I was so lucky to have a very animated and friendly class. There were a few interesting stories.
Simen is from Norway, in Paris while his girlfriend (also Norwegian) is studying here.
Melena is Chilean but from London and moved here because her husband got a job here and she has to learn French so she can get a job.
Kitti is Hungarian but has moved from Germany with her boyfriend.
Katie is American and is a dancer in a Cabaret.
Claudia is also American and I'm still not sure why she's here...
Michele is also American and was on a similar trip to me. Just wanted a break from work and to learn French in Paris. She normally works as a camera operator for TV/movies.
After our first class we all stayed back and helped each other with the homework then went to the Eiffel Tower. We caught the bus and there it was. There are 2 security check points to get to the tower itself and mounted police walking around. I had a two crepes (chicken and cheese and a nutella one). We contemplated going up but it was a bit overcast and the line was pretty long.
At the end of the Champs Elysee is the Arc de Tripomph. It is very big and beautiful. Unfortunately it is in the middle of a 5 lane roundabout with no lanes so it's a bit of a nightmare. Discovering I was only 2km from home I walked the rest of the way home.
Tuesday- 7/2/17
School from 9-1. I met Joel from Australia so it was nice to talk 'Australian' for a while. With Michelle, we all went back to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur church at the top. The weather was much nicer than when I went on Saturday so brace yourself for more pictures! I also found this tiny car/motor bike...
Sacré-Cœur
Then we all walked back through the galleries and found some intersting paintings and some friendly cats!
Wednesday 8/2/17
School from 9-1 then I went to the Musee Marmottan Monet. On the way I found some pony/donkey rides and dogs gallivanting in the park.
The museum has the largest collection of Monet painings in the world. There are very beautiful. It looks like they are done so quickly and carelessly but there were some only part done and you could tell that they were indeed works of art.
Looking at the map I saw there was a very large park just behind the museum so went for a walk. This park was huge. After walking for a while I became suspicious that there may be horses in this area so decided to do some detective work. Evidently there were.
It is the same park that includes the Longchamp racecourse and also 2 riding schools.
Beside one of the lakes, you could hire a shetland pony to take your kid for a ride. So there was this very woman leading a shetland pony with her golden retriever bouncing around them.
Then, out of the woods, the most elegant and French woman in a long tan coat emerged, followed by lady in red on a white horse. Stunning. This cemented my determination to find the riding schools.
After more walking I found the schools and they were quite fancy. Especially the second one.
More walking and I found the Louis Vitton Foundation art museum. The line was very long.
So I kept walking and found an amusement park of sorts that had farm animals but it was closing.
So I walked to the metro.
I decided to go out for dinner. I went to the cafe/restaurant down the road. I had a glass of wine and they gave me a plate of olives then brought my salmon pasta and a bucket of bread. The french have bread with every meal and restaurants just hand out buckets of the stuff. Then for dessert, the most delicious creme brulee. I was there for almost two hours and the waiter asked why I was going so soon when I asked for the bill..
Thursday 9/2/17
Cold. It was 3 degrees when I left the house. On the way to the train I saw a poor little car that must have been hit during the night. The back was all crumpeled and the headlights had popped out like little bug eyes.
Note to self and everyone else- Never drive or park a car in Paris. They are lunatics
After school I went looking for ski gear. I bought a pair of boots that would be good for the snow or rain as the sole was like a gumboot but the top was like boots. (After actually wearing them for two days I decided to give them up as they were too uncomfortable.) Then I went to Decathalon and bought everything for skiing (bar the boots and skiis) for 154 Euros which is not much more than $200.
Friday 10/2/17
The class all went out for lunch after school. As usual in France, it took two hours.
We shared escargot and I had cheese and dessert :D
Then I went to Galleries Lafayette with Kitti. It is in a beautiful building. I think it was the original version of Myers and David Jones.
So many beautiful (and expensive) clothes stores
Then home to plan the trip to Venice tomorrow!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment