The Calm Before The Storm

For the first time since arriving in France, the streets are absolutely silent this morning. We could hear people partying in the rain well past 2:00 am last night, and it sounds like they are still just recovering. Today is Bastille Day, the French Independence Day, and to be in Paris during this glorious occasion is probably like being in DC for the 4th of July. It's not raining for the first time in a week, I feel wonderful, and I am ready to party! There's a military parade going on down the Champs Elysees that I don't feel to bad about missing out on. The metros today will be too crowded to deal with any time close to a scheduled event. So I think out plans are to pack up some food, wine, and spend the day out until the 11:00 firework show! I can't wait to get out there and see what Paris is like today. This was perfect timing for my health to return :)

Souhaitez moi bonne chance!

(I have no credit to this picture, but I really hope I can take it tonight with the Disco themed firework show!)

Plus, some sweet decorations for today that my mom sent!

Ladurée

Yay something to make my whole day turn around!


So I had fun checking out the health care of France today. One of my program advisors help me set up an appointment with an English speaking doctor. I figured out how to get there from the metro and found it pretty easily. However, instead of finding a hospital or medical building like I expected at 10 rue Royale, I came to an apartment complex. The doctor was very nice, and she had a quaint little medical room set up in her office. The appointment went really quick, and after a few check ups and questions, she diagnosed my ailment as an acute tonsillitis (should have gotten those taken out after mono....). She wrote me a prescription and then I was on my way. BUT the best part of this experience was on my way out, I noticed that the famous macaroon shop Ladurée was right on the corner!! Since this was my first time out of the house in almost 48 hours, I knew I had to go to pick some up. This little bakery was the most fabulous shop I've ever seen! And so colorful! I really only wanted the macaroons, but all the treats behind the glass looked amazing. I ordered a dozen to sample the flavors and maaaaybe share some with my room mates. Overall a lovely experience :)

After Ladurée, I noticed a really beautiful church at the end of the street. Since I was tired of being bored, I decided to go and check it out. I'm so glad I did! Like most churches in Europe, it was breathtaking inside. I spent about 10 minutes looking at all the stained glass, statues, and murals. It was very peaceful to sit in there and look around. However, my little adventure did start wearing me out and I had to get back home. 

After my time back out in the city, I grabbed some dinner, watched Midnight In Paris (which is in fact better to watch in Pairs), and tried out my first macaroon. Je l'aime :)

 

Good News

I woke up this morning and didn't feel like death, yay!!!! I think I definitely needed a day of rest just to stay away from as many germs as possible and hydrate all day long. My throat is barely painful now and I still have a little bit a of a cough, but I'm taking a general antibiotic that my doctor gave me before I left. Thank God for that one! I feel really lame because 1) it's our day off and 2) it's Friday, but I still think I may stay in just to get this knocked out. I would much rather be partying it up tomorrow on the streets of Paris for Bastille Day! So I apologize if my posts are a little boring for the moment.

I tried a new experience yesterday with the copious amounts of time on my hands. I did some laundry in the bathtub. My roommate Emily has been doing this for all of her stuff lately, so I thought I'd give it a try. I can easily say I will probably never do it again. It took FOREVER. I'm glad I had all freakin day because it almost became a 6 hour ordeal. Alas, all my clothes that needed to hang dry got washed and I didn't have to lug them around from the laundromat to my apartment. Now I guess I just won't wash these clothes again until I get home.

Besides this cold or ear infection or whatever it is I have, there is only one thing slightly bothering me right now. It may be because I've been cooped up in the apartment, but I'm starting to slip back into the homesickness. I finally got to Skype again with my mom and Andrew, and I just really wish I was with them. I wish I could be there for my mom as she has all of her tests done. I wish I could be there with Andrew as he's getting settled into Fort Worth before he starts med school. Maybe its for the best that I am gone though. I'd be contributing nothing and would probably get in the way. Especially with Andrew, I'm starting to feel needy I know he doesn't have the time for it. I miss my family and loved ones very much. I just need something to snap me out of this and get me back running around this city. Fingers crossed that it will be tomorrow and all the festivities that are going on!


As for now, I'm trying to focus all my energy on resting and finishing homework so I can bust outta this joint all weekend. Here's to recovery!

J'ai mal au gorge :(

Maybe I spoke too soon about feeling super healthy, because today I do not. Quite the opposite actually. That sore throat I mentioned in my last post has manifested into something awful. I'm a lovely shade of pale, I've got some sort of cough and sinus drain which isn't helping at all either. I'm drinking my warm tea right now trying to feel some relief, but my throat is killing me. Perhaps its this crappy weather that I've been going on and on about loving and it finally caught up to me. Regardless, I may have to take one of my absences today to rest and try not to feel so miserable. 


Kinda wish I was home at the moment :(

Et plus vin, s'il vous plait...

What a good day! After my lovely chat with y'all this morning, I had a bit of a bustling day. I left my place around 11:00 to try and get my pictures developed. Of course that had to turn into a whole ordeal of its own. First of all, the place Hally said we could email and pick them up the next day would not let me place the order properly. So the first place I went to this morning was another huge department store she mentioned in class once. After I finally got there, found the correct floor, and mustered up the courage to ask someone where I needed take my flash drive, she said they no longer developed photos. Ah. Okay....so I run back to campus thinking I'm just going to have to get them printed on the crappy black and white printer paper our campus has, fearing that Hally won't take me seriously and will think my photos are awful and I will fail the course. It was around 11:45 by the time I got there, Elizabeth who works behind the desk at our building told me I could go to a mall area that had an electronic/photo department. So I walk there (get lost along the way) and by some miracle found it. With my flash drive in hand asking "Developer mes photos?", I get pointed around the store to what looks like the instant print stations at Walgreens and CVS. Easy. I plug it in, select my prints, and was finished. I turn around to ask the man working at the photo counter where I could pick them up. He said, "Ici, jeudi ou vendredi" which basically, for me, translates into "You're screwed." I almost broke into tears and asked if there was anyway I could get them now. He ended up being so helpful to me, and in the end, I got the prints (even though I'm sure he had to piss off his supervisor in the process). I gave him many "Merci's"and told him I would be back for my next assignment. So, I left prints in hand with five minutes to spare to grab a chocolate croissant on the way to class. The prints turned out beautifully! Hally loved them, and I even was impressed with myself seeing them in the 10x15cm prints. Computer screens did not do them justice. I cannot wait for the next assignment she gives us so I can show her and get her opinion. After all that, I was pleased with the effort I put into getting that assignment completed and the knowledge that I am actually a pretty decent photographer.

Fast forward to me grocery shopping for wine and cheese for the night. It's been a long but successful day, and no better occasion to bust out the new wine glasses my mom sent me. I'm feeling a little under the weather today. I've been a little achy and had a sore throat, but I've been loading up with mint tea and Advil to try and stop it. Instead of going out with some other people, I'm staying in to relxas all bundled up in my pajama pants and sweatshirt. In the mean time, more wine please :)

Thanks for the wine glasses Mom! I don't feel like a child anymore.

In The Mornings

...I feel pretty peaceful. Despite the fact that for the past couple of days I've been awoken to drills and hammers from the next apartment where apparently a huge project is going on, yes, I still feel peaceful. My body is just a lot more recharged here, and I know its thanks to the healthier lifestyle I've managed to have since being here. Even with all the wine and yummy things, my tummy has flattened, my legs feel firmer. I know that's purely due to the fact I am eating much less at every meal and I walk EVERYWHERE, and I'm surprised I don't mind it that much. I sleep earlier and better, and wake up at a consistent time. If I'm already feeling a difference from all of this, I really hope that I can continue this routine when I come home.

This morning I have to rush a little. I need to print my photos for our first in class evaluation. I am a little nervous because I've never had my pictures judged by anyone other than my Facebook friends, and usually all those get is a "OMG! Good times girl!!!". Hally will probably be a little tougher. Tomorrow morning though, I want to start going to the Tuilerie Gardens for a project for my other class. We are supposed to examine a space in Paris and observe how that space is used. We've already done this a couple of times (at Hotel de Ville and that awful 40 minutes in Barbes), so I will be interested to see how this differs. If I could spend a good 45 minutes to an hour there everyday before class, I think I should be able to find some good things.

It looks like I will be pretty busy in the mornings from now on. Now that a week and a half has already past, I am beginning to learn there is truly no time to waste while I'm here!

Life In Photos

Today we had our first field day in Photography! It was very exciting to go out with our professor to help guide us. She took us to Gare du Nord which is one of the biggest train stations in Paris. It is a fabulous place to observe all sorts of human behavior and activity, and it was perfect for us to spread our little picture taking wings and fly. Hally (our prof) gave me so many tips and helped me learn how to control my camera. She also emphasized for us to have a sort of vision for what story we want to tell whenever we go out to take photos. I think that it will really help my pictures become more coherent each time I shoot. I'm still learning, but already am a little bolder with getting in front of people I want to capture and just simply waiting to push the button before a picture is ready. Hopefully we will see some improvement!

After class today, we had a wine and cheese tasting as a fun activity for all the students in the program. I kept to myself that I was already an expert on the subject thanks to my mom, but nonetheless, it was still wonderful! I've tasted all of the cheeses before, however it was so different having them straight at the source! I will definitely be a little spoiled from now on when it comes to French cheeses.

The most exciting part of the day however came when a package from home arrived! And let me say a HUGE package! All of the people who work in the office were just as excited as I was to see what came in the big box. It was a care package from my mom with my camera cable I've so desperately needed (yes!) and some jeans I love, along with some other necessities like Bastille Day decorations. Can't wait to put up the blue pinata and red streamers, while marching around with our NEW and BIG wine glasses and feather boas. Thanks Mom!

Tomorrow I have a boat cruise in the evening with my classmates on the agenda. We are trying to go as late as possible to see the city lit up as we cruise along the Seine. And also so we can get as many glasses of wine down before hand. I can't wait to see what it's all like!

I am very sleepy now after having caught up on some homework, but as promised since I've been able to get all my pictures downloaded, here are some of my favorites thus far.

Enjoy :) (and ignore the time stamps, I didn't realize it turned on and though I feel like it ruins the pictures, I still loved these too much to let them go.)

Guy playing bass on the metro. The light actually makes him look like he's performing on stage.

Accordion man.

Graffiti near my class.

The sweetest couple I've seen in Paris.