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Published: September 9th 2005
Finally I found time to squeeze in more trips to museums and have been to Musée Carnavalet in the Marais which is a beautiful building holding the History of Paris (!) a bit overwhelming but free so I'll go back for more later.
On Saturday a friend and I went to audition for a choir only to discover they wanted a lot of money for dues and they were all English speakers so instead we went to Musée Pompidou, a brilliant choice. The view from the top of the museum is fantastic! It covers from the Eiffel Tower to Sacré Coeur and on the terrace there is a pond with beautiful sculptures. To add to our state of wonder there were Mongolian monks giving a concert on the plaza below the museum so their song floated up to us. I have no idea how long we sat there in amazement but we finally took some deep breaths and felt relaxed, the first time in weeks!
I have helped friends move into their places all over the city so we are all finally settled into our respective corners of the city. Many people are living in the romantic area
Montmartre, which is full of narrow winding lanes and steep hills. It will be fun to explore with them and then come home to my quite side of the world.
Classes began for us on Monday, it was quite a shock to be honest. We are spending three hours a day Monday through Friday in an Intensive Language Program. The 19 of us in the program where split up into three groups so there are only six people in my group, intense indeed! We are all on the spot all the time. My instructor is fantastic. She is scary and intimidating as heck but she goes at a wonderful pace and seems to be patient. Then weekly we have a private hour with her to ask questions and work on our weaknesses. My hour was today and it was, well, difficult. I have so much to learn which is such a great thing (and certainly why I am here) but on the other hand is really daunting. She gave me some sage advice and I am ready to dive in. I know the harder I work this month the easier my year will be, so bring it on! We
are reading this great book, which I am happy to carry around with me and read on the metro, it looks better than me reading Harry Potter I'll admit.
Speaking about the metro though I have had my fair share of odd experiences on it lately. I got on this morning only to have a man get on after set up a black curtain, blast some music and put on a puppet show! Then he walked up and down the metro car asking for money for the show! Strange. Beyond that my experiences have all been me being silly and making eye contact with a male (AH! that is why women read books on the metro) and having to be polite in my lame French and say no thank you I was looking at the order of stations! Yikes.
I am eating too many pastries (if that is possible) but am working at striking a balance with salads and fruits. Beyond food and courses it has been more time sitting on the Seine or in cafés talking and people watching. I have been taking lots of long walks and have gotten wonderfully lost many times. I walked from
Pompidou Terrace
Can you find the Tour Eiffel?!my apartment to school yesterday and it took an hour and 20 min. not too bad but not too appealing in the morning rush either.
So far beyond family and friends all I am missing are the stars! Where are they?! I can't see them beyond the light of the city.
It is amazing this new place, I'm feeling good and fortunate!
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Oncle Tom
non-member comment
Je suis tres content que tu sembles si contente!