The Beginning of October: Where Did it Go?

Samedi le 1er octobre:

So I got up today with the intentions of not doing very much.  I woke up kind of late and threw a load of laundry in since I decided it was time to finally do some laundry!  I was just chilling in my room not doing much of anything when I get a call from Jeanne Fellowes!  She lives in Paris with her husband and is one the nicest people I have ever met and is so easy to talk to!  Now you may be wondering how do I know Jeanne?  Well, my Mom knows a lady a work whose husband takes care of the mother of Jeanne’s husband.  Yeah, it is one of those kinds of situations lol!  She asked me if I wanted to go to lunch sometime soon and I said why not today?!  So we decided to meet at Café Madeline at 12h30.  My laundry took forever to dry so I was running a little late.  When I get to the bus stop the sign said the bus would arrive in 3 minutes, it then changed and said it would be arriving in 25 minutes!!!  I only had 15 minutes to get there!  I called Jeanne to explain to her that I would be late and that the bus is being stupid today she said that I should hop on the metro at Gare Saint-Lazare and can get there easily.  So I start walking to the train station (which is gare in French for those of you who don’t speak French.).  I get there, hop on and am only 10 minutes late!!  We had a delicious lunch and just talked about all kinds of different things for about an hour and a half.  She then had to go home and prepare a dish for a party she would be attending on Sunday.  I got back to my foyer and got absolutely NOTHING done!  But that is ok.  I had dinner with Wen, a girl from the foyer and then we went out to the Hôtel de Ville area for Nuit Blanche.  Now you may be wondering, what exactly is this Nuit Blanche business?  Well, every year in the month of October there is one night where the city is open ALL night long with special exhibits all around the city.  When we got to the Hôtel de Ville area Wen’s friend met up with us and we decided that we were going to go check out some stuff.  When we got to some of the exhibits we wanted to go see the lines to get in were crazy long!!  You would pretty much be standing in line for 2 hours to see about 5 minutes of something (ok, so I may be exaggerating a bit but it was still a little crazy!).  We didn’t really see too much of anything.  I had a taste for some ice cream and so did Wen’s friend.  We weren’t too far from Ile Saint Louis, which has Berthillon’s, which is the best ice cream in all of Paris!  So we headed over there and got some ice cream.  I got a scoop of framboise (raspberry) sorbet and it was delicious!  So worth every penny!  There was a church that was open and was having an organ concert for Nuit Blanche, we stopped in but didn’t stay too long.  When we were outside the church I got a phone call from Mom and Maissie!  That was a really pleasant surprise!  We talked for a bit but not too long because I was out and didn’t want to be on my phone for too long.  After we were done talking on the phone I looked for Wen and her friend in the church and we decided to leave.  They were going to go see some other stuff but I was rather tired so I took the metro home (and man oh man was it crowded!).

Dimanche le 2 octobre:

Got up today and finished my laundry, attempted to work on homework before eating some lunch but I wasn’t too successful.  After eating some lunch down in the kitchen I headed back up to my room.  I checked my phone when I got into my room and saw that I got a call from a 630 area code.  When I saw that I thought who in carnation is calling me from home at 3:00am their time?!  I listened to the message and it was Germaine!  She had arrived in Paris and was wondering if I wanted to have some dinner with her and her friends!  I was so excited!  I called her back right away and said I would love to have dinner and whatnot!  We decided that the best way would be for me to come to her hotel and we can then find a place to eat from there.  When it was time for me to leave I just hopped on the metro and made it to the stop with no problems whatsoever.  I then found the right street but had some difficulty finding the hotel!  I walked right past it and kept going for quite a while until I realized that I had gone too far.  I turned around and finally found this hotel!  It wasn’t too far from the Eiffel Tower, I was quite impressed!  It is also right across the street from the Statue of Liberty so that was really cool!  I walk into the lobby of the hotel and there is Germaine sitting on a couch waiting.  It was SO NICE to see a familiar face from home!  (Now you may be wondering how I know this lady that is visiting Paris.  Well she is my Mom’s chiropractor and friend and I have known her forever really).  She gave me a big hug and said bonjour!  I didn’t realize how much I missed hugs until I got one because here in France they don’t give hugs, on fait la bise (which is when you give the kisses on the cheeks).  I like doing that too but it is nice to get a hug every once in a while too!  I went up to her room and got to see Renée (who works with Germaine so I know her) and Germaine’s two other friends, Kris and Joan.  They were going on a Trafalgar “whirlwind” tour of France.  I crashed their meeting that they had.  When I was sitting there listening to the lady who will be their tour guide it made me think of the movie “My Life in Ruins.”  It made me laugh.  After the meeting we (being the five of us) walked around to find a restaurant, I knew we were going to have some difficulties finding one open because it was like 5pm and no French person eats at that early of an hour.  Thankfully they aren’t that far from the Eiffel Tower so as we got closer to it there were restaurants that were open for the tourists.  I had a yummy poulet rôti.  Someone ordered pizza and had two left over slices and they were going to ask for a doggie bag for me.  I told them though that from what I have found France doesn’t do doggie bags.  So I took a napkin off of another table and wrapped it up in that (don’t worry it was a paper napkin).  They were exhausted because their flight had just got in earlier that day so I walked them back to their hotel.  I went up to Germaine’s room and got my bag of goodies from my Mom!  It was a rather big bag full of all the things that I asked for.  It was like Christmas morning (which is good because I won’t get a Christmas morning this year).  I had to lug this messenger bag FULL of stuff on a 30 minute metro ride with transfers but I didn’t mind one bit!  When I got back to my foyer I was so giddy and it was so much fun opening up all the goodies that were in the bag!  There were two HUGE jars of Skippy Chunky Peanut Butter (my favorite!).  I was so glad because I was running low on my little jar and most of my dinners consist of a pb&j.  If I haven’t said it enough, THANK YOU SO MUCH Germaine and Renée for carrying my stuff in their suitcases and Mom for putting together everything that I wanted.  I am VERY VERY blessed and thankful to have family and friends back home who are willing to go to such lengths for me!

Lundi le 3 octobre:

Today I had my Central class that Shelley teaches on Monday afternoons.  Ang and I were presenting over an article that we had to read and that went fine.  We went to the CROUs for lunch with Kacey and then did our presentation.  After class I took the bus home but decided to get off at Place de la Concorde and walk up to the Arc de Triomphe and then cut through Parc Monceau to get home.  Well it was a very long and hot walk!  Oh my goodness!  I thought my arms that were carrying my messenger bag and purse were going to fall off!  It was nice but super hot!  I was super tired when I got back but I had to go to Franprix (grocery store) and get some much needed groceries.  I ate dinner alone and realized that I really don’t have any friends and am starting to wonder if I will really ever make friends here.  However, God is always amazing and always reminds me that it is His timing and not mine so I just need to be patient.  It is just hard because back home I have friends to hang out with and can communicate with them easily and here I have to put forth all the efforts and communicate and find things to talk about in a language that I am still learning.

Mardi le 4 octobre:

Had class today which went fine.  Then went to my bénévolat and that was a lot of fun!  I really like working with those kids and I was so nervous beforehand that they would make fun of my French and tear me apart because well let’s be honest they are middle schoolers and don’t live in the nicest neighborhood in Paris.  But it went great!  They were nice and I never felt uncomfortable or anything of that sort.  Still figuring out the friend situation at this point.  Still waiting and hoping that I will find some friends.

Mercredi le 5 octobre:

Had class and that is really it.  More so getting into the hum-drum of life.  There is a saying in French which is “métro, boulot, dodo” which translates into English “metro, work, bed” and today was one of those kind of days but that is ok because then it means I am becoming less touristy and more of a local.

Jeudi le 6 octobre:

Had class today and went to the CROUs for lunch.  It wasn’t very exciting.  But in the evening our program had a wine atelier and that was super fun!  I took the metro and got there in plenty of time.  We had this wine class where we learned about different types of wines and if you learn about them well you have to taste them.  So we tasted four different types of wines.  I really liked all of them but for different reasons.  We tried a white wine, and two red wines (one was Beaujolais and the other was Bourgogne).  We then tried Champagne.  It was so interesting to learn about the different types and to taste test the wines like how the professionals do it.  We took notes on each one and it was just super fascinating.  To say the least I am definitely my parents’ daughter.  I took the metro home and didn’t get back until 21h00 and so I was starving and was in much need of some food in my stomach.  I then just hung out in my room before going to bed.

Vendredi le 7 octobre:

Today I got up really early even though I don’t have classes but that was so that I could talk to my friend Britt.  It was 6am my time but 11pm her time.  It was so great getting to talk to her and see what is going on in her life back at school and whatnot.  We talked for about an hour and then she had to go to bed.  I eventually got ready and just hung out in my room before going to the CROUs for lunch.  I was going to take the bus there and everything was going fine until we get to the stop at Madeline and the bus driver announces that the last stop will be at Place de la Concorde!  That is the next stop and still leaves me far away from the CROUs!  So I got off at Madeline and searched for the closest metro and jumped on.  I was supposed to eat with Kacey but told her to eat without me because it was going to take me a while to get there.  I finally made it to the CROUs and had some lunch.  I then headed back to my foyer and stopped at the post office to check something out for my mom.  I then stopped in this boulangerie called Maison Kayser and got a really yummy chocolate muffin like thing.  It was much needed after a day of transportation not working when I wanted it to!  I was just hanging out in my foyer being bored so I texted Kacey and asked her if she wanted to do something.  We decided to meet at the Louvre at 17h00 and we had a lot of fun and of course it cost us nothing with our Catho student ids!

A painting by Alfred Sisley (I did a project on him in my French class in high school and fell in love with his work ever since).

I know Mom, I was just as surprised as you were when I found out that they had Monet paintings in the Louvre!  I do love his art work though!

The amazing sunset we saw while at the Louvre (yes that is the Eiffel Tower in the background)

So after hanging out in the Louvre for a while we decided it was time to go home.  When I got back to my foyer the director of the foyer said I had a package and I was like “pour moi?!” (“for me?!”) and she said “oui, Amelia Giacovelli.”  I was super excited and surprised!  I was beaming when I opened it up and couldn’t stop smiling.  It was like Christmas morning and was wonderful!  I got a package from my wonderful friends Molly and Shawn back at Central!!  They sent me several little goodies and it made my day!  I also got a very sweet note from my lovely friend Sarah in the package too!  I was admiring all the things that I got when someone knocked on my door.  It was Wen, a girl who lives on the floor above me.  She wanted to talk to me about something and then ended up hanging out in my room.  We colored pictures with the crayons and coloring pages that I just got in my package.  We then played go fish with the lovely Disney princess cards that I got in my package as well!  It was so much teaching her how to play and just hanging out and having fun!  She hung out with me for quite a while and I was starting to get really tired and so was she so she went back to her room.  I then crawled into bed and said goodnight to Paris.

Samedi le 8 octobre:

Today I didn’t too much.  I got up really early so that I could talk with my family on skype but my internet wasn’t working!  That was really dumb and annoying!  I eventually decided to get up and get ready for the day even though I didn’t have any plans.  I went out and bought an umbrella which is a necessity for living in Paris!  I was so excited to finally have an umbrella especially since I needed before and know I will need it throughout the year.  I was going to be super productive and get stuff done but that didn’t really happen.  It was kind of a crummy weather day so I didn’t really want to do much.  My internet was working so I skyped with my cousins Katie and Andrea and their friend.  That was fun and I showed them my room and they got a good laugh out of the Albert Einstein poster on my wall!  It came with the room and I really have no reason to take it down so I just left it up there.  When they saw it they were like what is that a picture of and I replied, “oh that’s Albert Einstein,” like it is no big deal at all.  They had to go and do stuff so we said goodbye.  I then was going to go for a walk around Parc Monceau but got a call from my parents and talked with them on skype.  We talked for a good long while also and then said goodbye.  I then decided it was dinner time and ate dinner with a guy from my foyer.  After dinner I was going to be super productive and get homework seeing as I didn’t get any done during the day.  However, God had other plans.  Wen stopped by my room to talk about some issues she was having and she hung out in my room for a good chunk of time, it was really nice to have someone to talk with!  I was then really tired even though I really hadn’t done much that day and decided it was time for me to go to bed so she went back to her room and I went to sleep.

Dimanche le 9 octobre:

I was planning on getting up super early and doing laundry but that didn’t quite happen.  Instead I decided to be lazy and lay around.  I was just lazing around my room and was starting to get antsy since I didn’t do too much the day before so I decided to go and take a walk.  I walked to the Arc de Triomphe and took some pictures.

The Arc de Triomphe which is only a 20 minute walk from my foyer!

After walking around on the Champs-Élysées for a while I went back to my foyer and cut through Parc Monceau but instead of going out the normal way that I take I went out a different exit and walked around until I found a street name that I recognized.  I did some homework and whatnot, it wasn’t too thrilling but it was a cold and rainy kind of day so I didn’t feel like doing too much.

Lundi le 10 octobre:

Happy Columbus Day! I didn’t have the Central class today so I had a free day which was rather nice! I was going to get up super early and do laundry but that didn’t happen, I did get some grocery shopping done which was good because I needed more food! I went to the CROUs with Kacey for lunch and then afterwards we walked towards the Catho and stopped at a boulangerie down the street from our school and got yummy crumble pommes!

The yummy crumble pommes! C'était délicieuse! 

We went to the Catho to eat it there and it was so nice!  Afterwards we hoped on the bus so I could show Kacey where I found that great deal on postcards.  However, along the way we stopped at Place de la Concorde and checked it out.

Here is Place de la Concorde!   (From left to right)The building in the background on the left is l’Assemblée Nationale, to the right of that is l’Obélisque, to the right of that is the fountain, and to the right of that is the Eiffel Tower.  Yes, I get to go past this every day on the bus when going to school, it is rather cool!



Me being a good tourist, getting a picture at Place de la Concorde.

I showed Kacey where I found the cheap postcards after we were done looking around at Place de la Concorde.  She took the metro home because she had stuff to do and I was going to go home but decided to hop on a bus and go to le Jardin de Tuileries.  I just walked around and took pictures and enjoyed the fall colors.  I also realized that the Louvre is just right across the street from the jardin and that the Musée D’Orsay is right across the Seine!  It really is all so close together!



The fall colors at the Jardin de Tuileries.



The pretty flowers at the Jardin de Tuileries.

After walking around for some time I went back to my foyer did my homework and had some dinner.  Nothing too exciting but that is ok.

Mardi le 11 octobre:

Today I had class but it wasn’t a regular day of classes.  My afternoon class which is Tourisme et Gastronomie had a field trip!  It was so much fun!  We did a walking tour around the quartier and got to try all different yummy treats!  We had some really good chocolate (Maissie I think we should go to those places when you are here, you would like them!), we tried macarons by Pierre Hermé (which I find to be so much better than Ladurée!), we tasted some Spanish ham that was delicious, some bread that was really good at a Maison Kayser boulangerie, and some tapenades and olive oil that were super tasty!  It was so much fun and all the food that we tried was so yummy!  I really didn’t have a favorite thing it was all just so yummy!  I was supposed to go to my bénévolat today with Kacey but we emailed the guy in charge and asked him if we could go on Thursday instead of this week.  That is because our program went to the movie theater and saw “La Nouvelle Guerre des Boutons.”  It was such a cute movie and it wasn’t that hard to understand!  I understood most of what they said but when I didn’t I could understand what was going on by what was happening in the scene.  It was really cute and just a fun movie, it was also just a well made movie.  I am tempted to get it when it comes out on dvd and watch it again to see how much more I understand, it would be a good way to see how much my French has improved.  I then took the metro home and ate dinner and worked on homework.

Mercredi le 12 octobre:

Today was just a regular day; I had class in the morning which went fine.  I really like my phonetics class because it is helping me with my pronunciation!  I then went to the CROUs and had lunch with Kacey and then we went back to the Catho for our afternoon classes.  My afternoon class went fine too!  Once class was done I went home and worked on my homework for jeudi and surprisingly finished it at an early hour of the evening and had some dinner.  I then just hung out in my room before going to sleep.  Not too much to report just a regular day in Paris.