More in Paris

Let's see...ah yes. I made the trek out to Versailles the other day to visit with Dr. Patton, one of my old french profs and the director of the study abroad program to Versailles. Furman gladly paid for our crèpes (sweet pancake with either sweet or salty goodness inside) and our cider. Versailles is home to the enormous castle of Versailles (obviously) where Louis XIV lived. I lived in the neighborhood nearby during my study abroad. Anyway, I met up with two other girls who are doing the same program as me and we paid a visit to our old profs Madame Visel and Madame Chauchat who were in the middle of teaching their conversation class to the Furman group. It was a little awkward. I don't think they really remembered us, and we sort of just showed up randomly. Surprise! It was pretty strange to be back at their houses after having been away for 3 years. It was cordial.

Currently I am staying with the former language house assistant at Furman, Marie Sinnigere and husband Mattieu, who have been super great hosts. Last night we went out together with another couple to an Irish pub in Monparnasse where we huddled over wooden tables shouting to each other to be heard above the music. Oh and before that we saw the great mass of people on roller blades preparing to make their grand tour of Paris. Apparently every Friday and Sunday people from all over the city meet in a predetermined location on roller blades to skate around the city for a few hours. The police go first and close the streets to let the skaters pass. There were hundereds of people!! They exuded such a strong energy when they passed by. So after the bar we went bowling, which was strange because all of the signs and scorecards and everything were in English. It could have been an ally at home. After bowling an impressive score of 40-something ( I should really go pro), I was ready to pass out...

This morning I woke up early to glup down an espresso before preparing my computer to be mailed back to the states. With that out of the way, Marie, Mattieu and I went to a great café in the Latin quartier ( Latin as in scholastic) and had brunch that consisted of lots of bread, butter, nutella, an egg boiled for 3 minutes (read: drippy egg good for dipping bread), and hot chocolate. The weather was fantastic! For the rest of the day I plan to go to the Hammam (a bathhouse) to lie around and get a massage and then to meet a friend of the girl, Devorah, that I met on the plane to go to a femininist party near Paris. There is supposed to be a band and lots of interesting people. Hopefully a good time. I leave for Aix les Bains tomorrow morning and you'll hear from me after that. Carpe diem, it's the weekend!