Paris, je t'aime!

I apologize for the delay in posting. I am still kicking over here in Europe, but yes, I do have school work to do and got a European cold for 10 days. I knew I was running at a fast pace, so it was bound to hit anytime. I decided, however, to take a break from studying and writing papers to take the 3 hour train ride on the TGV (the French high speed rail) to Paris. I mustered up the courage to head to Paris by myself, thinking my French at this point was good enough, where I would later meet another exchange student. But, the first day I was on my own!

I arrived in Paris, bought myself a metro pass (and was complimented on my French!), and used the metro to find our apartment for the next 3 days in the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement). I quickly dropped my bags off and headed to what Paris is known for, art museums! My first stop was Centre Pompidou, which is a modern art museum that was commissioned by the former President/Prime Minister of France, Goerges Pompidou. I loved it! I saw Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, Arman, Pollock, and so many more! Afterwards, I headed to Le Marais where I had my first crepe! Later, I met up with an exchange student in Geneva, who is actually commuting from Paris. She was having people over for Mexican, so it was nice knowing someone there in Paris! (And she lived about 10 minutes away in the 5th, so it worked out well!)

 I was joined on Friday morning by another exchange student, who had previously lived in Paris. We walked around the Latin Quarter, ate crepes in Montparnasse, walked down to the Bastille monument, and then headed to Jardin des Tuileries, which is a famous garden near the Louvre. We drank the most amazing hot chocolate at Angelina's, where you actually have to add cream because the chocolate is so strong! That night we stayed on Rue Mouffetard where we had a traditional French dinner, with French onion soup, beef bourguignon, and topped it off with sorbet at the end. The next day, it was raining quite heavily in Paris, so we spent the morning in un grand magasin, Le Printemps. It was fun to walk around and see all the designers, although I had to keep my hands off!! Before I headed back on the train, we walked down the Champs-Elysees.

I fell in love with Paris. There is so much to do and I had such an amazing time exploring. I really hope to go back at some point, if not during this trip then another time. While there were no major "zut alors," I did make a mistake when I was buying some wine for dinner. The man in the store asked if Paris was treating me well, and I said, "Je t'aime," which is "I love you," rather than "Je l'aime" (I like it). The wine store man got a good laugh out of it. Oh the adventures of speaking French!

On the Champs-Elysee!