Montparnasse, le Quartier Latin, and some food!

Well, it has been an extremely busy past two days. I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I am pretty much settled down in the apartment. I'm figuring out my host family's schedule, and getting to know them. We get along really well. (In my opinion, at least). All my suitcases are put away, and in a weird way it almost feels like I've always been here, or that Paris is strangely familiar. Maybe that's just because I've been here before, haha. Or maybe it's because since my level of French is a LOT better, things seem less foreign and overwhelming. I think already I've been mistaken for French, or at least a native French speaker, which is a mega-win in my book. Anyway. About yesterday.

Tuesday, September 11th

Today we discussed finances, and received our "Cartes Bleus", which are our Visa credit cards for our French bank. Pretty boring, since it basically functions the same. Except for there are a lot more account numbers to memorize. Also, I learned that in French culture the subject of money is very taboo. You never discuss with the people what things cost, how much you make, etc. This has a lot to do with the distinction between the new and old rich, la nouvelle riche et la noblesse. For lunch that day, we went to a "creperie", or crepe restaurant, in the section of Montparnasse (which is in turn a section of Paris), that has a history of hosting immigrants from Bretagne. This is because the train station from Bretagne to Paris is located in this quarter, so they just hopped off the trains and set up shops right away, I guess. Anyway, I forgot my camera at the office, so I couldn't take a picture of the food. :(. I know it gives you away as an American right away, but I don't care. It's too fun. Plus I've had several requests to take pictures of the food I eat. For my entree, I had a traditional crepe from Bretagne, "une crepe bretonne", that had sausage, tomatoes and cheese in it. For this type of crepe, which is known as savory, the flour is buckwheat flour, and actually the crepe itself is called "une galette". For dessert I had an actual "crepe", which is made of the whiter flour because it's sweet. I also chose a traditional "crepe bretonne", which was just caramel and salted butter. I'm pretty sure I have a couple cavities now. Whatever. After lingering around for awhile, since the French take a lunch of at least an hour, we had another group session at the Tufts office then when on a sort of scavenger hunt through Montparnasse. The scavenger hunt was to help us discover the restaurants and useful stores in the area, and also to teach us valuable Parisian life skills. For instance, when you order a cup of coffee here, your are actually just ordering an espresso. As I understand it, there is virtually no way to order a real "American" cup of coffee. I don't care, since I hate coffee, but I find that interesting. Also, depending on the cafe and its location (near the tourist district, off the beaten path, etc), drinks and meals will cost more or less. In addition, depending on the place you choose to enjoy your beverage in the cafe (at the counter, standing up, outside on the terrace), the drink will cost a different price. The more the server has to walk, the more expensive it is. Makes sense. However, you never have to tip in France because it's already included in the bill, which makes life a lot easier. After regrouping at a cafe, where I had a hot chocolate that really lived up to its name (I'm pretty sure it was just melted chocolate), we were done for the day, so some friends and I decided to explore. We attempted to visit the Cemetery of Montparnasse, where many famous writers are buried, such as Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Samuel Beckett, but it closed at 6pm, so we were too late. I did get to use one of the self-cleaning public toilets, however, which are basically a really large, cylindrical port-a-potty that has an actual toilet and you can use it for 20 minutes for free. Then afterwards it cleans the floor and the toilet and everything for a couple minutes by itself. Truly magical. I then returned to the apartment for dinner, which is at 8pm here. I got lost for about 20 minutes on exiting the subway, even though my house is literally 4 minutes from the station. AND I had a map. I'll blame that on the jet lag. For dinner we had duck with carrots and potatoes and then afterward cheese and baguette and for dessert coffee flavored ice cream. The French really do it in courses here. I got used to that working at Lac du Bois, so it didn't surprise me too much.

Wednesday, September 12th

Here are just some of the pictures I took today. We began at L'Hotel de Ville (city Hall) of the fourth arrondissement, which is at the center of Paris. We then did a walking tour of the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, which is for students, intellectuals and artists. We also saw Notre Dame, many colleges of the Sorbonne, ate at a Resto-U, basically a cafeteria for universities in France, and if you are a student you have access to all the Resto-U's in France. They aren't attached to the colleges, because there really are no campuses, but can be found throughout the city. For 3 euros and 10 cents you can get a complete meal plus dessert! We also walked through the Luxembourg Gardens, such the Luxembourg Palace, which is also the Senate, and then after the tour I went with a friend to the Arc du Triomphe.

 I see this obelisk on my way to the metro. It is a monument for the French soldiers that died in WWI and WWII.

 This is my street, Rue Berteaux Dumas. It's pretty snazzy.

This is the door to my apartment building, number 15. I haven't counted yet, but I know there are at least 6 floors.

This is the Hotel de Ville, where our group met this morning.

This is a typical place where one can buy breakfast, lunch and snacks. Some popular chains are Pomme de Pain and Brioche Doree. 

This is the view when crossing from the right bank to the left. In the middle is one of the islands in the Seine. 

This is part of a bridge. Apparently, the tradition is for lovers to leave padlocks on the grate inscribed with notes or their names. When the light hits the padlocks, it looks like the bridge is made of gold. 

When we were crossing the bridge I saw this boat on the Seine that looked cool. I guess there's a little restaurant on it. 

This, obviously, is Notre Dame, aka Quasimodo's house. In front of the cathedral there is also a plaque that marks the square as the "center'" of Paris. That means that when distance is calculated from anywhere else to Paris, they use that plaque est the end point. 

I'm pretty sure this is the Palace of Justice, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned, tried, and sentenced to death during the Revolution. It operated as the revolutionary tribunal for two years.

This is the door to a theater in the Latin Quarter that has played the same two plays by Eugene Ionesco for over 50 years. Ionesco is known as one of the famous playwrights of the Theater of the Absurd. 

This is the oldest tree in Paris. It was planted in 1602. 

This is the oldest restaurant in Paris. Apparently, when Ben Franklin was diplomat to France he ate here. 

This is one side of the inner courtyard of one of the buildings of Sorbonne. As you can see, a lot nicer than Tufts. No offense.

This is the other side of the same courtyard.

This is a view of the Palais du Luxembourg, which is also the Senate building. In France, these buildings are closed to the public except for one weekend every year. 

It's a tradition in the Luxembourg Gardens for little kids to bring/rent little boats and then push them around the fountains with a big stick. This child is doing just that. 

This is me (back right) and other Americans (minus Paul who is taking the photo), at a cafe in Montparnasse. We're so French!

This is the view of the Arc du Triomphe upon exiting the Metro. 

When we arrived, there was some sort of ceremony going on with a lot of generals, soldiers, and official looking people. From what I gathered (while dodging a super angry pigeon that kept swooping at the crowd and actually tried to nest in some guy's hair), they were honoring the French soldiers that died in the American Revolution. Apparently they have ceremonies like this all the time. 

This is the fish we ate for dinner. Notice that the cook the whole entire fish, and then Monsieur (my host father) removed all the meat and most of the bones. We then put lemon juice on it. And I don't have a picture of it, but before the fish we each ate half on avocado with vinaigrette on it. Better than I thought it would be. 

This was my dinner plate for the entree. To the left are potatoes, and the little red thing is this type of mini-tomato that Monsieur grows in his garden. 

Ok, sorry that was super duper long, but I had lots to say. I'll try to update after this weekend, should have lots more good pictures. Until then, happy reading! :) 

So this is what a French bedroom looks like

Well, against all odds, I finally made it to PARIS! This is, of course, after my re-booked flight itinerary from Chicago to Dallas to London to Paris was changed again. This time, I was actually on the plane ready to depart, and then there was another series of 30 minute delays (never a good sign, I have learned), and then it was announced that the plane was out of service because of a leak in the engine or something. So that means, in a 24 hour period I managed to be booked on two separate American Airlines planes that both had engine problems. Guess which airline I'm never flying again? Anyway, after that I realized I would miss my connecting flight from Dallas to London anyway, so once again, my amazing parents came to the rescue and booked me on a direct flight from Chicago to London leaving at 9 pm. After a minor breakdown at O'Hare and some finagling to get my bags switched over to my flight, I finally got to cross the Atlantic and see  the movie Mirror, Mirror (most of it without sound, though, as I couldn't find the little headphone jack thing.) But anyway, I got to London at 10am UK time, but what my body thought was some ungodly hour. I then took an uneventful flight to Paris (the Brits really know what they're doing when it comes to transportation logistics), and finally met up with someone from the Tufts program. Whew! From there, I took a rather bewildered, sweaty taxi ride to the Tufts University offices, which are close to the Tour de Montparnasse, if you know what that is. I didn't. On the drive over I also got to see a really great view of the Eiffel Tower. At the offices, I got to meet all the other fantastic full-year students, most of whom I had not met before. Luckily, I only missed about 2 hours of orientation, and was in time to hear the presentation on politeness and how to eat and cut cheese. Apparently, I'm really going to have to work on more fundamental skills than I thought. Obviously, I need to improve my speaking, but there's also the way I hold my hands at the dinner table (it's impolite to keep the under the table), the way I eat (aka, using a knife like a real adult person), and how to hold a wine glass (I'll give myself some slack with this one, since I don't actually drink wine). But cultural differences like this fascinate me, so I'm more than willing to play along and see what being French is really like. Then we got to try a bunch of different French cheeses, and my all-time favorite, Roquefort, was there, so I was pleased. I couldn't eat a lot though, as some combination of an infernally hot room, jet lag, and some weird British Airways Italian food had made my stomach more than a little queasy. After chatting with the other students and directors, and realizing my French has improved a lot since I came to France as a 16 year old, it was time for me to go to my host family's house. The housing director for the Tufts program drove me there in her car, so I got to go on a really nice tour of Paris and hear all of her advice. And no, it is by no means an exaggeration when people say that there are a ton of roundabouts in France, the cars are small, and the streets are narrow. The woman driving me said that in Paris, one has to drive a little bit like one is a Formula 1 racer. I agree. On the way over, I found out that my host family's house is within walking distance of the Arc du Triomphe and a bunch of other cool places that  I hope to visit shortly. After getting my giant bags into a tiny elevator and up to the second floor, I finally met my host father, Jean, and my host mother, Beatrice. They are the nicest people, have hosted 11 other exchange students, and have the neatest apartment. I will include more pictures of it later. Those you see at the top are of my bedroom after I had invaded it, and the little bathroom that his attached. The room looks directly out onto another apartment building. But it's a really pretty building. After showering off the grime of four different airports and four different airplanes, I sat down to chat with my family about house rules and such. Jean is retired and Beatrice does charity work, and they have 4 grown children and I think 6 grandchildren (all boys!) with two more on the way. For my first French meal of the year (sorry I don't have pictures!!!) we had mini tomatoes from Jean's garden, baguette (naturally), and a meaty/vegetable-y spread (of which the name escapes me). For the main course we had delicious, salty chicken with a brothy sort of sauce, and a little casserole of zucchini and and creme fraiche. Then we finished up the meal with cheese and more baguette, and some fruit. Yum. Or as the French say, "miam miam". Well, I should be getting to bed as I'm meeting some people at the Metro station at 10am to go to the office together for more orientation. But, I can say that it's amazing and kind of surreal to finally be in Paris, and I can't wait for it to become my second hometown! Bonne nuit, tout le monde!

The best laid plans of foreign exchange students...

Well, as you may have realized I am not flying over the Atlantic, enjoying in-flight movies and mediocre meals. Instead, I am in a hotel in Chicago eating a dinner of almonds and watching some show about life inside a Colorado prison on MSNBC. Why am I here? Well, let me tell you. I left Minneapolis this morning feeling pretty good. As you can see in the photo, I am bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to take on the world. Going through security was a breeze, my bags were under the weight limit, there was no sign of inclement weather, I felt golden. On my flight from Minneapolis to Chicago, I sat next to a really nice girl from the University of Minnesota who was on her way to an internship at an architectural firm in India. As she told me about her convoluted flight plan and long layovers, I thanked the airline gods for having given me a near-direct flight, and that I was going to a place where I (more-or-less) speak the language. As we said our goodbyes after disembarking, I strode confidently to the gate, knowing that in a few short hours I would be on a plane to a magnificent adventure. The first hint of trouble occurred when the airline announced that they had overbooked by four people, and thus needed four volunteers to delay their flight 24 hours and accept a $1,000 voucher for later travel plus hotel and meal vouchers. Little did I know how awesome that deal was. After several increasingly more desperate pleas, we were eventually told that all was well. Then the time for boarding came and went, and we were told that there was a slight delay because the plane had not yet arrived from its previous destination. Ok, I thought. That happens all the time. And I continued reading my book (The Well of Loneliness, by Radclyffe Hall, if you're wondering). Not really a great book for lifting the spirits, but that's neither here nor there. Then came an announcement that there was mechanical trouble with the plane. I felt a growing knot in my stomach, but ignored it. Nothing could ruin my high spirits. Then another announcement. This time, we were told that the problem was with the right engine, and that it was leaking. The representative said that they didn't yet know how serious the problem was, and that they would let us know in half an hour. I'm not a mechanic, but I'm pretty sure engine problems are serious. Especially is this engine is trying to keep a massive metal thing and 300 people in the air for an extended period of time. This charade went on for a few more half hours, at which point I began to worry. We were then told that at at 7:30 they would "make a decision". Then they said 7:45. Right about this time, I saw the flight crew leave with all of their baggage. Ever hopeful, I thought that maybe another airplane could be found, our flight could be re-booked, and that somehow I could arrive at the airport in Paris only a few hours late, or even in time to meet the group flight. After a few frantic phone calls to my parents, and some more anxious waiting, the verdict was announced. The flight was cancelled, and all 300 passengers would have to wait in line for 8 airline representatives to re-book their flight and receive hotel and meal vouchers. Now seriously concerned, I ran as fast as I could to one of the lines where I met some really great people, which helped keep my spirits up. While waiting in line, my wonderful parents were able to secure a place for me on another flight, though I'm now going through Dallas and London before Paris, will be arriving at a different airport, and will be about 36 hours late and miss one day of orientation. So, after lugging 150 pounds of luggage across the width of O'Hare airport, across three taxi lanes and onto a bus, here I am. At the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, not so much bright-eyed or bushy-tailed, but still determined as ever to get myself to Paris anyway possible, and to finally start the adventure of a lifetime.