Brett Arrives in Paris!

I'm sorry this update is so late, but I finally started classes and have been very busy! Also, last weekend was really busy because Brett came to visit me in Paris. He came on Friday, and left Sunday. On Friday, we went to my homestay to cook lunch and Brett met Mme. Bexon who doesn't speak any English, so I had to do some translation (but kept forgetting to clue Brett into what Mme. Bexon was saying). Anyway, she told us that it was supposed to snow on Saturday, which I couldn't believe because it was such a beautiful sunny day on Friday...

After lunch, Brett and I had to walk around the 16th a little bit to kill some time because it was too early to check into our hostel. We went to a bakery and split a tart while we sat on a bench and people watched. The time passed quickly, and soon, we were on the Metro headed for the Bastille, where our hostel was located. I forgot to pack a map of Paris, so when we got of the Metro, I just had to randomly ask people where the hostel was, and no one knew, so we ended up asking someone at the grocery store, and the woman was very helpful with her directions.

Checking into the hostel was the biggest hassle of my life. Well maybe not the biggest, but it was way too much trouble than it should have been. We sat there for at least an hour waiting first for a group of German school kids to check in, and then, I'm not even sure why we kept waiting after that. Eventually, she finally finally checked us in. Our room was really a crash pad. It was the cheapest hostel in Paris! We had a private room with two bunked beds. We found it much more comfortable to throw the mattresses on the floor then sleep on the bed springs. So we took a nap in our vagabond hostel room, and then in the night we walked around Bastille looking for some nightlife.

There wasn't much we could afford, but we did have to meet up with my friends at a bar, so we did that quickly and had one expensive drink, then left. Not knowing what to do for the rest of the night, Brett and I decided to go to the Seine and hang out by the banks of the river. It was pretty late at this point, and the Metro was about to close, so we had to walk back to our hostel. The Seine was gorgeous. The sky was clear and the moon lit our heads and made white sparkles across the water. We sat on a bench for a while, and then, with no map of Paris, we wandered back to our hostel following road signs pointing towards the Bastille.

The next morning, I woke early. Brett slept in, and I went downstairs to get the continental breakfast. The dining area was very crowded and I ended up sitting with a girl from Australia, and a girl from China. We were all studying abroad in France to learn French, but the other two girls weren't studying in Paris. We ate breakfast and all spoke mangled French to each other. After eating, I had promised Brett I'd bring him something back, so I walked outside to get a little something from the supermarket. I got lost, as I usually do, and ended up instead at a bakery, where I bought two croissants, and then an open air market where the friendliest old man sold me lots of huge oranges. I didn't actually have enough money to pay for all the oranges (he even stuffed a few clementines in there), but he said that was fine and to come back later to buy more. So, it was a wonderful start to the day. Brett and I sat on our little beds on the floor and had our little breakfast of oranges and croissants, then left for Paris excitement.

Then the snow came, as my host mother predicted. It was horrible. It wasn't nice small snowflakes, it was big globs of slushy snow. It was wet and cold, and awfully unpleasant. We went to the top of the Galeries Lafayette, a big shopping mall, to see a view of Paris, and the snow wasn't too bad at that point. After, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower, which was almost invisible in the clouds and fog. We walked and ate ham and cheese sandwiches for quite a while in the snowy wetness. Finally, we got there and took a few pictures under the tower (of course). Then, we decided to get out of the cold as soon as possible, and hopped on the Metro towards the Musee D'Orsay.

With my museum pass, I cut the line and got in for free and had to watch Brett freeze in the cold waiting in line. Luckily, the line wasn't too long. We wandered around looking at some impressionism (Monet's poppy field painting is one of my favorites) and some wonderful sculptures. Then we wandered into a ballroom, which was very strange because there didn't seem to be any reason for this ballroom in the middle of the museum. It was ornately decorated with gold sculptures of angels and hanging chandeliers and mirrors all over the walls.

We got tired quickly at the Musee D'Orsay, and left for our hostel for a little nap. We woke up at dinner time and went to a fancy little restaurant where I butchered my French (as usual) in trying to order. Brett and I dressed up very fancy. It was the first time I saw Brett in a suit! I had two things for the first time: Escargot, and Duck. They were both very delicious, but I didn't know how to eat the escargot, and I felt like the waiters were all looking at me like I was a fool the whole time. There were these weird plier like things I guessed I used to hold the shell and then a tiny fork I guessed I used to pull out the meat. Then, I got escargot oil on my dress, and I don't think I'll be able to get the stain out. :( Then, the waiter came to my table and told me to go to the bathroom to try to wash off the stain! I couldn't believe he said that! It was a very strange French restaurant, and I felt very foolish.

After dinner, we went back to the hostel and fell asleep! We were so tired! On the way to the hostel, we went through two different metro stations where there were string ensembles playing classical music. We also went to through a metro station with a jazz band playing. It was all a very musical day!

The next morning was sad, because Brett had to leave too soon. We went to a cafe with Wifi for lunch so that Brett could figure out the train schedule back to Freiburg. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks for Brett's coffee fix. Starbucks is expensive in the States, but it's about double that in Europe! We stayed in Starbucks for a long time just passing the time before he had to go to the train station.

At the train station, he went to the office to try to buy a ticket, but the man was very mean and told us that there was no chance Brett could get a train to Freiburg that day! I couldn't believe it. We were all of the sudden extremely panicked, because Brett had a class to get to the next morning. I was about to take him to the airport to get a flight back. We stepped outside to consider the situation, and then went back to the ticket desk and talked to a different man. He got Brett a ticket to Freiburg no problem. I have no idea why the other man said that he couldn't get a ticket. Somehow, everything worked out, except Brett had to wait 3 hours more before the train boarded.

So we left the station and near the Louvre and the little islands in the Seine to have an early overpriced dinner. Afterwards, we had a glass of wine at a cafe overlooking the sun setting on the Seine. The time passed quickly, and soon Brett had to go to the station again. I was sad to see him go so soon! But today, I was able to get some train tickets to meet him in Strasbourg. I'm very excited for this, and can't wait to see Strasbourg and Germany soon!

This week, classes have started. I am taking French (obviously), French Cinema and Society, Woment in Conflicts, Paris Museums (an art history class where each class meets in a different art museum), and History of France. All of my classes seem pretty interesting, except sometimes I have no idea what is going on because they are all taught in French. French Cinema seems to be my favorite so far. Today we didn't even watch a French film. We watched a clip of Fellini's "Rome". I really enjoyed it. The professor is a French film director, himself, and is very passionate about movies. Tomorrow, my Paris Museums class goes on it's first museum visit, and I'm so excited for that.

The classes at the Sorbonne for IES students have been canceled this semester! :( This is because there is an ongoing strike at the Sorbonne, and none of the classes are in session. They have no idea how long the strike will go, and thus, we can't take classes there, because we probably won't get credit. That is pretty disappointing, but I guess it's all a part of French culture.

Well, now I have to have dinner with my host family. Last night was an adventure because I flung lentils all over the table, and accidentally a blueberry tart, too. They had to get a vacuum to clean up after me. That was embarrassing. Anyway, that's all for now. Au Revoir!

Leah