rêve générale

So if you pay attention to world news or european news, you may have heard about Black Thursday, today. The French, angry about the bad economy and upset with the gov't for not doing enough to fix it/prevent it from getting worse, they decided to shut the country down. Eight major unions came together for this one. Public transport was affected, but a law prevents it from shutting down entirely. Today, I only had to go to Musée Carnavalet at 3h30, so we left and hour early (though normally it's about half an hour from here) The lines we needed, 13 and 1, were both running at full service so we figured it would be a little crowded, but manageable. It wasn't really bad, though there was some commuter injury at a stop farther down on 13 so we had to empty the train at Montparnasse. This meant that, instead of avoiding both, we had to go through both Montparnasse and Chatelet...which is just annoying. They're probably the two biggest stations in the city (Chatelet IS the biggest) and they take forever to walk through so I generally try to avoid them.
ugh.
But, aside from moving a little slower, the injury later on the line and being maybe slightly more crowded, I didn't really feel like it was that unique of a day.
Although, annoyingly enough, Musée Carnavalet was closing early so our tour wasn't finished. We were only there for an hour. The guide spent about half the time with us over a diorama of Ile de la Cité which was really cool. She talked about some interesting history of the city. Walking around the museum was cool too. I much prefer learning like that, where it's just interesting and I don't have to worry about being tested on it or anything. It's just stuff that's cool to know.

Also, as great as the greek district in Saint-Michel, we also found the Jewish district in the Marais with more falafel places....so many options! Jewish or Greek?

Just a quick shoutout to my mom. I found the perfect car for her:

Oh, I'm sorry, can you not see the name of the car? there behind the rear window?

Amelia's here!

I skipped class today to pick up Amelia from the airport by RER because she lives on the same line as Roissy. Did you know it costs 8,10 for a one way ticket? The airport's all the way in zone five. After a bit of confusion, I found Amelia and we got her luggage to the RER.
The RER is super depressing. It drives through the ghetto, it's more vandalized than the métro trains and it was really cold today. I did not like it.
Checked her into her dorm, which is beautiful, bought her a navigo card (métro pass), went to chez moi so she could skype home (she was having trouble getting the internet working) and then we went out to find food. The closest big stop to me is Montparnasse so I figured going there would be the quickest way to find some food. Not. I don't know the area at all and I felt so bad because we're wandering around and Amelia is hungry and tired. Good news though, passed this road:

His house is in Paris...I will visit it.

We hopped back on the métro and went to Les Halles, to the centre commerciale which I know a little better...grab a hot, panini-ish baguette, pick up a cell phone for her and a couple quick necessities at the MONOP' (mini supermarché) and then she went back to her room and I presume she crashed into her bed.
I came home and watched a few eps of Freaks & Geeks with Sarah while doing very little homework...haha.

There's a big grève (strike) scheduled for Thursday...should be fun. 100% buses, 60% métro, 30% something else. Whatever, I don't think I have anywhere important to be...just have a rendez-vous at a museum in the marais at 3:30. I should make it, haha.
I just hope one of the two Vanves boulangeries are open.

Tip if you plan to travel to Paris and are used to American or, even more specifically, college town hours, this site rocks: Dimanche Aussi

paix.

Paris Lesson #5: Don't go to bars in Pigalle

Seriously.

Sarah and I had this fantastic idea to get dressed up and go out after a long day yesterday:

We began the day at...3pm, yes we're (mostly just me) lazy. We had an appointment at Société Générale to open French bank accounts, which we did, so that was cool. When we exited the métro (Denfert-Rochereau), there was a relatively large protest against Israel going on so that was interesting.


After opening our accounts, we hit the centre commerciale to get in on some of the soldes (the french have month-long sales twice a year and i'm pretty sure every store participates). We were pretty successful at Les Halles...beat, we decided we had missed Falafel Friday again.
Oh yeah, Falafel Friday, our new tradition started last Saturday, continued yesterday (also a Saturday) and planned for next Saturday. Last week, we went to Moaz, a Dutch chain that was ok, but this week we really found our spot. The guys there were super nice and the falafel was delic. We plan to become regulars.

Also, the intention is to actually eat the falafels on Fridays, it just so happens that our Friday evenings are busy, busy. Well, this week, we just forgot.

And onto Pigalle...The night bus comes to a stop not far from chez nous, so Sarah and I dressed up a bit and went out...N'importe de quel quartier! (doesn't matter which district). We walked into an Irish pub that it turns out I had been to right after we got here - but that was with a big group. Standing at the bar discussing a few things: did we want to stay? if so, what to get? and how do we get someone else to pay for them?
Up walks Juliano, who offers to buy us drinks...great! That was easy, but then he has us sit with him and his friends...CREEPS. But, we didn't want to be rude, so we were going to sit with them as we drank our beers. Turns out Juliano's friend Ahmed took a quick liking to Sarah. I, on the other hand, claimed I had a super-fantastic boyfriend in the states who I was absolutely in love with. We were clearly uncomfortable-we kept our coats on the whole time!...super awks...
Also, Ahmed asked for Sarah's number, but she was like, 'um, no' so he gave her his number instead and made this ridiculous plan, which he repeated about 8 times: We'd (the three of us) go to the pool, then come back to our place so we could shower and pretty up...then we would go to dinner and then the movies...what a plan. I mean, it's not nearly as cold as New England here, but still chilly...what is this pool?
Creepo, obvs not on our plan to give him a ring.
so the bar's closing and I had already been claiming that so-and-so was texting us and wanted us to meet him at another bar so we head out...and Ahmed follows. Well, crap, right?
He says he never leaves girls without security. So I go to fake a phone call and get directions to this place and when I return, Ahmed's totally making out with Sarah and I'm like, oh no, this is a problem. I run up and tap him on the back and tell him that Sarah and I have to go, that I have directions.
We head north in general to go towards Porte de Clingancourt to catch a nightbus, watching over our shoulders to be sure we're not being followed. Clingancourt was almost certainly not the closest or safest to get to night bus stops, but we got there...and couldn't find a night bus stop.
Wandering around, knowing the area was a little iffy, we hopped in a taxi, writing the cost off as a trade for the free drinks, and a safe way home. Porte de Clingancourt and Porte de Vanves are nearly opposite points of the city.

Did I mention Juliano's creepy real old friend bought me a rose and tried to kiss me?
If they seem creepy, say you have a boyfriend.
And when were trying to find the night bus stop, I came across a little café that Rachel should remember.

Le Lapin Agile

Last night, we went to the Lapin Agile in Montmartre. It's this adorable little cabaret in Montmartre. We went as a class and it was absolutely fantastic. The best way to describe it is as a tiny tavern where everyone sits really close to one another and everyone sings. There was about 6 or 7 singers who sat at a table towards the middle, next to a piano, with a pianist. They sang and led the songs. As a group, we took up more than half the room, but the French were singing along with most of the songs. They of course try to include you by giving more simple instructions, ie, clap like this or sing this really simple line. They also sang songs most people would know: Aux Champs-Elysées, Complainte de la Butte, Alouette, La Vie en Rose, etc...
It was superfun - I recommend it highly.
Pictures!

There was some crazy lighting...

This guy was a little (just a tiny bit) old for me, but I found him to be excessively attractive..."who knows where thoughts come from? they just appear."

Obama party!

The attitude in Paris is so amazing. I have no idea really what it's like at home anymore in this respect, but everything is Obamarama here! I love it!
The newsstands all over the city advertise magazines with Obama on the cover. His face is everywhere. I watched the inauguration in an ex-pat bar last night. I'm not even sure how to describe it, but it was such an amazing feeling. You know how when you watch a movie with certain people or in a certain atmosphere, it makes the movie that much better or that much worse? Well, this atmosphere was so positive and lively that you couldn't help but have a great time.
Also, Keith Davis was there:

the beginning...

Alright, so I arrived in Heidelberg, Germany around 7:30 pm, 2 hours late, without luggage....wandered about for a while because I couldn't find Liz...because she was waiting for me inside. Germany was fun but relatively uneventful. It was cool to be there, but strange to be in a place where I didn't know the language.
Arriving by train on Thursday evening, I took the 7 from Gare de l'Est and schlepped my luggage to the hotel.
As a group, we didn't have to meet until Friday, but I started to meet some people in my program right away, the first of which being my roommate, Christie. She, her friend, Catherine, and I went to the MICEFA office before our meeting to start our housing search. It ended up that Catherine and I really hit it off and started looking for apartments together.
We found a super cute one in the 13th, but in the time we waited for Catherine to talk to her parents about it, another pair of girls in MICEFA had already taken it.
As we continued to look for housing, Catherine came to the realization that she hated it here. She loved Paris during the day, but was emotional, upset and sick in the evenings. She went home already.
Crazy.
Our French class started Tuesday and we've actually been given a ridic amount of homework, especially considering that most of us are moving this weekend. I move into my house tomorrow. I was placed in Intermediate II (there's beginner, int I, int II and advanced)
While we do a lot of other stuff in class, Mme DuParc will just follow anything that comes up in class and give us a vocab lesson. It's actually super helpful. For example, since we all were looking for housing, she asked us what questions we should ask our potential landlord. Extremely helpful vocab review/lesson. Also, she gave us a lot of dos and donts about french université.
I changed my mind and will now be attending Paris 8 where I can take euro studies, FLE and other international studies courses. I think we'll have about a week between this french class and when classes start...maybe I'll plan a trip?
Everything is such a whirlwind but things are really starting to settle down now, with my housing, etc. I'm getting adjusted very well. Also, I introduced my roommate to falafels (real ones, not Harrison ones) and she loves them, so I'll always have someone to share this with haha.

Some pics:
first off, I'm a total nerd
second, this fountain is frozen