Fun Weekend! (Boring Title)

This past weekend was the last weekend before classes started, so I wanted to do things that I maybe wouldn’t have time to do after. Saturday morning, Kat, Sam and I walked along the boulevard Champs Elysees for a while, taking advantage of the fact that we are still pretty new here, so we are allowed to do touristy things like that. In the afternoon, I met up with Fanny, my host sister in Montpellier during my study abroad trip to the South of France in summer ’06. She just happened to be in Paris for a few days now, so we met and talked and walked for hours. It was so nice to see her again, and although we only knew each other for one week, after a half an hour, it feels like we’ve been friends for years! So strange. It was great getting to practice my French with her. After a while, we met up with her best friend Lucy, whom I also knew in Montpellier. It was so wonderful! That was a good day.

(Fanny is the blonde and Lucy is the brunette)
Sunday was free museum day! So, my first priority…The Musee d’Orsay. Ahhhhh it was like heaven. We were third in line (well, actually, Sam and Kat were, Max and I just hopped in with them as the doors were opening), and for about 5 sacred minutes we were able to be in the museum when practically no one was! It was magical.

We saw the Max Ernst exhibit – he was a collagist during the 20s and 30s. I don’t quite understand his stuff, but anyone who’s interested should really Google it. The prints were so interesting. He took old prints from the 1800s and collaged the images he wanted to create a very bizarre, but apparently very meaningful image. Then made our way upstairs to the Impressionist floor…AHHHHHH IT WAS AMAZING. I couldn’t get it all in fast enough.


This, the Van Gogh, was the most amazing painting to see in person. FAVORITE.
I wanted to stare at each painting forever, but I also wanted to see everything at the same time. It definitely warrants many return trips. Later in the day, Sam and I set off for the 16th, the historically (and currently) very rich area in search of the Monet museum. We found it, but to our dismay the museum was definitely not ‘gratuit’ (free) because it is ‘privee’, and apparently free museum day is not an all inclusive event. We decided to forgo that (for now), save our euros and rest our tired feet at a nearby very cute park. We must have lounged for 3 hours, talking, people watching, dog watching, etc. It was lovely.

The girls on the balcony of the museum

I'm sorry if this is creepy but this dog at the park was the cutest thing i've ever seen.
Monday, first day of class. I got to one of the Sorbonne’s locations at 10:30 to pick up my class schedule and books. I’m in advanced from 3 to 5 pm. In between schedule pick up and class, we found (finally, we had been on this quest for days) PATTES DANS LE BOITE. Alright, that’s probably a terrible spelling of pattes (?), but it means pasta in a box, and it was AMAZING. A much needed break from baguette sandwiches (oh aren’t we so deprived?). I then peroused in a ‘librarie’ (bookstore) for a few hours, and then went off to class. There are about 20 people in the class, 2 boys and the rest girls, from…San Francisco, Brazil, Sweden, New York, Baltimore (us), Australia, England and Columbia. It was really cool hearing everyone’s little ‘about me’. It’s going to be basically a language/grammar course, but the professor is really sweet and witty. I think it will be good. On Wednesdays we also have a phonetics class, which is eh, but ok. I can’t wait till our internships start!
Just as a note, yesterday i got a library card (which i've been wanting to do) and I checked out 3 books on the history of Paris and different interesting historical facts on each arrondissement. I'm so excited!
Ummm, that’s about it for me I think. I still miss home, but I’m trying to be here! I’m just trying to live one day at a time, and do things I enjoy instead of doing things I think I should be doing. I want to take an art class, I want to read a lot, I want to go to a lot of museums, I want to meet interesting people.
Thank you all for taking an interest in my adventures :)
Michelle