An inhabitant's (not a tourist's!) first impressions.
I’ve been living in Paris for two full days now. Well, technically, I live on the outskirts. When (not if) you send me letters you will see that my address is not a 75--- address, it’s 94160. If you don’t have a 75--- address, then you’re not actually in Paris proper. But, I beg to differ. Regardless of the technicality of my zip code, I open one of the person-sized windows in the living room and I can see the Eiffel Tower. I look just to its left and I can see the dome of the Hôtel des Invalides where Napoleon lies. It doesn't seem that far, but I’m about a 35 minute metro ride from the BU center. It is 1 block from the Eiffel Tower. There is a metro stop right across the street from the apartment I live in. It’s a good line too, the #1, which goes directly to the heart of Paris. I can be at the Louvre in less than 20 minutes. From the Louvre you can get pretty much anywhere walking. I can’t wait until spring. I have dreams of taking books into the Tuileries Gardens and soaking up the sun amidst a wide array of flowers in full bloom. Those dreams are a long way off though. It has rained non-stop here since I arrived.
I was a little reluctant to leave the states because being at home is so easy. There’s a car to take you everywhere. You know where everything is. You always know how to behave correctly. I don’t have to think how to say what I mean. Being here I’ve also missed Grenoble. There are a few things I need to buy and I can envision the stores and where they are located and how I would get there if I were in Grenoble. I miss walking Boulevard Gambetta to get to the center of town. I miss the mountains and my running trails. Paris’s own Boulevard Gambetta is actually right by me so there’s a little piece of Grenoble to remind me.
I am on my own for food this semester. The program does it that way because most of the people who we stay with lead very busy lives. I just went grocery shopping for the first time and felt very French with my basket of cheese, bread, couscous, fresh veggies, tea, jam, and milk in a box. My hostess, Madame Arnal, a fiery redhead with a knowing smile and a matter-of-fact way of speaking, is single with no children, never married. She is an architect and she spends most of her weekends in the countryside. Our apartment building is early 20th century so we have high molded ceilings, big windows, and creaky wooden floors. We also don’t have an elevator and we live on the 5th floor, 200 stairs to the door. Getting my luggage up those things was a horrendous experience, though not as bad as lugging it from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the RER station, to the Metro station (with numerous stairs, long and winding corridors, and no elevators either), then through 3 city blocks to reach the BU center. There is no TV, only radio, which I don’t know if I can use yet. Mme Arnal said she has a “friend” who comes over sometimes and I surmise he was here last night because when I returned home there was someone snoring uproariously and this morning I heard a man’s voice in the hall when I woke up. That is a little weird for me but I guess there’s not much I can do about it. Other than the stairs and this man-friend, the living situation is pretty good. It’s definitely not as personal and integrating as last semester’s program. I don’t eat dinner with Mme Arnal usually. I don’t see her that much. My living here is cordial acknowledgement and respect for another’s space. Example: I get the kitchen from 7-8 for dinner and need to be cleared out afterwards. Also, I am not allowed to bring people over. Grenoble, I was like a foster daughter. Mme Arnal is nice enough though, and willing to talk.
The people at BU placed me well. I live right near one of two wooded areas around Paris, the Bois de Vincennes on the east end of the city, which surrounds a historic monument, Chateau de Vincennes. It provides a perfect venue for running. On my questionnaire they asked if I was more independent or family-oriented. I said independent and I think that will go well this semester. It is too bad that I won’t interact as much with my hostess. I got most of my practice speaking and listening last semester at dinner with Madame de Tarragon and from watching the news on TV, now I have little of one and none of the other so I’ll have to get creative.
I start my classes this week. I have been placed in level 2 so I get to take two option classes and I chose Art and Architecture in Paris (what better place to take an art class?) and Paris Politique which studies Paris’ role in modern politics and international relations. Some student organizations that BU is affiliated with had a party last night and we ended up meeting a lot of French students and salsa dancing and having a pretty good time. The BU program director is a character. He would have more fun if he was allowed to wax poetic about each neighborhood, classic French cinema, and the romance of rain. He’s a funny man who always holds the lapel of his jacket with his right hand and puts his hand on his waist holding back his jacket with the left. He seems uptight and makes little quips all the time that don't make me laugh. But he takes the program seriously and it seems very well-run and well-staffed. I met the internship coordinator last night as well and he seems very kind and very knowledgeable. I am looking forward to the semester. I feel like this one will go faster than the last one. I only have seven weeks of classes. In my art class we take a field trip to a museum every week.
I talked to Madame Arnal at dinner and she told me all the places to take weekend trips. I am planning to do Prague, possibly St. Petersburg, Amsterdam and Budapest. So if I take a trip every other weekend it would work right? I don’t have classes on Fridays again so I can take nice long weekends. I think the secret to not feeling lonely and getting homesick is to surround yourself with and profit from everything that you have at your fingertips. You’re so busy being amazed you don’t have time to miss anything (except toilet paper that comes in rolls). Today the whole program was split off into groups of three or four and we all had assignments to discover an area of Paris, to be shared on Friday. Our group had Belleville, and we found a gorgeous park, the Edith Piaf museum, and Père Lachaise cemetery, all of which were treasures. Especially the cemetery, I thought. I saw the tombs of Jim Morrison, Chopin, Molière, La Fontaine, Oscar Wilde, Camille Pissaro, Géricault, Délacroix, and many others. Even if a ton of famous people weren’t buried there, it's beautiful and interesting, even though it's somewhat morbid.
Despite the rain and the fact that I got lost in those gigantic woods on my run today, I love Paris. Like I said last semester, this city is magic. You can come back as many times as you want and there’s always something new, something you missed, something amazing. I am anxious to see the presentations of the other group’s discoveries so I can see more places I want to go. This is Karla, happy to be settling in to Parisian life, signing off.
I was a little reluctant to leave the states because being at home is so easy. There’s a car to take you everywhere. You know where everything is. You always know how to behave correctly. I don’t have to think how to say what I mean. Being here I’ve also missed Grenoble. There are a few things I need to buy and I can envision the stores and where they are located and how I would get there if I were in Grenoble. I miss walking Boulevard Gambetta to get to the center of town. I miss the mountains and my running trails. Paris’s own Boulevard Gambetta is actually right by me so there’s a little piece of Grenoble to remind me.
I am on my own for food this semester. The program does it that way because most of the people who we stay with lead very busy lives. I just went grocery shopping for the first time and felt very French with my basket of cheese, bread, couscous, fresh veggies, tea, jam, and milk in a box. My hostess, Madame Arnal, a fiery redhead with a knowing smile and a matter-of-fact way of speaking, is single with no children, never married. She is an architect and she spends most of her weekends in the countryside. Our apartment building is early 20th century so we have high molded ceilings, big windows, and creaky wooden floors. We also don’t have an elevator and we live on the 5th floor, 200 stairs to the door. Getting my luggage up those things was a horrendous experience, though not as bad as lugging it from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the RER station, to the Metro station (with numerous stairs, long and winding corridors, and no elevators either), then through 3 city blocks to reach the BU center. There is no TV, only radio, which I don’t know if I can use yet. Mme Arnal said she has a “friend” who comes over sometimes and I surmise he was here last night because when I returned home there was someone snoring uproariously and this morning I heard a man’s voice in the hall when I woke up. That is a little weird for me but I guess there’s not much I can do about it. Other than the stairs and this man-friend, the living situation is pretty good. It’s definitely not as personal and integrating as last semester’s program. I don’t eat dinner with Mme Arnal usually. I don’t see her that much. My living here is cordial acknowledgement and respect for another’s space. Example: I get the kitchen from 7-8 for dinner and need to be cleared out afterwards. Also, I am not allowed to bring people over. Grenoble, I was like a foster daughter. Mme Arnal is nice enough though, and willing to talk.
The people at BU placed me well. I live right near one of two wooded areas around Paris, the Bois de Vincennes on the east end of the city, which surrounds a historic monument, Chateau de Vincennes. It provides a perfect venue for running. On my questionnaire they asked if I was more independent or family-oriented. I said independent and I think that will go well this semester. It is too bad that I won’t interact as much with my hostess. I got most of my practice speaking and listening last semester at dinner with Madame de Tarragon and from watching the news on TV, now I have little of one and none of the other so I’ll have to get creative.
I start my classes this week. I have been placed in level 2 so I get to take two option classes and I chose Art and Architecture in Paris (what better place to take an art class?) and Paris Politique which studies Paris’ role in modern politics and international relations. Some student organizations that BU is affiliated with had a party last night and we ended up meeting a lot of French students and salsa dancing and having a pretty good time. The BU program director is a character. He would have more fun if he was allowed to wax poetic about each neighborhood, classic French cinema, and the romance of rain. He’s a funny man who always holds the lapel of his jacket with his right hand and puts his hand on his waist holding back his jacket with the left. He seems uptight and makes little quips all the time that don't make me laugh. But he takes the program seriously and it seems very well-run and well-staffed. I met the internship coordinator last night as well and he seems very kind and very knowledgeable. I am looking forward to the semester. I feel like this one will go faster than the last one. I only have seven weeks of classes. In my art class we take a field trip to a museum every week.
I talked to Madame Arnal at dinner and she told me all the places to take weekend trips. I am planning to do Prague, possibly St. Petersburg, Amsterdam and Budapest. So if I take a trip every other weekend it would work right? I don’t have classes on Fridays again so I can take nice long weekends. I think the secret to not feeling lonely and getting homesick is to surround yourself with and profit from everything that you have at your fingertips. You’re so busy being amazed you don’t have time to miss anything (except toilet paper that comes in rolls). Today the whole program was split off into groups of three or four and we all had assignments to discover an area of Paris, to be shared on Friday. Our group had Belleville, and we found a gorgeous park, the Edith Piaf museum, and Père Lachaise cemetery, all of which were treasures. Especially the cemetery, I thought. I saw the tombs of Jim Morrison, Chopin, Molière, La Fontaine, Oscar Wilde, Camille Pissaro, Géricault, Délacroix, and many others. Even if a ton of famous people weren’t buried there, it's beautiful and interesting, even though it's somewhat morbid.
Despite the rain and the fact that I got lost in those gigantic woods on my run today, I love Paris. Like I said last semester, this city is magic. You can come back as many times as you want and there’s always something new, something you missed, something amazing. I am anxious to see the presentations of the other group’s discoveries so I can see more places I want to go. This is Karla, happy to be settling in to Parisian life, signing off.
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