Mini Blog: A day to flâner

Daniel and I took advantage of a day on call with no calls to flâner in the Marais and go shopping at Les Halles today. He is looking for some specific things (a suit; shorts with zipper pockets). I am looking for things that are nice to wear and bien soldé.  He was also looking for a cooked breakfast so we went, inevitably, to Breakfast in America. I was not in a hurry to go back--as I've said, I do not go to Paris to eat American food. But he was THRILLED.

(Granted, in this pic he looks more demented than thrilled.)

I've realized that BIA makes me very depaysée. Look around the restaurant, I'm in the U.S. Look out at the street, I'm in Paris. And I cannot figure out what language to speak. 

But the coffee was really good.

On our shopping round we discovered Uniqlo, a store I'd have been better off not knowing about. Something about Uniqlo ticks all my boxes. We also went into the Swatch store where they polished the crystal of his watch to take a scratch out for the princely sum of 0€. We went by the Musée Carnavalet and peeped into the garden; we passed by L'As du Fallafel before the line had started to form. (Unfortunately that was right after BIA, so no falafel for me today.) We tried on clothes and heard many iterations of "So, you are from Québec, right?"

More of the same at Les Halles, a mall that is very comprehensive but also kind of stuffy and airless because it's underground. By midafternoon it was time to take a break for a drink and a snack so we passed through a small pedestrian market and fetched up at a café called Etienne Marcel. Outside it looks like a traditional café but the inside looks like late-series Mad Men with primary colors and molded plastic furniture. It was nice to relax in a quiet place with comfortable seats for a while!

Finally on our way out, I talked Daniel into stopping into St. Eustache, built in the 16th and 17th centuries and then restored in the early 19th after the Revolution:

Chapel of the Virgin

The altar

The organ has 8,000 pipes and is supposed to be the largest in France!

Here is what it sounds like.

The organ keyboard is right out where you can see it.

To cap off this excellent day we had dinner with Dr. Kirk and his wife Betsy at Rouge Pomme, which is becoming our go-to place for dinner/dessert/coffee/a drink. I always get a galette du sarrasin for dinner there but the Kirks both had tartines that looked amazing. Then we bought chocolates at Leonidas for dessert. Say what you want to about Paris but the food is hard to beat. So are the cathedrals and the shopping.

Tomorrow, Vicki and Robert and their kids come over from London. We are going to the Louvre tomorrow night. And on Saturday I am going to see Alvin Ailey at Théatre du Châtelet. It's gonna be an excellent weekend!

How to Bastille Day

Yesterday was, of course, France's national holiday, which Americans call "Bastille Day" and the French just call "le 14 juillet."

Kind of scary that FB knows where I am and what I'm up to.

Last year I went big on Bastille Day morning: got out early and went to the parade. This year we kept it relaxed in the morning, but I still wanted to see the flyover, which is my favorite part of the day. We got over to the Louvre (the courtyard is a great place to see the planes) with about 5 minutes to spare before the first planes flew over with their bleu-blanc-rouge smoke trails. Hooray!

Did I take a picture? Never you mind. We did get these goofy shots of ourselves with the glass pyramid.

We stayed a while longer to watch some more planes go by, then made our way to Les Halles, the Pompidou Center, and the Niki de St. Phalle fountain--which Dr. Kirk says is properly called the Stravinsky fountain. Live and learn! A lot more shops and restaurants were open than usual so we checked out some stores; Daniel got some sunglasses and I bought a dress and a pair of jeans. It doesn't sound like much but with a sandwich at Pomme de Pain and some sitting around and general flânerie, we had a nice, relaxed afternoon and then went back to our room for some dinner and a disco nap.

That night I finally got to do something I have wanted to do for years: we went to a bal de pompiers. It's a tradition for fire stations (casernes de pompiers) to host public dances on Bastille Day--and sometimes the night before and the night after as well. I had never been to one because I'm always in Paris alone, and I didn't want to go alone.* Of course, this year I have Daniel and he LOVES a party, so off we went to the Caserne de Port-Royal in the 13th. It proved to be an excellent choice. Fun dance music, a good atmosphere, and the caserne itself was cool to see: 4-story buildings surrounding an open courtyard which was the dance floor. The pompiers had hired a good DJ with an extensive light show and built several bars with different names/themes around the dance floor--it was cute and just much more elaborate than I expected. There was also a food truck selling sausages and fries (or some such).

Banner outside the fire station

The dance floor and bar setup inside the caserne--

before it got so crowded that you could barely move around.

Daniel was pretty taken with these glowing tables.

Delirious/sweaty dancefloor selfie.

Shortly before we left--dance floor was getting packed. 

Finally, I just need to say this for the record: French firefighters are astonishingly attractive. I don't know how they do it. Is there an audition? They all look ready for the cover of a fitness magazine.

Yep, that's me surrounded by the 13th Arrondissement's finest.

All the firefighters we talked to were very polite and friendly, which was nice. Daniel and I both noticed that it was a very welcoming atmosphere. We danced for close to 2 hours without very many breaks, and left around 11:15 when the dance floor was getting so packed that it was impossible to move. People were obviously having a great time and although there may have been some drunken shenanigans and bad behavior later in the night, we had an excellent experience. A+ work, 3eme Companie de Caserne Port-Royal. (call me!)

And so to bed after watching the fireworks show on live stream from France 2. I have yet to decide whether it's worth going to the Champ de Mars to see the fireworks in person. Last night seemed perfect: go dancing early and don't stay too long, see fireworks on television, get to bed before 4 a.m.

Tomorrow: Italy! I don't think I will take my computer so expect radio silence till we get back Sunday afternoon. It will be my first time in Italy and I am so excited!

*N.B. I believe that Paris is a safe city, and during the day I go places alone all the time. But to go dancing alone at night on the night of a holiday when everyone is out and lots of people are drinking has never seemed like a smart idea to me. YMMV.

Friday, July 25: Pardon?

I am good at French and can me débrouiller (get by, solve problems, sort myself out) in a lot of situations. However, my listening comprehension fails me at odd moments because, unlike in English, I don't always know what's coming at me and thus cannot respond automatically. This phenomenon is difficult to describe. Think of all the interactions you have with people that require a response, but you've given that response so many times that you barely have to listen to the question before you give the answer. Of course, it's possible to be TOO automatic:
Store clerk: How are you doing today?
Customer: Just looking!

Person who knows it is your birthday: Happy birthday!
You: Thanks, you too!

These are the kinds of interactions I'm talking about, especially the ones that happen in the world of retail where the clerk has to say the same thing 1,000 times per day and thus says it very quickly, not very clearly, and without necessarily looking straight at you. Here are a few that I've collected:

"Sur place ou emporter ?"
This phrase means "For here or to go?" and will be asked of you right after you place an order, anywhere "to go" is an option. Bonus: even in small cafés that mostly do takeout business, you will sometimes get real cups and saucers instead of paperware if you are having your coffee sur place.

"Vous avez le 0,05€ ?"
"Do you have the 5 cents?" This one happened to me this morning. I was buying something that cost 7,05€ with a 10€ note and the lady asked if I had 5 cents so she could give me back 3€. Unfortunately she asked me while looking down into her cash drawer and I had to ask her to repeat herself. People like it when you can faire l'appoint (make exact change), which I am almost always too lazy to do.

"Avez-vous une carte de fidelité ?"
"Do you have a loyalty card?" Just like in the U.S., businesses here have rewards cards, shopper's cards, whatever you want to call them. I am always asked this at Carrefour, so I've gotten used to it. Sometimes (usually not at Carrefour where the cashiers are in a hurry) you will be offered one. I usually say "Non, merci; je n'habite pas ici." (No, thanks; I don't live here.")

I think it's strange that I can answer complicated questions ("What are you doing here in Paris?") more readily than simple ones ("Do you want a small or a large?"). Language acquisition is a curious phenomenon.

Tuesday, July 22: "Que le paix et le salut soient sur Lui"

Today my World Lit. class took its field trip to the Grande Mosquée and the Arènes de Lutèce. The mosque is beautiful with "Hispano-Mauresque" architecture, mosaic tiles, and calligraphy everwhere. We had this very kind tour guide named Yamina who explained what the different rooms in the mosque were used for and at the same time explained a lot of the basics of Islamic beliefs and rituals. For instance, I did not know (or maybe had forgotten) that the 5-pointed star represents the 5 pillars of Islam. I did know that when Muslims say the name of the prophet Muhammad they follow it by saying a little blessing for him, but I did not know how to say it in French. Now I do, for which please see the title of this post. The tour was entirely in French so I was on translator duty. I think I mostly did well! One thing I am learning is that the person being translated also needs to know how to work with a translator. Yamina was very easy to understand but sometimes she'd tell us a LOT of information and I'd have to try to keep it all in my brain and roll it back out in English. In any case, we learned a lot at the mosque and I was happy to have this new experience. We were allowed to take pictures, which I was not sure about going in, so that was exciting as well.

From the mosque we went to the Arènes de Lutèce, which is right around the corner. It's the other ancient Roman ruins site in Paris in addition to the Thermes de Cluny (now part of the Musée du Moyen-Age). It is an amphitheatre that was built around the first century C.E. and was, as such things frequently are, almost demolished to make way for new construction. To be honest, it isn't much to look at but for an American it's exciting just to visit something that survives from so long ago. I wanted the class to be able to say they had been there!

Afterward we returned to the mosque, which has a café adjoining it, and we made a record amount of couscous, lamb, sausage, chicken, and vegetables disappear in a very short while. Memo to my students: now, if someone asks you if you like North African food, you can say yes! And hot mint tea with sugar--that went down very nicely on what felt to Southerners like a slightly chilly day.

This afternoon after we got back I made a run to Gibert Jeune (huge bookstore with a great stationery section as well), grabbed 2 more Pierre Lemaitre books and a used copy of Notre-Dame de Paris (i.e. The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and ran across a question-and-answer book of Paris trivia called Connaissez-Vous Paris? (Do You Know Paris?) so I grabbed that as well. Someone remind me not to buy any more books here. This makes 6!

Photos after the jump!

Saturday, July 12: I accidentally went to the Musée Cluny

For today I only had about half a plan at most. There were a couple of stores I wanted to go to (and/or go back to from yesterday) and then I thought I might go to the Treasury at Notre Dame or sit in a café and read or go to a park if the weather would ever clear up . . . or just flâner. My first stop was Muji near St. Sulpice, which I'd heard had a good selection of papeterie. I have decided to go back to using a paper calendar instead of my phone calendar so I thought I'd look there for a nice-looking agenda. No luck, but I did get to see St. Sulpice itself and that was new for me. It struck me as imposing and gloomy, both inside and out, but it was interesting to visit. This is the fountain in the Place St-Sulpice facing the church:

Of course since I wasn't thinking of going anywhere photo-worthy I did not take the Good Camera; today's photos are all iPhone pics!

From Muji I went to Gibert Jeune which is a huge bookstore in the Latin Quarter. I found a really nice agenda there at a decent price and bought a roman policier called Alex by Pierre Lemaitre. I'm not big on crime novels in English but I figured it would be at about my reading level in French. It came recommended by one of the employees and the author is a Prix Goncourt winner, so hopefully it'll be good. I'm already almost to the end of Pierre Bergé's letters to Yves St. Laurent, which are very sad and full of love. Dr. Kirk is reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame but I wanted something popular rather than canonical.

En route to Gibert Jeune I came out of the metro right at the St. Michel fountain. I stayed in the Latin Quarter on my second trip to Paris in 2006 and I remember being amazed that the fountain is just THERE in the middle of the street:

After lunch (sandwich, drink, dessert, coffee: 8,20€ at Brioche Dorée, which we have in the Atlanta airport for crying out loud. I've got to raise my standards) I was just wandering around figuring out my next move and I landed in the garden of the Musée Cluny a.k.a. the Musée du Moyen-Age (Museum of the Middle Ages). The Cluny is a 15th-century hôtel particulier (sort of a . . . city mansion?) built next to/on top of a Roman thermal bath. It houses an important collection of medieval artifacts: pieces in ivory, enamel, stained glass, sculptures, armor, household items like combs and pitchers, and tapestries, most significantly the Lady and the Unicorn set. This last was not on display last summer but it is back now:

All the tapestries are fascinating to look at. The longer you look, the more details you see.

The Cluny (Wikipedia says it is officially called the Musée du Moyen-Age now but I like to say "Cluny") also has some illuminated manuscripts on display. One minor disappointment was that in several places, works had been removed for "reorganization") and it seemed like most of the things that were missing were manuscripts! Nevertheless, I did see a few neat things:

It's a letter B, see?

Italic hand . . . I think. Need my History of Print notes.

A calendar from a Book of Hours. The placard explained that 

"The page presented corresponds to the current month."

I did not take a lot of pictures because the connection between the objects and the space seems especially important in this case. That is, you have to see it for yourself. Half of the experience is being in this hôtel particulier that is sort of big and small at the same time, with painted wood beams on all the ceilings and depressions worn into the steps of all the staircases. A couple of the rooms are in parts of the former baths, so you can see the medieval walls and the even older Roman walls. Those rooms are full of pieces from cathedrals: you have no idea how big the kings' heads are around the front doors to Notre Dame until you see one up close! One of the last rooms on the tour is the chapel--the building was originally constructed for the abbots of the Order of Cluny--it's no bigger than a classroom but with an elaborate "stone lace" ceiling and painted altarpiece like in a chapel of a large cathedral. I think I will go back and try to take more photos although I don't know how successful they'll be. In any case I'm very glad I went. The joke is that Europeans think 100 miles is a long way, and Americans think 100 years is a long time. It is awe-inspiring to me to stand in a building that is 600+ years old (much older, in places) and see objects that also date back multiple centuries. There were objects on display from the 6th century. You can't see those things and continue to believe that the medieval period was "the dark ages."

When I left the museum I discovered that the sun had finally come out after about 8-9 days of clouds. Here are a couple of pictures from a small park behind the museum:

The plants and trees in the little park--Paris has lots of these small parks called "Squares" (they are never square) always named after a person, e.g. "Square Laura Thomason."

This is the back of the Cluny. You can see how elaborate it is--like a scaled-down castle. 

Really a neat place to visit.

Finished out the day with a visit to Carrefour (grocery store) where I almost bought more than I could carry. But now I have plenty of nice food for tomorrow and Monday. And a detective novel to read!

Friday, July 11: "So actually you are not French?"

Stayed up late to have time to talk to my beloved Daniel on Skype so I did not get an early start today at all! My first step was to scout my field trip for Tuesday. We are going to the Musée du Quai Branly, an easy RER journey (actually 2 RERs) that will put us right next to the Eiffel Tower. I am excited to see this museum and I think it will be a nice change for the students, who have probably seen many paintings and sculptures by DWEMs (Dead White European Males) by now.

From the Quai Branly I made my way to the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves St. Laurent to see its "Femmes Berbères du Maroc" exhibition. After seeing the documentary L'Amour Fou a while back I've been a little fascinated by Bergé & YSL's relationship and I wanted to see their museum. My only regret is that I did not book a guided visit and thus did not get to see YSL's private studio and some other behind-the-scenes stuff at the Fondation. But the exhibition was fascinating--textiles, jewelry, and some household goods like baskets and cosmetic pots made by or belonging to Berber women, mostly from the first half of the 20th century when Morocco was a French protectorate. There were also large video screens showing high-resolution images of complete traditional outfits from the different tribes. To be honest I'm glad I did not have to try to wear an elaborate headdress and heavy jewelry while, e.g., milking a goat. But it suggests a certain kind of strength that these women must have had. The variety of styles was also a good reminder that the different tribes were distinct cultures and not to be "Orientalized" with a broad brush.

Leaving the Fondation I noticed a cameraman and reporter on the street corner obviously doing the "interview random passers-by" trick. I passed close to them never expecting to be acknowledged (in my mind I have a giant flashing "I'm American; ignore me" sign over my head), but sure enough the reporter said "Excuse me, Madame, would you like to answer a question for Télé Monde?" Dear Readers, I must admit that I've been on TV a couple of brief times and actually liked it, so I answered "I can't possibly say no!" while praying she wouldn't ask me something obscure about French politics. The question was both obscure and political, but not in the ways I expected. "Have you noticed that François Hollande has new glasses?" she asked. I was reeling a bit at this unanticipated topic and fumbled through answering that I had not seen him, not even on television. "Ah," the reporter said, comprehension dawning, "So actually you are not French?" While I was disappointed not to get to appear on TV, I was gratified to be meeting my goal of passing as French until I open my mouth. (Must be the new pants.)

After the exhibit and my brief encounter with the French media I went in search of lunch (is it possible that culture makes me hungry?) and had another quiche-drink-pastry formule, this time at Pomme de Pain. Maybe I should think twice about having dessert with lunch but who can pass up viennoiserie and patisserie when they are offered? Hopefully I walked it off--I did walk a lot today because I had one destination at St. Placide and one at St. Sulpice and got them mixed up. So I got off the metro at St. Sulpice and got to walk a few blocks to where I meant to be, at H&M across from St. Placide. (Or it may have been the other way around. *cough*) I know at least one reader of this blog who is cringing right now at my affinity for cheap clothes, but I love H&M. It never does me wrong and I always find good things there. Today I got 2 t-shirts, a sleeveless top, a genuinely really nice skirt, and a package of socks (my socks have been an unexpected casualty--one lost, one got a hole and we're barely 2 weeks in) for just under 30€. Yes, it may all fall to pieces in 6 months but right now I am just not bothered.

With the shopping done I had to put on my Assistant Director hat and go back to work. In the process, I had a cultural experience that I'm grateful for, and we got some good material for our next program meeting.

In the middle of writing this entry I stopped to talk to Daniel on Skype; now I've finished it and it is definitely bedtime. Stay tuned!

Thursday, July 10: Musée d'Orsay

Yesterday I accompanied Dr. Wengier and Dr. Mauldin and their classes to the Musée d'Orsay. The d'Orsay is a former train station that was converted in the 80s into a gorgeous museum; it holds a huge Impressionist collection as well as some gorgeous Art Nouveau decorative arts, beautiful sculptures, and some photography. It is just a great atmosphere for viewing works of art: very light and airy, and laid out such that even when it is crowded it does not seem cramped.  I will say that I find it a tiny bit hard to navigate but the mild confusion is worth it to see, e.g., Degas's La petite danseuse de 14 ans. I'm even coming around, slowly but surely, on the Impressionists. Don't throw things at me--I know that everyone loves the Impressionists; loving them is practically mandatory. I tend to think about Impressionism or see a reproduction and wonder what all the fuss is about. Then I get in front of one of the actual paintings and I understand it. I even got a new best-loved painting out of this visit, Gustave Caillebotte's Vue de toits (Effet de neige). The white snow on the roofs is somehow really exciting to see. I actually got a little chill when I looked at it!

The only disappointing thing about the d'Orsay is that it does not allow photography except from a couple of vantage points. So I took a few photos but not as many as I might have liked:

Looking down the main hall from the entry

View back toward the entry from a balcony

This giant clock looks out over the Seine and toward the whole Right Bank.

"Hey, I can see my house from up here!"

Looking across the Seine at the Louvre; also playing with the "Grainy Film" setting on my camera.

And looking back across the Seine at the d'Orsay.

I would have stayed longer at the d'Orsay but I was famished, so I walked a bit till I found a boulangerie called Erik something and ordered a formule (value meal). Formules are your friends if you want a piece of quiche, a drink, and a pastry for 7,50€. The place was hopping but I managed to get a seat and enjoyed the hot quiche--the weather was quite chilly and I wore a sweater and scarf with my trench coat most of the day. Is this July?

In the afternoon I visited Italie 2 (it's a mall, I'm afraid) and managed to buy some clothes. I'm slowly beginning to grasp the current style for wearing pants here in France. Absolutely no one wears boot-cuts and even the "straight leg" style pants are narrower than what I'm used to. Young people (or older people of particularly rigorous proportions), of course, wear skinnies or leggings and sheer tunic tops are popular. Lots of dress pants are ankle-length, which I simply cannot handle. After considerable trial and error and advice from dressing room attendants I bought a pair of black jean-type pants (more twill than denim) that I like. Plus a few inexpensive tops. Wearing the jeans now and I feel more chic already.

Back at home base it was time for our Thursday night cheese-and-charcuterie buffet. My colleagues and I walked down to the boulangerie to pick everything up, then brought it all back to the dorms for the students to demolish. My only regret is that the salami went really fast and I didn't get any. Next week I will snag a piece out of one of the boxes on the way back from the pickup.

Tuesday, July 8: Le Rouge et le Noir et le Pizza

Today was my World Lit. I class's first field trip. We went to the Bibliothèque Nationale-Richelieu to see Greek vases from the collection of the duc de Luynes and the other objects in the permanent collection on display as the "Museum of Medals, Coins, and Antiques"--about four rooms full of cameos, medals, coins, vases, figurines, and other good stuff. The Richelieu site is worth visiting just to see the building, as it is rather grand. We were disappointed that we could not go into the Salle Ovale but you have to have a reader's card (which costs money) and they do not allow photos. Nor would they have looked kindly on a dozen Americans trooping through, gawking, and chatting. We've been working with the students on their "Paris voices." It's true, I'm afraid, that Americans are loud--especially young American women with higher-pitched voices that carry farther. I have all of a sudden discovered a lower register of my voice to use; it's very handy!

We ended up being very early to the BNF; I was worried about being late and the reservation confirmation sounded very strict about the need to show up 15 minutes early. In the event, we were about 25 minutes early and the exhibit did not open till 1:00 p.m., which was our assigned time. On the up side, however, we did not have to pay. Ancient artifacts: good. Free access to same: even better! I asked the students to find a Greek vase that depicted something they recognized from mythology, a question to answer via research, and another object that they thought was interesting. I found a few bits of recognizable mythology, a question that I got answered on the spot, and LOTS of interesting things, all of which you can see after the jump.

Saturday, July 5: Up and down (mostly up) in Montmartre

Today was our long-awaited (in the sense that we signed up for them in May) walking tours in Paris with professional tour guides. The students had 3 choices: le Marais, Montmartre, or Montparnasse ("I forgot which one I signed up for. . . I think it starts with an M?"). Originally I was supposed to go to Montparnasse, which I'd chosen because I've never visited there. But no faculty were signed up for Montmartre so I went along with that group instead. Our guide Orane was one of the guides on the visit to the Louvre last year. She recognized me even though we'd only seen each other once or twice before. I made a concerted effort to speak French--something I'm working on more diligently this year--and maintained what I'm pretty sure was a pleasant and intelligent level of small talk during the metro ride from Porte d'Orléans to Blanche. For future reference, when you get out at Blanche you will be directly in front of the Moulin Rouge, and that's pretty cool. In fact it's one of my overall favorite things about Paris: the prospect of coming up out of a metro station and finding yourself right next to something beautiful (Aubers station--turn around and you see the Opéra Garnier), famous (Blanche--Moulin Rouge), or important (St. Michel-Notre Dame--right across the street from Notre Dame cathedral).

Orane gave us a great, well-planned tour of Montmartre. The weather was not ideal--it drizzled intermittently--but the heavy rain held off till the tour was over and I was ensconced inside a crêperie. Because Montmartre is one huge hill, touring it is always a strenuous walk. However, there are lots of good places to stop and take a look around: in addition to the Moulin Rouge we saw the Montmartre vineyard, the Lapin Agile (originally the "Lapin à Gilles" because someone named Gilles painted the rabbit on the building--I love a good French pun), the Moulin à la Galette (one of only 2 remaining windmills in Montmartre, of which there used to be 30), and the café from Amelie. I used to turn my nose up at guided tours but I always end up learning something and seeing things I wouldn't have sought out on my own. So no more guided tour snobbery for me; I've been converted.

Montmartre pictures and the rest of my day after the jump.

Les Soldes

People, I'm not going to claim that les soldes are a valid reason to come to study abroad in Paris in the summer. But they are definitely a good side benefit. Les soldes (the sales) are a 5-week (approximately) period around July when stores are allowed to have sales. Believe it or not, over here the government controls this sort of thing. I expect there is another sale period around the holidays but I don't know for sure.

So les soldes are on right now and this afternoon I walked right into the middle of them. I had decided I wanted another scarf although, or more likely because, the one Nancy gave me is great and I've already worn it twice. And I wanted to get some Yves Rocher anti-fatigue foot gel--I love this product and I buy a tube anytime I am near an Yves Rocher. I knew I did not want to spend much money so I thought to go to H&M, which I also love.  I Googled the locations and found that the nearest one was in the 6th on a street called Rue de Rennes. Then I Googled Yves Rocher and behold! They had a location about 3 doors down and across the street. Off I went into the Métro. You can say what you want to about other forms of transit (my colleague Jim's tag line is "I found this great bus!") but I am irrationally attached to subways. Rue de Rennes turned out to be a fair-sized shopping street with a FNAC (electronics), a Zara, and even a Pandora store (who knew?). I hit Yves Rocher and they had a lot of stuff soldé so I got foot gel, lavender shower gel, and a shower puff for under €6. H&M had all their sale stuff on one level, so of course that level was full of people. I jostled around and found a cute sleeveless top as well as a cool scarf: a light peach background with Dia de los Muertos-style skulls on it in black. I'm excited to wear it! Then I went into Marionnaud (Sephora-type store but more fragrances than makeup) just to take a look. I got some perfume from the Couvent des Minimes brand (Mom, take note! Should I get you some hand cream?). Can't wait to wear that either as it is a great citrus scent and I ran out of my C. L. Bigelow Lemon right before I came. Paris is full of undesirable smells at times and I do not want to be one of them!

So that was my dip into les soldes. It was fun and a nice change from the U.S. where Macy's seems to have a "One Day Sale" every day. We are onto you, Macy's!

On a totally different note I spoke to my friend Nicole on the phone today. She was my home stay hostess when I was on study abroad as a student 10 years ago. She lives in Caen (Basse-Normandie, northwest coast of France) and used to be an English teacher but has been retired for a long time. I am planning to go out to visit her for a day, possibly next weekend. I had also raised the idea of bringing some students to visit Normandy and she seemed to think that would work with some help from a couple who are friends of hers, Jean-Alain and Françoise. Jean-Alain is retired from the Regional Council in Caen and Françoise is just a generally energetic person. I will have to see what my students think and who wants to go. They were very interested when I talked about Normandy in class. We have talked about the Norman Conquest and they are starting to understand how long & how deeply the English/Americans and the French have been connected. Plus, Caen is lovely and it would be nice for them to see another part of France.

Tomorrow we have a 2-hour guided tour of the Louvre. That, of course, will be excellent! À bientôt!

Practice Visit

I should have guessed I'd be a good fit for teaching in Study Abroad because I am a big believer in the Practice Visit. I come by this belief honestly: My parents are homebodies who don't like surprises (I am a homebody who doesn't like surprises; let's not kid ourselves.) so when I was a kid, if we had to go somewhere unfamiliar (like maybe a new doctor's office or something) we'd drive over a day or two beforehand to see where it was.

Study Abroad endorses and encourages Practice Visits. Yesterday we practiced going to the IPT (our classroom building), so this morning everyone knew how to get there and was right on time.  The classrooms are very nice: tables in a square like an American "seminar room" with big windows and a good-sized white board. I enjoyed the first day of classes and I hope my students did too. It is interesting to work on connections between what you're reading and what you're experiencing.  Everyone had something smart to say, which is the best possible outcome! 

I have a 2.5-hour break between classes (it's a nice schedule, I'm not gonna lie) so after my AM class I walked out and had coffee in a randomly chosen café. Drank it standing at the counter and felt massively Parisian.  Must quit café crème in favor of regular coffee, though. Un crème is a little pricey (but so delicious!). After my coffee break I walked around some more just to see what was in the quartier. It is not a tourist area at all so it was full of regular people doing regular stuff, which is one of my favorite things in Paris. Pretending to be a local is fun--I don't know why! But it does lead to being asked for directions, which happened to me twice today. I helped the first lady, who was on the correct street but did not seem to know how house numbers work, but the second guy asked me for a particular street and of course I did not know it. He was nice about it, though. Parisians have a huge reputation for rudeness and of course some people are rude (often occasioning mutterings from other locals) but nearly everyone I've encountered has been lovely. If they are not lovely they are at least polite, which is good enough. 

As soon as afternoon classes ended I set out on another Practice Visit, this time to Versailles where my class is going tomorrow.  The train ride was slow--through inattention I did not get on an express, so we stopped at every station between St Michel-Notre Dame and Versailles Rive Gauche. But even with that mistake the whole trip only took 75 minutes door to door, which was about what I estimated. After walking up to the palace gates and being reminded that holy moly, Versailles is enormous, I headed back toward the station. On the way in I'd passed a small courtyard (and its many promotional signs), the Cour de Senteurs (Courtyard of Scents?). So on the way out, I went in and discovered that it's 4 little shops: a restaurant called Le Nôtre after the gardener who designed Versailles' gardens; a glove shop (!!!); a Dyptique shop (fancy candles, €€€€€), and Guerlain which of course is perfume. Guerlain was a really pretty store, and I like perfume, so I went in and chatted with one of the saleswomen for a few minutes. They have an exclusive fragrance at that location (don't they just), called "Versailles." It is lovely and of course it is €210! Ah well. It was a nice little experience to make me feel like I was off the clock!

Back at Cité I went to the grocery store again (forgot dish soap yesterday) and I've finally found a grocery that I like. It's called G20 (no idea) and behind its narrow and slightly grubby facade is a ton of selection. Ended up getting a bag of salad (quote from a colleague: "If I don't eat a vegetable soon I'm afraid of what might happen"), salad dressing, and a bottle of Badoit Rouge (fizzy water that I like) in addition to my dish soap. And I had my Georgia Public Broadcasting reusable bag in my tote so I felt validated in having brought it. Probably the only exemplar ever to visit Paris--I need to take a photo and send it in!

More tomorrow . . . stay tuned!