Paris, Je t'aime! :)

Day 27 in the stagiaire house...

I can't believe that October is fast approaching, which means that I will have survived a month here already! I can see my Year Abroad flashing before my eyes, I guess times flies when you are having fun!

And I AM having fun. The weekend just gone was just wonderful. I have discovered that in order to make the most of my time here, I have to be spontaneous. A friend of mine commented on how being here is kind of like being in the Big Brother house, and I guess they are right! All uni experiences are, it just so happens that I am working at a university, so really it's like being a fresher all over again. We can watch each other, meet those around us, and find ways to entertain ourselves since the campus is pretty uneventful most of the time! Or so we thought...

The usual POW (Party of the Week) did not take place last week. Unfortunately for us who work early on Friday, knowing that the only sociable night out of the week is a Thursday, it can be a bit of an effort to want to go. But we have just had to adapt to what we have, and make Thursdays our Fridays. After all, whats a day being tired when the weekend follows if it means having fun with the students here! So there we were, nice and full from our first Pizza delievery- no Dominoes though I must say!- eager to get out and have some fun.There was word on the street that one block was having a little flat party. Me being me, managed to do some detective work and get an invite (I think its my eyes, or my new fringe?) for us to tag along. It was a great way to mingle actually, we got to see someone else's accommodation - they had a mini kitchen!- and got to know a variety of drunk and sober people! This then moved spontaneously on to the Zinc bar here, where we had quite an eventful night! But i'll say no more. We danced a lot, had some laughs, and managed to stay right till the 2am closure! It was just one of those nights where things happen unexpectedly, you meet random people and have random chats! One French guy psychoanalysed me just by asking me about a box in a desert or something... Tres bizzare! Then us girls stayed up a bit longer having a girly gossip before turning in about 4am to sleep.The stupid thing was though, I habitually got ready to be at work for 9am, only to arrive and be told that I am doing the night shift so didn't need to be in untill 11!! Could have had an extra two hours sleep! So that did not start my friday very well, but at least it ended well:

I have managed to find myself two lovely Tunisian girls who want to do a French/English Conversation Tandem with me, so we met after work on Friday for a little natter. They are so sweet! We chatted French/English and agreed to make it a regular thing, meeting once a week for dinner/a drink/a game or something. So I am quite excited about that, finally French Girl Friends! One of them even invited me to Paris at the weekend, but I didn't go because she was leaving at 8.30am on Saturday morning! I kinda wanted a lie in! Well, I did set my alarm to go running, but turned it straight off once I realised how exhausted I was! Some of us went out for dinner late on Friday night, to one of the few restaurants in Jouy-en-Josas. Its a little pizzeria, but so popular! We had to wait a while to get seated, but they were very welcoming, gave us a free apertif, there was live music, they got us up dancing, great food, great atmosphere- typical Italian style with lots of kids running about everywhere! But it was a wonderful end to the week :) And a kick start to a fun weekend!

Saturday was a day of shopping and culture! Sara and I headed into Paris with the intention of seeing some sights, but somehow unexpectedly came across a hug shopping centre!! Ok, it was like being back in England with HnM, New Look etc, but we were so excited to see something familiar that we went a bit wild! Our debit cards suffered a lot though.. eek! But we were loving it, stocking up on clothes and stuff! But then we realised that we were not making the most of the beautiful weather outside! It was such a nice day, and we were cooped up inside a shopping centre! We decided to stop shopping and wander around Paris, exploring the Pomidou Centre with its cultural surroundings, walking past Hotel de Ville, discovering the French equivalent of BHS (BHV) for some more supplies, then meeting some of our corridor friends for dinner at Bastille. We found a really great, authentic falafel house where we had a proper Turkish platter of houmous/falafel/pitta... my favourite food! I slept very well that night ;)

Sunday morning turned out to be a bit of a flop, but then ended up being an incredbly amazing day! I got up early for a run, showered and rushed down to the train station to catch the 9.44 train to Versailles because I wanted to try out a church there. But somehow the train times didn't match what it said on the internet, so ended up being too late and didn't really know what to with myself, had a bit of a paddy! So decided to just go straight to Paris, return one of the dresses I bought because the belt was faulty, plan. But of course, nothing is open on a Sunday in Paris, not even shopping centres! So that frustrated me a bit too, but since it was another glorious day I just decided to make the most of it and have a little Adventure of my own! I must have walked miles. I came across a little church which had its doors open for viewing and a little service, realised I was right next to the Seine and the Louvre, so had a pleasant stroll along to river to visit the gardens. All along the bridges crossing the river were lots of padlocks, and apparently couples go there to place a padlock on the mesh and then throw away the key into the river, to declare their love for each other! How romantic! Its a shame the council have to come once a year to remove them all in order to make way for more! The Louvre gardens were stunning, I sat by the ponds and soaked it all up. Then I headed straight up the boulevard to the Champs-Elysées, wandering in and out of expsensive shops, loving life! As I approcahed the Arc de Triomphe, I thought I had better make the most of the weather and just being there, entrance is free for 18-25s so I walked up the 284 steps to take a look at the magnificant view of Paris. You can see for miles, all down the Chmps-Elysées, The Eiffel Tower, Montmartre... Stunning. To finish off my  touristy day, what better sight to visit other than the Eiffel Tower itself! I have already climbed it a few years ago, and it was a really busy day so wasn't intending on climbing it again in the heat! But it was just so amazing being there. This is where I live!! I wonder how long it will take before things in Paris get boring for me aha. Not that soon, I still get over excited whenever I arrive in Paris!! There was a family day happening around the Champs de Mars, so I wandered around looking at the various activties, and sat myself on the grass to sunbathe and listen to the live singing and entertainment on the stage. What more could you want? Ice cream and Sylvia? Well, yes, that happened too! We strolled around the Eiffel Tower with ice cream, and headed to the Musée de quai Branley for a little look around (its also free). What a wonderful museum, very impressive architecture and artifacts.

You can imagine how exhausted I was following my day of exploration! So after dinner, we watched a film and I went straight to bed, feeling very happy that I had made the most of the day and done some Parisian things! I wont feel so guilty about shopping next time! So yeah, loving Paris life right now :)

In other news, work is still going great. I love the staff here, there is always banter and gossip! They are very friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately one of the staff members is off ill ( the hypochondriac you wouln't believe) so sometimes I have to open up at 8.30, but it means I get to finish at 4.30 so its not all bad. But then again, with one librarian down it can sometimes get a bit stressful, especially when I don't know how to help someone and they are not being very understanding about it! Yesterday a very rude woman rang, asking for the book which was left in an envlope for her at the desk.  Could I see it? No. Could I find it? No.Could I ask someone about it? No, because all the staff were in training so I couldn't interrupt really. I explained as politely as I could that the book was not here and that no one else was around to help, but this woman kept nagging me, asking me for my email, sending me the book title, all unproductive things which didn't help the situation at all! And plus when I panic, my French goes all over the place so goodness knows what I was coming out with to her!

Have also been very spoiled by some technicians and other HEC staff, I have been bought sweets, chocolate, and stinky cheese all the way from Normandy!! haha, I am getting to know them well and we have some silly conversations, I guess its just them trying to welcome me, but its quite sweet!

You may have remarked over facebook that I have had a name change! For those of you who know me, I dislike having to repeat myself, so you can imagine my frustration when every time I say 'Je m'appelle Ruth' in whatever accent/variation, the French look at me bemused and confused as if to say 'I'm sorry, who?', I end up having to spell it out for them so that they can picture it for themselves in order to say. Its because the french don't have the 'th' phoneme  in their language so they find it hard to pronounce, and also with my name being one syllable its harder. Especially of there is noise or music, like in bars. So I thought, what the heck, 'Lily' is much easier to say and pronounce for the French, and its not like its NOT my name at all, its my middle name. And in France who is going to know, I am only here for 10 months! I know it might seem a bit extreeme, but I really dislike repeating myself and getting funny looks every timeI introduce myself! Moreover, I was kindly told that 'etre en rut' has sexual connotations, so when I say 'Je suis Rut', well, you can imagine...

The Forum des Associations ( similar thing to a clubs/societies fair) is tonight, so meeting my two Tunisian friends for dinner then to go along to see what takes our fancy to sign up for. I'm thinking Glee/Musical theatre and performong kidna things, prehaps a sport if theres one I can do outside of work hours.

I have blabbed on enough, and think I have covered most things! The weather is supposed to stay sunny this week so will try to make the most of it while it lasts! We might go to the POW this week, but its fancy dress as the opposite sex... hhmmm. 

Thanks to all those who have been following this. I never know if what I write is boring/ interesting, but I guess if you ever want to know how I am doing you can catch up on this! Thanks for all the support with messages and texts too, keep them coming as I don't want  to loose touch with you all!

Lily ;) xxxx