♫ When they parlez-vous me, then I gotta confess that's for me... ♫

I've met so many interesting people in the last couple days in Paris! Most people here stick to themselves as they march through the streets on a mission to somewhere, but there are some who take time to relax and enjoy the humanity around them.

Take Madame Devarenne, for example. So funny! The stereotypical French person is rather quiet and reserved in everyday life. Not Madame Devarenne! You should hear her. lol. Whenever she's in the house, she sings loudly to herself. She doesn't care if Paris and I are in our rooms and can hear everything. (Even if she didn't sing loud, we'd still be able to hear everything because of the amazing acoustics of this tiled house.) She doesn't usually sing words, though. She just hums and sings a lot of sounds, and I think they're all made up on the spot. When she's not humming, she's talking to her little dog "Bouby" or something like that. She calls him "Monsieur Bouby" sometimes, and treats him like he's human. lol. She also loves to laugh very loud and tromps down the street, not seeming to care where she's going even if she has somewhere specific to go.

Then there was the Jamaican we met in the Champs de Mars (the park near the Eiffel Tower). True, he was trying to sell us stuff, but he was really funny and the bracelets he made for us were pretty cool. He spoke in a mixture of French, English, and Jamaican to us, and kept saying "Hakkunah Mattatah" over and over again, telling us how bright green and yellow bracelets would make our boyfriends fall in love with us. lol.

Then there are the Middle-Eastern beggar women who are all over! We met one under the Tour Eiffel, and she asked if we spoke English, then gave us a note that said something about needing money, and she had a story about how her children were sick and her husband left her for another woman and she needed money. I felt bad telling her no, wondering if maybe some of that was true. I quickly realized we were so right to turn her away! Those women are everywhere, trying to get money from English-speaking tourists! There were probably ten of them outside Notre Dame de Paris this afternoon! Three of them came up to us in fifteen minutes! I finally started responding, "Non, je parle francais" when they asked if we spoke English, and they left in a hurry. lol. They all have different stories, which is funny and I guess somewhat creative on their part, but they're all sob stories that are almost too bad to be true. And the funny thing was, they all congregated together to talk while we were there. They're all dressed similarly, all carrying cards with messages in English. I wonder if they really think that people won't notice they're all together. lol. It was funny.

Then, when we were at the Eiffel Tower again eating lunch, we stopped to take some pictures of the Eiffel Tower, and I was posing with my arms out wide, and this random guy (who I think was from Italy) ran over and put an arm around me for the picture. lol. Then he said thank you and walked on eating his strawberries. lol. Totally random, but it was so funny!

We went to la cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris today. It was so weird seeing something that everybody talks about in classes and movies and books. It's very beautiful, and the detail is amazing! Although it didn't seem as big as it does in movies and pictures. I think it's smaller than it looks.

After that we went to a museum underground where you could see excavated ruins. The ruins are from Roman and medieval times. There must be tons of ruins underneath Paris! It's such an old city. It was cool to see how all the new civilizations built on top of each other.

After that we bought baguettes and went and sat in our favorite place- the Champs de Mars parc with the amazing view of La Tour Eiffel. Paris and I decided we were pretty much in love with it. It's soooo beautiful! Much more beautiful than any picture or cutesy image you find in the U.S. There's a beauty about that structure that you can't really capture with a camera. We can't wait to go up there at night to see the lights of Paris (even though that's the most beautiful light Paris has). I think we're doing that during the second or third week.

Paris and I planned out all of our walks and when we're going to see things. It will be nice having a plan, I think.

Tomorrow's a national holiday. But guess what. We have class. Joie de vie.

♪ Here, have a flower on me... ♫

Well, we arrived safely at the home of Monsieur and Madame Devarenne. Madame Devarenne is so nice! We sat and talked for a while when Paris and I got here, and then she drove us around Boulogne to show us places to shop and things to do. She showed us where the big tennis match will be held in the middle of the month, and the Metro station and the best place to get food. (It's on the corner of our street, like twenty steps away!) She also bought us little flowers to go in our windows, which was so cute. :) They have a tiny dog who doesn't bark or anything. They also have 10 or so grandchildren, but we haven't met them yet.

My computer's being pretty frustrating. For some reason, it couldn't connect to the internet, even though I tried a million times and restarted my computer and everything. It finally started working, but it's pretty faulty still. It logs off every so often and I can't connect to the network again for several minutes. :P

There are some really interesting things about the house where we're staying. For one thing, all the bedrooms are tiled, no carpet or wood floors. The living room downstairs has wood floors, I think, but not the bedrooms. Also, there's no shower. lol. Just a bath tub. I haven't taken a real bath since I was little! Only showers. So that's interesting. lol.

I just got back from eating dinner with the family. They all seem very nice. The youngest is 24, her name is Aude, and she works as a chiropractor (or something like that, her job isn't exactly the same thing, but close). The second oldest was there too. She has two kids and is expecting one more. They talked a lot, and it was fun to listen even though I was lost sometimes.

For dinner we ate fruit first (cantaloupe that was soooo yummy!) and then we had a main course of salmon, potatoes au gratin, and this mashed zucchini stuff. After that we had cheese (so many different kinds!) and bread, followed by dessert. They bought chocolate ice cream for me and Paris, but they all ate fruit for dessert. There were a lot of different choices of fruit, too. It probably would have been the healthier choice, but I decided to eat ice cream since it seemed like they bought it especially for us.

Tomorrow class starts at 10:30. Professor Erickson showed us the place where we'll be having class, and it is so cool! It's the same place where the institute is, where the missionaries live (or at least spend a lot of time...), and where the Paris ward meets for church. The building was built in 1624 or something like that. It's beautiful! In the institute part of the building, the ceilings and rafters are painted with cool designs, and there's a big staircase leading up to it.

Anyway, I'm about ready to hit the hay. I'm still so tired! lol. It's supposed to be colder tomorrow, but luckily it's not snowing. :) Our host family kept laughing about the fact that it snowed in Utah this week. lol. :) They kept saying, "At least it won't snow this weekend!"

A demain!

Welcome, My Friends, to Paris...

Ah, Paris.... Where the most essential item needed to drive is not a license, but a good, loud horn and the second most important thing is a trustworthy set of brakes. Where street art is oil on canvas instead of spray paint and kids play soccer in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower.

Well, we made it! Although Paris almost didn't make it... lol. (The plane she and two others from our group were on got delayed, and they had fifteen minutes to get from Terminal A to Terminal E in Boston, through international security, and onto the plane.)

The flight was pretty uneventful. I sat next to an old man who didn't speak French or English (I'm not exactly sure what he spoke, but every time he told a flight attendant what he spoke, they got an "uh oh, I don't know that one" kind of look.) He kept giving all the things that he didn't want, like his plain yogurt and his orange juice from breakfast and the packet with earphones and stuff. It was funny. lol.

After checking into the hotel an getting something to eat, we boarded the Metro for L'arc de Triomphe. Following some picture taking and resting underneath the gigantic arch, we boarded another train for the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful! Although, I wish there weren't so many people. I think I'd enjoy it a whole lot better if there weren't thousands of people milling about beneath it. The park Champs de Mars was very beautiful too, allowing a place for Paris and Brittney to take a nap while I wrote and watched pigeons strutting around and kids playing in the sprinklers.

Then it was back on the Metro for another ride to the hotel. After a nap and shower, we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant, where I got embarrassed because of the loudness of our group. lol. Americans really are so loud! The food was really good, though. I tried duck for the first time ever, and was really surprised when it tasted more like beef than chicken. I also had the most delicious coeur fondant du chocolat. So rich, and totally to die for! Now it's off to bed. Meeting the host family tomorrow!

Oh, can I just mention that the hotel Etap is horrible? The WC is 3 1/2 feet square and the shower, though bigger, has no room for you to put anything you don't want to get wet! It's all shower in that room! And the doors on both don't actually close, they just loosely shut, so if you lean against them they open. And the shower doesn't get warm, it gets cold or hot. And the sink is on the opposite end of the room, instead of being by the shower and toilet. And the funny thing about the room is that it has a double bed and then a (twin sized) bunk bed on top. They aren't very comfortable beds, but I have a feelings Paris and I will both sleep just fine. :)

(So...I forgot to get the USB cord for my camera from my sister, and my computer doesn't recognize the memory card, so I don't think I'll be able to post pictures until I get home...)

Paris Blog

Hey, everyone! This blog is to keep everyone posted on what's going on in my life while I'm in France. I'm not sure how often I'll have time to post on it, but probably every other day or so. Hopefully once a week I'll be able to post pictures and stuff (or link to my Facebook page).

Paris m'attend!