une américaine à paris

“Paris is a mood, a longing you didn’t know you had until it was answered. It’s like love or art or faith. It can’t be explained, only felt.” –An American in Paris

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Watched the trailer for this a few times last night while jet lag kept me awake and absolutely loved this quote. i haven't actually seen the movie yet but we found a movie theater in the Quartier Latin that shows old black and white hollywood movies so i might have to make time for this one. 

If only i was as timeless as Gene Kelly. Maybe then i could fall in love on the quai. 

But maybe it's not so impossible. After all, i am an american in paris*... 


*just kidding mum and dad. well, mostly.

Récemment

1.taking a walking break on the Seine

2.little French girl looking at the locks on Pont Neuf

3.Farrow and Ball store--for mum

4.Sacre Cœur

5.Un homme reading outside of Shakespeare & Co.

6.Piano/reading room in Shakespeare & Co.

7.Petite fille 

8.Ma comarade de chambre, Melissa, at a cathedral in the Latin Quarter

9.L'amour

10.Women really do carry flowers around like this in Paris

11.des fleurs--again, for mum

12.Darian and I aka 'les jumelles'

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i wonder if it is possible to feel homesick for a place you haven't even left? My last few days à Paris have been nothing if not magical. I sometimes catch myself sitting on the Seine and wonder how I'm ever going to leave this place. But I've still got 2 months here so now's not the time for nostalgia! 

On Thursday I finally met my family, Les Beauvillé (oui mum. pas de s). The mother is all sweetness and hospitality. She wears heels and a pencil skirt every day and drags a tea tray around the house with her (on wheels). I have yet to meet her husband and son who are on a scout trip, but I ate dinner with the rest of her kids. Her two daughters are 17 and 22 and her other son is 19. They were all laughter and completely changed any preconceived stereotypes I had about the stuffy French. I felt grateful when they explained to me the current elections over here. The 'lutte' between Sarkozy and Hollande is certainly raging over here and any mention of politics and the French begin to buzz. There is a student at the Sorbonne from Connecticut who also lives with Melissa and I and she is a fountain of wisdom on how to navigate the metro, what chocolate to buy, and how to drown out the train that flies by our windows all night.

Friday I began classes in the beautiful institute building near the moche centre pompidou (don't believe me? look it up). The building is absolutely gorgeous and makes going to class seem like a treat. Melissa, Maccord, and I spent the day skimming Paris. We traipsed up to Montmartre in an attempt to find the Amélie café, but instead made our way to l'opéra, place de la concorde, le Champs Élysées, the Tuilerie Gardens, the Louvre, Eiffel Tower...we walked for a total of 9 hours and by the end of the day we were starving! The thing about Paris, is all of the restaurants close at nine, of which we were unaware, so I ate a Croque Monsieur at McDo. 

Aujourd'hui was a day of firsts. I explored the Latin Quarter for the first time and visted the Mussée d'Orsay. I had never seen a Van Gough painting in real life and was blown away by the colors. Someone asked me directions to the Metro and I was able to give them. I may have squealed a little bit when they walked away, I was so excited! 

Every morning I wake up and can't wait to speak more French. My French has already improved as we try to speak French all of the time. I can only imagine what wonders living here for an extended period of time would do. Some day, peut-être? 

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“By the time I got to the bottom, I understood what Guthrie ment when he shouted LIBERO! It was a celebration of being alive.”
― Sharon Creech, Bloomability

 

j'arrive.

Triumphs of the day include being mistaken for a French girl on the airplane, ordering my first brie sandwich in a boulangerie, and successfully navigating the metro. As for not-so-triumphs, there are almost too many to name when you haven't slept for a good 36 hours. These include asking the man at car rental desk when I could check into my hotel room, getting my metro card stuck in my purse, and holding up a line of impatient Parisians while getting the right amount of change in euros.

 Bienvenue à Paris, non?

 Needless to say, Paris is oh-so charmant. Admittedly, it has taken me a few hours here to feel that way. I drove into the city in the back of a crammed van. Paris is a maze of curvy one-way streets and the van turned every which way till my already dazed, sleep-deprived head spinned. We passed all sorts of ethnic restaurants, convenience and bargain stores, nothing that screamed of La Belle France. We were stuck behind a Fed-ex truck and there were posters of Leonardo DiCaprio everywhere (well, can't complain too much about that one). I expected to see this real Paris, not the faux one of the movies and novels. Yet, I felt just as if I was in any other big city.

As for the parts of quintessential Paris, I have to keep reminding myself that the mansard roofs are real, that the signs in French actually communicate something and aren't just for decoration. Outside my room right now it is raining. There is a group of teenage boys playing a game of soccer on the field across the street and I just got my first glimpse of the Eiffel tower (completely on accident. And let me tell ya, once I saw it, I stood there and gawked for a moment). I'm taking these few things as good omens for the next few weeks. I mean to fall in love with Paris.

But for now, i'm barley keeping my eyelids open, so a bientot!