an abusive relationship with the French.

I still don’t have my paperwork. And I really have no idea where it is either. And, whether she knew it made her sound bad or not, the lady at MICEFA told me not to worry, they have this problem every year. I’m thinking, if you know there is a problem, why don’t you find a way to fix it? Is the French way of doing things so different from what I know that it appears common sense eludes them?

And here is my ethnocentric self speaking: no wonder the French are so far behind.

So to further my feeling of being hated, I got fined yesterday for buying the wrong ticket on the metro. Stupid American me I suppose.

I had an interview yesterday in La Defense, which is in the 3rd zone of the Metro. The pass that I bought for the month of September was good for only zones one and two. So I went to the information booth here at the Cite station, and she told me I just need to buy a ticket. I didn’t know any better, so I bought a ticket like everyone else gets. Of course it was the wrong ticket, why should the French tell me what I really need to do? They can start doing that later.

So I get to La Defense, and go to leave, I have to swipe the ticket, and it doesn’t work. Within two seconds, a controller is on me, and basically telling me I have to pay a fine. I try to explain to her what happened, and she is super mean to me. She was acting like I was trying to scam the metro. In reality, the difference between the ticket I was supposed to buy and the ticket I did buy is .6 euro.

So she made me pay 25 euro (5 days of eating). I asked if there was a way I could appeal it, and she pointed to a desk. I got there, and explained the situation, and told them I didn’t think it was right, I was confused. They were really nice, and were like “I can’t believe she was like that.” So I have to write a letter to some counsel, and maybe I will get my money back. If so, that probably won’t be until May.

If it sounds like I am fed up with everything, it’s because I am.

At least I got the babysitting position. I will be taking care of a 13 year old boy 10-15 hours a week, depending on his mom’s schedule. I will just be helping him with his homework, and practicing his English. What’s really funny to me is he has learned English from British people, so he speaks with a British Accent. His mom is sending him to an American school for bilingual kids, and wants him to learn how to speak like an American. I’m kind of excited about it.

Other than that, thing around here are boring. I started the “intensive language orientation” this week. We are doing a lot of grammar review, and getting ready for the University. 3 and a half hours of grammar class each day, plus a few hours of homework. It is pretty draining.

But it looks like I will be going to the University of Paris X, Nanterre. And through MICEFA, I am going to be taking a History of Parisian Architecture class. The class will study the style of architectural history of Paris all the way from before the founding of the city until now. And it includes field trips. I am sooooo excited about that class.

I’m trying really hard not to get down about all of the bureaucracy crap. But it’s difficult. I figure one day, it will make for a really good story to put on grad school and job applications.

I hope I make it.

Now, Today’s blog

Things are really looking up. I got my paperwork. Of course, it is stamped on the 27th of July. I don’t think the school administration is going to like me after I talk to them. But they deserve it.

I am going to be flying home in a couple of weeks for a weekend. I am kind of looking forward to it, I will get to visit a few people, and get some things that I don’t have (Mexican food spices).

I’d just like to take this time to say that my Grandma is awesome.

So since my last blog (the one above), things are better. The orientation is still not fun, but I am learning a little, and refreshing my grammar skills.

The babysitting job is pretty cool, Christopher is a good kid. I just have to help him with homework, and speak only English to him. He is a smart kid, but he’s obviously a bit spoiled. It should be good though.

Thursday night Amanda, Sylvana and I went to the Erasmus Party. Erasmus is the exchange program within Europe. There are posters everywhere for it outside the Cite, so we decided to give it a try. Free before midnight. My motto “You can’t argue with free”. We were dreading being to only people to show up. Thankfully we were wrong. Sooooooooo many people were there, from all over. It was a lot of fun.

Friday, MICEFA organized a trip for us to the Hotel de Ville, which is the Parisian city hall. We only got to see a little part of it, where the reception area and the ballroom are. It was so extravagant inside, and so beautiful.

On Saturday, we went to the Musee Carnavalet, which was an old home built in the 16th century, where Madame Sévigné lived, and wrote her famous letters. It was a really cool place, they had all sorts of historical pieces there. One of the coolest things to me that I saw were a pair of Marie-Antoinette’s shoes.

Again, I was just in awe of the Architecture and design.

I can not wait for the Architecture class that I am going to take this semester.

After the Musee Carnavalet, we went to the Park at the Place de Vosges. It was really nice, a lot of people go there and sunbathe. It was like the beach without the sand or the water.

Sylvana and I decided to just go back to the Cite, cook some food, and watch movies. I brought some of my favorite movies from home, and we watched SLC Punk and drank wine. It was great. She really didn’t want to do too much, considering they were moving on Sunday.

Sunday was moving day. I made a trip to my apartment early in the day, only to find once I got to the stairs that I had left my key in a bag that I left at the Cite. Whoops. So I had to go back to the Cite, bags and all. When I made it back, Amanda and Sylvana were loading a taxi with all of their stuff, so I told them I would drop my stuff off and meet them at their apartment.

They got the cutest place, it is right by the Sacre-Couer. They can literally turn their head outside their window and see the basilica. But man, I thought I had fun with stairs… they have the choice of cramming into the funicular (think the little train thing you can take at Magic Mountain to get up to Ninja) with tons of sweaty tourists to get up the hill from the Metro, or climb about 9 flights of stairs. All of us have opted for the stairs. They have a gorgeous view of Paris. The downside is that it is an incredibly touristy area, and when I wanted to get a bottle of water at the top of the stairs, it was 3 euro. I opted to be thirsty.

I finally made it back to my apartment, and got all my stuff back here. No more camping at the Cite. Yay. I have a home now! I can’t tell you how good that feels, and how happy that makes me. No more dealing with a roommate. Not that Rosie was bad, but sometimes people do things that just irk you. It happens.

Monday was a Monday. I had class in the morning, which was oh-so fun. But at least I am learning…

After class I went to the MICEFA office to talk to the people there about my traveling back to the US thing. Since I don’t have the internet set up at my apartment, I also was planning on hooking up to the internet at MICEFA to update my blog and pictures. Ha. Silly me. The internet was down there. After waiting to see the appropriate people and taking care of stuff there, James (another MICEFA student) and I decided to try our luck with the internet at McDonald’s (which is free).

Anyways, we walked to McDonald’s and decided since we were there to get something. SO BAD, I know. I am in Paris, and I am eating American shit. We sat down to eat, and connect, and guess what? The internet wasn’t working there either. So I ordered that shit for nothing. At least it was nice and fattening.

James had to go to an interview for a babysitting gig (wonderful side job!), and I figured I should get going too. I wanted to go grocery shopping so I actually had some food in my place. The only one I knew of around my area was one I looked up on the internet, and on the map it looked close. Hahaha. So after walking around and looking for it, I finally found it. So far away. But I wanted to eat, and didn’t want to spend all afternoon searching. There are way too many little streets around here to try to find one, when time is somewhat limited.

I got some food, good food, I cannot wait to cook. And breakfast foods. Mmmmm. But then there was the walk back. I was waiting for the bottom to drop out of the bags, like on Home Alone. Thankfully that never happened.

I made it back to my apartment, and I saw the guys in the bookstore on the bottom floor. I asked them if they knew of any closer Grocery stores that by St. Sulpice, and they laughed at me and told me that there were two within two blocks of here. I have a feeling that I am going to provide those guys plenty of entertainment over the next year.

At least I know now.

Then it was off to babysitting. Considering it was September 11, I really expected to see more security, but only saw a few guards in La Defense. But there were controllers everywhere. Thank goodness I have my correct pass now. I got checked coming off of the bus. But no fine today. Yay.

So it was back to my apartment, to do homework. Lots of it. Working on verb tenses. Woo hoo.

Class this morning. Still don’t like it. The teacher is really mean, and yells at me for not knowing certain things. I want to tell her, “If I knew, wouldn’t I be in the advanced class?” Argh.

I made it back to McDonald’s today. But I didn’t buy food. The internet is working, which is obvious by your ability to read this.

Some really cool things to note:

The street that I live on was named for the Prince of France, the Dauphin, who later became Louis XIII.

Although I cannot see the Eiffel Tower from my apartment, I can see the light circulates around Paris from the top. The house that I babysit at has an awesome view of Paris, the Seine, and the city around.

The weather has been fabulous. Most days are sunny, with very agreeable temperatures. It has been gray a few days, with a little rain, but I have not yet felt the need to use an umbrella.

The food here is amazing.

All in all, I am feeling a lot better about things. I have my paperwork, I am getting settled into my apartment, and things just seem to be a lot less stressful. I can really start to enjoy things.

So far things haven’t been like some surreal big adventure, it’s been real life. Settling into an apartment (which hasn’t been done properly, because I’m spending most of my time here at the Cite Universitaire), getting paperwork sorted, buying a cell phone (cost an arm and a leg), adjusting to the time difference, buying food (which is awesome), and just feeling things out.

The food thing is a little hard right now, because the refrigerator that we have in the room doesn’t work. No wonder, it’s French. (Harsh I know, but I’m bitter). However, me and Kathy, a girl I met here, cooked Tortellini and Pesto Sauce, and had a baguette with strawberry preserves. It was heavenly. I figured that my journal is going to be filled mentions of food I eat everywhere, but that’s because it is sooooo awesome. I’m still giddy about the fact I have not yet walked two blocks without passing a patisserie.

In the morning on Thursday, I took a placement test, to determine where I am at, put me in the right group for the orientation, and probably help determine what school I would be going to. I felt pretty good after taking the test. I figured I would probably be in the middle group. I know I have a problem with verb tenses.

After the test, I had a free afternoon, so I spent it walking around Montparnasse. It really was a lovely part of town, cafes and stores, and people.

And I bought a cell phone. They are expensive here. I paid 69 euro for the cheapest one. And the rate is like .50 a minute, and texts are .10 a minute. But, incoming calls are free. I’m never calling anyone. I’m looking to get the phone line and internet set up at my apartment, which I figure will run me 20 euro a month. But I can use Skype, which will make calling everyone easy. But that won’t be until I move back into my apartment, which will be next weekend.

Friday was a free day too, so I went to my apartment, and got things straightened up finally Now I just need to figure out where to do my laundry, and I’m set. The concierge should be back next week, so I can ask her then.

I had nothing planned, so after I finished at my apartment, I decided to just wander. I walked to the Pont Neuf (literally, New Bridge, which is funny because it is the oldest bridge in Paris), and walked along the river for a while. My apartment is just a couple of blocks from the river, which is awesome.



I walked over to Notre Dame. As I was walking along the front, I noticed a sign for an Archaeological Crypt, so I decided to check that out. It was really cool, there were ruins from Gallo-Roman houses, old houses, cellars, staircases and other old buildings. It also gave some history of Paris, and the Ile de la Cité, the island in the Seine on which Notre Dame is located.



I then walked through Notre Dame (with like 84937584932502 other people). The history is incredible, and the church is just huge. I took some pictures, marveled at the art and architecture. I didn’t do the towers though, there were 48758943579832 more people in the line for that; the beauty of living here, I can go back whenever I want. So I will, soon.

I decided to then just wander around a little. I ate at a Chinese Food restaurant that was right next to an unimpressive and obviously old cathedral. After I finished eating, I decided to give it a try. Inside was a church that I found to be more impressive than Notre Dame.

The site of St. Severin dates back to the sixth century, and has lots of history. Most importantly, it has served as a church to the students attending the Sorbonne in the Latin Quarter. I found the art and the architecture to be breathtaking. The stained glass windows were more impressive to me than the stained glass windows at Notre Dame. And while I was walking around, the organ music started. It was so beautiful, I just sat and listened for a while. And the whole time I was there, I don’t think I saw more than 20 people.



Even though I don’t consider myself Catholic anymore (sorry Grandma), I want to go to Mass at the Cathedrals. I think it would be a cool experience. But not this Sunday, the Louvre is free, and I plan of taking advantage.

I spent a while just walking around the Latin Quarter. It’s quite a busy area, and all of the restaurants give it an awesome smell.

I took the Metro back, and again, was amused. As I walked into the station, someone was playing Foo Fighters, and had a marionette playing guitar.



I went back to the Cite Universitaire, and caught a nap. I then met up with Sylvana and Amanda and we decided to go to the market, and buy some cheap wine and stay in for the night. It was fun, we were plotting out some adventures.

Saturday morning started at 7. I was going to meet a family about some possible babysitting, and they were all the way across the city. I got over there, their daughter was so adorable, but it just wasn’t going to work out. Ah well. I’ve got some other ones I am going to try, including the one who I was talking with when I ran out of minutes on my new cell phone. The phones are expensive here.

MICEFA organized a lunch for us, which was nice. Quiche, tomatoes, cheese, and bread, and then caramel ice cream. The only thing that sucked about the lunch was I started talking about the whole visa situation, and all the other fun things going on with that, and started working myself up and getting upset. Everybody has their stress points right now, a lot of people are still looking for housing, and at least that is taken care of for me. Somehow I feel my situation sucks more though. Probably because it’s happening to me.

Enough emo-ness.

I found out the results of the placement test. I placed in the intermediate fort group, which is the middle group. That makes me happy, that is where I expected to be. Monday begins the grammar and language review, can’t wait.

After we finished lunch, we were broken into groups and sent on a scavenger hunt. We were in an area that nobody had really explored, and they gave us directions for how to follow the streets. It probably would have been fun except for the first directions we were given sent us the wrong way, and it took us an hour out of our way. We finally finished, in a nice park. I got to see a street that was like a farmers market.

At night, Amanda, Sylvana, Nell (Amanda’s roommate here at the Cite) and I went out to the Latin Quarter. Amanda has a cousin who lives around here, so he met up with us. We went to a couple of bars, and left before too late, because the Metro ran until 12.

When we got almost all the way back to the Cite building, we ran into a bunch of other people from our group. We ended up on a wild goose chase, so Amanda, Sylvana and I just left and went back to the cite.

I ended up sleeping in Sunday morning a lot later than I planned, I got up at 11:30. I figured there was no friggin way I was going to do the Louvre, free or not. So I decided to go to the Musee Marmottan-Monet.

That was incredible. First of all, the house that it was in was amazing. I am such a fan of the French architecture and design from that era. The museum had a collection of mostly impressionist paintings, and many Monets, with a special area containing only Monet paintings.

I should stop and explain, I am one of those people who loves history. Not so much in the school subject, but today, I was standing one foot in front of the painting that gave the name to the Impressionist Movement (Impression, Soleil Levant); that kind of history. So there are a lot of things in Paris which make me giddy.

Of all of the art movements, impressionism is my favorite. It was sooooo awesome to be able to see these paintings that I have only seen before in small form in some art book. I was able to truly enjoy the beauty of impressionist paintings. Being able to look at the painting up close, enjoying the mixture of colors, the emotion in the brush strokes, and then be able to walk away from the painting, and see it from 20 feet away as the beautiful picture that it created. And I marvel at the vision in these artist’s minds, for being able to create such a picture. I think I may repeat this museum a few times.

By the time I was done, the past week of walking and climbing had finally caught up with my legs. I was considering going to Sacre Coeur after the Monet Museum, but I decided to just go back to my apartment. I knew no one would bother me there, and I could get some real relaxation time. I just laid on my bed, put my legs up, listened to some music, read Frommer’s, and slept a little.

I was hoping to go out in the evening, considering it was my birthday. Unfortunately, a lot of people are still pre-occupied with the housing thing, so it didn’t really work out. We are planning on next weekend, when most people should have the housing situation settled. So I just hung out here.

A new week starts tomorrow. Hopefully I will make some progress in the visa department. Wish me merde.