Exploring

I am entering week three of my adventure in Paris and can't believe how fast it's all flying by. It has been super rainy pretty much everyday but it hasn't stopped me from seeing the city. As a class, we visited the famous Louvre museum which, in my opinion, was incredibly overwhelming. The art there is SO old and holds so much history that you can't possibly just visit once. Once I saw the Mona Lisa and walked through one wing of the museum, I was pooped and ready to go. There is so much history all over Paris that it's hard not to stop and look at every building you pass by. The architecture everywhere is incredibly beautiful - I'm sure my friends are tired of hearing me say "Oh my god, that's gorgeous!"

I've gotten a better handle on buying and cooking food here. There is a huge market called Carrefour not too far from my apartment that has everything you could ever need. (It's probably half the size of Costco) The food here is the same, but different - It's hard to explain but it took me a little while to figure out what some stuff was and to get into the groove of grocery shopping and cooking for myself. It's tempting to take the easy way out and just buy pastries and baguette sandwiches all day but let's be real... You wouldn't recognize me when I came back. One night, my roommate Allison and I decided to go out to a bar that serves free mussels and fries when you order a beer. This was my first mussel experience and I am most definitely a fan... but still not ready to try snails.

Yesterday, I went to an event for Paris Design Week at an exhibition hall by the river. It featured innovative and funky designs for all types of things - watches, chairs, light fixtures, etc. It was cool and interesting to see what kinds of things Parisian designers are cooking up, from reusable materials to unique manufacturing processes. After the event, I hung out with my friends from Paraguay and Venezuela... which explains why my Spanish is getting better than my French. Later, about 15 of us international students went out for dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday and had a relaxing Sunday night. Here are a few photos from the week:

Try walking by this everyday...

This view is just a hop away from my apartment

The Louvre

Innovative creations at Paris Design Week

Pub fun

Here are a couple pictures from the night at the pub with all the international students. The two on the left are Bob and Brianna (married, from Canada) and on the right is Alejandro from Spain (my beer pong partner). 

After a couple hours in the pub, I asked if I could work there. This is me trying out for the job. Don't mind the foam....

Alejandro again on the left, Ana from Spain, me and our awesome culture teacher/tour guide/funny guy, Stephen Muse from Boston.

One week down

I have been going non-stop since I got to Paris last Monday. Every single day has been a new adventure, whether it's going to a museum, a nightclub or even just a cafe in my neighborhood. I've been surviving the language barrier better than I thought but it's mostly because Parisians are super nice and know at least a little English if you ask. The past week has been a blur and it's actually hard to imagine I've only been here for a week since I've done so much! One evening, all the international students from my school went on a cruise in the river and saw a bunch of famous Parisian landmarks like Musée d'Orsay and Notre Dame. After, we all went to my professor's favorite Irish pub in the 1st arrondissement to get to know each other... and to drink beer, obvi. My professor told me ahead of time that we'd be doing this so I planned for some good ol' American fun: Beer pong and flip cup. All the international students caught on quickly and had so much fun... and I will probably forever be known as the crazy American. I guess there's worse to be called.

I started school yesterday and am already excited for the semester. My classes are: Luxury Brand Management, Entrepreneurship, New Marking Trends, Advertising, and French Culture. I have one class a day and most of them start at 2pm so if you know me well,  you know I'm in heaven. So far, my teachers have been incredibly passionate and smart about what they're teaching. My school is super small so you see all the same people everyday which facilitates easy friend-making. It's almost like a high school... but smaller. I really, really like it so far.

The pictures below are from a walking tour I went on as a part of my "French Culture & Civilization" class. The class is all the international students aforementioned, forever ruined by flip cup. On the walking tour, we went to the Grand Palais and the Petite Palais, Pont Alexandre III, Hotel Des Invalides and Musée Rodin. The architecture here is incredible and not just at these famous places but literally everywhere. After the walking tour, I went with some new friends to St. Germain, a gorgeous neighborhood with tons of cute restaurants and really well dressed people. It's definitely the place to be. My sleeping schedule is all off so that's it for now but another update will come soon! xo

Musée Rodin

"The Thinker"

The Seine

Favorites, so far

It didn't take long for me to fall in love. No, not with a suave French guy, but with this city. Paris is amazing in so many different ways but here are a few of my favorite things so far:

- You don't have to wait longer than 4 minutes for a metro train
- Fresh bread... EVERYWHERE
- Delicious champagne & wine for just 2 euros (and 2 euros comes in the form of a coin so you really feel like it's cheap)
- There's a huge park called Bois de Boulogne in my neighborhood where I ran with my roommate Allison. The sightseeing/people watching there is awesome... people racing little boats in the lake, lots of cute dogs, sunbathing lovers and prostitution (whaaaat? yes. in broad daylight.)
- McDonald's is not just for poor, fat people
- Most French people so far think my "valley girl French" is endearing, not annoying. Phew!
- French sirens sound like they do in the movies. It reminds me of Madeline/the 1920s
- French guys in designer business suits riding motorcycles/vespas... holy hotness

Some things that kinda suck:
- I saw a HUGE rat in the metro
- Just kidding, nothing sucks here

The view from my room:

P.S.

French people kiss cheeks, not hug. #intimate #intoit

BONJOUR!

Sunday at 3:40 p.m. I said goodbye to America and flew off to Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport. I landed at 11:00 a.m. on Monday with a total of (maybe) 10 minutes of sleep behind me. In fact, I'm currently writing this post at 8:15 p.m. which means I've been awake for about 26 hours straight. And I'm straight up delirious. Nevertheless, I had a busy and exciting first day in Paris. I got to my awesome, modern, and beautiful apartment where I met my roommate Allison and unpacked as quickly as I could. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower, naturally. I scarfed down a fresh nutella crepe then just sat in the grass and took in the beauty... Literally no picture can show how amazing it truly is. Our next stop was the Champs-Élysées where we walked past all the cute shops, like Laudereé and Louis Vuitton, before heading towards the massive Arc de Triomph. Next, we met up with Nicolas & Steffy who are the president and vp of study abroad for my school, the Paris Business College. They helped us in our successful attempt to be productive - we got French cell phones, metro passes, and extra house keys made. We also went to a grocery store for snacks which was a true culture shock. I need to practice my French big time. Au Revoir for now, homies.

Keeping up with Moi

Instagram: @lefrancesca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lefrancesca
Twitter: @lefrancesca_
Whatsapp: Francesca Leonard
Also, this is my weird French #: 06 17 13 57 74 if for some reason you can call or text.