Life in Paris

Trip Start Jun 29, 2008

Trip End Oct 01, 2008

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Where I stayed

Belleville

(Paris hotels)

Flag of France Paris, Île-de-France, France
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I have now started going to French classes at Langue Onze. This time they gave me a written test and an oral test, and then I was put in an advanced class again, much to my dismay. I am just keeping up. It is probably the upper limit of my capabilities. I was thinking about asking to be placed in a lower class, but I really like my teacher, Florent, and I am still learning very quickly. The grammar we are learning is below my level (but it is good to revise), but the oral capabilities of my peers are much better than mine. Vocabulary is so important, though Sydney Uni didn't seem to think it necessary. I am beginning to understand the basic gist when people speak to me in French, and I've only had 2 days of class. I am feeling a bit more optimistic about it now, though I can understand how easy it is to just give up learning a language.

The school is good - very small and personal. There are 5 people in my class. We speak French constantly because our native languages are all different - Russian, German, Italian, Australian. They all speak 4 languages each, so I felt slightly inadequate with only one language. They were like, only anglais? Unfortunately, that's it...
Everyone I've met at the school are very nice and it is a very diverse group. There are people from Australia, America, Germany, Spain, Italy, Colombia, Norway, Denmark, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, England, Taiwan, and Japan. Perhaps more, I haven't had a chance to get to know everyone yet, but it is a fairly small group, so should get around to that soon.

Party

We went on a walking tour of Paris which was fun. It was provided by the school, and conducted entirely in French. I understood a lot of it, but tuned out occasionally to give my head a rest. We walked for 4 or 5 hours - I was so tired and hot at the end. I dressed in warm clothes today because it was like an Australian winter yesterday! But Parisian summer again today. I think I got burnt.

I went to my first Parisian house party the other night, and had a lot of fun. I was nursing a very harsh hangover the next day, and slept til dinnertime. I missed my Champagne tour! I was only 5 min late, and they left without me. Luckily, they said I could just do it next week instead, so no harm done. I don't think I would have felt like drinking champagne anyway, and the Dom Pérignon would have been wasted on me. I felt a bit nervous going to a party where I knew no one, except for the guy who invited me, Olivier, who I'd met about 4 hours before the party started, but it turned out really well. It was a mixture of French and Americans mainly, in a loft apartment in République, filled with wine, champagne and friendly people. The night was great except for one sleazy Frenchman who wouldn't take no for an answer! "I dream, that I could, to touch, your boobs"...ew...lacking in class AND grammar skills. Definitely not my type. I started wearing my ring on my wedding finger to avoid idiots like him, but only succeeded in being called Madame by a checkout chick. I quickly swapped it back to the other finger, hoping it was because she'd seen the ring, not just because she thought I looked old. It's Mademoiselle thank you very much!

I've met up with a few people from the party since. I went to the park by the Eiffel Tower with a few really nice Texans, and ate sushi and crépes, and drank wine in the park, watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle. Nutella crépes are so good. Then met up with Olivier for dinner, whose party it was, and rode through the narrow streets of Paris on his scooter, which was terrifying but fun at the same time.

So far, Paris is going well. I am really looking forward to England and Spain at the end of this month, when I get to meet up with a few familiar faces, such as Jo, Stu, Miele and Rob. The Big Chill festival is going to be amazing! Hopefully Rob brings his twin brother too, so I can verify that he hasn't just been photoshopped.

A few artists at the Big Chill that I am looking forward to:
- The Mighty Boosh
- Mr Scruff
- Thievery Corporation
- Angus & Julia Stone
- Bill Bailey
- Camille
- Róisín Murphy
- DJ Krush (live)
- DJ Vadim

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Party2	Party3	Party4	Paris Tour
Paris Tour2	Paris Tour3	Paris Tour4	Paris Tour5
Paris Tour6	Paris Tour7	Paris Tour8	Paris Tour9
Paris Tour10	Paris Tour11	Paris Tour12	Paris Tour13
Paris Tour14	Paris Tour15	lol