The End of January

Today we woke up to a beautiful day in Paris! It is sunny and 40 degrees (much better than 30). Brianna and I walked to our local farmers market which is about 10 minutes away at Place Monge. Our farmers market is pretty big- there are lots of vendors (as long as I wake up before noon). I bought some nice gruyere today at the Fromagerie at the market. I also bought some homemade paella which was delicious- it had fresh mussels, clams, shrimp, and chicken in it. The guy was nice and gave it to me for 5 Euro instead of 7!

My Paella!

I stopped at my favorite local bakery on the way home to pick up a croissant to paint. I am taking a painting course and my homework was to paint a pastry and then to eat it! (I had no problem with the second part.)

Tonight I was going to see Up In the Air with Katherine but it was sold out so we went to this cute cafe and got Chai Lattes (4 Euros- Katherine and I seem to have a new habit of drinking very expensive drinks!) at L'Imprévu. It was worth it though. The cafe turns into a gay bar at night! Speaking of delicious food/drink that I have eaten recently--- Katherine took me to this place that serves chocolate mousse like ice cream (with a scooper into a paper cone). They have really nice gourmet chocolate and there are a few different types of chocolate. It was so delicious- but so rich, the little scoop that I got was practically enough for lunch!

Brianna & Katherine at Place Vosges (a beautiful park and palace) in Le Marais

These past few days have been for shopping because it is the end of January which means the end of sales until July. I bought boots and a few other things! Which means no shopping for a long long while... We recently discovered a market called Picard which has only frozen food. It surprisingly is very delicious- and cheap! They have everything from soup to double cheeseburgers to Thai shrimp stir fry. It will be nice to have a cheaper option for dinner that doesn't involve cooking!

Classes are going well. Ruth comes from London to visit on Wednesday so I am very excited for that! Perhaps I will be more diligent with the picture-taking when she comes so that I can post them to the blog.

Spring Break!

I just booked my Spring Break! I am going to Morocco (Marrakesh and Casablanca), Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. I'm very excited! It will be a hectic 2.5 weeks, but I've never been to any of those places (except Barcelona) so it will be an exciting experience.

I just bought an 11 dollar hot chocolate!

I realize that all my posts have to do with how expensive Paris is, but seriously, a 7 euro hot chocolate? It was at a cafe, Angelina, that is known for its hot chocolate so I had to get it- but still! It is in a Patisserie book that Brianna has (and I am obsessed with), so I want to try at least one of their recommendations each week. Katherine and I went to Angelina today and then walked around the Tuilerie Gardens afterwards. It is pretty gray in Paris this week because of the rain. I hope it warms up soon!

Classes started last week and so far they have been good. I don't have classes on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Tuesdays during the day so that is nice! It gives me time to visit museums or get homework done. I'm considering applying to babysit a few times this semester to make a little extra cash. I am taking American Fiction, Painting, the Art of Screenwriting, and a Publication course. They all seem fairly interesting (minus the Fiction course because I've read a majority of the texts, but I have to take it for course credit). It is weird having homework when I am abroad because it does not feel like I am at school!

On Friday, I walked around Le Marais with Katherine and Bri. We got one of the best falafels I have ever had! It had cabbage, eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, and this spicy sauce on it and it was the best combination of flavors (who would have that eggplant and falafel?). Later that night we had a back to school party at a club in the 9th. It was a lot of fun! The problem with night life in Paris is that the metro closes so early (1215 weekdays and 1am on weekends). I lucked out by finding a night bus but usually they aren't convenient and taxis are way too expensive/ impossible to find on busy nights.

I have been a bit lazy with taking pictures, but I promise to take some soon because pictures are more fun to see than reading my long blog entries. I stole this from a friend, but this is a group of people we met here in front of the Eiffel Tower at night! I'm rocking my giant puffy coat that my mom forced me to bring..

The Euro is Killing Me!

After one week in Paris, I am starting to realize how broke I am going to be by June. Everything is so expensive! At first it doesn't seem so pricey because I am looking at the price in Euros, but after I multiply it by 1.5 it is not so cheap.

The government requires by law that no sales happen in any month other than January or July (that includes clearance racks!). So, I have justified shopping in January because I have to soak up all of the sales before everything gets more expensive. Even with sales, the clothes are so expensive. Brianna and I have tried to examine the style of the Parisian girls so we can imitate it, but I don't think I can pull any of it off! We'll see..

I tried grocery shopping yesterday, and it took me 1 hour to find less than 10 things. Our freezer is small so I can't buy a lot because it will go bad, so I have to buy a little at a time. The grocery store was very confusing and made no sense at all to me. I was looking for Mayonnaise so I found a shelf with this Mayo-Mustard sauce, but no Mayo was there. Of course, it was on the other side of the grocery store because the French don't believe in convenience! Speaking of which- I have come to realize that the French just do whatever they feel like it no matter how inconvenient it is for other people. For example, they don't pick up their dog poop. Every side walk is covered in it. They park their cars in the middle of the sidewalk (literally, the middle of it). They will just cut in line or shove you to the side to get onto the metro. I think this is something I'll have to get used to. Besides that, the French can actually be very nice (despite their reputation). They are putting up with my horrible French (usually with one word out of my mouth they know that I am American and they start speaking English). They are very amused by Americans - we get asked a lot about Beer Pong...

This week, I have been going to Orientation activities and exploring Paris. Today, I tried to go to a market, Fallafel place, and the Picasso Museum but of course, all were closed! (Things in Paris are closed a lot- particularly on Sundays and Mondays). I found a yummy Jewish deli though and I ate extremely overpriced food ( I didn't realize until after I had ordered). I wandered around Le Marais, which is the Jewish Gay part of town. It is a fun part of town because there are a bunch of cobblestone streets and chic vintage shops.

School starts on Monday, but I am kind of excited to get into a routine and to see if I like my classes.

Arrival in Paris!

Hello All!

I am writing this blog to keep everyone updated on my time in Paris. I am here for 5 months (until June), so I will try to write a few posts every week!

After one of the most hectic days of traveling, I arrived in Paris. It is possibly the most beautiful city in the world! I am in awe everywhere I go because of the old buildings and beautiful streets, as well as the extremely well dressed people. We arrived when it was snowing (which apparently is rare in Paris) and it was so pretty! The snow has melted now. This week is orientation so every day I go to a number of activities preparing us for the American University of Paris as well as Paris itself. I've been trying to explore a bit when I am not at orientation. So far, I have checked out "Le Marais" which is a fun shopping district (I did not buy anything because the Euro-Dollar ratio is ridiculous). Today, I went to Rue Mouffetard which has a street market. I bought an extremely delicious lunch and fortunately this market is only a 5 min. walk from my apartment.

The apartment is adorable! But in true French fashion, something breaks every day. So far, our heater has broken, two lights, a door fell off, and our internet is not working. It's quite frustrating to say the least, but besides that the apartment is very cute. Here are some pics:

Our kitchen ,counter, cabinets, and shelves

Dining Room, couch/extra bed, and "living room"

Coat Rack, Scarf Rack, and Closet
Bathroom CounterShower/Washing Machine
Drawers, Fireplace, in Bedroom
My Bed! and side of room
Bri and my Bedroom w/ desk in middle

That's our apartment! It's nice having a roommate (most students here live alone), so thank goodness I have Brianna. We live in the 5th arrondissement which is the Latin Quarter and a big student area. We live across the street from a park, and our apartment is in a little complex with a cute courtyard. All in all, the location/apartment is a success. Besides the 45 min. commute to school.... But we have unlimited monthly metro cards and the metro system is so convenient here. I've never had to wait longer than 3 min. for the metro!

I am in food heaven. You really can't go wrong with any restaurant here. School (which is in the 7th across the street from the Eiffel Tower) is conveniently near 1000's of restaurants and cafes so I will be spending a lot of my time there!