The end of orientation

Today was the last day of orientation for me and classes begin on Monday. I had to give a ten minute presentation on Genetically Modified Foods today (sounds like fun?!?!?). It wasn't a big deal, just practice before classes start. Orientation consisted of two classes: methodologie, a course introducing the French university system, and French lessons. This is a picture of my methodologie class. The class was originally ten or twelve people, but people stopped coming after the first week. My classmates from left to right are from Singapore, Sweden, and China.
This is my French class. My classmates are from Brazil, New Zealand, Norway, Australia, US, and Canada.
On the last day of French class we had a cheese party in which each student brought in a different variety of French cheese. I brought in Comte which was really good, but my favorite was Cantal.
Today I went to Heaven. Seriously. I went with some friends from my French class to the "Salon d'Agriculture", it was somewhere between a country fair and a farmers market, but huge! People from around France bring their best wine, cheese, meats, and produce for people to sample and buy. It was in an enormous warehouse type building that went as far as the eye could see. There were two floors of venders that were arranged by the regions of France. Each booth was giving out multiple samples of their products, mostly hams, sausages, and cheeses. I probably tried around fifty different sausages. I actually made a whole meal out the samples, and we didn't even see half of the vendors. I was stuffed! Most of the vendors would just slice off a piece of their ham or cheese and hold out their knife for you to take the piece. I could go on and on about this....here is a pic of one of the sausage booths:

My Crib

I am happy to say that my apartment is working out great. Sure it's small, sure it's on the 6th floor without stairs, but I love it. I am the only one out of all of my friends and all of my classmates who can walk to school. While others wake up early to ride the metro, which often includes numerous transfers, I only need 10-15 minutes to walk to school. Also, I am within a few blocks of four or five metro stops, allowing me to easily hop on a number of lines within a few minutes. I live in the area where most of my friends eat and go out at night, so it has worked out well.
Paris is separated into 20 arrondisements or regions, I live in the 6th. This map shows my arrondisement, my apartment is in between the large green space, jardin du Luxembourg, and the small church just two blocks north of the park.

It is these two landmarks that I love the most about my area. I have already talked quite a bit about the jardin du Luxembourg, but I thought I would include a few more pictures (of the hundreds I have taken). In the background, you can see the Luxembourg Palace, built by Marie de Medicis in the early 1600's. This mansion is now the meeting place of the French Senate. This is the Medicis Fountain, my favorite spot in the park. I have already posted several views of St. Suplice Church (at least views from my balcony), but here is a picture of the fountain in front of the church.
and one of the interior of the church. This is the second largest church in Paris (second only to Notre Dame). One might recognize the interior from the movie The Da Vinci Code.

Paris is just a walk in the park

One of my favorite activities in Paris is going food shopping. I could spend an hour in the grocery just looking at the cheeses. I do most of my shopping at Champion, a store that is relatively similar to American groceries. My favorite part of the grocery is that I can get a bottle of wine, a large chunk of Brie, and a baguette for 3 euros. I find myself buying lots of "French" food:

and some food that is a little more familiar (chips and canned spaghetti)Today I explored my neighborhood a bit more and visited the Luxembourg Gardens for the second time. This park makes Central Park look like a slum (sorry Shayna). Surprisingly, it was above 60 degrees F and Parisians flocked to the park to enjoy the first day of great weather. A trip to this famous park is all one would need to fall in love with Paris. What I find amazing is how well Parisians treat their park. Beautifully manicured lawns, statues that are hundreds of years old, landscaping like you wouldn't believe. Could this happen in the U.S.? There is no litter on the ground and no graffiti on the monuments. Most surprising of all is that the park is filled with chairs. Not benches bolted down to the ground, but chairs, free to be moved as one wills. Parisians take pride in their culture and city and the trust is there.

Tonight, I met my friend Josh in the Marais to walk around and get dinner. The area is quite neat and I plan on spending a lot more time there in the future. We got a great sushi dinner and it was somehow cheaper than what I pay in the U.S. I decided to walk home, which did not take all that long. I decided to treat myself to my new favorite sweet, pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). Forget crepes, this is where it's at. We were able to get a great view of the city from the roof of Josh's apartment:

Saturday

Yesterday after class my friend, Ida, and I got falafel in the Jewish Quarter and then went to the Louvre, which is free on Friday nights for students under 26. We got there kind of late and were only able to walk around for a half hour. I imagine it would take years to walk the whole museum. Afterwards we met up with some friends and went to a jazz club to get a few glasses of kir de cassis.

Today, I explored the Montmarte area (as seen in the film, Amelie) with my friends Adam and Jeanne. After scaling countless stairs we had an amazing view from Sacre Coeur. It was the coolest church ever! It is so different then all of the other churches and I like it because they don't allow photography inside so it feels a bit more like a church instead of a photo shoot.



Today was a beautiful day and quite warm for Paris at this time (55 degrees F). It seemed like everyone was out today, walking around and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I am currently sitting outside on my balcony as I write this (my landlord bought me a nice table and chairs!) There is a big rugby game today between England and France, so every bar is packed with drunk Parisians chanting for their team (quite funny to see).


I seem to be thinking a lot about one aspect of French culture. I really admire the French for their attitude of enjoying life. There is nothing more French then sitting at a cafe for hours and just soaking it all in. However, as soon as Parisians get into a car, their laissez-faire attitude turns into the most vicious road rage I have ever seen. Traffic lights are seen as merely a street decoration. If people must come to a stop for even one minute they act like the world is coming to an end. They won't hesitate to drive down a one-way street in the wrong direction if there is something blocking them from moving. Most annoying to me is their habit of accelerating as fast as they can even if there is a red light a few feet ahead. When there is a red light and people are crossing the street, motorists will continue to accelerate and then slam on their breaks a few inches from the pedestrians. And I thought drivers in Atlanta were bad....

Sciences Po

According to the French students who were at orientation, Sciences Po is considered the “Harvard” of France. While I always had assumed that the Sorbonne was the top institution, I met a girl who was spending one semester at Sorbonne and one semester Sciences Po. I asked her why she did not just go to one of the schools for the whole year, she responded that she did not think she could handle an entire year at Sciences Po. At orientation the school did quite a bit of bragging about how they had educated the past two presidents of France. Needless to say, all of the students are scared to death, not having known the rigor of the classes. We have already been warned on several occasions about the “old school” French teachers who are very strict. The vice president warned that French institutions do not have the same “student friendly” qualities of American institutions.

On a more positive note, this school is quite interesting in the fact that Americans make up only 25-30% of the exchange students. While English is spoken by most of the students, so far I have made friends from Norway, Brazil, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. It is fascinating comparing stories with these students and learning about differences in our cultures. I keep telling them that I feel stupid because they all know everything about American politics and culture, while I could not tell them the first thing about their countries. They insure me that it is fine because it is somewhat necessary for them to know about the U.S. do to her position in international affairs. While I struggle with French as my second language, my friends here are struggling with French as their third, fourth, or even fifth language.

Yesterday I spent the day with Ida (Norway) and Alexandre (Brazil). After class we went and purchased a book that is required for class, then I showed them my apartment, we walked through Le Grande Epicerie (imagine Whole Foods but cooler, bigger, and more expensive), and then ate dinner at a Mexican themed restaurant called Mexi & Co. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries so I have no pictures of my new friends, but hopefully soon.

American culture in Paris

Strangely enough, while the older generations seem to hold on to tradition and the ways of the past, young Parisians seem to enjoy aspects of American culture.

McDonald's

First of all, you should know that I merely wanted to know how the prices compared to the U.S. I did not eat here! Combo meals were around 5.60 euros ($8.25). However, they did have a .95 euro menu, as well as nice French beer for 2 euros.

Starbucks

If you cannot tell, the line for this Starbucks is out the door. Do not think that these are all American tourists getting their fix while on vacation. In both Starbucks and McDonald's, I was the only person not speaking French. Why would French people go to Starbucks when they live in a city known for its cafes? This is one of the few places where you can order coffee to go, as well as the only cafe where you can get iced coffee.

However, it turns out that young people in Paris know quite a bit about American culture and music.




I went with a few friends to a French music club called Caveau des Oubliettes (Cave of the Forgotten). Not knowing what to expect (or even what kind of music was going to be played), the band played all American songs including about six Eric Clapton songs in a row.



And for the finale (a real shocker), the band played "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry. The whole night I couldn't stop laughing, I travel all the way to Paris and I am watching 30 French people dancing and singing "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Layla" with thick French accents.

A few clips...

Eiffel Tower meets strobe lights



View from my balcony and glimpse of my apartment

Bonjour from Paris

I have only been here for two days, but I have to say that I have been impressed with the kindness of French people. Perhaps not so much kindness, but lack of meanness. One of my biggest fears before arriving was that I was going to be snubbed by every Parisian. I have realized that the most important thing is trying. Even saying "Parlez-vous anglais?" will be appreciated more than "Do you speak English". Many people told me "Oh, you have nothing to worry about, they all speak English over there", but this is far from the truth. I would say about half of the people I have encountered speak English. At the bank yesterday, the woman who helped me open an account barely spoke a word of English. When I apologized for my bad French, I made a joke about how I studied French for ten years and it's still bad. She responded by joking that her English was worse than my French, even though she had studied English for nine years.

The least friendly people I have encountered have been waiters. It's not that they do or say anything that is actually mean, things just work quite differently in France. While waiters receive some tips, they are payed hourly wages. There is no real incentive to provide outstanding service. In addition, they almost always have to play the roll of hostess and busser as well. There is no time to say "Welcome to Carrabba's, my name is Zach, I will be taking care of you today, can I start you with something to drink today?" The waiter points at your table from a far, they let you sit for awhile and then take your whole order. The waiter will not stop at your table at any point during your meal. They don't ask how things are or if they can get you anything else. It can be quite difficult to get the check at the end of a meal.

All I can think about after working at Carrabba's for the past two months, is how pissed all the customers that I served would be if they were in France. At Carrabba's people would get mad if they had to wait even a minute for a refill or to place there order. People would get upset if there silverware wasn't spotless. In France, patience is a must and the silverware and dishes are anything but spotless.

The Valleron Family

My Apartment

The front of the building. My apartment is on the top floor.



Looking down my street.


The balcony.


View of St. Sulpice Church from my balcony.