Aventures Parisiennes

possible Last post!

2007-07-13T09:39:00.000+02:00

Hard to believe, but today is Dan's last day of class. He is very excited to be completing the program and is even more excited to sleep in when he's done. We discovered this morning that he hasn't slept in for 2 months, including weekends, and the sleep deprivation has taken its toll.

Because it's his last day, we may or may not have internet access for the rest of our time here. We leave Tuesday morning and arrive back in "the states" on Tuesday night. If you don't hear from us until we're back, assume that our plane crashed. Just kidding.

On a final note of Parisien exploration, we've been trying to go out more since Katie arrived, and since we typically can't understand anything on the menu, we randomly pick what we'll eat with no idea what it will be. Meals here are usually three courses, so that's a lot of picking. Below are some of the quotes after our culinary discoveries:

Katie: (after a thoughtful glance at her plate of pate) "It tastes like catfood."
Dan: (upon realizing that he doesn't know how to say "medium-rare" in French) "Maybe I should just get the fish."
Meghan: (after her first taste of salad with chicken gizzard) "It's actually not that bad."
Dan: (after trying Meghan's gizzard) "Yeah, it's good. Pretty salty."
Katie: "seriously, this taste like catfood" (said repeatedly until the nausea dies down)
Meghan and Katie: "Is that the charlotte aux fruits rouges? It looks like cheesecake. I'm getting that."

My all-time favorite food conversation:
Ordering
Meghan: "Je voudrais ragnons geneux aucilles, s'il vous plait." (or something like that.)

*Katie points at what she wants. The waiter attempts to explain in English what she's getting. He says that what Meghan ordered is a veal dish. Emphasizes the "young" part of the calf or something like that. Meghan has a moral opposition to veal, but didn't change her order for some unfortunate reason.*

The meal is served
Dan: This is fantastic. I love duck a l'orange! Katie, what's yours?
Katie: I don't know. But I think it's chicken.
*deep breaths coming from Meghan's side of the table*
Meghan: It's ok, really. I'm fine. It's good. These potatoes are great.
Katie and Dan: Yeah, the French really know how to do potatoes.
Dan: (to Meghan) Do you want to switch? Because mine's great. Totally edible.
Meghan: No, it's fine. Really.
Dan: Let me try some. (he tries some, chewing slowly) Not my favorite.
Katie: Now I don't know if I want to try some. Aw, give me some anyway. (she tries some). That tastes like cow, and I don't mean steak. I feel like I'm actually eating a cow. That's God awful. (Katie is a seminary student.)
*Meghan tries another bite, and this time, almost gags and has to stop eating. She remains worried that she'll offend the waiter and chef, who are actually both wonderful. She begins to wonder how to make it look like she ate more than 4 bites.*
Katie and Dan: Here, give me some. I can take some for the team. Seriously, we'll help you out.
Dan: We can put some in my pocket! Just wrap it in your napkin!
Katie: We can put some in my purse.
*Meghan seriously considers this possibility*
Katie: I was joking.
Meghan: Well can I hide some under your chicken bones then?

Midway through our conversation of how to make the meal look like it disappeared, the table is cleared. Meghan feels awful, because although she's the one who didn't eat her meal, Dan is the one who's forced to have an awkward conversation in French about how "full" Meghan was, but the food was good, while Katie points. Katie LOVES to point.

We came to find that Meghan's dish was actually veal kidneys. Dan later admitted the dish was more than "not his favorite."
Dan: There's not much I won't eat, as long as it's cooked. But that was one of the most disgusting things I've ever put in my body. That was horrible! I can't believe you ate as much as you did. I wanted to gag after my 2nd bite. Why did I take a second bite!?!!?

Editor's note: this was also the meal of the chicken gizzard salad. We went home and immediately looked up the words of the meal I ordered. CRAZY.

Leave comments! Hopefully we'll be able to read them (and post again!) before we leave. Love you!

Rules of the Metro

2007-07-10T13:28:00.000+02:00

First of all, the alps were wonderful. We went on an incredible (and incredibly exhausting) hike to a beautiful turquoise lake surrounded by mountains. We were high enough that there was still snow around when we got to the top, and the views were among the best either of us could ever remember seeing. It was a great last weekend excursion!

We thought we'd continue your French education by teaching you the proper etiquette for Metro riding (or at least the way Dan and I think it should work).

Give up your seat (if you have one) for people with babies, old people, or others who seem to need it. Duh.
When you enter the car, don't just stop right inside the door (thereby blocking everyone else's way in and out). Move to the back!
On that note, don't even enter the car until everyone who's getting off is off. You'll just clog things up. This guideline will henceforth be called "the elevator principle."
If you have a bag/luggage, YOU DO NOT GET A SEAT. Taking "one" seat is more like taking three: one for your body, one for your legs (extending into someone else's standing space), and one for your bag. Having luggage means relegating yourself to the depths of discomfort: squished in the back, with little hope of getting off. It's the risk you take.
If you're sitting on a seat that will fold away and it gets crowded, you should stand (opening up extra room for more passengers). If you're rude enough to stay seated, don't you dare roll your eyes when someone is forced to stick their derriere in your face.
When trying to exit the train, a simple "pardon" will suffice. Pushing, shoving, or rough-housing of any sort is uncalled for.
If you're standing near the door on a crowded car, even if it's not your stop, step out when you are at a station. This allows others to exit more quickly.
Similarly, if you desire to board a packed train where someone has performed the selfless gesture listed above, give that person the right of way. "First dibbs," as we like to call it.
Tourists: keep your mouth shut, and please don't say stupid things and then brag about being an American. It makes the rest of us look bad.
Don't lean your entire body against the safety poles. About 10 people can hold on for support if you avoid this temptation.

Common decency. Spreading this gospel on the Metro is our new mission.

At the Crossroads

2007-07-05T13:28:00.000+02:00

(Before I start, I thought I'd give you at least one picture from Nice. Here I am, looking sweet.)

Well, we're at t-minus two weeks left in Europe. Pretty crazy. I just talked with a buddy of mine at the Alliance, Lars, who agreed with me that after the first week, the past month and a half has flown by. Crazy stuff. Here are some cool things, however, that Meghan and I are looking to do and experience in the short amount of time we have left:

Hang out with Katie Dayton. Yes, Deeker Maximus is coming to hang with us for our last week in France. She arrives Monday so look for great photos of us doing ridiculous stuff following that point.
Hit the Alps this weekend. For the first time, Meghan and I actually planned a bit ahead and grabbed tickets to Chamonix for this weekend. Time to see the majestic beauty of the Alps. I love the juxtaposition between Nice last weekend and Chamonix this weekend. I'm digging it.
Do all those touristy things I've been saving. You know, I've hit some of the major spots in Paris, but I didn't have my camera back then. Thus, I'm really looking forward to doing the Eiffel Tower again with the camera; seeing the Arc de Triomph again, etc. With Dayton I'm thinking we're going to be "true toursits." Much like our days back in California (sigh).
Research at the big-boy place. I feel so awesome. Yesterday I went to the Bibliotheque Nationale and got my official "researcher's card" which gives me access to the national archives. This is phenomenal to me. I have the ability (and indeed today I think it might happen) to hold in my hand a book that was written over four hundred years ago. For a historian, this is like winning the lottery. Well, actually for a historian winning the lottery is like winning the lottery, but whatever.
Eating at awesome spots in Paris. Meghan and I have decided to throw caution (and euros) to the wind and go grab some good eats and cool little hot spots in Paris. Meghan picked the first one and it rocked (La Petit Machon). I picked the second one and it was just okay (so for those of you at home keeping score, that's Meghan - 1 and Dan - 0). Meghan gets to pick the next one. We'll see how it goes. When Katie's here, I think we might try the semi-fancy style restaurant again. I LOVE French food (and I'm eating foie gras sometime soon...it MUST happen).

That sounds like a pretty good plan for the last two weeks. I think eventually (probably once I get back home), I'm going to setup a yahoo slide show like old time for all the picks from Europe. So, don't feel jealous that you haven't seen a lot of them.

Nice is nice!

2007-07-03T15:58:00.001+02:00

I apologize for the lame and unavoidable pun. Sorry, but no pictures today. I'm on a public computer and can't post any.

Our weekend in the south of France was wonderful. There was a bit of a challenge when we first got on the train. Our "first class" seats were actually a bench only slightly smaller than one seat that was situated between the passenger car and the bathroom/dining car. One porthole-type window. Our first class dreams were finally realized when a kind conductor found two seats together for us in the cabin, and we rode the final 3 hours or so in comfort.

Our hotel was exactly what we were looking for. It was very cheap (only 39 euros a night), close to the beach, and had a ton of character. The owner was multilingual and totally cool. We checked in (which included him entering us into their fingerprint database so the door would open for us!), then went for a walk in the town. When we came back, the owner and few other guests were just finishing up dinner (that the innkeeper cooked just to be nice). We walked past them and to our room, and the phone rang just as we were unlocking the door. Dan answered, and the conversation went something like this:

Innkeeper: You join us for drinks?
Dan: Uh, well...(looks at me questioningly)
Innkeeper: Why not? (I can see him shrugging his shoulders and pursing his lips in my mind's eye)
Dan: Why not.

We went to the dining room, where the owner and his friend, a French couple, a Britsh woman, and Dan and I all engaged in a great conversation that mixed French and English together. It was awesome for Dan to get to use his language skills in that setting, because it was definitely heavy with French, but there was always the innkeeper to bail us out if we needed English.

We spent most of Saturday in Monaco, the world's second-smallest country (1.95 square kilometers, I believe) and home of the famous Monte Carlo casino. Words can't describe how opulent it was. It was a cool and awe-inspiring place...to visit.

Sunday morning, we lay on the beach. That only lasted for a few hours, because the beach is all small stones/pebbles. Not the utmost in comfort. But it did make for gorgeous colored water...as far we could see, the water still looked blue. Absolutely beautiful. We had checked out already, but when we were done at the beach, the innkeeper invited us to take a shower before we got on the train. He also kept our luggage because we were going to have to keep it with us until we left. How awesome is that?!?!

We returned home Sunday afternoon. This time, I had a seat on the train, but Dan was once again relegated to the bench. He tried to find another seat, but the people weren't as helpful, and he spent most of the time in the dining car. Bummer. But he took it pretty well, and had a great view of the trip!

In Paris, it's back the usual. Dan's in his first week of the next level of classes (which are going well). I went and bought another book (I have LOTS of time to read). We had the best meal of our time in France so far today at lunch. Great food, great service, awesome place. Life is good.

Happy Fourth of July, in case we're not in contact before then. We'll miss the celebration, but hey, we have Bastille Day to look forward to! Love you all!

How to Survive in France

2007-06-29T09:04:00.000+02:00

I thought it would behoove each and every one of you to get a feel of the ins and outs of everyday French life. Consider this post my contribution to your education.

When you leave the house, of course you'll need to bring money. Things are expensive here, so you'll need a lot of money. In France, the currency is the euro (abbreviated €). Prices are usually written with the whole numbers before the € and the cents after (for instance, "5€40"). They switch around when they use commas and decimals here, so you may also see "5,40€" or something along those lines. You'll often see prices that are multiples of 20 (like 40 or 80) instead of multiples of 25 (like 50 or 75) because there is no 25 cent coin.

Problem is, everything 2€ and under is in coin form. It gets pretty darn heavy, plus you want to have pockets in which to keep all those coins! There are coins for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, & 50 cents. There are also coints for 1 and 2 euros.
The bills are all different colors and sizes. The bigger the bill, the more it's worth. (Dan loves his money clip.)

Don't forget your key when you leave! If you live in a place like ours, you have an ancient skeleton key to get into your apartment. To get into the building, you have to enter a "digicode" on a pad outside the main door. Hi tech meets low tech.

To get around you'll walk a lot. When you're going a little further, you'll take the Metro (short for "Metropolitain"). The metro is super easy. The stops are all very clearly marked. You just have to look for one of the signs, which come in a few different designs. Here's one:(I would avoid this one, though, because the actual stop is in Montmartre high on a hill WAY above where the trains travel. The stairs to get out are ENDLESS!!!!)

You can buy a single metro ticket, a "carnet" of 10 tickets, or a "carte orange." The carte orange comes in weekly or monthly varieties, and is the best deal if you'll be around for a while. Pictured here are a carte orange (the actual card), the ticket you use with your carte orange, and a single ride ticket (which is actually lavendar, but didn't turn out in the photo).Sidenote: they only use graph paper here. Notebooks are all filled with graph paper, not "notebook" paper. Dan loves it.

Unlike many places I've been in the US, only 1 train arrives per platform. You don't wait at the platform with everybody else searching for your particular train. Instead, you follow the signs for your specific train in your specific direction. The Metro tunnels are all tiled in white, so they have this odd "clean vs. dingy" thing going on.

If you get hungry, you can buy something from the vending machines in the metro (though I wouldn't recommend it). To back up my "portions are actually huge in France" theory, check out these 2-packs from the vending machine. They even sell Twix in 2-packs. That's like 4 Twix!!

In LOTS of buildings and public places, you have to watch your step. The stone staircases are so old, they've been worn down by years of people walking on them. They all kinda lean back and have dips in them.

When you go to the Eiffel Tower, you will be surprised at how broad the bottom of it is. Just saying.

After your extensive walking, you'll probably get hungry. You can get something to eat at a crepe or panini stand (cheapest), a cafe (not great selection, mostly for drinks and hanging out), a brasserie (think Dan's sausage and saurkraut), or a restaurant (ooh lah lah). They all have to post their menus outside, which really helps. They also offer either "formule" or "menu." Don't ask for a menu, because it's not a sheet of paper. It's a meal. Formule is your choice of either appetizer and main course or main course and dessert. Menu is appetizer, main course, and dessert. Only certain items are available on the formule or menu. Also, "entree" is an appetizer, not an entree like in the US.(notice the comma instead of a decimal point, and the use of "entree")

I don't have a picture of this, but everyone here drinks this thing called "Orangina." It's like sprite or squirt mixed with orange juice. There's actually pulp in there. I thought this was cool, until I discovered that all the pulp was settling in the bottom of the can, but I couldn't shake it because it's a caffeinated drink. What a pickle.

If you've made it this far, congratulations! You will survive in France! Dan and I are going to Nice this weekend. We're looking forward to our trip the beautiful Mediterranean coast! They only had first class train tickets left, so we'll let you know how that goes, too.

Anni-Versailles-ry

2007-06-27T13:47:00.000+02:00

I am laughing out loud at that title, so I hope you think it's funny!

Anniversary

Dan and I have been married for 1 year and 3 days (give or take with the time differences). We celebrated our first anniversary on Sunday, June 24, and it was wonderful! Dan made us excellent breakfast sandwiches in bed (an homage to a staple meal of our first married year). They were great with all the fresh French ingredients! Then we went to and English-speaking church, which was fun, and Ocean's 13 in "version originale," which means it was in English with French subtitles. It was a sublimely English morning and afternoon. We enjoyed ice cream at Berthillon, the most famous ice cream place in Paris (I think they invented the ice cream cone there). It was delish.

For dinner, we went to Bofinger, the first brasserie in Paris (that's a popular type of restuarant). Here's a view of the dining room from the 2nd floor, where we ate:

I had escargo and bouilabaisse, which were incredible.

Dan enjoyed choucrutte, an specialty of the Alsace region made of saurkraut and assorted meats/sausages. He loved it. In case you haven't noticed, from this picture, French portions are NOT smaller as people say they are. They are often huge, in our experience.

We went from there to see the lit up Eiffel Tower (WAY better than the tower in the daylight!) We even got to see it in a kinda light-show style, where they make it go crazy on the hour. It was awesome, and a great way to begin our second year of marriage!

Versailles

We went to Versailles yesterday with 2 of the other people (kids, actually) from Dan's class. One, Voytek, is from Poland and is only 16 years old. The other, Lars, is from Germany and is 19. We've kinda been hanging out with them because we almost feel like they need some people to help them along so they won't be lonely. They've been fun, though, plus they both speak English!

The Versailles (prounounced "verse-eye", hence my title joke) Chateau (where French royalty, most famously Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, lived) was great, but the best part of the tour was the massive gardens. The grounds are bigger than the actual town of Versailles. Some highlight pictures for you:

Lars, Dan, and Voytek at the edge of a fountain (near the area constructed to replicate farmland for Marie Antoinette)

A side garden with awesome manicured fleur-de-lye that we loved
The view down the grand canal from the chateau (the side gardens weren't nearly as crowded)
The orangerie, where they store the many orange trees in the winter (the orange blossoms smelled AMAZING)
A soon-to-be-famous sculpture imitation by Dan

Hope you enjoyed your mini-tour. Love you, miss you, leave comments! (Can you tell Dan and I are desparate for comments?)

We haven't forgotten you!

2007-06-26T11:24:00.000+02:00

Hello Everyone! It's been a while, so I wanted to make a quick post and let you know that we're still here, and we're still doing well. It was a wonderful weekend (our first wedding anniversary!) and we've been busy seeing sights, reading books, playing bejewled on dad's old PDA, and (in Dan's case) working hard. This afternoon, we're going to Versailles. I've heard it's gorgeous, so I'm excited. Only downside is it's a bit cold and rainy. But we can still have fun!

Hopefully we'll be able to post some cool pics and a more detailed update soon. As great as things are here, we do miss you all very much and love you even more! Keep checking in!

Fete de la Musique!

2007-06-22T13:43:00.000+02:00

So, in Paris they have this day called the "Fete de la Musique" (basically the 'music party'). EVERYWHERE in Paris there's music starting in the afternoon. For example, yesterday morning I bought the paper (Le Parisien), and it had the complete listing of concerts. It took up about 12 or 13 pages. Yea. LOTS of music.

Anyways, Meghan and I scoured the listings and decided to hit two concerts: the National Orchestra of France, directed by Kurt Mazur, playing Beethoven's 5th at the Musee d'Orsay; and the Paris Orchestra, directed by Christoph Eschenbach, playing Tchaikovsky's 5th at the Musee du Louvre. Keep in mind that both of these performances are free...gratuit...gratis...nada dinero. So sweet!

Some problems happened along the way. The metro was unbelievably crowded: Meghan was shoved on to the train with the force of a bulldozer, and I got to know the guy behind me REALLY well. Also, we were definitely in the back of the Musee d'Orsay for the first performance and couldn't really even see the orchestra. However, the music was absolutely gorgeous. Plus, we were surrounded by sculptures and paintings. It was fantastic.

(Here's where we sat. Yea, not a great a view)

(Here's a view of the crowd. Pretty packed, huh?)

Afterwards, we hoofed it to the Louvre to catch the second performance. The line was, how shall I say it, dense. A miscommunication with the security lead to us actually not entering the musuem, and thus, we didn't actually hear the performance. However, we did look through the glass pyramid and actually had an amazing view of the performers and the conductor (who was sensational). Thus, we had completely different experiences: the first we heard but didn't see; the second we saw but didn't hear. Go figure. Nevertheless, it was an awesome experience.

(Meghan unhappy because we didn't get in. There's the line behind her.)

(Here's our sweet view of the orchestra. It's through the glass pyramid)

The ride back home was intense. The metro was once again stuffed, and after departing at the Bastille we noticed the streets were the same way. It was literally shoulder to shoulder walking around the Place de la Bastille. Crazy stuff. It was certainly one big music party. Wild to see though. For those of you who have read Matt Lundborg's blog, it kinda reminded Meghan and I of the party he experienced his first week in Seville. Oh, and speaking of his blog, I want to take pictures of my walk to school too. Look for that post soon.

Oh, and check out this picture of the Louvre:

To cross or not to cross?

2007-06-21T13:32:00.000+02:00

Women in Paris don't cross their legs. I have not yet seen another person crossing her legs since I arrived in Paris. I, however, cross my legs all the time. Especially when I nab a coveted seat on the Metro. Today, a couple of kinda punk-rock French teenage boys got onto the Metro and were seated one compartment away from me. They were blasting their music out of a boombox. (Today is Fete de la Musique, where there's lots of loud music all over the city--noise laws don't apply today. This is an entirely separate incident from the dancers Dan saw a while back.) They seemed to be having a good time. They were looking around the car for someone to have a good time with them, and I was the only other person under the age of thirty there. I made point to avoid eye contact. Then, for some strange reason, I got to wondering if there was something about the way I was sitting that would make me stand out anyway. I immediately uncrossed my legs.

I wonder if it is saying anything to the French that I sit the way I do...

On a sidenote, I have taken to carrying around one of those cinched up Nike knapsacks in order to store everything I need when I'm out for the day. Tres chic, non? I'm definitely not a stereotypical French woman!

Real vs. Ideal

2007-06-20T14:03:00.000+02:00

So I've been in Paris for a week now, and finally, yesterday, I got to see the "ideal" Paris. All this time, I've really been living in the day-to-day, real stuff. But yesterday, I got to experience the Paris that people travel half way around the world to see.

Dan was in class all morning, and I decided it was time for me to venture off on my own. A scary thought, since he does ALL the communicating for us! I took the metro to the Concorde, which is this massive, Washington Monument-esque obelisk right off the Seine. That's where the Champs-Elysees begins, and I walked the entire length of it, all the way to the Arc de Triomph. Sorry, but I didn't have the camera (no pictures yet). Along the way, I stopped in a park and read my book, admired all the stores, and just enjoyed the view.

It was surreal to have EVERYTHING around me be so picturesque. Usually, you see one cool thing, turn around, and it's over. But yesterday, I saw the Arc ahead of me, the Eiffel Tower and Invalides to my left, Concorde and the Louvre behind me, and parks to my right. It was incredible.

Today was more of the same. I started at the Concorde again, but this time walked east through the Jardin de Touleries to the Louvre. Way cool. Then, I walked all the way from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower. Dan thought that was nuts, because it's apparently a LONG way to walk. But I had all morning, and what better thing was there to do than walk the Seine on a beautiful day? I did have the camera today, so I'll post some pictures soon.

A few other observations:

I feel like a real Parisien when I whip out my carte orange (weeklong metro pass) instead of the lavendar single ticket.
It's finally warming up!
I just finished "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd (TCU grad!)...great book!

Burgundy Bound

2007-06-18T13:49:00.000+02:00

This weekend, Meghan and I decided to risk it and see if we could take a trip to another spot in France. Since I have class during the week, the weekends are the only time to take trips. Anyways, after some deliberation, we chose Dijon in the beautiful wine region of Burgundy for our first voyage to the countryside. The reasons, I think, were three-fold: (1) Dijon was close, only about 1.5 hours by TGV, (2) Dijon is small enough to be done in two days, and (3) Dijon has Burgundian wine!

To retell the entire trip would take far too long, but let's just say that getting there was an adventure (example: I walked up to the ticket office at the train station and said I'd like a ticket for Dijon; she asked what day; I said today; she asked what time; I said the next one; she looked at me like I was insane). What can be said, however, is that we got to the train station at around 3:30pm and at 7:15pm or so, we flopped down on the bed of our hotel room and said to eachother, "I can't believe it but we're here." Semi-miraculous, I think.

Here are some highlights of the trip (as told through a short slide show):

Here we are at the Place de Francois Rude (a sculpter who I believe is from Dijon). Pretty fountain, and this is one of the only pictures with both of us in it.

Here's me at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. I'm in front of a painting that I wrote a paper about last year. Isn't that amazing?! I worked on this painting, and here I'm STANDING in front of it (okay, so maybe you don't think that's amazing, but I do).

Here's the Palais du Justice in the middle of old Dijon. In the center you'll notice an accordion player. They have lots of accordion players in France; I feel like you need to know these things.

Here's me in heaven...or I mean a wine cellar in Burgundy. Check another life-goal off the list; Meghan and I got to take a wine tour through the Cote d'Or, and it was beautiful. Plus, we had two different tastings with Burgundian wine (mostly red, though we got to hit a few whites). Meghan tried every single one (seriously, are you not impressed?!), and even liked one of them (a white). Amazing time. The highlight of my time here so far. Totally different from California too (Matt/Katie I need to tell you about that later).

Lots of different churches (that were all beautiful), lots of scenery shots (that we're unfortunately not posting), and lots of beautiful buildings. All in all, Dijon and the surrounding area was gorgeous and not grimy (like the occasional section of Paris). Just to let you know, Meghan is the small figure you see in the picture above marveling at the beautiful gothic-esque architecture. This is the Eglise de Saint-Michel in Dijon. Wowzer.

Okay, enough pictures. Fun times. Leave comments.

Pink Surprises

2007-06-15T10:28:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I bought some raspberry yogurt. (Mostly because it was my first time to order anything, and this way I could just hold up the yogurt and give them my money with minimal communication.) I opened up the yogurt, and it was white. I stirred, thinking it was fruit on the bottom. It wasn't. It was just white-colored raspberry yogurt.

Later in the afternoon, and I had to wipe with pink toilet paper.

Go figure.

My thoughts so far...

2007-06-14T08:58:00.000+02:00

I am happy to say that I had a relatively uneventful trip to Paris. I sat next to a nice couple from New York who was on their way to Paris to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. As they admired the new touch-screen, on-demand, in-seat, state-of-the-art entertainment system, he took out the remote control device that had a keypad and said he thought it was for writing e-mails to other passengers. “Seat 20C—I love you.” It was cute.

Dan met me outside the baggage claim, which I was very grateful for. My flight was just a bit delayed, so he ended up being late to class so he could meet me and give me the key. As much as I appreciate punctuality, though, I appreciated just seeing him MUCH more! He left pretty quickly to go to class, and I called my shuttle.

The drive to the apartment was nice. From what I’ve seen of the city so far, it really is like a prettier San Francisco. It was like stepping back in time walking down the cobblestone passage to get to the apartment. I felt like I was really disturbing the peace because my suitcases were making such noise as they rolled over the stones.

Dan attempted to take me to his favorite metro stop, but it starting POURING down rain just as we were about to walk out of the station. We tried to sit it out a while, then decided to head home and make dinner. I discovered he's been eating mainly pasta and those b0ullion cubes he loves so much...in part due to the fact that all we have as far as cooking surfaces go is two burners and a toaster oven. PLEASE send us recipes that will work with that configuration. We need more variety!

This morning, Dan brought me along to the Alliance Francaise. He's in class, and I'm just biding my time on the internet. His battery power is going quickly, though (I wonder if this is a new challenge with all his charger problems?), so I should probably wrap this up.

A few other things I’ve noticed:
• Just outside Charles de Gaulle airport, there’s some sort of structure that looks like one of the lily-pad fountain things from frog fountain at TCU. (Go frogs!)
• It’s odd to see graffiti written in a language other than English or Spanish...there were a couple of tags written over and over (which of course I don’t remember now).
• I need to figure out exactly which part of the phone number here is the city code, actual number, etc.
• Even the no parking signs are artsy.
• I wish I knew French.

We’ll be in touch again soon. Auvoir!

Enter Meghan, stage left

2007-06-12T05:46:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!

The trash is out. Fridge is empty except for some stuff that won't spoil. Besides the long list of things I'm sure I'm forgetting, I'm ready to join Dan in Paris! My journey begins tomorrow morning (thanks for the ride, Grant), and I will officially arrive in Paris at 7:40 am on Wednesday morning. Right now, my feelings are mixed between fear of the unknown and excitement to finally see my husband again!

The two weeks since Dan left have been surprisingly busy. He left at the beginning of the last week of school. I found myself working late catching up on all the work I'd put off for a few weeks...no way was I going to slave away while Kate and Dan were still here! Last week was Rookie Camp, where the band student leadership and I showed the incoming band members the ropes. Mom came for her first visit to Gainesville on Thursday and left this afternoon. It was WONDERFUL spending time with her and showing her my new Florida life. We had a fantastic long weekend.

And now, I'm off! See you on the other side!

A Short Break

2007-06-08T12:54:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone. So, I've run into a slight difficulty with my computer. Apparently my charger is on the fritz. It started before I left for Paris, and now it's only gotten worse. The result is that it won't charge my computer (integral for the computer's overall function). Thus, I won't be able to really use the computer that much for the next few days (honestly, I don't really use it over the weekend anyways, so it's not too big of a deal). Thankfully, Meghan is arriving on Tuesday and she is hopefully going to bring a new charger, which will allow us to once again regail you with stories of Parisian adventures. However, until that time, you'll have to just wait in anticipation. Sorry for the disruption (my computer is now at 19% so I need to go)!

Differences & Similarities

2007-06-06T12:51:00.000+02:00

A short chat with Mulrich yesterday sparked the idea to do a blog post on some of the differences and similarities between the USA and France. I think I probably have more differences than similarities, but I suspect that's because differences are always a bit easier to notice than similarities. It might be fun to see what Meghan notices once she gets here. Anyways, here's what I've found.

Cafe Culture. This is my favorite difference between the States and France. It feels like all of Paris is consumed by this idea that "there's no need to rush." Emblematic of this feeling is the institution of the cafe. It seems that most people don't really hang out at home. They're always at a cafe. The cool thing is that you can sit, nurse a 3 euro "cafe et croissant," and (in my case) work on your homework for two hours without having to worry about paying the bill or getting out of there quickly. You just sit and chill. It's great. Probably my favorite part about France.

People are more insular. People don't chat with eachother as much. Conversations are often short if they're between people who don't know eachother. I can generally get in and out of a cafe while only saying the words "cafe creme, s'il vous plait." And on the metro (other than those trying to make money while rapping/pole-dancing), no one really says anything except when they're with their friends.

No sales tax. This is amazing. When it says, "Postcartes -- 10 pour 2 euro" it honestly means that you're only going to pay 2 euros. Money exchange is so even and easy. They need to make that happen in Florida (do they have no sales tax in other states in the USA?).

Driving is out of control. Okay, roundabouts are problematic any way you do it. However, people just kinda do whatever when they're driving here. I'm sure it's not as bad as third-world countries, but still it was a bit of a shock for me. Take the Bastille, where motor cycles will often just hop curbs, cut accross the sidewalk, and reenter another street. Unreal! Plus, there are no lanes in roundabouts; so, it's honestly just fend for yourself.

The food is unbelievable. Hard to explain, but seriously it seems that everything I get here is better than it would be in the USA. Even groceries seem better (boullion cubes included). The coffee is fantastic; the cheese is wonderful; the wine (of course) is great; even the sandwiches (which was a surprise for me) were amazing. I'm worried if the French find out about barbeque, then it's all over. We'll have nothing left.

Dogs. There are a lot of dogs around, it seems. Now when I say dog, I actually mean a tiny poof of fur that apparently has legs and walk around behind its master. There are no JJs in Paris. But it seems that everyone has them, and they take them wherever (people in business clothes that look like -- I could be wrong -- they're taking their dog to work).

Okay, maybe I'll get to the similarities tomorrow or the day after. I think this post might be long enough. One other thing that I like is that the tip is often included in cafe/restaurant bills. It's part of the "sandwich pour 5 euros" price that's advertised. So, when you leave, you generally leave a little tip, but nothing like the 15% in the USA. It's more like the change you have in your pocket. This makes it REALLY easy to give a good tip (like 2 euros is a phenomenal tip at a cafe). Anyways, I thought I'd add that in there. Okay, more tomorrow!

My First Weekend and My First Day of School

2007-06-04T13:21:00.000+02:00

Sorry. Internet is hard to come by here on the weekends as the Alliance Francaise is closed. It looks like the blog is going to be a weekday thing until I find another solution.

Speaking of weekends, there were a few fun activities that happened this past weekend. I saw my first protest here in France. It was for the "sans-papiers," which is basically illegal immigrants. I couldn't understand what they were chanting, but there was a whole lot of yellling (and it happened to be right by my apartment at the Bastille). Also at the Bastille on Saturday was the finish line of the "marche pour Jesus," which was a two or so kilometer march by French evangelicals. Very interesting. They ended it at the Bastille with a gospel concert featuring four of France's most acclaimed gospel artists (the fact that France has acclaimed gospel artists was a surprise for me). It was pretty good stuff -- a lot like a gospel concert would be in the States. However, most of the songs were in French. There were a few that vascillated between French and English (like the "Behold he comes...riding on the clouds" song). I thought it was funny when they sang the English because it was all in a French accent ("Bee-hol he cahms, riding on zee claudes..."). And another interesting moment: one artists started chanting "Jesus pour France! Jesus pour France!" which was the first time I had heard that Jesus was a francophile. Sunday night brought an excellent choral concert; the choir of the Reformed temple nearby the Bastille sang some works from Bach. It really was fantastic.

This morning brought my first class. The class has about ten people in it from a bunch of different countries (USA, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, etc.), which is cool. Everyone is really nice. Lundborgs, you may find it interesting that there's a person from Austin in the class. When we went around the room saying our name and our nationality, she said "Je m'appelle Laura. Je suis de Texas!" Nice. The Canadian lady, Gizelle, is really awesome; we had coffee at the break and talked about how over our heads the class was. A few people in there are REALLY good already. I am probably the worst at speaking. However, having a challenging class is exactly what I wanted; so, it's actually exciting. I already feel like I'm going to learn a lot, especially after six weeks. At the beginning of class, the teacher basically gave me a five minute summary of four different verb tenses that I didn't know before. That might illustrate (1) how behind everyone I am and (2) how quickly they're going. If I don't sound like a bonified Frenchman by the time I get back, then I quit.

Okay, homework to do, a paper to work on, groceries to purchase, etc. Thanks for all the comments. I love the rousing dialogue about pole-dancing (and don't forget the bad rapping).

Update, Food, and the Metro

2007-06-01T13:06:00.000+02:00

First thing's first: a quick update on my current situation. I worked things out at the Alliance Francaise; apparently, they work through four week periods, so they basically billed me twice (once for the first four weeks and again for the next two). Totally fine now. Also, I've now officially registered and I start up classes Monday at 9:00am. I'm excited for that (plus they put me in the B1 class which means that I get to skip beginning French. I'm not sure if this is a great thing or a terrifying thing. I'll keep you posted).

On to fun stories. So, I survived my first grocery shopping experience here in Paris. I went to the Monoprix store (which is kinda like a fancy Publix but much smaller) and did my first shopping trip. Some interesting things that I noticed: first, the store was two stories. After perusing the first story and grabbing some items, I went to the second floor and immediatly felt like I had entered a JC Penny's. Apparently, Monoprix stores are half groceries and half retail clothing. Yea, it surprised me too. Second, they don't really have tomato sauce (like pasta sauce). What they do have, however, are bouillon cubes with different spices. I made some spaghetti two nights ago with a basil/olive oil bouillon cube and it was DELICIOUS. We need to bring those things to the States. Third, I am officially hooked on Franche-Comte cheese (thank you Leah Mader). The stuff is unbelieveable. I also went to a cafe for the first time and experienced cafe au lait and a true French croissant (both were superb). I'm digging this whole food thing in Paris. Finally, you bag your own groceries at the Monoprix. I didn't realize this until I saw all my food there, and the person behind me was giving me a menacing look for holding her up. My bad.

Okay, highlight of the trip thus far was today on the metro ride over to the Alliance Francaise (where I get my internet access). I've seen a few weird things on the metro since I've been here. They're generally very clean and easy, but occasionally you get some odd people who board the train and make general announcements to everyone around (for example, I couldn't understand him too well, but I believe I encoutered the nicest begger I've ever seen. He was very cordial and kept calling everyone, "Madame et Monsieur." He was really great). However, today takes the cake. I hop on board the number 4 train and what do I see but two boys (one probably 18, the other probably 15) with a relatively large boom-box that's blasting really cheesy sounding French rap music. The eighteen year old is rapping along with the song (complete with ghetto hand gestures and "gangster-like" grimaces) and the fifteen year old is pole-dancing on the center pole of the metro. Grant/Matt, we're talking seriously grinding. After the song ends, the fifteen year old walks around with a cup looking for donations. I was searching through my pockets to find something but they ended up getting kicked off the train before I was able to give them anything. It was absolutely amazing.

Oh, one last thing: Scott/Jenni, I noticed that there are also squatters in Paris (along the Seine no less). They had nice tents too.

The First Two Days

2007-05-30T12:58:00.000+02:00

Okay, I'm finally here. It was an all day trip getting from Gainesville to Paris, but after many hours of traveling I arrived safe and sound. The trip went smoothly; I slept for probably about three hours on the flight, which wasn't much but that's okay.

Some highlights of the trip: directly after landing, while we're taxing in to the gate the first song that they put on to welcome us to Paris was "Spanish Lullaby" by Glora Estefan (I think...it sounded like her). Nice.

Highlight #2: also related to a song. On the way from the airport to my apartment (in the shuttle), the driver turned on the radio. The song that came on: "It's just...(ahh)...a little crush...(crush)...that gets on me everytime we touch!" Yet another good welcome-song. Oh, and Shakira is in Spanish in France. Just thought I'd let you know.

Also, apparently my computer knows I'm in France. The entire blogger.com site is in French. I didn't do that. Blogger did that. He's sees you when you're sleeping; he knows when you're awake...

In other news, I spent the first day and a half really just wandering around Paris. My apartment is great; perfect for what I'm doing and where I am. It's literally a two minute walk from the Bastille, which means it's a great location. I would post a picture, but OF COURSE I forgot my camera in Meghan's car. So, pictures might not show up for another two weeks (unless I can find some sort of temporary camera). Oh, and I went by Notre-Dame, and it's magnificent. So is the outside of the Louvre (haven't gone in yet).

Okay, I have to put out some flames with the Alliance Francaise (they think I'm only here for four weeks, but I'm actually here for six weeks). Thus, I need to go. Leave me cool comments; oh and congratulations to Grandma and Grandpa Lundborg and Leah Mader for being the first people to comment on the blog. Also, congrats to Kate Lundborg for being the only person to leave me a "Kato" in my money clip. I almost gave it to a waitress at a cafe.

Oh, and final highlight: while I was waiting for the airport shuttle a lady came up to me and said something in French. I looked at her and said, "Pardon?" and she went, "Oh sorry, I thought you were French." Well, at least I have the look down.

And we're (actually, he's) off!

2007-05-28T18:26:00.000+02:00

Dan just left for the airport a few hours ago (about 10:30 am), so he's probably waiting in line to check in as I type this post! We were lucky to have Dan's parents visiting for Memorial Day weekend. On their way back to Vero, they dropped Dan off at the Orlando airport. He'll be flying from Orlando to Newark, and then Newark to Paris. He should arrive in Paris at about 10:00 am Paris time on Tuesday, May 29 (that's 4:00 am Florida time). I included some links for you to check on his potential progress, just in case any of you are as obsessed with it as me!

Tells you Paris and Florida time (you can adjust for your own time zone)
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html

Check his flight status with Continental (flight #36 to Newark/flight #138 to Paris)
http://www.continental.com/

Less Than a Week!

2007-05-23T22:37:00.000+02:00

Okay, so a bit of a change of plans. Remembering that my lovely wife will in fact be in Paris with me for much of the trip, we thought that maybe the best call would be to do a blog together (thus posts from both of us describing our time in Paris). I would've added Meghan to the blog that already existed, but the last blog was entitled, "The Parisian Adventures of Dan." Sorry for being selfish.

Anyways, now that the new blog has been created, I figured it would be good to give the update on where we are now. I'm leaving on Monday (Memorial Day), which means that I have less than a week left in the States. Meghan will join me in Europe June 12th. So, I have two weeks or so to kill by myself; any suggestions on stuff to do would definitely be appreciated.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to get the packing list together (with the help of Kate who's visiting until Saturday). I'm also trying to bone up on my French, especially some of the useful phrases (travel stuff, ordering things at restaurants, etc.). There's also a paper that needs tending to before I leave (cross our fingers on that one). Lots to do and just a little time to get it done.

Check out the links to the left. Matt Lundborg is also traveling through Europe, and he has a blog that we're including a link to. He's in Spain; we're in France -- all sorts of good times this summer. Leave comments (by clicking on the "comments" below)!