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Published: November 16th 2008
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This weekend has been a little bit of everything. Thursday after class, Devon and Brad and I went to the Marais to find a little American grocery store called Thanksgiving. Devon is making Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to find cranberries. It was so bizarre to see Karo corn syrup and Fluff after months surrounded by european products. We stopped by our favorite bakery in that neighborhood as well, where I tasted the best beignet ever. SO much more than a doughnut. It was delicious.
On Friday, I had to go to a movie at school for my film class about a gang in Algiers in the 50s. It was decent, but not gripping. From there, I decided to check off another thing on my list of things still to do in Paris, so I headed to the Louvre. I wanted to see Napoleon III's apartments. When I finally found them, they were pretty much like Versailles. Really fancy with lots of gold and paintings and cushions. I also looked at Northern European stuff and the French sculpture courtyard for a while. It was a perfect day to be in a museum because Paris during November is a lot like it
is at home: very gray, cloudy, with the sky occasionally spitting at you. When I was done at the Louvre, it was still only about 3 in the afternoon, so I went to Grignaldi's bookstore. It was one of the first places in Paris to carry English language books. I spent an hour or so reading there. When I went back to the metro station, however, line 1 had decided to throw a fit. Some kind of technical problem or blah blah blah. I walked to Place de la Concorde and caught another line from there, so no big deal. The rest of the night was spent just hanging out, enjoying my newfound WIRELESS internet at the apartment. My host mom's son came into my room the other night while here for dinner and casually asked if I'd like the internet key. YES!!! I was pumped. It is really nice to be able to use the internet without feeling like I am infringing on Madame's personal space or sitting out in a cold park with a spotty connection.
Saturday, I did a little homework and then met up with Devon to do a walking tour of Isle Saint Louis
(Saint Louis Island). It is the smaller island next to Isle de la Cite, which is home to Notre Dame. It is adorable, with pretty buildings and picturesque boutiques. Most things are quite expensive, but we did sample the famous Bertholli's ice cream while walking around. I had tiramisu, but Devon went all out and got raspberry with rose, vanilla, and some liqueur flavor with prunes. When we were done, there was still a lot of day left, so we decided to do the tour of the Bastille neighborhood too. I saw some pretty cool things, including a little passage way I must have walked by a thousand times, a really cool shop with fun, inexpensive clothes, and an elevated walkway filled with plants that stretches all the way to the Bois de Boulogne. When I got home, Meredith returned from a productive afternoon at Starbuck's doing homework with Shaina in tow, and we decided to make dinner at Shaina's place. We bought our ingredients and spent a fun evening making dinner, watching The Office, talking, and hanging out until Shaina started to fall asleep and Meredith and I took our exit.
This morning, Meredith and I went to Notre Dame for the 11:30 mass. It was really great. I didn't realize that I missed church until I went. It was also cool to see a catholic mass, especially one conducted in French. It was the international mass, so one of the scriptures was in English and one was in German or something. There was also a visiting choir from Iceland that was beautiful. Also, communion was just the host, without wine. The priests had both, but the congregation was just given the wafer. Anyway, I'm glad we went. Afterward, we met up with Devon and Shaina. The original plan was to go for bagels, but the place was closed so we went to Breakfast in America instead. It was fun and delicious. Our time remaining here seems to be dwindling. I hope I can make the most of the weeks I have left.
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