Friday, April 27, 2012

Now I'm a true American Tourist

Alright, I know you guys have been dying to hear what's going on in my life of non-stop excitement (excitement which has less to do with Paris and more to do with me being me....just kidding! sort of.) Anyway, I realize it's been a whole 2 days and now I feel the urge to share every detail of my life with any random person who decides to read this, so here I go (these details are actually for you Sarah!)
So... let me finish talking about my first day. Mostly because I want to say that my first meal in Paris turned out to be very American...kind of sad, huh?  Our professor took us  to a restaurant that he claimed to like a lot but all I really remember from the experience was the waiter laughing at us a lot (but sneakily and semi-respectfully because we were customers) and the fact that I was tricked by recognizing the word steak but not recognizing the word haché. So I ended up ordering a hamburger...minus everything but the burger.  Plus, turns out it's okay to eat an (almost) live  cow in France, who knew? 

Luckily the desserts were a bit more French so I at least was able to feel as if I was in Paris, and not just some sketch McDonalds) at some point of the meal. (note: when I say a bit more French that doesn't necessarily mean more delicious...just more French)

That's some frenchie cheese with fruit sauce. Yum.
(By yum I mean cheese + sauce + SUGAR = yum)

So that was my really exciting first day in Paris. Huzzah.

Day #2.....okay today really wasn't that exciting. I don't want to go into too much detail lest you realize that I had an uneventful day here when I'm actually supposed to be living it up. But I can say that I moved into my new house (for the next 6 weeks) and my host lady is amazing!  I think she likes my roommate and me a lot (which is good because that could be pretty awkward...) I love her little house and her backyard and I even have a room to myself-first time in I don't even know how long. Sadly I forgot to take pictures, so maybe on Sunday I'll work on that. But honestly, not much to say.  I guess it's important to note that if I don't come back it's because the rug by my bed has tried to kill me multiple times already (in just the first night) or it could be because the shower sounds like it's going to eat me every time I flush the toilet.   The only logical explanation I could come up with is that there is some weird plumbing going on (not likely) or that there's a strange sewer monster waiting to catch me unaware (very likely!)   

Day #3= my first day of ever doing classes during the spring! Don't know how I feel about that, but I guess I can wait till tomorrow to see how it makes me feel because I missed almost all of my class this morning.  My roommate and I were an hour late to class to our hour and a half class (so good) because we got lost on the metro (well not really on the metro, since all you do is stand there and get off and on, but navigating the lines is more difficult than French!) Ashley (roommate) and I got off where we thought we were supposed to be for class and somehow ended up in some underground hardware-type store....ya, don't even ask me.


So it wasn't even noon yet and I had already been lost twice today.  Ashley and I went on a run this morning around Le Vesinet (beautiful! pictures to come for that too :) and we got very turned around.  A real shocker with my amazing sense of direction, right? But sometimes that happens..even to me.  Also I managed to fall into the metro this morning (tripped over something I'm pretty sure didn't exist...) and all these Asians gave me weird looks.  Who knew there were so many here?)  
Anyway, after the class (30 minutes was still plenty long) 3 friends and I went on a "walk around Paris" (its actually another class we're in. All we have to do is check out cool historical sites and other (less cool, random) things.  So here's a few pictures so you guys can walk around paris also/scroll down my blog. yay.

a super pretty and symmetrical garden in which it looks like I could possibly be salsa dancing in...who knows?


the random crumbling wall that was pointed out to us in the 'please make us look as american and tourist as possible' book for class. 
my first legit baguette in Paris. Of course, I got one with chocolate in it. (2 of my favorite things...I just needed some milk really)   and yes, I'm in a dress. Shocker, huh? Paris is definitely a more dress-y place than Utah for me, but probably not when it's cold and rainy out. Luckily I brought my hoodie, so I'm sure that was super cute. I'll show those Frenchies some American style!)
This is a church we went in and I took a sneaky picture because I didn't know if it was allowed. It's must more epic than it looks though!  
super cool park next to Victor Hugo's house. 

And that's all the pictures I'm going to put up because I don't really know how much you guys want to see....Anyway. I was literally on the go from 8 am this morning until 8 pm.  From running, to getting lost while running, to running to the metro and around the station (to getting lost on the metro), to walking around Paris for about 5 hours, and finally realizing we were tired but taking another 2 hours to get home (like I said, so good with the transportation system here) I've been on my feet all day. Luckily all I've done since I got home was eat dinner and do homework.  My host (her name is Nanniq, don't know if that's spelled correctly though) got home around 9 today. On Friday nights she plays Bridge. How cute is that? :)  Anyway, it's midnight now and for some reason I have class on Saturdays, so I need to go to bed.  Good night!! :)







3 comments:

  1. You are hilarious Laura! I can imagine your mom reading this and having a heart attack thinking of her baby lost in Paris! But from the sounds of it you'll prob get lost just abt everyday I'm sure she'll be used to it by the end! Enjoy your adventures and eat a crepe for me!

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  2. Oh my Laura...you are definitely having an adventure! Be safe!

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  3. Thanks for the details Laura! And please try to cut back on the getting lost thing. I know Provo was hard enough for you to navigate so I'm pretty concerned (justified) for you in Paris. Keep the posts coming! I'm jealous of your life! Love you!

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