Salut!

I saw a lot this weekend! I am writing this at home on Monday night, and I am going to post it tomorrow before class.

On Friday night another person moved into our house! Her name is Naomi - she is 22 years old and from Corsica, which means that her native language is French. She is friends/classmates with one of Ingrid's daughters, and she is very nice. Friday night her friend also came over for dinner, and everyone was back to speaking superfast, and it was a bit scary but I understood almost everything, so it was okay.

Overall I think I am doing a good job understanding what is going on because whenever Jean Claude asks if I understand what they are talking about I say that I do, and then he gets all disappointed because he doesn't get to explain anything. But both tonight and last night they found one word that I didn't know and got all excited (berceau = cradle, attentat = murder/bombing attempt) because I finally didn't know a word. So I think that is pretty good, and they seem impressed. Even if I can't talk to save my life.

That's not true. I can talk alright, it just gets all twisted up under pressure.

Saturday I went to Saint Chapelle which is a church with AMAZING stained glass windows. I actually headed to Ile de la Cité that morning because my professor had suggested we go there if it was sunny, and I had no real idea what I was going to do there. Also, I was annoyed at my guidebook for not being creative enough, so I didn't bring it. But then I saw the sign for Saint Chapelle and I had heard of it but didn't remember what for, and I decided to go. So I bought a 7.50 euro joint ticket for Saint Chapelle and la Conciergerie and headed inside. And it was fabulous! You walk up a spiral staircase to the main church and when I emerged I literally said "Wow" because it was so cool. I stayed there for about an hour looking at all the panels and since the English (and Spanish) information cards were all in use, I used the French card to read about the different scenes depicted in the windows. I wasn't allowed to use flash but if you look at my pictures (eventually…they are taking their sweet time uploading), you can tell just by the contrast of the walls to the windows how bright and colorful it was.

Then I went to the Conciergerie, which is where prisoners were held (and tortured) before and during the Revolution while awaiting trial and eventual guillotine action. The building itself was cool, but the exhibits were rather sparse, with mannequins sitting in a few tiny cells. The second half of the museum was more interesting, but was also only narrated in French, so by the end my head was getting tired from having to concentrate. But I saw the cell where Marie Antoinette was held, and that was interesting.

Then I bought a cheese crêpe and ate it in a park by la Tour de Saint Jacques, and it was delicious and I was starving. And then I bought gelato and ate it on the bank of the Seine River, and it was lovely.

Sidenote: It was sunny all weekend, which was great. Temperature-wise it was pants-and-a-sweater-with-the sleeves-rolled-up weather.

Then I went and got my computer and went back to Parc Monceau to participate in the world of internet, and it was very nice sitting in the grass on a sunny day. I like that park a lot because there are a ton of people doing a ton of things, but it still feels peaceful and relaxing. Also, it is a ton French people doing a ton of things, as opposed to a ton of tourists, which is always nice.

Ingrid and Jean Claude had gone to visit someone 'in the country" for the day, so I ate dinner with Naomi and her friend (I never understand French names, and it is a problem) and then they showed me their favorite French stand-up comedy on youtube and tried to teach me bad words. And then we went to the movies!

We left at like 11:15pm and went and got crêpes with nutella, because they decided they felt like them. And honestly, who doesn't feel like a nutella crêpe? And we linked arms and blazed through the insanity that is Pigalle (Saturday night = a gajillion people. 3x as many as during the day. It was very strange) and Naomi bought me my crêpe, which was very nice of her. And then we went to the 12:05 showing of the new Woody Allen movie that everyone in France is excited about. And it was in English with French subtitles, which was excellent because my French comprehension definitely falters at two in the morning. And it was very fun and they are very nice.

Then yesterday I slept in because I had been up very late. And then I went to see la Grande Arche de la Défense, which was indeed very grand, but not overly attractive. I didn't go up it because I would rather go up l'Arc de Triomphe (which was in view…distantly), and it cost 9 euro. The whole area was actually rather desserted, so that was strange. Then I went to Place de la Concorde, where the beheadings of the Revolution took place, and the traffic there was absolutely insane, so it was slightly stressful with cars and people and police everywhere. But I saw what I wanted to see, so it was okay.

And then I took the subway a few stops to the Louvre because while I had seen the Louvre several times, I hadn't seen the entranceway with the pyramid yet, and I felt like I needed to. So I did. And it was cool, but I can understand why it was controversial since it really doesn't blend in very well at all. And I didn't go in the Louvre because 1) We are going as a group and 2) It is free for students on either Thursday or Friday nights.

Then I sat in the Tuileries garden outside the Louvre and wrote in my journal with l'Arc de Triomphe and la Concorde in front of me, the Eiffel Tower to my left, and the Louvre behind me, and it was very serene.

Today I tried to go to the Picasso Museum, but it is closed until October 24, so I went to le Musée de l'Armée at Les Invalides instead. And I saw Napoleon's tomb, which is pretty cool, and they had a free audio guide so I was there for a while. Then I went to the Army museum about WWI and WWII, but it wasn't overly impressive.

Then I took the subway most of the way home, bought a panini, walked more of the way home, and then bought hypoallergenic laundry detergent because it turns out I am allergic to the detergent Ingrid normally uses (no worries, I was only wearing freshly-washed socks when I figured this out) and then went the rest of the way home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in my favorite park, where I met a man named Claude who is a professor and…who even knows. And he talked to me about youth and about travel and showed me one of his articles online. It was very strange, but also rather charming and nice. I also did some of my homework, I swear.

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Today I had a million hours of class. The end.