Over then Seine & through Luxembourg to Sorbonne I go!

By far my favorite thing about living in Paris so far are all the amazing sites I get to causualy walk by daily. I go to three different campuses here, for various classes. Which means I walk A LOT. My favorite part of the day is walking from my phonétique (my phonetics class where I learn how to say thing how real french people do, while wearing a funny head-set that makes me feel like i'm in Top Gun), to my french class. I walk through Luxembourg to Sorbonne, then to get home I walk across the Seine past Notra Dame to my train station. So amazing. Oh yeah, on the way home I get a sucre et beurre crepe everyday with Lee. So bad, but SO good.

"Tower, this is Ghost rider requesting a flyby."

G A Y Paris

One of the classes i'm taking is gay Paris. Of course I would take this. Lots of fun. My two favorite GB- Boyfriends are in the class with me. Last week we went on a field trip through the Gay district of Paris- Le Marais. I swear i'm never going to find a boyfriend if I keep hanging out in these areas. First the Castro, then Marais!


Matt spacing out as usual;)
Gay book shop- home of the largest penis book.

My room

Going from having my own room, to sharing a room with three other girls was an adjustment. The rooms are loft style and Aly and I share the top. It's SO small, but we've managed to make it work.
Yes, I have a cat laundry hamper. The only one they sold at Monoprix.

Concerts

Show wish list:

*Jenny Lewis
*The Faint
*Futureheads
*Katy Perry
*Daniel Johnston
*Conor Oberst
*Festival Des Inrock: MGMT, She & Him, CSS, Hot Chip, Black Kids, Cut Copy, etc.
*Lykke Li
*Of Montreal
*Vampire Weekend
* The Dodos!!
*Ratata

& of course lots & lots of lovely local musiq.


Oh, my favorite ladies new song Acid Tounge leaked!!!

Sorbonne

I made it through my first week in Paris! Though I'm not fully adjusted to the time difference (mainly because we've been staying out till 3 every night), I'm feeling comfortable with my surroundings & loving the people i've met so far. On Thursday all the kids that are taking French at Sorbonne had to go down to the school to take our placement test. We all piled into a bus and then were shoved into a charming old classroom to take our exam. Most of the kids were nervous, because they have to place into certain levels for their university, thankfully for me I KNEW I was going to place fairly low;) As soon as the professor walked into the room she started speaking French & continued to through the test. I made it through the first half, then decided to write "I do not speak French" on my exam and turned it in. I am now in beginners French at Sorbonne. Yippee! The school is such a beautiful old building. There are tons of French students around, lots of cafes & book stores. I'm really excited to start class next week. I've been in search for a bike to buy while living here, so I can ride to school. San Francisco bike incident aside I think i'll be fine on a cruiser bike with a basket leisurely riding to school. We also found out the other day that we get to participate in a graduation ceremony once we are through with our Sorbonne program. How nerdy!! They lend us robes and we get to walk as if we were graduating from the school, except we will just receive our French language certificate. I think they are just trying to make the American students feel special. I thought that everyone that signed up through CEA (the program I'm abroad with) was going to Sorbonne, but it turns out only about 20 of us are, so I feel pretty special to be getting to study at such a historic university.

Les Refuge Des Fondu

Before I left for Paris I did my best to get tips from people who had lived or traveled in Paris on all the underground places to go out to. Many of you being the world travelers you are, had such detailed advice to give, down to the metro stop to get off of! While in Paris i've been luck to meet some great people including two guys on the program who speak French beautifully, but also who have lived in paris before. Matt & Lee are keeping me 'hip' to all the off the beaten path palces in Paris. With my new found friend and knowledge Aly, Matt, Noah & I headed over to the Montmartre to eat at a quirky little Fondu Restaurant: Les Refuge Des Fondue. The restaurant is hidden on a tiny little street, at capacity the place probably fits 24 max & there are two rows of family style tables, so in order to get to the seats by the wall you have to step on the table to get to it! The man running the place is a character. He was flirting with all the girls & insists that only women sit along the wall (I'm presuming this is so he can hold your hand to help you over). Once we sat down we were greeted and given our apéritif. Following that you had a choice of meat or cheese Fondu and then they brought you over red or white bottles of wine. We chose cheese & red wine. It was hilarious. I was worried when I was told we would be drinking wine out of baby bottles that I would have a hard time sucking it out, but they had cut bigger holes in the bottle. They wanted to ensure A) that you wouldn't be spilling everywhere B) you were getting very drunk. I think more B than A though. After dinner we walked up the road to the Sacré-Coeur to go see the church. You had to walk up what seemed like a million stairs to get the the church. Aly and I were wearing high heels & definitely had worked off all of our Fondu meal by the time we finally got there. The church was SO beautiful, but the view of the entire city was even more breath taking. There are stairs right in front of the church where everyone comes to sit, drink, eat & more importantly take in the beautiful view. We brought a bottle of wine, which is cheaper than water in Paris & at the local stores they will open for you before you leave the store (although I was told by our program that you kinda look homeless if you drink it out of the bottle, I'm thinking of getting a wine glass to carry around instead!)There was a guy with his guitar and amp set up in front of the steps, who treated everyone to his renditions of REM, Nirvana, The Counting Crows. We all engaged in a Nirvana sing along and passed the wine around. I'm not sure i San Francisco will be the same after this trip;)

j


Pre-passing out in the cab, with his eyes open???

The tables where so close, we think they resorted to serving wine out of bottles to save themselves from the clean up.

All proper french meals start with a apéritif!

out & about