Chez pas

First of all, I'd like to apologize to all my fans out there for getting kind of lax about blogging.

In other news, spring in Paris is heaven! I'm glad I'm here for winter then spring rather than fall then winter so the city will just get better and better. I just love picnics, walking everywhere, not wearing a coat, seeing flowers for once, leaves on trees (not quite yet)... Unlike Chicago, Paris switched over to 55-65 degree weather a couple weeks ago and it hasn't really varied much day to day.

In class the other day, 4 non-native French speakers had a presentation/debate and at one point a girl was having trouble explaining something, so the professor asked her to say it in English. The whole debate switched to English for a while, then switched back to French later which was really funny. I had my last presentation for a while a couple weeks ago, then a really long break from homework and now I only have a couple more assignments before the semester is over. In case you haven't gathered this, my biggest goal while I'm here is to reward myself for working so hard my whole life by relaxing and basking in not having any responsibilities, then I'll be able to go home and start my grown-up life.

There was an article in Women's Wear Daily about a huge new Ralph Lauren store in Saint Germain that's opening soon--and I walk past it every day to and from school! The Marais has just replaced Saint-Germain-des-Prés as my favorite neighborhood in Paris. It's known for being really trendy/funky/hipstery and it has all the charm and character of some of my other favorite neighborhoods, like Montmartre (where Sacré Coeur is), but in the Marais it's even more exaggerated, and it's cleaner and more upscale (read: safer). It's full of fun restaurants, interesting architecture, great little shops, and really trendy/funky people. And when you're in the Marais, you have to go vintage shopping. Vintage clothing stores are almost museums of trends come and gone, and searching for funky clothes with mystery past lives is so much more fun (and challenging) than just getting the latest thing at H&M. One day while hanging out in the Marais, I ran into 3 groups of people I knew, and it felt really cool to just see people I know around Paris.

A couple weeks ago, I got falafel from "L'As du Falafel" in the Jewish neighborhood of the Marais, which is supposed to have the best falafel in Paris...and it was. I could eat there every day. You pay 5 euros, then wait in a long line where everyone gets the same thing (they just ask if you want hot sauce) which is lots of falafel in a pita with grilled eggplant, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and yogurt sauce. Mmm. Any kind of Mediterranean food is my favorite kind of food. Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, it's all so good. There's another Middle Easter restaurant in the Marais called "Chez Marianne" that sells things like tabbouli, stuffed grape leaves, marinated mushrooms, fried eggplant, hummus, and feta cheese by the kilo, or you can get sampler platter things to eat there. It's like a really good Middle Eastern Boston Market.

I'm going to Nice over spring break in a few weeks, because the French Riviera > Cancun any day. We're staying in a hostel that was voted best hostel in France for the last 5 years, and it's gorgeous and cheap and THE FRENCH RIVIERA! I'm excited.

A week or so ago there was an Erasmus party on a boat for Paris exchange students at lots of different schools. It was pouring when I was walking there with my friends and we all showed up absolutely soaked, but it was fun anyway. There was a buffet dinner, then a cruise down the Seine, then a dance party with a crazy light show where they played mostly American music. I hadn't realized how much I missed American dance music and it was a nice break from techno and songs I don't know.

Another day recently, I went to a pizza place with some friends, and I have to mention that pizza in Paris is served on plates that are smaller than the pizza, and you eat it with a knife and fork and dip it in spicy olive oil. After dinner, I went to a showing of Grey Gardens at the Centre Pompidou. That movie is fascinating if you haven't seen it and the director was there and talked and answered questions afterwards, which made me appreciate the movie a lot more.

I decided that I'm turning into a grownup. I know this because I like apples, onions, and reading the Wall Street Journal now.

Last week I went to the catacombs, which is a whole bunch of tunnels where the bones of 6,000,000 people were put when Paris's cemeteries got too crowded in the 1700s. The tunnels run underneath the whole city but the touristy part created in 1810 is lit (poorly), has skulls arranged in artistic designs, and plaques with old French poems about death (but don't worry, if you don't speak French they're in Latin too!)

This weekend, I went to Le Relais de l'Entrecôte, a really fancy, famous steak frites place (I got a cheese plate) where it seems like the rich and beautiful go to hang out. Afterwards, we went to N'importe quoi, a really fun and trendy club kind of place that plays great music (Blue, Tainted Love...), and I've been there a couple times now. This time, I got a free t-shirt!

Then on Sunday I went to a wine show for independent vineyards, which has to be one of my favorite things I've done here. For 3 euros, you go in and they give you your glass. Then there were hundreds of tables set up where the people who owned the vineyards (there's a word for that in French but I can't think of one in English) were displaying their wares, and you just go ask them about their wines and taste whatever you want. They're all really passionate and knowledgeable so I learned a lot of different kinds of grapes, wine regions, years, how they get wines to taste a certain way, etc. French wine is amazing and The idea is that it's exposure for them and that you're supposed to buy some, but you get to taste, learn about, and buy great wines that you can't get anywhere else, so it's a huge win-win.

Some friends and I had a 5 hour long picnic at the Eiffel tower last week which included a guitar and improvised singing, meeting some American tourists, different friends coming and going, a sunset, and lots and lots of food.

Orchestra is fun. I love always having a little music in my life, and I'm meeting more French people through it. For one of our songs, the Sciences Po choir is singing with us and it sounds really nice. We have a concert in April and I think we have another concert at a prison?

My mom is coming in four days! We traveled to Paris 5 years ago, and I'm excited to give her an insider's view of the city now that the Paris I know seems so different from the one we visited then. It'll be great to see her and show her what my daily life is like, and my amazingly accommodating host mom is staying with her boyfriend while my mom's here so we'll have the run of the place!