Bienvenue à Paris!

I made it! I'm here! I'm actually in Paris! Is this real life? I am going to bed in a minute (finally!) because I've been going non-stop for so long but I wanted to give you a quick update since I'll be gone all weekend!

I made it to CDG this morning around 730am and had a pretty easy time getting out of there. Immigration took about... thirty seconds and nobody even looked at me at customs. I just walked right out the door. I felt like I was going to get yelled at any second but nobody cared. Oh well!

I managed to get a taxi driver who could speak maybe 2-3 words in English so that was fun. Luckily my French is good enough to communicate the basics. You are from... where? America. Ah, vous êtes Americaine. Oui... You come for... tourist? Non, je... je vais... je suis étudiante (I am student). Ahh, very good. The only conversation we had after that was Merde, le trafic! (It took us over an hour to get to my residence from the airport). I tried to stay conscious but I was slipping in and out of an exhausted, jet-lagged haze the entire ride.

I finally woke up enough to look around towards the end and was disappointed to see McDonald's signs and billboards for KFC and Ben & Jerry's. But not to worry! I soon saw men carrying baguettes under their arms and circles of smoke floating above people's heads. Ah, there you are, Paris. I thought I'd lost you in Americanization.

Upon arriving at my residence (which is super nice! Yay!), the concierge immediately connected me with other students who are doing the same summer program at Sciences Po. So far, I have friends from Australia, China, and Canada. And apparently the other students in our program that are staying here are Spanish, German, and Korean. I think this school has AU beat when it comes to diversity.

After a quick shower, I went with my new Australian friend, K, to explore the city and find the Apple store downtown. The Apple store was conveniently located right next to the Louvre so we fit in a bit of sightseeing today too! It's such a short metro ride from my place! Unbelievable. I've seen so many photos of this place, and it was so grand but so normal to be standing in front of it.

Palais du Louvre

My new Aussie friend & I at the Louvre!

Silly glass pyramid

Artsy shot of silly glass pyramid

Is it culture shock? I'm not sure. But I don't feel like I'm in Paris. It just seems like another big global city... with the most exquisite architecture I've ever seen. It's right out of a post card. The cafés on the sidewalks, the art, the museums, the grand Hausmannian buildings all around. It's incredible.

After hours of wandering around the city, dining & people-watching, and bumping into other fancy buildings like this one...

Palais Garnier

Monument in front of Palais Garnier

... We finally headed back to our residence via métro to relax for a bit. I managed to unpack and fight off my sleepiness for a couple more hours before it was time to head out again! We wandered aimlessly towards Place d'Italie to find a restaurant for dinner—the Aussie, the Chinagirl, the Canadian, and I. I can communicate seamlessly enough in English (et un petit peu de français) with the Canadian and the Aussie of course but the girl from China speaks a little bit of English and a little bit of French so my communication with her is a mix of both languages depending on which words we need to use.

Dinner was délicieux and we enjoyed our stroll back to the residence, taking in the city as we walked. It was still light out at 930pm! Tomorrow we have orientation all day and then I am headed to Provence to spend the weekend with my family. So many exciting things happening! I will try to write again next week.

Oh! And here is our vegetable garden that we can take food from whenever we want...??