Pour mes week-ends/mes fins des semaines – 1

I apologize for not writing for so long! The entire experience of study abroad is overwhelming and pretty time consuming. I thought for this post I would talk about the weekend trips I took over the past few weeks, as well

La Rochelle

March 8 – March 10, 2013.

This was my first weekend trip out of Paris. My close friend (also a student at Pitt and colleague on the Original Magazine) decided we would try and do a lot of our travels through France/Europe together, so we started in this gorgeous, historical harbor town. Among the 15th century buildings and churches, a harbor “La Pallice” spilling out into the sea greeted us as we walked to our Air BNB.

Our apartment was right in the center of the Old Port/Town “Vieux Port”, and it was really adorable. Really adorable… except the toilet, shower, and bed were all in the same room. The only thing that separate the bed from the “bathroom” was a curtain. What an experience, indeed.

We visited the three towers of La Rochelle: each had a different function through the centuries. What started first as a harbour master’s home and lighthouses was converted into government  designated places and eventually into prisons, harbouring British soldiers. Today, they stand together as a museum. The history of La Rochelle is rich and fascinating and we had no qualms about traversing the city, being tourists.

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On a more interesting note, we found several little parks/gardens covered with gorgeous, well-crafted street art. It seemed like a collaboration between several artists.

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Throughout France, there are many natural markets that take place during the mornings on weekdays and weekends alike. Zach and I were lucky enough to stumble upon one in La Rochelle on Saturday morning… that ran through 90% of the Vieux Port. I had never seen so many fresh foods and goods in one setting.

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We ate very, very well. Lots of fish and delicious things. Our first dinner was really interesting; recommended on Trip Advisor, you were given raw fish and vegetables and were meant to cook them on a hot rock. It was such an interesting concept, and definitely the most fresh you could get.

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We visited a contemporary art museum and befriended one of the French girls that was working at the reception desk there. Later, we went out with her and her friends for a night on the town in La Rochelle.

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Normandy

March 16-17, 2013.

In Caen, for the few hours we had their at night, everyone was really tired so I walked about the city on my own, looking at the Medieval fortress and churches in the dark. It was really peaceful and really beautiful.

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This is a little excerpt from what I wrote about in my journal about my program’s trip to Normandy. We visited Omaha Beach, a few other D-Day beaches, a D-Day museum, spent the night in the city of Caen, and saw Mont St. Michel for two hours on Sunday.

“I’m listening to Mykonos by the Fleet Foxes and we’re leaving Caen, Normandy.”

“I wish I got to see more of this city: it was so quaint and beautiful. Last night, I walked around until 1 in the morning, perusing the streets, hunting for street art, taking pictures of the churches, the old Medieval fortresses, regretting the rue of restaurants we didn’t get to (Well, not really regretting: the salmon at dinner was delicious, and the apple pie was heavenly. But I want to go to all of these restaurants!).”

“‘The Normandy countryside kind of reminds me of Illinois when the fields are flat and full of farms and green, but then it stats to remind of the Pennyslvanian countryside as soon as the hills start rolling. You can take the girl out of her home (homes?) but you can’t take home (homes?) out of the girl.”

“The idea of temporary and permanence is making a prevalent influence nowadays: I am making relationships in Paris that cover the entire spectrum of permanence: temporary, not-so-temporary, maybe-temporary, give-it-a-few-weeks-temporary, give-it-a-few-decades-temporary, semi-permanent, semi-not-so-permanent, probably-permanent, most-definitely-permanent. I should make a legitimate scale. I do wish I had my permanent people with me, sometimes, but the closest ones are in the southwest of France, Poland,  Germany, and the UK. But, there is something exciting about having my maybe-temporary relationships blossom into long-lasting friendships.”

“What an experience this is turning out to be…”

Nantes/La Roche-sur-Yon

March 22 – March 24, 2013.

I came into La Roche-sur-Yon, a small town in the region Vendee on a Friday afternoon. Zach has been doing a teaching position there for the past several months. First, we took a 30 minute tour of the town… it’s a small town. Really quaint and quiet and unfortunately, under a lot of construction. When the construction is finished, I mean, if the construction is finished (insert joke about the French not working here), it could really be something.

We ran into a few of Zach’s students and friends; then, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for a home cooked dinner. Chicken, salad, and a specialty of the Vendee region, Les Mogettes de Vendee: white kidney beans. A team effort, the dinner turned out to be delicious!

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That night, I went to the first French high school party I ever went to. I imagined a more outlandish/hardcore/crazy scene, but it was actually really nice. Lots of French conversation with people ranging from 17 to 27. It was a very tranquille, tranquille environment, which, as I would find out after my weekend in the Vendee, is the same in all the cities.

Saturday was the day I fell in love with Nantes. We started off with amazing galettes (savory crepes) in one of Zach’s favorite restaurants in Nantes, then continued through the city. We were coincidentally there during the largest street market of the year, with every kind of accessory, gift, and clothing item possible on sale. I snagged myself a pink tunic and bought a pretty white blouse for one of my most dear/generous friends in Paris, Kristina.

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We then met up with Zach’s good friend, Reda. One of the most intelligent and interesting people I’ve ever met in my life, by far. With him, we walked around Nantes, by the river, through the Asian-inspired gardens. One of my favorite moments of the trip was how Reda  explained how one takes a girl out on a date in France. I can’t quote it word for word, but I’ll do my best to retell the beautiful tale:

You start off with dinner. And there’s no time limit to this dinner. Three courses, four courses, it doesn’t matter, the price doesn’t matter. You’re there to enjoy the company of this beautiful woman and to eat delicious food. You can talk about anything and everything, but make sure you sit outside on the terrace. You have to have a beautiful view. Everything about the evening should be luxury. And French girls, French girls always order dessert. None of this bullshit about diets and losing weight. You each order a decadent dessert, then maybe some tea or coffee. By the time you leave the restaurant, it’s late into the evening, but it’s nowhere near over. You take her back to your place, sit on your porch, talk, laugh, have a few drinks, make love, and spend the night together. That’s how you take a girl out on a date in France.

Later, we met up with Reda’s friends for drinks on the terrace outside of a bar. I had a “Spring Beer” and it was one of the most delicious things I tasted: it tasted fruity but not too sweet, and so, so fresh. If only it brought spring closer to Paris! We ended the night on top of Tour Bretagne, the tallest building in Nantes (and by ordinance of the city, no other skyscrapers have been built in Nantes). A special art-exhibition-turned-bar was made ready there. The theme of a stork carrying eggs was display through cracked egg chairs and tables, with the bar server’s quarters inside a giant, inflatable stork.

The next morning I had a transfer over in Nantes to leave to Paris. I got myself a croissant aux amandes and sat by the river, breathing in the beauty of the city I had fallen for.

London

March 29 – April 1, 2013

Oh my gosh, London! What an adventure… We arrived Friday night, delirious and a bit freaked out because every car was on the wrong side of the road… and people were looking backwards when they crossed the road. The Brits on our bus found it quite funny how completely culture shocked we were. When we got off the bus, we had to find our way from Victoria Station to our hostel, Safestay Elephant and Castle.

After wandering around the premises to find some bus stops or someone to ask where we should go, my sleep deprived/tired self commented that London reminded me a little bit of Wonderland. Zach agreed with me, called himself the Mad Hatter and me Alice and we ventured on into Wonderland. The first pub I saw was called Shakespeare Pub which was pretty serendipitous (I’m very much in love with Shakespeare and his works). After getting some change from a small casino and running around the theatre district to a Russian man’s motel to get directions, we found the proper bus stop. Safestay was all pink and orange and bright colors with a lot of surrealist/futuristic vibes going on. Kind of like a 22nd century candy shop. We shared a room with two bunk beds; our neighbors were two Germans, brother and sister.

We wanted to have a quick drink at a pub after our crazy day/night, so we Yelped a nice, local pub called Prince of Wales. It was really homey, very British, with groups of men speaking with a Cockney accent around us. We both got dark beers and the barkeep was so sweet to us: before we left, he made sure we knew where we were going. In France, it is difficult to find that kind of genuine, nice service in a bar, restaurant, what have you, and Zach and I almost cried because no one had been that familiar with us at a public establishment since we left the states.

The next day, Saturday, we got up bright and early and got a day pass to ride the tube. I was really happily surprised/shocked by how comfy, warm, and homey the seats were on the Tube… is this a thing? On any other underground transportation I’ve taken, the seats have always been small and mostly blocks of plastic/wood. It just made everything feel more comfortable, really.

We made a quick stop at 441B Baker Street and took a picture in front of Sherlock’s apartment and the bar he frequented. The English lit nerd in me was extremely pleased.

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Then, we headed to the famous London Top Shop, where we perused for a little over an hour. Zach got himself some accessories and clothing, while I got myself a 15 pound dress from a connected store/featured clothing line, Miss Selfridge. I think this is possibly one of the most lovely dresses I’ve ever owned. Take a look:

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We walked to SoHo to find a Lebanese restaurant I found online before we arrived in the city, called Yalla Yalla (Let’s Go in Arabic). We had to wait a while to get inside, but the food was well worth it. The mezzas and variety of flavors made the entire meal really interesting and so delicious  We found ourselves a stinky, wonderful London telephone booth to take a picture in, then headed to SoHo Square Garden, which was surrounded by beautiful and various architectures from different centuries. The Irish Catholic Church was also quite beautiful, but because we were there just before St. Patrick’s day, the idols were all covered up. Zach told me that St. Patrick himself wasn’t actually Irish, but British, and many Irish folk didn’t know that.

Old Compton Street was our next stop, meaning sex shops, drag bars, and gay clubs. When I come back to London, I would love to see how this place looks/lives at night.

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We hopped back on the tube to get to Brick Lane, a really interesting, historical street. It was occupied by different cultures/ethnicities over the centuries, and at the moment, it’s Little India. Indian markets, grocery stores, and restaurants make up the entire street. Zach and I also ducked into some alley ways to capture the awesome graffiti and street art that covers the walls.

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Off of Brick Lane, we found a street of vintage/resale shops and upscale pop-up boutiques… At this point, we were getting quite hungry, and instead of heading back over to the Indian restaurants, we stumbled upon an apparently very well-known, famous Fish and Chips restaurant, Poppies. When in London, you must have Fish and Chips, and because it was getting particularly cold, it sounded like an excellent meal.

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After dinner, we headed over to Camden for the Camden Pub Crawl. We actually ended up not going on the pub crawl because they were “crawling” through two pubs and then going to a night club, which wasn’t quite the plan we had in mind. So, we made our own Camden pub crawl!

1. We started at Belushi’s where we didn’t stay for long, because the bar started playing T Swift. The beer and space was good, however.
2. At the Wheelbarrow, Zach and I bought each other some excellent ales, saw an amazing, amazing Brit Indie Rock band for free, and met some nice Irish girls who gave us recommendations on where to go next.
3. We missed last call at The End of the World Bar. Not the end of the world because…
4. The Camden Eye was probably the funniest part of the night. Not only was it our last stop on our pub crawl (About 6 pints in per person at this point by midnight), but we each had another pint, then watched as a very happy, curly haired, bell-bottom-pants wearing hippy guy danced around the whole bar, inviting us to dance with him. He proceeded to dance with me, then pick me up, then lead me across the entire bar. After he dropped me back off where we started dancing, he proceeded to do the same with Zach. The music was excellent: a mix of funky tunes, 80s, rock, just really upbeat catchy music. Then, all of a sudden at about 1 am, the owner marched into the center of the bar and turned off the DJ’s music and almost broke his actual laptop. We witnessed our first fight in London, in which we promptly left the bar and tried to find a bus to get home.

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This part of the story gets hazy as we barely knew the bus system and literally hopped on from bus to bus, eventually making our way back to the Elephant and Castle bus stop.

Sunday, the next morning. Two extremely hungover travelers. Zach was a darling (and still is, of course), and went out to get us coffee and pastries while I was in the shower. We had bread pudding, polenta corn bread, muffins and filtered coffee. The coffee was a necessity to stay awake, but the pastries were actually quite good. Especially the polenta corn bread. We quickly ate then headed over to the Victoria and Albert Museum for the David Bowie exhibit. It was, unfortunately, sold out, but we still managed to see two really excellent exhibitions: one was a photography exhibition on the political/cultural/etc. state of the Middle East, and the other was a very detailed, well done Fashion History exhibit.

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Next stop was King’s Cross Station, for (drumroll please) Platform 9 3/4, because I am a forever Potterhead.

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Outside of King’s Cross Station we found a nice Indian resto called Tamarind, where I had some of the best chicken curry in my life. No surprise that I found it in London.

Now was time for what I called on our printed Google Maps sheets, “The Royal Tour.” We went from Parliament, to Big Ben, to Westminster Abbey, then New Scotland Yard, then Buckingham Palace, and finally ended at Hyde Park.

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On our way to a specific bar with live jazz music (Hugo’s), we stopped by McDonald’s because they were offering – wait for it – A CADBURY EGG MCFLURRY. Only in the UK. Needless to say, Zach and I were very happy 5-year-olds.

Hugo’s was closed, but, we stumbled upon a really awesome, trendy bar called Alice. It had some of the best decoration and ambiance I’ve ever seen, as well as delicious, local beers. Each beer had a listed proximity, showing how close it was made to the bar itself. I got Alice’s house beer and was extremely pleased.

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Monday morning, I was extremely bummed about leaving. I told Zach a few weeks later that I almost didn’t get on the bus with him because I liked London so much. To soothe myself, I got myself a Cornish pasty and an apple turnover for the road. On the bus ride back, we talked philosophy and life and books with a boy from
Cambridge.

Without doubt, I must have been a closet anglophile my entire life, and had only come to realize it the moment we stepped off the bus into Paris. Some day, some how, I will have to visit the rest of the UK and Ireland and live in London, even just for a little while. I have never felt so in love or so at ease/at home with a place
before.

In my next post, which I wil get out before the end of this week, I’m going to tell you about my travels to Marseille, Loire valley, and Bretagne/Normandy Part 2!  In the following weeks, I will be visiting Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, Kiev, and Nantes!

Ciao for now,

Dani

P.S. Adding pictures soon!

Just exactly as one pleases…

“…the great merit of the place is that one can arrange one’s life here exactly as one pleases…there are facilities for every kind of habit and taste, and everything is accepted and understood.”  Henry James, in a letter to a friend (1876)

 

It has been quite a long time since I posted last! Almost two weeks, and what a busy two weeks it has been…

Aside from adventuring through Paris, eating delicious food (frog legs, check; escargot, check), museums and national monuments galore, and meeting really awesome people in my lectures, I visited La Rochelle with a good friend of mine from Pitt 2 weekends ago, and this past weekend went to Normandy (Omaha Beach, Caen, Mont St. Michel) with my study abroad program. In my next post, I’ll go into full detail about what made these trips wonderful.

In this post, I’d like to talk about overcoming the difficulties of settling into a new city on your own, as well as making international/new acquaintances and friends.

I’m living in an apartment with three other girls. An apartment of four people, especially a bedroom with four people sleeping in it, is very difficult, so constant communication and understanding is a must. Luckily my roommates and I are extremely respectful and understanding of one another, so we get along very well. Of course challenges have been faced in such a small living space, but it is expected: a small Parisian apartment isn’t fit for 4 people, at least not in the long run. It’s certainly an experience; after this, I feel like each of us will quickly adapt into any living situation we may encounter in the future.

In France, and especially in Paris, their eco friendly manner translates over into green energy and saving the planet. That means: five minute showers, turning off water in between hair washing/body washing, miniscule loads of laundry, air drying clothes and linens, airing out the apartment every day for 20 minutes, and, of course, checking to make sure the heat/lights are all off when leaving the apartment or going to sleep. It’s hard to get used to but I think I’m finally at the point where it doesn’t bother me that much anymore. Granted, I will never get used to the shower situation; one of my favorite things in the world is a long, hot shower, and that just isn’t possible when living in this apartment.

Budgeting and spending, already difficult in the states, seems to be 10x more difficult in Paris. Everything is expensive, unless you find a gem of a boulangerie/cafe that sells cheap foods, as well as specific grocery stores that have great deals on produce, proteins, carbs, etc. Getting to know how to budget and where/when to get food is part of getting to know Paris. If I wasn’t on such a strict budget (100 euros a week, for everything), I would be seeing and discovering a lot less of Paris. My friends here have fondly told me that I have a “radar” for finding the best, cheapest resto/cafe in the area. Must be the (Jewish) shnoz.

A transition…

Possibly the most challenging–but also the most rewarding–part of studying abroad is the people. You meet new folks every day. The first few days, it’s kids from your program. Then, once classes pick up, it’s people ranging from age 18 to 40, from countries all over the world. You meet the friends of friends in those classes. You start up conversations with Parisians/non Parisians in cafes, in the bars, in passing. Sometimes, you’ll strike up conversation with a guy and he’ll take it as a come-on and be extremely forward. Sometimes, you’ll meet another awesome companion to go with you to museums and cafes and parks and wineries.

There will be friends who want to go with you to all the art/history/culture museums, and those who won’t. There will be friends who want to go with you to bars and clubs, and those who won’t. There will be friends who walk you home, friends who you watch movies with, friends who you make dinner with, friends who you do the craziest, most random stuff with.

This is what I’ve discovered, what I’ve learned. Sometimes it gets lonely, but I’m honestly never alone. With so many good friends here, and so many friends/family at home and just a skype call away, it’s comforting.

Sometimes, however, the idea of temporary and the idea of permanence bog down on me. I am meeting and spending time with wonderful people every day; different friend groups, different backgrounds. But after these four months, how many of them will I see again? It’s difficult and also exhilarating to invest into relationships that may have an expiration date: June 1. At the same time, they may never expire; having friends all over the world gives me a reason to journey out to them. I can stay with them and see a new place from an inhabitant’s eyes.

This trip also has made me appreciate solitude. Though I naturally prefer to be around people, I’ve found a joy in heading to a boulangerie on my own and getting a croissant aux amandes avec chocolat (almond croissant with chocolate); going to museums and monuments and being able to walk through it all at my own pace; walking around the city in the afternoon; light window shopping and grocery shopping in the nights. There is a profound happiness that one can only discover by being on their own. When I have these experiences on my own, I feel like I feel them more, as I’m not concentrating my energy on spending time with someone else.

With this newfound appreciation, I will end on this note: I booked a weekend trip to Marseilles yesterday. I will be travelling alone (!) and meeting new friends, new faces at the hostel. I cannot be more excited.

Ciao, mes amis!

Dani Levsky

❝The limits of my language are the limits of my world.❞ ‒ Ludwig Wittgenstein

So I thought it just about time to discuss my actual academic situation within Paris. I’ve been pretty vague and non-specific about my program within the Sorbonne, so I’ll go into details.

The program I’m doing with La Sorbonne is called Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, an international student program with classes entirely and solely in French. Wikipedia does an excellent job of explaining what this program entitles:

French language classes (grammar, conjugation, spelling, vocabulary, approach to literary texts, written and oral expression), with each class 2 hours, per day every day for the semester;
phonetics with language laboratory (expression, pronunciation and understanding exercises) 1 hour per week day, scheduled every other week;
French civilisation taught in lectures or in small groups, with each lecture 2 hours long, once per week
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cours_de_Civilisation_Fran%C3%A7aise_de_la_Sorbonne)

The levels one can be placed into for language/phonetics classes are as follows: Beginning, Elementary, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Advanced, and Superior. I’ve been taking 8 years of French, but to be frank, there’s been enough gaps in my studies and “getting by” in my learning of French grammar. So, I was placed into the Intermediate 1 level. Although at first I thought it was far too easy and unchallenging for me, I realized a few things over the course of 3 or so classes:

1. I really needed a grammar review! For the first few weeks, I knew I would cruise by, but the learning and relearning of basic/advanced grammar rules is how one solidifies their knowledge of  a language. I am here to truly learn and cultivate my French speaking skills. I’m sure I could fare just as well in Int 2 and even Advanced, and many of the people in my program have moved up, but I feel as if I am at an advantage. This essential grammar review will remove common grammar errors in both my French writing and speaking. That’s truly what I need from this class.
2. My professor is honestly wonderful: so sweet, explains everything in great precision and detail, and is friendly with everyone in the class. On top of that, the class itself is such a great group of people. We all get along superbly well (this never happens) and I’ve met quite a few wonderful people that I’ve been spending time with outside of class.
3. I’m taking 4 lectures in addition to my 2 hours of language daily and 1 hour of phonetics (that totals up to 8 hours of lectures per week), so maybe I don’t need to kill myself with even more work.
4. Now, if I were to move up, I would be more challenged, yes, but I also might end up with a horrible teacher and/or classmates I couldn’t connect with. I would also increase my workload by 50%. Did I really need those kinds of stressors during my study abroad experience?
5. I’m a sophomore in undergrad. I have plenty of time for advanced French classes.

So, after mentally arguing with myself for another class, I decided to stay in that level. And I’m glad I did! We’ve had two tests thus far that have gone really well for me. I’ve also learned some essential nuances in common elements of grammar I would have never known, if not for the class and especially my professor.

Phonetics is very interesting. I’m in a class with all Americans (they base your phonetics classes off your accent and country of origin). It’s a very different way of thinking and I enjoy it quite a bit. For the first half hour of each class, we’re in a phonetics lab with a headset on, repeating after what the professor says and listening to ourselves pronounce french words/phrases. She’ll correct us from time to time by listening in on our recordings. The second half of the class is within the classroom, where we learn about the specific terminology and reasoning behind French pronunciation. I really wish I had a class like this when I first began taking French, because learning the rules of pronunciation, especially in French, has truly helped my accent and French speaking skills.

The French civilisation lecture courses I’ve chosen are (translated into English):

1. French cinema, literature, and society
2. History of French art
3. Poetry and song
4. Paris (a history)

I won’t get into detail about each and every aspect of these classes, but I will tell you about the professors and class structure itself.

All my professors, and this is especially true for my History of French art and Paris professors, are brilliant. They’re the kind of professors you dream up when you’re in high school, anxious to go to college to have your mind molded by 60-something men and women who have lived, learned, and experienced their field to the point of ingenuity. Don’t get me wrong, I have had the most inspiring and amazing professors at Pitt, too, and maybe this is the rose-colored-glasses/I’m-in-Paris! syndrome talking, but I am so extremely pleased and in awe of the professors of my classes for this semester. I know I’m going to learn so much. Each professor hands out pages of notes at the beginning of each class and makes references to the page throughout the 2-hour lecture, where they discuss different topics, show slides for reference, play music/movies, and make relevant jokes throughout the course of the class.

To gauge the attention of 100-something students in a lecture hall for 2 hours is quite the task, but my professors do it with style. And elegance. One of my professors wore a cravate – need I go on?

Now, as I mentioned before, every class in taught in French and only in French, so after two lectures, side by side, I am mentally exhausted. I wholeheartedly understand everything being told to us in class, but I do have to concentrate and focus with every bit of my attention to make sure I am understanding what the professors are trying to tell me.

Luckily, they do recognize that they are teaching international students from all points of the world, so they often stop and explain a word they know we will not recognize – and they explain in French! This is marvelous, and it’s truly done wonders for my speaking skills. I was extremely guilty of asking “Comment dit-on blahblah en français?” or “Blahblah, c’est quoi en français?” instead of trying to explain the word I meant. This made it far too easy for me to rely on my teacher or classmates to simply tell me the word, just so I could forget it five seconds later. Now, I am forced (and thank goodness I am) to explain what word I’m trying to iterate. It’s difficult but so, so good for my language learning.

As for grades: In my language class, we have one test per week, and at the end of the term all these weekly test grades add up to 50%. We also have a final exam in my language class, as well as class participation/grammar/vocabulary as part of our grade. I’m forgetting the specific test schedule for phonetics, but we have several tests throughout the term (we have our first on March 12), as well as a final oral exam. For these classes, we can track our grades throughout the semester. For lectures, it works slightly differently. We sit in through approximately 10-12 lectures, and at the end of the term, we take a test. That’s that: the final grade we have determines our grade in the class. A slightly intimidating thought, but when I remember that all these classes only count for transfer credit, I feel slightly more relieved.

Oh! I’m also auditing a class on the history of Versailles on Fridays. But, since I’m going to be travelling many weekends and leaving around 13h00 (I’m finally on European time!), I’m missing more lectures than I’d like to say. So, I will attend when I am in town for the weekend and sit in and enjoy myself.

I must run to class. More posts coming soon on:

1. Study abroad probs ft. Danielle Levsky
2. Balancing talking to people from home and talking to people in Paris
3. Meeting Parisians/people from other countries and trying to speak in French plupart de temps

Ciao!

-Danielle Levsky

Rue de Graffiti – Streets of Paris Graffiti Blog!

Rue de Graffiti – Streets of Paris Graffiti Blog!

I did it. It happened. Sorry not sorry. #GRAFFITIBLOG!

A short blog post!

There is truly nothing better than a night filled with cheese, baguettes, wine, and good  friends.

Bon soir, my dears.

-Danielle

Sous le ciel de Paris

I’m sitting in my apartment doing what I believe are some of the most cliche study abroad/Parisian visitor things to do: sauteeing mushrooms and boiling potatoes to later add on Camembert on them for dinner, listening to a French Accordion Music playlist on youtube, and researching flights/train rides for weekend visits to other European locations.

But hear me now: I am a walking (sitting?) cliche and I am proud!

I realized this recently. Earlier in the day, I was rushing to and from metro to get to my Sorbonne classes and to buy a carte jeune for traveling on the SNCF trains. I hung about the train station for another 30 or so minutes, eating my packed lunch and perusing through Mango. Finally, I got home, checked some emails, called some people back home, and by the time I started pulling out my cooking supplies  my roommates had left the apartment. I was alone, it was peaceful. It happened when I sprinkled some herbes de provence on my olive oil smothered mushrooms. An instrumental-accordion version of La Vie en Rose played in the background.

“Wow,” I thought to myself, “I’m going to be living in Paris for four months.”

This realization never ceases to amaze me. This isn’t the first time it’s happened. The first time was just three days after my arrival, and my reaction to the thought occurred in this order: elation, nausea, sobbing, anger, sadness, elation again, nervousness. I basically turned into a bipolar pregnant woman for the first five days of studying abroad. Luckily, the worrying and weirdness subsided when I found some good friends to be around within my program and within my classes.

This realization was different: it was an exhilarating but calming feeling, shocking but joyous. I’m having this wonderful experience for the next four months, and, thanks to the generosity of my amazing parents, not just in Paris. I get to travel around Europe with friends and family while being a temporary resident in Paris and having a Sorbonne student ID. This entire journey, I just know, is going to be part cliche but part enlightening. What better way to grow up and truly become independent by living/travelling on your own in a foreign country?

The cliche I’ve created for myself that I’m most fond of occurs just before my classes. I chose the time frame 8 am – 10 am for my morning language class. At first, getting up at 6:30 am to be out the door by 7:25 am seemed like a terrible mistake. But, in the past few days, I’ve come around. I enjoy it so much now. Maybe it’s drinking my black coffee while looking outside my kitchen window and staring at the vine-crawling apartment complex, watching other French families get ready for work. Or maybe it’s leaving my apartment to the cerulean sky, watching the town wake up. I steal glances at our closest chocolaterie as the sweet lady inside prepares her pastries and baked goods in the dark. Perhaps it’s riding the metro, all the smelly parts aside, because there’s plenty of space for everyone and the morning crowd is quiet. I, and about 30% of the other metro riders, read as we travel to work and/or school.

But really, I know what it is. Coming out of the metro, approaching Montparnasse, the sky lights up before me. I walk down the street and stare at the tree park that divides the street into two. Today, it was lightly snowing. Paris is so pretty when it snows.

There are good and bad parts to living in Paris. I can complain all day like a true parisienne about the weather, the people, the metro, the streets, the prices, and I probably do, but my eyes are beaming and my mouth  is sprawled into a big smile when I’m sputtering those hot words. In Paris, the good parts are really, truly good.

My potatoes are boiling! A-bientot.

– Danielle

I made dinner for my friend and myself! Baguette with butter and salami; greens salad with olive oil, lemon; potatoes and mushroom mix; Remy champagne. I’m going to make an excellent housewife someday when I can’t find a job as a journalist/English professor. *quiet sobs*

These are a few of my favorite things

As of now, these have been my 3 favorite, personal moments in this city.

1. Parisian Streets at Night
As I mentioned in my last post, one of my good friends who is living in another city in France came to visit me for the weekend. Friday night, we made a 20-30 minute trek back to my apartment and his bnb weekend stay. As we walked back, zig zagging through the narrow streets and hopping over puddles that were evidently not water, we talked French politics, French culture, and how Paris itself is a double edged sword. A few times some drunken passerbys yelled to us and a few boys harassed us for cigarettes but we walked on. I realized in that walk that even though the harassers were annoying and the puddles were really disgusting, I still felt so happy and so thrilled to be walking down the streets of Paris when the entire city seemed to be sleeping. When it was just my friend and I, it was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful, with the whites of buildings and the elaborate and elegant buildings greeting us every step of the way home.

2. Sitting at a cafe and reading for hours
I got out of my language class at 10 am this morning searching for a cafe to read in. One of the things on my Bucket List was to sit in a cafe, order a coffee, and just read for hours. I sort of accomplished that today. So far, we’ve only had our language classes. Starting Friday, I will have my phonetics class 1 hour per weekday, every other week, and four lectures that meet once a week. I also think I might be auditing a class on the history of Versailles, but more on that later. Anyway, the cafe with the cheapest coffee in the area (2,30 I believe) was ironically named Odessa Cafe. I walked inside on this chilly morning, ordered a cafe noisette, and proceeded to read Lolita* until 12:30 pm. Servers, customers, music, and life continued outside my little book world. I remember thinking to myself that though I was reading a book in English, I was completely immersed by Parisiennes speaking, la musique parisienne, et la culture parisienne. A lot better than a Dove moment, this was my little Parisian moment.

* You may ask why Lolita, of all books to start reading in Paris? Well, funny enough, parts of Lolita are set in Paris. In addition, my boyfriend and I are super nerdy sometimes (all the time) and we’re reading this book together then discussing it later. I know the gist of this story, but it’s just interesting to read such a controversial, well-written, and shocking book with your love and see their perspective on it.

3. Meeting Paris’ Inhabitants
I made it a mission of mine before I left to study abroad to meet foreigners–not necessarily Parisians though that’d be nice–while I studied abroad. I’ve actually had a lot of success with this. I started off by meeting a Lithuanian guy who noticed a Russian tint on my French speaking accent (I had no idea I had one lol) and we got along really well. Then, with my friend Sofia whom I met in my language class, I spoke and caught on with a French Canadian man who led us to the FreeMobile boutique shop when we were hopelessly lost in the rain. Next, we talked to a Parisian businessman in a cafe in front of Notre Dame. We switched between speaking in French and English and got some interesting views on his politics. When her and I split ways, I went to meet my friend and had to wait outside for her to come down from her apartment. I gathered up the hutzpa to start up conversation with a French woman who was smoking a cigarette by a doorway. Her and I briefly spoke in French to one another; I learned that she was a doctor in Paris and had just gotten her license. It was pretty exciting to know that I was able to maintain a conversation with her. At my Phonetics placement exam I talked with a guy from Georgia about Russia, growing up in Georgia, etc. But, my favorite moment in meeting international kids was when Zach, Sofia, and I went to an art gallery opening exhibition, where we met a bunch of students (one from Czech, one from China, one from Netherlands) and talked to them all in French. There was this amazing point in the conversation where I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, I’m speaking in French. And I just keep going. And I know everything that everyone is saying. And I get it. And they understand me, and I can explain myself.” It was a glorious moment, to realize that only a few years ago I was staring blankly into my high school French teacher’s eyes when she spoke at me.

Next posts will cover these subjects:

1. Study abroad probs ft. Danielle Levsky
2. Classes at La Sorbonne – History of La Sorbonne – Why I’m going to be x10000 thankful for the rest of my life for even being a part of a Sorbonne program
3. Balancing talking to people from home and talking to people in Paris

-Danielle

Less what-I’m-doing, more what-I’m-thinking

So I didn’t want to make this blog completely about all the things I’m doing in Paris. Every study abroad student/visitor/temporary resident goes to all the sites, visits the highest rated and cheapest cafes, bistros, and restos, and talks about how wine is cheaper than water.

These are all valid and wonderful subjects to discuss, but I want to make this a little more personable. I want to make this blog an account of what Paris has been like for me and what it will continue to show me as I live here.

Plus, there’s a million thoughts that go through my head every day I’m here. I say I’m used to the culture, and in a way, I am used to European culture, but a lot of things are different.

Studying abroad, for my first and foremost example, is a very different life experience. At times I feel like I digress to a Descartian argument of my life being a dream, and in a way, while I’m here, I feel that. The experience itself is something I’ll probably never have the chance to do again, and even if I do, it won’t feel the same. I’m being pulled out of my comfort zone (my family and home in Chicago, my friends and boyfriend and second home in Pittsburgh) and thrown into this dream-like reality where each person around me speaks French, wears a lot of chic and expensive clothes but doesn’t use makeup or shampoo, eats gluten all day, screams at each passerby, and pisses on every street corner. (People would say that I may or may not be describing NYC sans the parler du francais, but roll with me here.)

It’s interesting calling Paris my home for four months. Ever since I made that Europe trip with my parents before I was even a preteen, then made that fatal choice in sixth grade to start taking French, both my parents and I knew that it would lead to this.

So yes, I’m here. It’s wonderful in a lot of ways and also not-so-wonderful in other ways. But whenever I get home sick, or lose my sense of comfort or stability, I usher myself outside my apartment and just look up.

All I have to do is look up at the tops of the buildings, decorated and ornate and breathtakingly beautiful each and every time I look. No matter how sleepless and restless I feel, I always this angle of the town, I will always have my Paris.

-Danielle

P.S.

I will quickly sum up what I did do this week so you know I’m not a hermit, but will continue onto more personal and thought-provoking accounts in the post I will make next:

• Centre Pompidou with a few girls from my program, specifically saw the awesome Dali Exhibit. Dali’s museum in Figures (sp?), which I had the pleasure of visiting the summer before my freshman year, obviously has more of his work, but Dali is my favorite artist and I think that the Pompidou did an excellent job pulling out his more notorious and exquisite works to put on display.
• I finally figured out my phone situation and sorted things out with FreeMobile. The problem, initally, was that I gave them the incorrect address to send my SIM card to and I didn’t know how to switch the address to the correct one. Turns out all I had to do was go to the boutique in Paris and ask for them to mail me a new SIM, free of charge.
• Went out several times with friends I made in the program, had visiting, or met in my language class. I quickly learned, as most people do, that it is better to buy liquor/wine before you go out to the bars so you don’t end up spending a ridiculous sum of money on three cocktails.
• I took the Paris night bus for the first time! It was shady (Learned the French word for shady: luche) but we made it to a 20 minute walk from my apartment. Of course, on the way, a kid tried to smoke on the bus to which the bus driver promptly tried to throw him off, then then some drunk girl insulted the bus driver and he called the police on her across the street… Bienvenue a Paris.
• I was able to hit the post-Christmas sales (soldes) on rue de la Commerce and found some lovely pieces at Zara and Promod: my two favorite stores of all time… and they are located specifically and only in Europe. Before you say anything, Zara’s American line is nowhere near as nice and not the same. #firstworldproblems
• I went to a Wed/Sun morning market. There, I had the option to purchase just about anything I needed but quickly discovered that buying fruits and vegetables at the market was ten times cheaper than getting them at the store (unless Franprix is having a sale). So I did that. It was exhilirating and fun, and really, really reminded me of the Jewish market outside the old city in Jerusalem. I didn’t haggle but I could have, and probably will in the future.
• Found out our washing machine was a piece-o-shit and have quickly learned how to use the washer and dryer. The bad thing? Using both the washer and dryer for approximately two loads of stuff costs about 7 euro. Yikes.
• I keep finding the best little cafes with seating areas and cheap/delicious products and making mental notes (also notes on my smartphone), so I know where to go when I need to study, read, or just get away. Which will be quite often.
• My friend, Zach, who is doing a teaching program a few hours ago, came to visit me for the weekend. To sum up our list of events/places and elaborate later: meh Vietnamese food because all the cheap restos were closed, bars named The Kremlin and Pigalle Country Club (both were an experience), the Red Light District (need I say more?), walking around Parisian streets at night, running around Bastille to find an art opening, meeting a bunch of international students studying in Paris, walking to the top of Montmartre to drink wine and eat baguette, cheese, and salami with the Sacre Coeur behind us and Paris at night in front of us, delicious dinner at 11 pm, drinking wine in front of Les Invalides.

Paris Bucket List

I decided to do the cheesy thing and make a list of some probable, some improbable things I want to do while in Paris. Please help me add to it if you have any more ideas. Better yet, if you’re in Paris, join me in doing them!

• Sit on the lawn of Champ de Mars in the shadow of the Eiffel Towerand drink wine/have a picnic
• Drink wine at every street corner in Paris
• Basically most of these bullet points will involve drinking wine – No shame!
• Sit in the cafes/restos where Voltaire, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Descartes, Sartre, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Van Gogh, etc. wined and dined in
• Start the day off at a cafe with a good book and a notebook for writing, and proceed to drink the same cup of coffee for 6 hours
• Hit up every museum in Paris
• Actually see everything in the Louvre
• Ride a bicycle in a striped black and white shirt, with a beret, with a baguette under my arm
• Marry a mime
• Eat really good food and drink really good wine and stumble up to Montmatre while you’re legally drunk and just look out at your kingdom and be like “I AM SPARTA” – thanks to Zach Adams for this wonderful suggestion
• Sit down on one of the benches at the Jardin des Tuileries and enjoy the sun while I read a book under the shade of a tree
• Sit on the beach (?) near Voie Georges Pompidou
• Actually have coffee at Les Deux Magots – need I say more?
• Sit in front of Tour Eiffel as it lights up and sparkles
• Enjoy at picnic on the banks of Canal Saint Martin in the 10th arrondissement among the Parisians.
• L/Inconnu – Come here after dark to hang with the Parisian hipsters
• Add a Love Lock on the Pont de l’Archeveche, facing Notre Dame
• A walk around Ile Saint-Louis

 

My next post(s) will cover topics of

• A Russian in Paris: Searching for Mah Peeps
• Homesickness: my personal experience
• Crashing on my own couch
• Classes I have and want to/will take at La Sorbonne
• Staying in contact with people overseas… but not too much!
• Making friends in Paris 101: Man up and talk to those pissed off looking Frenchies
• Events/places I adventured through this week

 

It’s the damp chestnut trees. – Bonjour, Paris!

“This is what you do on your very first day in Paris. You get yourself, not a drizzle, but some honest-to-goodness rain, and you find yourself someone really nice and drive her through the Bois de Boulogne in a taxi. The rain’s very important. That’s when Paris smells its sweetest. – It’s the damp chestnut trees.”

– Audrey Hepbrun in “Sabrina”

So, finally, after much packing and thinking and planning and worrying, I am in Paris. My mom packed me kotleti, Russian meat patties (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAZn9myK2d2rbEcAHKtXgZ2LFfvZZN-9cBUkckBbZmzWForwGb), sliced Kosher dill pickles, green onion, baby tomatoes, and Russian chocolates for the road. Airplane food was bad as expected so I had a delicious Russian meal to munch on. On the flight there, I didn’t sleep or drink wine like I really wanted to, but instead studied relentlessly for our Wednesday Sorbonne placement test.

The first few days were rough in a lot of ways. I couldn’t believe I was actually IN Paris about to be living IN Paris for several months.  After getting lost on finding the program guide/people in the airport (the umbers of the terminals had been switched just days before), I found them feeling slightly nerve-wracked and sweaty. I was super excited upon meeting people at the airport — also extremely sleep deprived and therefore overexcited. I was also very nervous to meet and befriend people, although I never really have had trouble in befriending people before. I figured many were just as nervous/anxious as I was to adjust to living in a new environment with new people for several months so I let that calm me.

I have three roommates living with me in a small apartment in the 15th. Our apartment is nice, actually. We have a fairly large kitchen, a little den/guest room area with a computer, desk, and a phone where we can make free US calls (more on how I STILL don’t have an international phone later), a bathroom with a tiny water heater, shower, toilet that frequently does not flush, and a tiny laundry machine, and finally, a bedroom with low ceilings with our four beds, dressers, and a desk. The living space is nice and the neighborhood is very safe and absolutely adorable. By us, there’s a bank, a Laundromat, several grocery/department stores, boulangeries (bakeries), even a chocolaterie (if you can’t guess what this is you don’t deserve to know =P). Our metro is only a two minute walk away.

Our first meal was excellente, at Café de la Tour Eiffel. I had l’escargot, la soupe à l’oignon gratinee (French onion soup yessss), and un café (which is coincidentally not a coffee but an espresso. If you want a regular coffee, order un café americain).

First Parisian meal: French onion soup, escargot, and an espresso!

Courtyard right outside our apartment

Now excursions/planned events. For the first week, our program planned a few things for us in our orientation. The first two days they explained some program requirements/rules/useful information. The first day (Tuesday), we had time to grab lunch in between orientation times, and one of my roommates and I diverged from a big group to go check out the Notre Dame. So disclaimer, I traveled to Paris before when I was a kid (I think 9? 11 at most?) and it was magical and wonderful and so exciting. It still is, sure, but I’m experiencing it as an almost-20-year old and going about it on my own for four months. So seeing the Notre Dame again was like remembering a dream; it was just as beautiful and it was pretty awesome to be able to understand everything that was written on the plaques within.

Moi in front of Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Then, we went to go have lunch at Café Panis near Notre Dame. I ordered my first croque monsieur and a double espresso to beat off the jet lag.

un cafe, s’il vous plait

Croque Monsieur

For the first few weeks, you’re going to be seeing a lot of pictures here of food so sorry about that.

After the second part of orientation, a small group of us went to Champs-Élysées. Some people went to do some shopping, but another student and I walked up and down the famed street towards l’Arc de Triomphe.

The evening ended with some grocery shopping at Monoprix, a lot of jet lag, and skyping with/missing my boyfriend, friends, and family from home.

The second orientation day we took our placement test for the Sorbonne. I’ll be honest, it was a bit brutal. Not because the test was particularly hard or because the oral test was difficult, but because the European school system truly does expect much more out of you than the American school system. It felt very independent and cold, and more difficult in the sense that you were entirely on your own and had a really short time constraint to prove to the test-givers that you knew your shit. No hand holding, practice tests, or leeway. Probably the best way to learn a language but also really difficult for someone still adjusting to life in Paris for four months. C’est la vie.

La Sorbonne

That evening included a lot of bread, butter, nutella, a short conversation with a cute old French man about washing machines, and Skype calls. For all the future study abroders reading this, it’s normal. I’m unique in the sense that I’m used to eating and living European so I don’t really miss French fries or tacos or cereal, but I miss my people. I’ve heard from a lot of past study abroad students and current ones that Skypying friends, family, and loved ones frequently in the beginning happens a lot. You miss home and people from home. I know I do and will, but you just need to give yourself time to adjust and think positively/happily about all the new experiences you’re about to have.

The roommates and I cooling off with some wine, bread, and cheese. Parfait!

The next day, we walked through Montmartre and stumbled upon some pretty famous and beautiful locations:

Moulin Rouge

Café des 2 Moulins – Amelie’s Cafe

Le Moulin de La Galette

where monet, manet, picasso, van gogh wined, dined, and discussed their ideas.

About 15 of us went together as a huge group, and though it was fun, I’ll tell you now that it’s hard to stick together and talk/interact with everyone in such a large group. Personally, I prefer going out with a minimum two, maximum six people so you can stay together and interact with everyone. Also it’s easier to blend in with the natives because they tend not to travel in packs in Paris, mostly groups of two, three, or four. It’s a common European culture thing to go in these small groups and meet up with other small groups later where everyone can mingle and possibly meet new friends.

After Montmartre, one of my roommates and I split off from the group to go to the l’Arc de Triomphe. We were able to get in for free and go up to the top for free (woo European student ID card discount!). It was absolutely incroyable (incredible) up top, with a view of all of Paris. Honestly, compared to the view on top of the Eiffel tower, this one is a bit closer to the ground so you can see things more easily.

Quick note for the money-savers/diet conscious people: I’ve mostly been eating baguettes, goat cheese, Brie, clementins, yogurt, salami, and jambon (ham) that I bought from the grocery store/boulangerie and carry around in a Tupperware container. I’ve been saving a lot of money that way and don’t get hungry as we go from place to place. It also helps my mission to lose some weight while in France because I’m constantly fueling my metabolism and eating smaller meals.

The next day, our program took us on an excursion to Versailles. I’ll allow the pictures to explain it all:

ISA Sorbonne program in front of Versailles!

Descartes and I are having a moment

Jasmine and I fainting on the steps; we clearly haven’t had our Afternoon High Tea yet

Jumping picture 1

Jumping picture #2

That night, as I mentioned earlier, we went to the 5^th arrondissement looking for bars and ended up going to the restaurant/bar l’Epoque – a quaint little haunt with cheap drink prices and a great atmosphere that’s coincidentally (and indeed, it was a coincidence) located in front of Hemingway’s old apartment.

Bar across the street from Hemingway’s old place

Today, we’re going thrifting and perhaps finding a neighborhood bar. Tomorrow, Carnavale de Paris! Classes start Thursday for us, so we’ve got a few more days under our belt to run around this city responsibility-free.

Dani-isms/French language slang I’m making up as I go along:

• Fou-fou – instead  of cray-cray
• L’Asianoix – when  my friends and I were not able to identify which Asian country a tourist in sweatpants was from
• L’eau de tap – because I’m too poor to spend money on bottled water and don’t know how to say ‘tap water’ in French
• Paris-ing – the official and medical terminology for the adverb related to exploring Paris

**will add in photos later – sorry mesdames et messiers*