vive la france

the french know how to spend their tax money. i'll say. 

basically bastille day festivities include some of my favorite life moments. ummm where to begin?? 

we began "celebrating" at around five on monday. us americans taught the french what it means to "pre-game." we ate food and drank wine for a few hours and then headed out to le bal des pompiers, or firemen's ball, if you will. i didn't get home until around 4. 

here's how it works:

every arrondissemont throws a major bastille day bash the night before as well as the night of bastille day. the party is run by the firemen of the arrondissemont--they get to play bartender for the night--and they have live music, a major crowd, and lots and lots of booze. a good combination for a good time. i will say that the cover band playing had some interesting selections. at one point i heard a shania twain song with a mild french accent... ??? everyone from my program was there (we went to the one in the 11th) and we were all just dancing together having a good time and meeting people. all in all a perfect night :)

the next day was recovery day. sat around... watched the fireworks... came back... and it was back to reality :(

class the next day. essay due. i have a midterm tomorrow and an oral exam friday... ouch. what to do what to do? 

exciting news: i have a visitor coming this weekend!! my german exchange sister, anja, is coming down to Paris for a fun little holiday (as they call it here). wonder what we'll be up to? 

gooey goodness

I just bought some peanut butter at the Monoprix. For 6 euro. The night before Bastille Day.

Getting a little nostalgic. BUT I'm so pumped for Bastille Day that my American pride has been overridden. Festivities start tonight AND we have off from school tomorrow. Apparently the fire works at the Eiffel Tower are supposed to be amazing this year because its the 120 anniversary of the structure. We're going to check out the fireman's ball as well... not so sure what that means exactly, but I'll let y'all know when i find out :)

bam bam

woo haven't posted in a while. everyone seemed to enjoy the last post quite a bit though :)

let's see... where did i leave off? the juice box wine was for a birthday festivity on tuesday... just to explain that. 

i went to the ballet on wednesday... "la fille mal gardée." i enjoyed it because i enjoy ballet in all ways possible. though i do believe the best ballet you can get is in america. the national opera house kind of stole the show. it's probably the most beautiful building i have ever been inside. every thing was gold and marble and red velvet. 

i had visitors on thursday night! some friends from wimberley were passing through paris and we hung out for a bit. we went to this AWESOME jazz club in the latin quarter called "caveau des oubliettes" aaaaaaand it was probably the coolest place i've been to. you walk in and its this tiny room with a staircase. so then you descend this staircase into (literally) a dungeon of jazz. it's small but there's room. free admission but you have to buy a drink.. no complaints there. will definitely be going back.

friday we hung out in the marais again. it's always exciting. went into a neat cafe called cafe richards... mismatched leather chairs and wooden tables with posters--vintage and new--covering the walls. love. 

TODAY we went to a flea market in theee... 9th? 10th? i don't know.. no man's land really. but it  blew my mind. like... this was the real deal kind of flea market. vintage chanel jackets and such, old photographs, and tea sets galore. legit. couldn't buy anything because i was so overwhelmed because everything was so incredible. will be going back there again as well. 

so basically i'm still doing cool things in paris. what do you know? 

real low

i went went to a whole new level, tonight. 

juice box wine. yep. 

mmmm paris

i went to the pompidou after class today... it's always quite lovely. the view from the top of the skeletal building is amazing. to your right, sacre-coeur; to your left, le tour eiffel and notre dame; strait in front of you, la defense. and of course the art is incredible. matisse, picasso, calder, modigliani, chagall, etc, etc. 

here's a kupka i really liked:

there's a really (supposedly) nice calder and kandinsky exhibit there right now... i'd wanted to go to the calder exhibit when it was at the whiteny but never had the chance. i'll have to go back soon. 

i must apologize for the lack of pictures on this blog. it's not that i'm not posting them... it's that i'm not taking them... at least not on my digital camera. i find that constantly shooting pictures at what you see keeps you from actually seeing things and experiencing them. but i have been taking out geoff's old canon film camera. learning has been fun--though i completely ruined my first roll of film. it's all in the experience. 

yesterday was lovely as well. a big group of us organized a picnic at le parc floral on the very eastern side of paris. they have a jazz festival there every sunday so we thought we'd go check it out. wine, cheese, baguette, nutella, and jazz. doesn't get better than that. 

must go find a sandwich to eat for dinner. it's CARBS galore here in paris. i'm not complaining. 

i do stuff

oooh my goodness where to start?? 

so i've finished my first week of classes... they were very nice. mmm i have a quiz on monday and an essay due tuesday. things are moving quickly and i like it so far. only 8 people are in my class. 

there's this place we've been going for lunch after class... a baguette sandwich, a drink, and dessert for 5.50 euro. their bread is made fresh and they have reeeeeallly great macaroons. i've probably eaten one macaroon a day since i've started classes... probably not such a good pattern. 

went shopping in the marais yesterday!!!! such good vintage. i looooove the marais. everyting looks so classic, great shopping, and amazing falafel. good combo. 

last night i went out to this club called "showcase" located under a bridge on the champs-élysées. it was a veryyyy... "unce-unce-unce" type of club.. definitely an experience that needed to be had. i fit in with the europeans when i dance. i'm more of just.. an arbitrary ass shaker. it's not really based on any sort of beat or direction.... idk trust me it works. 

ummm just went to versaille today... ya know. we didn't get to go inside :( but the gardens were beautiful and the fountains were running. i sipped some versaille-made jus d'orange as we canoed in the pond. THAT was an experience. we basically had no idea what we were doing and just canoed in circles for like half an hour as we recited fake poetry and pretended to be romantic. 

but seriously, after today... my feet are about to quite this bitch. 

tonight? toninght? 4th of july baby!! we're heading to an irish pub for some good old american nostalgia. i'll update you guys again soon. 

and so classes begin...

yesterday was my first day of class and i have the COOLEST teacher ever. his name is Yasser and he's Egyptian but he speaks english, french, and arabic fluently. he has a crazy curly afro, a curled up mustache and he always wears wingtips. my class is extremely small... only 8 people. perfect for learning. so far i have a grand tradition of french professors who like to incorporate celebrities into the french dialogue and activities :)

the school itself is gorgeous... on the right bank across from the Tour Eiffel, it's a 19th century town house with a little courtyard

this is a bird's eye view i found on google

went to my first parisian night club last night... it was a blast. on a tuesday night. the people in charge of the dorms i'm staying in threw us a party last night also... the head cook made us quiche and hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. it was amazing.

i'm loving how "together" this program is. like everyone in the program does things together. i mean we all get up together, go to class together, etc. it feels very connected and friendly. all the people i've met so far have been awesome. it's going to be a great month and a half.