Latest adventures

Classes are going reasonably well - I can understand most of the lectures, though I have some difficulty when I'm asked questions. Also, one of them has a 15-page final paper, which sounds extremely intimidating.

The 10th arrondissement is a nice area - my apartment is between the Opéra and the Canal St-Martin, which have a lot of shops and bars, and within walking distance of two Metro stations (Poissonière and Gare du Nord). I have a decent room, but it's difficult sharing space in the bathroom and kitchen with the couple hosting me; when I move into my permanent housing on Thursday, I'll have more space of my own, and there'll be a couple other American students living in the same apartment (though not from my program).

Places I've visited recently include:

Le Musee de l'Erotisme (link not safe for work) Kind of repetitive; some of the ancient art was interesting, as was an exhibit on the history of Paris brothels, but there are only so many dildos and vaginas one can look at without yawning.

La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur Beautiful building, at the top of a hill featuring possibly the most stunning vista in Paris; I actually saw a man propose to his girlfriend there, and I could hardly imagine a more appropriate place for it. I think she said yes, by the way.

Tea & Tattered Pages - excellent Anglophone used-book store. Bought a few books there, and met some more American students - it seems to have acquired a good reputation.

Photos here.

Addendum to the last post

1. I have no classes before 11h, which means I won't need to get up too early on the day I have that class (Monday/Lundi), even to compensate for the longish train ride from Poissoniere to Vavin.
2. It truly is amazing living in the heart of one of the greatest cities on earth, as opposed to having a more... erm... traditional college experience with more pubs and a silly accent.

My first week in Paris

This past Sunday, we arrived in Paris. We've been staying at the FIAP Jean Monnet, which is adequate, I suppose, though they charge ridiculous fees for things like Internet access and laundry. Tomorrow, I move into my appartment. More on that in a bit. My sort-of diary of what I've done this week, not covering the boring stuff:

Monday the 14th: We took a short cruise down the Seine, during most of which I was barely conscious. Got an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower, but stupidly, I forgot to bring my camera. Well, I'm here for close to four more months...
That night, I and some friends went out to a bar - a little hole-in-the-wall place called Le Crocodile, which serves an amazing variety of cocktails. My mango-flavored drink was a tad expensive, but delicious.
Tuesday the 15th: visited the Université Paris VII campus, where we have the option of taking classes. Quite frankly, it's a Goddamned architectural nightmare. Ugly ugly ugly.
Wednesday the 16th: the Centre Georges Pompidou, an absolutely fantastic modern art museum; they had a brilliant exhibit of art installations inspired by cinema. I need to go back there sometime. I also stopped with some friends at what's reputed to be one of the two best gelato chains in Paris (the other being Berthillon). It was still quite good, but I'm disappointed to report that I can name two gelato places in les Etats-Unis that I found better. Paris, you can do better.
Thursday the 17th: Guided tour of Chinatown; mostly pretty dull, until we visited a gorgeous little salon de thé, L'Empire des Thes, which had delicious tea and macarons - cream-filled sandwich cookies which vaguely resemble American maccaroons but which are far superior. We also briefly stopped at the Bibliotheque nationale (where are the goddamn accents on this thing?) which is almost unimaginably huge; besides four gigantic towers filled with books, it has a large courtyard/garden, a large museum, multiple bookstores, a cinema, and a number of cafes. Another place I need to visit again.

I had a bit of interesting drama regarding my apartment, but it's very attractive and I'm looking forward to living there. There's also a Middlebury student living with Mme Baumann, Dan, who seems pretty nice, though I only saw him briefly. Preparing most of my own dinners will also be an exciting adventure. Finally, last night, I discovered the pleasures of chocolate-flavored vodka, though sadly, the price - 4 euros for a shot - is far less pleasurable.

Because certain parties have demanded it, a few of my photos from Bordeaux:

View from my room


The vineyardCeiling of la Grand Theatre:

Bordeaux: the river at night

Last night in Bordeaux

On our final day in Bordeaux, the group toured the Musee d'Aquitaine. Lots of artifacts from throughout the history of the region, but I can't say I was really in the mood for it; I felt strangely fatigued, despite getting a lot of sleep last night. Classes went reasonably well, for the most part - my presentation on homelessness in France was a bitch. Other activities for this week included a performance of a Mahler symphony and attending a French-language production of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. I'm still concerned that my French isn't quite up to par with my classmates', but I suppose I'll manage. Hopefully the FIAP stay won't be bad.

By the way, French pastries are delicious.

Well, the European keyboards are less awkward, since I figured out how to switch them to QWERTY mode. Anyway, my classes are going reasonably well, and I'm getting better at conversing in French... I think. I love the ambience in Bordeaux - lots of photo opportunities, and great scenery, though some of the buildings are a bit run-down. I have an oral presentation to give on the subject of a universal right to housing in France (a recent proposal - there was a massive protest in favor of it the other day; hundreds of people are living in shacks at the center of town in order to express solidarity with the homeless.) That'll be fun.

Bordeaux

I got to my host family in Bourdeaux a few hours ago. Right now, I'm struggling zith qn qzkzqrd European keyboard. They're really nice, though I feel like an idiot when I'm trying to converse with them.

well

Testing. Right now, I'm sitting here in the basement, wondering what the fuck I've gotten myself into. Hopefully, this will turn out to be amazing, and I can get over the language barrier. And that I don't panic when I get into Bordeaux after realizing that I've forgotten a dozen things I needed to pack.