More France pics from Paris trip

 

 Eiffel Tower from the view of the tour bus...

France: January 17, 2002

Sorry I haven't written in three days. I've been very busy as you'll soon find out!! But, busy in a good way. On Tuesday, I finally got to set up my bank account for my stipend. The lady I met with (Madame Huitric) was very patient with my slow French. :-) I won't actually receive a card to access my account until 10 days from Tuesday (the end of January); that's not too bad. On Tuesday night, I went to Via Pizza with a whole bunch of International students (Pinna, Janne, Leonnore, Cynthia, Gabriella, Niz...and many more). It was so cool. There were a lot of Germans there who would speak German a lot at the table. Leonnore kept trying to make them speak in French so that everyone could understand, but they would keep reverting to German. Gabriella and I spoke English only once in a while. She's from California (Oakland...near Sacramento). She can also speak Spanish. I got back to the apartment a little later than I'd hoped. I had to be up early on Wednesday morning to go to Paris...yes, Paris...with the Tulsa students. Wednesday was all planned out by the International Office. We (American students) had to be at the train station by 7:30 a.m. to catch the bus which was taking us to Paris. Well, me and only two other American students (from Tulsa) showed up! I just couldn't believe that those other students could just turn down a practically free guided tour of Paris! Yes, I understand you don't have as much autonomy during a guided tour....but it's FREE! What I didn't know was that there was a whole entourage of Egyptian men (studying to become French professors) coming as well. They smelled....literally. And, they were very interested in talking to us American girls. Also what I didn't know was that my apartment mate, Eva, was going as well...apparently she was invited by Madame Kilani who brought her 6-year-old daughter (a cutie, too) named Sophia. The two other American students names are Monna and Lizzie. They are very cool to hang out with. We pretty much made a pact to stick together during our sojourn in Paris so that we wouldn't get mobbed by the Arabs. Eventually, we moved to the back of the bus. They got the hint. Anyway...Paris...we went all the way through Paris by bus with a French-speaking tour guide. She pronounced her words very clearly. I took pictures with my disposable cameras I got for Christmas from Janice and Grandma. I took three pictures of the Moulin Rouge when we went past it. We saw the Louvre Museum from the outside. We saw the Notre Dame Cathedral which, incidentally, is not nearly as impressive and beautiful as the one in Amiens...different style architecture, too. We went inside the cathedral while we had a good 1/2 hour break from the bus. There's this cool angel-type thing where you write a message of peace and put it inside the clear box beneath it. I wrote something about how I hope that the world comes to know Jesus Christ as their one and only Savior! :-) Because that's where true peace lies. I took a picture of a statue of Joan of Arc inside the cathedral. After we left the cathedral we hurried up and bought some post cards. Monna, who is Iranian by heritage, joked around about how we didn't really have to hurry because the Egyptians wouldn't show up until late anyway because they were on BP (Brown Time)! And, it was so true the whole trip! We were always the first ones back when they told us we had to meet somewhere at a certain time. We went past the Champs Elysees. We got to take the elevator up into the Eiffel Tower for free! It was all paid for by the university. We took a boat ride on the Seine River on Les Bateaux Mouches. The tour guide was very impressive. I'd say he was only a little older than me and he was speaking in at least five different languages! I took a picture of Mary Ann the patron saint of Paris, which is located on one of the bridges. We saw the huge ferris wheel (La Roue) and of course L'Arc de Triomphe! I just can't wait until my pictures are finished being developed. I got doubles. They're supposed to be done by noon on Saturday. I hope it doesn't cost too much...oh well, if it does...it's worth it! Oh...I felt like we (me & the other two American girls) were the tourist attractions because the Arabs kept wanting us to get pictures with them. It was nuts! But, I humored them. We really didn't even have to pay for any food while we were there because the university provided croissants and orange juice for breakfast and a chicken sub, cheese sub, 4 tangerines, 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 coke and 1 bottled water per person!! There was no way we could finish it all. Monna and I looked for homeless people we could give the food to. We did see one old guy (homeless in French is "les clochards") who was scrounging for food in a garbage can but we didn't want to embarrass him by yelling to him from the Eiffel Tower line. So, Monna jumped out of the line and ran over to the garbage can and left the food there. And, she hopped back in line. Later on Monna said something funny. There was a sign where you got tickets for the Eiffel Tower that said "Beware of Pickpockets". She said it's funny that the word pickpockets in all the different languages on the sign are all the same --> "pickpockets"! :-) I want to go back to Paris just to see the inside of the Louvre Museum! Oh, that reminds me, I talked to Madame Kilani and she said that I can be enrolled in Sup de Co as well as Jules Verne. She just thought (and apparently Madame Courtois gave her the impression that) I didn't want to take classes there. I explained to her that I did and that I'm free to choose whichever classes I want. So, why not give myself more options by being able to take classes there, as well? Anyway, I've been told by many students who go to Sup de Co that you can have classes only your first two weeks or so then be finished! That means more time to travel.

Today: Got up around 11:30 a.m. Had a nice brunch of bread with strawberry jam, chocolate milk and an orange. I've been having fun going grocery shopping! LOL :-) Went to find a place to get my film developed...will be done around noon Saturday. Need to figure out if going to Paris on Saturday during the day with Dominique. He can't do the whole weekend because he has to work. I'm going to check out the earliest train times for Saturday tomorrow. I bought a nice designer-type wallet to carry all my cards, money, etc. Fits well in my zipper pocket of my cool blue ski coat from California. Today, I bought myself that French Bible I've always wanted with a French bookmark, too!! :-) I can't wait to read it...that's why I'm writing this so fast and sloppy. I saw the Egyptians at the International Office today at the university. They annoy me. But, I do feel bad that I don't understand them very much when they speak because they have a strange accent. I actually got an e-mail from Mommy today! She's honestly thinking about flying over here with a friend of hers (from work...I think) named Bernie. According to her, airfare is rather cheap right now. That would blow my mind if she actually came out here because she hardly ever really plans a trip...especially this big! She would be much better off in Paris, though, because everyone there can speak English there...not really the case here (in Amiens), though. I might warn her of that. Plus, that would be a good excuse for me to return to Paris. :-) I sent postcards today. One to the family, Missy and Grandma & Janice. I need to get Marta & Van's address off of Missy, yet, as well as Laura's, Brandon's and Preston's. Maybe I'll have better luck e-mailing Marta and asking her. I have a belated birthday postcard for her. She's 64-years-old now. Pretty young. Grandma Foflygen is going to be 80-years-old this year. Janice wants to have a big family shebang for her; I think that's a great idea!! On a different note, I've been saving my tickets and stubs from places I go for my scrapbook at home. :-) Tonight at 8:30 I went to a dual violin-piano concert at the Faculte des Arts for the Universite with Dominique. He had an invitation good for two people. I'm going to miss him when he leaves (at the end of January). But, it works out perfectly because that's when I move out of the apartment anyway and begin my studies for this coming semester. Speaking of studies, Clarion started back for the Spring 2002 semester this past Monday. It's weird receiving their e-mail but not being there. Everyone (or just about) from IV (Intervarsity Christian Fellowship) has been keeping in touch with me very well. They even said they missed me in their prayer requests!! :-) I love my brothers & sisters in Christ so very much. Oh...the violin/piano concert was small but spectacular. Pinna and Janne were there as well as Monna and Lizzie, although the latter two didn't see me. I sat behind the former two. Well, it's beddie-bye time. Goodnight! :-)

France: January 14, 2002

You won't believe what I did yesterday...I washed my socks and underwear by hand! I did that because I couldn't find a laundromat nearby and Eva told me that she does hers by hand. Last night, I went to Tara's...or at least tried to! I forgot which apartment she was in and tried her next door neighbor's apartment before I found her. We hung out and talked in her apartment for a while. Then, we went to a place called The Forum to have coffee and hot chocolate with some other students. We met three different guys. One of them said he's been to the Pittsburgh area before (in Red Lion...that got a big laugh from everyone because I didn't understand what he said at first until I realized what it was with an English accent). I had a hot chocolate (called only "chocolat") with a couple of cubes of sugar in it...I thought it was cool to have "cubes" of sugar. Later last night, Tara and I went to a Pizzeria called "Via Pizza" and split a "Quatre Saisons" (4 Seasons) pizza that had an artichoke heart, mushrooms, cheese (of course), green peppers (les poivrons) and fresh tomatoes on it. For dessert I finally got to try creme brulee. C'est magnifique! :-) It's cream underneath with a crust on top. Today, I got up a little late, about 11:30 a.m., got ready and went to the campus. I asked Madame Courtois when I could talk to someone about my courses. She thought Monsieur Sicard talked to me about them and I said no. She said she'll give me a list of classes next week. But, she also said it's really easy to join classes; all I have to do is go to them, really. I had to go back to my apartment to get my passport and some photos to get my student I.D. card for UPJV (carte etudiante). Now I have one, yay! :-) I got a very long e-mail from Mildred today. I still have to e-mail her back. Missy e-mailed me her resume so that I can critique it for her. Oh...last night Eva told me she found out there is a laundromat in the other direction from here on la rue de Paris going towards the university. Apparently, after speaking with Therese, I have to talk to the landlord (la proprietaire) myself about renting that one apartment with those French girls. But, she did tell me that they can have someone help me move out; honestly I can do it myself. It's just down the street for goodness sake! I chatted online with Mandy (from Nebraska) today, too. She told me I should take tons of pics. I still have to take some. I still  have not gotten to talk to anyone about going on that Paris trip with the Tulsa students. The more I think about it I think it might be a better idea to go with Dominique. I was supposed to meet with that Professor guy tonight at 5:00 and he never showed up! :-( Weird.

Once upon a time...

Let's have some fun with my blog. Help me write an ongoing story. I'll start and you just write some of the story as a post to this comment...

"Once upon a time...There was a girl..."

France: January 12, 2002

Sorry I didn't write yesterday!! I went on a guided tour of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Amiens yesterday with the Tulsa students. It was colder inside the cathedral than outside! But, oh, it was breath-taking inside and out. I love how the tour guide explained that the pictures outside of the cathedral told stories from the Bible because when it was built during the Middle Ages people (most of them) couldn't read. So, the church decided to teach the people the Bible through these pictures. The outside (porch) used to be in color; it was painted. From time to time, usually during holidays, they light up the front of the cathedral in colors using a computer program. They know (from many years of analyzation) that there were certain colors used. Unfortunately, they didn't have John the Baptist's skull out while we were there. They say that's why this cathedral was built because a canon found the relics of John the Baptist's head! I did see the weeping angel in the cathedral...made famous by the soliders from America and all over who took pictures of it home because it reminded them of the times during the first World War when people didn't know when they would die or they could die at any moment. The angel has one hand on a skull and the other on an hourglass.

After the cathedral, I went to lunch with the Tulsa students at a Picardie Restaurant where I had le pate canard (duck patte), la ficelle picarde (the gastronomic specialty of Picardie) and la mousse du chocolat (chocolate mousse). I didn't like the duck patte. The ficelle picarde was alright; it was a type of cheese crepe filled with ham, cheese sauce and mushrooms. It was a bit bland, though. The chocolate mousse was exquisite!! After that I went to look at my potential apartment after I leave this temporary one. Although Therese told me it was close to where I live now, I had a hard time finding it. When I did find it I felt like hitting myself because it was so close! The girls I will most likely be living with are both French and speak little to no English. I'm taking a Spanish exchange student's place at the beginning of February named Caroline...very nice girl...she was the only one who has greeted me with kisses on the cheeks...the traditional French greeting...a little ironic that a Spanish exchange student was the one to do it. I thanked her for it. The French girls' names are Marie-Laure and Noemie. They're very nice. The room I'll be moving into is rather large, too!! After looking at the apartment, Marie-Laure and I went to the bank where I asked them if I could have an appointment to open an account. Also, Marie-Laure helped me get a card to be able to use a local computer lab. After checking my e-mail, I went to my apartment. There, Dominique was eating a very scrumptious dinner consisting of wine, cheese, une baguette (bread) and small fresh radishes. He invited me to join him. I did. I ended up skipping that party Tara invited me to (Anika's birthday party) because I was enjoying Dominique's company (and cheese, bread...and especially the wine) very much! I think he was flirting with me a bit...just a little though...but we talked a lot. We would switch between French and English and correct each other. Anyway, he's visiting Paris this weekend with his brother and best friend. But he offered to go to Paris with me next weekend if I want. I said it depends on whether I got with the Tulsa students on Thursday. But, I think I would actually enjoy myself more if I went with him...for one we talk very well together, two he's been there before so he may know his way around better and he speaks French much better than me. I figured out he's 34-years-old. He's pursuing a PhD in Entymology - the study of bugs.

Ok...switching pens here...the other one kept running out of ink in the middle of writing words. Very annoying to say the least.

Today was a rather uneventful day as compared to my other days here. I did finally talk to Mommy & Daddy on the phone; that was nice. :) Mommy kept asking me questions about the French and France. Oh...and I found out that I'll probably have to wash my clothes by hand because that's what Eva does. I tried finding a laundromat close by but was unsuccessful. Tara said there's one near where she lives but that might be a little too ridiculous to cart all my dirty laundry over there (near the cathedral) just to wash clothes. So, I just might suck it up (my pride that is) and buy some laundry detergent and wash my stuff by hand, although I probably can't buy any tomorrow because mostly everything is closed on Sundays. I did do some grocery shopping today (before I found out I needed detergent) and bought myself some orange juice, a couple of pears, some Camembert cheese (don't really like it too much though...I do like Brebie...have to remember to buy that later...Tara reminded me of the name tonight) some bread and a lot of yogurt. It's so much cheaper to get food from the supermarket than to eat out. I'll have to get in the habit of only eating at my apartment because I'm spending too much money already for eating out. I (stupidly) ate at McDonald's for dinner (again), although I did get a student discount. Something really cool they had in town tonight was a HUGE sidewalk sale...no I still did not buy a scarf...but I want to find a really good one along with a really nice black purse...heck I want the whole French look...I need the shoes, too. I did get part of "the look" tonight by buying a black French-looking coat that has a belt around the middle. But it was a bit cheap because one of the buttons already came off. Luckily I had my trusty sewing kit with me and sewed it back on! One thing I did forget was my bathing suit...there is a really nice coliseum nearby with a pool. Oh well...maybe I'll buy one later. We'll see. Tara and I hung out tonight from about 10:00 p.m. until midnight. She called me to see if I wanted to hang out and she also asked me where I was last night (because I didn't show up to the party). I told her; she was find with it...not mad or anything. She said she did have a hangover from yesterday, though, because she drank a lot of mixed drinks of Absolut Mandarin with Sprite. Tara and I went looking for a bar to hang out at...we ended up at Chez Froc...a popular spot in Amiens (or at least according to the map it is...). But, it didn't really remind me of the "traditional" bar because it was very lit up. We both ordered salads and afterwards had dessert of chocolate mousse for me and a type of icecream for her. Then, we went our separate ways to go to our apartments to go to bed, which I'm going to do now. Goodnight!!

France: January 10, 2002

Well, Forum was just a glorified college fair...LOL!! I wonder if I've confused Therese because while we were there she looked for the stand for International Relations. I'm going to try to see Therese tomorrow about my courses or at least set up a meeting with someone about them. Also, I'm going to get a student card for the University. I don't think I need to get une carte de sejour because my passport is a 6-month long-stay visa. Tara thought the same thing. After the Forum, Therese told me that I have two choices for housing now...the luxury of being here early. :) Tomorrow I'm going to see that first apartment I was told about in the afternoon sometime. But, before that I'm taking in an English-guided tour of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Amiens with the other American (Tulsa, OK) students and the Tulsa professor, Madame Zita Alca. I happened to run into her at the tourism office today while I was wandering around Amiens. That reminds me. I must go to a bank to set up an account sometime...another thing to add to my "Things to do" list! I bought a one-month bus pass today; I kinda lied and said that I already lived at that apartment I'm looking at tomorrow because they needed an address from me. I'm pretty sure that card works for all the buses and not just the Number 4 (because that's the bus she told me runs near "my apartment" - the semi-false address I gave her to get the card). I have to admit it...I'm jealous of how easily Tara speaks and gets to know people. She's only a French minor for goodness sake! But, I know what my major problem is...I try to think too long before I speak so it all comes out slowly whereas she just talks, fumbling all along, but talks rather quickly and nobody cares. I need to be more like her. After checking and sending out some e-mails from the university, I took the bus back to my (temporary) apartment and watched some T.V. Well, during that time I met a new apartment-mate named Dominique; he is a Canadian exchange student studying entymology (study of insects...I think I spelled it right!). He looks older, like in his 30's. He's not very good-looking but he's really nice. He began speaking English with me after he found out I am an American. I (finally) talked to Eva tonight and she laughed when I told her that Dominique is from Canada because she said she's outnumbered by people from North America. Hehehe :) Tara called me at 5 p.m. from the University. I told her a landmark for her to look for to get off at the bus stop near my apartment. I showed her the apartment and afterwards we went in search of dinner. We ended up eating at a place called "Au bureau" - a Pizza Pub with cool rave-type music and lots of things American (that was strictly coincidence, though!). I had a Coca-Cola light with une Margaret Salade while she had une carafe de l'eau with une salade Jersey. We talked there for a long time (in English most of the time). I can see my French slowly progressing forward. I'm happy!! After dinner, we went to her place for a bit then we went to her International friends' apartment. There were a couple Finnish (from Finland) students, Scottish or British guy (named Olly, short for Oliver), a Mauritian (another one...he couldn't believe me when I told him I met a different guy from Mauritius at l'Universite de Picardie Jules Verne...or "Jules Verne" for short...) and a German girl named Anika. Anika is having a birthday party tomorrow night at 9 p.m. and I've been invited thanks to Tara! I'm so very excited about going...a party in France! It's funny speaking with those international students because they prefer to speak in English, not French. But Dina and the other Finnish girl (I can't remember her name at the moment) would tell everyone to switch to French for a while for us (more for Tara...but oh well...I was there, too). I was a little too quiet. And, when I did talk people interrupted...I hate that. Oh well...I'll find my voice with people. Eva said it's good I'm here early because it'll help me improve my French-speaking skills before I begin my classes. I don't know how to take that...just a statement or an easy cut...oh well. C'est la vie! A demain! Bonne nuit. :)

France: January 9, 2002

Did I mention I have a skeleton key to my room in my apartment? It's very old-style here in Amiens. I saw the Notre Dame Cathedral of Amiens for the first time tonight from the outside with a new American friend I made today whose name is Tara. She's from New Jersey. We instantly bonded...most likely because we're both Americans but oh well! We did use some of our French-speaking skills while we ate at Le Bistro du Carlton en centre ville (in the middle of town). It was a little pricey (the bill came to 47.50 Euros) but very worth it. We had white Reisling wine - a bottle for us to share - and une caraffe de l'eau (a carafe of water). I got the salmon (of course...creature of habit that I am) and she got l'escalopes which she thought would be scallops but didn't turn out that way, although what she did get was very scrumptious. We still don't know what they are, though. I'll have to look it up later in my bilingual French to English dictionary. The dinner was delicious but the dessert...ohh!! Tres bien...Tres, tres bien (very good). We asked the waiter what his favorite dessert was and he told us that "les profiteroles avec le chocolat" were very good. We both tried them. They are small pastry balls filled with a frozen type of cream cheese with chocolate covering everything!! We tipped the waiter very well...10 Euros. I got to see the Cathedrale tonight because I hung out with Tara at her apartment for a while...she lives near the cathedral. I love the cobblestone streets. Tara said the canals are nearby where she lives. I'll have to check them out sometime...the canals are why some people call Amiens "the Venice of the North". Apparently people can take boats out on the canals like they do in Venice. Tara's lucky...she's going on a skiing trip in the Alps. It cost her 300 Euros though. I don't exactly have that much right now, although Therese did give me half of this month's stipend to me for food. It is about $167 dollars! Not too shabby! Earlier today I was supposed to meet that French girl, Stephanie, at 12 noon. Well, she never showed up...I hope she didn't mean 2 p.m. because they sound a lot alike in French. No. I'm pretty sure she meant noon because I asked her a couple of times to make certain. I nearly didn't make it there on time for our rendezvous because I didn't actually get out of bed until 11 a.m. even though I had set my alarm for 9 a.m.! I learned tonight that I'm not very far from the cathedral (thus Tara's place)  or centre ville (center of town). It's within walking distance. I still need to buy a bus pass. Therese needs to help me get une carte de sejour...but I have a good 3 weeks for that. Thanks to Tara's question/answer session with Therese today while I was there, I now know that my first day of classes begin on January 28th. Tara already has an appointment set up to get a bank account and her courses set up. But, she has a lot more help than I did because she lives with some (very helpful) other international students who know what to do. I think that cultivating a friendship with Tara is definitely a good idea. She's definitely got her act together. She's from New Jersey, but attends the University of South Carolina. Oh, before I forget, remember that guy Olivier who works in the International Office? A.) He said "Bonjour" to me (yay!) and B.) He wears the same sweater every day (unless he ust has like 3 of the same sweater! LOL). Anyway...I know I'm jumping around here...but oh well. Did I mention that e-mail is my lifeblood here? That's the same for all the other international students, too, apparently because someone always has to wait for a free computer. There's a time limit of 20 minutes if there are people waiting but no one really adheres to that. I ate lunch on campus today at the cafeteria. I had a ham & cheese croissant and "les fruits" (of course, the strawberries, again...when I find something I like, I stick with it!). Ya know what? It felt very relaxing for me to practice my french with Tara because we didn't mind correcting each other. We got into some pretty deep conversation tonight, too. She asked me if I am afraid right now. Yes...And, she is too because everything changes from one day to the next. She asked me if I get lonely...Yes, of course...as you could see from my last couple of entries. She also asked if I felt like I was trying to run away or escape from life by coming here (because she said she had to evaluate her reasons for coming here). I said that I had asked myself the same question. To a point, I do feel like it's an escape...but not a bad one. It's made me re-evaluate what's truly important to me...that's my family & friends. We both said it's nice to visit here but it's better to live in the U.S....to be an American...we truly do have a lot of freedom there. Tara and I talked about the French stereotype of men being rude & obnoxious. She explained to me that a lot of that comes from the Parisians (she's been to Paris before). She said there are guys like that there. She agreed with me that the men here are very good-looking. Oh well, I better hit the sack now. Therese is picking me up tomorrow at 9 a.m. to go to the Forum at the Megacite...an event celebrating students moving from high school to college.