I. Am. A. Francophile.

Well, it's official folks.  After 1 week of being in Paris, I am officially a Francophile.

Francophile (n): a person who has a strong positive predisposition or interest toward the government, culture, history, or people of France. This could include France itself and its history, the French language, French culture, literature, etc...thanks Wikipedia!

Reasons why:

1.  I am currently reading online about Marie Antoinette
2.  I spent a ridiculously long time at a French history museum today --- learning everything I wanted to know and more about La Révolution
3.  I eat at least one baguette a day (usually more!)
4.  I spend my nights listening to classical music and trying to interpret French TV (the 3 channels that I get)
5. I ordered my dinner in perfect broken French, and for the first time, I actually received what I was asking for!

Anyway, now that I got that off my chest...here is an update on my daily adventures from the past 2 days...

Wednesday:

I ventured over to Musee d'Orsay, and absolutely fell in love!!!  Unfortunately they are in the middle of extensive renovation, so a large part of the museum is closed, and I believe they are only exhibiting a fraction of their permanent collection, BUT either way, I loved it --- and all that means is that I will have to come back after March 2011 to see it in all of its glory!

You can't take pictures inside, so that's all you get...except the picture below that I "accidentally" took...

After lots of walking around, I grabbed a beer at their BEAUTIFUL and incredibly overpriced restaurant, but it was definitely worth it! Check it out...

Then, I walked home along the Seine

And because you haven't see her in a few days...

The rest of the night was pretty lame.  I was showered and was in my pj's by 19:30, piddled around on the internet until around 23:00, and in bed by midnight (still can't seem to get to sleep any earlier...).

Thursday:

I decided to explore the funky Marais district and do a little self guided walking tour because that was the one area that I hadn't seen yet.

And just so y'all know that the other day was not a one time thing, here I am -- no t-shirts or flip flops in sight!

I always have the earphones in because life is much better with a soundtrack.

So, I took public bus #69 over to Marais, and oh, the places I saw!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

My ride

A really small gas station...

The Bastille (no longer exists, obvi...)

One of those windows belongs to the apt where Jim Morrison died

A really beautiful and very quiet garden that used to be part of an old palace

Then I went over to a museum that explained (in paintings and my handy Rick Steves book) EVERYTHING and more about French History, but it was really interesting --- history nerd, I know ---  I'm glad that I went!

As I was walking around, my eye caught a cute little boutique, so I had to go in!  A couple of minutes and lots of broken French later, I came out with these!  I was really excited because they actually had a size big enough to fit my canoes! 

They definitely channel Gilligan, but I thought they were super cute, and they girl in the shop said that they were really comfortable once they were broken in (bring on more blisters, ah!!)

I had dinner at a perfect little cafe somewhere along the Seine, and it was DELICIOUS (aside from the couple right next to me who insisted on making out every couple of minutes...it was pretty awkward...).  I started out with a glass of rosé and fantastic gazpacho and LOTS of bread.  Then the main course came which was grilled chicken, potatoes au gratin, salad, and even MORE bread.  Right after the food came, however, it started to RAIN!  What was I to do??  As groups of people were moving inside, I pulled out my umbrella and kept on eatin'!  I wasn't about to let a little drizzle get in the way of my cheesy potatoes, but it was definitely a challenge...try cutting chicken while holding up an umbrella!

The waiter finally put up large umbrellas when I was almost done eating...

The walk back home was nice because it was drizzling and slightly cool, and I ended up slipping into Notre Dame right before they were closing to visitors.  Mass was going on inside which was interesting to watch.

Also, I made a little donation and lit a candle for David --- I figured he would get a kick out of that.  It is somewhere below hanging with the other candles...

As if I had not consumed enough calories, I ended the evening with a warm and gooey banana and Nutella crepe - MAGNIFIQUE!

So, there you have another ridiculously long post, but at this point, the blog is my only true communication with the outside world, SO until I start class (t-minus 2.5 days!!) and make friends (hopefully!!), then you all get to know EXACTLY what I am up to every day! :)

- à tout à l’heure!