Anna Invades Paris!!!

I loved having Anna here this weekend. It was a great combination of here and home, because we were in Paris, but she wanted to see the Paris I live in, not the tourist stuff. highlights include:


- Taking her for falafel enlightenment (she wants to come back just for the falafel...ladies and gentlemen, we have a conversion!)and then to the Carnavalet musee to let her inner history geek out to play

In the wonderful Place des Vosges in the Marais, after the Falafel



- playing grownups and having a dinner party, chez moi, for my friends, Anna, and I. I loved it. It was great to cook for people, it was nice to be able to stay in, and Anna got to meet some of my friends here, which was wonderful!!

- vegging here (soooo what if we kinda watched GWTW...that's not a crime, right?)

- Taking her up to Montmartre so she could see where Amelie was filmed/see the Moulin Rouge

In front of the Sacre Coeur, where a scene from Amelie is filmed (the one where she returns the photo album if you care)




- Fondue and beers with Eddie near St. Michel, with a detour to Notre Dame so she could prove she was actually in Paris.



It really was a great, relaxing weekend, one that gave my a glimpse of what I sort of home my life will look like in years to come...

but for now, I get to return the favor!! I'm going to Florence this weekend, and Anna gets to show me around :) very exciting!!

ciao! (that's pretty much the extent of my italien...)

I LOVE making someone's day!

So, i was running around today, trying to find a boulangerie before my class visit to the Louvre, and did about the most stereotypically "nice" thing possible...I helped a little old lady across the street! She was absolutely adorable, she said that she was afraid of walking in the street by herself, and I was too kind for stopping to help her. She even had one of those rain bonnets on. very old school french. I fell in love with her in an instant. The amazing thing was how grateful she was, it completely made my day better just to know that I made someone else smile for a couple minutes.

Is is the pervasiveness of the rat race, or of the obsessive laziness of humans?

I love living in a metropolis. I love being able to depend on public transportation. I love knowing that I won't be the only person interested in something. I love the fast pace feel of a city

That all being said, there are times that the city pace gets a little rediculous. I discovered yet another example of it today. In a couple of the metro stations there are "trottoirs", or what I like to call people movers. they're the flat escalators that are commonly found in airports for walking across terminals. Now, the trottoirs in Montparnasse Bienvenue are helpful, but they're not incredibly long; using them saves someone maybe 30-45 seconds, depending on how fast they walk. But, apparently, that was not enough for these high flying Parisians. They recently completed construction of a "high speed" trottoir that shoots people along at a whooping 9km/hour (everybody all together now "ooooh, ahhhh"), instead of the "comfortable" 3km/hour that they've had. The high speed trottoir comes equiped with transitional points, so when you step on, you start on the 3km and then bump it up to 9km for the bulk of it. The whole things saves a body maybe 20 extra seconds, or however many steps that would be.

Seems kind of pointless, right? I mean, are people seriously in such a rush that the extra minute makes a difference? I guess it could mean making your connection, which could loose you about 5-10 minutes...but in the long run, do those minutes make that much of a difference either?

Even so, I almost always use the trottoirs, and I used the high speed on today for the first time today. Not going to lie, the transitional part was a little bit like a ride, and I had trouble maintaining my chic parisian face and not grinning like an idiot.

Is March is when Mother Nature is PMSing?

So it's March, right? Back, we can count on that meaning kinda cold, lots of rain, lots of sun, and the occasion freak snowstorm that just makes it disgusting to be outside for a day or two while it all melts away.

France, Paris at least, gets slightly different treatment...hail. We've had hail about 4 days this week. Not just once a day either, it's intermittant, hailing for 5 minutes, stopping, starting up half an hour later. They actually have a name for it, les giboulés de mars, and apparently it's surprising we haven't seen more of it before this past week. Every time it's hailed, les grêles have been pretty small, I actually walked home from the metro (about a 10 minute walk) in the middle of a douche du grêle yesterday.

Even though les giboulés de mars is bizarre, and can be rather unconvienent, I like it. There's something invigorating about a 5 minute hailstorm while you can still see the sun. It's a lot more lively than rain, that's for sure.



aaaannnnddd I just talked about weather for a couple paragraphs. Sorry for being so stereotypically dull for a whole post.



Completely unrelated: ANNA gets in tonight! Seeing Missy this past week made me more excited to see other people from home, and I know there will be fun times ahead!

I want to live here!

So, I don't know as to if I ever want to leave Paris. Not that I don't miss home, or people or anything, but I LOVE living here.


Not least amongst reasons why:


I'm going back to Indiana/Ohio. That's a huge change, and I don't know if I want to give up having the Louvre as my backup plan for sunday afternoon. I've gotten used to the idea that if other things don't pan out "there's always la Louvre"...


Bisous!

oops

I completely forgot to blog about everything I did yesterday...I'm not going to now, but So I remember it for later:

-fell in love with Opera bastille. I want to stay here this summer and intern there. you should see their shops.

-watched kate feed pigeons

-ate fondue with couchsurfers et al.

-dance party at popin with sketchyphil et al.

-sleepover/snuggling with kate here





Edit: So, I'm prolly not actually going to blog about the weekend, so here are some pics!


Starting on the top left:

Kate feeding the birds in front of Notre Dame, Kate and I at the fondue restaurant, with me looking like a pirate and her laughing uncontrollably at me, at the bar later that night, and the meeting of the "undercover nerds"





Montage of Kate's and my weekend:

Running man! everyone's doing it, even the statue of the guy stuck in the wall, sleepover (that was a treat trying to explain to Pierre, let me tell you), and me hard at work in the kitchen.

PS - secret way to Kate's heart? roasted vegetables. give her some; she's putty in your hands

We love to boogie, we love to boogie on a Saturday night!

Well, actually it was friday night...but the song came on my itunes shuffle just now and it was too appropriate.

I know that I always said I was against it, and I voted against it, but damn I miss the smoking ban. I guess that philosophically, I still think that it's a bad law, and the ban should not be legislated, it would be the choice of the entreprise/restaurant/bar, but practially, I love the ban. I'm getting sick of the headaches from the smoke, or having to leave a boite (dance hall/bar/discotecque) because my eyes are on fire and i'm having issues breathing. damn allergies.




I met some more people through couchsurfing again last night. I must say, every time i've met people through CS, i've had a good experience. Kate and I were talking about it last night, and we agree about the program. It's actually helped us be more open/trusting to strangers on the street, and more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Pierre and Vincent, two couchsurfing friends!




That's all i've got for the moment. Sorry mom, no short essay today, just a couple thoughts.

bisous!

Deep Thoughts with Becky Bezaire

There are two types of PDA here in Paris. Easily classifiable as classy and...not so classy.

I'll start with the second. I will never, never understand the whole making out on the metro/metro escalator thing that the french have going. I can't count how many times i've seen people get to second/third base, or go on a tonsil finding expedition in public since i've been here. and it's not like i look willingly, it's more of a "staring at the car wreck instead of driving" look.

The first, the classy, is the more subtle approach. it's the young couple who's up on sunday morning, walking hand in hand to the market, just happy to be together and buying vegetables. Its the old married couple out for a stroll, so comfortable with each other they don't need to talk to communicate. it's the parents taking their kids to the park, and sitting on a bench, chatting while the kids play, with a surprise kiss for no reason.





the first of these I will never understand. but the second, understated PDA is what makes me believe that Paris does deserve the moniker of the city of romance. it's those examples that makes a person want to experience love in this city.


not the tonsil expeditions.



That's all i've got for this thought.

Phrase of the weekend: "I LOVE this city!"

What a great weekend. Highlights include:

- Seeing The Painted Veil: I know, not french at all, but really well done. beautifully shot, see it for the cinematography if nothing else. But Ed Norton's in it too, which should be added incentive (seeing as he's that rare breed of hollywood actor, one who actually acts)

- Meeting new friends, both French and American: on the french side, I got together with a couchsurfer for dinner and language practice...it turned more into english practice for him, but it was a good time, and i'm still in love with the program (CS). The American side is that Kate's friends Ken, and his friend Sam, and Nina, as well as Marielle's friend Vicky, who were/are in town visiting. I love going around Paris with people who haven't been here, it's great. Not that i've been here all that long, but turning a corner and catching a glimpse of the eiffel tower doesn't get me quite as excited as it did the first month I was here, and seeing other people get jazzed about it makes me incredibly happy.

- L'Orangerie: good museum. Not my fav, but the presentation of Monet's water lilies makes the visit worthwhile.

- Beaubourg: aka Pompideu, the modern art museum here. It was nice to see some Kadinskys, Klees, and Brancusis...makes for a nice change of pace from my normal french renaissance/impressionist works.
that being said, I like NYC's MoMA a lot more. But the courtyard next to the beaubourg is a great people watching spot, that's for sure; and the view from the top of the building is breathtaking. Connecting these two photos together, I think my favorite part of Beaubourg is it's juxtaposition with the rest of Paris. Everyone complains that it sticks out like a sore thumb, but I love it because of it. the change from old to new, while abrupt, can be incredibly complementary, which the view of Forum les Halles and St. Eustache shows, a mon avis, as well as the view of Montmarte and the Sacre Coeur with part of a modern sculpture in the foreground. Maybe i'm being too artsy, but I love seeing the different epoques together.

- Picnicing au dessus la tour Eiffel: typical french food - baguettes, cheese, fruit, red wine, crepes and nutella, and friends...what more could people need?



The gang: Vicky, Sam, Ken, Me, Polina, Nina, and Marielle (Kate was being resident photographer)



- Montmartre at night: Glorious view, interesting conversations, fun hike up. fully recommend the area, day or night. but I wouldn't suggest going up alone at night, definitely stick to the "safety in numbers" motto.

- Wandering the Marais: one of my favorite areas of Paris,
stereotypically Parisien, in every good way. if you're ever here, take a least a couple hours, you won't regret it!









things i'm looking forward to: Missy and Zach being here this week, possibly meeting up with Ben this coming weekend, Anna coming next weekend, going to florence the weekend after, MOROCCO....


Bisous!

frustration.

I hate having thoughts, things i need to say, that i could eloquently say in english, and then have to try and express myself in french sometimes. Having the vocabulary and language comprehension of a 4 year old is so frustrating.

Mostly just during school. like this week - with midterms. I can figure things out in conversations, even if people do have go slowly with me. Unfortunately, essay exams are slightly torturous, because I can't help but think how much better I could answer the question if I was allowed to write it in english.

One more exam left, then a relaxing weekend.


On the plus side, my drawing class started again this week, so that means I get to have my figure deawing session tonight :)

bisous!

not much to report here, sir.

another nice weekend in the city, another weekend without much to talk about. Hung out with friends on thurs night. I tried Ethiopean food for the first time, it was delicious, highly recommend it.

Kate was very emphatic about us all enjoying the Ethiopean food, even if we insisted that we were full and couldn't eat anymore.

Other than that, hung out with Clay on saturday, saw La Mome finally (LOOOOOOVED it, if it's released in the US watch it if you get a chance), and did some damage in a local CD store.

Last night I ended up babysitting for Dimitri and Charlotte again, and it was possibly one of my best nights with them. Dimitri actually let me play with him, which was great, Char was a sweetie, and Dim and I cuddled a bit while watching The rescurers down under, and then had a good chat afterwards too. I think he asked his parents why I don't always understand what he says, and they explained that french isn't my first language, because he's been all about the english right now. it's adorable, and quite humbling, when he corrects me on my pronounciation when i'm reading him a story.

That's all i've got for now, but I wanted to post something so that last post wasn't on top of the page.

Bisous!