C'est la fête

La rue Mouffetard, probably my
favorite part of Paris so far

Bonne soirée à tous!

One week into my European adventure and I can honestly say I'm having the time of my life. Whether I'm taking a randonée in Monmartre or sharing wine and cheese with friends in the Buttes-Chaumont (because drinking in parks is casual here), I've witnessed and been a part of so many amazing things that you just happen upon in the streets of Paris. But unlike in other large cities, the feel of Paris is something unique. And as much as our Parisian friends don't understand it, I really and truly believe that there's something in the water that makes everything Parisian a thousand times more magical and romantic than anywhere else in the world (but maybe that's just all the wine talking). /sarcasm

In this post, I have so much to say but I'll try to take you through a weekend in France, from the day events and the people to the nightlife to a beautiful Sunday in the adorable community that is our arrondissement. Allons-y!

Tout d'abord, mise en réseau....

On Friday we jumped right into the Welcome Program for incoming Sciences Po exchange students, which in this case means networking with an elite group of international polyglots who all want to be President / Prime Minister / some diplomat quelquechose of some nation somewhere and who all honestly have the capacity to do so (oh, and then there's us). Remember, this is where 3/4 of the last French presidents have gone so it's understandable that there are some really ambitious kids. So far, my roommate and I have made friends from France, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Romania, Australia, Mexico, and of course America, and those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Most of these kids speak 3-4+ languages, so at every gathering people are constantly switching between languages, and at any moment you can pick out a mix of French, Italian, German, Spanish and English. Being the two (admittedly a little loud) Americans, all our new friends have been getting a kick out of our horrendous accents (they say they're endearing but we know otherwise) and our ability to mimic a bunch of world accents because apparently that's a great American past time. 

With some of our friends on the Pont des Arts, more commonly known
as the "love lock bridge". Some of the boys were not amused...

In getting to know so many people from all around the world, cultural differences I'd never even thought of have become brazenly clear. Even with our Irish friends, we joke about the "English language barrier" since even their slang and sentence structure is pretty radically different from ours at times, to the point that sometimes we have to explain an idea or a thing a little bit before we can come up with the word the other country uses. I honestly think that I'll learn more from the cultural exchange alone than in all my classes combined because there's just no experience like it.

And because I love lists, here are a bunch of random and cool cultural differences to quench your palate for the week:

We visited the Sacré Coeur
in Monmartre during a long walk
in the 20th arrondissement.

• Europeans have never heard of the good ol' American standby Mac n' Cheese, so explaining that was a great time. I explained that the boxed Mac with the shapes is the best (because the shapes "accumulate more sauce", as one German kid so aptly concluded), and I showed them photos of the finished product in it's cheesy, buttery glory. They said it looked like cereal and honestly, they were pretty disgusted. It was pretty hysterical.
• Apparently most Europeans (that we've met anyways) haven't heard of the concept of planning on when you have your kids. I think it's pretty common stateside (where I'm from anyways) to decide when you're going to start "trying" and then space your kids out evenly for the ideal family, but they all thought that was absurd. Apparently European kids just happen...
• Americans are much louder than your standard European, to the point that I get a little embarrassed and self-conscious, especially when my roommate Cassady and I are together because we just get louder and louder. That's the norm for lots of girls in the states I think, especially sorority girls, but here I just feel like we're obnoxious. However, our friends are, once again, good sports about it.
• They all think America is like the movie American Pie. We've literally had people from at least 3 different countries make that reference and tell us that's what they thought of us. Oh boy...

Et alors, on danse!

*I don't have pictures for this section because my phone was dead but it's absolutely worth the read. I've already seen some really cool and weird things that are incomparable to anything I've ever witnessed before in American nightlife!

After a long day wandering around the boulevards, it's time to head to a friend's apartment to hang out as another side of Paris starts to come to life. On Saturday, our group leader had to run home to finish baking his bread (how stereotypically French of him) so he invited 12-15 of us to buy some food and wine and come along. Our Irish friends would call this a "pre-drink", but we were quick to get them hip to "pre-gaming" and how that stems from the day-long affair that is D1 or professional American football.

For food, we thought everyone would get something quick so we got frozen pizza that would be done in 15 minutes. Of course, we were so, so wrong. The Germans brought some sausage something that they were in the process of frying and putting into baguettes ("like European hot dogs," they told us, because they thought that would help us understand -___-), the boy from London was making something intense with avocado or something, and the French group leader was busy seasoning and perfecting his homemade rolls of bread which he's been making from scratch for 4 years now. Needless to say, everyone groveled at our pizza, particularly the Italian/Irish kid (who actually has a wood fire pizza oven IN HIS HOUSE.)

Later in the night, a French kid rolls up with something long and wooden wrapped in a carrying cloth and slung around his back all nonchalantly. I asked him if it was a rainstick, which would have been sweet, but no, it was something even cooler. Wait for it... it was a DIDGERIDOO! This random French kid brought a didgeridoo to a party. Can you imagine? It wasn't even the Australian kid. And we were all feeling pretty good so we started dancing to it like it was some weird dubstep club music because that's honestly kind of what it sounds like (okay maybe not but at the time it seemed like a good idea haha). It was insane.

Come 3 AM, they were finally ready to go out. Wait what? Yes, Europeans start going out right around when American bars are closing or already closed. And the place we went to was the coolest clubbing experience I've ever had. It was pretty "ipster", as the french would say (hipster, but they don't pronounce the 'h' so it sounds kind of silly.) The club we went to was extremely cool and really the polar opposite of anything I've been to in America. All the music was 1960's-era American dancing music, so everyone was twisting and I taught them how to do the mashed potato and it was probably the cleanest, most legitimately fun club experience I've ever had.

In Europe, apparently everyone dances face-to-face, even when it's more raunchy music, but this was even more kosher. This was the coolest bar/club I've ever been to because it really was amazing fun minus the creepy factor, so if I can find out what it's called, I'll be sure to put it on here so you all can go and get down just like your mama used to.

La vie en ville

Of everything, I'm probably most happy with what is now our home in the 13th Arrondissement near the Place d'Italie. I can't even put everything into words why it's so amazing, so for this section I'll just put a bunch of pictures with captions and hopefully that will suffice for now

Eats on rue Mouffetard really close to where I call home. And they said I wouldn't
be able to find any food!

Today is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of France so while sitting at a café near us last night we were a little surprised to see over 20 tanks and army vehicles from the 40s roll by. There was also 40s music and swing dancing outside the Mairie and I got to pretend I knew what I was doing! There are some great videos of me attempting two-step (read: embarrassing)

Our new favorite café that's a one minute walk from our house has a café cat named Licorice! Say it with a French accent and you'll sound like everyone else when they're calling her. She's a main attraction for the whole neighborhood because she sits with you in the window! They bring licorice a little plate with shrimp on it so she can eat with us and it's absolutely precious.

I set my electric stove on fire yesterday morning making tea.... yeah. The neighbors were all trying to help us  (/also laughing at us a little bit because we were freaking out) by yelling at us across the courtyard "Il y a un feu! Appelez 18!! 1- 8!" to call the fire department. The fire department was very nice though and they were all laughing at our mistake. Plus they had space age-looking helmets so that was sweet

Finally, We live right behind the Mairie, which is the center of the community in each arrondissement. Everyone has to have a civil marriage service at their local town hall, so on any given Saturday there are a few happy couples tying the knot. It's really sweet. This is also where 100 or so neighbors gathered to dance and celebrate liberation day last night!

I have so much more I could say but this is becoming a short essay on life in Paris and I'm sure most of you skimmed it anyways. I hope you all have a fantastic liberation day wherever you may be and I'll be back soon with more weird/crazy stories (but hopefully no more fires haha).

À bientôt!

Sally
               

La descente

Bonjour mes amis!

This will be the first time I've truly had to speak or write in English since arriving so excuse me if my grammar comes off weird and French-like haha. I'm in a different mindset!

It's mid-morning on my third day in Paris and I'm happy to say that I've settled in very very quickly, mostly thanks to the wonderful people around me. My landlady, Geneviève, spent almost the entirety of Saturday familiarizing me with our neighborhood and showing me the ropes. She's absolutely precious and is really excited about having an American locataire, so she tells everyone we meet that I am her American tenant who is going to be studying at Sciences Po. The reactions I get when people find out are generally along the lines of "Goodness! That is a lot of work! Good luck with that!" so needless to say that hasn't quite helped to quell my nerves about school haha.

The view from our flat. I'm in love.

I've already started to get why Paris is such an attractive place to live because there really is a strong sense of community that I've never seen in a city this large. Geneviève and I passed multiple neighbors who all stopped for a friendly chat and the residents know each baker and small shopkeeper in the neighborhood. There is also an open-air market very close to me, and an organic shop called "Naturalia" that Geneviève loves, and it's all very quaint.

Geneviève made me a map of the neighborhood with all
of the important things to know! (like where the bakeries are)

Geneviève actually helped me make my first French friend and they don't speak English, so it's been very good French practice! After only three days I've actually started thinking in French which is a very strange feeling.

The vaulted ceilings of the Notre Dame

The first thing I realized about Paris is just how walkable it is. I've only taken the metro twice and that was to go to and from Vincennes to see the château - other than that, I've been walking everywhere! Our flat is near la Place d'Italie so I can, for example, walk to Montmartre or to the Notre Dame in 30 minutes or less. I also walked to Sciences Po just to see where it is and it's in a very chic neighborhood in the 5e arrondissement (and it's right next to a Christian Louboutin, so I am excited about that haha).

The cathedral in the Château de Vincennes
looking super ominous against the cloudy sky this morning

I've already seen so much but I'm ashamed to say I haven't yet made it over to the Champs-Élysées or la tour Eiffel! There's just so much to see in the neighborhood that I haven't felt the need to venture onto the métro yet, besides to see the château in Vincennes, which wasn't my idea haha. I've also found that I tend to like the less touristy areas more, since it feels a lot more genuine and Parisian. Plus, the people-watching des quartiers is stellar.

The cultural differences are really the best part about this experience, yet there is so much to say so I think I'll just make a quick list of things I've noticed:

Café culture exists alongside the historic gothic églises.

• Café chairs outdoors are almost always situated to face the street, which I like to think is for the explicit purpose of prime people-watching. I dig it.
• The French diet seems to consist of mainly Vegetables, Fruits, Meat, Cheese, and Bread, with an emphasis on the bread. Unfortunately, there isn't much protein for vegetarians but I think I can survive on goat cheese and baguettes haha
• On the subject of food, Parisiennes don't eat. The women are very conscious of their figures, to the point that I'm convinced that they just smoke and drink wine instead of eating meals (my friend actually said so haha). There are many skinny, gorgeous and enviable girls.
• Men are much more open and forward with regards to staring and creeping, to the point that they might follow you around the city if you try to gently shut them down (I learned this the hard way. It's a long story but it was kind of scary). Instead, I learned that the proper response is to act cold and tell them "je vais appeler la police", which feels rude to me but apparently it's normal.
• Skinny pants. Everywhere, and on everyone. I approve.
• FRENCH CHILDREN ARE PERFECT
• People are very amused by the fact that I'm American. The French hate Americans on the whole but I guess individually we're okay haha.
• French food ads all have nutrition warnings on the bottom, saying things like "it's important to eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day" and "Incorporate exercise into your life". My friend told me that this is essentially a direct reaction to the American obesity epidemic, so we've got that going for us.
• The idea of Obamacare is popular here, but they're having lots of problems with their social security system because, according to my friend anyways, it's ruining the economy. Their taxes are insane because upon losing their job, people get 70% of their former income for one year from the system and it's becoming very expensive. Zut alors!
• Everyone really does make out in public. I didn't realize how much this really is the "city of love". So much PDA, but yet it's almost not off-putting because it's Paris. It works here.

There are many lovely parks that are the perfect scene for a stroll, or,
depending on your situation, for some serious PDA

So far, I really am loving Paris! And even though I don't understand everyone all the time, I am super appreciative of the kindness I've been getting from all the locals.

I hope you're all doing equally well and I can't wait to see what's in store for the future!

 À bientôt,

Sally

Start

Bonjour mes amis,

In less than 12 hours I'll be getting on a plane and leaving the country for the first time in my life and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous. The plane ride is eight and a half hours long, but I'm not too worried about that part since I'm armed with a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo and some solid noise-canceling headphones. However, I'll be landing in Paris alone, and then, if I don't altogether freak out from the lack of sleep/culture shock, I'll be fending my way into the city tooth and nail (jk I'll be taking a taxi) until I (hopefully) reach my apartment. My two sweet landladies said they would be there to greet me, but my roommate doesn't arrive until Tuesday, and the thought of being essentially alone in a new city thousands of miles away is riveting and a little scary. However, I'm also incredibly excited about the adventures to come. 

Before I touch on what I'll be doing there, I need to pay a little homage to the things I'm leaving behind, notably my friends, my family, my cats, and my one true love, Washington, DC.

I love my friends and family and I'm going to miss every single one of them, so if you're reading this and fit into either category please contact me via Facebook or Viber/Whatsapp and give me your address so we can stay in touch! I love writing letters so you can expect to receive at least a few post cards from across the continent. A special shout out goes out to Mama and Papa B for everything that they've done for me to help me get here! I love them lots and yes, I probably will miss them a lot more than I realize once I'm gone.

Some of the family

I'm going to miss my baby cats so so so much because they think I'm their mother (and let's be honest they're practically my children) but I've been told that they will still love me when I get back. Let's hope you weren't lying.

Me and the babes + a cameo of Becky

And finally, I had to say goodbye to DC this week. It's going to be awhile till I get to experience your good looks and charm again but I'm confident that you'll be waiting for me when I get back, just as stately and 'Murican as ever.

I took that and we all know how much of a photography noob I am so it must be pretty

That's all I really have before I go! I'll make another post sometime after I arrive and of course I'll take a bunch of pictures. Hopefully everything goes well!

Souhaitez-moi bonne chance!

Sally