Aujourd'hui à Paris

We met for class today at St Paul church in the Marais, and walked through it - learned a little bit about the architecture of different times and different Louis' (Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI)... After that, we were free to go on our way for the day. Audrey and I ventured off to find a falafel place we had been wanting to try called "L'as du Fallafel", where we both got truly massive veggie falafel for 5€50, walked around the corner to "Thanksgiving" to pick up two cans of Dr. Pepper, and ate our lunch down by the Seine near Pont Sully!

 

We wandered over to the métro Jussieu, and on the way came upon a little vintage bookstore selling books from the 1800's for 5€

From Jussieu we went all the way to western Paris to see l'Arc de Triomphe and Champs Élysées. No matter where you are in the world, Disney has the same effect. We were instantly children again.

We then walked allllll the way down the Champs Élysées to the Louvre.

Finally, we went back to Delph's, where we ate chicken nuggets and popcorn for dinner (and I finished off the clementine juice I bought yesterday as a substitute for orange juice - they don't really sell it without pulp! Blegh! Clementine juice is cheaper anyways.) 

I downloaded a pedometer app for my phone, and I've been keeping track of how much we walk each day. We broke our record with a whopping 19,800~ steps today. Needless to say, we are tired. Luckily we have the day off tomorrow!

Kitty souvenirs

If it weren't 60€, I would have bought kitty one of these collars to show his true punk personality. One of them even has bullets on it.

Placement Results

We got our placement results - I landed in "B2"/38.. which translates to high-advanced, I believe. I don't really know what this means for me at this point. Most people in the class were put into B11 or B12 (intermediate). I'm a little worried that perhaps it will be too advanced for me, but I'm very confident in my grammar. It's the oral comprehension that I have an issue with...

Similar to the way we say "gonna" (going to) - they mesh their words together and speak so quickly that its difficult to catch what people are saying on the streets. Its far easier in classes, where you have a general idea of the topic and oftentimes have a written reference to go from as well.

On Thursday, I have my oral test. I think I will place low for that.. I actually am hoping I do, because drowning in a lack of comprehension has not helped me thus far in my experience. I'd like to work from the bottom up, and really gain an understanding of spoken french.

Things have been going well lately, and we only have one night left of sleeping at Delph's (after tonight), so soon enough we will have our own personal space! We explored the 10th arrondissement a bit today as well, which isn't too far off from our apartment, and ate at a little place called Miam Miam - what they would consider to be the same as "Yum Yum" for us, where you can get a panini, drink, and dessert for 6€20 - only about seventy cents more than our usual lunch spot, with better desserts and warm sandwiches instead! The man working there was extremely nice as well, and it's not a tourist hot spot so they're much more patient in this area.

Tomorrow we meet for class in the Marais, and Wednesday we have off. Thursday our official classes begin.

À demain! Bisous!

Nuit Blanche from Holly Norris on Vimeo.

Some random clips thrown together from Nuit Blanche, music is Intro by The XX.

Bonus photos (Notre Dame)

Our quest for an American grocery store

We've been meaning to find one since we came, and though it's probably frowned upon, we decided to go on a quest for American food in Paris. What can I say, sometimes a girl just need a nice package of Oreos to come home to at the end of the day. So I started out with a google search, and this is my list of stores to visit:

The Real McCoy - 194 Rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris (close to the Eiffel tower)
Epicerie Anglaise et Américaine de Paris - 5 Cité du Wauxhall, 75010 Paris
Thanksgiving - 20 Rue Saint-Paul, 75004 Paris

Today we went for The Real McCoy - which turned out to be an exceptional idea. The store itself on Rue de Grenelle was closed, but it had a sign on the door which lead us around the corner (to 49 Avenue Bosquet, 75007 Paris) to it's counterpart café, where they sell the same products AND prepared food. We walked out of Paris and into our own little slice of America. They have a plethora of foods we're missing... cereals, pop tarts, gushers, candy, oreos, popcorn, sauces. So luckily, we know we have access in a case of extreme deprivation, but it is very very expensive. A box of Kraft mac n' cheese is 4€50. The best part was that the two girls working there were American too! No language barrier!!! I ordered an "Extreme Burrito" and Audrey ordered a philly cheese steak sub, both with Dr. Pepper, and we were probably the happiest we've been since leaving. Comfort food takes on a whole new meaning when you're far from home.

We left The Real McCoy and traveled on up to Thanksgiving - another great store, and a bit closer to our new apartment. It mostly sold the same foods, but was a little bit cheaper. It carried Duff beer too, which was a funny edition. And vegemite! I've always wanted to try vegemite, but I don't think I would like it so I probably won't spend the 10€ on it. That's all for today!