Salut, mes amis. I've arrived in Paris, France yesterday at about noon. Plane ride over was good minus the sick French baby behind me crying the whole time. French babies' voices are higher and whinier than regular, American babies. I also set next to a French couple who had kept making irritating kissy sounds. Other than the ride was smooth and I got to watch The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was actually pretty funny despite being a Wes Anderson movie. We also watched Marley and Me in French, during which I bawled despite not being able to understand most of it. Yes, my friends I can't really speak French which has made this journey even more interesting. You see, I took French high school and I was actually considered pretty good at it. I even got awards for the highest grade in the class. But I never really learned to actually speak it. Sure I can read and understand some of it but speaking has never been my forte. I can barely speak English, let alone French. Which is why I took in Latin in college rather than continuing French. And while the language of the Romans has given me plenty of verbs for "to kill" and interesting Roman sexual terms, it made the little French I remembered even worse. I can hardly remember to "est" as "ay". It comes out like "est" as in Est Est Est Pizza. Anyway, moral of the story, I sound like an idiot when I try to speak French. Luckily, I haven't really had to speak much French because most people know at least a little English. And I think they appreciate my efforts to trying to speak French, much like my French teacher, Madame Fiory, who gave my A's for effort in the oral part of my grade.. You're probably thinking if you don't know French why did you go to Paris? Well it's always been my dream to go Paris, since I was little and watched the Josephine Baker Story on Lifetime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmw5eGh888Y So I came here to take a history course on 17-18th century French history where it all actually happened. It's going to be really cool.
So. Paris. It's a beautiful, beautiful city. Perhaps the most beautiful place I've ever been to, well not even perhaps. I live on the Paris campus of St. John's University (yes, the one in Queens) and there are nuns, crucifixes and Jesus pictures everywhere. Feels like high school again...or like I'm in a Madeline book. It's located in a really cool part of Paris called the Left Bank, which has lots of restaurants, shops, cafes and stores. It was once of Paris' intellectual centers, Hemingway and Satre used to chill here quite a bit. Since I just got here I haven't seen much of it but I've walked around a bit today. Here are some things I've noticed so far.
1. There are restaurants everywhere. Literally, everywhere. You can't walk 10 feet without stepping over people eating or drinking. I don't know the French stay so thin. There's also wine or beer everywhere. Just about every restaurant, even McDonald's. Does one really need a beer with their Big n' Tasty? I doubt it.
2. Things are expensive here. The average dinner at a decent restaurant around here is between 30-60 euros. Most time, higher. Fortunately, there are lots of cheap options. This nutella, banana and coconut crepe was only about 3 euro which is about $5. I think... but it was tasty and huge. There are also a surprising amount of Chinese food restaurants...Japanese too. They're more expensive than the Panda Kitchens back home.
3. Parisians are pretty stylish. even when they're walking their dogs and look as though they haven't showered in days.
Well that's all I have for now. Adieu.
