My new bangs....

Hardly anyone was on campus today, it seemed. There were only 7 people in my French class today, and there's usually around 17 (so we watched a movie in French). I think most people were tired from last night. AUP had a party at a club called SixSeven on the Champs Elysees. It was hyped up on the fliers as a "free sushi event" but I never saw a single piece of sushi all night. The rumor was that there was, like, 1 piece of sushi, and the first person who got there ate it. It was fun, I enjoyed myself, but I left pretty early. It was nice that it's so close to home; I didn't need to take a taxi or anything. It seemed like I knew so many of the people there, which made it kind of tiresome.

This is that one picture of me and Irina Lazareanu from the Chanel fashion show that I said earlier I would post. My friend finally sent it to me!

Voila!! This is from the AUP party last night- check out my untra-cool new bangs! They make me feel very hippie-ish, in a Kate Hudson/Almost Famous way, so I've been wearing more love beads and stuff.

Me:
Kate Hudson:

This was from the fondue night...
White wine in baby bottles, yummy cheese fondue, and me and Serena... I still have so many more things I need to do in Paris, but I'm saving some of them until dad, Kimbo, and Vanessa get here. Hopefully, I will have the whole summer in Paris, assuming my au pair job pans out as it's supposed to. I met with the family again yesterday and it seems promising because they want me to move in as soon as possible. Also, they're going to Cannes in July and she suggested I'd go with them! That would be really fun!

The past week

On Thursday night I went to Duplex with Tessa and ended up running into a bunch of AUP people. It was a lot more fun than last week; the music was better.

On Friday, I went on the chocolate walk, the cultural excursion I signed up for. It was cool because they ended up feeding us so many different types of chocolate. I never want to eat m&ms or Hershey's again after hearing how it's such bad quality, so bitter and sour. They gave us some information on the history of chocolate, like how it used to just be a drink, not a solid, and took us to different chocolate places.

On Saturday I went to school to pick up my ticket for The Taming of the Shrew play, and then made my way to Palais Royal to meet up with the other students to see the performance. Surprise, surprise: It was all in French! I wish I could say I understood everything, but I didn't understand most of it. I kept trying to remember back when I read the play in high school to keep up with what was going on.

On Sunday, I went out for fondue in Montmartre with friends. They served us wine in baby bottles... And for dessert, I had orange ice cream served inside a hollowed out orange.

Today, there was some protest going on, so there were police everywhere. The Olympic torch was passing through Paris today, and since the next Olympics are being held in China, there were a bunch of demonstrators opposing the Chinese oppresssion of Tibet.

In other news, I have bangs now! They're very ooh la la. I'll post pictures later.

Just like in the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie...

Today the weather was finally sunny! Hopefully the rain has ended.

After French class today, I ran into this boy from my class getting on a motorbike/scooter/vespa (I'm not sure what to call it). He said he had just gotten it on Monday, and had an extra helmet, so he ended up giving me a short ride. It was SO fun!!! I want a scooter for myself now! I don't know if this is accurate, but he said that you don't need a French driver's license to ride one; that an American license would suffice, and that you just need to pay for insurance and parking.

Obviously, it would be impractical for me to get one here in Paris, since I won't be here long-term, but it really was fun, especially going fast. I need to make friends with kids who have motorbikes so they can give me rides...!

For the rest of the afternoon, I took special notice of all the motorbikes I saw. It's cool when I see three of four people all riding alongside each other and talking.

Je suis une au pair, peut-etre...

The reason why I haven't been updating my blog as frequently is because I feel like I've settled into a routine here... everything isn't new and fresh like it was in the beginning.

So on Saturday night, Paris was a bit crazy because of some soccer thing. I don't know... they had just beaten England and they were about to play some other team, so the Champs Elysees was full of police. There were tons of young guys, soccer fans, who kept running into the streets, waving around fire, and shouting and honking. On Monday, I went to St. Michel to go to this bookstore I had heard a lot about, called Shakespeare and Co. It's a store with English books, and it has a really cool, vintage feel to it. I bought a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and discovered an old postcard inside it, written in French, from 1939...

In my painting class, ever since we got back from break, we've only been painting nude models. We painted our first male figure earlier this week, and I had a nice conversation with him about how we were both Brazilian. I had to go buy more paper today because I ran out.

I'm pleased because I feel that I finally secured an au pair job for the summer. It's not official yet, since I'm not moved in, so I shouldn't count my chickens and all that. But I get along with the mother really well (she's young and very Americanized) and I like the accomodations. The only bad thing is that I'd have to share the bathroom and shower. But at least it would feel like my own place at last. And they are going to the south of France over the summer (do ALL Parisians do that or what??) so perhaps I'll get to accompany them!

Here are a few pictures from the Chanel show:




And Angelina's, way back when:


A random night near the Eiffel Tower:



And a few pictures from Italy:
Shanna the Innocent: This was right after Serena and I had been snickering at the old women crying at the pope's grave, and the guard told us to be quiet.

Tecktonik, c'est magnifique!

Not much happening here. The weather has been all up and down last week. It goes from sunny to rainy and back and forth every single day. I've been to a lot of different museums this past week. On Saturday I went to the Musee Marmottan, which is my favorite museum I've been to in Paris; the only one that wasn't free for me. At least I got a discount.

I went to the Louvre again twice, and the Musee d'Orsay on Thursday. One day at the Louvre, I met this really old French man who seemed like a grandfatherly type so I went to coffee with him. But then when we left he kept using the word "l'amour" so I figured it was time for me to go. I went to see the Mona Lisa, and it was such a fight! People really elbow each other, and push, and jostle to get to the front.

Thursday night I went to Duplex since it's so close by. Friday, I went to lunch with Nilo and then the Opera Garnier to try to get tickets to the ballet (in the rain...), but it was a private showing since it was the last day of the performance. I'll try a different show next week. Today I went to the Fragonard Perfume Museum and shopping at Les Galeries Lafayette with Serena. I tried a lemon Laduree macaroon and it was yummy.

I've also been taking an alternative route to and from school, where I walk right under the Eiffel tower. I think it's longer, but I was so bored with taking my usual route several times a day, that I decided to switch it up. I also walk past this place at Trocadero which is where all the tourists go to take pictures of the Eiffel tower. Sometimes I see young French "hipsters" practicing their tecktonik, which is a dance trend popular in Europe right now, especially Paris. It seems sort of juvenile since all the people I see doing it look like they're 13 years old. But Serena and I continue to look up instruction videos on YouTube, and practice, laughing all the while because it's a pretty ridiculous-looking dance.

I also discovered 2 new grocery stores right by my house, as well as a shortcut to Serena's place that takes only 10 minutes, so we've been hanging out more. I've been looking for summer au pair jobs lately; I have an interview on Tuesday for a job that's really close by, so that would be good if I got it.

And tonight, we're going to a discotheque on Champs Elysees called Neo. I'd been meaning to go for a while, and I saw that this was the club Lauren and Whitney went to on The Hills, which made me even more eager to go.

3-Day Easter Weekend

So yesterday, I made it to the first two museums, but not the third. I went to the Musee Picasso and sadly was not impressed at all. I kept thinking, I'm so glad I didn't have to pay for this! I walked through everything twice, trying to find a painting I liked, but I couldn't.

Next stop, the Musee de l'Orangerie, located in the Tuileries gardens. While I was in line, I met two boys from Belgium, students on holiday, and ended up perusing the museum with them. I liked the museum, but only the upstairs part, with the huge Monet panels that wrap around the room. And you can take pictures here, which is always appreciated.

This morning I set out for the Musee Marmottan, which has mostly Monet paintings. This was my favorite museum of all and the only one that wasn't free for me. At least I got a reduced rate. Monet is easy to appreciate; it was the only museum where I liked just about every single painting. I know mom would have loved it.

On my way back, I stopped in a patisserie and now have a new favorite macaroon! Pomme canelle (apple cinnamon). I've never seen the flavor anywhere else. I concluded the museum tour with the Musee de Art Moderne de la Ville (or something like that). I didn't stay long, though, because on the way there it started HAILING, practically snowing. It's what I imagine a snow flurry feels like. I had an umbrella, but my feet were soaked by the time I got there.

Little things...

So I went to the Louvre for hours first thing in the morning on Wednesday, and now I'm on this whole museum kick. Today after class, I plan on going to the Picasso Museum, Orangerie Museum (Monet), and then the Museum of Modern Art, one right after another. And on Saturday, I want to go to this Marie Antoinette exibit at Les Galeries Nationale.


Going to museums isn't like going shopping, where it's always fun to do it with a friend. I mean, sometimes it's fun to go to museums with a friend, but I prefer just going by myself with my I-pod. I hate it when the person I'm with wants to spend forever looking at something boring, or when I want to look at something cool but someone is rushing me.

At the Louvre, the two most famous works of art are the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. It was so weird the way the giant crowds were swarming the works of art, frantically taking pictures, pushing, hysterically trying to get a good view. And the art is blocked off and surrounded by security guards. It was SO reminiscent of watching paparazzi stalk a celebrity, surounded by bodyguards. It reminded me of when I went to fashion week to see the celebrities. All the Louvre needs to complete the image is to have the crowds screaming, "Mona, Mona, show us that smile!! Venus, look this way, darling! You're gorgeous!"


Oh, and I'm annoyed because this morning, I asked for a caramel macaroon and they gave me coffee! I didn't realize until I was here at school, eating it. I don't like coffee.

I got Marissa a birthday present from this boutique near Palais Royal...

Also, I just bought these shiny black leggings the other day and I've been wearing them ever since. I love them! I know they'll lose their shine, eventually though. Maybe I should get another pair. The only bad thing is that they don't keep me warm at all, but the weather hasn't been TOO cold.

I went to the Sorbonne the other day to eat lunch and buy a sweater, but I couldn't find the bookstore and I didn't feel like asking anyone. I want to go back, though. There were a lot of young people there, obviously, and it seems like their college has more of a campus, community feeling, totally unlike AUP.


I signed up for my Le Cordon Bleu cooking class this morning! It's in a few weeks, and I'm going to learn how to make lemon pound cake and lime macaroons.