Week 2

It's been a while since I last posted, so I will organize this by days...:

Friday (12 January):

I went on a trip to Versailles organized by Sweet Briar. We were really lucky - it was the first beautiful day we've had. Madame Gree argued with the guards for about 15 minutes, but finally got us free audio guides, which was a very useful refresher on French history. After touring the palace, I walked around in the gardens with my friends Darcy and Sara. We ended the visit by a walk through the town, and lunch in a tabac on a side street.

Friday night I had dinner with my host parents, and then went out to a bar called Footsie by Opera. The bar was really fun - the premise was that the price of drinks change like the stock market, so there were these 2 huge plasma screens that listed all the drinks & their current prices, and would change every 3 or 4 minutes to reflect people's recent orders/preferences. We met up with a girl from Williams who is here for the year, as well as another girl from Williams who was visiting Paris for the week. Afterwards, we went to the Latin Quarter, but missed the last metro (it will always be a mystery to me why the metro closes at 1am on Friday nights). Darcy and I ended up waiting for a taxi at a taxi stand in St-Germaine-de-Pres for almost an hour...but it turned out to be the best part of the night, because there were these two hilarious and extremely drunk Irishmen who were also waiting for a taxi.

Saturday (13 January):

Woke up late, and went running in the Champ de Mars by the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards I went to the Marais to meet my friends Sara and Jen for lunch and a little shopping. We ran into some other Sweet Briar girls and walked around for a while, but Sara and I got really tired of the insane crowds, and ended up opting for an espresso at a cafe on a side street.

Saturday night I met up with Darcy, and her friends Stephanie (visiting from Williams) and Allie (Steph's friend who's here for the year at Sciences Po). We had aperitifs in a bar in the 7th, and then walked to the 6th for a late dinner. Afterwards, we went to a fun Irish pub in the 5th, and met up with Sam (from Williams - here for the year), and her boyfriend and his friends, who all go to school outside of Paris.

Sunday (14 January):

Another late morning. Went running in the Champ de Mars, and then headed over to the Pont de l'Alma for a promenade en bateau mouche with Sweet Briar. It was another beautiful day, and it was really nice to see the city from the Seine. However, it was also extremely touristy, and not too informative.

After the bateau, I went to the Petit Palais (museum) with a few of the girls from Sweet Briar, and saw the Rembrandt eaux-fortes exhibit (gravure or etching). It was a really amazing show--they had 180 of his 300 eaux-fortes, of various sizes, detail, and subjects.

On our walk home, we passed by Chamillionaire on the Pont de l'Alma. He was having his photo taken for his new album cover, and we actually chatted to his girlfriend...it was funny because they had this huge set up w/lights and cameramen on the bridge, and yet the only person paying any attention was his girlfriend--only in Paris.

Monday & Tuesday (15 and 16 January):

Pretty uneventful days. My Sweet Briar methodology classes started, which were pretty boring. We just learned how to make bibliographies for the French universities, and how to complete the different kinds of homework in the schools. It was kind of ridiculous, because the professors kept saying things like "well, American professors may accept essays written in pencil and torn out of your notebook, but French professors will not," and they would not believe us when we told them that American professors would never accept an essay that wasn't typed, or well-presented. I guess the point they were trying to make is that in the French University system, one of the deciding factors of your grade is the presentation of your work.

Tuesday night, Sweet Briar organized dinner on the Eiffel Tower, which was really fun. The restaurant was surprisingly not very good, but it was still nice to be with the whole group, and to meet the students that are here for the year. Afterwards we decided to check out this bar on my street that my host mom keeps telling me about, Le Cristal, and it was so much fun. It has become our new favorite hang-out, because it is filled with students and young professionals, and has much more of a local, friendly feel than the more touristy bars at the Opera, Bastille, and Latin Quarter.

Wednesday (17 January):

I had my meeting with Mme Gree, the academic advisor, to pick my courses. I'll be taking 2 classes with Sweet Briar - Atelier d'ecriture (a writing workshop), and Histoire de Paris a travers ses monuments (a history of Paris through its monuments - 1/2 lecture, and 1/2 "field trip"). I am also taking 2 classes at the Sorbonne: Impressionism through Expressionism, and Renaissance Art. I also have an audition on Tuesday at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris to try to get placed in some viola class/ensemble. So it looks to be a very culture-filled semester!

After my meeting with Mme Gree I went for a run, and then went shopping for a little while to buy a purse. Later in the afternoon I met up with Sara and Darcy to make travel plans for a break in February (Feb 22 to March 3 -- this break is even more amazing considering that Paris IV classes start on Feb 12...). We have tentatively decided on visiting Prague for about 6 days, and then on the way back stopping in Strasbourg for 2-3 days.

I also went to the Musee du Luxembourg, and saw a beautiful show about Titian - "Titien: Le pouvoir en face." It was 5 huge rooms filled with Titian's portraits...the curating was nothing special, but it was unbelievable to see so many beautiful paintings in one place!

I came home a little earlier than usual, watched the news with my host family, and had dinner. After dinner, Madame and I had a 2 hour conversation about her past exchange students, and differences between American and French culture. At first I was a little confused as to why she was telling me all of this (and for so long), but I decided to take it as an indication of our feeling a little more comfortable with each other, and being able to have a more "open" conversation.

Thursday (18 January):

I had my last methodology class in the morning, and then Darcy and I had lunch in a cafe (we were so sick of bread & cheese that we caved, and got "normal-people food," aka omelettes). Then we went on a visit to the Marais with Michael, an intern at the Sweet Briar office, who actually went on Sweet Briar, and has been living in Paris for 4 years, working on his dissertation. He showed us lots of "hidden" streets and parts of the district, which should be useful - the Marais is definitely one of my favorite parts of Paris, already.

Thursady afternoon I made my first French phone call, which made me very proud of myself! I called a violin company that Eduard recommended, and arranged to have a meeting on Friday at 11:30 to rent a viola!

Thursday night we returned to Le Cristal, and had an amazing time. We met lots of French & international people our age. Michael (the intern) said, and it seems to be true, that the best way to meet French people is to first meet people from other countries who live in France, and will speak French to you. I was surprised at my own ability to carry on entirely French conversations from 9:30pm-1am, and to actually make friends. We met a lot of people from Brazil, Italy, and Switzerland, who have been living in Paris for the past 2 years, and doing "stages" (like an internship) for different companies. We also met a lot of French people from different parts of the country, who now study in Paris. Sara, Darcy, and I were all really happy to move out of our comfort zone a little, and to hang out with non-Americans, and will probably come back there a lot, since the atmosphere is so friendly and fun.

Friday (19 January):

I went to the violin shop, and rented my viola. It is new, and probably pretty crappy (I have yet to play on it), but was a pretty good deal at 12 euro a month. I also saw Eduard, which was nice, and he gave me his address & phone number in case I ever need anything.

After dropping my violin off at home, I went to Sweet Briar for a rather worthless 2 hour meeting on intercultural relations. This woman basically just lectured about how you can't totally lose your American roots, and that you can't reject France either, so you have to find a working medium (pretty obvious...and much easier said than done, I think). The meeting ended at 3:30, and I went to the Luxembourg Gardens with Sara, Darcy, and Liz, and we just hung out for an hour or so.

Tonight I'm going to the Chaillot, to see some avant-garde ballet production with Sweet Briar. Not too many plans for the weekend - will go running, see friends, and work on an internship application due on Friday. All in all, things are going very well, I'm feeling more & more comfortable here. My Sweet Briar classes start on Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to finding a rhythm/schedule to my days and weeks, to help me adjust a little more to life here.