bonjour

Today was another badish day. I think it's the weather.

I woke up at 8:30 today despite going to bed after midnight. I seemed full of energy so I made my breakfast and coffee and got down to studying. I had planned on going to La Villette today, but the weather was looking a little gray. I hoped that I could read away the time in hopes that the skies would be blue by afternoon.

I finished all of my reading (more than I had originally planned), and got dressed to go out. The weather report stated that it was 61 degress outside with a high of 64. I put on an extra layer, shoved a hat and scarf into my bag, and went to the boulangerie to get a baguette for my picnic. I also took a bottle of water and Orangina to make my French picnic authentic.

I got my bread, walked to the Bastille metro station to get on the five towards Pablo Picasso. For the first time I saw people cheating the system at the metro station. Instead of paying for a ticket, they stand close behind someone else with a pass, and squeeze themselves through the turnstyle to avoid paying. I laughed a little at this trickery as I got myself on the train. The train was really nice with newly covered seats and a perfectly clean floor. It even had the blinking lights on the line map to indicate where you are. I was a little shocked so see that the five goes to Stalingrad station.

I got off at Porte de Pantin, a few stops short of the end of the line, and walked into what seemed to be a really nice area in the 19th. La Villette was billed to me as a must see, wacky park. It supposedly is filled with large sculptural pieces that give the park a unique twist. The first thing I saw was a large fountain with several lions' heads and a large glass building. I walked down a path in the other direction.

So far I had seen no strange sculptures, but I figured that they were hiding. I walked into what appeared to be the overgrown entrance of a theater, but it lead to nothing. I then passed an area with workout equiptment where men were blasting music while they worked out. This area was adjacent to a pen where some kind of brown, hairy animals were kept. This area had a few sculptures, but nothing very intersting.

The park is on two sides of a canal, and there's an above ground walkway tha runs alongside it. I went off to the side near some bushes and sat down on the grass to eat my picnic. The weather was turning very gray and threatened to rain. I ate my lunch while watching groups of runners exercise along the canal.

After lunch I got up to walk along the above ground walkway. I got onto the walkway and noticed a man who was also walking alone. After a few minutes, I pulled over to let a group of people pass me. He also pulled over a few paces ahead of me. When I started walking again he said something to me that I couldn't hear. I said "huh?" and he said bonjour again. I realized that he was hitting on me, and made the mistake of telling him that I don't speak French and then walking away. I fast walked off of the path onto the sidewalk below.

I really wanted to see what was on the other side of the canal so I climbed the stairs again and started to cross the bridge. Yet another again man with the bonjour. What was going on today?!

I kept walking into what seemed like endless sidewalk hoping that there would be some reason why I was told that this park is interesting. There happens to be several museums, but one is a musique museum and the other has to do with science; I wasn't interested. I walked all the way around the park and found nothing fascinating at all.

I headed back towards the metro, but pulled off into a little overgrown area with a bridge. There were these large slabs of stone that had mirrors on one side of them. Not interesting enough for me to stay. On my way to the metro I passed another bonjour man. I was definitely going home now, and not in a good mood. Not even walking past a cute cafe where there were strung up lights and cute little huts on a lawn could cheer me up.

I went home with my mood as dim as the sky. I stopped by Accent to see if I had gotten a letter from my mom, but it still hasn't arrived. I then decided to stop by Monoprix for some butter cookies and my pain au chocolat for breakfast. I also got a large bottle of Monoprix hard apple cider for 1,57 in hopes of cheering myself up. I gave the cashier my 50 dollar bill to break, and then went home.

I still had to study for French, but I had a terrible headache. My nose won't stop running and I'm congested. I curled up in bed and tried to wait out my headache for a bit. I only got up to study by bribing myself with cookies.

I made myself a whole grilled cheese for dinner, and now I might have some hard apple cider before bed. Who knows.