I started out the morning by going to le marché Edgar Quinet (read farmer's market) and buying some raspberries to munch on as I walked around the Montparnasse cemetery trying to find Baudelaire's grave (I failed, the maps they give you are no good and its creepy walking around a cemetery for too long by yourself).
Next I go to meet a friend by the metro Notre Dame des Champs. We have to go to the Louvre and look at some paintings for our art history papers and decide to eat lunch at some point. This point came sooner than we expected when we walked past a little place selling...brownies and bagels!! Oh gods, they do have bagels in France. I'm never leaving now- the delicious tomato and herb bagel with cream cheese, tomatos and cucumbers has me convinced. Really, really missed the bagel. I ate them what, twice a day, at home? Needless to say, I will be indulging in this delicious lunch option quite often.
So we make it to the Louvre and then back to our respective homes to work on our papers. Thankfully, my host mom provided me a distraction in the form of a journey to the Bois de Boulogne to pick up her two nieces who were there horseback riding. The bois- totally legit. Its a HUGE park/woods on the edge of Paris where one can do pretty much everything you would think of to do in a park- including camping (if only I had my tent). However, she told me not to go there alone and not to go there at night since that is where the prostitutes hang out. Ok, no camping for me in the bois. When we picked up the nieces we had to wait for one to finish her lesson and had some coffee that actually wasn't super, super strong for once. Yay!
And finally, dinner, where we had my newest favorite dessert- raspberries and strawberries. It reminds me of Grandpa sconnie's ice cream smothered with strawberries from his garden :)
Also, a point of pride, I rode the bus for the first time! Buses are somehow much scarier than the metro, but so much more enjoyable to take, and I have vowed to become a busrider by the time I leave this country. Progess reports to follow.
Another thing I love about Paris is that they always put a little explanation on their street signs as to where the name comes from. Personally I think they're really interesting and pretty educational as well. At home once I looked up the history behind all the street names in downtown Madison- equally fascinating (ok or maybe only to me, but still).
Rue Stanislas- first name of Louis 18th given to the neighboring middle school
Rue de l'Armée d'Orient- Street of the Eastern Army- the army in the Balkans during the first World War
No comments:
Post a Comment