What is that gif doing there, you ask? Well, brace yourself and strap in tight, because this is 'boutta be the fastest-written blog post I've ever done. Why? Because it's 9:00 at night and I need to get this up by 11:00 because I promised myself I would.
Okay, so to start off, this is going to be a four-days-in-one post. To be honest, I think it fits to write about all four days at once simply because each individual day somehow didn't seem like it would be substantial enough to make a full blog post about it--at least not picture-wise. So I'm doing it like this!
So Tuesday was still pretty cloudy, but it didn't rain/mist like it did on Monday. My phone was dead for much of the day, and I did pretty much the same thing as on Monday, only without holding an umbrella everywhere I went, and much more tired (see The One With the Spider). But here are some pictures of the places I visited, so you can get a sense for what my world looks like! :)
First of all, here's the Institute/church building where everyone attends afternoon classes, such as general humanities, art history, or religion. It is quintessentially Parisian, with winding staircases and windows that are taller than me. I like it a lot:
We did some shopping on Tuesday in between morning and afternoon classes, including a run to the Office Depot across the way. One thing I'm learning about French stores is that it doesn't matter how big it is longways--you'll always feel a little bit claustrophobic no matter what. That's probably just the American in me being used to Wal-Marts that literally look like they stretch on forever, though.
Every time I go shopping with the other girls, I mostly just look out the windows(because I don't really need to buy anything except food, currently). Here is a little shot I took while looking out of the windows at Office Depot:
Is cute, non?
Tuesday was really a shopping day. Anna, Quincy, Anisa and I made a quick run to the grocery store so we could get more breakfast food, and while I was waiting for everybody to check out this lady came in and left her dog chained to the bench next to me and he just flopped right down by my leg and gave me a big doggy smile!!! Look!!!
11/10 BEST DOG.
Okay, so after we got back from the grocery store we had to do homework pretty fast, because Tuesday was our first day of eating dinner with The Host Family.
(Dun-dun-dunnnn.)
I'm not gonna lie, I was unbelievably nervous that first night. I had no idea what to expect, especially since the family had hardly talked to us at all up to that point. But rest assured, my fear was mostly unfounded! Our host mom had prepared a delicious-smelling meal of bread, cheese, rice, meatballs . . . and tomatoes.
(DOUBLE DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNN)
My mom asked me before I left what I would do when somebdoy inevitably tried to feed me tomatoes. I told her indignantly that I had great manners and would politely smile and eat it whilst gagging on the inside. So that's what I did. And it wasn't that bad! I will never like tomatoes, but the rest of the food was very yummy and fresh tasting. We didn't talk much that night, but it wasn't because our family hates us--it was just because their language skills in English are (nearly) as poor as mine and Anna's in French! We managed to speak a mixture of French and English and communicate pretty well throughout dinner and dessert (which was pears with ice cream and chocolate sauce--sooo yummy!). Overall, not a disaster!
It was also really nice not to go to bed hungry. 10/10, would recommend.
No spiders that night, either, so that's a plus!
The next day was suuuper foggy in our town--like, seriously, look:
but once we got off the RER in Paris the sky was beautifully clear.
Hello, Paris Opera House!
Yes, I made that myself, and yes, it was worth all ten minutes.
After French class, we went and ate lunch right across the street from Notre Dame. It looked very beautiful:
But perhaps what rivaled it in beauty was the hot dog that I had for lunch. Check it out:
No, your eyes are not decieving you, that really is two hot dogs in one baguette. Which begs the question, why do French people always say that American food 'comes in too big of portions' and then needlessly put two hot dogs in one bun? Just cut ya dang bread in half, dudes.
(Not that I'm complaining. It was really yummy.)
After lunch, we kind of . . . wandered around for a while, I guess? We were going to do the last half of one of the Paris walks, but since some of the people in our group hadn't done the first half, we sort of decided to just . . . not. We did run into the oldest clock in Paris, though:
It's almost 650 years old! (*Crush voice from Finding Nemo* and stiiiilll yooooouuung!)
We got on the metro shortly after and rode to the Champs-Elysees, because some people in our group wanted to buy clothes.
And then I saw it.
This.
GUYS.
Okay, I know that technically this store is probably named "Alain Afflelou," not "Alaina Fflelou," but you just gotta know that the next time somebody tries to disrespect me I'mma whip out this picture and say, "I'm sorry? Do you have your name on the front of a store on the Champs Elysees? No? Then get out of my face." And then walk away with my faux-ermine cape streaming behind me.
. . . What? You have a problem with my fantasy? WELL DO YOU HAVE YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT OF A STORE ON THE CHAMPS ELYSEES?????
Okay, I'm done now, sorry.
Now, please enjoy a short montage of some of the outfits I saw in Zara's that simply had to be shared with the world.
"All right, Mike, so what were you thinking as the design for our fall dress shirt?"
*Mike wakes up mid-snore with a paper stuck to his forehead* "The wha?"
"The fall dress shirt? The one that will be the centerpiece of one of the layers of our store, and on multiple different mannequins? The one you were supposed to have designed three months ago?"
"Oh, that one! Yeah, yeah, I uh . . . I got it . . . okay, so think, like, um . . . like . . . pioneer woman."
". . . okay? But, like, is it modernized at all? What makes it recognizable as a shirt from 2016 and not the plains of 1800s America?"
". . . Um . . . literally nothing. It's just, like, a ruffly shirt. Just like they used to do in the olden days."
". . . ."
". . . But, like, with normal jeans and Sia hair."
". . . GENIUS!!! MIKE, YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!"
Yeah, I really have no further input than that little vignette.
Confession: these sweaters were really big and soft on the inside, so much so that even though I don't like tomatos or bananas, I would 100% wear them around if somebody bought one for me.
I'm not sure in what situation it would be appropriate to wear this dress (yes, it's a dress. A floor-length one), but it is kind of awesome in an insanely weird way.
After Zara's, we dropped by Sephora and the Disney store, and at about this point in the day my phone died, so that's it for pictures. But to sum it up, we ended our day in town by going to a little park near the Eiffel Tower to surprise Professor Call on his 40th birthday!
It was really fun. We had crepes and tarts and a lot of fun. Also we watched a very small dog pick a fight with a much bigger dog who was not interested in fighting back, which was very entertaining.
That was the end of Wednesday! On Thursday morning, despite eating pain au chocolat and drinking a fruity power shake, I was kinda hungry, so it was extremely nice when these guys at a fruit stand at the entrance to one of our metro transfers said in French, "Oh! Young people! Here, take this, it's free!" and handed me, Quincy, Anisa, and Anna peaches!
I took one blurry picture of it and then ate it within, like, a minute because it tasted so good. I love peaches. Thank you, Random Peach Man. You have now been immortalized in my blog.
After class I was seriously craving Chinese food for lunch, so Maddie and Anisa and I found a little Chinese buffet place! I was soo happy!
I will admit, it was not the best Chinese food I've ever tasted. But it sure filled me up!
We went to the Institute building after that, so that most everybody could take the humanities class. Since I'm not in that class, I sat out in the recreation area and did homework. This is what the rec room looks like:
You can't see, but there's a foosball table, a pool table, and a piano in here, too. Super swanky.
Again with that whole 'dead phone' thing again today, sorry! For a while I couldn't figure out how to get my phone to charge fully, but I seem to be past that hiccup now. Here is a cute little selfie of me from last night after I got home to make up for it.
I'm sorry, I really don't know how to do anything else with my face when I'm in front of a camera. It's pufferfish face or nothing.
Also, in case anyone was curious, here's what my bedroom looks like:
It's seriously soooo much bigger than I'm used to. I don't really know what to do with all this space. Sometimes I just kinda . . . sit and stare around and go . . . okay??? This is all mine?? ? No have to share? ? ? Wha ???
Well, that's what having four siblings will do to you, I guess.
To finish up real fast, today I woke up with not one but TWO spider-bites on my right arm. They're not anything to worry about in terms of being poisonous, but HOLY DANG do they itch. I just have t to try not to think about them as much as possible, I guess. Maybe I have cream in my first aid kit.
Then we got onto the RER and at the spot where we transferred trains I saw THIS:
Because apparently Paris needs justice more than Gotham these days. Who even knows.
We took a different route than normal today, which meant that I didn't get to see the Opera House (sad face) but I got to see a metro station I'd never been in before, with really cool lighting:
Oh, also, when I first took this picture I looked at it and saw the guy sitting in the yellow chair with his head in his hands and I thought, 'aw, he looks sad, I wonder what's wrong.' So I looked up and saw him.
He was not sad. He was sick.
He was throwing up all over the metro floor.
It was one of those strangely surreal and disgusting moments you only experience as a result of using public transportation. Well, at least he was on the other side of the tracks.
After class that morning, about nine of us decided we would go ahead and get lunch and then go see a little bit of the Louvre.
On our way, we came across this incredibly interesting fountain-sculpture-statue place thingie.
(I am so good at talking professionally about the things I see in Paris.)
But what was even more interesting than the fountain was the random guy standing in the water. We think he was trying to get up to the big pool at the top (underneath the angel) and take a bath or something, but he couldn't figure out how to get up there, so he had to just come back down in a little Walk of Shame while a bunch of people watched him. It was awkward.
Anyway, we had lunch at this student cafeteria for really cheap. The food wasn't all that great, but it was pretty filling, so I'm not complaining.
And then.
Oh my gosh. Then.
We walked down a little ways further and came across Amorino, which is a gelato place from heaven.
Look at this masterpiece!!!
The ice cream, silly, not me. (*blushes*)
It was raspberry, lemon, and nutella gelato, and yes, it was exactly as delicious as it looks.
We walked along the Pont Des Arts to the Louvre while eating our heavenly gelato, and looked out over the river while an old man played the violin for us.
And yes, we went inside the Louvre, but I didn't take any pictures and I'll be going again soon, so you can hear about that adventure later. But I want to close this blog post with this photo:
I stood at the edge of the water and looked out for a couple minutes, while the guy behind me played music on his violin or fiddle or whatever. I didn't recognize the first song he played, but then it changed--to La Vie en Rose.
It was an emotional sort of moment, y'know? That's actually the first time I've heard that song since I've been here, and it has such a strong meaning behind it. For a lot of people, that song is Paris. And here I was, eating delicious gelato and looking out over a gorgeous green river while a street performer played Paris' unofficial anthem. I guess it was just a little gentle nudge that reminded me that I'm here, and I'm living a dream I've had for a long time.
Moments like that aren't common, so I really wanted to remember it. The picture above is the picture I took right as I had that little nudge.
Well, I don't really know what else to say, other than that I really am so, so grateful to everyone in my life who has helped me get here. This city is indescribably beautiful, and it makes me happy that I get to spend a small part of my life here.
Anyway, that's it from me today! I'm going the obvious route for music tonight:
Love you all! May your life be la vie en rose today, too!
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