Exploring

These past few days in Paris have been fantastic! I've been trying to explore new areas of the city. I want to make sure I see it all before I pick a favorite place to hang out.

A couple days ago we went to two famous markets. The first was the marché Bastille which has mostly food items. There were heaps of vegetables, seafood stands, boucheries with whole rabbits (fur included), organic wine stalls and honey in little jars, fromageries with huge wheels of white cheese, shopkeepers of boulangeries poking their heads out from between mountains of bread to talk to customers...

There was a lot going on. I bought some bananas, a bottle of pure organic apple juice, and a pain au chocolat (rectangular croissant with chocolate inside). All this is happening only a 5 minute walk from my house on tuesdays and sundays.

The other was the "Puces de St. Ouen," probably the most famous flea market in the world. You can find almost anything there. Silver tea services? Got 'em. Store with thousands of keychains? Done. Need a 150 year old armoire? You guessed it. Just dying for a full suit of samurai armor? Got that too.

We wandered there for an hour or so. The famous part of it is actually tucked behind a barrier of stores and street vendors sporting knockoff Louis Vuitton, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, etc. products. There are also men with shopping carts containing fiery charcoal over which their roasting corn. They sell it to passerby. It didn't look clean; I didn't eat it.

Marché Bastille

Les Puces de Saint Ouen

Yesterday we started our ESCP-EAP orientation! We got a little tour of the school and its facilities. They have all the necessities obviously. Computer labs, a café and a cafeteria that's really really cheap (we're talking 2.50 Euros for a full meal with drink and everything, and the food isn't even that bad), and a bar where you can get beers for 1.5 Euros. So that's great, I'll be spending time there. We also got our French medical coverage sorted out and paid for, so that's done.

The school also has many different sports, and we were (again) encouraged to participate in them for the opportunity to integrate with French students. I think I will, although I'll have to look through the handbook at the times and descriptions to make a decision. It seems like a really good way to meet locals.

The rest of the week is lectures given by ESCP professors on topics such as French culture, European Institutions, great French figures, etc. They are unbelievably dull. Lasting anywhere from 2-2.5 hours, the professors are so monotoned that it's hard to stay awake. I think classes will be better since they will be in French and I'll have to be paying attention. This week of orientation has an optional test at the end, and if you pass the test you get 1 credit. I don't need anymore elective credits (in fact I have too many), and I really don't think it's worth the time, so some new American friends and I are not going tomorrow, and we're going to explore the city instead. I think we will all go on Thursday though since the topics sound more interesting: "Current Debates in France" and "Paris."

Courtyard of ESCP - surrounded by the 5 buildings that make up the ESCP-EAP campus

Yesterday after Lectures, Amy and I went to see the Jardin du Luxembourg, which is a favorite of Parisians when the weather is nice. It was beautiful, and the gardens around the Palais especially where very nice, but it was also jam-packed. Who can blame thousands of Parisians for enjoying the rare glimmer of sunshine though?

Jardin du Luxembourg

Then, last night we went out into a very fashionable district of Paris with our new friends from the ESCP-EAP. They're American, from the University of Texas - Austin. They're really fun. Their names are Jessica, Samantha, Victor, and Chip. We went to Saint Germain des Prés, which is a very chic and expensive area of the Left Bank. Just tonight we went to the Montparnasse area, also on the left bank. It was also quite cool, but you could tell it didn't have the same prestige and Saint Germain des Prés.

Now I believe it's time for bed. Although we won't be attending the lectures tomorrow, we do have a day of exploring and shopping before us. My mission for tomorrow: a coat. Sometime in the near future: a haircut. I'll let you know how that goes!