Les Premiers Jours...

The past few days here have been a whirlwind of activity, and I feel as if I have been in Paris for a week, when it has only been about two days. Yesterday was our first day of Orientation, and we met the staff at the ACCENT center, the facility that organizes and manages our specific program. Everyone is so friendly, and the staff really has made an effort to get to know us in a short time. We had an overview for a couple of hours, then got to explore the neighborhood a bit at lunchtime.

The ACCENT center, where three of my four courses will be, is in the Bastille neighborhood, in the 12th Arrondisement of Paris. Literally a few short blocks down the street is the Place de la Bastille, where there is a gorgeous monument honoring the place where the Bastille prison stood before the start of the Revolution. There is also a highly controversial, recently built opera house there, the second in Paris. It’s modern façade makes it stand out from its surroundings (thus the controversy among Parisians at the time of its construction), but I think that the new and the old aesthetics blend beautifully in the Place de la Bastille.

The surrounding neighborhood is quite nice, and it was good to explore a bit during the day. We stopped into a small boutique for a bit and spoke with the owner of the store, who explained to us that the Obama shirts she was selling were purchased before the election even took place because, as she put it, “We all knew he would win.” It was interesting to hear her standpoint, and also encouraging to see how excited everyone is. Everywhere in the city there are posters that say: “Les Challenges: Peut-il réussir?” (Challenges: Can he Succeed?) It is amazing to me how there is the same amount of media coverage here as at home!

Yesterday afternoon, we learned where we would be living, and with whom. My host family is actually a single woman, a certain “Madame Poidevin”… Very French name! She lives in the 15th Arrondisement, south of the Seine, and literally less than a mile walk to the Eiffel Tower! The area is pretty quiet, and I think it will be a nice place to go home to. I meet Madame tomorrow, and I must admit I am very nervous. So far speaking French to various people hasn’t been an issue, but I am a little shy about it, and I will only be living with one person so I have to keep up more conversation. But I am also relieved that I am living with only Madame in a way, because it will be less of an adjustment, and I will definitely improve in my French. We get to have breakfast together every day, and dinner four nights a week. The French culture is very structured, it seems, in that everyone always has dinner together.

Speaking of which, last night we had a fabulous dinner at a small restaurant off the Place de la Bastille. All of the students on the program ate with the staff, and had a prix fixe three-course meal. The servers were very accommodating about my gluten allergy, and that was a relief…so far, it hasn’t been too bad walking past all the boulangeries, and I must say, I am glad I can’t eat bread, because I would be about three dress sizes bigger in May.

THE NIGHT-LIFE
After dinner, a few of us ended up going over to a place some French locals had recommended, Chez George, on Rue des Canettes in the St. Germain area on Left-Bank. At first, it reminded me almost of a French 9-0, but that impression faded quickly, as we wandered downstairs…
The basement had low tables all over, and it was a CAVE!! The walls were stone and the ceilings low—it was really cool! Kind of a wine-cellar/monastery-gone-wrong ambiance. In the side room, the DJ was spinning polka and techno-salsa music, which was hilarious. We attempted to dance but it was difficult not to get creepily bumped by the many European men around us. They were funny and clearly having a good time, but incredibly forward…very different from American boys!
A good first day and night in Paris!