dear Frenchmen and friends Thursday, 26 October, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in people, places.5 comments
Night out on the town Saturday. An apartment party where I met a few nice French people and was told that I sound like a French French (enunciation more than expression, I’d think), which made me very happy. And then! Clubbing. Clubbing. What a place! The music, the crowd, the raised platforms… I loved it all. The attention was overwhelming (and made me feel very desirable, thank you dear Frenchmen) and I was glad to be there with three boy friends, who made sure they were near enough to pull me away when someone dancing with me made me feel uncomfortable. At one point in time, it occured to me that I was being chatted up and flirting in French, which amused me A LOT. What more could a girl ask for? I was on a high that night.
When the lights were turned on near five, I left reluctant but contented. Waiting for the first train to be at St. Michel at 0530, we took pictures sitting on the parapet of the river Seine, standing in front of the Basilique Notre-Dame, walking on the empty streets. I love Paris in the day and am loving it more and more everyday, but man Paris at night (or in the early early morning) is really something.
The rest of the week, I’ve been going to classes and finally starting on my readings\: Am interested in the content of all the modules I’m taking this semester, which helps. Also applying for library memberships (National, Sorbonne, History Faculty, English Studies Faculty). So my cafe sit-downs are now mostly replaced by my time in the libraries. I’m glad I brought 16 passport photos with me. Everything that requires paperwork requires a photograph.
Shuyi’s coming to visit! Complete we’re-talking-on-skype-hey-I’ll-come-to-Paris-for-the-weekend spur of the moment decision. And she’s arriving tomorrow! I AM SUPER EXCITED. I was already looking forward to a fun weekend with Zihua and the Salon du Chocolat and now I have a couple of days with darling Shu and then a couple more with both of them and it’s going to be fun fun fun. Ok have to do some work because I have a presentation and a proposal to get ready for next week, but I think I can manage. Oh joy!
the pleasure of routine Saturday, 21 October, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in ponder.4 comments
I feel happier. And I know it’s because I’m developing a routine.
I’m attending classes where I write down a copious amount of words, I’m also learning from books, I’m going for my weekly gym (muscle-building, I kid you not) sessions, I’m eating lunch at student restaurants, where it’s reasonably priced and not ridiculously so like everywhere else. Basic university life stuff, you know. At the same time, I’m becoming familiar with how Paris works -the people, the trains, the weather. Between classes, I sit in cafes near school to do a bit of reading or letter-writing, sipping a cup of hot chocolate or coffee, savouring a piece of pastry. I’m soon going to vary that by sitting myself down in the many libraries too. Sometimes, I take a bus to a particular shop I’d read about in a guidebook. Once I’m done with that, if I have the time, I wander around the area. Going home on the RER train (I can take trains BALI, DEBA, DUBA, ELAC, ELBA), I plug in my ipod, hug my bag close to me and look at my fellow train-riders. As the train speeds away from central Paris, I watch them read, solve soduko puzzles (almost a national pastime here), talk on their handphones… it’s interesting to imagine what their lives are like. Other times, I look out of the window at the passing apartments, houses, rivers, fields, factories, cables, bad graffiti. (There are these two hugeass chimneys near the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand that produce smoke that form never-ending clouds in the sky. I really like them shiny cloud machines.) On occasion, I’m totally beat from my day and take a catnap.
In the early evenings, I usually make dinner. Nothing complicated. Just chopping up vegetables, marinating meat, boiling pasta, stirring soups, frying eggs… that sort of thing. It’s nice. After dinner, I go online to read and reply my emails, watch videos on youtube for a while (I’m now re-watching old Charmed episodes), research and make bookings for my upcoming trips within France and Europe. Occasionally, I’d chat with a few friends. Housemates would start coming back from school and work and random rambling conversations would be struck up in the corridors and somtimes continued in rooms. Finally, it’s a nice hot shower, blow-drying of the hair, major moisturizing, bed time.
I do my laundry. I wash the lightweight pieces by hand daily and hang them on the heater rack I smartly procured a few weeks back. About once every fortnight, I put my heavy pieces in the washing machine, one load lights and one load darks. Weekly, I vacuum my room. As and when I feel like it, I wipe surfaces clean with anti-bacterial all-natural liquid soap. I’ve put pretty things here and there… on the walls, on the mirror, on the bed, on the desk. They make the room my room. My room is neat as a pin, but squishedly so, since it’s so small. I like it. It’s cosy. There are a few (9: 2 big, 7 small) glow-in-the-dark stars concentrated on one bit of the ceiling and I like looking at them for a while before I close my eyes and drift off to sleep under my comfortable duvet.
In the morning, my handphone wakes me up. I listen to music (this week, it’s mostly Wild Horses performed by Alicia Keys and Adam Levine) from my laptop, dress up for the day, have breakfast at my desk and am out. I walk to the train station, hurriedly if I might miss the train and have to wait 20 minutes for the next one (I live in the suburbs and the RER trains LARA, SARA and VICK don’t come by as often as the trains in the metro network in central Paris do) and end up being late for class. Leisurely if it’s too cold (early morning) and walking too fast will make my face freeze, if I’m in good time, or if I simply don’t feel like hurrying.
Classes are alright. There are a surprising number of loners in both the cours magistraux (lectures) and travaux diriges (tutorials) and so I don’t feel strange at all being alone. It’s quite nice actually. Parisian students are apparently not very pally with one another. They go to school, they take notes diligently, they go home. That’s it. That’s the undergraduate education at the prestigious Sorbonne, it seems. You’d think students would have at least made a few friends by their third year. Of course, there are groups and pairs of friends, but the number of people disconnected from anyone else is quite remarkable. Maybe the complete absence of group projects has something to do with it. I’m making friends. Casual. I ask classmates questions because I don’t know a thing about how things work, I smile at whoever I’m sitting with and try to make small talk. There are of course other exchange students and they’re usually friendly. My impression of the Parisian university life will change, I’m sure. I’m constantly re-considering it. Oh! I’m the only Asian in all my classes, which amuses me somewhat.
There are always errands to be run. I go to the bank. I do my grocery shopping in supermarkets (Ed’s and Franprix are available in my town), I buy bread from one of the local boulangeries. I treat myself to fresh produce at the weekend markets in my town and several places else in central Paris. I like to take my time looking at the food and choosing what I want to buy. It’s fun.
My weekends, I love. If I’m not vacationing somewhere, or exploring Paris with a friend who’s visiting, I sleep in. When I wake up, I laze in bed for a while longer and see what I feel like doing for the day. It’s Paris after all. There’s always somewhere to go, something to do. A few of us from the Residence are going dancing tonight, and I’m looking forward to that. Of course, there’s the very nice weekly make-me-miss-home call to my family, where I talk to everyone and it’s almost like I’m right there in the living room at home. My ma and I email each other almost everyday though, so we still feel very involved in each other’s lives, which is great. The emails probably keep me sane. And then she passes on information to my pa and brother as well as from them to me. The very regular contact makes being away from home easier.
With the uncertainties out of the way, with most of the paperwork done, with plans made and to make, with a room perfect for down time, I’m now really enjoying myself. In a quiet sort of way. It’s very nice. I’m happy, in a nicely quiet sort of way, to be where I am.
Lake Como Thursday, 19 October, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in people, photos, places.7 comments
Lake Como was unbelievably beautiful.
Thursday evening, I set off for Paris Bercy, where I took the overnight train with Shumin and Zihua (who’d travelled from Poitiers, where they are studying for the year) to Milan. We arrived at 0540 at Milano Centrale, had breakfast, then boarded the next train for Como. At Como, we used the toilets and marvelled at how one steps on something for water to wash one’s hands and how toilet flushing works on a stepping mechanism too. I thought at the time that it’s just a train/train station thing, but no! Everywhere we went in the following days worked on the same system. The Italians are a hygienic people. In fact, everywhere I went in Italy, it was really clean. I wondered if I’ve just been in dirty Paris too long.
The first sight of Lake Como took our breaths away. It was so beautiful! And it bowled me over with its beauty every time I looked at it for the rest of the weekend.
So! After putting our bags down, we explored Menaggio. First up, pre-lunch cocktails at a bar by the water. Then, La Giara Pizzeria for the most amazing calamari I’d ever had, as well as very yummy pizzas. James joined us halfway through lunch. He’d come from Switzerland, where he’s at a Christian retreat. After that, it was a walk along Lake Como, as well as a further exploration of the town and its cute shops. We also had our first cups of gelati. Thereafter, it was chill-out time at the balcony at the youth hostel. We were joined by William, an Australian on his gap year, who is working for a while at La Primula, where we were staying. We had a leisurely conversation while watching the sun slowly set from the balcony. Dinner was at a restaurant in the square. Food was good and the company made it all the better. That night, we played Megapoly (Italian Monopoly) with William in the dining room of the hostel. Other people were playing other board/card games, and there was good music playing. Atmosphere was friendly.
Early the next morning, I woke up early to watch the sun rise with James. I’d never seen the sun rise so beautifully before. It was nothing short of gorgeous. After breakfast, we went to the square to get gelati from another shop. Then, it was onwards to the pier to take the ferry to Como. The view was particularly amazing because the sky was clouded over and there were “holes” where the sun rays shone through. It was truly magnificent. We had to keep telling ourselves that we were really there seeing what we were seeing.
Como was quite a disappointment - too touristy. The market we’d gone there for was a pasar malam without any charm. Lunch was overcooked and overpriced. It was ridiculous. We finally left it for Bellagio, which was very pretty. We walked the little town and popped into quaint shops. Then, Shumin, James and I sat down at the pier for a little talk while Zihua happily shopped away. Was calming. We returned to Menaggio for dinner at Hotel du Lac, where we had, for starters, a lot of bread soaked in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And then I got further stuffed on vegetable soup and a fish risotto.
The next day, we checked out of La Primula in the morning. We bid a fond farewell to William, and also to this amazing old lady, Connie, who’s 66 years old, travelling alone and having a marvellous time. She was really sweet, like how she would felt like giving us goodbye hugs.
Anyway, us girls had each brought a backpack and an extra bag, so it wasn’t too bad to lug around after we’d checked out. We decided to go to Varenna to hang out for the day. Zihua decided that she’d much rather set off for Milan to visit the Duomo and walk the streets of the fashion capital and that’s what she did. After we’d sent Zihua off, James, Shumin and I started a non-stop eating/talking afternoon. We first had very good pasta (again after too much bread+olive oil+ balsamic vinegar). Then, we sat ourselves down at a gelato place, where the view was amazing and the air fresh. There, we had an unforgettable afternoon. When does one enjoy the luxury of sharing hopes and dreams in a beautiful setting? We were all very pleased with how we lazed away the afternoon. Dinner was at a casual joint, where James, meat-deprived as he is in Switzerland, devoured a T-bone steak in record time. He then had to take the last ferry back to Menaggio where he was staying for one extra night. Shumin and I took the train to Milano Centrale, where we were to be joined by Zihua. The ticketing machine was out of order and there was no ticketing counter, so we boarded the train ticketless. Being the good girls we were, we walked the whole train to find the conductor to purchase tickets, but to no avail. So we sat on the floor and enjoyed a free train ride! There on the floor, we had a good heart-to-heart, which I guess we’d both not anticipated, but was great. I’ll remember it, my dear(: Thank you.
Some hang-out time with a happy Milan-trotter Zihua at the McDonald’s right outside Milano Centrale, before we it was time to take the night train back to Paris. Arrived in Paris the following morning, and then I had classes that very afternoon\:
Lake Como -the scenery, the air, the food and best of all, the company. It was fabulous. Everyone has to look at all the photos in my Lake Como, Italy set. I love them. An unforgettable weekend.
Recovered Wednesday, 11 October, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in people, places, ponder, pretty.9 comments
It’s been tumultuous. Classes started last week. Registration is still going on (last bit now though, thank goodness for that) and it’s a nightmare. You queue and queue in hot stuffy corridors with other students as confused as you and then deal with harrassed administrative people. Not pleasant. Pas du tout. Not at all.
Classes have been okay. I can understand, which surprises me all the time. I looked at my notes on the way home from school yesterday not because I wanted to revise but because I wanted to take in how I wrote fast and furiously IN FRENCH. I find it quite amazing.
I can only take 4 modules this semester, and I’m taking 6 next semester and there are two next semester I really want to take for which there are no more places. For now (I hope eventually I’ll have a place). I’m supposed to check back sometime between now and beginning of next year. With the harrassed administrative people. HAVE A WAITING LIST, ADMINISTRATIVE PEOPLE! Seriously. If I don’t get to take the two I really want to take, it’ll be tant pis. Too bad. (But I WANT I WANT I WANT! I NEED!)
Ok so I visited a vintage store called Mamie, as you have probably seen, or can see if you have not, on my flickr. I found it in a book called Paris Chic and Trendy. It was alright. There, I procured what I believe was the only beautiful and well-preserved piece in the store -a dark blue-purple bag made with fishing line. Very pleased. The shopowners were also friendly and we had a nice conversation. I won’t go back though. Overall, the prices were too high to pay for old bad-quality rags. I need to continue on my quest for a favourite vintage store.
Big event: I was sick! Throat infection hence high fever hence an insistent headache. It was awful. Having a fever in a cold place is the strangest feeling. Anyway, I needed to visit the doctor Saturday morning because I was in really bad shape by then, and the doctor in my town didn’t work on Saturdays. Well, actually, generally, French doctors don’t open their clinics on the weekends. SO! There was a dramatic what-should-we-do hullaballoo at my residence. It was finally decided that a friend would drive me to the hospital in the next town. And so we went. I was tearing from my sharp head pains by that time. Upon arrival, I thrusted all my papers at the receptionist and I was miraculously called in shortly. Inside (outside meaning waiting room), there were several consultation rooms. I was shown into one, where I sat on the bed, holding my head in my hands. A doctor came in to take my temperature, take my blood pressure, ask me what’s wrong, ask me about my allergies, type information into the computer in the room. And left. I waited on the bed for 15 minutes. All this time, I could see him shuffling in and out of an administrative-looking sort of room through the space where the curtain to my room wasn’t pulled across. I finally went to ask him, on his 8th shuffle out, what I was waiting for. I was waiting for my doctor to come see me. Fine. Waited for another 15 minutes. Female doctor comes in and does exactly what the previous male doctor does. Save for the blood pressure thing. And I couldn’t understand one thing she said and she raised her voice at me! Like I was deaf! Or an idiot! Thank goodness that was the only one sentence I couldn’t understand. Or my head would really have split from her raised voice. The best part of the whole ordeal? I didn’t have to pay! And there weren’t annoying forms to fill out at all. I’d anticipated too many forms to fill out and a big bill to foot at the end. I took my prescription when it was presented to me, scurried out to a pharmacy to purchase my medicine and drugged myself well over the next two days.
So I’m all recovered. In a warped way, I’m glad I was so sick and felt like shit. Now, in comparison, everything is nice and shiny. It was like the climax and the end (I hope) of a very trying time settling in and dealing with all the problems that Paris threw my way. I feel much better now in many ways. Settled, you know? Like okay this is what’s happening and it’ll all be okay.
I’m taking the night train to Italy tomorrow! A weekend in Menaggio, which is a town by Lake Como. Be back Monday morning.
Falling in Love with Paris Tuesday, 3 October, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in people, places.8 comments
I fell in love with Paris over the weekend. I’d been so caught up with the awful practical side of trying to live and study here that I became blind to the charm Paris offered. It started winning me over on Thursday night, or rather Friday morning, when after my first night on the Parisian clubbing scene, I strolled the beautiful and luxuriously tranquille Parisian streets in the wee hours of the morning. There is nothing like Madaleine, which is a posh area in Paris, at 2am. The club itself was alright. There were too many people trying too hard to be cool, and so it wasn’t my kind of club much. A friend has promised to bring me to a really good one soon, so I’m excited about that.
Zihua arrived Friday morning and our adventure as tourists began. I’d downed substantial coffee to suppress the symptoms of a night out on the town and less than sufficient sleep. After we’d deposited her luggage at my place, we headed for Chinatown for a spot of lunch, then on to Champs-Elysees for a stroll and to savour the famous La Duree macaroons. I returned to Savigny for my doctor’s appointment, where among other things, I did 30 squats, all to get a medical certificate for engaging in sporting activities at the Sorbonne. Goodbye to 21 euros. The doctor was very nice -old in a young way. I then rejoined Zihua. We headed for the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle on the green, and blew out a vanilla-scented candle to round up her 21st birthday. And had wine with friends back at my place.
The next day was an amazing one. We woke up early to go to a market at Mouteffard. It was gorgeous. And the food! My goodness… what glorious food! I am so going back! And the people were nice and friendly. Then there was a band, Rene Miller’s Wedding Band, playing on the cobbled streets. The whole atmosphere, with the smell of roasting chicken, the tempting window displays, the lively music, the vibrant colours of fresh fruits and glistening seafood, was wonderfully infectious. We looked at cheese, we ate bread, we drank coffee, we devoured sweet little strawberries. It was a beautiful way to start the day. Very happily, we headed to St-Michel, where we browsed the stalls (bouqinistes) by along the river Seine, then visited Basilique Notre-Dame (where, what do you know, the Rene Miller Wedding Band were playing again and the band howdied (well kinda) us since we’d bought their 3 cds earlier on), then Shakespeare and Co.. Onward to the boulangepicier near the metro station Courcelles, which is this excellent food haven. It’s modern and trendy and oh man the food! The guy who greeted us was very friendly and even though things cost quite a bit, he gave us a free onion bread (oh bliss!) and a chocolate tart with pistachios (yum) to go with our purchase of a olive baguette with a pesto and basil spread and roasted tomato topped with the most succulent sardine. It was divinely tasty. He was really very friendly, this Sami character. I thought he was quite good-looking. Got the dark and fit thing going on, but Zihua did not agree because she likes the Adam Sandler type. I must say though that Sami was a little overwhelming in his friendliness. Alright! Next stop: Denise Acabo’s Chocolatier called L’Etoile d’Or (The Star of Gold) near the metro station Blanche, where Moulin Rouge (small and displaced-looking) is. She and her shop are in so many books and magazines! It’s touted the best chocolate shop in Paris. A must-visit for all self-proclaimed chocolate fans. She was super friendly too, and we spent sometime talking with her in the store. She also introduced to me a few food places that I simply had to visit in Paris, and let me (practically shoved) me the books with the information so I could copy it all down. Had the day ended? No! On we went to Rose Bakery for a spot of tea, on the rue des Martyrs. Fluffy iced citron cake and sticky date and cereal slice washed down with a pot of English Breakfast tea. Stumbled upon a shoe shop where we purchased astonishingly pretty and good-quality shoes at very reasonable prices. AND THEN! To the Louvre where we went up the escalator to look out through the pyramid. It was pouring rain and so incredibly beautiful to look out. Unbelievable. We finally decided to (or rather, were so tired (but heart-a-flutter happy) we had to) go back and was dragged to drink wine in the kitchen to meet the new people who were staying at the Residence. Wouldn’t you say it was a good day? Nice people, nice food, nice everything.
Sunday, we went to the market near my place for a look-see and for breakfast. Then it was on to Montmartre where we wandered the shops and then climbed up the steps to Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. The view from Sacre-Coeur is breathtaking. We tried to capture it on our cameras, but it was impossible. The panoramic view, the crisp morning air… potent combination. It hits you and all you can do is say oh and feel amazement. It was a fantastic way to start the morning, before going in to sit on the pews and feel calm. After a quick trip to Pierre Herme for the food snob that is Zihua, we headed back to Savigny where the dear girl packed and left. Thank you for a splendid time, my friend. It really was that.
There you have it! The weekend I fell in love with Paris.
(Photos of the past month up within the next 24 hours. I know I know! I’m so the boy who cried wolf. I promise promise this time. Promise!)
