…and the week went on.
Thursday- Had a visite guidee de la Passage Couvertes – covered shopping galleries near the Opera Garnier. Got crepes for lunch then went back to Accent for one more contemporary French class. Ate dinner with my host family then went to Erasamus night at MixClub – free entry for international students! The music was only so-so and the bar was trop chere but Danny and Emily Allen met us there, and it was fun to go out and dance.
Friday – Slept late then took my placement test at the Sorbonne. After a cafe lunch of a croque monsieur, met up with Danny at the Musee Rodin. Read Danny’s lovely analysis and check out his pictures here. My favorite was “The Kiss,” though while you’re looking at it you feel like you’re intruding on an intensely private moment. It’s amazing how much emotion you can carve into marble. Had an apero with friends from my program and then we got sushi for dinner. Ended the night at this small French bar. When we walked by, the bartender was smoking outside looking like he was getting ready to close but told us to come in for the last drink of the night. We each ordered a glass of wine and he told us all about where our wines came from, how a vineyard’s proximity to the ocean affects the taste of its grapes, where the best place to go wine tasting is (the Loire Valley). He told us all about his family and how he and the other bartender Marika have been working together for 17 years. We stayed after closing and just hung out and danced to French music and had an all around fabulous time.
Saturday – Slept in, then got breakfast at about 2 p.m. near my homestay at an overpriced brasserie. Then got another macaroon from Laduree and saw “Love and Other Drugs” version original (meaning in English). So that was a nice thing to do on a cold day. Unable to find cheap dinner near me, we schlepped over to Grands Boulevards and got a chicken salad baguette. Came back home and just hung out- was feeling very tired and rundown. I took some of the medicine that I had bought earlier and it sort of helped, but I had the worst sleep…
Sunday- So this brings us to today. I woke up feeling sick with a headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, and achy body so I’ve pretty much been in and around my bed all day taking various meds, eating 48,539,457 clementines, and doing some housekeeping things like updating this blog, trying to keep tabs on my budget, etc. I feel really bad that I brought sickness into the house when I haven’t even been here a week and my host mom has been so nice. She brought me soup for dinner and tea, and more clementines afterward. Le sigh. I just hope I feel better soon. Tomorrow morning, ideally, because I start class and have 7 hours of it.
Any ideas on a small thank you I can give my host mom for her help?