Playing Catchup

Okay - so the number i put in the last blog is not working - once i get it right i'll let you know...SORRY

February 2, 2007
Paris, France

We’ll go day by day to break it down for y’all…

January 31, 2007

Last day of January, where has the time gone? Today we registered for classes at the Sorbonne…I had perhaps my best moment so far in Paris when the professor told me that my results were “not glorious”. Really? I wasn’t aware. Anywho – afterwards I tried to withdraw money from my checking account to pay for our trip to Normandy next weekend and a wine class, but alas I forgot my pin. So after I appropriately woke my family up at 4am (sorry mom and dad) and then dealt with a little more housing issues Annie and I headed to the Latin Quarter for the first time. Our jaunt through the quarter was a little confusing as we walked down Rue St.Martin looking for the Cathedral de Notre Dame, but were unable to find it so we walked all the way to the Luxembourg Gardens where we looked at a map and realized we were right in the first place. So we turned around once more, returned to the place we had turned around the first time, took about 3 more steps and saw the cathedral. Having found our third major monument (after Tour Eiffel and Le Louvre) in an equally monumental way (after coming up the metro steps and falling upon in during an evening walk) we starred in awe for a few moments. Next we headed to Shakespeare’s and Co – an English language bookstore. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the Latin Quarter and enjoying the intellectual area of Paris (just our place)… Splitting ways for a few hours – Annie headed home and I headed to take a new yoga class called Bikram Yoga – an intense 90 minute class done in “summer in Wisconsin” heat. Most of the classes are in French, but the instructor is also fluent in English and hilarious – so I enjoyed myself but sweated more than I thought humanely possible. Annie, Claire, and Lauren met me afterwards and we headed to the Bercy Village for dinner. We ate at a very chic café called Chai 33 where I had my first croque-monsieur (sans jambon) and enjoyed it thoroughly. For the end to a lovely evening we saw “Blood Diamond” in the village’s 24 plex cinema which was outlandishly nice. Blood Diamond was AMAZING. Every single person should go see it. It was especially neat for all of us in AIFS because one of the students in our program is from Sierra Leon and his father is the Minister of Finance there. Crazy.

February 1, 2007

Okay – so today we got new beds. Yes, new beds, because alas, Annie and I have been sleeping on cots for the past few days. After this slight disruption from sleep, Annie went back to bed and I met up with Claire and Lauren for some window shopping and lunch (where I purchased my first baguette!) Another yoga class and then I spent the rest of my evening at McDonalds (yes, you read that right) because I hadn’t checked my email in four days (and am quite sorry I haven’t responded to all of you…) and they have free wifi. I did not have to brave the fastfood capital of the world alone however, Claire sat with me and we got through my 70 new messages quite quickly. NAWT.

February 2, 2007

This morning a bunch of AIFS students (and the lovely Jon) went to Versailles, the home of Louie the XIV, XV, and XVI. We got a guided tour which was very interesting because it included a bit of history. The palace was absolutely amazing – the organ, the hall of mirrors, the frescos, the furniture – all incredible. The day was a little rainy but we did manage to wrestle our way through a few of the gardens and promised to return in spring for a better viewing. The trip wasn’t a total waste though because LA and I made plans to go to Europark together (yea!). After the RER (train) ride home we stopped off at a gym that Annie and I might join – it was huge – so many machines, classes, a wave pool with slides, and aquabikes- but no worries. I get to run in 14 days and counting…After running home quick we met back up with Claire and LA for a night at Le Louvre because students get in free on Friday nights! Looking mighty classy (and thinking of Trisha and Steve) we wandered through several exhibits before landing on the most famous painting in all of history – La Jaconde (aka the Mona Lisa). I had mentally prepared myself that DaVinci’s work was not very big – but was pleasantly surprised to find quite the opposite. We stayed at the museum for awhile because there was a special Boudellaire (the writer – and no he’s not going to be reading his own work Claire…) event. After walking for awhile we found ourselves in the Latin Quarter and discovered a Mexican Restaurant that we had been waiting to try all week. And, as we try as much as possible to assimilate into the French culture, we appropriately got crepes afterwards. So just a quick recap for all of you who just are skimming these well developed stories: Friday = Versailles, gym, Mona Lisa, Le Louvre, Mexican food, and an almond/nutella crepe. Who could ask for a better day?