Explorations dans Paris

Went to dinner at a recommended Asian restaurant on Rue Dante which Abby and I could not find at all despite our maps. It was delicious. Walked all the way down the Seine to le Tour Eiffel where we met some fellow Americans on vacay and a sweet girl who is an au pair in the 15e. Drank Heineken (which is as prevalent as Budweiser here) and some other weird beers and talked about Paris/Europe/etc.

Took the metro back. It was my roommate's first time and we both had to pee SO BAD and did not want to pay so we stuck it out until the Foyer. A second wonderful day.

Bon nuit, tout le monde

Explanations of French Things

Still jet lagging. My roommate can nap instantly, like Ashley Moore watching a movie. This morning we put together a map of Paris par arrondisement and then found various landmarks around the city and discussed. The French major who was my partner was clueless as to where anything was or what words meant. Another UNCW success story.

Then we were told for 45 minutes how to use the metro. I just irritably stared into space, mainly, thinking about cooking and how no one here has a damn chef knife.

Here's some stuff to amuse yourselves with:

#1 temperatures are in Celsius. Meaning that when you're sweating your ass off (i.e. today), it's going to be about 30 degrees. Which makes no sense. Also, in the shade it's about 20 degrees (like 3 degrees Celsius) colder, so you'll go from sweating to freezing instantly. Bring a cardigan, folks.

#2 cell phones don't make sense.

#3 don't go to any bar with an English name. Under no circumstances should one have to pay 8 Euro for 50cl (a little less than a pint) of Heineken. Plus, at the next bar we went to, tons of French people wanted to buy us shots of dieu-knows-what-but-we-certainly-got-lost-en-route-home.

#4 doors here almost all open by pushing, not pulling. It's confusing, but pourrer is push and firer is pull, as far as I can tell. I'm still struggling with that. Makes one look quite stupid to do it at every door you come to.

#5 shit is metric, meaning that you buy things by the centiliter. Beer is sold in weird tiny bottles measured in cl. I bought Hoegaarden in cans at the supermarket or whatever it's called here. Bought a cute 20 cl 5 Euro bottle of Label 5 whiskey for my people watching excursion I have planned later. Also I apparently bought 250 grams of Camembert.

Mission for after more orientation: watch people. Write abt it.

Going to go exchange my American ca$h for Euros over in the 7e, go to le Tour Eiffel to chuckle ironically at the tourists. Drink some whiskey and write about weird people I see. Go to the 1er to watch people by the Louvre and the other museums around the area.

I don't really expect that anyone reads this, but it's helpful for me to remember what the hell I'm doing all of the time. Plus it fosters my vague narcissism.

A bientot

Le Tour Eiffel

From the top: moi et Our Lady on a walking tour with my adorable group; opposite the Pantheon is le Tour Eiffel; a wonderful fountain at the south end of the Jardin du Luxembourg; et aussi the Jardin itself. My backyard, basically.

Fresh Mouffetard baguette, camembert, and tomatoes for dinner with a nice Bordeaux on top of the Foyer International. The terrace on the roof has the perfect view of the city with the Eiffel Tour in the dead center. This bottle of wine was three Euro and is more wonderful than could be explained.

Gave my friends a map to get over to Mouffetard and buy their own baguette. One is only enough for like half of a person. Planning on a series of walks tomorrow and a rendez-vous avec an old friend from high school, crazily enough.

Missing home a bit, but the sights are making up for it big time. Told a random guy I loved him because he was playing the Amelie soundtrack in his jewelry shop. On a roll with the French men, that's for sure

Paris : Le Première Jour

After two horrific airline meals and a series of bad movies over a 9 hour flight, I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris at around 9am local time (3am y'all's time), hauled my carry on through passport check and waited on my single PTA thrift shop suitcase to take its sweet time getting to me.

After some confusion with French directions and concepts of organization (not a surprise), I caught the RER B line straight into the heart of the 5th (5eme, en francais) arrondisement, disembarking at the Luxembourg stop on Boulevard St Michel. Less than half a block from the Foyer Internationale! GORGEOUS old building, 8 stories, rooftop. C'est parfait for drinking our first bottle of wine that my roommate Abby and I chose from the local corner market. 

Picked up some fresh local tomatoes, apples, camembert, Coke light, and 2 bottles of the cheapest wine they had (guaranteed to outdo even 3 buck Chuck, I think).

Lunch was a pint of vin rouge and a green salad with a light olive oil dressing topped with foie gras, bacon, tomatoes, gizzards and, of course, REAL FRENCH BAGUETTE ON THE SIDE. We didn't speak much French and our waiter didn't speak much English, but it was wonderful. Everyone was sitting outside smoking, which of course I loved. 

Our subsequent walk through the 5e and 6e was lovely and we got our bearings a bit. Still totally in shock. It's so unbelievably beautiful. I will take and post photos very soon.

A bientôt!

Scrabble: Diamond Edition

Quinoa, spinach, & heirloom tomato salad with almond, ginger, and sea salt-crusted mahi for dinner last night. With litchi juice from the Whole Foods.

Spending my last days sitting around and packing my brand new suitcase full of stuff and then deciding that I don't need it and removing it. How many scarves is too many scarves? Is my Scrabble: Diamond Edition extraneous? I must go to the tailor to repair my skinny black pants! EEK SO MANY CHORES

On the flip side, got a Dr. Dre blanket at Ross: Dress For Less yesterday. I tell you, that place is highly underrated. My friend Kathryn got high-top neon green and purple Adidas for $25! And I a Calvin Klein black dress for $50.

Not too shabby. Tilapia and new potatoes for dinner!

Cinq jours jusqu' à Paris

Bonjour from my kitchen table as I tend to a baked penne pasta with tomatoes, mango, and fresh basil.

At 425 degrees Fahrenheit, 35 minutes is just enough time to crisp the top and melt the smoked gouda over the top, oozing opaquely like hollandaise. None of this was my idea but when I woke up today my roommate Art, the only other tenant of Sunset Drive not at the first day of class, wanted to make me lunch with so few days left in my time in the States.

Speaking of, my to-do list has dwindled to:
1. get suitcase
2. pack
3. pay water bill
4. pay school bill
5. send friends letters
6. write friends letters
7. clean this disgusting excuse for a domicile

AND THEN PRINT MY TICKETS
I'm en route and still terrible at French!

Time to pay a bill or two and watch Seinfeld