♫ 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.