I'm American!

Saturday October 31, 2009 - I'm American.

Okay, so I know I should be blogging about La Rochelle….but first things first!! Last night, I had a CHEESEBURGER!!! Now, I know it’s a tall order to ask France to make a decent all-American cheeseburger and steak fries, but let me tell you it was a success! Over the past few days, my stomach and my head have been feeling a little woozy…I’m trying to find the balance between a student budget, French groceries and sufficient protein. No joke. I think I’m cured. I have never felt better than after creating my own Carl’s Jr. commercial in the middle of a nice French restaurant surrounded by distinguished French diners. Ahh, I LOVED it! I think it was a bit of my homesick bitterness mixed with some “take that, France” attitude.

Okay, so if a juicy burger doesn’t remind me of my Dad enough; my friend Luke shows up. He is a fellow CSU student from our group and he is a mathematics major. So just as a background note, he is majoring in math. Period. And he also just happens to enjoy the French language, “it’s just a matter of equating a list of letters and symbol formulas with one that is already known to you…” Now he is here in Paris taking ridiculously high-level math classes in French. Remind me never to complain again.


...Why they gave me salad? I haven't the slightest idea.

All that said, he thinks it’s hilarious that I completely understand his, um, mathematical way of thinking. It’s simply what is logical. Most efficient. And what makes sense; why anyone else would do it differently, is beyond me… Ring any bells? Spending 20 years in an artist-engineer combination household, I have developed a certain set of skills that have become quite useful. As Luke is telling me about his circa 1980-something 4x4 Pathfinder (replacing the engine and running it over 400,000 miles) and our mutual hatred towards unnecessary debt…I begin to think, hmm, I think I may have just met my Dad at age 25. Oh and did I forget to mention, he has a full ready-for-winter BEARD? This is just too much.

Joyeux Anniversaire to my Roomie and thanks Mom for the best hat in Paris, I'm obsessed!

Now off to Chocolate Chip pancakes at Breakfast in America...What can I say, I'm feeling patriotic.

Back with Class!

Monday October 12, 2009 – Back with Class!

First day of school…but not in the way you might think! For those who aren’t already aware, I applied for a teaching position many, many months ago for my year abroad and I got the job as an English Language Assistant at a high school in the suburbs of Paris. For the past week, I have been observing English classes and today I began to teach. I have my own classrooms, keys, pigeon-hole in the teacher’s lounge, cafeteria card, and have to make my very own lesson plans…apparently I am supposed to know what I’m doing! Ha. Ha. I almost forgot to mention, I heard my own “teacher voice” today, you know the one I’m talking about; it scared me a little.

So I teach 11 classes per week; four on Monday, one on Tuesday, and six on Friday. The way the system works is that a (real) English teacher can request an assistant (a not exactly real teacher) to work with their students. The classes are divided mostly in half and I take the group once a week to work on oral language and conversation skills. Today went really well…I wore my super professional Van Heusen dress that I bought during Grace’s Women’s Retreat last spring, perfect; kind of my equivalent to a power suit. The lesson I prepared went over well…I did do it three times in a row so that makes it easier. I tend to live in the teacher’s lounge or “la salle des professeurs” during the gaps in my schedule. I drink tea and eat fig newtons, not very French I guess, I need to work on that. But, I swear, it seems as though the teachers down at least 6 cups of coffee a day! This is the view:


Oh I almost forgot: my commute. Not very exciting right, well it does involve 3 metro lines, 1 bus and 5 stations….don’t forget the stairs, remember! And, of course, this:

That’s right 144 old stone steps all my own! Yes, this is the one and only stairway that leads up to my high school. When I do eventually reach the summit every morning, shedding layers and layers of clothing, as well as, 5 pounds of water weight in the form of sweat (I know, gross!) I get to greet my fellow colleagues and students after climbing 4 more flights of stairs once inside the building, face beet-red and out of breath. Jokes on me I guess. Thanks France! …PS that’s our new catchphrase! Feel free to apply it where needed during your stay, but you must only say it with a really stiff-slash-insane looking smile on your face. Don’t worry, it will come almost naturally.

My first University classes begin tomorrow, so wish me luck…at both ends of the classroom!

PS my apartment smells like a fart, not a healthy fart, like a rotten someone/someTHING has gotta be sick around here…I think I should stop… it’s only the cheese in the fridge and it’s “fresh” meaning it looked like this when my roommate’s French boyfriend bought it.

Now you know why I strictly live off of Nutella.

Sunday Afternoon

Sunday October 11, 2009 – Montmartre

So I realized that I’ve been here for going on two months and I still hadn’t visited Sacre Cœur and Montmartre… My tour guide was Trevor, my friend from San Diego. We took the funicular to the top of the hill to the Sacre Cœur cathedral.





Since it was Sunday, there were crowds of people everywhere enjoying the open market and some live music that included favorites like “Ticket to Ride” by the Beatles. One comforting thing about Paris, in spite of being so far away from home, is the music. I never go out without hearing a familiar tune that reminds me of sophomore year of high school or road trips trying to sleep in the Landcruiser back in the day. Oh speaking of Landcruisers, I actually see them quite often in a purely singular form: a tow truck. Since most European cars are so small the huge big rig tow trucks really aren’t necessary…they use a whole new form of beast below: (Photo dedicated to Dad and Doug, especially)


Anyways, Sacre Cœur was gorgeous and we found the most perfect Pride and Prejudice garden I have seen; I fell in love with it.


Speaking of love, we also saw The Wall of Love! See the “je t’aime” on the right side?


I’m not sure if I am correct, but there was an école des garçons or boy’s school nearby the funicular that had gates and stairways that looked identical to those in the movie the Red Balloon! That made me happy.

After traversing all of those stairs we were in definite need of a snack. What better place to enjoy a break than at Amélie’s café or le Café des Deux Moulins from the movie. We indulged in crème brulée and chocolat chaud! The group sitting in front us indulged as well, in a couple cups of coffee!

The Moulin Rouge, probably only presentable in daylight. On a Sunday afternoon.

PS I also found my dream home and the perfect bite to eat nearby!!

Who's with me?

La Nuit Blanche

Saturday October 3, 2009 – La Nuit Blanche

In high school, my French teacher explained une nuit blanche as “une nuit sans dormir” or “a night without sleeping”. Every year Paris throws a huge all-nighter called La Nuit Blanche, complete with various attractions and artistic exhibits all over the city that are open all night long. Overall, it was basically a Disneyland crowd all over the city of Paris; I swear I didn’t even know this many people lived here! But, we had a list of event s to see and started with a star exhibit in the Luxembourg gardens…it was a disco ball hanging from an orange construction crane with a spot light on it with a one hour line to “experience” it. Um moving along, we headed to Châtelet. Crowds everywhere!! In the midst of things, we find a most likely not sober tight-ish rope walker that was going to give me a heart attack! I know I’m such a mom!



We decided to get a snack at a café, you know, right in front of Notre Dame. I still can’t get over that I’m here. Notre Dame at night is so beautiful! Ahhh…

My favorite metro stop, Arts et Métiers: It is completely bronze plated with huge crank gears built into the ceiling of the tunnel. Please enjoy also the gentleman in the foreground…oh wait it was actually a woman! Ew.

Hôtel de Ville...and a few people.

Back to the exhibits, well since everything had a line that was at least an hour and it was freeeezing, we just accepted the fact that it wasn’t going to happen. But wait! The Kiss! The line is so short, why not! (Red flag) Okay, so The Kiss is a ten minute short film of a couple making out on a bus. NOT a Hollywood, celebrity good-looking, good lighting, and spotless tour bus kiss…no, more like your average TMI PDA moment on public transportation! Haha, at least we participated in something, right?

BTW TMI= too much information and PDA= public display of affection oh and BTW= by the way :)

Being the mom that I am, I was in bed by about 1a.m. Good night!

La Tour Eiffel

Fall 2009 - La Tour Eiffel

So over the past month or so, I've gathered a little collection of Eiffel Tower photos...I'm sure the album will only grow:
My friend Trevor's birthday picnic!

At night, the tower sparkles every hour!

...Still takes my breath away!

Combien? Vingt euros. Quinze. Dix-sept. Oui, d’accord.

Saturday September 26, 2009 - Swap Meet

Can anyone say retail therapy? Today, I went to the World’s Largest Swap Meet, or so I’m told. It’s just outside main Paris and is really easy to get to. Although I did not want to wake up at 7:30 this morning, I had a feeling it would be worth it. I went with two of my friends Julia and Lily; the perfect not-too-many people to still get things accomplished and be able stick together group. First things first. I did not bring a pair of tennis shoes, to France I mean, like at all. Now I didn’t anticipate this being a problem, I never wear tennis shoes except while at the gym, but I also did not anticipate the minimum of 800 stairs I do a day. Oh did I forget to mention that?! Yep, that’s right! On a very average nothing-to-see-here day, I counted. 803 stairs I counted. I only went to school, to my program office (to pick up a gigantic 15lb box of winter clothes, thanks Mom), and then back home I swear. Ladies, please hop on the next flight and you can live on bread, cheese, chocolate, and wine too…all you have to do is try to move around Paris each day. Holy cow! …Back to the shoes, basically my feet have been dying a little more every day. I knew I needed to buy real shoes, but naturally I’m not very good at settling. I can’t just buy regular-old converse like everyone else. No, I need the all black leather converse; hey once I have my mind set on something there’s no going back! I do a little research and back home they’re about $75; here, in a Parisian boutique, they’re 75€ ($110 yikes!). So… needless to say I’ve been holding off on that purchase until now. I found exactly the same converse I wanted for 50€ which is actually $73.35. Deal, Mmmkay! Then I proceeded to get really off track and bought two 10€ dresses and really pretty white blouse for work, a black leather jacket (20€!), some little black socks (in regular stores they’re about $6 a pair, ugh), and a pair of vintage Paco Rabanne sunglasses for a steal! Oh, and a pack of combs we split between the three of us. The craziest part: in central Paris, to buy a normal nothing-special-about-it comb will cost you about $9. What?!


Imagine the downtown L.A. Fashion District and multiply it by 100 = the swap meet. I don’t think we even saw a quarter of it…but we did manage to find the best lunch ever! Now, since I have this comparison going, when going to the fashion district, you don’t use the bathroom, you don’t eat anything from the vendors, and you shower immediately upon returning home. Now believe me, I did shower right away and did have to pay to use a bathroom, but the food was sooooo good (and so far, safe too)! My sister and I have a Quizno’s tradition in L.A. because a franchise is somehow regulated, right? Anyways, we found this little sandwich place, chowed down on massive chicken sandwiches, burgers, and fries! Dee-lish. Funny story: they will charge you an additional 75 cents, each, to sit at one of the tables. Students as we are, we decided to just eat on the go. Well, that was until the man tried to put my huge sandwich in a to-go container…read: Not happening. So he let us sit for free: Bonus!


PS this sandwich totally lasted for 3 meals!

Finale Dinner aka Red Meat At Last!

Friday September 25, 2009 - Finale Dinner

Tonight was the grand finale dinner of our orientation. We went to a really nice dinner at a restaurant on a boat on the Seine. We had to take the metro to the RER (the big trains) to a bus and then walk 20 minutes just to get there…but we had fun as a group! To start we had wine and some sort of mango-tasting cocktail. Our professors proposed many toasts before the meal began. PS I don't normally combine cocktails and professors in the same blog, ha, only in France!

The first course was a salmon tartar and salad. It definitely met my, um, sushi craving! It was definitely raw but really tasty mixed with onions, sprouts, and dill.

The main course was filet mignon with caramelized onions, potatoes, and more salad. It's official: I haven't had red meat in 5 weeks! I am not my doing part in the Irwin legacy, but I promise to do better.

Unfortunately, since we were such a large group we had to vote on a common menu and for dessert we had tiramisu instead of crème brulée! I mean, bonjoooooour, we aren’t studying in Italy for heaven’s sakes…but it was still okay. That just means I have an excuse to get one at the next restaurant I go to! Humph...But then again, I don't really look that disappointed.

Then time for karaoke…one of the professors sang a funny song and a bunch of people from our group sang too! Then upon leaving the restaurant, we depart on yet another journey to find the only open metro stop. About an hour later in my so-called “Paris go-to heels” I’ve nearly killed myself a half of a dozen times, we finally find the stop and low and behold I live off the same line; Grâce à Dieu I’ll make it home in one piece, minus my toes. See for yourself:

Good night!