Paris

After living in France for almost two months, I finally took the opportunity to visit Paris for the first time since I studied there in the fall of 2009.   I got up around 4:30 in the morning so that I could catch the 5:40 train to Montparnasse (it takes about 3 ½ hours to get to Paris from Guingamp on the TGV (Train de Grande Vitesse/High Speed Train).  This was especially convenient for me because IES (the school I studied abroad with) is located near Montparnasse, so I knew how to navigate the area.  From the train station I made my way to Starbucks to meet Matt, a fellow Susquehanna grad and English assistant.  It was great to see a familiar face and to be in Paris with someone else who knows it as well as I do. 

From Starbucks we made our way towards the Marias, which is the old Jewish quarter in Paris, near where the Bastille was located.  There we visited the Musée Carnavalet, the Paris history museum, and Thanksgiving, an American/British grocery store.  I had been hoping to visit Musée Carnavalet since the last time I was in France so I was happy to finally see it, and to learn that entry to the museum is free (this is always a plus in Paris/when you’re on a limited budget).  At Thanksgiving I bought some staples for the Thanksgiving dinner we are going to attempt next week: canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, and condensed milk, which aren’t available in normal French grocery stores.  Most French people don’t know what cranberries are (Ocean Spray cranberry juice is available in some stores but I don’t think it’s very popular) and they only use pumpkin in savory dishes.  I also treated myself to some peanut butter M&Ms because those are also difficult to find here!

We then made our way to the Place de la Concorde, Angelina (for their famous hot chocolate) and W.H. Smith, a large English bookstore.  I was able to find a Thanksgiving children’s book, which was a hit in class this week (I will save Thanksgiving stories for next week!).  Finally we made our way to the Rodin Museum, which is beautiful, and les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried.  I highly recommend the Rodin Museum for anyone visiting Paris.  It is located in an old mansion with a large garden surrounding it.  Some sculptures are located inside, along with paintings by other artists, and others like the Thinker are located outside.

After that it was time to head back to the train station for the trip back to Guigamp.  It was a wonderful day, and very refreshing to be back in Paris.  We have planned to make several more trips like this between now and May, and I am looking forward to sharing Paris with my mom when she comes to visit me!  

The only “bad” part of the day was the train trip home.  There was a malfunction so we had to stop for over a half hour and the conductor turned all of the lights off on the train (even the emergency aisle ones) so it was a little spooky!  I ended up getting back to Guingamp after 11 P.M. instead of 10:30.

Currently I am trying to recover from a cold, planning Thanksgiving lessons, enjoying the uncharacteristically warm and sunny weather in Guingamp, and of course looking forward to my next trip to Paris!