Well it has certainly been an interesting week, and one in which I feel like I have had to do some serious growing up. Last friday, my throat started to feel very sore, by Monday I had a fever and a very bad sore throat, swollen glands, and serious nasal congestion. So, I went to the Pharmacy, tried to explain my symptoms in french ( a little tricky), the pharmacist loaded me up with some medicine and I went home hoping to recover in a day or two. Unfortunately, things did not get better. Luckily, by Wednesday after talking to my dad he suggsted it may be strep and that I should go see a doctor. Going to see a doctor in France was about the last thing I wanted to do. No offense to any doctors reading this (DT), I love doctors, the only ones I like going to are generally the ones I am related too, and that is only if I have to. Nonetheless, I called the American Hospital of Paris, trying to speak French through a sore throat was a bit of a task, but they could not see me 'til Friday. Luckily, my sweet host family came to the rescue, they called their doctor, and made an appointment for me that afternoon.
So I made it to Doctor LeBlonde's office, and interestingly enough it was in an apartment building. However, that is normal I was told. I make it inside, the nurses are dressed like they would have dressed in my opinion in 1945. Oh well, I thought, just get me some medicine. I finally met with Dr. LeBlonde an hour after my scheduled appointment (the french are always fashionably late). Anyways, we go into his office, and he goes behind a little room divider (i guess) and that is his examining room. Odd again, I thought, but go with it. So he examines me, and is saying things to me in French, some of which I am catching, some I am not. He notices that I am beginning to tear up based on my lack of understanding, and says things a bit slower and even a little bit in english, which was nice. So it turns out I have just what my dad diagnosed, strep. A red throat, swollen glands, both covered in white spots, those are the only details i will give. He prescribed me some medication, was very nice and sent me on my way. A side note though, french doctors only accept cash or checks! (luckily I had cash). After about a day on medication, i feel so much better! I am beginning to be bored out of my mind, but better. Some may laugh, but having to go to the doctor, take care of myself, buy my medicine and things like soup and tea, all in a foreign country, i now feel like i can take on anything. I am serious, this is the first time i have been really sick since I graduated high school and I have survived, and in France. So that is it for this week, hopefully I will be ready to come out of quarantine on Friday, and run around Paris this weekend.
jeudi 22 février 2007
dimanche 18 février 2007
Life in Paris
This past week has been very busy as well. I now have class everyday. My classes are fine, I am taking a French conversation and composition class everday for two hours, I also have a phonetics lab which is about an hour, and I am also taking a class on french books and poetry of the 19th and 20th century every Monday. All my classes are u the area right by the Sorbonne, Luxembourg Gardens and St. Michel. My classes are great, a little overwhelming at times, but nonetheless I better be able to speak french after all this is over! Monday night I went to a modern ballet at the Grand Palais, which was so beautiful. Apart from the nutcracker, it was the first real ballet that I have been too. Everything about it was so cool. First the Grand Palais, on the inside looks like a mini-Versailles. Everything looked very rich, gold, deep reds, I mean I understand now why the French rebelled against the royalty in the revolution, they were spending all their money! The ballet itself was so interesting, from the actual ballerinas to the costumes, The movements, costume, and music were all modern, So it was a little different than I imagine a classical ballet would be.
I babysat Tuesday and Wednesday, which is one of my favorite things about living here. However, it can be quite exhausting. The kids I babysit, Antoine, Ocean and William, are so much fun and so full of energy! We just run, or in their case ride their scooters, all over Paris! They are such sweet kids.
The weather here, besides one rainy day this week, has been amazing! Sunny and fairly warm, warm enough that we were able to outside for dinner last night. It is very unusual and I was definitely expecting really cold weather, but I am enjoying it so much. Almost everyday this week I eat outside in the Luxembourg Gardens after class, Oh, expect one day this week I walked over to the Jewish District, which is very close to Notre Dame, just on the other side of the river. I think that so far, the Jewish district has the best food that I have had in Paris! It is this little area, almost all cobblestone, in which the majority of the stores and deli’s are owned by mostly jewish people. They have the best pastries, sandwiches, and falafel that I have ever had. Today, we went after church again, and the Jewish District was packed because everything there is open on Sundays. We had to wait 30 minutes for three of us to eat at this falafel place. It was the longest I have had to wait to be seated in Paris, which that should tell you how good this place is!
Oh, Friday night I went to Chartres Cathedral, a cathedral about an hour away from Paris. Chartres is the most interesting and beautiful church I have seen so far! The story behind it, the building, its windows and its relics! I was lucky enough to be given a tour by a man who has dedicated his entire career, over fifty years to studying specifically Chartres. He said that you could spend nearly a week on just on window, that is how detailed and beautiful the stain glass there is. And there are lots of windows in Chartres! Something very interesting too, is that Chartres has a relic that is supposedly the veil of Virgin Mary. Of course they are not positive, but I believe that studies and tests done on the veil do prove that it is 2000 years old! Well that’s about it for now, this weekend has been a little uneventful, which is kind of nice.
I babysat Tuesday and Wednesday, which is one of my favorite things about living here. However, it can be quite exhausting. The kids I babysit, Antoine, Ocean and William, are so much fun and so full of energy! We just run, or in their case ride their scooters, all over Paris! They are such sweet kids.
The weather here, besides one rainy day this week, has been amazing! Sunny and fairly warm, warm enough that we were able to outside for dinner last night. It is very unusual and I was definitely expecting really cold weather, but I am enjoying it so much. Almost everyday this week I eat outside in the Luxembourg Gardens after class, Oh, expect one day this week I walked over to the Jewish District, which is very close to Notre Dame, just on the other side of the river. I think that so far, the Jewish district has the best food that I have had in Paris! It is this little area, almost all cobblestone, in which the majority of the stores and deli’s are owned by mostly jewish people. They have the best pastries, sandwiches, and falafel that I have ever had. Today, we went after church again, and the Jewish District was packed because everything there is open on Sundays. We had to wait 30 minutes for three of us to eat at this falafel place. It was the longest I have had to wait to be seated in Paris, which that should tell you how good this place is!
Oh, Friday night I went to Chartres Cathedral, a cathedral about an hour away from Paris. Chartres is the most interesting and beautiful church I have seen so far! The story behind it, the building, its windows and its relics! I was lucky enough to be given a tour by a man who has dedicated his entire career, over fifty years to studying specifically Chartres. He said that you could spend nearly a week on just on window, that is how detailed and beautiful the stain glass there is. And there are lots of windows in Chartres! Something very interesting too, is that Chartres has a relic that is supposedly the veil of Virgin Mary. Of course they are not positive, but I believe that studies and tests done on the veil do prove that it is 2000 years old! Well that’s about it for now, this weekend has been a little uneventful, which is kind of nice.
"The Emerald Coast"
Last weekend I went to Normandy. It was really breathtaking, for so many reasons. I toured the World War II museum, the D-Day beaches and memorial site, the German bunkers and then we made our way to this little town of St.Malo and then on Sunday we journeyed to Mont St. Michel. So needless to say it was a very busy weekend. The World War II sites were so powerful, unimaginable and I know that no description by a museum could ever really do justice to the battle fought at Normandy.
Saturday night we spent the night in a St. Malo, an old town on “the Emerald Coast.” This northwestern tip of France is referred to as “The Emerald Coast” because that is what it looks like, everything is so green, even in the winter. The green grass flows towards the sand and then into green, emerald water. It is so beautiful. The cliffs in Normandy are also just astonishing. I think this is the region of France that I like best so far! The town we stayed in was a very old French town. A beautiful church sat in the middle of the town, and then homes and shops sprawled up around it. The whole town was made of stone and was surrounded by massive stonewalls. You can walk around the whole town on the top of these walls, or ramparts. St. Malo also has some very excellent seafood! However, that night, after seafood there was a little carnival set up outside of the walls. So we decided to check out a French carnival. Well the rides at these carnivals last about 7-10 minutes, that sounds good right, because in America rides last about 3 minutes. Well no, French rides are insane! There were moments when I thought that I was going to die, why we continued to ride them I don’t know, but I guess when in Normandy do as the Normans do.
After was escaped death, which yes we willingly submitted too and paid for, the next morning we woke up bright and early and went walking in the ramparts (big stone walls), and on the beaches. It was luckily so beautiful, but extremely windy! The waves were enormous! That afternoon we headed to Mont St. Michel. Which that too, was pretty cool. Mont. St Michel I this beautiful church, surrounded by a very little town, on a rock that sits kind of in the ocean but only when the tide it up, if the tide is down it is surrounded by quicksand. It was built I think in the 9 or 10th century, and then continuously added on too. The architecture in France is really unbelievable, and so very detailed.
Saturday night we spent the night in a St. Malo, an old town on “the Emerald Coast.” This northwestern tip of France is referred to as “The Emerald Coast” because that is what it looks like, everything is so green, even in the winter. The green grass flows towards the sand and then into green, emerald water. It is so beautiful. The cliffs in Normandy are also just astonishing. I think this is the region of France that I like best so far! The town we stayed in was a very old French town. A beautiful church sat in the middle of the town, and then homes and shops sprawled up around it. The whole town was made of stone and was surrounded by massive stonewalls. You can walk around the whole town on the top of these walls, or ramparts. St. Malo also has some very excellent seafood! However, that night, after seafood there was a little carnival set up outside of the walls. So we decided to check out a French carnival. Well the rides at these carnivals last about 7-10 minutes, that sounds good right, because in America rides last about 3 minutes. Well no, French rides are insane! There were moments when I thought that I was going to die, why we continued to ride them I don’t know, but I guess when in Normandy do as the Normans do.
After was escaped death, which yes we willingly submitted too and paid for, the next morning we woke up bright and early and went walking in the ramparts (big stone walls), and on the beaches. It was luckily so beautiful, but extremely windy! The waves were enormous! That afternoon we headed to Mont St. Michel. Which that too, was pretty cool. Mont. St Michel I this beautiful church, surrounded by a very little town, on a rock that sits kind of in the ocean but only when the tide it up, if the tide is down it is surrounded by quicksand. It was built I think in the 9 or 10th century, and then continuously added on too. The architecture in France is really unbelievable, and so very detailed.
lundi 5 février 2007
The Metro, the Louvre and Versailles, oh my!!
Okay well it has been a little while, but so much has been going on I have had very little time to write. I have only been in Paris for about a week but it feels like at least a month! Claire and I have been exploring the Metro, getting lost, etc… Everyday is most definitely an adventure. This past week we had a round of tests and interviews in order to figure out our classes and everything. On top of all that we went to Versailles, the Louvre, Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, and of course the Sorbonne, even though most of our classes are not in the old part of the University. Versailles was beautiful, breathtaking in fact! I cannot believe that someone once lived there, nor can I comprehend how much people worshipped royalty! It was really interesting, I cannot wait to go back there in the spring when the gardens are blooming. However, even in the winter the gardens were still so beautiful.
Friday nights at the Louvre are free if you are under 23. So some girls and I went to check out some of the exhibits. It too, was incredible and really cool at night. We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the first half of the Italian Renaissance artwork. They say that it would take 9 months to see everything in the Louvre, so we decided that we were here for 5 months and we will just take a little in at a time. That night, after the Louvre, I actually think I had the best Mexican food I have ever had! We found this little “hole in the wall” restaurant in the Latin Quartier (Latin as in the language not Latin America) and it was amazing! Honestly, everything in France just tastes so much better. I have decided too, that crepes are my favorite thing. I love crepes with honey, or crepes with chestnut butter, which is just like peanut butter nut made with chestnuts. And crepes are everywhere! I do not understand why people have not opened more crepe stands in America! I mean a crepe stand would thrive on a college campus!! Maybe I will invest in a crepe stand and that will be my summer job.
Claire and I joined this really cool hot yoga studio. I also got a babysitting job, which I am thrilled about. I am babysitting three children Antoine (12) Oceane (9) and Guillome (5) every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. This job is perfect because they live very close to Luxembourg Gardens, and their mother just wants me to take them to gardens and play with them and speak English to them! I think that things like yoga, babysitting and getting to know my host family have been the things I have enjoyed much. Oh well also all the cheese and crepes! But, while all the tourist sites are beautiful I love just being a part of this city. Oh also let it be known, that the french are not rude. They are not any more rude than maybe average New Yorker or the average Atlantan during rush hour! And for the most part I have found everyone here to be very helpful and pleasant. If you respect them, their language and their culture they are very happy to share it with you. Well I will keep up more. I start my classes on Thursday! I am taking course on French books and poetry of the 19th and 20th century, a class on modern French Society, and a class on French Civilization, as well as a writing and conversation French class and phoentics class. All in French! Ahh! So next week will be busy too! but C'est la vie!
Quote from ‘Paris to the Moon’: “We breathe in our first language and swim in our second.”
Friday nights at the Louvre are free if you are under 23. So some girls and I went to check out some of the exhibits. It too, was incredible and really cool at night. We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the first half of the Italian Renaissance artwork. They say that it would take 9 months to see everything in the Louvre, so we decided that we were here for 5 months and we will just take a little in at a time. That night, after the Louvre, I actually think I had the best Mexican food I have ever had! We found this little “hole in the wall” restaurant in the Latin Quartier (Latin as in the language not Latin America) and it was amazing! Honestly, everything in France just tastes so much better. I have decided too, that crepes are my favorite thing. I love crepes with honey, or crepes with chestnut butter, which is just like peanut butter nut made with chestnuts. And crepes are everywhere! I do not understand why people have not opened more crepe stands in America! I mean a crepe stand would thrive on a college campus!! Maybe I will invest in a crepe stand and that will be my summer job.
Claire and I joined this really cool hot yoga studio. I also got a babysitting job, which I am thrilled about. I am babysitting three children Antoine (12) Oceane (9) and Guillome (5) every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. This job is perfect because they live very close to Luxembourg Gardens, and their mother just wants me to take them to gardens and play with them and speak English to them! I think that things like yoga, babysitting and getting to know my host family have been the things I have enjoyed much. Oh well also all the cheese and crepes! But, while all the tourist sites are beautiful I love just being a part of this city. Oh also let it be known, that the french are not rude. They are not any more rude than maybe average New Yorker or the average Atlantan during rush hour! And for the most part I have found everyone here to be very helpful and pleasant. If you respect them, their language and their culture they are very happy to share it with you. Well I will keep up more. I start my classes on Thursday! I am taking course on French books and poetry of the 19th and 20th century, a class on modern French Society, and a class on French Civilization, as well as a writing and conversation French class and phoentics class. All in French! Ahh! So next week will be busy too! but C'est la vie!
Quote from ‘Paris to the Moon’: “We breathe in our first language and swim in our second.”
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