l'Embuscade

The french have a word that roughly translates to "Ambush" in English. The idea is that you start from high ground and surprise attack something below. I feel like Paris is now my "high ground" and Europe is my "below." Not that everything is worse than Paris, it's just that I feel like Paris is now my home base, and I can decide how to attack Europe strategically.

My first embuscade is coming up this weekend: London. I'm leaving Paris from Gare du Nord at 6:43 am. It sounds really early but...okay it's really early. It was cheaper though! The metro starts at 5:00 so I have plenty of time to get there. I'll be in London for basically all of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and I'll leave Monday afternoon. That's okay too, since I don't have class until Tuesday. I think it's going to be really fun. I'm also pretty excited for the train ride - it's supposed to be quite cool.

Last night we went out with our ESCP friends again. Jessica met a French guy named Morgan earlier in the week, and we met him in the Montparnasse area. It's far into the left bank, and aside from the numerous strip clubs and XXX video stores, it has a lot of cool bars. We went to one and had a few beers, and also ate the best french fries I've had in Paris so far. They even brought us ketchup!

Today we skipped the orientation lectures at the ESCP to go shopping. That sounds terrible. There is a test at the end of the week on the lectures, and if you pass you get 2.5 ECTS credits (about 1 credit at Madison). However, the test is entirely optional, and I really don't need elective credits anymore. So we went shopping with the Texas people. I got a warm coat that I really needed for the coming cold and damp Paris winter. I also got a Diesel messenger bag for class. I really can't use my Eagle creek travel backpack for school: I'll stick out like a sore thumb!

Shopping was really fun though, we went to a store called Zara, which is Spanish, and had really great deals on very nice coats. I did a lot of browsing before I made any purchases, and Zara was definitely the best coat for the money. The bag I got in a very well-known department store (actually the first ever) called Galerie Lafayette. It's huge, and awesome. One floor has all kinds of pastries, coffee, and gelatto. The rest are like a department store, similar to a Nieman Marcus, but actually less expenisve I think.

So I've had fun lately, but I look forward to getting into schoolwork. I can't wait to see what it's like, and I'm a little anxious about classes all in French about techincal topics. I'll make do though. And I'm super pumped for London!

A sweet old mini cooper near our friend Jessica's apartment

The gargantuan Tour Montparnasse, the only thing taller than 8 stories for miles. Quite the anomaly.

The bar in Montparnasse. It had a cool atmosphere.