Spring in Paris

Spring has arrived! How do we know this? Because it is forecasted to rain everyday for the next week. It is also slowly getting warmer, I've packed away my heavy winter coats and Parisians are venturing beyond wearing only black and gray. Flowers are beginning to bloom and the days are getting longer. My friends and I have begun having lunch in the Luxembourg gardens and Paris in general just seems to have come to life.

Taking advantage of our student passes and copious amounts of free time, I've been visiting all of the main museums/monuments. This past Wednesday we went as a class to the Opera Garnier which was unbelievable. On Thursday afternoon I went to the Musee Carnavalet which is a museum on the history of Paris. It's in a huge house in the Marais that used to be owned by Madame de Sevigne whose letters are the main record of life in the Marais in the 17th century. Then on Saturday I went to see Les Invalides which is the French military museum and Napoleon's tomb. Next on the list is Cafe Procope - the very first cafe in Paris and a favorite of Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Oscar Wilde.

As the weather continues to get nicer and as I love it here more and more I can't help but wonder if there is someway I can stay.

Vienna Waits for You

Last weekend I went to visit a good friend of mine from AU who is spending the spring semester in Vienna. I flew in Bratislava Friday evening, thinking until the day before that Bratislava was in Austria. Wrong, it's the capital of Slovakia. Then I took a bus from the airport in Bratislava to downtown Vienna. Stepping off the plane in Bratislava brought back a lot of memories of African airports - this was the first impression I had of Eastern Europe and it kind of surprised me the immediate difference one can see between the East and West.

In Vienna I played the complete tourist. Lauren and I went to the Hofburg Palace to see the library, we stepped inside Stephansdom, went to the summer residence of Maria Teresa, rode the famous ferris wheel, and explored an open air market. I can't decide though if my favorite part was the cafes or the opera. Cafes in Vienna are fabulous. Each is different with either an elegant, but inviting feel or a smoky, cluttered, and chaotic twist. What I loved the most is that no matter the setting the waiter always came out in a tuxedo to take our order. Alslo, in Vienna to make sure everyone who wants to sit has a seat they combine groups at tables. For example two girls are having coffee at a table for 4 and so the waiter adds another couple to the table. I really don't think that would go over too well in the US. My other favorite was the opera. Lauren and I stood in line for an hour to get standing room tickets at the Vienna Opera house. We saw the Flying Dutchman by Wagner and for so many reasons I was blown away.

Vienna was the perfect weekend away, but I am glad to be back in Paris where I don't feel completely foreign anymore.

Vienna's incredibly famous and old ferris wheel.

My last breakfast in Vienna at Cafe Central.

Schonbrunn Palace - the summer residence of Maria Teresa and the Hapsburgs

The Opera.

The royal library inside Hofburg Imperial Palace.
Lauren and I with Stephansdom in the background
Lauren and I with the Hofburg Imperial Palace in the background.
Bratislava.

Happiness is.... (Parisian style)

Happiness is...

Fresh baguette in the morning... and then again in the afternoon

Eating breakfast and listening to the radio with my host dad in our pjs.

My French professor wearing his purple trousers... again.

Coffee at Malongo with my girls

Getting lost with Claudia from our class tour of the Pantheon

Running along the Seine

Having someone ask you for directions - I look French at last!

Someone playing 'As Time Goes By' on a saxophone in the metro

Grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with my host brother, with the table fully set

Nutella crepes

Saying Les Champs-Elysees as often as you like in your best French accent

Free roses from the flower shop on the corner (I knew winking at that sales-boy would pay off)

Tea with madame after dinner

Seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkle its lights on the hour each night from my window

Simply being in Paris.

Melted Measuring Cups and Rum Flavored Desserts

My host parents returned last night after being on vacation for 12 days. That's right, they let me house sit all by myself for 12 days. No worries though, I was well taken care of. Before leaving my madame had cooked dinner for each night and my host brother and sister who live nearby stopped by occasionally. And when they returned everything was in order except for a plastic measuring cup my friend and I had managed to melt.

After being here for almost a month I can easily say that my French is getting better by the day. Conversation takes less thought and I am beginning to think in French when I am speaking instead of translating from English to French in my head. I am using expressions that only make sense in French and can now have conversations about politics, traveling, and French history. I also started phonetics this past week which is basically an hour of moaning French vowels into a headset. It surprisingly helps a lot though. I am still making humorous language mistakes such as today at Sunday dinner I said I like drinking rum in the desert instead of I like rum flavored desserts. I have also said at another dinner with my host parents that I have my mom's ex-boyfriend instead of saying I have my mom's eyes.

What's wonderful about being in Paris learning French is that it's more than just the language, it's the French culture and history as well. Living with a fairly traditional French family has taught me so many customs I would never have learned otherwise. For instance, proper French families set the table with the forks and spoons turned upside down. I asked my host sister about this and she said that centuries ago when silverware was actually silver the seal of the family was also put on the utensils. In England the seal was put on what we consider the right side up, but in France it was put on the other side and they always set the table with the seal facing up.

Life here has developed a comfortable rhythm and familiarity and as I was telling my real parents the other day, if I could find a way I might just stay here forever.