A week has now passed since my last post and it seems like much longer. The past 7 days have been filled with so many things, it took me a while to think back on them all while writing this post! Hopefully it's not too boring for you, so try and hang in there...
Monday was the beginning of our Propédeutique, a 7-day intensive French-language course to ease us back into the language before the rest of our classes begin. It's been rather tedious, with grammar exercises aplenty that never really become fun no matter how advanced you are. We also read some interesting articles and stories about Paris and how it compares to the US, which made the class slightly more agreeable. Writing papers, however, is still just as tedious and annoying as it was at home, much to my dismay. Unfortunately I think my semester will be filled with them so I guess I should form some sort of liking, or at least intolerance, toward them. We'll see how that turns out, but I have a slight feeling that the engineer in me will always rather be doing something more math-based.
My French class was only in the morning for two hours, so the afternoons this week were filled with exploring Paris. Monday afternoon we met with small groups within IES to get a small tour around the IES center. This probably would have been better for me if I had a better memory or sense of direction, which I have neither. So far the only part of the area I am familiar with is the street that I walk down each day from the metro station, but hopefully that will change with time. Maybe getting lost a little will allow me to find the most interesting places? Wishful thinking, I know.
Tuesday after class a group of students went to the RestoU, or student restaurant, at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris where students from all nationalities live. The student restaurant there is only 3 euros per person, and you can get an appetizer, main dish, and dessert! This is pretty exciting for us students who are trying to not spend our lives' fortunes this semester. The food was also very tasty too.
Wednesday was an exhausting, but very exciting day. After class, my friend Melissa and I went to visit the Jardin du Luxembourg, which was gorgeous even in the winter. I am exciting to return there in the spring when the flowers and trees are in full bloom! There were a ton of Parisians jogging through the park, sitting and enjoying their lunch, or just taking a stroll. It's also next to the Luxembourg Palace, which houses French Senate. After walking through the gardens we decided to walk down to Notre Dame, which was only a short ways away. This was my second visit to the cathedral and it was not any less thrilling. The architecture, stained glass, and shear size of the cathedral is jaw-dropping and never ceases to amaze me. We also were lucky to be there during a free English tour that was very informative. Unfortunately, our time at Notre Dame was cut short thanks to a lovely terrorist/bomb threat that caused the cathedral to be evacuated. Just my luck, to visit there for the first bomb threat at the cathedral in ages!
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| People, police, fire, oh my! |
Wednesday evening I visited the Louvre with IES where we received a guided tour of some of the museum. We only hit the most popular areas of the museum, so I'm sure I will return to see more of it later in the trip. The building itself is an old palace, and incredible to look at even without the art inside! After all the walking from earlier that day I was pretty exhausted by the time we left the Louvre and in desperate need of a good night's sleep.
Thursday followed with another museum visit, the Musée d'Orsay. It houses mostly impressionist artists, which happen to be my favorites. The tour was really great, but afterwards I was all museum-ed out for quite a while. I think I'll wait a bit to see any others now! 4 museums in one week is really a lot.
Friday after class two friends and I traveled to Montmartre, a section of Paris that is higher in elevation than the rest. Here we visited the Sacré Coeur, a gorgeous basilica outside which you can see the entire city. The inside is equally gorgeous, but sadly photos are forbidden so you'll have to visit it yourself to see! We walked around the city a little and had some crêpes, which are absolutely the best thing you've ever tasted. I had mine filled with Nutella and Speculoos, a spread that tastes almost like graham crackers. Think of the best s'more you've ever had and multiply that goodness by a thousand, and you may get close to how good this tastes. I will definitely be stocking up on Speculoos before my return home as it's not sold in the States. Such a shame, too! The Moulin Rouge is also housed in Montmartre, so here's a nice shot of that for all of you.
The weekend was a pretty relaxing one; Friday night I spent with some friends and the rest I spent at home catching up on some homework and some much needed rest. All of the sight-seeing and walking throughout the week really took a toll on my feet! IES Classes begin this Wednesday and I am actually pretty excited. Usually classes starting isn't a good thing, but everything is better in Paris. ;)
I'll end this again with some more random facts:
1. Parisians love dogs! I see so many dogs here, mostly small ones, but occasionally big ones as well. The worrisome thing, however, is that quite often they are running around without a leash. I am so afraid the poor little things are going to get run over by a crazy Parisian driver! Maybe they are used to it and are good at avoiding getting squished to a pancake, who knows.
2. Parisian women are almost always wearing heels. I don't know how they do it, because most walk a lot during the day, whether between metro stops or on a lunch break. I admire their strength and wish I could walk around in heels too! (as my 5'4" height is on the smaller side)
3. The weather changes pretty quickly here. It was sunny and so warm when I got here, but the past few days have been approaching freezing temperatures and brought a lot of rain. Hopefully it will clear up again soon though!
C'est la fin pour maintenant, à bientôt!
