The Moose

Our new home away from home. The Moose is a Canadian bar run by a guy from Austin, Texas. Now a bar is always fun, but the best part about the Moose is...everyone speaks English! It's like a little hideout for Americans in France. There's Coors Light, onion rings, Maragritas, all the wonderful things from home!

Despite me thinking I was going to spend most of my time this week alone, I'm out right now with a bunch of people I've met in class. They are really fun an I'm glad we could work out some time to hang out! I think this is the best setting for it to since I really dont care about blending in at this bar. Regardless, I'm happy to let loose tonight and get to know my classmates better!

Thank God for the Canadian Moose :)

L'Amoureuse

Today I had to say goodbye to Carly. It was sad seeing my friend go, but I'm looking forward setting out on my own a bit this week. This morning I finally got out of bed around 10:00 to start my day. The clouds are still rolling in putting a nice chill in the wind, maybe I'll wear one of my new scarves. I ate breakfast (toast with peach jam and cinnamon) while I read a Hemmingway book our professor recommended, and listened to a French artist Carly gave me. Her name is Carla Bruni, and she is the former First Lady of France. I think a lot of Americans don't realize that she is also a really talented singer. So since I don't have any pictures today as of yet, I will share one of her songs that is really growing on me. Enjoy :)

L'Amoureuse 

I will be leaving the apartment sometime soon, I'm sure.

Reflections

What a wonderful weekend it has been! This morning we actually got started at a decent time, and so far we've had a very relaxing time. As I unfortunately learned last weekend, Paris shuts down by 1:00 on Sundays, so we decided to have an easy day in. We quickly went to a cafe for breakfast and to the grocery store to pick up some essentials (dinner and bottles of wine) before everything closed down. Today has been a little dreary, very chilly and windy, but it has kind of set the mood just right. I've been getting homework done while she read. I even took a quick nap where I got to feel the wind rush through my bedroom window and hear the church bells chime. All in all, a very relaxing time

This is unfortunately Carly's last day here with me in Paris. I have had so much fun with her, and we were very lucky the timing of our trips worked out so perfectly. This afternoon we started going through old high school photos and just laughing at how ridiculous we looked! Spirit dress up days, homecoming, birthday parties, and just photos where we wanted simply to be silly. But in every single one, we looked so happy. I started to think about that a lot, and while I'm so thankful for the time we spent together the past couple of days making new memories, I'm even thankful still for the old memories that seem so long ago. It made me think about why I love taking pictures so much. I get criticized for not living in the moment when I constantly am pulling out my camera, but in the end, I have wonderful visible proof of incredible experiences. Maybe that's why I enjoy writing this blog so much too. I know that after this is all done, I will be able to account for my feelings, experiences, and funny little moments that my memory may not hold. Looking at the pictures, we could tell when the smiles were genuine, when they weren't. We recalled friends we haven't thought about in years, and friends who we wish would have kept in contact. For one friend of ours in particular, those pictures are the only connection we feel we can keep with her anymore. It's a sad, but very touching thought.

However, to get back on the brighter side of things, this reflection made me so appreciative of the classes I'm taking where we are encouraged to catalogue all of these things. Once Carly leaves, I think I would like to spend some of my time during the day venturing out on my own, seeing what thoughts can come out of my head and what pictures can come out of my camera. I want to gain as much as I can out of my time here, and I truly want to immerse myself in those moments. I have always been very independent, and after seeing how some of my other class mates prefer to spend their time here, I don't think I can get what I wanted out of Paris with them. (Don't worry Mom, this doesn't mean I will be walking the streets by myself at 2:00 in the morning!) I just need some time to myself to simply be.

As for now, I still have a dinner date in the kitchen with my dear friend. And as soon as I can get my cable to download my pictures from my camera, I will let you see what I see :)

Y'all, where's the loo?

Yay yay yay!!

I had to make this post immediately because I had such a wonderful night! As where I left off last time, Carly and I went to a restaurant she was very excited about called Chez Janou. It was this really neat cafe nestled behind a neighborhood, and it was so worth the confusing taxi ride! Within 5 minutes of getting there and ordering our first glass of wine**, we met a Californian law student who was on his first night of backpacking through Europe. Super cool right?

**Side note, I'm just going to stop listing the number of glasses of wine I've had just so I feel better about myself and don't worry anyone. But drinking and eating your way through Paris is one of the best ways to go, and I highly recommend it!

Alors, the bartender was really nice, we had a fun conversation in English with a stranger for the first time in a while, and we were feeling very good. We were finally seated for our reservation, and immediately were set at ease. Our waitress was really casual and cool, and treated us pretty well after Carly apologized from the bottom of her Texas sized heart that she could not speak French. More wine was served and our dishes were placed in front of us, and before we knew it, we were in conversation with the people at the table next to us. We soon learned that though their French was impeccable, they were actually Canadiennes who had attended French schools for a very long time in Canada. We started sharing travel horror stories and laughing throughout the whole night. They found our "y'alls" and tales of "the Sugar Land" very endearing, and we were thrilled with their kindness. One of their favorite stories was when Carly revealed that when she got nervous about not being able to speak French, she would randomly switch to a British accent. We decided to share a dessert that the two women had seen on their way in called le grand mousse chocolat. WOW. The name did not even begin to describe the real thing! They literally place a small cauldron of chocolate mousse with four spoons and a "Bon Chance!". After more laughs, we couldn't even make a dent in the monstrosity no matter how rich/decadent/amazing it was. By then, the four of us had made friends with the waiters as they were trying to close, and they poured two rounds of an almond liqueur for us all.  We then finally introduced ourselves, and we finally got to know Teddy and Cynzi (??? I'm definitely going to have to come back and fix that one!).

We decided to find another place that was still open to hang out for a bit more so we could all chat. With us all feeling the wonderful effects of the wine and liqueur, we started trying out our best accents. Carly and I tested our proper Brit accents, while Teddy and her sister gave "y'all" a try. Pretty soon, we just combined them all and stumbled through the streets saying, "Oy there, y'all!"and "Y'all, where's the loo?" We eventually found a place to hang out for one more drink longer just to keep chatting. And I am so glad we did! By the end of the night, we exchanged info, and I may now have friends to hang out with for the infamous Bastille Day (French Independence day). I can't wait!

That is all I have to report for now, but it has been a very very fun night.

Bon swaar, y'all :)

Mon amie Carly

Thankfully, the weekend has continued to be wonderful!

Today Carly and I started out a little late around 11:30, but we made quick time getting over to the Tuilerie Gardens. They were absolutely amazing and beautiful, I will be able to post pictures as soon as I have a cable to upload my pictures. We had lunch at a very lovely outdoor cafe overlooking the gardens and fountains. In good French fashion, I had a Croque Monsieur and split a bottle of Sauvignon with Carly. Thankfully, we were seated at a table with an umbrella because it started to rain quite a bit. We were in no rush though and we still had a glass of wine each left to finish as it poured. After the rain, we headed over to le Musée de l'Orangerie that housed lots of impressionist paintings. The most famous of which were the two oval rooms with the large Monet paintings. Every painting took my breath away with its beauty (and possibly with the help of the 3 glasses of wine). I wish I could look at those Monets every day, I think I would be much more at rest! After wandering though, we stopped at the gift shop to buy some post cards and trinkets. Just to make the day even better, we were helped by the most adorable young frenchman (sorry Andrew!). Even though we were swooning, he still was one of the nicest and most helpful guys I've encountered so far.

Carly and I moved onto our next destination, and had to stroll through another storm. When I'm prepared with an umbrella, the rain is the most welcome and beautiful thing. We stopped at a very fancy liquor store that Carly had been to before with a wine bar and bistro on the second floor. We indulged in two more glasses of vin blanc and shared a large plate of cheeses. The cheeses were amazing! I loved the brie and cheddar, but I could have used my mom to help us decipher what the other ones were. I even gave the blue cheese a shot, but I will never again! The bistro was very pretty and modern, and they had this funky soundtrack of metal and alternative songs redone in a jazzy style. We had fun listening and trying to figure out which songs were which. Our favorite for sure was the rendition of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". This seemed to be the place of choice for after work drinks with friends and hip mothers needing a break from parenting. One hilarious sight to see was a mother searching for some bottle of liquor to bring home with her two young boys which we named Hans and Frans (don't ask why). They were two little identical looking pudgy french boys with their hair slicked back wearing Polos, khakis, and playing with their iPads. We for some reason gave them German accents and imagined their conversation bragging about their iPads and superior tolerance for alcohol. A good time was had by all :)

Right now, we are resting up at my apartment before heading out to dinner. I'll post again soon, promise :)

At the café in the gardens

My Croque Monsieur 

Picture in the bistro

Les Fromages!

The Champs of les Champs des Elysées

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to be reunited with one of my best friends from high school Carly! She has been visiting Paris after a month long study abroad in Greece, and it just so happened that we were finally in the same place at once in a very long time. Paris may not have been the most conventional place, but at least we are together! We spent the day shopping down the Champs des Elysées. We had some luck at the huge H&M store here (two new dresses for 10 euros each?!). But most of our time afterwards was spent wandering down a boulevard that housed Gucci, Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, two Chanel stores (TWO!), and many other famous designers that made us feel completely inferior. Alors, it was fun!

We decided to skip over to the part of town near my campus where I've seen a few boutiques. We were lucky enough to make it to the area before a huge storm blew through. The storm forced us inside a cafe, which then forced us to have a couple of glasses of wine while we waited it out. We weren't too distraught that. One parisienne came up to me asking about the necklace I was wearing (thank you Merge in College Station!!) and wondering where she could get such a magnificent piece. I told her it was a long way from here, but we talked with her for a while longer about shopping in the area. She was very sweet and complementary, and in the end congratulated us for looking so chic. As some of you know from my earlier posts, you can imagine this was a HUGE deal for me after worrying if I would have the right clothes for this city! At the end of the day, this one experience will make me feel like I was cool/hip/fashionable enough to blend into Paris.

We later went to dinner near the Eiffel Tower at a wonderful tiny restaurant that I will for sure be visiting any time I come back. I have never had chicken taste so good! After dinner, we took a taxi that gave us a beautiful view of the Tower all lit up on the way home. Now, we ended the night with a few more drinks and called it a day! Today was amazing not only because of the fun nonstop activity, but I really enjoyed having one of my best friends here with me to enjoy this experience with. If anything, she also has made me feel a lot less homesick too. We can make these new memories together while at the same time remembering the old. She will be here for the weekend, and I cannot wait for our future adventures together :)

As for now, I am very sleepy. Another exciting post is sure to be on its way!

A Demain :)

Allison


L'Arc de Triomphe at the end of les Champs des Elysées.

A Belgian restaurant we had lunch at, it was very very good!

Our dinner at Constant, with the most fabulous chicken I've ever had!

And a snapshot of the Eiffel Tower as we drove by in our taxi :)

Alors

Inhale, release, and........ahhhhhhh. 


Today I seem to have finally got my feet on the ground and everything in order. It is an absolutely beautiful rainy day today, and I am relaxing just fresh from class. Let me catch you up to speed here.


Our classes began yesterday (Happy 4th, right?), and I have to say, I am so thrilled for the courses and my professors! I am taking a photography class with a woman who is so talented and passionate about what she does. I have already learned so much, I'm excited to grab my camera and start shooting. My other class is Parisian Culture, and this professor is just as well read and passionate about the topic. They are both very hands on, and we will be venturing out into the city for many of our classes to observe and take pictures around the city. I cannot wait :) Both of them are also encouraging us to keep separate journals to track our experiences through the class. I will be interested to see what comes out onto the pages over the next couple of weeks. I already have my first assignment to get started on in photography. I need to take 8-12 pictures of my neighborhood to get to know the area. After seeing her own prints, I have a feeling she will be a tough judge. So I've already started messing around with my camera to try and come up with some cool settings.


The good news is, I am feeling much better today. I think I was feeling left out of all the family gatherings yesterday and it made me feel that much farther from home. Yesterday was just not a good day in general. I lost my metro pass (my very expensive metro pass...) and had to replace it today. They gave me the wrong pizza at the restaurant we went to, then we walked aimlessly around for about 30 minutes on my tired feet. By the end of the night, all I wanted was a bottle of wine to drown my sorrows in, but all the grocers were closed. Rien n'était bien.


After my pity party yesterday, I've been having a wonderful day today. I had an amazing lunch at a small boulangerie near class, figured out some work on my camera, and now I'm about to dive into some readings to finish before the weekend. I will pick myself up and enjoy tonight! Since I haven't been taking too many pictures in the past 24 hours, I'll just post some early ones that never made it. I'll post again soon and enjoy :)




My dinner the first night, salmon and linguini. 

The building across the street from my favorite cafe.

And after dinner Baileys simple :)

My first croissant of the trip the next morning!