leaving for paris

Day 23

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:22:35 +0200

Day 23

Day 22

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:21:24 +0200

Day 22

Day 21

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:19:54 +0200

Day 21

Day 20

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 08:14:50 +0200

Day 20

Day 19

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 08:12:12 +0200

Day 19

Day 18

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:34:49 +0200

Day 18

Day 17

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:25:09 +0200

Day 17

Day 16

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:07:10 +0200

Day 16

Day 15

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:23:16 +0200

Day 15

Day 14

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:58:22 +0200

Day 14

Day 13

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 14:56:36 +0200

Day 13

Day 12

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:34:34 +0200

Day 12

Day 11

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:02:47 +0200

Day 11

Day 10

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 11:27:37 +0200

Day 10

Day 09

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:41:53 +0200

Day 09

Day 08

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 04:10:45 +0200

Day 08

Day 07 I haven’t even left the house today, and...

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 16:30:00 +0200

Day 07

I haven’t even left the house today, and I’m absolutely fine with that. Last night was Nuit Blanche in Paris. Eric, Roger and I ventured out into the rain to check out what the evening had on offer. I love how this city becomes filled with wonderful night art projects for all to see one night per year from 7pm to 7am the next morning.

We enjoyed dj’s performing at the Centre Pompidou, a marching band along the Seine, interactive ghosts in all the storefront windows along Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe. Giant construction cranes, at the current construction site of Les Halles, hoisted large objects like fluorescent painted bulldozers and other large construction items that hung like enormous mobiles from the slowly moving cranes.

With all of that, the highlight of the evening for me was watching a crowd of people stand atop the large vents of the RER train tracks below Place de Baudoyer. Each gust of wind from the vents would produce enough lift to carry the participant’s umbrellas upwards of 50 feet in the air. Seeing numerous umbrellas shoot up into the sky and slowly drift back down to joyous and giggling people below was an unexpected sight and treat to stumble upon. I’m not sure if this is something that someone had just realized that evening, but I’m definitely going to head back to that little square next time it’s raining to witness this wonderful sight again.

Day 06

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 16:12:32 +0200

Day 06

Day 05 Eric has been ill with a cold or something the past...

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:34:00 +0200

Day 05

Eric has been ill with a cold or something the past couple of days. He was feeling hot this morning when I left for school so I decided to pick up a thermometer after class. Thankfully, I think he’s starting to feel a bit better.

I carried out the entire transaction in French. Well, I think I did anyway. The guy did actually turn up with a thermometer. Discovered tonight that thermometer in French is, um.. thermomètre, so it’s likely I could have botched it up fairly severely in my asking and he still would have brought me a thermomètre. In any regard, I did feel more confident in my attempt than I would have last week, so progress! Right?

It was too beautiful of a day to not sit outside before heading home, so I did. Perhaps I hopscotched a bit along the way. Who’s to say?

Day 05 One week into my 12 week French course, though my brain...

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:32:00 +0200

Day 05

One week into my 12 week French course, though my brain has felt like it was melting more than once, I am certainly feeling great about what I have learned this week! It’s amazing starting a foreign language program of study not knowing even how to count to ten and feeling doomed from day one because the teacher speaks nothing but French yet five days in actually starting to comprehend what has been taught all week. I’m very happy I decided to take the intensive course. The amount of information I’ve forced into my noggin this week feels wonderful.

The coffee vending machine at school actually made a darn tasty cup of coffee. My current favorite selection is the Café Noisette. While noisette means hazelnut in French, a Café Noisette isn’t hazelnut flavored but an espresso with a touch of cream giving the coffee the color of a hazelnut.

To celebrate wrapping up my first week of studies I went to my current favorite sandwich place for lunch for an amazing Banh Mi treat. The woman who runs the place recognized me from the last time I was there with my friends Luke and Simon from London. Upon walking into her tiny little shop she immediately said, “You lucky. Last sandwich of the day. Pork Banh Mi, Spicy!”, I replied, “Oui! Merci.” We continued our conversation in English while she prepared me the most delicious banh mi. Do yourself a favor and visit her shop next time you’re in Paris. It’s worth the journey, if not only for the sandwich, for the character of the shop owner alone.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/banh-mi-paris