St. Germaine de Pres

Oh my goodness!! I just had lunch at Brasserie Lipp and I think I did so in proper Hemingway fashion -- alone, ordering as cheaply as possible, working on a few reading and writing projects ... mission accomplished. And, like Hemingway, I ordered a beer (how can they think it's okay to charge fifteen euro for a glass of wine?!?!). The funny thing is, I was reading Hemingway while there; that's either metaphysical or redundant, to be sure. Admittedly, I was not working on a novel, but rather writing postcards. What can I say, at the end of the day, I am indeed a tourist. The couple at the table next to me had the cutest little white dog under the table and the superbly dressed older gentleman was feeding him scraps of ham and melon. Adorable! He warned me when I sat down that they had a dog under the table which was super charming but I had no idea what he said until I asked him to translate. Whoopsies. I thought the place would be more casual as Hemingway was pretty poor while he was writing but it's quite fancy. Everyone there was very dressed up and even if they wore somewhat casual clothing they where clearly extremely well-off nonetheless. It says right at the top of the menu that they do not allow their clientele to order a salad as a meal ... I circumvented that by ordering a soup. :P Win! Potage du legumes. Also known as the best squash soup I have ever encountered!! Pretty much everything else on the menu was meat anyway, not to mention extraordinarily expensive. I caught a glimpse of the bill for the couple across the way -- 120 euro!! For lunch!! Ooof.

More Pictures!

Sacre Coeur with Ari and Michelle

Monet's Water Lilies at L'Orangerie

Paris Flea Market ... beads!!

next to the Louvre in Jardin du Tuilleries

Vaux le Vicomte by night

Vaux le Vicomte

Chartres Cathedral

One Week, One Million Adventures

Today marks the completion of my first week in Paris!! It's hard to believe that in such a short time I have visited Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Chartres, Vaux le Vicomte, the Eiffel Tower, the Musee Carnavalet, rue Moufftard, various cafes, and so many hidden treasures of Paris. I'm trying to make every second count! Tomorrow we are going to a massive flea market, L'Orangerie to see Monet's water lilies, and the Luxembourg Gardens to enjoy the flowers and the (predicted) sunshine. Yay!!

Pictures!!

The Eiffel Tower lights

Teo and I after our class had a picnic at the Eiffel Tower

Dinner at my favorite cafe my first night in Paris

Roomie Feast

Flowers at the market outside my hotel

Notre Dame

Outside Notre Dame, over the Seine

Minuit A Paris

It's almost two in the morning and I have class tomorrow. Does this mean I'm not over my jet lag? No, I think I'm actually already pretty well-adjusted. But sometimes, one can be too excited, or maybe just too content, to waste that feeling in sleep. I feel quite energetic and happy after seeing Midnight in Paris for the second time. The movie, for me, took on a whole new meaning with another viewing: the first time I saw it, less than a week ago, it was an introduction for me, showing me the sights I would soon be experiencing firsthand. This time, however, I saw a shot of Cafe Trocadero where I grabbed coffee with my roommate the other day, overlooking the sidewalk and, in the background, the Eiffel Tower. I saw the bridge with the massive black and gold sculptures that I saw in person for the first time last night from a riverboat on the Seine but subsequently passed in a walk back to my hotel at three thirty in the morning after partying in the streets for Fete de Music with a group of friends. In fact, in the opening scene, we saw the theatre where we had originally planned to see the movie!!! Street names suddenly made a difference, parks and walks, buildings, cathedrals, and museums were either obviously or vaguely familiar. By no means am I claiming detailed knowledge of Paris after four days, but the movie had a heightened meaning to me the second time around.

The trip has been a ton of fun! The group is excited to be here and interested in exploring and becoming friends. Our hotel rooms are more like apartments as they are pretty spacious and come with a stocked kitchenette -- plates, wine glasses, silverware, dishwasher, water heater, refrigerator ... score!! My roommate and I had quite the fancy little feast in our hotel room yesterday for lunch with supplies simply from Monoprix, the supermarket next door. We had fresh baguette, olives, three or four kinds of cheese, fresh raspberries, figs, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, wine -- in our room!! It wasn't even terribly expensive either.

Our classes have been somewhat informal but extremely interesting and informative. In our two days of class, both have been in a little outdoor gazebo in a local park so we essentially explore the city on the way to class as a group and then sit and learn French history in the midst of laughing pre-teens, chatting mothers, and rampaging four-year-olds. A mother and her little baby even sat in for a while on our lecture on power structures in France in the Middle Ages on Tuesday. Teo, our professor is hilarious, knowledgeable, and cares a lot about all of the students such that he is like our teacher, mentor, buddy, and favorite uncle all at once.

I've been working to pick up little bits of French and have been sitting in cafes reading Hemingway's A Moveable Feast such that I'm learning about Paris while listening to the speech patterns and conversations of its residents. The coffee's pretty good too! And, as some friends and I learned the hard way in a crepe restaurant this evening, water costs about twice as much as wine or coffee if you are stuck with paying for a bottle of it in a restaurant. Clearly, culture takes precedence over proper hydration here.

Alright, I'm finally calling it a night. Bon soir!!

Clouds, Crepes, and Cafes

It's still drizzly and grey here, but at least it's been warmer today. Woke up today in Paris -- funny, I've never said that before! Even though many people told me before my trip that the French hate Americans and are incredibly rude to you if you don't speak French, no one has been anything short of cordial and kind to me. And for those who I cannot communicate with in their language, I just make do with gestures, very basic words, or default back to Spanish or Italian. It's so nice to be settled a bit more; I actually put my clothes away on the shelves and in the closet instead of living out of my suitcase! Our hotel is quite nice and you can see the Eiffel Tower from the window!

Though I had somewhat planned out my day based on the many excited recommendations the man at the front desk of my hotel gave me, I ran into Teo at the hotel and decided to stick around. My roommate showed up while I was unpacking so the two of us ran around for a while. We got crepes at the stand across the street and walked over to the Eiffel Tower to eat them. Then we explored the area a bit and got coffee at a little place called Cafe du Trocadero (which made me think of the little song Audrey Tatou's character sings in the beginning of Coco Before Chanel). 

It's been a nice and relaxing day. Can't wait to meet everyone and get things started tonight!

Then, Suddenly, I Was In Paris!

The first time I crossed a street in Paris, it was against the light. To be fair, all the other pedestrians on the sidewalk did the same and who am I to critique their street-crossing etiquette? It’s actually pretty nice outside, despite the many clouds in ominously varying shades of grey and white. As it turns out, I was able to get to my hotel via two metro stops and a nice little walk (with multiple references to my fellow sidewalk folk … many hand gestures were necessary due to my lack of French skills). There were some incredible Eiffel Tower views on the walk over here!! I’m really excited to acquaint myself with this city!! There’s also a nice little market not too far away that I want to go back and explore. And, of course, I have to go have some café au lait in one of the countless little cafes along the street. Can’t wait!

Tomorrow It All Begins

The preparation has been a little bit insane, but I leave for Paris tomorrow morning!! Went to the Italian Consulate in the City yesterday and finally got my visa for Rome in the Fall taken care of -- just in time for me to leave for Paris! I saw Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris" last night and, not only was it a funny and cute film, but I have to say it really got me excited for my trip. Today is just going to be packing, organizing, packing, making a Father's Day card, and more packing. Aaaaaannnd we're off!!