The family comes to Paris! (part 1)

 

On Ile de la cite!

Wednesday was the day that my family came to visit! I unfortunately had a test and a project due before they came so I spent all Tuesday night doing homework. After class Wednesday I went to their apartment to pick them up to get some lunch. Their apartment was huge compared to mine and in one of the nicest districts in Paris, the 6th right along the Seine River. It was an amazing place and luckily I stayed there most of the time that my family was here. It had 2 bedrooms and size wise was about 4 times the size of my place!My grandma, mom, and two sisters were able to come and I had an amazing week! We started Wednesday by eating at this local restaurant near their apartment and then walking around at Notre Dame and the Palais Justice. We spent about an hour inside Notre Dame because it is so beautiful... and I was glad that I could share it with my family. We were really tired; me because of no sleep because of homework and they had some bad jetlag. That night we went out to eat and then decided to get some sleep because we had a long week ahead of us!

 

Thursday we took a river cruise on the Seine after having some delicious French croissants, pain au chocolate and coffe. It was a little chilly but it was great to see the Parisian sights from the boat, plus gave my family an overview of the city. After the cruise, we went to the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero gardens, but the line for the tower was so long that we decided to wait til another day. We walked in the general area, eating the best french onion soup I have ever had at a cafe, and then we went to Les Invalides. Napoleons tomb was closed but it was beautiful to walk around the gardens and the different museums near Les Invalides. After resting for a couple minutes, we finally went to the amazing baby bottle wine/fondue place and I had a great time. We shared a meat and a cheese fondue and drank some delicious wine out of the bottles. It was cool to show my family this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant and show them some different areas of Paris.

Oscar Wilde's grave

Friday was market day so we had the adventure of navigating through vendors, people yelling, and carts of food. We bought some really fresh and vegetables to cook for the cheapest prices in all of Paris and although a little overwhelming, I think my family had fun. The market takes place every Tuesday and Friday and stretches what seems to be for miles near my apartment. We met some very interesting people that were really excited to see some Americans/tourists because they don't really frequent the area that I live! After some shopping at the market, we went to a really good restaurant near Pere Lachaise and followed it up to a visit near the cheese shop to show my family the amazing cheeses of France. We walked to Pere Lachaise (One of the most famour cemetaries in the world) and visited some of the graves of some of the famous people including Oscar Wilde, Frederick Chopin, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison. Altough a little hilly it was really cool and a nice day to explore! That night we decided to cook some food that we bought from the market and we made artichokes and ratatouille :) I wanted to take my sisters out and show them some of the Parisian nightlife so I took them to the Absinthe bar near the Bastille. They had a great time trying absinthe for the first time and I took them to another bar to meet some of my friends from ABS.

Saturday we decided that we were going to do a bus tour of Paris to see some of the sights without having to walk around or take the metro. It was also nice for me so I didn't have to play tour guide all day :) We had the bus tour for an 1 1/2 and saw Place de la Concorde, the Louvre, Arc de la Triomphe, Musee d'Orsay along with many others. My family went to a Saturday vigil mass at Notre Dame while I did some homework unfortunately. They loved it but said it was kinda weird seeing people take pictures all around you! After mass we went to a restuarant called La Bouteille d'Or, or the Golden Bottle. My grandma went there 13 years ago when she visited France so it was cool to be able to go there again so much later. We had a good meal with some good wine and my sister Sarah tried escargot and loved it... so proud :)

Following dinner we went to the Arch de Triomphe, which is beautiful and lit up at night. We saw the tomb of the unknown soldier and took lots of pictures, and at the hour everynight the Eiffel Tower glitters for 5 minutes so it was awesome to see as well. We walked back on the Champs d'Elysee and saw all the famous shops, including Louis Vitton, Chanel, concept cars in Toyata, and we ate ice cream at a 3 story Haagen-Daz! Life is good.    Sunday was a day of exploring Montmarte. We went to mass at Sacre Coeur which was really cool, except for the fact that it was all in French. It wasn't bad, but the homily was kinda difficult to understand. It is such a beautiful chuch that I didn't mind too much! After walking through Sacre Coeur we walked through the artsy part of Montmarte and got to see a little market area where all the artists came to display there work. My family also got some touristy souvenirs to bring back home to their friends/significant others. We ate at this delicious restaurant right in the center of Montmarte where we could look out the window and see street dancers, singers and artists doing their work. We also went to see the Moulin Rouge and explored some more of the Red Light District. We were pretty tired after all that walking so we decided to eat something a little different near their appartment: Italian! A couple of amazing pizzas, pasta dishes and wine glasses later we were much happier and full.

When the weather gets a little better :)

Hello again! I know that I am a couple weeks behind on my blog but I am doing my best to catch up.. things have been really busy with school, traveling, and enjoying Paris.

I forgot to add to my last post that the Friday before the Raclette party I went to my first concert in Paris. It was Pete Bjorn, pretty popular indie rocker from the USA. I went with my friend Matt and met up with some people from ABS. Luckily the concert hallwas really close so I could just walk and there were a lot of Americans there as well so that was neat :)

After the Raclette party and sleeping most of the day Friday (don't judge) I went to a "Jersey Shore" themed party at my friend Evi's house. After a mad hunt for some ripe avacados to make some guacamole we couldn't find any but we made pizza, chips and salsa and Evi made this really good date coverd in proscutto ham appetizer. It was a good group of people and fun to watch the Jersey shore and try to explain why it was so popular in the US... which I'm still not pretty sure why. After watching some episodes and a couple bottles of wine later, we headed to a really cool absinthe bar. It had a little bit of a gothic feel which was a bit strange but had some amazing absinthe. It was really neat to light the sugar on fire, let it carmelize, and then drop it on the absinthe which lights it on fire, and then put water in the absinthe to put the fire off. It was pretty neat :)

Saturday I decided to go to the 13th arrondisement to try and go to and buy a new computer cord because mine stopped working... I found a really cool 4 story mall that had some great shopping including Printemps(Nordstrom of France except more expensive) Darty and Fnac (electronic stores like Best Buy), and some other really cool boutiques and shops. I got lunch at a Tex-Mex place which sadly wasn't as good as in the States but c'est la vie. It was cool to explore a new area of Paris and see some more sights. That night was my friend Kari's 21st birthday. It isn't as big of a deal as it in the US but we still had fun. We had a pregame at her place and then we attempted to go to 2 huge clubs near the Champs d'Elysee. They are really hard to get into to begin with since this is Paris after all :) and since we had such a big group of 20 we weren't able to get in but we went to a neat bar called Hideout and enjoyed our night there!

Sunday I rested and did homework all day since I pretty much played all weekend... It was a nice day though so of course I had to walk around and enjoy some more of Paris.

Monday I had 2 classes which were really hard to stay awake... Advanced French and Global Marketing, but luckily I was able to take a nap during the day. Monday night I got drinks with some friends in one of my classes which was a good way to meet new people!

Tuesday was pretty much the nicest day weather wise that I have had since my time here!! I only had one class in the morning and then sat and drank some wine by the Canal St.Martin with some friends. Near my school is one of the best hole-in-the-wall Mexican places in the city so I went there with my Colombian friend Valentina to get some amazing homemade guacamole and chips. It was so relaxing and nice to be able to enjoy a good meal (and wine) with friends in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! After I left hanging out by the Seine, my friend Matt told me that him and some friends were drinking more wine, eating and hanging out by the Eiffel Tower! I couldn't resist and bought some wine and a snack and went over to the Eiffel Tower. It was gorgeous, with some many families, couples, dogs and other people were hanging out and playing. We stayed for almost 3 hours until it got dark, and then I had to go home because my family was coming the next day and I had an essay to write and a presentation.... Not the best thing to procrastine but happy that I was able to enjoy my day in Paris

Me, Matt and my friend Barrett at the Eiffel Tower

Raclette and Masks :)

Thursday night was a great time at the Mask Party... One of my friends knew someone in VIP so it was nice to be in the VIP section and be able to drink/dance/hang out for free :) There were so many kids from ABS and the other schools in Groupe IGS so it was nice to mingle and meet some new people.



Sightseeing on the Seine



Friday I was pretty much a bum. I was feeling a little under the weather so I decided to just stay in and relax, watching "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest." I read all of the books and I was pretty impressed with the movies even though they weren't as good as the books. I know that they are making the American version of the movies and I hope that they somewhat to compare to the Swedish movies.

Saturday I went to go sightseeing and walked on the Seine for a while to relax and listen to some music. It was a really beautiful day so it was nice to just kind of hang out for a while. Later that day I went to the movies with my friend Blake which was an experience within itself. We bought the tickets and then the room where the movie was for some reason was down the street. We saw the movie 127 hours which was actually really good but pretty graphic at the same. James Franco should win some awards for his acting.... especially the scene where he saws his arm. Gross hahaha. Luckily the movie was still in English with French subtitles so that was nice that we didn't have to translate.The ads were mostly in French and there were some movies that looked really good!!!

Saturday night we decided to hang out with my friends from cali Evi and Brittany as well as my roomate Adrianna. We didn't feel like going out so we just decided to go to this delicious Japanese restaurant for dinner and then desert and this strange fruit place that has a full menu with all fruit. The Japanese restaurant is in a huge bar/restaurant district that was packed when we got there at 10:30 and it was pretty cool to people watch.We got this ice cream/exotic fruit/desert concoction but it was really delicious. I will definitely be going back there :)


Basilique Saint Denis



After dinner/desert we decided to just hang out and watch "Love and Other Drugs" on my friends computer. It was definitely a little more depressing than I thought the normal romantic comedy would be, but it was pretty good at the same time. I spent the night at their place which was at the Bastille, a really nice place in the 11th arrondisement. My friends live on Place des Vosges with is  a square built in the 1600s by one of the Louis... there are so many that Im not sure which one it was. It is regarded as one of the most beautiful squares in the city.

Thursday I had a very interesting day to say the least. I broke my camera at the mask party so I went to Avenue Montgallet in the 12th arrondisement to try and fix it. Unfortunately they only really fix computers but they literally had about 20 computer stores on one small stretch but it was pretty interesting to see the area because I have never been to the 12th arrondisement so I was able to sightsee and see a different side of Paris. After doing some window shopping I had to go to a French Party put on by ABS that gave the opportunity for American students to speak French and for French students to speak English. I met some really cool people and got to eat some cheese and work on my french! It was really nice to meet some French students that were around my age.

Group for the Raclette Party

After the French party my friend Blake and I had to run a couple quick errands and then we tried to get to our friend Chadi's house who lives in the suburbs of Paris for a dinner party. We had to take the metro to this sketchy suburb of Paris called Saint Denis and had to wait 20 minutes for a tram to take us to another train to Chadi's house. While we were waiting for the tram we decided to walk to go see the Basilique Saint Denis, a basilica built in the 7th century and every king from the 10th-18th century was buried there. Because its not in Paris, its not as widely visited but it was really cool to see. After taking the tram, taking a train 20 minutes the wrong way and then having to take buses 40 minutes because the trains stopped going the way we wanted. Finally after almost 2 1/2 hours of traveling we finally made it to Chadi's at 11:30 at night! It was exhausting. We missed the dinner of raclette(kind of fondue where you pour cheese on top of the food) but luckily my friend Evi made me and Blake little plates. He lives with his parents (very typical in France) but it was cool to be able to have a house party in the suburbs. It was really pretty and reminded me of the US a little bit.Everyone had a great time even though we had to wake up at 6:30 b/c Chadi had class! I pretty much slept most of the day Friday because I got about 3 hours of sleep but when in France :)

starting to get into the swing of things

So after 2 weeks of traveling... I was so tired! Monday was French and Global Marketing. In French, we are reviewing stuff that I learned about 4 years ago: Personal Pronouns. Not very fun at all! We are reading a very popular French childrens book and then next we are reading a play. Oh well it helps with my language skills! We only have about 10 people in that class now and our teacher has so much energy for being 8:30 on a Monday morning. Wow almost too much to handle. Monday was a pretty relaxing day overall, just caught up on some American shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl and Glee. Since we finally have internet I had about 4 weeks to get caught up on. In my Global Marketing class I am friends with a group of guys that I learned were really interesting. One, Max has his own energy drink called Magic Potion that is circulating the club scene and the other Gordon has his own clothing line in France and Germany.... I thought the US were entrepreneurs but I have seen more from the French than my friends/peers in America.


Mille Feuille



Tuesday was morning class in Intercultural studies and then I went to the market to get some groceries.... and I finally got some artichokes which all of you know is my favorite thing in the world to eat :) I was asked for about the 4th time since I have been here if I am Swedish which I don't think I look like at all! I guess its the blue eyes and the blond hair. Tuesday was spent preparing for a 40 minute presentation in my International Relations Class on the foreign policy in Lebanon. It was an enormous job bc the country has been in EXTREME turmoil for the past 30 years.



Wednesday was a delicious Pastry Tasting in my French Civilization class... I brought in Mille Feuille, which is a creamy cake thing thats amazing. I got to sample famous pastries such as eclaires, religeux, Napoleon, Madelienes along with some others. It was a great time even though we spent the first 2 hours of class actually learning.... what a drag :) French Pastries are literally one of my favorite parts about France, there are patisserie’s every block with has a fine sample of the best of France’s Delights. Our presentation on Lebanon went really well, I was really nervous but it went a lot better than I thought it would go and the whole presentation with questions lasted almost 2 hours. Wow! After our class I went to eat at this really good noodle to go place. In France it is really rare to get anything to go, if you see anyone eating or drinking on the streets it means they aren’t French! I made the mistake of eating breakfast on the metro once when I was running late and I got some weird looks. Oh well.

Grand Palais

Thursday was great to be able to sleep in….. I decided since I didn’t have too much to do that I would go sightseeing. I went to the 7^th and 8^th arrondisement because I haven’t been there yet. I saw the Petit and Grand Palais, 2 old beautiful palaces that are now museums. They were both built in 1897 for the Grand Exposition. It was really beautiful and had such great architecture. I loved it and took tons of pictures outside and inside. There was a free museum in the Petit Palais but decided since it was such a nice day to just walk around outside. After walking around the both the palaces I wanted towards a huge palace with a big wall around it that I learned was Palais d’Elysee which is the presidential palace... Something was going on with an foreign ambassador because there were so many armed guards surrounding the Palace and a couple of the embassies that were on the same street. I got to walk on one of the most famous shopping streets in the world, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. I saw Christian Louboutin, Hermes, Prada, Chanel and some designers I have never even heard of before. It was really neat to see all of these boutiques. After seeing all of those stores I walked back through Place de la Concorde (the old Egyptian obelisk) and then passed Assemble Nationale (National Assembly) then proceeded to go see Les Invalides. Its now a military museum but it used to be a military hospital built in the 1670's. Also there are some very famous French military figures buried there including the most famous Napoleon. He has a huge tomb and although I didn't pay to go inside, the outside was gorgeous enough... but the guy definitely had an ego! After exploring around Paris for the day, I finally decided to go home and get ready for the Masquerade party hosted by our school at a popular club. I went with one of my good friends Blake who goes to USC also. It was fun, but things definitely got out of control a little bit. It was good though to meet some new people and to hang out with some ABS friends.



Les Invalides