I’m Laura, the other half of this dynamic blogging duo. It's hard to believe that I've already been in France for more than two days!
The plane trip was... interesting. I managed to sit next to the most talkative woman on the plane. She had a copy of "50 Shades of Grey," in her hand, not a promising start. And she loved to over-share. Within the first 10 minutes I had seen every photo on her cell phone and heard all her complaints about the 21-year old daughter who won't go back to school.
I learned all about her visits to the zoo and the names of her dogs, but she waited a while to reveal that she was actually a pretty interesting person. In her early life, she had traveled all over Europe with a single mother who sold Arabian horses. Then she lived in France for the 20 years of her former marriage to a French airplane pilot. Sounds like the plotline of a wonderfully bad romance novel.
She then moved on to extensive and dramatic warnings about the dangers of seductive Frenchmen and pickpockets. Consequently, I was too terrified to take out my camera for my first hour of walking through the city in fear of being singled out as prey. For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with walking around Paris alone in the middle of the day as long as you are aware of your surroundings.
So, moving on. When the plane landed at Charles de Gaulle, it was snowing! I took a taxi from the airport to the home of my host family in Maisons-Alfort, just to the southeast of Paris. They have a direct metro line into the city. The Marne river runs through it and everything is in walking distance- just like a French town should be. There's a Veterinary school across the street from the apartment where I live that houses a museum of medical oddities. Something for a rainy day, I guess?
My host family is wonderful. The husband and wife are both professors in Paris. They have 5 children but only the youngest girl lives with them. She is 16 years old. I've really enjoyed getting to the family so far! I can tell that they are very funny, even if I don't always understand their jokes. The mother is an excellent cook and a big proponent of fresh ingredients. I even tried snails the other night and loved them! My mom tells me that it is unusual to see escargot served at home, but they were having company for dinner. What she always told me is true: They don't have a very strong flavor in themselves, so you mostly taste the sauce.
My host family has already shared up some interesting ideas about Americans. We have unhealthy eating habits (true), our cities are not as well-designed as French cities (mostly true), and most American families often do not raise their children right (debatable). The father has actually worked in the United States and knows our culture, so these aren't just blind stereotypes. It's interesting to hear their views, though, and to see the way that their family operates. They often tell me that they are atypical of French families because they are intellectuals and keep strange hours. I'm not sure if they are really so strange, but I guess that I'll find out when I compare notes with the other students in my program.
I touristed around Paris a bit yesterday afternoon. The most difficult part for me was just getting there. For starters, I have an issue with unlocking doors. I walked out and realized that I had forgotten my map in my room, but could not figure out the right way to jiggle the key to get back into the appartment. I eventually left without a map, impatient to see the city. The outside door was also tricky, and it took a good two minutes for me to figure out how to lift the latch- or, more accurately, to pull the latch.
And then, of course, came the metro. A worker at the metro stop had to explain the route to me 3 times before I could work up the courage to actually step on the train. After my ride, the route now seems embarrassingly obvious. I only need to make one simple change from line 8 to line 1, to reach the "'Hôtel de Ville" metro stop. I visited Notre Dame, then wandered the 4e arrondissement, watching street cleaners cart away all of the city's discarded Christmas trees. I also purchased a cell phone with a SIM card from Orange, a big service provider in France. It was freezing cold as it has been all week, but the sky was blue and I was able to take some very nice pictures.
So, what have I learned so far? Like princess Anastasia, I've discovered that Paris really does hold the key to your heart. Literally; it's probably lying somewhere on the murky riverbed of the Seine. Just look at all these love locks on the Pont de l'Archevêché:
In case you needed further convincing, there are also bakery windows like this:
Now I know that there is such a thing as "love at first sight." Because I haven't even bought a pastery... yet.
À bientôt,
Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment