Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Today was probably the most uneventful day I have had so far in Paris. I woke up, grabbed a bottle of water and some grapes and headed to the metro to get to school early so I could check my email before class. I wore my new khakis that I had bought right before I flew in, and they are falling off my ass. I had to walk around with my hands on my waist the whole day. So now I have 1 pair of pants (some Sevens that I only wanted to wear for going one), 2 pairs of shorts, and 3 skirts that fit. I had class, which was surprisingly easy (which will change once I start my third year language course not having had the first or second years of it).

After class, I refill my water bottle and have a turkey sandwich before going to a lecture on the history of Paris and Paris as depicted in Hollywood movies…it was pretty funny. In An American in Paris, Gene Kelley says something like, “Those damn third years, coming to Paris to discover something profound when they are only discovering things that have already been discovered.” I don’t need to discover anything; I just want to see as much as possible. Speaking of which, I have booked a day trip to Normandy on Saturday—I’ll be going to the beaches and other WWII sites.

After the lecture, I walk (pants in hand) to a church that housed a wine and cheese tasting where I was first lectured on how cheese was “invented” and how it is made. It was very interesting, but I still don’t like cheese, and I still haven’t found any wine that I like.

I zip back to the apartment to shower and change into some shorts that fit, and the Madame returns home and we have a half conversation because she doesn’t understand me and I don’t understand her…but she expects me to understand her anyway. After the conversation and getting some papers organized, I meet Katie and Catherine and Emily at my Metro stop to find some dinner. We ended up going to a fancy Chinese restaurant near me (warm towels before courses, etc), and for 13 euros, I got way too much food that I couldn’t finish…and France hasn’t yet grasped the concept of the doggie bag, so that was a bit of a waste. This restaurant was amazing though…they actually had ice in their water and refilled my carafe (little pitcher) several times…as opposed to other places that never do it. You’d think the French with all of their walking would want to drink a lot of water!

Tomorrow night we’re going to go to dinner with Lora (my French friend who studied in STL last summer) and hopefully some of her cute European male friends. After a dinner filled with hilarious conversation, I headed back to the apartment and packed my bags for tomorrow and wrote this. I talked to my dad on my cellular (I hope someone will call me or text me soon) to discuss some life plans. Nothing is concrete, and so I will not elaborate.

Tomorrow: class in the morning and then the Musee d’Orsay in the afternoon, maybe by myself so I can take as long or as short as I want. The weekend is looking to be a fun one, with a Bateau Mouches ride down the Seine and then the Eiffel Tower at sunset on Friday, then a day in Normandy on Saturday, and a service at the Notre Dame on Sunday.

P.S. As I finished writing this, I guess French soccer beat another team and there is shouting in the streets—but not American style shouting, a classy “whoo” sort-of feminine shouting.