Parlez-vous anglais?

Commentary:

I get frustrated sometimes. I just want to be able to speak French already. I need to get over my fear of speaking it. I have realized that whenever I struggle to start a conversation in French, people are open to trying to communicate with me. Very different than being in America. We all know how frustrated we get when someone can't communicate in English. My walk to the bus stop is an example (details below). As well as my conversation with the guard at the Petit Palais. Il a été trés sympa (He was very nice). I do see un peu progress. Particularly in comprehending. I still have three more weeks, and being out of Paris will definitely force me to speak French. Especially on the farm. I got confirmation two days ago. I'm very nervous. Something tells me very little, if any, English is spoken on this farm. All of our correspondence has been over email in French. I guess, it will be like going skydiving to get over your fear of heights. Geronimo?!

June 7:

Thanks to very noisy Brits, my sleep was interrupted last night, but somehow I still managed to wake up by 6:30! I know! I started my day early and spent the morning walking around Montmartre. As I was heading to lunch, I attempted to practice my self portrait skills with a photo shoot. I set up the camera and...it died. So I resolved to have my lunch and return to the hostel to recharge my camera. I stopped at little bohème café called the Monmartre Zebra. I had the yummiest omelet. a picture would follow if my camera hadn't died.

When I got back to the hostel I wanted to check out the Lonely Planet. (Shouts to Rob on having every Lonely Planet necessary for a trip within this galaxy on the laptop.) My roommate was of a similar mindset. We chatted a while and found out we were living parallel lives. Civil engineers, both WWOOFing (the farm stay) and both travelling solo. We decided to go on the Seine boat tour that night together.

Once my camera was charged, I explored the 19th arrondissment a bit and hung out at a park, reading and drinking wine. When the time came to head to the Eiffel Tower for our boat tour, I bought some picnic snacks and hopped a bus to the river. I met Daniel (that'd be my roommate) along with another solo traveler who was also at our hostel. We picnic'ed until the sun set a bit and then went to take our night cruise. It was BEAUTIFUL! something you will have to experience yourself b/c my camera doesn't like moving night shots. Daniel and I decided to hang out by the canal once we got back to the hostel and we did so, finishing our wine and picnic goods for a bit.

June 8:

I quickly grabbed breakfast. My early rising must have been a fluke yesterday because at quarter to ten I would have stayed in bed if breakfast didn't end in fifteen minutes. Since it was going to be a dreary day, I decided to visit the Opéra Granier, do some window shopping in "the Faubourg" and maybe do a couple museums. The opera house (setting of Phantom) was grand, the shopping district was even more grand. All the streets around the Opéra are lined with shops. It was overwhelming. I just wandered around, looking for a couple of the cheaper stores that were suggested to me. IDK where they were hidden but I eventually tired of looking into the windows of Dior and Cartier. I took a seat by Le Printemps, a large high-end mall, ate the sandwich I made for lunch. I then decided to find my way to the museums and gave up on the shopping adventure. I wanted to see the Gates of Hell and the Thinker at the Rodin museum courtyard. I was in for quite the walk but I there were a few sites I got to visite, or revisit. Pont Alexandre III is my favorite bridge.

I also walked by the Grand Palais and got to see Les Invalide close up. When I finally made it to the museum, it turned out that the courtyard was not free (I must have misread one of the many guidebooks back in Laurel). I didn't feel those two pieces were necessarily worth 6 euros so I decided to catch the free exhibits at the Petit Palais. Of course the building was beautiful, what else would you expect from a Parisian palace that was build especially for the World Fair?

I hopped a bus to the 11th arrondissment to meet Daniel for an aperitivo (I forget how they say it in French). They had incredibly cheap glasses of wine, 2 euros! But I didn't see Dan. I hung out for a bit, grabbed a slice of veggie pizza from a nearby bakery, and after a while decided to head back to the hostel. I was tired and still hadn't seen last week's Glee. lol. (Turns out I had the time wrong. It started at 7pm, which is when I got there, but they were not meeting until 8pm. I probably ended up just missing them because I didn't catch my bus back until 7:55.)

As you know, I have been taking the bus. Paris has an extensive bus network. I've enjoyed using it. The only downside is that the bus stops are so difficult to find. It is not that they aren't visible, they are just placed sporadically. I.e. I took a bus back to the hostel. I wanted to take that same bus in the opposite direction when I was going to Montmartre so I went to the stop where I was dropped off, looked across the street, where logic would place it...not there. Granted, it is a one way street. lol. So maybe a street over...not there. A side street? Nope. A nice Parisian must have seen the puzzled look on my face and explained to me (in French) where the stop was. We walked to the stop together, and I practiced my French, or at least comprehending French. I'm still so bad at speaking. Turns out it was about three blocks down. We arrived just as the bus was shutting it's doors. I shouted merci to the nice man and waved as I ran to the bus.

That was a complete digression. lol. Point is, bus stops are hard to find and I couldn't find the stop to my transfer on the way back from the aperitivo. I ended up just getting on the metro. The metro is very easy to use.

I spent the evening watching Glee and sipping wine.

June 9:

Another dreary day. I plan on shopping at the Bon Marché, maybe even buying something since the euro is doing so bad. Early dinner at Grand Epicerie and Le Louvre after 6. Then I will have to come back and pack up. I have to check out of St. Christopher's Hostel tomorrow and stay at Love & Peace for a day since St. Christopher's was completely booked tomorrow night. But then I return for the remainder of my time in Paris.