French people on strike

On the way to get falafel, I came across this scene in front of City Hall. Trash was everywhere. I was informed that the sanitation workers were on strike and many had purposely dumped out trash bags on to the street.
For employees to intentionally litter seems unnecessary (and stupid considering who is going to most likely be cleaning up the mess when the strike is over). Trash is one thing...but now the train employees are striking. Thousands and thousands of tourists are stuck at the airport trying to figure out how to get to Paris. Many end up paying close to one hundred USD for a taxi ride. When striking makes a public square dirty or makes television networks play reruns for a few weeks, life goes on. But when people rely on a transport system to get them to meetings, jobs, flights, and school, I think the strikers are being a little selfish. Not that they shouldn't have the right to strike, but they are causing so many people problems who have nothing to do with whether or not the employees get what they want.

Tartare

The first thing I noticed was that people would walk down the street carrying a baguette under their arm, completely unwrapped and uncovered. Next, I saw oysters on display in front of restaurants sitting out in the sun. Then it was all around me. In the grocery, cheese, milk, and eggs sit on shelves unrefrigerated. I recently tried steak tartare, raw ground beef mixed with a raw egg, garlic, onion, sauces, and spices. While this dish is a staple at any French brasserie, it is rarely found in the U.S. How many U.S. restaurant would want to take the risk of serving uncooked ground beef and plus how many customers would even want to eat this? The difference is the quality of the beef and how fresh the beef is. Usually, the beef is ground to order. It is surprisingly good and I didn't get sick.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

One thing I enjoy about Paris....is how much people love this city. Not only is this the biggest tourist destination in the world, but it is overflowing with Parisians who feel that their city is the greatest. I have heard countless Parisians refer to their city as the most beautiful city in the world. Today, my friend says, "I was born in this city, I will live my whole life in this city, and I will die in this city." I find this so foreign to me...I have no idea where I will live in ten years, definitely not Atlanta. It would be strange knowing that you, your family, and all of your friends will live in the same city for your entire life. But I think this says a lot about Paris and how great of a city it is. Paris is the city of love and a city that people fall in love with. It has its look, its smell, its tastes, its sights, its feel, heart and possibly a soul. The French love their country and they love their lives. Throughout history, it seems that the French have had one principle guiding their foreign affairs...protect their beautiful city! For better or worse, it worked and the result is one of a kind.

Le Penseur

Today I went to Musee Rodin, a museum recommended by my landlord:
The Thinker:

Roman ruins in Parc Monceau:
Heart-shaped French cheese, one of the foulest cheeses I have tried, but kind of cool:

The Last Weekend in Paris

Saturday was the Festival of Music...there were hundreds of bands playing all around Paris. Walking from my apartment to the metro I passed more than ten bands. My RA from UGA was in Paris so we met up and walked around the city, watching music along the way. We even saw concerts inside of the Senate and the Royal Palace.

Cool pics of the canal near Bastille





Pont des Arts:

The Last Visitors

Chez Phillipe

Yesterday, I got some really cool views from my friend's balcony by Tracadaro. The highlight of my day or possibly my whole trip was riding around Paris on a moped. It was really fun and it's a really interesting way to see Paris. I got to see a lot of areas of Paris that I hadn't seen. It was great to be riding around at night, driving along the Seine and past some of the most remarkable buildings and monuments in the world. I basically spent the day following my French friend around wherever he went. Over the course of the night and countless awkward conversation in Frenglish, I met a lot of Phillipe's friends and got to see a lot of really cool apartments around Paris.

Paris in Spring

The restaurant on my street:

Place Contrescarpe - A quaint, little square in the Latin Quarter


Dinner with Katy at Chez Papa:
Les Escargots


Chez Papa is a really great restaurant serving food from the South-West region of France. Their dishes come with potatoes that are indescribably good. A few days later I found potatoes in the grocery that are the same style. They come covered in duck fat that melts as you cook the potatoes.

I got my ears lowered

The good news is that I got a haircut, finally. The bad news is that there will probably be no more pictures of me on this blog.....

A Night on Pont des Arts

The Bucket List

I am writing this from my balcony. While I am out here enjoying this wonderful Parisian night, I am out here mostly because there are two girls trying to change and shower in my room right now. My friend Katy and her sister are staying with me tonight and I have been exiled from my own room! While I wasn't sure if it would be possible for three people to fit in a ten square meter room, it seems to be working just fine. Let me say that we have found some very creative uses of space.

Today I showed them around Paris...we went to the Luxembourg gardens, Pere Lachaise Cemetery, and to the Marais for some falafel. Katy's sister leaves tomorrow, but Katy will be here for about a week. It's great to be with an old friend, in fact....it's just what I needed.

With just one month left in Paris, I have created a Bucket List (so to say...) of things that I want to do before I leave. Hopefully, Katy and I will be able to cross a few things off the list. I figure if I make some of these things public via this world-renowned blog, I might be more motivated to do them. There is a much bigger list of restaurants I want to get to, but I will spare you all.

Jardin des Plantes
Gare d'Austerlitz
St. Paul
La Defense
Giverny
explore more around the Arc de Triomphe
Musee Rodin
See the rest of Musee d'Orsay
sunset from Montmartre
Montparnasse tower
Closerie des Lilas
go to the 17th arrondisment (so I can say that I have been to them all)
Musee de Cluny

I think thats a good start, wish me luck