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Published: November 26th 2008
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Picasso Museum
Giant mirror structure in the courtyard of the Picasso museum Yesterday I received my Carte de Sejour. Friday I have a doctor's appointment with the French government to verify that I am a healthy enough individual to reside in their country for a year. All signs indicate I should be legal and therefore wanted to give an idea of what days trying to live like a Parisian are like.
I will start with Tuesday since this is really the start to my week. I wake up at 7:15am. Breakfast is available downstairs which every morning is simply fresh bread and strawberry jam with a bowl of tea and milk. The tea is really just Lipton brand, but because we drink it out of bowls it tastes that much better. On days that I take the metro to school I can leave no later than 8:38am to walk 5 minutes to the metro, ride for six stops, and walk 3 minutes to class. On days that I walk to school, which are my favorite, I leave around 8:15am walk through the Montparnasse Cemetery, past the train station and arrive at school in about 35 minutes. (Either way, Paris offers incredible people and dog watching).
I have my french language class 3 days
a week Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-12. I have a different schedule than most of the other students, so Tuesday afternoon's I am free to choose what I'd like to do. It's a perfect time to explore new streets, find a new museum, try to find lunch for under 5 euro, or sometimes take a nap. Wednesday's I have six hours of class from 9-12 and 2-5pm. In between class breaks I take the metro to a boulangerie where we can use our meal tickets to get a sandwich, dessert, and drink. We pay our program for 6 meal tickets a week, two each at three different locations. Wednesday's are fairly exhausting after listening to six hours of french in a row, three of them being my Phonetics class. Thursday's I have my French History course from 2-5pm, so in the mornings I usually get coffee and read the newspaper at Cafe L'imprevu which is right down the street from our foyer. The staff there is incredibly friendly and they usually discount our prices. My history professor is incredible. She gives all the American students a difficult time but she is witty, fun to learn from and very good
Le Louvre
Statue Gallery at mocking people. Alas, Friday mornings are the end of my week with my language class again from 9-12.
The three restaurants we have meal tickets to are the boulangerie, Le Laurier, and La Sarrassine. The boulangerie is specifically just for to-go sandwiches, but the other two are perfect French restaurants. Le Laurier is a romantic "bar a vin" where we get to choose two courses. Dani and I have worked the system where we split an appetizer, each order an entree, then split a dessert so we get a little of everything. We usually order kir to drink, which is white wine with a little splash of flavoring. La Sarrassine is a petite creperie. I think this is everyone's favorite place to eat. Mahmoud, the owner is very generous and friendly. We get three courses here. I usually order the french onion soup (it is soo good here), either a tuna/tomato crepe or the curry, and a nutella crepe with toasted almonds. Mahmoud also gives us free cafe au lait before we head out as well. It's at this creperie where we met Najim, an Algerian pop star with a perfectly manicured face and a wicked unibrow along with
Le Parc
Park behind Notre Dame his manager, who I e-mailed about taking pictures for his magazine. Also, there is a retired french movie director who usually eats at the same time as us on Friday afternoons. Lunches here usually require a minimum of two hours. After the Sarrassine on Friday's, Dani and I usually go to the Louvre or walk around the 4th arrondissement.
I feel as though Paris has gotten smaller, there is still so much I haven't seen yet, but walking around everyday it begins to feel more comfortable. There are still lots of bars, museums, and restaurants I can't wait to go to and I haven't even been to the top of the Eiffel Tower yet. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the holidays are an easy time to miss home and family. We are making a group Thanksgiving dinner at the Sarrassine and Mahmoud even bought us a turkey!
Saturday I head to Prague just for the weekend and then it's December already!
These are just a collection of photos throughout the last couple of weeks!
Bisous! Santé! Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Kaitlin
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Maman
non-member comment
I feel like I am almost sharing your days
Oh, and in just over two weeks I will be! I can hardly wait for you to show me your Paris. Your pictures seem to get better and better. I liked you in your new purple hat! Love those golden birds...