An American Girl in France: July 2009

Good news! According to my host parents, Marie and Vincent, my French has greatly improved within the past week. Hooray!

More good news! There was an amazing sale at Marc by Marc Jacobs today. I bought a lovely wallet and keychain (the actual clothes were still a little out of my price range. But mark my words, one day, I will have the money for ridiculously expensive clothing.)

Yesterday Marie (love that woman) took me to a play called "Le Cid". Apparently it's a play that is very famous in France, and it is often studied in high school. It was really cool- lots of flamenco dancing, and for the most part, I understood what was going on. Towards the end, however, I kind of lost track of what was happening, and was confused when the character that I SWEAR died, kept popping up on stage. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I really have been getting used to this lifestyle (minus the whole only drinking about a shot glass of water with your dinner. I'm probably going to faint here. Also, there should be a law about actually putting on deodorant in the morning...I'm just saying). I adore my host family and the area that we live in. City life just seems perfect for me, minus the occasional homeless person peeing in the metro. Again, you win some, you lose some.

Yesterday was pretty much perfect. I spent the day with a few people from my group shopping in the area of the St. Michel fountain. (It’s a really cool area where a lot of students like to hang out) We were hungry for lunch, so we started wandering down random streets, and we found something spectacular: A MEXICAN RESTAURANT. Now let me explain how magical this was.Finding a Mexican restaurant in Paris is like finding a giraffe in your backyard in Kansas; it just doesn’t happen. Unless maybe you’re Michael Jackson. (RIP Jacko) I spent 10 Euros on a plate of guacamole with a couple chips, and was pretty satisfied. I also got to chat with my parents during lunch. According to my dad, it’s “about as hot as a bamboo shoot in a sauna”…whatever that means. Oh Steve, you and your metaphors.

After our delicious lunch, we decided to walk to Ile de St. Louis for some ice cream. There’s a famous ice cream parlor called Berthillion, and it’s by far the best ice cream I’ve ever had.(Hads, if I could bring some home to you, you know I would.) I really have no idea how to describe how amazing this ice cream is. I can’t wait to take the parentals there when they visit in a couple weeks.

The ice cream made Katie and I pretty tired, so we sat in the park behind Notre Dame and watched as a couple took their wedding pictures. It was precious, but I’ve got to say, the photographer was doing some weird things. Those will be some different pictures.

We finally got some energy back, and decided to go to Les Halles for some intense shopping.That mall is ridiculously huge, and since we went on a Saturday afternoon, it was insanely packed with people. Add in no air conditioning and lack of water, and you’ve got my daily Parisian life. It really wasn’t too hot, but there were a few moments when I considered stealing a bottle of water from a vendor. (3 Euro for a bottle of water? I don’t think so. Not on my time.)

Katie and I met up with the rest of the group at the fountain again, and we decided that we needed the most American meal we could find in order to properly celebrate the 4^th of July. A feast of McDonalds was the prefect solution. (plus, a lot of McDonalds have air conditioning!!)Once we finished our hamburgers and such, we all walked down to Monoprix (a large grocery store chain in France) and bought several bottles of Vieux Papes (Old Popes). It’s by far the cheapest wine you can find in Paris, but god damn it, I love me some Vieux Papes. We walked down the Seine (and of course grabbed a crepe along the way. Duh.) and sat on one of the banks. On the other side of the Seine, there were two guys playing music, which made our setting perfect. Vieux Papes, the Seine, Bob Marley, and American friends= so much fun. We sat there for about two or three hours, drinking our wine, and listening to acoustic versions Oasis, Otis Redding, Jason Mraz, etc. Like I said, this day was pretty much perfect.

A few more people from our group found us, and we all decided to go to an Irish Pub that was having a 4^th of July party. We discothequed the night away at this pub. AND they had Bud for 4 Euro, which is basically unheard of for beer in bars in Paris.