Paris

It sounds cliche but I've been here for a week and a half and Paris already feels like home. I heard some quote once about how Paris belongs to no one and it belongs to everyone, and it's true. It's hard to explain but when you're here, you feel like a stranger and at home at the same time. I'm so amazed and lucky that I'm actually here, and it kind of feels like a dream.

I'm renting a room from a woman who lives with her daughter in the 15th arrondissement, kind of by the Eiffel tower and right on the Seine. I have a gorgeous view out of my window of the river and since there aren't many skyscrapers in Paris, you can see miles and miles of beautiful buildings on a clear day. And the Statue of Liberty is right outside my window! (Remember? It was kind of like a friendship necklace, they gave one to the United States and kept one here). The woman and her daughter who live here are very nice and friendly, and when I talk to them I get to practice my French! My French is getting much better already, which is good since I start classes (all in French) next week :/

Sciences Po, the school I'm attending organized a Welcome Program for the international students that took place last week, full of tours, museum visits, dinners, parties, and a class about classes at Sciences Po (?). We toured Île de la Cité where Notre Dame, the Conciergerie (the prison used during the Reign of Terror) and the gorgeous Sainte-Chappelle church are all located, took a boat cruise down the Seine, attended a lecture on the history of Paris, did a scavenger hunt around Paris, and went to lots of restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs. We also took a tour of the gorgeous Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood where Sciences Po's campus is. At one point during the tour, our guide showed us an international grocery store and said in a very thick French accent, "You can go here for American food items like penis butter"...

All the students in the Welcome Program made lots of friends very quickly, and even though none of them are French, I've been having a great time getting to know people from all over the world. Now that the Welcome Program is over, we're arranging similar tours, museum visits, dinners and parties on our own. Going to dinner or coffee always takes at least 3 hours here, which is great when you have nothing planned, nowhere to go, and no responsibilities but will be harder once classes start! Paris restaurants are fantastic, but they aren't very vegetarian-friendly. French bread, cheese, and produce are to die for so I don't mind too much. I am falling in love with France's amazing wine, especially since you can get a really great bottle of wine for 4-5 euros. At night, bars are fun for hanging out with friends after all the restaurants close and then the nightclubs stay open after all the bars close. The clubbing scene is pretty crazy. The laid-back ones are fun if you want to dance and listen to loud music, and the really swanky ones are in gorgeous old buildings and they play better music, but everyone who goes there is really pretentious and unfriendly.

The fashion shows for Haute Couture week end today and Paris has been full of excitement all week. Yesterday, I hung out outside the Jean Paul Gaultier and Valentino shows with some friends and we saw tons of celebrities and important fashion people, and we got to see the models as they left the shows in full hair and makeup paired with their street clothes. The shows are by invitation, but we were right there and got to experience the atmosphere while watching everyone come and go. And Anna Wintour (the editor of American Vogue, who the Devil Wears Prada is about) walked past me three times during the course of the day! My heart stopped a little when I saw Garance Doré, the writer/photographer for www.garancedore.fr, my all-time favorite style blog. Everyone going to the shows was wearing such beautiful clothes, and we had a good time laughing at everyone hobbling along the cobblestone streets in 7-inch platform heels.

Everyone dresses very nicely in Paris, but looks like they just threw on whatever they're wearing without thinking about it. The winter uniform for the Parisienne is a wool peacoat, miniskirt/shorts, tights, and boots. Really? Shorts? Yes. It's usually about 40-45 degrees though, which sounds like summer to any native Chicagoan. Another weird thing about Paris is that the sun doesn't rise until 8:30 this time of year, which is hard to get used to. Everyone says this, but French people really are quite polite and friendly if you speak French and they can come across as unfriendly, but I think they're just more serious than Americans are used to. A French person told me the other day that he likes America because we're so much funnier than the French, which I'd never thought about before.

That's all for now!

Love,
Heidi