First week of classes down.

So far they seem really easy, and two out of the 5 classes seem like they operate on some sort of new-age grading/assignment system. In that so far there are no assignments on the horizon and no tests or tangible way to know that I am making progress in class. This freaks me out. A lot. According to the program coordinators and others this is more the French way...the syllabus is definitely an American conception.

In other news I finally went to the Eiffel Tower:


How typical.

I've also realized that I could be in real danger of spending all of my money on food here, everything in the grocery store is so new and different looking, and the cheese (most notably goat cheese...) is so cheap and plentiful.

A plus...

SAH

France's Peach Andre equivalent:














...and only a a euro fifty.

ECHEC

So today I was at the Louvre for Romantisme...we looked at a bunch of stuff by David (he's one of the "grands figures" of the 18th century, and a neoclassical painter) which was sort of redundant because he's talked about in almost every art history class I've taken.
Maybe you'll recognize....















(Oath of the Horatii)

...or maybe not.

We also looked at a bunch of Rembrandt's and Rubens'...both baroque painters who along with David are important precursors to the Romantic movement.

After class I went off on my own to find this painting:


















(Le Deluge-Anne-Louis Troison Girodet)


After much frustration and really anticlimactically stumbling upon the Mona Lisa, I broke down and asked some guards where I could find it. (I have to give a presentation on it in March so I need to know where it is...) After a lot of sweating up and down stairs I asked someone else, who in turn got on the phone to ask its location. Turns out it USED to be in the Denon wing, where I was looking, but its in storage. All that for nothing. And damn was I hungry.

il y a du soleil!

Second day of sunshine in 1.5 weeks! And the View from my window :)

quoi de neuf?

That's a good question. Since I last wrote I feel like I've seen so much of Paris, its exhausting to think about and really hard to remember just where I've been. So I'm going to list them, and if any sort of worthwhile comment about the place comes to my mind, I'll write it.

-Versailles (big, gaudy, touristy, and inspiration for future decorating ideas. look for a gilded bathroom next year)
-le Centre Pompidou (greatest place on the face of this earth. can't wait to go back, and plan on going sunday when all the museums are FREE)
-le Marais (oldest part of Paris, used to be all swampy-hence the name marais=swamp/marsh en anglais-full of cute boutiques, tight, medieval streets)
-le Quartier Latin (my school is here, the Sorbonne, the Pantheon-Napoleon is buried here-lots of students, near where I now live)
-Jardin du Luxembourg (big, closes at 5:45pm, full of well-dressed children, ponies)
-Montmartre (another favorite spot, really touristy, crowded, but pleasing-beware of strange men who force jewelry on you and make you pay for it)
-Notre Dame (again, touristy, also has swindlers who approach you asking if you speak English... if they ask, YOU DON'T.)

Moving on...

I moved into my host family today...its just me and an old lady in a really quite large apartment on the 5th floor of a cute building in the 6th (I lied about being in the 5th) She's nice enough, and has hosted tons of students, mostly from Smith College (?). We speak French to one another and she's not shy about correcting me. Which is fabulous. She also holes herself up in the kitchen with the window open and smokes. I guess that's courteous?

I was also asked on two separate occasions today for directions to places. I must look either parisienne, or like I know where I'm going (which I generally don't). The first group was some Italians looking for the Sorbonne. I actually knew where that was so I was of help. Second time was at the Metro stop at the Louvre and Italians (again? don't ask) asked how to get to the Trocadero (that stop is currently closed...so heck if I know).

Now two things the United States has got right:

Prices at McDonalds. 3 euros for a big mac? please.
Gridded Streets. Right angles just make more sense.

I have class tomorrow (finally!)

But only for 1.5 hours. It's Romantisme with Peigne (the guy who has gone to the art museums with us...he's really smart and went to the Sorbonne so I'm pretty excited)

Now I'm going to try to get some pics up here for y'all.

Later days

SH

SALUT!

As I write this I am surrounded by British high school students. It is mildly frightening because my only other experience with Brits of this age indicates they're a rowdy bunch. We're currently staying in a FIAP which stands for Foyer International d'Acceuil de Paris...This could be wrong. But basically it's sort of hostel like...and lots of random people stay here, young and old, French and not. The past few nights a different school group from across the pond were in a room next to ours, and they gave college students a real run for their money in terms of loudness.

Yesterday we took the metro to the Louvre and got a whirlwind, glossed-over tour by one of my future professors...we basically were instructed on the general layout of the museum. Afterwards a few of us walked to the Champs-Elysees by way of la Place de la Concorde...Saw the Arc de Triomphe (!) The Louis Vuitton store, Cartier...the Gap.

I've been extremely surprised at just how friendly parisians are. I have yet to meet a rude person here. They are actually nicer than most strangers in the United States. For instance while searching for Rue de Marie et Pierre Curie near the Pantheon, an old woman approached us and asked if we needed help. (The fact that 2 out of the 5 of us were looking at maps probably tipped her off)

I move in with my host mom on Sunday, and can't wait to be settled there. She lives in the 5th Arrondisement, which is very close to where I will be taking classes, and is a really nice area, le coeur de Paris :)

Time for dinner, then off to the FNAC to get Andrew Bird Tickets!

Bisou!

(photos to come!)

Sarah

Peace Out Bean Sprouts!

Tomorrow, at 5:40 pm I will be catching my last glimpse of Chicago for four months. I've packed, and tried to weigh my two monstrous, magenta suitcases...only to discover that one is .9 pounds over the 50 lb weight limit...and the other is around 30 lbs. I think I'm going to need to downsize. Especially if I plan on bringing ANYTHING back. I'm allegedly supposed to be able to lug these beasts up a flight of stairs and 100 yards by myself.


I'll let you know how that goes.