Paris

Catch-up, kinda....

2009-07-26T02:19:00.000-07:00

Geez im so behind on my posts!! I think I left off last friday before Loire valley
The weekend was amazing. We started off at Chartres Cathedral. It was known for the place christians went for pilgrammage, over a thousand miles. They actually held a relic of mary's clothing from when she gave birth to jesus--over 2000 years old!! pretty cool huh! I can't remember for sure, but i think they might still have it. The church was originally built around 800, and the bottom portion- the crypts, survived the 1174 fires. It is the oldest stain glass- dating back from 900(everytime there was a war they took it down to protect it). After the fires, they built the gothic cathedral on top of the crypts. the only expansion was upwards because it was considered holy ground. The arches were built will wood arches that they moved after each arch was built. Most of the church(after the fire) was built by 1220--pretty fast builders for that time. There are two huge Rose windows that are very famous and were sooo beautiful. Each of the window panels tells a story from the bible. It was the way they educated people about the bible--just passed down the stories before the printing press. We got a tour of the church from a well know guy- Malcolm Miller. He has written several books on the church.
Outside in one of the doorways were sculptures of Jesus and his disciples. He was in the center between the doors and the men were in the rounded arch of the doorway. The men each held the instrument of their death--beheaded, crucified, etc. Also, they were not wearing shoes--i think it was something about getting into heaven. The statues on the other doorway were all wearing shoes. Then, above the men was all of them at their judgments, gettting into heaven with jesus again. It was very beautiful and very interesting.
Oh ya, the Cathedral is a seat of a bishop in case you didn't know. The stained glass windows were supposed to symbolize jewels above your head in jerusalem--stemming from Revelations inthe bible. Can you tell that I took notes?! Yes, i was the only nerdy one writing stuff down ;)
After the Cathedral tour, we went to the local market which was fabulous and picked up some snacks for the road. Wine, all kinds of great fantastic cheeses, bread, best strawberries i have ever had, olives, and frois gras- which i never knew i liked-very disturbing how they get it though. I will spare you if you dont already know. We also pickd up some funny masks- i will try and post pics later. the girls had to buy boys and vice versa. it was funny.
We had a picnic on the bus on the way to Blois.
After Chartres, we went to the royal castle at Blois.
I think i might have to come back to this.....friends are waiting on me to go to the tour de france. I know how jealous all you are....but im goin to rub in it haha! Hopefully we will see Lance--sad hes not gonna win but we still love our American. I think he is into young girls right now(heard a rumor he was dating an olsen twin??)-- so I will watch my back(side that is). We will be right there, probably close enough to feel the wind from them riding by. they circle paris 8 times before the finish line. So excited! I will take pics! love you all

Exploring

2009-07-17T13:47:00.001-07:00

This was a short week because no class Monday or Tuesday which was nice! Wednesday I didn't do much. Thursday after class, Ashkaan, Allison and I went exploring. We walked from their house on Poppencourt to Notre Dame- the line was too long so we just took pics outside. Then we got some delicious ice cream- arguably the best in Paris. I had an orange and dark chocolate---sooo good! Then we walked to the Tuiliere Gardens which are connected to the Louvre. If it wasn't so hot that day, we probably would have hung out more by the fountains, but just sitting in the sun we were sweating! So then we took the loooong walk to the Arch de Triumphe which didn't seem that far until we started walking and the arch never got any closer it seemed! We would walk for 20 min and it looked like the same distance away. We finally made it and paid the 5.50euro student price to go up to the top. It was definitely worth it. Not only did i GET to walk up 280-some steps for a workout, I also got to see Paris from up high 360 degrees. It was awesome! I still havent been up the Eiffel tower, so I can't compare it to that yet. It was a pretty clear day so we could see the entire city. Down below there was some ceremony going on at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was pretty cool to watch French Military honoring someone. They have funny hats though. I took some pics for Kev--i like his uniform better :)
My feet were killing me by the time we got down so we decided to take the metro/RER back to their house. I made my way home and talked on skype with Dad, Kimmy and Kev instead of getting my reading done--thanks guys! jk I love skype! While i was on skype with my dad, at wind/lightening/thunder/rain/hail (yes, all of those things) happened. It was crazy because it was 80 degrees not 2 hours before. All of the sudden a gush of wind came, it started pouring, then hailing, thunder and lightening. It was raining so hard, and the wind was blowing so much that it looked like smoke coming off of the building. It was like a hurricane/flash flood. The streets immediately were overflowing with water. Tree branches all along the street--huge, thick ones-broke off and were on the ground this morning. I've never seen something happen that fast.
Today Allison and I went to a cafe to study, fill in our notes, and outline. Then I came home and updated all of this for you guys to see! Oh, then I made the most delicious crepe ever! I sauteed mushrooms with salt, pepper, butter and cream. Then cooked a small piece of veal and put those in a crepe with emmental cheese and topped it with the yummy lettuce they have here, tomatoes, and the house salad dressing. Amazing!!
Now I am going to bed--pics from yesterday will have to wait until Sunday night.
I leave for Loire valley tomorrow morning at 645am so I need to attempt to get a few hours of sleep. Love you all!
Au Revoir!

Bastille Day Pics

2009-07-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

These don't do it justice- I tried to put up a video but it wasn't uploading right! I'll try again later.

Crazy! they were shooting off of the tower!

Sorry these are blurry, its hard with no flash and the fireworks setting takes so long to take a pic--def don't have steady hands

How cool is this pic!

Fireworks!

So beautiful!

Us and our new Australian friends- Tom and Tom. They were fun and came prepared with 5 bottles of wine and 2 40's for both of them haha!

Such an amazing experience! This entire field in front of the tower was FULL of people. I couldn't even find a patch of grass between the people and blankets!

Ahhhh beautiful

He was so good!

Cat, Christine, and I

Cat and I before the crowd came

The French Artillery(Military Building)- in front of the Eiffel Tower

Bastille Day!!

2009-07-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

The French sure do know how to celebrate! Monday night i got home from Amsterdam and the little courtyard by my house was hoppin with live music and dancing. They were going until at least 1am bumpin french rap and michael jackson. I woke up Tuesday and hung out around my house for a while. I met up with Cat and Roman at their apt and we headed to the Eiffel tower to celebrate. We picked up some bread, cheese and meat at the nearest Monoprix and set up camp on the grass in front of the tower. I thought it was packed when we got there around 4, but 4times more people showed up. We ate, drank and played cards for several hours. The concert started around 7. It was really good! Apparently its Frances equivalent of Jason Mraz. Then the 70-yr old man came on- way too much plastic surgery if you ask me. He is a big hit here in France--his name was something Holliday i think?? It was really cool. I have never experienced anything so cool--I was so happy to be there. There wasn't an inch to walk, tons of people dancing and singing, hangin out- it was awesome. I don't think i have ever seen so many people(that werent at something like a baseball or football game) together in one open area. I heard there were expecting around 800,000 people at and around the Tower.
The fireworks started at 10:45 and they were spectacular! there was a 3D light show displayed on the eiffel tower itself. At one point it looked like the tower was moving. They went through the years and themed the music. The fireworks were fired from the tower itself. One of the coolest things ive seen. They lasted for almost 45 minutes.
when the show was over, we headed out with the other hundreds of thousands of people onto the street. The entire width of the street was filled, elbow to elbow with people. You couldnt move any way except forward, it was like a river of people--insane!! We couldnt even get onto the metro because the line was so long. Actually, you couldnt even see the entrance from where we were. So we walked to the further metro- the line was long but we hopped a fence (what? everyone was doing it) and got in quicker. The line was so long in our direction and the trains were so full from the previous stops that no one could get on. So, me, the thinker--we crossed over to the other direction, took it up 2 stops where the cars weren't full, and got on going the right direction. Took time, but way less than it would have if we would have stayed in line. Finally got home almost 2 hours after the show ended! That was a crazy day! So much fun. So glad I was here for Bastille Day. I will post some pics too! maybe a video if it will let me!

Amsterdam pics

2009-07-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Train station

A parking garage for bikes! I didn't even get the entire view of them!
In Amsterdam, you are more likely to get hit by a bike than a car...pretty cool!

Crooked house...seriously, they built it like that

The church by Anne Frank's house--forgot the name of it

Anne Frank's house- line was too long to go in. Should have woken up earlier

Random canal

My favorite pic- a little blurry but I couldn't use a flash. This is on the night canal cruise

Canal cruise

Allsion, me and Christine on the Cruise

I amsterdam sign

Really though, did they need all those words just to say "Camera Security"?!!

We asked a waitor--the second ridiculously long word means "security measures"--i mean come on, thats all they needed to say...

I had a really fun time trying to speak dutch as you can tell. They try to fit as many words into one as they can...i guess its easier?

hahaha, this was on the outside of a "coffee shop"

They meant serious business...

Me, Christine and Cat

Three Sisters restaurant! Can't wait for my sisters to be here!

Flower market

So pretty!

Dam Square

Our 5-star hotel room. very fancy decor. We tried to get Mike to take the rollaway but he is not a very good gentleman.

This sign said something about "Toepassing"

I thought it was funny so I went to take a pic--the first pic i took, a guy drove right up in front of Christine(mid-pic) on his mo-ped and parked. We were like...seriously?? You can see his bike in the bottom left which is why its not a straight pic. Sorry, just thought it was funny.

Amsterdam

2009-07-17T09:23:00.001-07:00

Well, sorry its been so long!! I've been a little busy and very lazy with writing on here. I'll go back to the last day I can remember what I did---last friday! School, studied in a cafe after class with Allison. Then came home to meet up with Christine so she could spend the night. We went to a little cafe on the corner for dinner and drinks. I love bordeaux by the way--amazing!
Then we went to another cafe for just drinks(it was friday, cmon!). We had some more delicious wine and then headed back home for a semi-early night.
We got up super early--had to be at the train station by 745am so we had to leave my house by about 7 just to give us enough time. We got there and couldnt find the right machine to print my ticket out that I bought online...so I had to wait in line at the ticket counter to help me out. Finally got my ticket, then we had to find our friend Mike who was also traveling with us on the same train. Mike didnt have a phone and finding him in the busy Paris-nord train station was not an easy task. We picked up a cheese danish/quiche thing?? which would have been delicious had it been heated up. Ya, not so good cold.
I was surprised to see so many dogs in the station--apparently you can just take them with you. It made me miss Zoey so much though! there are so many dogs here, and every time I see one, I miss her even more. Anyways, boarded the train--unfortunately I was second class and they were first. They actually paid less for their tickets! So I had to sit by myself but I just attempted to sleep the entire time. OOOH ya! AND, I didn't even have a designated seat! so I had to wait until everyone boarded and sat until I could find a seat. I ended up having 2 seats to myself so it was nice but I was facing a couple that I had to watch be all lovey-dovey...that was kinda annoying to watch but made me miss Kev.
Long ride- 4hours 11min. Beautiful scenery! Passed by Brussels and some other cities I can't remember or spell the names of. The towns were so cute, and so much green!
We got to Amsterdam around 12:45 and found our friends, Roman and Cat who got there the day before, waiting for us at the entrance. We walked to our hotel---a 5star, Renaissance Marriot!! Mike got a really good deal for the hotel- 90euro for 2 nights/person. Thats better than you can get in some hostels for a single! And it was VERY nice. There were 2 singles so we got a rollaway bed too. The beds were so comfy! I will post pics of the hotel. We were all very impressed and it was nice to stay in such a nice place after the first hostel(that called itself a hotel) that I stayed in on the first night of my trip.
So we cleaned up and walked around town--hit up Dam square, another cool part of town with all the cafes and then some of them went into the torture museum. I was not interested in seeing it--not with the dreams that i have and already the lack of sleep--I didn't need that contributing to it. We went back to the hotel, then met up again for Italian food. The waitress was not very nice. She wouldn't let us order the appetizer and entrees separately and when we asked for something she would say...we can't do that.
After that, we intially wanted to go out, but we were all pretty tired so we walked through the red-light district. Ya, disturbing. I really did not need to see that either. We were over it pretty quickly so we headed out. As we were leaving, Christine and I walked by a window and apparently we looked like we were talking smack because the girl banged on the window really loud. We stopped and looked at each other like what the heck happened!? Then she leaned out of the door and screamed (I will bleep out the profanity) "You f*&$@ chinese B*&@#!!" It continued for several more lines. You get the point. oh ya, it is necessary to point out that Christine is in fact chinese, however, she is not a bitch- she is very nice :)
So, that was pretty interesting. I will say that if we were inthe US, I probably would have gone back and said something to her, because I am NOT ok with that. However, being in Amsterdam where it seems like just about anything goes, I decided to refrain from- for lack of better words- kicking her skinny ass. Sorry, but that kind of stuff really makes me mad.
We just turned around and left. After that I said, well, I think thats it for tonight. We went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day we went to Lydes plain (im not sure how to spell it), the flower market, and the Van Gogh museum which was awesome. Christine and I stopped by the "I AMSTERDAM" sign which was pretty cool. hmmm what else. We walked around the canals a lot- they were absolutely beautiful. That night we got a Argentinian steak that was awesome, and then went on a canal cruise which included wine and cheese plate. Again, beautiful. OH ya, and we got yelled at again. This time by the lady that was speaking over the microphone. Ok, so we were a little loud, but honestly, you can't expect 5 law school students to have a quiet conversation. Especially when wine is invovled. Oh and not to mention one of our friends Mike has to turn everything into an argument. So we were loud. And probably rude, but at the time we were having a heated discussion so we didnt know. Plus, she yelled at us afterwards instead of during the cruise. Im sure we would have quieted down if we would have had some warning.
Again, we were tired after so just went home and to bed.
Slept in the next morning and through our early plan to wake up to see Anne Franks house. We only got to walk by it because the line was around the corner. Christine and I walked to a pretty church there and all around town.
Our train left around 430 and this time I had a seat! Oh, and I found out that first class got food and drinks served! Bummer for me! thats about it for Amsterdam. It was beautiful- way more than i had imagined. I definitely had the wrong impression before I went. I was worried that everyone would just be smoking weed and picking up women but it wasn't like that at all. I definitely could smell people smoking, but I wasn't ever in a situation where I couldnt get away from the horrible smell. It is one of the coolest cities i've ever been to(which isn't many, but still).
K thats a long one! Love you all

2009-07-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

The beautiful trees on the walk to Rue Moufftard

Kim's favorite street, Rue Moufftard. I think I like the street by my house the best so far. The markets are fabulous. Although, we did go on a Monday, so many of the stores and markets were closed(we did not know this before hand avi)

My delicios steak hache crepe from my new favorite study spot, La Belle Ronda- the creperie

From the cellars

The garden where our tasting was

The girls- Allison, Bridget, Lyon, Me, Christine and Catherine at the tasting

My favorite boys...the supplied the Champagne. We tasted Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2003 and the Grand Vintage 2003 Rose. They were both delicious but the Rose was my favorite.

Dom Perignon--the super magnum(forgot the real name/size haha)

Napoleon gave this full of wine to Moet as a present because he loved the champagne so much. They decided to call the regular champagne(not the vintage years), Imperial to honor their relationship with Napoleon. Little bit of trivia for you!

Just one of the huge cubbies full of champagne at different stages of aging. The chalkboard sign you see is in a secret code that only the 4 cellarmasters know which tells which wine it is, at what stage, and how many are in the stack. Pretty cool huh!

My boy Dom

A replica of Dom's wine press [don't worry, fake grapes ;) ]

Lyon and I on the wall overlooking Epernay

Dom's abbey. Apparently these grounds were built and rebuilt over 7 times throughout history. The monks just kept rebuilding. I can't remember all of the details of the story, but that is the basic concept. The view was so beautiful that the ruling countries wanted that location.

The Abbey grounds

Inside the Abbey. Cool chairs/pews huh!

The countryside from the bus window. So beautiful!!

Pictures!!!

2009-07-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Allison, Ashkaan and I outside of Dom Perignon's Abbey

I think the name of the village was Hautvillers--down the hill from Dom's Abbey and secret tour we had of the grounds. Only 22 people this year have been given the tour-mostly large purchasers of Dom Perignon. We got the hook up

The Bachelor...he looks cold ;)

Beautiful Cathedral

Reims Basilique and Cathedral

My homegirl Mona

The girl with the bra problem...

My friend Allison and I at Conseil d'Etat

Champagne- 4th of July

2009-07-05T09:57:00.001-07:00

I woke up way too early for my taste(6am) in order to leave by 7 to meet at 745 to make the bus to Champagne. We didn't end up leaving until 820 because a few people were late. We grabbed some croissants for the road to hold us over. We got on the bus and the bus driver was extremely anal. He yelled at Allison because her croissant got a few crumbs on the ground. haha, he even gave bags out just in case people got sick. He was pretty funny to watch. We made our way to the Basilique St. Remi, a benedictine abbey which was very gothic. It was absolutely beautiful. I will try and post pictures. (side note: right when we got off the bus, the driver was in the back sweeping out the bus, hahhaah)
We took plenty of pictures in and out of the Basilique and then headed to Palais du Tau which was the seat of the archbishop of Reims and played a role in the coronation ceremonies. Today, the museum houses coronation regalia, tapestries and sculpture associated with the Cathedral. Then we went to the Cathedral(right next door). It was built on the site of the 5th century church in which Clovis was baptized in 496. Begun in 1211, it was finished in 1294, but the upper parts and the tower were added in 1428. (i am re-typing this from the info sheet that we got so you guys can learn a little too). The outside of the cathedral had hundreds of sculptures of angels, animals and people to tell the story of the bible. it was absolutely beautiful. It amazes me that something that large and so sophisticated was built so long ago. it sustained a few areas of damages during WWI and II i believe.
After this, we went to Place Drouet d'Erlon which is a big plaza with a bunch of cafes for lunch. While we were sitting there, several bachelor parties walked/screamed by with the bachelor wearing funny costumes such as a leotard and a duck suit. One even got in the fountain and swam around. It was pretty funny.
We made it back to the bus and made our way to Epernay and went up the hill to the village Hautvillers, the town where Dom Perignon(cellermaster at the abbey), invented the modern champagne process. We looked in the abbey church which was adorable. In this town, there are small metal signs on peoples doors that indicate the occupant's trade, a custom initiated a generation ago by the mayor's wife.
We had a special guided tour of the abbey grounds. We were also informed that this tour is only for large buyers of dom perignon. To be more specific, only 22 people this year have been given this tour, its not open to the public...lets just say we got the hook up. (one of the owner's was a student of the program 22 years ago and lets us come here on special permission)
we got to see the small house where Dom lived(his name was Pierre- Dom is a title). The company later joined with Moet who later married a Chandon. We also got to see the press that he used back in the day. THe views from this place were absolutely breathtaking. It was cool to know that no one usually gets to see this place.
After this tour, we went down the hill to Epernay where we got a guided tour of the Moet et Chandon cellars which included an explanation of how champagne is made today.
Moet is made from 3 kinds of grapes: pinot noir, pinot (forgot the name), which are black grapes, and chardonnay. It is made from a perfect balance of all 3 grapes. The special thing about Dom Perignon is that it is usually held in the cellars and aged for 12 years. Typical chamgpagne ranges from 1-3. Moet is held for 5 years and the more special kind is held for up to 10 years, depending on the year of grape. They have vintage years- which is where they find a crop that is goin to be very special. Those become the special, more expensive bottles which may be a little different in taste from the original champagne.
The cellars were amazing. 28km of maze- different corridors which housed the wine at different stages of the fermentation and aging process. Some of the bottle are still turned by hand and may even be corked by hand. They have 4 cellermasters who are the only ones who know the secrets, including which "garage" is which wine at different stages. They have a secret code that only they know which tells them what kind of wine and which stage is it at. Pretty cool huh!
After the tour, they took us up to the garden (which apparently doesnt usually happen, even for our class) for tasting of the 2003 Moet et Chandon, and the 2003 Rose Moet et Chandon (whihc also apparently doesnt happen---usually they just taste the imperial which is the standard moet). It was very beautiful and the Champagne was delicious!
Then we headed back on the bus--beautiful scenery all the way. We got back into Paris, dropped our stuff off and searched for some dinner. We walked around way too long and ended up at an African place which was very cute. I tried something called N'dole beof which was not so great. Lyon had a lamb stew that was delicious so I just ate some of hers. Then I went home because I was exhausted! A pretty fun 4th of July!!

Today, I slept in very late which was amazing!! Then I went to a cafe and had a steak crepe and capuccino and did some reading. now I am home and ready for bed soon!
Au Revoir!

It IS possible to have bad french food

2009-07-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

Lets see, where did I leave off?? Friday after class we walked around the 6th and saw Cafe le Flores. Apparently writers used to go there which makes it ridiculously expensive now. We saw that it was 15 euro for a drink and quickly left the table. Our friends stayed but Allison and I were on a mission to find shoes. We finally did and then headed back to her house. We were planning to meet up with a couple of other friends and ran into Lyon on the street who was going there as well. First we needed to go home and clean up a bit. We took too long, headed out and took the metro to where we thought our friend Mike's house was in the 5th. Apparently we were off by about 25..whoops. So we had no way of contacting them so we decided to find our own place to eat. Ya, ok just because its french food, doesnt mean its good. We found a reasonably priced place which had an included appetizer, entre and dessert. Maybe that should have been our first hint. The soup was good, but the salmon i had was not so delicious. The pasta that came with it was a shame to French people. The only thing that was good was the bordeaux we ordered which was bottled so they had no chance to mess it up :)
It wasnt all that bad of an experience though. There were very interesting people inlcuding are waiter who when i told was full, he touched my belly and rubbed it.... a little awkward but we thought it was pretty hilarious.
it was pretty late by then so we all decided to go home to wake up early for Champagne. I got home around 1:30 and hit the hay.

Lazy Day

2009-07-03T04:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a pretty boring day for me...very lazy. Went to school, almost fell asleep in class, so i came right home afterwards instead of going to a cafe. I stopped by the grocery store for some lunch meat and made myself a nice ham and brie sandwich. I was so exhausted that i took a nap. school was in session(it is right outside my window) so i closed my windows (mind you they are double paned) and i could still hear the children screaming. It seems that they do not learn anything in school because they are always outside playing.
So I decided to try my ear plugs which is what i use for exams and usually works to drown out the sound of 50 people typing at once. STILL HEARD THEM!!! i really dont know how that is possible, but i did. After a while, i was so exhausted that i finally fell asleep. it was very nice. After that i hung out around my house, did some reading and made dinner. So like I said, pretty lazy day, but it was nice to catch up on some sleep finally!

Today is Friday. I just got out of class, which were both very interesting today and I had no problem staying awake. Now I am in the JD library using a french keyboard that you can turn on the US keys. good thing i know where the keys are by heart or else i would have a tough time typing!! I am waiting for my friend allison to get out of french class (which i decided not to spend the $85 on bc i will just learn it and rosetta stone that i have). then we will go to a cafe for lunch and after do a little bit of shopping. i have not bought anything since i have been here and i would like to pick up a dress and/or skirt and some sandals so that i dont have to wear my flip flops around. Then tonight we will probably do dinner and drinks with some friends out around town. We leave at 8 am from the Saint Paul metro by my school for the Champagne trip tomorrow. We also will see Reims, the coronation city of france. It should be a nice 4th of july...i will toast my glass (or bottle) of champagne to independence. Hope everything is well at home. love you all

Conseil d'Etat

2009-07-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Bonjour
Woke up sweating again...i think its time to invest in a fan. It is freaking hot here!!! When you start sweating down your legs thats when you know its hot!
Went to a cafe this morning called "Breakfast in America" where they only speak english and serve things like pancakes and waffles, enchiladas and more importantly "ToGo" coffee! The girls there were from Canada and England.
I almost fell asleep in both classes today. not because they aren't interesting, but because I am not sleeping very well here. I was trying my best, and even the coffee had no effect on me.
After class, I attended the Survival course in French and learned how to count and the ABC's. Then a couple of friends and I went to get a quick Falafel and Gyro in the Jewish neighborhood around the corner. It was delicious! the best ive ever had hands down.
Then we were off as a large group to the Conseil d'Etat which is one of the high courts in the French system. Honestly, I wish I could have paid more attention, but again, no matter what I did, I was falling asleep. I tried shaking my legs, changing positions, etc and nothing worked. So I have a vague recollection of what they actually do. I do remember hearing that they decide around 30,000 cases a year which is absolutely crazy!! At least compared to our Supreme Court...
After this, I picked up my Navigo which is a monthly metro pass for 61 euro. Its worth it because I have to take the metro at least 2 times a day to get to school and back. then I went home to cool down (HAHA, ya right!!) and drop off my stuff before goin to the store.
I went to Rue Daguerre(my fav) to the markets. Picked up some pesto stuffed gnocci with some delicious sauce, olives and my first bottle of french wine for 3.80 euro(the cheapest i could find). then I went to the Monoprix(supermarket) and picked up some cheese, eggplant, mushrooms, cleaning stuff, etc.
As a sidenote, the cleaning lady couldnt come this week and the lady that lived here before me was very dirty. The sink, shower and toilet were disgusting. I dont think she ever cleaned them the entire 8 months she lived here.
On my way home, I stopped for a baguette which was piping hot straight out of the oven. I couldnt help myself, I had a few bites on the way home and felt like a true Parisienne.

Dinner was delicious and now I am off to bed...hopefully a good nights sleep.
Au Revoir

Catch Up

2009-06-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in the updates! I've been so busy! Lets see...Sunday i had to wake up and change hotels. I decided to take a taxi instead of lugging my suitcases up the stairs of the metro (i had to change lines as well). So that was way more expensive but honestly worth it. Got to my new hotel which was much more like an actual hotel...Hotel Des Voyageurs. my room overlooked the garden/patio area which was nice. Sunday i was a cafe rat. I went to Cafe Daguerre to eat lunch and do some reading. Then i went back to my hotel when i could get into my room. Later on for dinner I went to Cafe Rendez-Vous and had delicious Salmon(the waiter picked it out for me) and my first wine of the trip. The waiter even bought me a glass of white wine for my salmon because i was initially drinking red. The young people in front of me smoked like chimneys. Its crazy to me that all the young people smoke here...and not smoke like the US. They all chain smoke. i mean a minute or two after they put one out, they are lighting up another. I can tolerate the occasional cigarette smoke blowing in my direction, but this was a constant trail right in my direction. Doesn't mix well with red, white wine and salmon. So i did about 20 sudoku puzzles to keep me occupied.
I got back to my hotel and had a short conversation with the guy at the front desk. It was short because somehow we got on the topic of kevin being in Kuwait. He was from Tunisia. Immediately after i told him he was military he stopped hitting on me and hated me. "Ughhh, i hate them. All they do is kill people." So i quickly shut up and said goodnight. After all, im sure he had access to my room key if i pissed him off....

Monday
Very busy. Woke up for breakfast, took a short nap afterwards(i didnt sleep well Sun night) until i could get into my apt (12pm). Walked the short 1 1/2 block walk to my apt and unpacked. I had to wash the sheets so i met my landlord at the laundry place because i had NO idea how to use it. It was very sophisticated and very expensive (4.90 euro to wash, 1 euro/10min dry). Landlord had to help figure out internet as well, and then he took me shopping to the monoprix right on rue daguerre(the best market street ever) for shampoo because they have way too many choices. Then had to run to school for orientation. Afterwards I went to a small cafe for cheese and beer with some classmates before coming home for the night. I didn't stop all day!

Tuesday- first day of school!!
Ok, so they say parisiennes are not morning people, but you could have fooled me. So far, every morning i have been woken up at about 545am. They dont do anything quietly. If they close a door, they slam it...if they walk down the hall, they are talking or walking with lead feet..and they are always either on the phone or talking to someone. Oh and the trash came this morning. Obviously i am a light sleeper so its not helping my situation much...especially since you have to sleep with the windows open because its been about 90 degrees everyday. I melt no matter what i wear. i think im just goin to buy dresses to wear if this heatwave keeps up. Anyways, i love my classes. Very interesting! I am taking two international law courses in public international law and international litigation and arbitration. Pretty much, one is between private entities and other private entities and or states; and the other is law between two states(essentially countries or those recognized but not as countries). We talk about jurisdiction of courts in different countries over disputes that arise. I will tell you more as i learn more about it. But i think i like it more than any other core class i have taken so far. Most of the people have already taken Civil Procedure which would help(i have not bc im in night school)- but i know and understand a lot because of my job.
After class I went to a cafe for a club sandwich and then and walked around shops with a friend Allison. After sweating about a bucket of water, we stopped in a bar/cafe for coffee and to do the reading. Then we walked to her house on rue Poppendor (i think thats the name) in the 4th arr. and met up with her roommates, my classmate Ashkaan and a day student Lyon. Lyon heard of a place in the NY times that was cheap and good next to the Louvre so we walked across paris to get to it. Very frustrating when i am hungry(as you all know i am not very pleasant hungry). However, because they are relatively new friends i was forced to stay as pleasant as possible. I think i did a great job!
Dinner was cheap(for Paris)- 11.50 euro for a steak and fries (i was craving something other than a baguette sandwich and hungrier than a salad). By this time it was 10:30 so we took the metro back to their place to pick up my stuff and i headed out. Just got home an hour ago and now i am EXHAUSTED!!
off to bed, and tomorrow the council d'etat after class. I will try to be a little more constant with my updates so they arent as long. I do apologize! Love to you all!
Au Revoir!

Never fly American overseas

2009-06-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well i made it here! The first day was crazy busy. First flight was to Miami which was about 4 1/2 hours...I was in the window seat next to a large man who didnt give me much elbow room..so i squished myself against the window and attempted to sleep. We landed, I went pee and boarded the plane..no time for bullshittin. The seats were even smaller on the plane to Paris. My knees were pressed against the seat in front of me. I feel bad for tall people on that plane. i was at least on the aisle so I got to stretch my right leg out a little. Watched a movie, attempted to sleep only to get woken up every 20 min by people walking by and using my seat as a balancing aid. So the moral of the story, never fly American overseas.
After we landed, i walked through the airport trying to find the RER-B. Ok, so i think im pretty good with directions, but i swear they forget to put signs in some places.. Anyways, it seemed like a pretty far walk with all of my luggage, including 2 large law books. I was literally dripping sweat by the time i found the station. Bought the wrong ticket(but ended up being ok bc they were metro tickets for inter-city). Made it to the school ok and met up with K-Rae who informed me that AA is the worst airline to fly over here(go figure). I met 2 guys from my program, one of which wanted to live with me but i told him no boys (i like to dry my hair naked ok--dont think Kev would like that one too much). We found me a couple of places and she called to set up appts. I took a taxi to my hotel(who charged me way too much for driving around in circles). Had to drag my suitcases up 5 flights of stairs...(still sweating, no shower). Finally got in my room but had to rush out to meet the first guy for an apt(still no shower, food or sleep). Met Roger at 43 Rue Boulard and liked the place. I bargained with him and got the price down a little. I am refraining from telling everyone how much i am paying because it is absolutely ridiculous and when i told him this he replied with "its Paris."
He is a very nice landlord though. Took me out to lunch, paid for it and even agreed to pay for Sunday night hotel because i cant move in until Monday night.
I made it back to my hotel (im pretty good on the metro now, not so good on the streets), finally showered, played on the computer and fell asleep around 7pm.
That was day 1- 30 hours straight. Sorry about the complaining..but i had to get it all out. No one to talk to here so it gets pretty lonely. Dont worry, today was much better!

Day 2-
I woke up late and stayed in bed for a while deciding what to do with my day. I went to the cafe next door and got a ham and cheese panini and a badoit(perrier). Walked down Rue de Richelieu to the comedie street and listened to a small orchestra play. Then i went to the louvre. its amazing there and WAY too much to see. Saw Mona Lisa and a bunch of other paintings, sculptures of men with small packages and lots of rocks with carvings in them. ;) I'll tell you, i would NOT be happy if those guys were what i had to choose from!
I think i walked about 4 miles today, maybe more. I really didnt stop...actually once for a painting of a woman holding up her breasts with her hands. I thought it was pretty interesting and decided that that was where Victoria got her idea(or secret if you will) for bras.
Went to a little cafe and had my first beer and soup. now i am back here!

Au Revoir until tomorrow