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.