Paris je t'aime!

Pont des arts - a pedestrian bridge

Bonjour mes amis!  Hello my friends!  I am in one of my favourite cities – Paris!  I am staying with Jules, one of my best friends from UC Santa Cruz.  He is studying abroad in Paris for the entire year.  Unfortunately there is no internet in Jules' "chambre de bonne" (a.k.a. what used to be the maid's quarters which are at the top of most old Parisian buildings) so my Paris blog posts are not as frequent as the ones prior.

Yesterday I arrived in Paris Gare du Nord, the main train station where the Eurostar arrives from London.  Jules was waiting for me at my train's platform.  We took the metro (the tube/underground) to his neighborhood.  When we emerged from below to the street, a huge smile was felt on my face.  Paris! It is so beautiful!  People bustling around, street vendors, cobblestone walkways, cute alleyways, mopeds, bicycles, flower shops, crepes... all wondrous sights to behold!  Everything looked just like all my favourite French movies.  When Jules left for class I took myself on a walking tour.  I crossed the Seine, the river that runs through Paris, and walked around until I reached Luxembourg Garden, a huge park.  On the way I bought what I had been waiting for since my last trip to Paris: a nutella crepe!!!  Just as expected, it was delicious.  I savoured each bite as I walked back to Jules' place.  Just to make your mouth water, here is a photo of mine being made...

Spotted the infamous Notre Dame on my walk

While walking back to Jules I decided that since it was Valentine's Day I'd buy him some flowers!  I picked these out at a local shop.  At this point in the day I was getting used to using my very, very minimal french (mostly consisting of "Je ne parle pas francais" = "I don't speak french").  At first I was so intimidated to open my mouth I felt like a mute.  When I met up with Jules we made dinner and bought a Valentine's dessert -- a rich chocolate cake in the shape of a heart.  SO GOOD!  The pastries and desserts in Paris are going to be my demise.

At night we went to an open mic night in a bar hosted by an American who cracked jokes about the 405 freeway once he found out I was from LA.  There was a large crowd.  Everyone who performed was excellent; each one could have been the next American Idol finalist.  The most amusing part of it all was that all songs performed were sung in English with a perfect American accent! In a later post when I have the internet for longer, I will post videos of Jules and me playing.  The highlight of the night came at the end of the song I performed, when the audience chanted  "Un autre, un autre!" which means "One more, one more!"

Jules performing



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Today Jules and I walked around the Marais (pronounced Mar-ay), which is the Jewish/gay district.  It was wonderful, just as expected.  Jews and gays; my two favourite groups of people, especially when combined.  We went shopping in the vintage stores and I found a dress and cardigan.  My wardrobe is growing by the day, but unfortunately my suitcase isn't!  For dinner we had falafel, which Jules swore is the best he ever ate.  I have to say it was very, very good.  I also drank an Israeli mango juice; tres bien!  

Can I move in here?

The Marais had great graffiti art