So, i have yesterday and today to recount.
Oh and the first picture is from Sunday, when we visited Monmartre after the Marche aux Puces. So thats Kat and I on the pelouse (lawn).
Yesterday was our learning day. Although we haven't officially started classes, we had two that were part of our orientation yesterday. The first was right up my alley. The professor was great, and he taught us a 3 1/2 hour course on art history, society, and power. It was so interesting. I learned so much I can't even recall it all right now! So its good I took a few pages of notes. Then we had lunch, and discovered the wonders of Monoprix. Its kind of like target, which is great. Our second class was a bit less...well thrilling. It wasn't boring exactly, because it was very useful and I learned a lot, but it also was definitely not exciting. It was on french methodology, as it relates to French scholarship and dissertation writing. It made me a bit nervous to be a student in France, I'm not gonna lie.
At about 3:30, we were let off for the day, so Sam, Kat and I indulged in a bit of retail therapy... I got 3 items of clothing that are original in my wardrobe, useful for my internship, and are very Parisian. yay. The rest of the day was spent doing girly things, something i quite enjoyed.
Today was a very different day. It rained, quite a lot, to start. However, we didn't mind it much for a few hours, because we visited Paris' catacombs! I think i'll have nightmares, not about all the bones, but rather about descending what seemed like never ending dizzying set of stairs.
It was good to see once, but I don't really think I'd like to revisit it. After the visit, we had a few hours to kill, so we walked a bit in the rain and then found a cafe where we passed a few hours having a rare filling meal. At the time of our rendez-vous with the art-historian gallery owner (who also taught at Carleton, I asked him if he knew about frisbee, only some of you will appreciate the reference. He said no, he didn't know of it at carleton. dommage). Instead of doing our walking tour of the east, we sat in another cafe for almost 2 hours while he talked to us about some of the areas of Paris, the arts scene, and all that. Again, I loved it. He then showed us the way to his contemporary art gallery in the 10th, very cool stuff. I usually prefer a bit older genres of art, but the way he explained it, and the motivations behind the artists work I really appreciated.
After the visit, Kat, John and I took a walk from the 10th to the 3rd and the 4th, where we stopped at the best boulangerie in Paris and ate on the bank of a canal. It was pretty beautiful. We did some more walking, and I made my way back to my foyer where I got on the internet and saw/talked to Mary, Kate, and Tabby! (Ha, not MaryKate, mm ya...). It was WONDERFUL.
Tomorrow we have our placement tests for the Sorbonne...at the Luxembourg gardens of all places. Strange, but Parisian?
Today was better than yesterday, which was better than Monday. I'm trying to take everyone's advice and take it day by day.
Until the next post!
Michelle
I love you!!!!!
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