It was supposed to rain today, but thankfully it didn't. I didn't want to have to go on an excursion in the rain.
Our class excursion today was supposed to help us learn how to order food at a cafe and about eating in Paris. We met at the Accent center and then walked to a local cafe. Our professor went into the cafe, as per usual leaving our group to block the sidewalk and anger more than one Parisian, and then came back outside a few minutes later to tell us to come in. The cafe was empty, and our group took over every seat in the front room. The waitress came to each table and told us what our breakfast options were: our pick of several different types of coffee styles (une noisette, cafe creme, espresso, cafe au lait, etc), a few types of pastries (pain au chocolat, croissant, or baguette), and several types of juice (strawberry, orange, or grapefruit).
our baskets of pastries
The cafe
We worked on our worksheets while watching the barista (is that what you call a person who makes coffee, but doesn't work at Starbucks?) make our coffees as the waitress brought out baskets of our desired pastries. The baguette option actually surprised me. Several thin slices of baguette come with a glass dish of butter and several types of jam in little jars. I should have gotten the baguette with strawberry juice, but I opted for an expresso and a pain au chocolat. The barista accidently made an extra cafe creme and the waitress brought it to our table. I was happy to start my morning with three cups of coffee (on a side note, you'd be happy to know that I put sugar in my coffee while at the cafe).
The pastries were warm and the juice was fresh pressed. A delicious and relaxing way to start the day. My table watched as other tables received their juice, but we never got juice. After we were finished with my coffee, and having seen the waitress go across the street towards the market, I asked why our juice hadn't come. She made me come with her to the bar to ask for my juice in French while two men obviously stared at me while I took on this endeavor.
I worked hard for this juice
After breakfast, we walked around the Bastille to complete some of the questions on the worksheet. There are so many different types of cuisines represented in the Bastille. I was really surprised! I will have to venture to one of these restaurants for happy hour. I'm really looking forward to having Thai and Indian food after sipping a few caipirinhas at the Latin restaurant.
We ended our tour of the neighborhood and then had an hour to break for lunch. On our way to the first location in the Bastille, my professor had told me that there was a girl who was transferring into our class because she had trouble adjusting in her French class. She wanted me to keep an eye on the girl and make sure that she assimilated well. She happened to mention that her name was Kelly, and asked if I knew her. I said that I didn't.
Turns out that I do know Kelly. She was the girl who kept calling attention to herself during the orientation; she's crazy. My professor made her sit next to me in the center of the classroom so that I could be her partner and make sure that she was getting along well in class. She kept flipping pages during presentations and asking me questions during the lecture between making random comments that every normal person knows should stay inside of their head and not be spoken during class. I want nothing to do with the lunatic.
I did fine in French today. After class I came home to study. I'm so tired that I can't seem to focus on anything. After struggling to complete a few tasks I decided to call it quits for today. My evening has been spent watching youtube and surfing the internet. I'm writing this post with a glass of wine before I go to bed at a way to early hour because it's Friday, bitch.
Oh, one other little thing. I was looking through some photos that I had found on the internet and saved on my computer while I was still in Santa Barbara dreaming of Paris, and I found this picture.
I recognized the image as part of some street art that I had seen during one of my class excursions. This piece is on the side of a building in the courtyard next to the Biblotheque de Pompidou. I've seen this painting in Paris in real life. It was such a profound realization that I'm in the same place as this work, thus am finally realizing a life-long dream.
Shhhhh. Don't tell.
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