Thursday, September 30, 2010
Past few crazy days
The past week or so has been a blur of highs and lows. The whole being homeless thing, would be liberating, if it wasn't for the fact that works starts on Monday and I have so much shit that I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I could just give it away to the other homeless people on the metro and live in my suitcases. Kelly and I have considered that. Anyways, everything ranges from being manically happy and laughing till I'm about to cry to actually just crying. Well more, Kelly than me, on the crying front, if you just excuse the total panic attack I almost had two nights ago while drunk on the metro, with strangers no less. Anyways, We moved out of Noisy, and into Pigale. We live next to the sexodrum. it's great. Pigale is fun, but sketchy beyond control. I've seen more hookers in the past few nights, then I'll probably see for the rest of my life... i hope. Anyways, there is no shower, no wifi and a public toilet. It's a box. Friends have been kind enough to let us use their shower. So the highest point was when Kelly and I found an apartment right next to the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing and cute and we could afford it with three people. PERFECT. the landlady said, she would hold it for us and pretty much the apartment was ours. Cloud 9. Anyways, from there things slowly started to unwind. I had met another girl from my program back in the US who had said if ever there was a situation where we needed a third, she was interested. However, asking her to to deposit 2K into a French bank account for a place she hasn't even seen seemed like asking a little too much. Anyways, I asked, she understandably was skeptical and said no. It was a similar case with other friends we have made. No one wanted to say yes to the apt. without seeing it. (we had pictures etc) but still, and I get where they are coming from. But anyways, this caused us to get totally desperate, since we had already secured this amazing apartment and were about to lose it for lack of a third person. I posted on the TAPIF facebook page, put out a craigslist add, it got grim. Mind you, all this is being done within 1 day. We just saw the apartment, that's the pace of real estate here. Also, we had no internet, so all of this was being done form our office, the local Mc Donalds (free wifi). We were there till 1:30 am, and were finally forced to leave because of the overwhelming # of homeless people that were crowding around us. The next day, we woke up and headed straight to the office and started searching for a potential third again. We were meeting with our land lord at 6:30 that evening to sign the contract and get the keys. We pretty much sat at the mcdonalds calling random people from facebook and craigslist, asking them to meet us at the Macdo off Pigale. lol. We met with around 8 or 9 people until we hit jackpot. Enter Gabby. She's the shit. lol. She responded to my craigslist post, I called her, she came to Pigale and pretty much within the first few min. it was clear we were going to get along and most importantly, she understood how we couldn't show her the apartment and the pictures were enough for her. Anyways, so we had our 3rd, we actually REALLY liked her and life was good. It was around 5:00 by now. We went back to the box to get ready and meet with the landlord. I had called her earlier to confirm our meeting. She called back around 5:15 and told me, "she was so sorry, but she had already rented the apartment out to someone else". Now, I guess this is going to happen a lot, but this was the first time it happened, and it sucked hard core. Kelly cried, I can't really cry when it's stuff like this... but we went out that night and met a few assistants and drank a little and it kicked in for me then. I sort of had a mini panic attack on the metro about how I had no where to live, and really didn't have too many places to go back to. For me, it's the highs and lows. I can keep trucking it and trying to find a place and showering at friend's places and working out of the Macdo, but the high of thinking it's over, only to have it totally not work out, sucks. Anyways, the whole thing isn't all bad, because we met Gabby. She's really cool. I showered at her uncle's house yesterday and him and his girlfriend made me an amazing French dinner. Over dinner I proceeded to ask him how old his pussy was, and that I thought is pussy was really cute. French word for cat = Chat. Apparently, if you pronounce the "T" then it's slang for pussy. YAY FRANCE! but no really, i'm loving it. Please wish me good housing luck.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Mumford, madness and mediocrity
On Mumford:
Yesterday I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite bands preform live. I was able to go, because someone I'm becoming friends with had an extra ticket. How I became lucky enough to receive said ticket, I have no idea, but I'm glad. The show was amazing. I know that's what everyone always says about their most recent show... but it was incredible. From the second I walked into the venue the music was exhilarating. Nathaniel Rateliff was one of the opening performers, and while I thought he looked like the dwarf from Lord of The Rings, I'm simply in love with his voice. His vocal chords are thing of total wonder. I have been listening to his music and it is wonderful. He's also known to perform in random parks, so I can only hope to get so lucky. The next band that performed was a new discovery as well. Old Crow Medicine Show were also just incredible. I got their album Big Iron World, and it's pretty phenomenal. It baffles me that they've been recording since the 90's and I've never heard of them. It also makes me realize how much great talent there is out there, in every respect, that I just have not come into contact with.
Also hanging out with someone who isn't already an established friend served as a solid reminder of what an awkward spazz I can be with new people. To be honest, I was incredibly nervous and self conscious, because I felt like it was too much to just accept the ticket for the show without paying for it. In reality, I was invited, and I had offered to pay, so it probably wasn't a big deal at all. But me being me, and not really used to random amazing favors, was really uncomfortable and awkward. I think at one point I was talking about witch doctors and throwing babies out of windows...eek. lol. Anyways, as soon as I heard the music, it all just went away. I felt like I was just there by myself. Nathaniel Rateliff's voice is amazing. He sang a song, that I've discovered is called "shroud" and his voice and the music is the only thing I can remember from there on. It reminded me of what music is to me, how I can just go to shows by myself, and have the time of my life. It is great.
On Madness:
So, we're officially homeless. On the road, using Macdo (McDonalds) wifi to get in touch with people. Living in a hole the size of a pull out bed with no bathroom and a public toilet that is shared with 12 other people...lol..awesome. And yes, no bathroom = no shower. So we're at the mercy of people we know with bathrooms, to take showers at their places... it's good stuff. I plan on dealing with this by drinking lots of wine, eating lots of macaroons and just walking around the city taking pictures. good stuff.
On Mediocrity:
Every time I am in the presence of what I consider true talent, it throws me into a whirlwind of emotions. It ranges from aspiration, to inspiration, to self loathing, to just awe. I am not sure at what stage in that cycle I am right now, but the process has definitely started. I am incredibly bad at self gauging. Maybe everyone is. I can't really worry about everyone though. If thousands of books later, great thinkers have been unable to quantify the unbridgeable chasm that exists between people, far be it for me take it on. The fact that I spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about it, is an entirely different matter. At any rate, figuring out my own creative capacity, and creating a space for myself in which I can stand against my own standards is an important part of what I'm doing here in France. I hope to be able to figure out what the correct questions are, so that I can start answering them.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite bands preform live. I was able to go, because someone I'm becoming friends with had an extra ticket. How I became lucky enough to receive said ticket, I have no idea, but I'm glad. The show was amazing. I know that's what everyone always says about their most recent show... but it was incredible. From the second I walked into the venue the music was exhilarating. Nathaniel Rateliff was one of the opening performers, and while I thought he looked like the dwarf from Lord of The Rings, I'm simply in love with his voice. His vocal chords are thing of total wonder. I have been listening to his music and it is wonderful. He's also known to perform in random parks, so I can only hope to get so lucky. The next band that performed was a new discovery as well. Old Crow Medicine Show were also just incredible. I got their album Big Iron World, and it's pretty phenomenal. It baffles me that they've been recording since the 90's and I've never heard of them. It also makes me realize how much great talent there is out there, in every respect, that I just have not come into contact with.
Also hanging out with someone who isn't already an established friend served as a solid reminder of what an awkward spazz I can be with new people. To be honest, I was incredibly nervous and self conscious, because I felt like it was too much to just accept the ticket for the show without paying for it. In reality, I was invited, and I had offered to pay, so it probably wasn't a big deal at all. But me being me, and not really used to random amazing favors, was really uncomfortable and awkward. I think at one point I was talking about witch doctors and throwing babies out of windows...eek. lol. Anyways, as soon as I heard the music, it all just went away. I felt like I was just there by myself. Nathaniel Rateliff's voice is amazing. He sang a song, that I've discovered is called "shroud" and his voice and the music is the only thing I can remember from there on. It reminded me of what music is to me, how I can just go to shows by myself, and have the time of my life. It is great.
On Madness:
So, we're officially homeless. On the road, using Macdo (McDonalds) wifi to get in touch with people. Living in a hole the size of a pull out bed with no bathroom and a public toilet that is shared with 12 other people...lol..awesome. And yes, no bathroom = no shower. So we're at the mercy of people we know with bathrooms, to take showers at their places... it's good stuff. I plan on dealing with this by drinking lots of wine, eating lots of macaroons and just walking around the city taking pictures. good stuff.
On Mediocrity:
Every time I am in the presence of what I consider true talent, it throws me into a whirlwind of emotions. It ranges from aspiration, to inspiration, to self loathing, to just awe. I am not sure at what stage in that cycle I am right now, but the process has definitely started. I am incredibly bad at self gauging. Maybe everyone is. I can't really worry about everyone though. If thousands of books later, great thinkers have been unable to quantify the unbridgeable chasm that exists between people, far be it for me take it on. The fact that I spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about it, is an entirely different matter. At any rate, figuring out my own creative capacity, and creating a space for myself in which I can stand against my own standards is an important part of what I'm doing here in France. I hope to be able to figure out what the correct questions are, so that I can start answering them.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Delicious Food Spotlight!
La Duree:
How is anyone expected to stay thin in Paris, when La Dure exists?? Honestly! I've discovered and become obsessed with macaroons. They are so amazing and the ones at La Duree are exceptionally delicious.
Not to mention the pastries and cakes that are in all the little bakeries at every corner. Yesterday, after starving for the whole day because we're stupid, kelly and I finally walked to the local market in Noisy. There we bought a baguette and a wheel of amazing cheese, which we totally inhaled on the street corner, like some urchins. Anyways, after that I ate my first French eclair! sooo amazing. <3
A few nights ago we went out to dinner with Victor in Versailles. Obviously, when you're in France, you go out to eat Italian food. And yay for the fact that we did. The pizza was sooo good! I'm used to random toppings on pizza from Japan, but France brought a first, pizza with egg on it!:
Lastly, the other night Kelly and I met up with Jenny, her friend Lynia (who is really awesome) and a girl from my program Caitlin, also very cool. We hung out at what was probably the most extravagant star bucks EVER. It looked like a mini cathedral, with art on the ceilings and extravagant chandeliers. After that Caitlin took off and the rest of us went to dinner. While we had all agreed on "something cheap" we somehow ended up at a super trendy place that looked like a freaking night club. I felt a little sex and the city. Anyways, I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but I def. plan on going back to it. The food was super delicious!
And finally a compliant! The food here is amazing, but would it kill them to just give us a freaking pitcher of water. Since I got here, I'm ALWAYS dehydrated. At restaurants they give you these tiny ass carafe's of water, and by the time 3 people pour themselves some, it's over and then you have to wait 20 minutes for another carafe. I know it seems silly to gripe about, but it's REALLY irritating. lol. Not to mention the word carafe d'eau (a crafe of water) is really hard for me to say in French, so that's always a good time. I actually had a Turkish server (in good fun) make fun of me as i stumbled all over myself asking for a glass of water. Yay for adventure.
How is anyone expected to stay thin in Paris, when La Dure exists?? Honestly! I've discovered and become obsessed with macaroons. They are so amazing and the ones at La Duree are exceptionally delicious.
Not to mention the pastries and cakes that are in all the little bakeries at every corner. Yesterday, after starving for the whole day because we're stupid, kelly and I finally walked to the local market in Noisy. There we bought a baguette and a wheel of amazing cheese, which we totally inhaled on the street corner, like some urchins. Anyways, after that I ate my first French eclair! sooo amazing. <3
A few nights ago we went out to dinner with Victor in Versailles. Obviously, when you're in France, you go out to eat Italian food. And yay for the fact that we did. The pizza was sooo good! I'm used to random toppings on pizza from Japan, but France brought a first, pizza with egg on it!:
Lastly, the other night Kelly and I met up with Jenny, her friend Lynia (who is really awesome) and a girl from my program Caitlin, also very cool. We hung out at what was probably the most extravagant star bucks EVER. It looked like a mini cathedral, with art on the ceilings and extravagant chandeliers. After that Caitlin took off and the rest of us went to dinner. While we had all agreed on "something cheap" we somehow ended up at a super trendy place that looked like a freaking night club. I felt a little sex and the city. Anyways, I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but I def. plan on going back to it. The food was super delicious!
And finally a compliant! The food here is amazing, but would it kill them to just give us a freaking pitcher of water. Since I got here, I'm ALWAYS dehydrated. At restaurants they give you these tiny ass carafe's of water, and by the time 3 people pour themselves some, it's over and then you have to wait 20 minutes for another carafe. I know it seems silly to gripe about, but it's REALLY irritating. lol. Not to mention the word carafe d'eau (a crafe of water) is really hard for me to say in French, so that's always a good time. I actually had a Turkish server (in good fun) make fun of me as i stumbled all over myself asking for a glass of water. Yay for adventure.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Searching for housing in Paris is like getting dumped ten times a day.
So here it is. The ball of stress I've been dancing around. Victor is amazing, but we can't really live at his place. This was a temporary thing and as amazing as it was, we haven't found anywhere to live. As it turns out, housing is impossible to find in Paris. Ya there are those lucky few that "know someone", but shit... if you don't know anyone then life is rough on you. Every day ten times a day I get turned down. I'm starting to have anxiety about the whole thing. It's like random strangers telling me I can't live in their hole of a studio has become some extension of all my fears of rejection. In short, IT BLOWS. Kelly, god bless her, turns into a random spastic stress ball at any given moment. Which while funny when it's over, kinda sucks when it's happening. Anyways, at this point I keep having to tell myself to be positive and honestly, it's hard to be negative for too long when I look around me and see all the awesome architecture, feel the great weather and just take in this new place I'm in.
Crazy at the Metro:
On another note, tonight we had dinner with some friends in the city, right next to the Opéra de Paris. It was a totally warm and perfect night. We went to this really delicious restaurant and had amazing food, pic. to come. i promise. Anyways, after that Kelly and I had to head back to Noisy Le Roi. Let's rewind to the dinner conversation:
our french friend Jenny: we should wrap this up, it's getting late and it's dangerous on the trains late at night.
kelly (cocky mc' cockster): nah, we're fine, I've been walking around WAY later at night before.
Jenny: ummm....ok.
Alright, now we're back to heading back to Noisy Le Roi. So we're sitting on the SNCF (a train for longer journeys) when we both hear some loud noises. I slowly look back, because come on, everyone loves a good show. Anyways, so I look back and pretty much see this huge black guy arguing with this poor old man sitting on the seat, with headphones on. Now when I say arguing, what I mean is this huge ass guy is screaming at this other man. It starts out with just a loud rant, but he breaks into a full on scream fest and tops it off by punching the poor old guy in the face. At this point other people get involved trying to stop the big guy, who is at this point screaming at the top of his lungs, saying shit like: THIS IS FRANCE! THIS IS THE REAL FRANCE! HE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS! YOU ALL NEED TO HEAR THIS! pretty much prowling back and forth in our cart SCREAMING at people. I pretty much sat there, trying my hardest not to make eye contact with him. I was convinced if I made eye contact, he would come over and start yelling, and then find out I am not french and then probably just attack me... or something to that affect. Anyways, when the train stopped, we ran off the train and switched carts, as did a lot of other people. It was pretty scary, and while the, "he might snap if he found out I wasn't French" is partly a joke, it's fairly real as well. I'm not aware of the depths of that sentiment, as I have received a lot of kindness in France, but all the same I keep seeing stickers on English adds that read "en francias s'il vous plait", which pretty much means: In French Please. Anyways, it's 12:30, I'm on benadryl and the room is getting woozy... so it's good night from Noisy!
Crazy at the Metro:
On another note, tonight we had dinner with some friends in the city, right next to the Opéra de Paris. It was a totally warm and perfect night. We went to this really delicious restaurant and had amazing food, pic. to come. i promise. Anyways, after that Kelly and I had to head back to Noisy Le Roi. Let's rewind to the dinner conversation:
our french friend Jenny: we should wrap this up, it's getting late and it's dangerous on the trains late at night.
kelly (cocky mc' cockster): nah, we're fine, I've been walking around WAY later at night before.
Jenny: ummm....ok.
Alright, now we're back to heading back to Noisy Le Roi. So we're sitting on the SNCF (a train for longer journeys) when we both hear some loud noises. I slowly look back, because come on, everyone loves a good show. Anyways, so I look back and pretty much see this huge black guy arguing with this poor old man sitting on the seat, with headphones on. Now when I say arguing, what I mean is this huge ass guy is screaming at this other man. It starts out with just a loud rant, but he breaks into a full on scream fest and tops it off by punching the poor old guy in the face. At this point other people get involved trying to stop the big guy, who is at this point screaming at the top of his lungs, saying shit like: THIS IS FRANCE! THIS IS THE REAL FRANCE! HE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS! YOU ALL NEED TO HEAR THIS! pretty much prowling back and forth in our cart SCREAMING at people. I pretty much sat there, trying my hardest not to make eye contact with him. I was convinced if I made eye contact, he would come over and start yelling, and then find out I am not french and then probably just attack me... or something to that affect. Anyways, when the train stopped, we ran off the train and switched carts, as did a lot of other people. It was pretty scary, and while the, "he might snap if he found out I wasn't French" is partly a joke, it's fairly real as well. I'm not aware of the depths of that sentiment, as I have received a lot of kindness in France, but all the same I keep seeing stickers on English adds that read "en francias s'il vous plait", which pretty much means: In French Please. Anyways, it's 12:30, I'm on benadryl and the room is getting woozy... so it's good night from Noisy!
Monday, September 20, 2010
A new chapter - the final post
Day 5:
Tour de Versailles; A Feat! (and we’re caught up to today, the day I’m writing this all out. I feel like If I didn’t do it soon, the beginning would get drowned out in a sea of experiences or just forgotten due to dead brain cells. Yay wine!):
I woke up rested and full of gratitude. A little ashamed of how being exhausted had made me so ungracious the night before; Victor apologized for taking me out when I was so tired, which only made me feel worse. It’s amazing how kind everyone is of my childishness. I may not say it often, but I know it and am really grateful for it. Today just brought more in life to be grateful for. We had breakfast with Victor’s family and then Kelly and I spent the next few hours, showering, being on skype, talking to family members, writing emails etc. Come afternoon, Victor came and got us. I went downstairs to find a table laid out in the backyard. I walked into, what appear to be, my first of many multi course French meals. Victor’s family has gone above and beyond, and while they swear it isn't for us, I know they are being incredibly kind. We started out with cantaloupe, followed by duck which his mom prepared with a side of vegetables, followed by different types of cheeses and his dad’s homemade bread with a bottle of wine, followed by glazed pears with ice cream and it was all topped off with REALLY good coffee. (first time in my life to drink coffee without sugar or milk). Anyways, we sat in the sun and talked for a few hours and then in fit French fashion decided to go for a bike ride. Clemont joined us, and as it turns out, we biked all the way to The Palace of Versailles (13 miles). It was beyond amazing. The biking was a bit hard, as I am a “non athletic American” were Victor’s words, I believe. He also went on to tell me that he wanted to marry an American Girl, but Kelly and I were making him change his mind, because we were biking so slow on the way back. Regardless, the scenery was beautiful, the company amazing and the palace spectacular. I really feel like I’m going to run out of positive adjectives. I guess that’s when I’ll start talking about the stress that is finding housing. But for now, we’re staying on the positive. We came back around 6, took a small break. Victor helped his dad chop wood for the winter season, which will be here in no time, and Kelly and I, like lazy Americans relaxed online. At 8:00 we were expected Chez Charlie et Claire. Charlie and Claire are engaged and incredibly cute. Claire made us Fajita’s and Charlie loves to have long discussions so, we were in for a good night. Also, Charlie is the hottest guy I’ve seen in France so far (minus a guy who sat next to me on the RER for 5 minutes and was talking to me until the freaking train got canceled. Totally my luck). That guy aside, Charlie is incredibly handsome, which I was telling Victor in private, but obviously Victor being a total jackass told Charlie and Claire. Queue embarrassment.
The fajitas were delicious and the salsa was surprisingly good. Of course fajitas were preceded by wine and appetizers and followed by dessert and coffee. I guess I’ll just get used to the greatness that is France. We talked about all types of really interesting things and Kelly and Victor both said they were impressed by my French tonight, which means a lot to me, since I’m truly aware of how bad it is. We got home around midnight, and Victor had to head to bed because he has work tomorrow. Kelly went to sleep as well, but I was not able to sleep. I really wanted to keep a blog of this trip, and even though it’s only been 5 days since I’ve arrived in France, I’ve been feeling like IT’S BEEN 5 DAYS SINCE I’VE BEEN HERE AND I HAVEN’T STARTED MY BLOG!”. So I’m really just glad to have typed this out. Hopefully I can do it a day at a time or an entry a week or something, instead of 5 days worth of information in one sitting. So… bare with me, and if you made it down here….well shit.. thanks for reading!
Day 4:
A Private Tour:
We woke up, let me correct myself, I woke up at 8:30: hung over but eager to get yet another beautiful day started in Paris! To my dismay, Kelly, Victor and Clemont remained passed out till 10:00. I guess that’s just the problem when you’re the new kid in town. I tried just going for a walk by myself, but I didn’t have the key, so I could only pace around the courtyard of Clemont’s studio complex. And honestly, that was fine for me, because even that was really beautiful. Kelly and Victor laugh at me because I’m always jumping around gasping, but honestly, it’s so new to me. Everything here is new and amazing to me. It’s not like East Asia or South Asia or North America, and that’s all I know. It’s wonderful to be in a place so foreign. And sometimes, in a weird way, I love not speaking French. It feels so amazing to be lost in noise. I make up conversations and just let sound and noise vibrate in my head. It’s really great. Anyways, around 10, I lost patience and opened the only window in the studio and pretty much burned them all into being away with the bright sun. Clemont’s apartment is amazing, because you can see the Sacre coure from it. This is the view:
I tell them this every day, but these bastards are spoiled!. (side note: the milk here doesn’t spoil for months…I’m talking, the milk in Victor’s fridge doesn’t expire till late November, wtf is that?). Anyways, back to Clemont, the view from his apartment is beyond amazing. So we finally get up and head out, and yet another reason why I can’t be lucky enough. Clemont and Victor take me and Kelly on a personal tour of Paris, so we pretty much drive through the entire city and see all the “tourist” spots. They laugh at me the whole time, because I’m a total American tourist who can’t put her Camera down, but all the same, they take me to all the places that everyone wants to see in Paris.
I hope to go to them all one by one, and really see them in due time, but for now, I can’t complain about getting a private tour of Paris while singing the Moulin Rouge soundtrack on the top of our lungs (Kelly’s pick, but it’s my guilty pleasure as well). Upon getting back into Noisy Le Roi, Victor made us lunch, and it ended up being the most unusual of treats, though it did not seem so at first. He made hot dogs with mashed potatoes and apple sauce and ofcourse there was the bread that his dad bakes EVERY night, with butter. Clemont brought over beef balls and though it may not sound like much, it was pretty great saying beef balls in French for about 20 minutes. Lol. This was followed by Clemont playing the piano for us and making goofy parodies of American things/songs and then we sat in the sun for a while. Later in the night Victor, Kelly and I went to eat dinner in Versailles and then to a bar to meet some of his friends (this is where I had my first pang of ungratefulness). We ate dinner at an amazing pizza place and I got the pizza Vieneto: Ham, artichokes, chorizo and egg . Yes, egg. lol, and it was good.
Still Day 4:
An interesting conversation:
At dinner Victor and I had a really interesting conversation about language and what it says about the culture it belongs to. He’s been observing (and this is something that I’ve been aware of as well, so it was cool to hear him speak about it) how loosely we Americans use our words. Specifically “love”. He was saying how it’s strange for him to hear American’s say things like: I love this pizza, I love your shirt, I love your eyes, I love your hair, I love this song, I love this movie, I love that car, I love paris, I love music and so on and so forth. Kelly was really defending this usage of love, which I thought was funny and cute, since she uses love ALL the time and even right after we got done talking about it, she proceeded to say “god, I love Europe”. Anyways, Victor’s point was that using love so loosely takes away a sense of sacredness from the word. And that while you may REALLY like a lot of things, it’s a little…strange to be saying you love everything and everyone you like, because…..well love ought to be something a little more. While I was trying my best to play devil’s advocate in Frenglish this conversation helped me realize something interesting, in Hindi there is NO word for loving objects. You simply can’t say it. You can say you really like something, that something is great and that you prefer it, but you cannot use the word love for it without also insinuating that it is something sacred and truly special to you. Victor seemed to say that French had a similar feel, though you can say it in French, there is a certain sensibility to you. Anyways, it was really interesting. However, after that we ended up going to a bar to meet Victor’s friends, and that’s when for the first time I was a little miserable. I think it was because I was sooo tired (hung over and up since 8:30), I could barely walk. I think I feel asleep at the bar and pretty much didn’t talk to anyone and had a mini sleep deprived melt down of: “oh god, I just want to go be alone somewhere and shake myself to sleep”. We finally got home, I think I passed out in the car, but I woke up in my bed and then it was the next morning. I was in France, the sun was out, the trees were beautiful, I could smell fresh bread and life was amazing.
Tour de Versailles; A Feat! (and we’re caught up to today, the day I’m writing this all out. I feel like If I didn’t do it soon, the beginning would get drowned out in a sea of experiences or just forgotten due to dead brain cells. Yay wine!):
I woke up rested and full of gratitude. A little ashamed of how being exhausted had made me so ungracious the night before; Victor apologized for taking me out when I was so tired, which only made me feel worse. It’s amazing how kind everyone is of my childishness. I may not say it often, but I know it and am really grateful for it. Today just brought more in life to be grateful for. We had breakfast with Victor’s family and then Kelly and I spent the next few hours, showering, being on skype, talking to family members, writing emails etc. Come afternoon, Victor came and got us. I went downstairs to find a table laid out in the backyard. I walked into, what appear to be, my first of many multi course French meals. Victor’s family has gone above and beyond, and while they swear it isn't for us, I know they are being incredibly kind. We started out with cantaloupe, followed by duck which his mom prepared with a side of vegetables, followed by different types of cheeses and his dad’s homemade bread with a bottle of wine, followed by glazed pears with ice cream and it was all topped off with REALLY good coffee. (first time in my life to drink coffee without sugar or milk). Anyways, we sat in the sun and talked for a few hours and then in fit French fashion decided to go for a bike ride. Clemont joined us, and as it turns out, we biked all the way to The Palace of Versailles (13 miles). It was beyond amazing. The biking was a bit hard, as I am a “non athletic American” were Victor’s words, I believe. He also went on to tell me that he wanted to marry an American Girl, but Kelly and I were making him change his mind, because we were biking so slow on the way back. Regardless, the scenery was beautiful, the company amazing and the palace spectacular. I really feel like I’m going to run out of positive adjectives. I guess that’s when I’ll start talking about the stress that is finding housing. But for now, we’re staying on the positive. We came back around 6, took a small break. Victor helped his dad chop wood for the winter season, which will be here in no time, and Kelly and I, like lazy Americans relaxed online. At 8:00 we were expected Chez Charlie et Claire. Charlie and Claire are engaged and incredibly cute. Claire made us Fajita’s and Charlie loves to have long discussions so, we were in for a good night. Also, Charlie is the hottest guy I’ve seen in France so far (minus a guy who sat next to me on the RER for 5 minutes and was talking to me until the freaking train got canceled. Totally my luck). That guy aside, Charlie is incredibly handsome, which I was telling Victor in private, but obviously Victor being a total jackass told Charlie and Claire. Queue embarrassment.
The fajitas were delicious and the salsa was surprisingly good. Of course fajitas were preceded by wine and appetizers and followed by dessert and coffee. I guess I’ll just get used to the greatness that is France. We talked about all types of really interesting things and Kelly and Victor both said they were impressed by my French tonight, which means a lot to me, since I’m truly aware of how bad it is. We got home around midnight, and Victor had to head to bed because he has work tomorrow. Kelly went to sleep as well, but I was not able to sleep. I really wanted to keep a blog of this trip, and even though it’s only been 5 days since I’ve arrived in France, I’ve been feeling like IT’S BEEN 5 DAYS SINCE I’VE BEEN HERE AND I HAVEN’T STARTED MY BLOG!”. So I’m really just glad to have typed this out. Hopefully I can do it a day at a time or an entry a week or something, instead of 5 days worth of information in one sitting. So… bare with me, and if you made it down here….well shit.. thanks for reading!
Day 4:
A Private Tour:
We woke up, let me correct myself, I woke up at 8:30: hung over but eager to get yet another beautiful day started in Paris! To my dismay, Kelly, Victor and Clemont remained passed out till 10:00. I guess that’s just the problem when you’re the new kid in town. I tried just going for a walk by myself, but I didn’t have the key, so I could only pace around the courtyard of Clemont’s studio complex. And honestly, that was fine for me, because even that was really beautiful. Kelly and Victor laugh at me because I’m always jumping around gasping, but honestly, it’s so new to me. Everything here is new and amazing to me. It’s not like East Asia or South Asia or North America, and that’s all I know. It’s wonderful to be in a place so foreign. And sometimes, in a weird way, I love not speaking French. It feels so amazing to be lost in noise. I make up conversations and just let sound and noise vibrate in my head. It’s really great. Anyways, around 10, I lost patience and opened the only window in the studio and pretty much burned them all into being away with the bright sun. Clemont’s apartment is amazing, because you can see the Sacre coure from it. This is the view:
I tell them this every day, but these bastards are spoiled!. (side note: the milk here doesn’t spoil for months…I’m talking, the milk in Victor’s fridge doesn’t expire till late November, wtf is that?). Anyways, back to Clemont, the view from his apartment is beyond amazing. So we finally get up and head out, and yet another reason why I can’t be lucky enough. Clemont and Victor take me and Kelly on a personal tour of Paris, so we pretty much drive through the entire city and see all the “tourist” spots. They laugh at me the whole time, because I’m a total American tourist who can’t put her Camera down, but all the same, they take me to all the places that everyone wants to see in Paris.
I hope to go to them all one by one, and really see them in due time, but for now, I can’t complain about getting a private tour of Paris while singing the Moulin Rouge soundtrack on the top of our lungs (Kelly’s pick, but it’s my guilty pleasure as well). Upon getting back into Noisy Le Roi, Victor made us lunch, and it ended up being the most unusual of treats, though it did not seem so at first. He made hot dogs with mashed potatoes and apple sauce and ofcourse there was the bread that his dad bakes EVERY night, with butter. Clemont brought over beef balls and though it may not sound like much, it was pretty great saying beef balls in French for about 20 minutes. Lol. This was followed by Clemont playing the piano for us and making goofy parodies of American things/songs and then we sat in the sun for a while. Later in the night Victor, Kelly and I went to eat dinner in Versailles and then to a bar to meet some of his friends (this is where I had my first pang of ungratefulness). We ate dinner at an amazing pizza place and I got the pizza Vieneto: Ham, artichokes, chorizo and egg . Yes, egg. lol, and it was good.
Still Day 4:
An interesting conversation:
At dinner Victor and I had a really interesting conversation about language and what it says about the culture it belongs to. He’s been observing (and this is something that I’ve been aware of as well, so it was cool to hear him speak about it) how loosely we Americans use our words. Specifically “love”. He was saying how it’s strange for him to hear American’s say things like: I love this pizza, I love your shirt, I love your eyes, I love your hair, I love this song, I love this movie, I love that car, I love paris, I love music and so on and so forth. Kelly was really defending this usage of love, which I thought was funny and cute, since she uses love ALL the time and even right after we got done talking about it, she proceeded to say “god, I love Europe”. Anyways, Victor’s point was that using love so loosely takes away a sense of sacredness from the word. And that while you may REALLY like a lot of things, it’s a little…strange to be saying you love everything and everyone you like, because…..well love ought to be something a little more. While I was trying my best to play devil’s advocate in Frenglish this conversation helped me realize something interesting, in Hindi there is NO word for loving objects. You simply can’t say it. You can say you really like something, that something is great and that you prefer it, but you cannot use the word love for it without also insinuating that it is something sacred and truly special to you. Victor seemed to say that French had a similar feel, though you can say it in French, there is a certain sensibility to you. Anyways, it was really interesting. However, after that we ended up going to a bar to meet Victor’s friends, and that’s when for the first time I was a little miserable. I think it was because I was sooo tired (hung over and up since 8:30), I could barely walk. I think I feel asleep at the bar and pretty much didn’t talk to anyone and had a mini sleep deprived melt down of: “oh god, I just want to go be alone somewhere and shake myself to sleep”. We finally got home, I think I passed out in the car, but I woke up in my bed and then it was the next morning. I was in France, the sun was out, the trees were beautiful, I could smell fresh bread and life was amazing.
A new chapter contd.
Day 3
Chez Clemont and The adventure of the Velib:
On the third day here Kelly and I went out the city again and met her French friend Jenny. Jenny apparently needs a place to live, and asked Kelly if she could live with us. I'm totally happy to have a French person living with us, and in general, the more the merrier, but housing is really hard to come by here. I feel like Kelly and I are going to end up in some studio or 1 bedroom, so I don't even know how to accommodate Jenny living with us. It's just really frustrating, but I want this entry to be more about the positive and amazing experiences and less about the frustrating search for housing. Anyways, Jenny, Kelly and I were in the 15th (an area of Paris) and it was amazing. Just beautiful (in general, Paris has been beautiful to me). I love the cobble stone, I love the architecture and we have been blessed with AMAZING weather. We've been able to lie out and go to the pool, can you believe it? Anyways, we hung out with Jenny, she showed us practical things like "where to get waxed" lol. Afterward, Kelly and I returned to Noisy to get ready so we could go back into the city at Night. (The train we were on broke down, we got lost, it was REALLY frustrating and we were 3 hours late). Back to the fun stuff, so we got back to Victor's and got ready and then went to his friend Clemont's house. His grandmother has bought him a REALLY small studio (pictures to come) in a really fun area of Paris. I think Natalia lived around there. Anyways, so we pre partied at Clemont's apartment and then went to a bar called Cafe oz. It was really fun, but for me the real fun began after the night ended around 4 am. So by now the metro had closed down, so I figured like in America, we would just take a cab home. Victor told me "oh, we'll just take Velib". I figure, ok cool, velib is something like bill's bus that we will just take and head home, or maybe a taxi". Kelly and I are waiting for him outside the club with Jenny and some other friends and Victor and Clemont show up with 4 bikes. Apparently Velib is a bike rental system courtesy of the French government. It's on wiki. So at 4 am, the 4 of us biked through Paris and it was amazing. It was such a fun experience.
Needless to say Kelly and I both had to get dragged up the final hill, and it’s been a laughing matter since. But the whole experience was so singular and amazing. It just makes me feel lucky to have made French friends right way, because it’s allowed me to get engrossed in the culture on every level. The young culture through Victor, Clemont and Jenny and the more formal culture through Victor’s parents, (more on that later). When we finally got to Clemont’s apartment, we went to a nearby place and grabbed a Greek sandwich and then Kelly and I snagged the pull out bed and Victor and Clemont had to sleep on the floor. I have really funny pictures from this night that I will post eventually. It’s really hard to be on top of that right now, because I’m living out of a suitcase in a small room which I’m sharing with Kelly. I can barley find shit to wear, let alone have the courage to look for my camera cord. Anyways, the night was really fun and ended beautifully. The next day…
Day2:
Chez Victor:
Victor is pretty much one of the coolest guys I've met. He is so funny and intelligent. I know it sounds like I'm crushing on him, and I might be, but in all honesty, I'm glad to have made a friend like him. Kelly and I are living at his house for the next two weeks. His parents are SO kind and amazing. I can't say "thank you" and "can I help you with anything" to them enough times. They have provided Kelly and me with a room with our own beds, and have pretty much let us treat their house like it's ours.
Victor works during the day, so he was not able to hang out with us the first day with him. Kelly and I went to Paris and saw the Eiffel tower. I had honestly never thought of it as much, I know it’s' a magnificent symbol of human ingenuity and blah blah blah, but in pictures it always seemed kind of....ugly. lol. But seeing it in real life has definitely changed my mind. It was really majestic. Maybe it was the fact that it was a beautiful day in the sun or the fact that we had a picnic right under it, but I'm most definitely pretty charmed by it.
Since my French is nowhere near as good as Kelly’s I’ve really been making an effort to speak as much as I can. This results in a lot of really embarrassing moments. For example, today I walked up to the lady that works the information center and meant to ask: “ can I please have a map to the metro”. Instead what happened is, that I walked up to this poor woman, started at her square in the eyes and said: “I have a map of the metro”. Obviously she stared back, probably wondering, then why the fuck are you standing in line. Anyways, I thought maybe my accent was bad, so I repeated: “yes, I have a map of the metro”. After she continued to stare at me confused, I added “please”. I think this tipped her off and she smiled and handed me a map. AWESOME. Lol. Anyways, it’s stuff like this, that’s embarrassing, makes for good laughs while drinking, but has also been helping me a lot. After hanging out at the tower, we went to go meet Victor at the train station, since he was coming back from Germany, where he had gone for a business trip. Anyways, without a phone or any real planning, needless to say we didn't find him. lol after being lost for 2 hours, we went to Orange, a local phone company (I believe it's connected with Verizon in some way) and Kelly got her phone from before updated. In the meantime I walked around the street and took pictures, and asked a random really hot guy if I could use his phone to call Victor. It's really great sucking at French. I'm constantly making an ass of myself with poor grammar, and a limited vocabulary, (but so far I've ONLY hung out with French people...so really, my French is improving at a really good rate). When we got to Victor’s we had dinner with his family, which is a daily and wonderful ritual. We always have dinner together and talk about all sorts of things. I struggle along, but make an effort to make my opinions heard. Everyone is really patient. Victor and Kelly help translate a lot. Kelly’s French is really impressive to me, so I hope I can get there as well. After dinner, Victor’s friend Clemont came over. Victor and Clemont have been friends since they were five and it’s really cute to see them interact. Clemont is......lol. It's really hard to describe him. He's pretty hot, but also, just REALLY funny, outgoing and friendly. I swear Kelly has a crush on him, but can’t really act on it since she has a serious boyfriend. He is totally Mr. Party guy, but he’s really nice and interesting. So anyways, he comes over to meet us and hang out for a bit, and brings over a bottle of coke. Now, I appreciate a gift just as much as the next person, but this was one of those moments where our cultural differences and sensibilities get highlighted, and I thought it was really funny. I’m not sure if I am going to be able to communicate it, but we’re all sitting around just talking about stuff, and he pulls out this bottle of coca cola and four glasses and pours them for us, and that’s it. But that’s what is so funny. That was it. Usually if someone comes over and brings coke, there is rum or something involved, but Clemont just loves coca cola, so that’s what he brought over and it was really cute and funny. So we sat around and drank coke and talked till into the night and then it was the next day.
Chez Clemont and The adventure of the Velib:
On the third day here Kelly and I went out the city again and met her French friend Jenny. Jenny apparently needs a place to live, and asked Kelly if she could live with us. I'm totally happy to have a French person living with us, and in general, the more the merrier, but housing is really hard to come by here. I feel like Kelly and I are going to end up in some studio or 1 bedroom, so I don't even know how to accommodate Jenny living with us. It's just really frustrating, but I want this entry to be more about the positive and amazing experiences and less about the frustrating search for housing. Anyways, Jenny, Kelly and I were in the 15th (an area of Paris) and it was amazing. Just beautiful (in general, Paris has been beautiful to me). I love the cobble stone, I love the architecture and we have been blessed with AMAZING weather. We've been able to lie out and go to the pool, can you believe it? Anyways, we hung out with Jenny, she showed us practical things like "where to get waxed" lol. Afterward, Kelly and I returned to Noisy to get ready so we could go back into the city at Night. (The train we were on broke down, we got lost, it was REALLY frustrating and we were 3 hours late). Back to the fun stuff, so we got back to Victor's and got ready and then went to his friend Clemont's house. His grandmother has bought him a REALLY small studio (pictures to come) in a really fun area of Paris. I think Natalia lived around there. Anyways, so we pre partied at Clemont's apartment and then went to a bar called Cafe oz. It was really fun, but for me the real fun began after the night ended around 4 am. So by now the metro had closed down, so I figured like in America, we would just take a cab home. Victor told me "oh, we'll just take Velib". I figure, ok cool, velib is something like bill's bus that we will just take and head home, or maybe a taxi". Kelly and I are waiting for him outside the club with Jenny and some other friends and Victor and Clemont show up with 4 bikes. Apparently Velib is a bike rental system courtesy of the French government. It's on wiki. So at 4 am, the 4 of us biked through Paris and it was amazing. It was such a fun experience.
Needless to say Kelly and I both had to get dragged up the final hill, and it’s been a laughing matter since. But the whole experience was so singular and amazing. It just makes me feel lucky to have made French friends right way, because it’s allowed me to get engrossed in the culture on every level. The young culture through Victor, Clemont and Jenny and the more formal culture through Victor’s parents, (more on that later). When we finally got to Clemont’s apartment, we went to a nearby place and grabbed a Greek sandwich and then Kelly and I snagged the pull out bed and Victor and Clemont had to sleep on the floor. I have really funny pictures from this night that I will post eventually. It’s really hard to be on top of that right now, because I’m living out of a suitcase in a small room which I’m sharing with Kelly. I can barley find shit to wear, let alone have the courage to look for my camera cord. Anyways, the night was really fun and ended beautifully. The next day…
Day2:
Chez Victor:
Victor is pretty much one of the coolest guys I've met. He is so funny and intelligent. I know it sounds like I'm crushing on him, and I might be, but in all honesty, I'm glad to have made a friend like him. Kelly and I are living at his house for the next two weeks. His parents are SO kind and amazing. I can't say "thank you" and "can I help you with anything" to them enough times. They have provided Kelly and me with a room with our own beds, and have pretty much let us treat their house like it's ours.
Victor works during the day, so he was not able to hang out with us the first day with him. Kelly and I went to Paris and saw the Eiffel tower. I had honestly never thought of it as much, I know it’s' a magnificent symbol of human ingenuity and blah blah blah, but in pictures it always seemed kind of....ugly. lol. But seeing it in real life has definitely changed my mind. It was really majestic. Maybe it was the fact that it was a beautiful day in the sun or the fact that we had a picnic right under it, but I'm most definitely pretty charmed by it.
Since my French is nowhere near as good as Kelly’s I’ve really been making an effort to speak as much as I can. This results in a lot of really embarrassing moments. For example, today I walked up to the lady that works the information center and meant to ask: “ can I please have a map to the metro”. Instead what happened is, that I walked up to this poor woman, started at her square in the eyes and said: “I have a map of the metro”. Obviously she stared back, probably wondering, then why the fuck are you standing in line. Anyways, I thought maybe my accent was bad, so I repeated: “yes, I have a map of the metro”. After she continued to stare at me confused, I added “please”. I think this tipped her off and she smiled and handed me a map. AWESOME. Lol. Anyways, it’s stuff like this, that’s embarrassing, makes for good laughs while drinking, but has also been helping me a lot. After hanging out at the tower, we went to go meet Victor at the train station, since he was coming back from Germany, where he had gone for a business trip. Anyways, without a phone or any real planning, needless to say we didn't find him. lol after being lost for 2 hours, we went to Orange, a local phone company (I believe it's connected with Verizon in some way) and Kelly got her phone from before updated. In the meantime I walked around the street and took pictures, and asked a random really hot guy if I could use his phone to call Victor. It's really great sucking at French. I'm constantly making an ass of myself with poor grammar, and a limited vocabulary, (but so far I've ONLY hung out with French people...so really, my French is improving at a really good rate). When we got to Victor’s we had dinner with his family, which is a daily and wonderful ritual. We always have dinner together and talk about all sorts of things. I struggle along, but make an effort to make my opinions heard. Everyone is really patient. Victor and Kelly help translate a lot. Kelly’s French is really impressive to me, so I hope I can get there as well. After dinner, Victor’s friend Clemont came over. Victor and Clemont have been friends since they were five and it’s really cute to see them interact. Clemont is......lol. It's really hard to describe him. He's pretty hot, but also, just REALLY funny, outgoing and friendly. I swear Kelly has a crush on him, but can’t really act on it since she has a serious boyfriend. He is totally Mr. Party guy, but he’s really nice and interesting. So anyways, he comes over to meet us and hang out for a bit, and brings over a bottle of coke. Now, I appreciate a gift just as much as the next person, but this was one of those moments where our cultural differences and sensibilities get highlighted, and I thought it was really funny. I’m not sure if I am going to be able to communicate it, but we’re all sitting around just talking about stuff, and he pulls out this bottle of coca cola and four glasses and pours them for us, and that’s it. But that’s what is so funny. That was it. Usually if someone comes over and brings coke, there is rum or something involved, but Clemont just loves coca cola, so that’s what he brought over and it was really cute and funny. So we sat around and drank coke and talked till into the night and then it was the next day.
A new chapter
Hi everyone. This first post is really long, because it's a pretty detailed posting of my past five days here. I have been really excited to start this blog and really just get my experiences and thoughts into writing. I wrote out the past five days in one sitting, but am posting it in three different installments. I will add pictures a little later.
Day 1
Charles De Gaulle and Chez Zane:
It's been such a long time since I've posted, but to be honest, for a long time there hasn't been much happening in my life to post about. Anyways, of late, that has changed. Though I think you all know this, just in case someone missed it, I've moved to Paris for the coming year. So here is a little bit on what's happened in the past five days (which shocks me to say, because it already feels like I’ve been here for months, but in a good way). Anyways, getting here was pure hell, lol. Kelly and I both had at least 120 or 130 lbs of luggage each, and while that goes against the "take what you can carry" philosophy, we were moving here, so we decided to go the take what the airlines let you route. Anyways, it was all good and well till we had Chris, Kelly’s bf and my dad to help us carry our luggage and put it in check in etc. But when we landed in Charles de Gaulle, thus began the true experience. We had to carry our luggage without any trolley or anyone to help us, all the way on the train and then the metro (2 hours) to a friend's house. Needless to say lots of shenanigans happened. Kelly dropped my suitcase down and escalator. Some French guys helped us throw our suitcases over the RER (train) ticket counter etc. Well, we finally got to my friend Zane's house. This brings me to point A. People are kind. Kind beyond words and kind in a way I had forgotten existed because I had not gone anywhere new in so long. Now, for everyone who is thinking, who the fuck is Zane, you're totally right to think that. The truth is I had no idea who Zane was until the day my flight took off. He is a friend of a girl (model, our age) that my dad knows. She gave me his name and I facebooked him. Anyways, so this TOTAL stranger, met us at the station, took us into his home and was so kind to us that I really can’t get over it. He took us around his neighborhood, bought us our first baguette (sooooo delicious) and then bought all these ingredients and cooked us Risotto which we ate on his terrace with a few of his friends while drinking two bottles of wine. He then drove us ALL the way to Noisy le Roi (a suburb near Versailles, where we are staying with our friend Victor). It was about 45 minutes away. Anyways, it was soo nice of him to do all of this for us, seeing as we had not even met each other before. But we are friends now, so that's great.
Day 1
Charles De Gaulle and Chez Zane:
It's been such a long time since I've posted, but to be honest, for a long time there hasn't been much happening in my life to post about. Anyways, of late, that has changed. Though I think you all know this, just in case someone missed it, I've moved to Paris for the coming year. So here is a little bit on what's happened in the past five days (which shocks me to say, because it already feels like I’ve been here for months, but in a good way). Anyways, getting here was pure hell, lol. Kelly and I both had at least 120 or 130 lbs of luggage each, and while that goes against the "take what you can carry" philosophy, we were moving here, so we decided to go the take what the airlines let you route. Anyways, it was all good and well till we had Chris, Kelly’s bf and my dad to help us carry our luggage and put it in check in etc. But when we landed in Charles de Gaulle, thus began the true experience. We had to carry our luggage without any trolley or anyone to help us, all the way on the train and then the metro (2 hours) to a friend's house. Needless to say lots of shenanigans happened. Kelly dropped my suitcase down and escalator. Some French guys helped us throw our suitcases over the RER (train) ticket counter etc. Well, we finally got to my friend Zane's house. This brings me to point A. People are kind. Kind beyond words and kind in a way I had forgotten existed because I had not gone anywhere new in so long. Now, for everyone who is thinking, who the fuck is Zane, you're totally right to think that. The truth is I had no idea who Zane was until the day my flight took off. He is a friend of a girl (model, our age) that my dad knows. She gave me his name and I facebooked him. Anyways, so this TOTAL stranger, met us at the station, took us into his home and was so kind to us that I really can’t get over it. He took us around his neighborhood, bought us our first baguette (sooooo delicious) and then bought all these ingredients and cooked us Risotto which we ate on his terrace with a few of his friends while drinking two bottles of wine. He then drove us ALL the way to Noisy le Roi (a suburb near Versailles, where we are staying with our friend Victor). It was about 45 minutes away. Anyways, it was soo nice of him to do all of this for us, seeing as we had not even met each other before. But we are friends now, so that's great.
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