Joie

Hello!

Sorry for not blogging in a couple days...I guess that's a good sign, because that means I'm running around enjoying the city! And as much as I have to write about, I'm going to try and keep this as concise as possible.

Dinner with Anne (family friend of the Millers) on Sunday night was WONDERFUL. She was beyond kind to me. Due to the nasty weather outside, she cooked in for the night and we ate dinner at her flat in the 5th arrondissement. It was exactly what I needed at this point in my adventures. Delicious food with a 3-course meal (and the main dish was salmon...my favorite!), friendly company, a heated apartment--a home. She was so welcoming and easy to talk to. She taught me helpful tricks of the trade for Paris and gave me tips for things like taxis and food. I hadn't realized how much I had missed a home and the love that fills it. Thank you Millers for helping me find a home away from home.

Monday was a productive day I would say! Natalie had flown off to Copenhagen for the first half of the week to see her boy, so it was just Ash and I. We headed off to the AIFS office to take care of a handful of things: signing up for french cuisine classes, making copies of passports, filling out immigration forms so we can legally be here, and discussed some of the rough edges about our housing situation. Afterwards, we slid on over to my/our becoming favorite crêpe place for a hot nutella crêpe...YUM.

Crêpes!

We then caught the metro to Trocadéro, which has the most BEAUTIFUL view of "le Tour Eiffel" while also overlooking Paris. The weather was fair, but the view was impeccable. How lucky am I to get to live in this city for a semester? Once in a lifetime opportunity.

Ash and I then went into the National Marine Museum next door...a museum ddddeefinitely meant for parents to take their little boys. Grown up girls probably didn't find it quite as interesting. Oh well, can't like them all! We caught the metro back to George V (our metro stop on the Champs) and decided to tour the Louis Vuitton Museum. Now, not many people know about this museum, as it's on the 7th floor above the huge Louis Vuitton store, and it's not strongly advertised. We only knew about it because our tour guide had mentioned it in passing. I prepped myself for what I thought would be a hoighty-toighty, high fashion, cut-throat industry kind of museum. I was so wrong. It was the most interesting and unique modern art museum! Due to it's low advertisement, there was only 1 other person in the museum with us. The art was all interactive art and had extensive descriptions to explain what the artist was attempting to depict and achieve through their piece.

One of the art exhibits in Louis Vuitton museum...One instrument playing made all of them play based off of how they are all connected

Tuesday was a big excursion day. We met at 9 to head towards Versailles. It was a beautiful, ginormous, extensive, elaborate palace that Louis XIV had built, and very interesting history to learn about. Kind of fun to picture what it would have been like living in those days and ages. Really enjoyed visiting, and it was even more breathtaking covered in snow from the weekend before.

Front gates of Versailles

Looking out from the gates of Versailles covered in beautiful snow

Hall of Mirrors

The gardens covered in snow

Versailles 

After Versailles, we headed off to Chartres to eat some lunch and see their MAGNIFICENT cathedral, which is one of the oldest Notre Dame's standing and intact. It was quite chilly, but our tour guide was intelligent and informative, as he has been giving tours for 50+ years at the cathedral. It was a tad rough on our bodies though, as the cathedral had no heat, and walking out into the snow to look at the external architecture didn't help much either. After dancing many little jigs to stay warm, we all hauled back to the bus, a haven of heat for the frozen.

The cathedral

Beautiful architecture

Intricate and gorgeous stained glass windows

Today we had a "surprise mystery tour", where one just shows up and follows our guide! It ended up being a tour to Musée des Arts Forains, which was basically a museum set up as a circus/fair back in the day. But not just any museum, an interactive museum which joyfully took us all back to our childhood.

The first carousel...

...which we rode.

And the second carousel...

...which we also rode!

Fun games

Well this has been a blog for pictures galore! A couple last little fun things...

The other day, I was sitting on the metro riding home, when the girl sitting across from me began speaking plain American English with her friend. Usually I wouldn't notice, but they were about my age and seemed to be from the states. So I started up conversation with them, finding out that they were here visiting for the weekend from their study abroad location in Barcelona. We began to discuss where we were from, colleges, etc. and lo and behold, the friend attends Clemson! She's a junior Chi-O studying abroad in Spain for the semester. Just thought that was SO random and such a small world kind of thing. Running into college aged, English speaking, American, Clemson students while on a French metro in the middle of Paris. Craziness. Fun.

Thrilled about my newly purchased flowers. The apartment needed color...or at least I did in this city of black and neutral clothes. Fresh flowers are my closet obsession, even though I sadly don't get to purchase them that often. I just feel like they bring so much more life to a room. I'm currently enjoy them, as they are set directly beside my computer as I type.

Fun fact: I have an interview tomorrow for a potential french nannying position! I just thought it would be exciting to interact with French children while abroad, and my roommate Ashley came across this babysitting/nannying/tutoring business that hires native English speakers to nanny French children so the kids can begin to acquire English as a language as well. They called last week and offered me an interview, so I'll go in tomorrow at 5! Nothing major, if it works out-great. If not-still great! I'M LIVING IN PARIS. No complaints here. Just think it would be enriching to interact with children weekly while abroad. Something about their innocence and childlike joy--I can never get enough.

School begins tomorrow! First classes for French language at noon, so I better get some shut eye. CRAZY to think that I've been out of the states for so long, yet official school hasn't even yet begun! I'd like to attend school like this every semester...But really am excited to get back in classes to learn, be challenged, and put into practice some improved French language. Ready to expand my knowledge on this beautiful language I followed to Paris.

Phrase for the day: "Avoir la joie dans la vie" which means "To have joy in life"

Vous avez joie dans la vie, mes amours.