Sights

I didn't have class today so I did some aimless wandering.

Translation: "To create is to remember"

THE METRO

Today I met up with my new friend Maggie and we went to the Hunting Museum in the Marais (more on that in a moment). Afterwards we got on the metro to go home. I knew the metro can be pretty bad when it's crowded, but little did I know that I had not truly experienced this Parisian rite of passage.

When boarding a crowed metro train, people revert to what can only be described as a Lord-of-the-Flies-anything-goes mentality, and any shred of civilized society is forgotten as they shove their way on. The signal that the doors are about to close sounds, the last frantic stragglers squeeze in, and we hear the curses of those unfortunate souls left behind to wait for the next train. And so the uncomfortable ride begins. At one stop, a sweet-looking old man in a plaid scarf  and a newsboy cap literally shoves me out of the way as he gets off. We are pushed further into the car as more people get on, and as we start moving again, I am forced to seize the arm of a complete stranger to avoid falling to my death (by embarrassment). We near the stop where Maggie and I will part ways, but we are in the middle of the car and I need to get to the door. I make eye contact with a man who asks me if I want to get off and I say yes. "Ce n'est pas possible" he replies with a grim smile. The train stops and I am in fact able to squeeze my way off, but my adventure is not yet over. I still need to make my way to the connecting line that will take me home. Never have I been in such a crowded place where every person you see looks as though they will never be happy again. Not to mention the fact that most people are trying to get ON the train. And so, like a lonely salmon, I make my way upstream in a river of despair. There is a scream and a commotion to my right as someone gets caught in the relentlessly closing doors. My jacket gets caught on a woman's purse and for a moment I think she might kill me right there. I get trapped between two double-baby strollers. At last the crowd thins as I make my way up some stairs and I am able to get onto my next train. As I climb the stairs up to the street at my local stop, I feel as though I have never felt air so clean and refreshing.

This unfortunate experience was not enough to ruin my day though. As I said before, I payed a visit to the Hunting Museum, where I got in for free with my student id card. Taxidermy, beautiful paintings of animals, and antique hunting rifles mixed inexplicably with a few modern pieces. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my kind of place.

Cloudy day at Place de la Concorde

Passage du Grand Cerf

Upon learning about my extremely limited knitting skills, my roommates asked me if i could teach them how to knit a scarf. Of course, knitting requires needles and yarn, so after class on Monday, we set out to find the first yarn store I found on google, hilariously called Lil Weasel. Unfortunately, once we got there, we learned that it's closed on Mondays. It also looked like it might be a bit on the expensive side, so we'll likely be taking our yarn business elsewhere. On the bright side, it was located in this cool shopping arcade full of some trendy-looking little shops that seemed like it would be worth coming back to poke around. Not to mention how pretty it was! One of the things I love about Paris is that even places like this little passageway have architectural interest and history behind them.

Obligatory pictures of my apartment

Here is our living room area - sorry it's kind of dark

On the other side of the living room is the dining area

Why, yes, my bedroom is pepto bismol pink. It sort of glows in the dark. But I still like it.

Our tiny kitchen where everything is miniature and you have to light the stove with a match. You might think that this is inconvenient, but I love it.

Today I rode the metro by myself for the first time and I felt really cool because I didn't have my roommates with me to speak English to, so for all anyone knew, I was just another French person. Also, I used my nifty new Passe Navigo, so I could just swipe it to get in instead of fumbling with all of my metro tickets.

I have my first class, History of Europe, today at 2. I'm hoping the improvement of French speaking skills will commence with the start of classes.

Today is somehow the first sunny day and at the same time the coldest day we've had so far

The sun rises so late, around 8

The view from my balcony. The sun and blue sky is misleading - it's actually so cold!

An outdoor market we found in a square next to a beautiful old church

Apologies for the lack of posts! It's been a pretty crazy first week here and I haven't really had my camera with me (a problem I hope to rectify), so I hope these few photos I took on my phone today will do. Last week there was a different orientation every day, including a tour of the my school, the Institut Catholique (or "le Catho" as people call it). Today we went to the Musee Luxembourg where there was a Cezanne exhibition. Then it was out to lunch where I had some pretty cheesy French onion soup. Then we went out exploring and eventually stumbled upon Notre Dame (you know, no big deal) and walked along the Seine. Tomorrow the plan is to go to the open-air market and then hit up the Louvre. We're trying to get the touristy things out of the way first so after that we can become real Parisians.

Keep calm and carry-on

After weeks of preparing, months of planning, and years of scheming, today I'm finally going to Paris. My flight isn't until 3:40 pm, so it's really odd to be hanging out at home like any other day. I suppose it won't feel real until I'm actually there. Anywho, I've got my carry-on all ready to go: a copy o Bossypants (which it has taken everything in me to not start reading), umbrella, gloves and hat because apparently it's raining in Paris, my totally cool flip phone, and my laptop with episodes of Downton Abbey downloaded and ready to watch. Now I just need to find something to do with myself until it's time to go!