Reunited

Grete (one of my roommates from school) was in town this weekend from London! Jackie and I had SUCH a great time being a tourist with her. She’s been to Paris before so we decided to take the opportunity to explore our neighborhoods and go to a few places none of us had been to. We also caught up and laughed the entire weekend.

Saturday, it was rainy/snowy and cold. So after a few hours of putting up with the weather at a huge flea market I found (where we bought boots for 15 euro!), we went to the Musée d’Orsay. The Musée d’Orsay is in an old train station and houses a lot of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism art. I have studied several of the paintings I saw (work by Monet, Manet, Renoir, etc.) so it was really really enjoyable. The building is also incredibly gorgeous.

Sunday, Jackie and Grete met me at my metro stop and we explored the area around it. I live by the Palais de Congres which is a large building I assume they use for government conferences and meetings. The upstairs has a lot of conference rooms and theaters and the bottom two or three floors have a bunch of stores and a few restaurants. From my metro stop we walked to the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs-Elysees, across the river and all the way to Jackie’s neighborhood by Notre Dame. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Paris… that’s a long walk! Along the way we saw Sarkosy’s palace, the National Assembly and visited the best tea shop (supposedly) in Paris. Of course I bought some incredibly good smelling tea! Jackie lives close to the Pantheon. The Pantheon used to be a church and temple for Saint Genvieve but was turned into a burial grounds for all of the famous people in France. The crypt has people like Marie Curie, Victor Hugo and Rousseau. It was actually really creepy to walk around… some of the rooms with the boxes that had the bodies weren’t entirely full. It’s like they are just waiting for famous French people to die so they can put them down there. But anyway, it was a beautiful building with a large pendulum in the middle and lots of art.

After the Pantheon we walked in the Jardin du Luxembourg (which Grete claimed as her own since her last name is Luxbacher) and got amazing banana-nutella crepes! The large fountains in the garden are dry since it is so cold so Jackie and Grete decided to jump in one and pretend they were swimming (there were other people doing this as well). A French policeman started running towards the fountain, blowing his whistle and shooing everyone out of the fountains. I have never seen Jackie and Grete move so fast! The park will be beautiful in the spring but yesterday it was a little too cold…

Today, everyone found out the results of their placement tests for our grammar class. Most of us are placed in Elementaire, the 2^nd of 5 levels. Some people are bummed but I was told that here the levels are different than the levels in America and I should expect to be one lower than I thought I would be placed. Within each level there are several different classes but I am lucky to have one of my friends, Tara, in my class. That class is held every day from 8am-10am very close to where Jackie lives by the Jardin du Luxembourg. Lucky for me, that means I am going to have to wake up every day around 6am… yay. Our Paris Civilization and Culture class also starts tomorrow and is held at the Accent Center. Two more classes will start in the next few weeks.

I just wanted to point out a few things about Paris in general:

1) It’s EXPENSIVE. I was told it would be expensive however, it is even more expensive than I had prepared myself for. We have been able to find sandwiches for lunch around 4 euro but dinner it is almost impossible to find a decent meal for less than 10 or 12 euro. Drinks are also expensive. Grete was telling us about the cheap pints they get in London. Here beer starts at 5 euro… We are hoping that it is just the first week and we will find the cheap places soon.

2) The employees at the Accent center and my host family have really scared me about safety here. Paris is apparently a really safe city, however, I’ve been told to guard my bag very very carefully and try not to be out too late by myself. There is a large culture difference here with the way women are supposed to respond to men. If you are walking along the street we are told not to even look at the men because it encourages attention. I am used to smiling at people I pass on the street so this is difficult for me. As I’ve gone out more by myself and become accustomed to the metro I am feeling less and less nervous about going out by myself but it was something I was really worried about for the first week. I never felt that nervous about going out in Washington D.C. I think this experience is going to force me to become a really independent person and I’m excited about that!

Grete and Jackie in the fountain at the Jardin du Luxembourg just before being shooed out by the French police.

The outside of the Pantheon... the sky was incredible for pictures.

The pendulum in the center of the Pantheon.

Me on a bridge we crossed on our long walk.

Me, Grete and Jackie in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Musee d'Orsay!

I loved this pointlist painting...

Grete and Jackie dancing in the ballroom in the museum.

Anyone recognize this?? It's Renoir!