Went shopping today. Held out long enough. On rue de Rivoli there are a bunch of normal people shops - Zara, H&M blah blah. The patisseries and chocolateries here literally have the most creative and delicious looking store windows you could imagine and I went into about 5 and got just one thing at each place. I'm pretty sure I could have done without the lemongrass and peppermint chocolate but the store window had a life-size gorilla...made out of chocolate...so I was morally obligated to go in.
My host fam is incredible - the kids are brilliant and I get to talk to them in French all day long. It gets progressively easier. I also don't absolutely hate the guinea pig now. It's just a mild dislike. Everything is different here. On the surface it just seems like another big Western city but when you have to live here you realize the little things that are bizarre (for me). To buy a fruit or veggies in the Monoprix you have to have someone weigh it and put a little sticker on it. The post office (La Poste) is also a bank and also sells phones. To mail things, you weigh them yourself by a little kisok and print out a stamp (I think you can mail stuff domestically with normal stamps though...). So many little things to get used to - the Velib, riding in traffic...people who say Boston is the most bike unfriendly city in the world don't realize how good they have it. Paris is friendly towards bikers...but only those with guts of steel. Today I was riding in a little bubble between two busses, dump-truck, and 3 cars...pretty sure there weren't any lanes...and I was trying to read my map (really need to get GPS) and balance while not dying. I'm alive.
Yeah so I've got a truckload of pictures to share. Feast your eyes. I've got to read about the institutions of the EU...probably going to end up drinking a hot chocolate at a cafe and finishing Harry Potter #3 though. Really really need to deposit money in my new french bank account. And then use that money to buy a new french smartphone so I can text my new international friends and look at the french metro app instead of a big touristy map.
The staplers are cooler looking here. Haven't yet figured out the hole-puncher. Don't hold your breath.
My host fam is incredible - the kids are brilliant and I get to talk to them in French all day long. It gets progressively easier. I also don't absolutely hate the guinea pig now. It's just a mild dislike. Everything is different here. On the surface it just seems like another big Western city but when you have to live here you realize the little things that are bizarre (for me). To buy a fruit or veggies in the Monoprix you have to have someone weigh it and put a little sticker on it. The post office (La Poste) is also a bank and also sells phones. To mail things, you weigh them yourself by a little kisok and print out a stamp (I think you can mail stuff domestically with normal stamps though...). So many little things to get used to - the Velib, riding in traffic...people who say Boston is the most bike unfriendly city in the world don't realize how good they have it. Paris is friendly towards bikers...but only those with guts of steel. Today I was riding in a little bubble between two busses, dump-truck, and 3 cars...pretty sure there weren't any lanes...and I was trying to read my map (really need to get GPS) and balance while not dying. I'm alive.
Yeah so I've got a truckload of pictures to share. Feast your eyes. I've got to read about the institutions of the EU...probably going to end up drinking a hot chocolate at a cafe and finishing Harry Potter #3 though. Really really need to deposit money in my new french bank account. And then use that money to buy a new french smartphone so I can text my new international friends and look at the french metro app instead of a big touristy map.
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| aforementioned giant mojito |
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| street art |
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| sorbet/gelato/ice cream |
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| if you ask for a cone, it comes out looking like this... |
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| macarons that i can afford to photograph...not buy |
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| Russian dolls - of France |
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| Russian dolls - US presidents |
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| macarons |
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| chocolate gorilla |
The staplers are cooler looking here. Haven't yet figured out the hole-puncher. Don't hold your breath.
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