Last night I went with a group of students to eat fondue next to the Centre Pompidou. I was fully expecting it to be amazing, but was actually kind of disappointed. I think the reason was the lack of diversity- it was either cheese with potatoes and bread, or oil and meat. Too much cheese= stomachache. Too much meat= not that tasty (and sorry Dad, I'm starting to like my meat really red). ALSO, we did not get dessert like we had been promised. Not an altogether insprining dinner. HOWEVER, later that night the bf and I bought plane tickets for spring break! We're going to the Italian town of Trieste, which is on the Adriatic and conveniently placed for excursions in Slovenia and Croatia. SCORE. 
Today I went to the Salon du Livre, which made me absolutely certain that Paris was the right place for me to come. The Salon du Livre is basically the biggest book fair ever, with publishing companies from all around France and Europe represented. They have tons of speakers and different things going on. I spent two and a half hours just wandering around the convention center looking at books. I came out with four books- but I only bought two. I got one for free for being one of the first 1000 people there (although its kind of a strange and random book so I doubt I'll read it). Then when I was talking to one of the sellers he gave me an extra promotional bookie for frizzle. Also when I was talking to the guy he asked me what I normally read and I mentioned some American writers and once he had confirmed that I was American he brought up McDonalds. EW. It turned into a bittersweet compliment when he said something about Americans being fat, but that I was quite thin. OK. But he conceded that he likes their fries. I don't really know what to make of that encounter in the larger cultural sense.
This afternoon I rescued my dear friend Whit from the train station and went out to the airport with her to rescue her boyfriend Bryon from languishing there with no knowledge of French. The airport is like a 30 minute ride outside of Paris, and the landscape is quite different from the areas of Paris I've been running around in. The neighborhoods you go through to get there are not exactly nice. Good opportunity for some reflection on how lucky La Sconita is.
Bonne nuit tout le monde.
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