On the tourist trail, or "How to see Paris in one day"

Today was our group tourism day before classes start tomorrow and we start spending more time in smaller groups. It was a big day, made slightly bigger by the fact that through some weird quirk of jet lag I woke up at 4:30 am.

Dr. Guglielmi (program director) had arranged with a couple of students to go to a boulangerie for breakfast and had posted a general invitation on Facebook. Meeting time was 7:30, long before the full group's 9:45 meeting time to depart on our tours. I decided to tag along (what the heck, I was already up) so I got ready and fit in a quick run to the main building for some €€€ before we had to leave. Normally I am the queen of the debit card but in a lot of places there's a minimum on debit card purchases. So it's good to have some especes. We took the tram that runs in front of Cité and went to a little boulangerie where I ordered a pain aux raisins. That has somehow become my go-to breakfast pastry. I asked Dr. Guglielmi whether it's really okay (as I've heard elsewhere) to take your breakfast into a café and eat it with your coffee. He clarified that it is okay unless the café serves breakfast. You can see how that would be awkward! We ended up going back to Cité and having coffee in their café. The café is bare-bones but the coffee is very good (most if not all coffee at cafés is espresso-based so it's made on the spot) and the prices are decent. The students asked me quite a few questions and I was having fun being the Answer Lady. But I did tell one student later on that tomorrow I am going to start saying "Figure it out yourself" and also "Write this down!"

At 9:45 we met up with Tour Guide Josh for a walking tour of the neighborhood followed by a bus tour of the major sights of Paris. Josh knows a lot about architecture and the city's history so he was full of great tidbits for a trivia nerd like myself. Luckily we had good weather so the walk was enjoyable. None of us--not even me, and I'm pretty active--is used to walking as much as we have been in the past 2 days. It's easy to see why the French don't gain weight even when eating plenty of butter, cheese, and goose fat! By lunchtime I had definitely worked off that pastry and had no trouble tucking into a plate of fish, rice, and green beans in the cafeteria. Not everyone thinks the food in the Restau-U (Restaurant Universitaire) is good but I haven't been disappointed yet. Or as I said to a colleague this afternoon, bad institutional food in Paris is probably still better than bad institutional food in America.

After lunch we took the RER to the Institut Protestant de Théologie, which is where our classes will be held starting tomorrow. It's a small but nice facility affiliated with the Sorbonne. I will try to take photos tomorrow. Speaking of which, I took quite a few pics today but they are on my camera's SD card and I haven't had a chance to pull them off yet. When I do, I will try to go back and add relevant pictures to each post.

Our bus tour of Paris was a little hectic because traffic was heavy (at least it seemed so to me) again. But we did get an overview of many major tourist sites. It was useful--I'm always in the Métro and my knowledge of Paris's geography is a bit limited as a result. Josh did a great job explaining where things are in relation to other things.  We are also very well equipped with maps now. Some people from RATP (the local transport network) were in the RER station handing out free maps so we all grabbed some. (Earlier in the day the Answer Lady had suggested that a couple of students download the RATP app, so I will accept a free map as compensation.)

The final activity for the day was a cruise on the Seine. Super touristy but really enjoyable, especially as the capper to a long day. Everyone took tons of photos, especially at the Eiffel Tower where we started and ended the cruise. The students were so excited to see it. Not that I wasn't! Pictures tend to not quite do justice to the experience of standing right under it!

When the group broke up, several of us agreed to follow Dr. Winchester to the Latin Quarter. He packed us all into a no. 72 bus for a ride that was both awkward and perilous! I obviously need to improve my bus-riding skills so that I am not folding, spindling, or mutilating citizens of the Republic. The bus was incredibly crowded (not least because we were on it). I ended up not actually going to the Quartier Latin because one of the students was not feeling well and I agreed to accompany her back to Cité. So instead I went to the grocery store. For all that I dislike grocery shopping at home, I love it in other countries. The student told me how to find Carrefour Market (a small, urban version of Carrefour which is a "supercenter" type of store) and I bought a ton of stuff that I needed. It was a LITTLE heavy on the way back but I figure I will only need to buy laundry detergent and body lotion once, right? Now I am back for the night and ready for some good sleep! First day of classes (Journée de boîte à lunch Hello Kitty) is tomorrow!